On Monday September 20, 2010, 5:59 pm EDT
The recession is over! So
where's the party?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It turns
out the recession ended more than a year ago.
The panel that determines
the timing of recessions concluded Monday that this one ended -- technically,
anyway -- in June 2009, and lasted 18 months. The duration makes it the longest
since World War II.
It may be over, but you
won't be hearing any cheers from the millions of Americans who are struggling
to find a job. Or are worried about the ones they have. Or have lost their
homes. Or are behind on the mortgage.
Fed to mull what would
trigger bolder aid action
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
Reserve policymakers are poised to have a lively debate Tuesday about what
steps -- if any -- are needed to get the economy moving. But few expect any
major initiatives to come out of the meeting.
There are differing views
at the Fed's main policymaking group -- the Federal Open Markets Committee --
about what should be done. And some pressure is off after a few mildly positive
economic reports showed the pace of layoffs has slowed, shoppers' appetites to
spend has picked up and factory production is growing.
The reports have helped to
ease concerns about the economy slipping back into a new recession, giving the
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues a little breathing room.
Recession pain still real,
despite end, Obama says
WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Barack Obama said Monday he doesn't care that the Great Recession has
been declared over by a group of economists. For the millions of people who are
out of work or otherwise struggling, he said, "it's still very real for
them."
Obama denied that he was
anti-business or anti-Wall Street in his economic proposals, commenting under
close questioning during a town hall-style meeting broadcast live on CNBC.
Stocks extend Sept. rally;
S&P breaks out of range
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
extended their September rally into a fourth week Monday as investors hoped for
more moves by the Federal Reserve to prop up the economy.
Buying accelerated after
the Standard & Poor's 500 index, the market measure most often used by professional
traders, broke through the high end of its recent range. Technical analysts see
that as a bullish sign for the market.
The Dow Jones industrial
average jumped 146 points to its highest close since May. Buyers were also
encouraged by an announcement from a group of economists declaring that the
most recent recession ended in June 2009.
Hewlett-Packard and former
CEO Hurd reach truce
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Mark
Hurd, the ousted CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., has squashed a lawsuit from his
former employer that sought to stop him from working at rival Oracle Corp.
HP announced the settlement
of its lawsuit Monday after the markets closed.
Under the terms of the
settlement, Hurd agreed to give up the approximately $30 million in stock he
was given in his severance package.
The PC maker said it is
confident that Hurd can perform all his duties as an Oracle co-president
without spilling HP's trade secrets.
Wal-Mart to aggressively
roll out smaller stores
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. is planning an aggressive push into urban markets with a new small
format that's a fraction of the size of its supercenters.
The expansion, expected to
be spelled out next month at the retailer's meeting with analysts at its
headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., is aimed to pump up sluggish U.S. sales.
Real estate executives said
that over this past summer, the world's largest retailer has been scouring for
small locations, around 20,000 square feet, in urban areas including New York
City, San Francisco and other cities. That size is larger than a typical
drugstore but smaller than a supermarket.
IBM buying Netezza for
about $1.7 billion
NEW YORK (AP) -- IBM Corp.
said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for Netezza Corp., a company that
helps businesses sort through data on corporate servers.
The deal would help IBM
expand in an area known as "analytics," where the company sees a
major source of growth over the next few years. IBM expects to grow annual
revenue from analytics services, software and hardware sales to $16 billion by
2015, up from $9 billion last year. It estimates the total annual market now
amounts to roughly $100 billion.
IBM has been pushing into
the analytics business through acquisitions. The company says it has spent $12
billion on 23 separate analytics companies over the past four years. Its
biggest takeover in 2009 was a $1.2 billion deal for SPSS Inc., a company that
makes analytics software for predicting future trends.
Homebuilders' confidence
stuck at 18-month low
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Homebuilders' confidence in the housing market stayed this month at the lowest
level in 18 months, and more worry that the traffic of potential buyers is
falling.
The National Association of
Home Builders said Monday that its monthly index of builders' sentiment was unchanged
in September at 13. The index has now been at the lowest level since March 2009
for two straight months.
Readings below 50 indicate
negative sentiment about the market. The last time the index was above 50 was
in April 2006.
Lennar returns to profit in
3Q and shares soar
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lennar
Corp. returned to a profitable third quarter Monday as strong completed sales
helped drive a 14 percent jump in revenue and the homebuilder's construction
costs declined.
But the absence of federal
homebuyer tax credits sapped demand in the June-August period and new home
orders fell 15 percent.
President and CEO Stuart
Miller said June was the slowest month of the quarter, while July and August
were "a little less horrible."
Discover profit falls due
to year-ago settlement
NEW YORK (AP) -- Increased
use of its credit cards and improved customer payment habits helped lift
Discover Financial Services Co.'s fiscal third-quarter results, the company
said Monday.
Sales volume for purchases
made with its cards rose 5 percent over a year ago, to $24 billion. Late
payments and write downs due to nonpayments fell.
For the three months ended
Aug. 31, Discover Financial said net income attributable to common stockholders
was $258.2 million, or 47 cents per share.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 145.77 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 10,753.62.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 17.12, or 1.5 percent, to 1,142.71. The Nasdaq composite rose
40.22, or 1.7 percent, to 2,355.83.
Benchmark crude for October
delivery rose $1.27 to settle at $76.19 a barrel on the Nymex. Heating oil
added 4.02 cents to settle at $2.1394 a gallon, gasoline gained 3.04 cents to
settle at $1.9496 a gallon and natural gas fell 20.2 cents to settle at $3.822
per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose
$1.50 to settle at $79.32 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.