On Tuesday September 7, 2010, 6:10 pm EDT
Official: Obama to back
more business tax breaks
WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Barack Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would
allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments
through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling
out in hopes of showing action on the economy ahead of the November elections.
An administration official
said the tax breaks would save businesses $200 billion over two years.
Amid an uptick in
unemployment to 9.6 percent, and polls showing that the November election could
be dismal for Democrats, Obama has promised to propose new steps to stimulate
the economy. In addition to the business investment tax breaks, he will also
call for a $50 billion infrastructure investment and a permanent expansion of
research and development tax credits for companies.
HP sues ex-CEO Hurd over
new job at rival Oracle
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
Hewlett-Packard Co. is suing the chief executive it ousted last month, Mark
Hurd, to stop him from taking a top job at rival Oracle Corp.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday
in a California state court, came a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president
to help lead the database software maker's efforts to steal business from HP.
HP claims that Hurd won't be able to perform his job at Oracle without spilling
HP's trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement.
This type of complaint
isn't unusual in the technology world, nor is the confidentiality agreement
that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top $40
million.
Technology companies often
require such agreements because workers walk out the door with valuable
technical information.
Obama's tax-break plan is
seen as no quick cure
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even if
they were enacted soon, President Barack Obama's proposed tax breaks for
businesses would hardly be a quick fix to rejuvenate hiring or the economy,
analysts say.
And what little benefit
they might provide wouldn't likely emerge until next year at the earliest.
Until businesses feel more
confident about their own sales and the durability of the recovery, they won't
be inclined to expand operations or add to their payrolls, economists note. Big
companies can already borrow at low rates, and they generally aren't doing so.
Stocks fall as worries
about European debt return
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
closed lower Tuesday following new worries about Europe's debt problems.
Treasury prices rose and gold settled at a new high as investors sought out
safe assets.
U.S. stocks followed
European markets lower after news reports said banks in Europe may have more
risky government debt on their books than was disclosed during "stress
tests" earlier this year. That could mean fees from regulators and more
capital-raising by the banks to bolster their balance sheets.
Shares of major European
banks including Barclays PLC and UBS fell, and the dollar rose against the
euro.
AP Analysis: Economic pain
failed to ease in July
Americans' economic
struggles persisted in July, largely unchanged from the previous month,
according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of conditions around the
country.
Nationally, unemployment,
foreclosure and bankruptcy rates didn't budge from June. Yet the economic pain
varied among localities, depending on their economic bases. Stress eased in
counties whose work forces lean toward areas like agriculture, mining,
wholesale trade and finance.
By contrast, counties with
many employees in the retail and real estate industries suffered higher
distress in July, according to a statistical analysis by AP.
FDA cites claims on 2 green
tea beverages
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
health regulators have issued warnings to the makers of Canada Dry ginger ale
and Lipton tea for making unsubstantiated nutritional claims about their green
tea-flavored beverages.
In a warning letter issued
Aug. 30, the Food and Drug Administration takes issue with the labeling of
Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale. The agency issued a similar letter
Aug. 23 to Unilever Inc., over website and product labeling for its Lipton
Green Tea.
Burger King adds pancakes
in breakfast push
NEW YORK (AP) -- Burger
King is introducing nine new breakfast items including blueberry biscuits and
pancake platters and planning a major breakfast marketing blitz -- all with an
eye toward eating up some of McDonald's morning business.
The chain said the move
Tuesday is its biggest introduction of new items at one time ever. It also
includes iced coffee from Seattle's Best.
Chief Marketing Officer
Mike Kappitt said the company has dabbled in breakfast for years since Burger
King introduced breakfast in 1979 but is now making it a major focus.
Bristol-Myers agrees to buy
ZymoGenetics for $885M
NEW YORK (AP) --
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. says it will acquire biotechnology company
ZymoGenetics Inc. for $885 million, or $9.75 per share.
The New York drugmaker says
its bid is worth $735 million excluding ZymoGenetics' cash on hand. Shares of
ZymoGenetics closed at $5.51 Tuesday, making Bristol-Myers' offer a premium of
77 percent. Both companies have approved the deal and the board of ZymoGenetics
is recommending that shareholders support the bid.
ZymoGenetics is based in
Seattle and makes Recothrom, a drug used to reduce bleeding during surgeries.
It is also developing a potential hepatitis C drug and experimental treatments
for skin cancer and atopic dermatitis.
Boeing slims down military
aircraft business
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Boeing
Co. is slimming down its military aircraft business and cutting workers as the
U.S. tightens defense spending and profit margins shrink.
Boeing's military division
makes the well-known Chinook transport helicopters, as well as the C-17
transport and the F/A-18 fighter-bomber.
The job cuts will start
with 10 percent of the group's executives. Boeing didn't say how many more
workers will lose jobs. It will consolidate six divisions of the business into
four.
Boeing said in July that
layoffs were likely because of expected government spending cuts. The Pentagon
has been looking for savings in weapons spending, including pressing for better
prices on the C-17 and the F-15E fighter.
Strikes in France, London
foreshadow more protests
PARIS (AP) -- French
strikers disrupted trains and planes, hospitals and mail delivery Tuesday amid
massive street protests over plans to raise the retirement age. Across the
English Channel, London subway workers unhappy with staff cuts walked off the
job.
The protests look like the
prelude to a season of strikes in Europe, from Spain to the Czech Republic, as
heavily indebted governments cut costs and chip away at some cherished but
costly benefits that underpin the European good life -- a scaling-back process
that has gained urgency with Greece's euro110 billion ($140 billion) bailout.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 107.24 points, or 1.0 percent, to close at 10,340.69.
Broader indexes also fell,
making for a weak start to a week shortened by the Labor Day holiday on Monday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 12.67, or 1.1 percent, to 1,091.84,
while the Nasdaq composite index fell 24.86, or 1.1 percent, to 2,208.89.
Benchmark crude for October
delivery fell 51 cents to settle at $74.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
October contracts, heating oil rose 1.70 cents to settle at $2.0743 a gallon,
gasoline gained 1.34 cents to settle at $1.9329 a gallon and natural gas lost
8.7 cents to settle at $3.852 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose
87 cents to settle at $77.74 on the ICE Futures exchange.