Yahoo! News: Health News

Wall Street falls on Draghi comments, headed for 4th straight drop
Weekly jobless claims rise less than expected
ECB gearing up to buy euro zone bonds
BoE policy on hold for now as UK economy worsens
Knight seeks financing after $440 million loss; shares drop
Discounts help U.S. chains lure shoppers in July
GM profit helped by delayed spending
Bristol-Myers executive charged with insider trading
RIM launches new line of PlayBook tablets
IMF urges Russia to tighten fiscal and monetary policy
S&P affirms Portugal BB long-term rating; outlook negative
China cuts fees, urges share buybacks to revive ailing market
U.S. raises pressure for euro zone crisis action
Japan watchdog to announce Nomura sanction Friday
AIG looking to buy back large chunk of shares from U.S. government: WSJ
Lufthansa curbs growth again as big fuel bill looms
ECB's Draghi faces leadership test over euro pledge
Analysis: India's online grey market for U.S. clothing brands
Time Warner Cable 2nd-qtr beats on higher internet revenue
Sony slashes profit outlook, Sharp cuts jobs first time in 60 years
JAL gives up on securing stable shareholders before $8 billion IPO
Analysis: Glazers may make a killing on Man Utd investment
Toyota recalls 760,000 RAV4s in U.S.
Aquarius reopens South Africa shaft after deadly attack
Sharp considering cutting 5,000 jobs worldwide: source
Shares, euro edge higher ahead of ECB meeting
MetLife, Prudential profits rise on derivative gains
House to take up livestock disaster relief bill
Markets unimpressed by Draghi promises
Goldman Sachs to invest in NYC jail program
EPA can't regulate livestock farms it can't find
Bristol-Myers exec charged with insider trading
Report: Drought intensifies in Plains states
News Summary: Rate on 30-year mortgage: 3.55 pct.
US factory orders fell 0.5 percent in June
US natural gas supplies grew last week
GM profit falls 41 percent on weakness in Europe

Wall Street falls on Draghi comments, headed for 4th straight drop

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 07:48 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its fourth straight decline after comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed investors. After the ECB kept the main interest rate at 0.75 percent, Draghi said a mechanism will be drawn up the coming weeks to make outright purchases to stabilize stressed euro zone borrowing costs, within the mandate of the governing council. ...

Weekly jobless claims rise less than expected

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:59 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected last week, but the data continues to be influenced by distortions from seasonal auto shutdowns. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised up to 357,000 from the previously reported 353,000. "The claims number is not that bad. ...

ECB gearing up to buy euro zone bonds

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:50 AM PDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - With its key German member dissenting, the European Central Bank took a heavily conditioned step on Thursday towards a new round of bond buying to drag down Spanish and Italian borrowing costs, but said euro zone governments must act first. ECB President Mario Draghi indicated any intervention would come at the earliest in September once governments had activated their rescue funds to buy bonds, and the countries at risk had requested assistance and accepted tough conditions. ...

BoE policy on hold for now as UK economy worsens

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:24 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England decided it was too soon on Thursday to step up efforts to bolster Britain's recession-hit economy, although future action looks increasingly likely as growth shows little sign of rebounding after a dismal few months. Britain's economy tipped into its second recession in four years at the end of 2011, and a multi-year austerity program to close the country's vast budget deficit is weighing both on consumer morale and the government's popularity. ...

Knight seeks financing after $440 million loss; shares drop

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:12 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Knight Capital Group Inc is being forced to raise money after an erroneous trading position wiped out $440 million of its capital, the firm said on Thursday, causing its shares to shed half of their value. Problems at Knight, one of the largest firms that buys and sells stocks to provide liquidity to the markets, emerged at the beginning of trading on Wednesday. "The company is actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives to strengthen its capital base," Knight said in a statement. Its shares were down 49.7 percent at $3. ...

Discounts help U.S. chains lure shoppers in July

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 07:32 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Discounts drew shoppers to malls in July, helping many retailers report healthy sales gains in what is typically a clearance month heading into the back-to-school season. Most retailers offered discounts in July to clear out leftover summer merchandise and make room for back-to-school items and other fall goods. "Retailers focused on back to school a little earlier this year and increased their promotions," said Tom Clarke, director of consulting firm AlixPartners' global retail practice. "The trend has been: The first one out gets more (market) share. ...

GM profit helped by delayed spending

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 07:30 AM PDT

(Reuters) - General Motors Co posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit as its loss in Europe was not as bad as feared, and its results were boosted by delayed spending in North America. Analysts said GM's North American outperformance added 14 cents to the second-quarter results, helping the company top Wall Street's expectations by 16 cents. GM's shares were little changed in early trading. ...

Bristol-Myers executive charged with insider trading

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:29 AM PDT

(Reuters) - A Bristol-Myers Squibb Co executive has been criminally charged with insider trading for allegedly purchasing options in companies that the drugmaker was looking to buy. Robert Ramnarine, 45, who was promoted in July to assistant director for capital markets, was charged with three counts of securities fraud, according to a complaint made public on Thursday in the federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Ramnarine was arrested on Thursday morning and is expected to appear in federal court later in the day, said a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey. ...

RIM launches new line of PlayBook tablets

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 06:05 AM PDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion chose its home country to launch a PlayBook tablet with built-in support for cellular networks, a crucial feature that its initial models lacked. The BlackBerry maker said on Thursday that the new tablets will be launched in Canada next week and rolled out in coming months in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. ...

IMF urges Russia to tighten fiscal and monetary policy

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:10 AM PDT

MOSCOW, July - Russia needs to adopt both a tougher budget and tighter monetary policy to guard against the risk of overheating and to bear down on inflation, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Thursday. The statement follows a meeting of the IMF's Executive Board to discuss the results of annual consultations between the Fund and the Russian government. IMF directors "recommended an ambitious fiscal consolidation path to reduce overheating pressures and vulnerabilities and ensure intergenerational equity," it said. ...

S&P affirms Portugal BB long-term rating; outlook negative

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 07:19 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Thursday affirmed Portugal's BB long-term sovereign credit rating, saying the country has appeared to stick to its bailout terms over the past year. "The ratings affirmation reflects our view of the significant structural reforms the Portuguese government has undertaken in the past 12 months amid rapidly narrowing current account deficits, mostly reflecting strong export performance," S&P said in a statement. ...

China cuts fees, urges share buybacks to revive ailing market

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 04:16 AM PDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's securities regulator stepped up efforts to restore confidence in the country's sagging equities markets on Thursday, making another round of cuts to transaction fees and encouraging companies to buy back their own stock. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said that it will cut transaction fees applied to stocks and futures trades, the third in a series of similar cuts since April. The statement said combined savings from the three rounds of cuts would total 15.5 billion yuan ($2.43 billion) in trading fees this year. ...

U.S. raises pressure for euro zone crisis action

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:12 AM PDT

FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States raised the pressure on euro zone leaders to take decisive action on solving the region's debt crisis, notably by lowering troubled members' borrowing costs, on the eve of a crucial European Central Bank meeting. President Barack Obama said he welcomed recent declarations by European leaders and the ECB on the need to do whatever is necessary to preserve the euro. U.S. ...

Japan watchdog to announce Nomura sanction Friday

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:07 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's financial regulator will order Nomura Holdings on Friday to bolster internal controls, sources with knowledge of the matter said, marking the lightest penalty possible in the wake of an insider trading scandal involving the brokerage. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) will announce the business improvement order to Nomura after finding that it failed to prevent confidential information on three public share offerings it underwrote in 2010 from leaking to clients. ...

AIG looking to buy back large chunk of shares from U.S. government: WSJ

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:22 PM PDT

(Reuters) - American International Group is looking to buy back a large chunk of its shares from the U.S. government, whose stake in the bailed-out insurer could subsequently go below 50 percent by this fall, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the company's thinking. The buybacks are likely to be accompanied by one or more public share offerings of AIG stock by the U.S. Treasury, the WSJ said. The timing and scale of future offerings and repurchases are not clear, the Journal said. ...

Lufthansa curbs growth again as big fuel bill looms

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:19 AM PDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Lufthansa pulled back further from plans to lift capacity and expand its passenger fleet to safeguard profits threatened by soaring fuel prices. The German carrier said on Thursday it would offer only 0.5 percent more seats this year instead of 1 percent, having already shrunk its growth plans several times in recent months. Its shares rose 2.7 percent to 10.57 euros by 8:12 a.m. EDT (1212 GMT), outperforming the broader market, as Lufthansa reported consensus-beating quarterly profit. ...

ECB's Draghi faces leadership test over euro pledge

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:01 AM PDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was under intense pressure from investors, European leaders and even the United States to deliver on Thursday on his pledge to do whatever it takes to save the euro. Draghi faced the biggest test of his nine months' leadership of the central bank at its monthly policy meeting, which began at 0700 GMT. Any sign that he overplayed his hand when he made the bold pledge a week ago could see markets punish the euro zone. ...

Analysis: India's online grey market for U.S. clothing brands

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 04:57 AM PDT

MUMBAI/CHICAGO (Reuters) - While India's politicians dither over rules allowing foreign retailers into the country, some online stores are already selling discounted clothing from companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch Co that have yet to officially enter the market. Homegrown start-ups including fashionandyou.com, myntra.com, snapdeal.com, dealsandyou.com, yebhi.com and HomeShop 18 - which is eyeing a U.S. initial public offering - are introducing India's growing middle class to mid-market U.S. brands, at discounts of more than 50 percent. ...

Time Warner Cable 2nd-qtr beats on higher internet revenue

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 04:25 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc, the second largest U.S. cable operator, posted a better-than-expected second quarter as higher sales of pricier residential broadband plans offset declines in video subscriptions. The New York-based company added 59,000 Internet and 45,000 phone residential customers in the segment in the quarter. Broadband services revenue grew 7.2 percent organically. Including additions from its Insight Communications acquisition, Internet revenue grew 13.5 percent. ...

Sony slashes profit outlook, Sharp cuts jobs first time in 60 years

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:37 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp slashed its forecast for 2012/13 operating profit and lowered its sales expectations for key products including its handheld PSP and PS Vita devices as new boss Kazuo Hirai battles to revive the fortunes of the electronics giant. Sony said April-June operating profit fell a much steeper-than-expected 77 percent to 6.28 billion yen ($80 million) compared with a year earlier, blaming a strong yen and weak economies. Analysts had penciled in a 36 percent fall. Rival Sharp Corp announced a 94 billion yen operating loss ($1. ...

JAL gives up on securing stable shareholders before $8 billion IPO

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:47 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Airlines has given up on the idea of securing stable shareholders to hold at least 10 percent of its stock ahead of its listing because such a move would breach industry rules, Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori said. The airline has been sounding out trading houses and other business partners as potential investors ahead of its roughly $8 billion initial public offering slated for next month, sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. ...

Analysis: Glazers may make a killing on Man Utd investment

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:05 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Manchester United Ltd's owners stand to make about three times their investment in the British soccer club if it successfully goes public. The club, one of the most popular in the world, has kicked off the marketing for its U.S. initial public offering, which will value the club at $3.3 billion if the sale is at the high end of the pricing range of $16-to-$20 per share. The owners, the Glazer family, bought the team for 790 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in 2005 in a leveraged buyout. ...

Toyota recalls 760,000 RAV4s in U.S.

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:06 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it is recalling about 760,000 RAV4 utility vehicles and 18,000 Lexus HS 250h hybrid cars in the United States to correct problems in their rear suspension that could arise when taken in for maintenance. The RAV4 cars were made from model years 2006 through 2011, while only 2010 models of the HS 250h were affected. Toyota said that if nuts on the rear suspension arm are not tightened properly during a rear wheel alignment service, rust could form, leading to wear and possibly cause the arm to separate. ...

Aquarius reopens South Africa shaft after deadly attack

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:07 AM PDT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Aquarius Platinum has reopened the Kwezi shaft at its Kroondal mine in South Africa, where operations were suspended after a deadly attack at the site that left three dead and at least 20 injured, a spokeswoman said on Thursday. The attack returned the spotlight on simmering tensions between workers and companies in South Africa's mining industry and their potential to disrupt operations in the home of around 80 percent of the world's known platinum reserves. ...

Sharp considering cutting 5,000 jobs worldwide: source

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:03 PM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sharp Corp is considering cutting 5,000 jobs globally, or just under 10 percent of its consolidated workforce, a source close to the matter said on Thursday. The job cuts will be sought through early retirement and will also include reductions resulting from a plan to hive off ownership of its underused Sakai LCD factory in western Japan to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, the source said. The maker of Aquos TVs posted a record net loss in the year ended March 31 on a plunge in demand for its TVs that left it saddled with a glut of LCD panels. ...

Shares, euro edge higher ahead of ECB meeting

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 01:57 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares, oil and the euro edged higher on Thursday but uncertainty over the outcome of a keenly-watched European Central Bank meeting kept a lid on the gains. The U.S. Federal Reserve stopped short of signaling fresh stimulus for the economy at a meeting on Wednesday, but some investors believe the ECB will deliver on promises to support the euro at its policy meeting later in the day. ...

MetLife, Prudential profits rise on derivative gains

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 01:56 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Profit at MetLife Inc , the largest U.S. life insurer, doubled in the second quarter after a huge gain on derivatives tied to falling interest rates, and operating results at the company beat Wall Street expectations on double-digit growth in the Americas. The company, like its peers, is heavily exposed to the persistently low interest rate environment. But it has long had a substantial derivatives program designed to counter that risk. As rates fell in the quarter, the company booked a $1.4 billion gain on its derivatives positions and other items. MetLife reported a profit of $2. ...

House to take up livestock disaster relief bill

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:53 AM PDT

The House on Thursday took up legislation to help livestock producers who have seen feed prices soar as widespread drought takes a toll on the nation's corn crop. Action on the disaster relief package came hours before Congress was to adjourn for its August recess.

Markets unimpressed by Draghi promises

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:10 AM PDT

Financial markets were unimpressed on Thursday by the failure of the European Central Bank to announce immediate new measures to ease the continent's debt crisis.

Goldman Sachs to invest in NYC jail program

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:06 AM PDT

Goldman Sachs will invest almost $10 million in a New York City jail program that will allow the investment firm to profit if it can reduce recidivism rates, city officials announced Thursday.

EPA can't regulate livestock farms it can't find

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:04 AM PDT

The report to Congress was blunt: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had failed to regulate pollution from the nation's livestock farms — many capable of generating more waste than some cities — because it lacked information as basic as how many farms even existed.

Bristol-Myers exec charged with insider trading

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:03 AM PDT

A Bristol-Myers Squibb executive has been charged with insider trading.

Report: Drought intensifies in Plains states

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Extreme drought conditions have spread in several Plains states, but recent rainfall has slightly reduced the overall area of the lower 48 states experiencing some form of drought, according to the latest U.S. drought map.