On Thursday August 5, 2010, 5:45 pm
New claims for jobless
benefits rise to 479K
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Initial
requests for jobless benefits rose last week to their highest level since
April, a sign that hiring remains weak and some companies are still cutting
workers.
The Labor Department said
Thursday that new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 19,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 479,000. Analysts had expected a small drop. Claims have
risen twice in the past three weeks.
Some of the increase in
claims stemmed from difficulties the government has in adjusting for seasonal
factors.
Wary shoppers give
retailers only modest gains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Deep
discounts on summer leftovers and hot weather drove shoppers into malls in
July, but they remained choosy, resulting in only overall modest gains.
The sluggish spending,
which is being compared with a miserable July 2009, bodes poorly for the
back-to-school season as Americans step up saving amid a stalling economic
recovery. For shoppers, it could mean big discounts. Already, teen clothing
sellers like Abercrombie & Fitch are offering generous price cuts on new
jeans to lure shoppers.
Stocks fall after spike in
jobless benefits claims
NEW YORK (AP) -- A
surprisingly poor signal on the jobs market sent stocks slightly lower Thursday
as investors remained worried about a lack of hiring.
Investors tried to muster a
late-day rally, but there wasn't enough momentum to push the Dow Jones
industrial average back into positive territory. The Dow closed down 5 points
at 10,674.98 after dropping as much as 68 points earlier in the day. Broader
indexes also fell modestly.
Trading volume on the New
York Stock Exchange fell to its second-lowest level of the year as many traders
avoid the market altogether.
Consumer demand boosts
cable, satellite TV profits
PHILADELPHIA (AP) --
Consumers are feeling more confident about spending on discretionary purchases
such as premium cable services and pay-per-view, propelling the earnings of
cable and satellite TV upward in the second quarter. Advertisers also felt more
confident to spend, especially in automotive.
Time Warner Cable Inc.,
DirecTV Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp. all show healthy upticks in demand
for their pricier digital cable tiers, high-definition TV packages and rentals
of digital video recorders and movies. They also raised rates, boosting
profits.
Medicare fund will last
extra 12 years -- maybe
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medicare
is in better shape because of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care
overhaul, and the hospital fund for elderly Americans will stay afloat a dozen
years longer than earlier forecast, the government said Thursday. But that
depends on the program achieving big cost-cutting savings that even a top
Medicare expert calls highly doubtful.
The conflicting renderings
by federal officials centered on the annual report of the trustees for Medicare
and Social Security, released Thursday. It found that the Medicare Hospital
trust fund will not be exhausted until 2029, a dozen years longer than
estimated last year.
GM CEO expects good demand
when co. sells shares
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP)
-- Demand for General Motors Co. stock should be good once the company decides
to offer its shares to the public, CEO Ed Whitacre said Thursday.
The company, he said, is
moving as fast as it can to offer shares for sale, but Whitacre would not
comment on the timing other than to say as soon as possible.
GM spokesmen later said the
decision on both when and how much equity to sell will be made by current
stockholders, the U.S. and Canadian governments, a United Auto Workers health
care trust and former bondholders.
Kraft Foods Inc.'s 2Q net
income rose 13.3 percent
NORTHFIELD, Ill. (AP) --
Kraft Foods Inc. says its net income grew 13.3 percent in the second quarter,
but it trimmed its sales outlook in an increasingly competitive market.
The nation's largest food
maker said Thursday that it earned $937 million, or 53 cents per share, for the
quarter. That's up from $827 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.
Kraft, which makes Oreo
cookies and Ritz crackers and bought British confectioner Cadbury in February,
had more shares outstanding in this year's second quarter.
Cigna 2Q profit falls 32
pct; outlook increases
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A big
hit from a discontinued business helped drop net income 32 percent for managed
care company Cigna Corp.
However, the Philadelphia
insurer lifted its full-year earnings outlook Thursday after seeing sizeable
gains in business it still sells, and its stock rose briskly.
Cigna is the last of the
large health insurers to report second-quarter earnings Thursday. Competitors
like UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Aetna Inc. reported healthy profit increases
that beat Wall Street expectations.
Trichet says indicators
'better than expected'
BERLIN (AP) -- Europe's
economy is doing better than expected as the continent's government debt crisis
eases, the European Central Bank's president said Thursday -- but he cautioned
that growth would remain "relatively modest."
Jean-Claude Trichet's
comments underlined the newfound optimism about the 16-nation eurozone's
prospects after it appears to have put the worst of the debt crisis behind it.
Trichet's monthly news
conference came after the bank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged at a
record low 1 percent for the 15th consecutive month. There was no hint as to
when the bank might consider raising rates -- a prospect that still appears
distant given modest growth prospects and little sign of inflation.
Fannie Mae asks for $1.5B
in aid after 2Q loss
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae is asking for $1.5 billion in
additional taxpayer aid after posting a smaller loss in the second quarter.
Fannie Mae said Thursday
that it lost $3.13 billion, or 55 cents per share, in the April-to-June period.
The results were the best since the company was put under federal control in
September 2008.
That takes into account
$1.9 billion in dividends paid to the Treasury Department. It compares with a loss
of $15.2 billion, or $2.67 a share, in the quarter a year ago.
By The Associated Press
The Dow fell 5.45, or 0.1
percent, to 10,674.98.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index fell 1.43, or 0.1 percent, to 1,125.81, while the Nasdaq composite
index fell 10.51, or 0.5 percent, to 2,293.06.
Benchmark crude for
September delivery fell 46 cents to settle at $82.01 a barrel.
Natural gas for September
delivery fell 13.9 cents to settle at $4.598 per 1,000 cubic feet in trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
September contracts, heating oil lost 1.54 cents to settle at $2.1868 a gallon
and gasoline retreated 1.06 cents to $2.1644 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude fell
59 cents to $81.61 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.