China's currency move aims to ease
trade criticism SHANGHAI (AP) -- By loosening its
currency's peg to the dollar, China is seeking to defuse complaints that it
keeps its exports artificially cheap, strengthen its hand against inflation and
ensure its economy can keep growing at a healthy pace. The Chinese yuan surged to a record
high Monday as Beijing delivered on its central bank's weekend promise of
greater flexibility in its exchange rates. World shares rallied as investors
took heart from the signal of confidence in China's resilience. Analysts said the move was not a major
shift in foreign policy. They described it instead as a maneuver aimed mainly
at countering criticism of Beijing's currency policies before this weekend's
summit of the Group of 20 leading economies. Beijing's trading partners have
been frustrated by their perennial trade imbalances with China. Stocks fall after China currency
enthusiasm fades NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks erased big
gains Monday after investors lost some of their enthusiasm about China's
decision to let its currency appreciate against the dollar. The Dow Jones industrial average fell
about 8 points after climbing nearly 144 in early trading. The Dow had been up
the past four days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also slid and the
Nasdaq composite index fell after seven straight gains. A drop in the euro also eroded
investors' excitement over China's move. A slide in the European currency is
seen as a sign of faltering confidence in Europe's ability to contain its debt
problems. Borrowers exit troubled Obama mortgage
program WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama
administration's flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes
is falling flat. More than a third of the 1.24 million
borrowers who have enrolled in the $75 billion mortgage modification program
have dropped out. That exceeds the number of people who have managed to have
their loan payments reduced to help them keep their homes. Last month alone,155,000 borrowers left
the program -- bringing the total to 436,000 who have dropped out since it
began in March 2009. About 340,000 homeowners have received permanent loan
modifications and are making payments on time. Amazon cuts Kindle price to $189 after
Nook move NEW YORK (AP) -- A price war is heating
up in the electronic reader market, as Amazon cut the price of its Kindle e-reader
below $200 Monday just after Barnes & Noble did the same with its competing
Nook device. The rapid-fire moves are fanning flames
in the still-small but rapidly growing market that the book industry sees as a
major part of its future. On Monday afternoon, online retailer
Amazon.com Inc. slashed the price of the Kindle by $70 to $189, just a few
hours after bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. reduced the price of the Nook by
$60 to $199 and said it would also start selling a new Nook with Wi-Fi access
for $149. La. companies ask judge to end drilling
moratorium NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Companies that
ferry people and supplies to offshore oil rigs asked a federal judge Monday to
lift a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects imposed in the
aftermath of the massive Gulf spill. After hearing two hours of arguments,
Judge Martin Feldman said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the
ban imposed by President Barack Obama's administration after the Deepwater
Horizon rig explosion off the Louisiana coast. Also on Monday, BP said it has spent $2
billion fighting the spill for the last two months and compensating victims,
with no end in sight. It's likely to be at least August before crews finish two
relief wells that are the best chance of stopping the flow of oil. Survey: Individual health insurance
premiums jump INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- People who buy
their own health insurance have been hit lately with premium hikes that far
exceed increases in premiums for employer-sponsored coverage, according to a
new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The nonprofit foundation, which is
separate from health insurer Kaiser Permanente, said recent premium hikes
requested by insurers for individual coverage averaged 20 percent. Some
customers were able to switch plans and pay less, so people paying on their own
actually wound up paying 13 percent more on average. SEC accuses money manager of fraud WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government
opened a new front in its probe of financial firms' dealings in the mortgage market,
filing civil fraud charges Monday against an investment adviser and his firm in
connection with complex securities during the 2007 housing bust. The Securities and Exchange Commission
accused Thomas Priore and ICP Asset Management of fraudulently managing the
securities in a way that cost investors tens of millions of dollars. The SEC
also said Priore and the New York firm he owns and heads as president
improperly reaped millions in fees and undisclosed profits at the expense of
clients. FDA: Pfizer will pull ineffective
leukemia drug WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health
regulators said Monday that the drugmaker Pfizer has agreed to pull a leukemia
drug off the market after a follow-up study showed it failed to slow the
disease. The Food and Drug Administration
cleared the drug Mylotarg in 2000 under its accelerated approval program, which
grants speedy access to drugs that show early promise. The drug was cleared for
patients older than 60 with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia, a bone marrow
cancer. But the FDA said a follow-up study was
halted last August after researchers reported more deaths among patients taking
Mylotarg plus chemotherapy, compared with chemotherapy alone. Regulators OK plan to police banks' pay
policies WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators
on Monday adopted a plan to ensure that banks' pay policies don't encourage
employees to take reckless gambles like those that contributed to the recent
financial crisis. The plan, originally proposed by the
Federal Reserve last year, was also endorsed by other key banking regulators --
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. Many banks' practices have been found
deficient in curbing risk-taking based on an in-depth analysis by regulators,
the Fed said. It has directed banks -- which weren't identified -- to take
steps to fix their policies. Smiles fade at the pump: Gas prices
going back up Motorists heading out for the long July
4th weekend will find that filling up the family car is getting more costly. Retail prices for gasoline have climbed
over the past week and are headed back toward a national average of $2.80 to
$2.90 per gallon with higher prices on the West Coast, said Tom Kloza of the
Oil Price Information Service. Prices dropped for about six weeks as
oil prices fell over worries that the European debt crisis could spread and
crush the global economic recovery and demand for crude. Those worries have since ebbed, oil is
rising again and the stock market has started to recover some of its recent
losses. By The Associated Press The Dow fell 8.23, or 0.1 percent, to
10,442.41. The index had risen 5.2 percent in the past two weeks, its biggest
two-week gain since mid-November 2009. The S&P 500 index fell 4.31, or 0.4
percent, to 1,113.20, and the Nasdaq fell 20.71, or 0.9 percent, to 2,289.09. Crude gained 64 cents to settle at
$77.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as
$78.92. In other Nymex trading, heating oil
rose 1.70 cents to settle at $2.1459 a gallon, gasoline dropped 0.48 cent to
settle at $2.1428 a gallon and natural gas fell 12.4 cents to settle at $4.873
per 1,000 cubic feet. Brent crude rose 60 cents to settle at
$78.82 on the ICE futures exchange.