On Wednesday October 13, 2010, 6:20 pm EDT
JPMorgan Chase's profit
jumps 23 percent in 3Q
NEW YORK (AP) -- JPMorgan
Chase posted a 23 percent gain in net income for the third quarter Wednesday,
mostly because the banking giant set aside less money to cover losses from bad
loans.
Revenues fell sharply in a
sign that tighter regulations and a sluggish economy are taking a toll.
New York-based JPMorgan
Chase & Co., the first major bank to report third-quarter results, earned
$4.42 billion, or $1.01 per share, in the three months ending in September,
beating analysts' expectations. It earned $3.59 billion, or 82 cents, during
the same period last year. Revenues fell 15 percent to $24.3 billion.
States' probe of
foreclosures could force reforms
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A joint
investigation by every state and the District of Columbia could force mortgage
companies to settle allegations that they used flawed documents to foreclose on
hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
It could take months, at
least, for any settlement to be reached. But legal experts say lenders could be
forced to accept an independent monitor to ensure they follow state foreclosure
laws. The banks could also be subject to financial penalties and be forced to
pay some people whose foreclosures were improperly handled.
GM chairman predicts $20 to
$25 share price in IPO
DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre says that the company's stock will debut at a price
somewhere between $20 to $25 a share when its initial public offering takes
place next month.
WOAI-TV and the San Antonio
Express-News say that Whitacre spoke about the price at the Greater San Antonio
Chamber of Commerce in Texas.
GM has not officially
announced a date or price for the initial stock sale. Regulators still need to
accept the sale plan.
Whitacre says it's too
early to state the exact price.
Earnings reports push
stocks higher, Dow up 76
NEW YORK (AP) -- Better
than expected earnings reports from three corporate bellwethers helped push
stocks to their fourth day of gains on Monday, even though the companies
themselves didn't get to enjoy the rally.
Intel Corp. and JP Morgan
Chase & Co. both fell by more than a percent despite announcing double-digit
gains in profits. Their earnings reports, however, contained nuggets of hopeful
news on the direction of the broader economy.
Gulf moratorium is over but
drilling has to wait
New Orleans (AP) -- A day
after the end of the federal moratorium on deep water drilling, the Gulf oil
industry was a mix of furious activity and tortured waiting around.
Companies that are helping
the industry meet new regulations are scrambling to keep up with increased
business while oil rigs must remain idle until the new requirements are met.
Industry officials fear
that's the way things will be for months to come.
The Obama administration
lifted its moratorium on deepwater drilling Tuesday, six weeks earlier than
expected. But that doesn't allow the 30 or so rigs idled by the moratorium to
immediately get back into position and "drill, baby, drill." Rig
operators face bureaucratic and technical hurdles that could delay the
resumption of most drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet into next year.
Apple shares top $300 a
share for first time
NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple's
shares topped $300 for the first time in the company's history Wednesday as
stellar iPad sales and a planned expansion into China give investors all the
assurance the need for the iPhone maker's already healthy prospects.
Shares of Apple Inc.
climbed $1.60 to close at $300.14 after peaking at a record $301.96 earlier.
This gives Apple a market capitalization of about $273 billion. Apple had long
surpassed the scale of tech heavyweights such as Microsoft Corp., Google Inc.
and IBM, which also hit an all-time high on Wednesday.
In fact, Apple's market cap
is now trails only Exxon Mobil Corp. as a U.S. publicly traded company. Exxon's
market cap hovers around $330 billion. Big-name corporations such as Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. and General Electric Co. don't even come close.
Wal-Mart CEO says he
expects 'positive' 4Q sales
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart,
known for its giant stores and global omnipresence, is shifting gears to think
small: focusing on small and medium-size stores that it plans to open in small
towns and urban markets as it seeks to jump-start sluggish U.S. sales.
The world's largest
retailer is also bringing back "Action Alley" -- wide aisles filled
with palettes of discounted merchandise -- and offering same-day pickup for
online purchases in some areas.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
despite $405 billion in annual sales, is struggling to hold on to market share
as stubbornly high unemployment and tight credit continue to squeeze most
Americans.
Company executives also
outlined plans to expand internationally and draw more customers to Sam's Club
warehouse stores at an investor meeting in Rogers, Ark., on Wednesday.
Microsoft, Facebook team up
on social search
SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft
Corp. is starting to incorporate what your friends do on Facebook right into
its Bing search engine.
The software maker began
rolling out a new feature Wednesday that can show what someone's Facebook
friends "like" on the search results page.
On Facebook and sites
around the Web, people can click a "like" button to show support or
share information with Facebook friends. In the coming weeks, if you use Bing
to search for a topic in the news, articles that friends have shared on
Facebook might appear, along with their names and Facebook profile photos.
Restaurants and movies that friends have "liked" could help you
decide what to do on your next date.
Microsoft also added
Facebook profile results to people searches.
China September trade
weakens, surplus $16.9B
BEIJING (AP) -- China's
September trade surplus stayed high at $16.9 billion amid pressure from
Washington and others to ease currency controls they blame for job losses amid
a slowing global recovery.
Export and import growth
both weakened, hurt by slower global demand and a moderation in the rapid
expansion of China's economy, the world's second-largest, data showed
Wednesday.
The trade gap narrowed from
August's $20 billion level but might reinforce demands by American lawmakers
for Beijing to ease exchange rate controls they say give China's exporters an
unfair price advantage and are costing U.S. jobs.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 75.68, or 0.7 percent, to 11,096.08. The broad Standard &
Poor's 500 index rose 8.33, also 0.7 percent, to 1,178.10, while the Nasdaq
composite index rose 23.31, or 1 percent, to 2,441.23.
Benchmark crude oil rose
$1.34 to $83.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
November contracts, heating oil rose 3.82 cents to settle at $2.3072 a gallon,
gasoline added 4.22 cents to settle at $2.1661 a gallon and natural gas gained
6.7 cents to settle at $3.696 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
climbed $1.14 to settle at $84.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.