On Friday April 8, 2011, 5:57 pm EDT
Sales of
wholesale goods slip in February
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Wholesale businesses boosted inventories for the 14th consecutive month
but sold fewer cars, furniture and petroleum products in February.
Sales at
the wholesale level slipped 0.8 percent in February, the first setback since
June 2010, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Inventories
rose 1 percent and have been rising for more than a year. The string of
inventory gains pushed them to $438 billion, up 13.4 percent from the low
reached in September 2009.
US corn
reserves expected to fall to 15-year low
ST. LOUIS
(AP) -- Rising demand for corn from ethanol producers is pushing U.S. reserves
to the lowest point in 15 years, a trend that could lead to higher grain and
food prices this year.
The
Agriculture Department on Friday left its estimate for corn reserves unchanged
from the previous month. The reserves are projected to fall to 675 million
bushels in late August, when the harvest begins, or roughly 5 percent of all
corn consumed in the United States. That would be the lowest surplus level
since 1996.
EU says
Portugal needs about $114 billion in aid
GODOLLO,
Hungary (AP) -- Europe's top financial officials said Friday that Portugal will
need around euro80 billion ($114 billion) in rescue loans, but a tense election
campaign in the debt-ridden country is set to complicate reaching a deal with
opposing political parties.
A
full-fledged adjustment program should be in place by mid-May, allowing the
debt-ridden country to meet huge bond repayments in June, the EU's Monetary
Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
Johnson
& Johnson settles bribery case with feds
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Health care giant Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $70 million
to settle civil and criminal charges of bribing doctors in Europe and paying
kickbacks to the Iraqi government to illegally obtain business.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that the company settled the
charges with the agency and the Justice Department without admitting or denying
guilt.
Toyota to
suspend N. American plants several days
LOUISVILLE,
Ky. (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that it will suspend production at
its North American plants in a series of one-day shutdowns this month as a
result of parts shortages caused by the earthquake that hit Japan.
The
temporary shutdowns will affect 25,000 workers, but there will be no layoffs,
the world's No. 1 automaker said. A March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged
auto parts plants in northeastern Japan, causing shortages.
US
airlines attempt to raise fares for 10th time
NEW YORK
(AP) -- At least two major U.S. airlines are again raising round-trip ticket
prices by $10 on some domestic routes as they try to counter rising fuel costs.
US
Airways initiated the fare increase late Thursday on most routes. Delta Air
Lines later followed, mostly on routes where it competes with discount
airlines. JetBlue and Virgin America have already matched the increase, airline
analyst Jaime Baker said Friday.
Government
lets Google buy travel software company
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Government officials are imposing significant conditions on Google Inc.
as they allowed the Internet search leader on Friday to proceed with its $700
million purchase of airline fare tracker ITA Software.
The
purchase will establish the Internet search giant as a key player in online
travel. ITA gives Google control over the technology that powers the
reservation systems of most major U.S. airlines and many popular online
fare-comparison services, including Kayak, TripAdvisor and Hotwire.
New
Google CEO Larry Page reshuffles exec team
NEW YORK
(AP) -- Google CEO Larry Page has promoted at least seven executives to head
key parts of the company in one of his first big moves since he took over the
Internet search company on Monday. The management reshuffle is an attempt at
streamlining a bureaucracy that's sometimes bogged down Google even as it became
the world's most valuable Internet company.
Page,
Google's 38-year-old co-founder, took over from Eric Schmidt, who is staying on
as executive chairman. Page has made it a top priority to cut out the
bureaucracy and speed up innovation at Google, which is facing threats from new
startups, such as Facebook, Twitter and the online deals company Groupon.
By The
Associated Press
The Dow
Jones industrial average lost 29.44 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at
12,380.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 5.34, or 0.4 percent, to
1,328.17. The Nasdaq composite lost 15.72, or 0.6 percent, to 2,780.42.
Benchmark
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery jumped $2.49, or 2.3
percent, to settle at $112.79 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other
Nymex trading for May contracts, heating oil added 11.37 cents to settle at
$3.3197 per gallon and gasoline futures gained 7.42 cents to settle at $3.2607
per gallon. Natural gas lost 1.6 cents to settle at $4.041 per 1,000 cubic
feet.
In London,
Brent crude rose $3.86 to settle at $126.12 on the ICE Futures exchange.
· AT&T Outlines 2011 Cell Site Investment Highlights
for the Bay Area - PR Newswire
· Johnson & Johnson Settles Bribery Complaint for $70
Million in Fines - at New York Times
· Google’s $700 Million ITA Deal Cleared by Justice
Department - at Bloomberg
· U.S. Clears Google Acquisition of Travel Software
- at New York Times
·
AT&T Outlines 2011 Cell Site Investment Highlights
for the Washington, D.C. Area - PR Newswire
· Land, Sea, Oil Mar Sky Traffic - Zacks
· Covidien's Pipeline Device Cleared - Zacks
· Shire, Watson in Legal Battle - Zacks
· Sprint: New Contract, New Hopes - Zacks
·
Xarelto Data Presented by Bayer - Zacks