On Friday July 23, 2010, 6:26 pm EDT
Vast majority of EU banks
pass "stress tests"
LONDON (AP) -- All but 7 of
91 European banks passed the much-anticipated "stress tests" aimed at
showing Europe's banking system is sound enough to weather the continent's debt
crisis -- an outcome that officials hoped would forestall further market
turmoil.
It had been thought that
some banks needed to fail for the exercise to be accepted as credible, and some
analysts still argued that the results showed the tests weren't rigorous enough
-- the euro was trading flat on the day after the release of the results at
just below $1.29.
Pay czar chose not to go
after $1.6B in bank pay
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Obama administration's pay czar said Friday that he did not try to recoup $1.6
billion in lavish compensation to top executives at bailed-out banks because he
thought shaming the banks was punishment enough.
Kenneth Feinberg said 17
banks receiving taxpayer money from the $700 billion financial bailout made
"ill-advised" payments to their executives. But he stopped short of
calling them "contrary to the public interest" -- language that would
have signaled a fight to get the money back.
He said such a fight could
have exposed banks to lawsuits from shareholders trying to recapture the
executives' money. Feinberg said his public shaming of the 17 banks was
sufficient.
Stocks rise on Euro bank
tests, upbeat earnings
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors
have sent stocks sharply higher on the latest reassuring news about the
economy. This time, the news is about European banks.
Investors were initially
cautious after European regulators announced encouraging results of
"stress tests" on banks, which measure how well banks will fare if
government debt problems and the region's economy worsened.
The latest earnings reports
also convinced investors that the economic recovery is proceeding. And so did
announcements that General Electric Co. is raising its dividend and reports
that French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis is interested in buying Genzyme Corp.
Ford posts another
quarterly profit as sales climb
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) --
Ford Motor Co. posted a strong second-quarter profit Friday but trimmed its
U.S. sales forecast and predicted weaker results in the second half as the
economy slowly recovers.
The automaker surprised
Wall Street, making $2.6 billion in the quarter as it continued to grab sales
from rivals. Ford's U.S. sales rose 28 percent in the first six months of this
year. That's almost double the pace of industrywide sales.
It was Ford's fifth
straight quarterly profit, and the No. 2 U.S. automaker predicted a strong 2010
and even better 2011. But it said it will make less money in the second half of
this year because of seasonal plant shutdowns, costs for new product launches
and rising prices for raw materials like aluminum.
Treasury announces sale of
more Citigroup stock
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Treasury Department said it will sell 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup stock
over the next two months, the latest effort to recoup money from the government's
$700 billion financial bailout.
The third phase of
Citigroup stock sales will begin immediately and end by Sept. 30, Treasury said
Friday. The government has already sold 2.6 billion shares for $10.5 billion.
Citigroup received $45
billion in taxpayer support in one of the largest bank rescues by the
government. Of the $45 billion, $25 billion was converted to a
government-ownership stake. The government is now selling that off. The bank
repaid the other $20 billion last December.
Verizon posts 2Q loss on
costs of employee buyout
NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon
Communications Inc. on Friday said it lost $198 million in the second quarter
due to a buyout for 11,000 workers.
Excluding the severance
costs and other items, earnings beat Wall Street expectations while revenue was
slightly lower than analysts had expected. CFO John Killian projected earnings
for the rest of year that would be roughly in line with analyst expectations.
The nation's second biggest
phone company said it lost the equivalent of 7 cents per share in the April to
June period. That compares with net income of $1.48 billion, or 52 cents per
share, in the same period last year.
McDonald's 2Q profit jumps
12 pct on rising sales
CHICAGO (AP) -- Net income
climbed 12 percent at McDonald's Corp. in the second quarter as customers
around the globe gobbled up its cheap food and U.S. diners responded to its
profitable frappes and other drinks on its hit McCafe menu.
The world's largest
hamburger chain also got a boost from business in customers in China and
Australia.
McDonald's has outpaced
many of its competitors in recent years, particularly in the U.S. where its
value menu helped insulate it from much of the economic weakness that's hurt
competitors such as Burger King Corp. and Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.
For the three months that
ended June 30, McDonald's earned $1.23 billion, or $1.13 per share. That's up
from last year's net income of $1.09 billion, or 98 cents per share.
Wal-Mart to roll out smart
tags on men's basics
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like
jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more
control of its inventory. But the move is raising eyebrows among privacy
experts.
The individual garments,
which also includes underwear and socks, will have removable smart tags that
can be read from a distance by Wal-Mart workers with scanners. In seconds, the
worker will be able to know what sizes are missing and will also be able tell
what it has on hand in the stock room. Such instant knowledge will allow store
clerks to have the right sizes on hand when shoppers need them.
GE raises quarterly
dividend 20 percent
More than a year ago, in
need of cash after its GE Capital lending unit was overwhelmed by the financial
crisis, General Electric did the nearly unthinkable -- it slashed its dividend
for the first time since the Great Depression.
Now, flush with cash, the
conglomerate is starting to reward shareholders again.
GE boosted its quarterly
dividend by 2 cents to 12 cents per share Friday, a modest gain compared to the
68 percent cut it made in February 2008 when the GE was in crisis. But GE said
the increase, earlier than expected, was a sign that things are much better.
Gasoline pump prices are
heading higher
Drivers may want to fill up
their SUVs, hybrids and motorcycles this weekend, because higher gasoline
prices could be right around the corner.
Retail gasoline prices are
expected to increase by as much as a nickel a gallon in the next few days on the
heels of a jump in wholesale gasoline and crude oil prices.
The biggest increases will
be in the Great Plains, the Southeast and other areas connected to Gulf coast
supplies, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price
Information Service.
California drivers likely
will see the smallest change since prices there already are higher there than
in much of the country .
By The Associated Press
The Dow closed up 102.32,
or 1 percent, at 10,424.62 after rising 201 on Thursday.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 8.99, or 0.8 percent, to 1,102.66, while the Nasdaq composite
index rose 23.58, or 1.1 percent, to 2,269.47.
Benchmark crude fell 32
cents to settle at $78.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has
picked up about $2 a barrel since Monday.
Gasoline prices lost 2.44
cents to settle at $2.1222 a gallon. The price is up about 7 cents since
Monday.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil fell 1.19 cents to settle at $2.0505 a gallon, and natural gas gave
up 6.3 cents to settle at $4.580 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent crude lost 37 cents
to settle at $77.45 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.