On Monday June 28, 2010, 6:05 pm EDT
Cautious consumers may fuel debate over
deficits
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A tepid gain in
consumer spending last month could fuel a debate over whether the United States
and other governments should further stimulate their economies to sustain the
recovery.
A report that Americans spent
cautiously in May came after world leaders meeting in Toronto over the weekend
pledged to reduce government deficits by cutting spending and raising taxes.
They did so despite warnings from President Barack Obama that scaling back
spending too fast could derail the global recovery.
Stocks slip; Stronger dollar hurts
energy shares
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks ended on a weak
note Monday after a stronger dollar brought down prices for energy and other
basic materials.
The Dow Jones industrial closed down 5
points after being up for most of the day. A report that consumers saved more
than they spent last month hurt retailers. Treasury prices rose, sending
interest rates lower, on lingering concerns about the economy.
A rise in the dollar made commodities
more expensive for foreign buyers, sending their prices lower. Crude oil fell
61 cents to $78.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold
fell. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 1.1 percent and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Inc. fell 2.9 percent.
Supreme Court strikes down part of
anti-fraud law
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on
Monday struck down part of the anti-fraud law enacted in response to the Enron
and other corporate scandals from the early 2000s, but said its decision has
limited consequences.
The justices voted 5-4 that the
Sarbanes-Oxley law enacted in 2002 violates the Constitution's separation of
powers mandate. The court says the president, or other officials appointed by
him, must be able to remove members of a board that was created to tighten
oversight of internal corporate controls and outside auditors.
High court turns down both sides in
tobacco fight
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court
has rejected appeals by the Obama administration and the nation's largest
tobacco companies to get involved in a legal fight about the dangers of
cigarette smoking that has stretched more than 10 years.
The court's action, issued without
comment Monday, leaves in place court rulings that the tobacco industry
illegally concealed the dangers of smoking for decades. But it also prevents
the administration from trying to extract billions of dollars from the industry
either in past profits or to fund a national campaign to curb smoking.
Noble buys Frontier, reaches Gulf deal
with Shell
NEW YORK (AP) -- Offshore drilling
services company Noble Corp. is bulking up its operations while signaling that
business as usual won't return to the Gulf of Mexico for some time.
The Swiss company said Monday it will buy
privately held Frontier Drilling for $2.16 billion in cash and also struck $4
billion worth of new contracts with Royal Dutch Shell.
Noble is also giving Shell the right to
suspend any contracts the two have for rigs operating in the Gulf because of
the proposed U.S. moratorium on drilling in deep water.
BP spends $2.65B on oil spill; denies
CEO quitting
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP's mounting costs
for capping and cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico spill have reached $2.65
billion, it said Monday, but the oil giant denied reports out of Russia that
CEO Tony Hayward is resigning.
The company's expenses climbed $100
million per day over the weekend, according to an SEC filing Monday, as
engineers eyed a tropical storm headed for the Texas-Mexico border. It was
expected to miss the oil spill area but could still generate disruptive waves
and winds.
French firm agrees to pay $338M in
bribery case
HOUSTON (AP) -- A French engineering
firm has agreed to pay $338 million to settle accusations it engaged in a
decade-long scheme with a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary to bribe Nigerian
officials to win construction contracts, the Justice Department announced
Monday.
Paris-based Technip S.A. conducted the
alleged bribery scheme from 1994 to 2004 so it could obtain contracts valued at
more than $6 billion to build liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island,
Nigeria, federal officials said.
Technip has agreed to pay a $240
million criminal penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement and a
criminal information resolving charges of conspiracy and of violating the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Gas prices rise with summer season in
full swing
Gasoline prices continue to rise Monday
as vacationers in RVs and campers join commuters on the roads during the peak
summer driving season.
Pump prices likely will increase over
the next couple of weeks but fall short of $3 per gallon in most states.
Analysts note that demand remains lackluster while supplies are ample. And
consumers worried about the economy may keep traveling to a minimum.
The national average for retail
gasoline prices rose 0.1 cent to $2.756 a gallon Monday, according to Wright
Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's an increase of 11.3 cents
from a year ago.
Gov't plans to double available
wireless spectrum
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama
administration is backing a plan to nearly double the space available on the
airwaves for wireless high-speed Internet traffic to keep up with ever-growing
demand for video and other cutting-edge applications on laptops and mobile
devices.
President Barack Obama on Monday
committed the federal government to freeing up an additional 500 megahertz of
radio spectrum for broadband over the next 10 years, with much of that
auctioned off to commercial wireless carriers. The wireless industry currently
holds roughly 500 megahertz of spectrum, but hasn't put all of it to use yet.
Le Monde to discuss takeover with
bidders
PARIS (AP) -- Le Monde said Monday it
would hold talks with a team of three businessmen seeking a controlling stake
of the iconic but cash-strapped French newspaper, a move that would end the
financial control that its journalists now have over it.
Le Monde's supervisory board gave the
go-ahead for three months of exclusive negotiations with a consortium made up of
Internet billionaire Xavier Niel, Lazard banker Matthieu Pigasse, and Pierre
Berge, an arts patron and longtime partner of the late designer Yves
Saint-Laurent, according to a statement from the paper.
By The Associated Press
The Dow fell 5.29, or 0.1 percent, to
10,138.52 after being up 58 points.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500
index fell 2.19, or 0.2 percent, to 1,074.57. The Nasdaq composite index fell
2.83, or 0.1 percent, to 2,220.65.
Benchmark crude for July delivery fell
61 cents to settle at $78.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in July
contracts, heating oil fell 1.89 cents to $2.0933 a gallon, gasoline dropped
3.02 cents to $2.1376 a gallon and natural gas was down 14.4 cents at $4.717
per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude fell 53 cents to
$77.59 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.
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