On Monday November 8, 2010, 5:50 pm EST
New Jeep helps Chrysler
narrow loss, lift outlook
DETROIT (AP) -- A
year-and-half ago, Chrysler almost went under. Now, a new version of the Jeep
Grand Cherokee is helping turn its fortunes around by narrowing its third-quarter
loss and raising its confidence as it rolls out an unprecedented 10 new models
before the end of this year.
Chrysler said Monday it cut
its losses in half between the second and third quarters, to $84 million. The
automaker raised its 2010 profit forecast, saying it will end the year with
more than triple the operating profit it previously forecast.
Even though the company is
still losing money and must improve its quality ratings, the push for good
vehicles is paying off.
Fed official raises doubts
over new Fed program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A
Federal Reserve official with a close working relationship with Chairman Ben
Bernanke is expressing skepticism over the Fed's new $600 billion program to
bolster the economy.
Kevin Warsh, a Fed
governor, warns that there are "significant risks" associated with
the Fed's bond-buying program, including the potential for triggering
inflation.
The Fed's program,
announced last week, is aimed getting Americans to spend more and invigorate
the economy by making loans cheaper. But Warsh doubts the program will have
"significant" or "durable benefits" for the economy.
Despite his reservations, Warsh voted for the program.
Stocks fall as rally runs
out of steam; Dow off 37
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
pulled back Monday as traders retreated from a rally that brought indexes to
their highest levels since the peak of the financial crisis in September 2008.
Gold crossed $1,400 an
ounce to another record on Monday as traders looked for safe places to park
money.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 37.24, or 0.3 percent, to close at 11,406.84. It surged 2.9
percent last week after the Federal Reserved announced a $600 billion stimulus
package for the U.S. economy.
The Standard and Poor's 500
index fell 2.60, or 0.2 percent, to 1,223.25.
Panel: Dollars did not
trump safety in Gulf spill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
presidential commission investigating the BP Gulf oil spill challenged claims
in Congress that the oil company and others sacrificed safety to cut costs. In
preliminary findings issued Monday, the first from an independent panel,
investigators supported many of BP's own conclusions about what led to the
disaster.
The panel's chief
investigator, Fred H. Bartlit Jr., announced 13 principal findings, many of
which seemed to track with investigations of the blowout, including BP's.
Bartlit said he agreed with "about 90 percent" of the company's own
conclusions.
One determination in
particular challenges the narrative that has dominated the headlines and
Democratic probes in Congress since the April 20 incident killed 11 and
unleashed more than 200 million gallons of crude oil from the blown-out well:
that BP made perilous choices to save money.
Qantas CEO: Oil leaks in 3
engines of its A380s
SYDNEY (AP) -- The
investigation of the engine failure that grounded Qantas' fleet of superjumbo
jets is making progress, manufacturer Rolls-Royce said Monday, while the
airline announced that tests uncovered worrying oil leaks in the engines of
three more Airbus 380s.
Australia's national
carrier said its fleet of six double-decker planes would stay grounded for
another 72 hours.
Airbus and other airlines
said they would take no action until the investigation is completed, and that
it was premature to contemplate any change from the Rolls-Royce Trent 900
engines mounted on many of the A380s -- the world's largest passenger jet.
US issues new security
rules for air cargo
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New U.S.
security rules are in place banning all cargo from Yemen and Somalia and
prohibiting toner and ink cartridges weighing more than one pound from
passenger flights, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday.
The new rules are a direct
response to the thwarted terror plot that could have taken down two cargo
planes over the U.S. last month. Terrorists in Yemen had hidden two powerful
bombs inside printers and shipped them to addresses in Chicago.
As the packages made their
way to the U.S., Saudi Arabia tipped off intelligence officials to the plot,
providing the FedEx and UPS tracking numbers that allowed officials to pinpoint
where the packages were en route.
Broadband usage growing
even as gaps persist
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S.
still faces a significant gap in residential broadband use that breaks down
along incomes, education levels and other socio-economic factors, even as
subscriptions among American households overall grew sevenfold from 2001 to
2009.
What's more, even when
controlling for key socio-economic characteristics, the U.S. continues to
confront a racial gap in residential broadband use, with non-Hispanic white
Americans and Asian-Americans more likely to go online using a high-speed
connection than African-Americans and Hispanics.
Those are some of the key
conclusions of a new analysis of Census data released Monday by the Commerce
Department.
Ellison: Oracle has $4
billion case against SAP
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) --
Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison turned up the pressure in an industrial
espionage trial Monday by testifying that archenemy SAP AG should have paid $4
billion for licenses to Oracle software.
SAP and Oracle, two of the
world's biggest business-software makers, are fighting over how much SAP should
pay to atone for the shady tactics of a now-shuttered software support
subsidiary called TomorrowNow.
SAP has already admitted to
bad behavior. It acknowledged that TomorrowNow stole customer support documents
from Oracle password-protected websites and used them to steal business from
Oracle by offering similar services at a cheaper price.
US trade deals recast India
as job growth engine
MUMBAI, India (AP) --
Indian and U.S. companies have discussed or signed over $14.9 billion in deals
around President Barack Obama's trip that will support 53,670 U.S. jobs, the
White House said.
The U.S. export content of
the deals, estimated at $9.5 billion, won't go far to settle America's trade
deficit, which was $46.3 billion in August alone, but the numbers are testament
to India's growing importance as a global market and have provoked a swell of
pride here.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 37.24, or 0.3 percent, to close at 11,406.84. It surged 2.9
percent last week after the Federal Reserved announced a $600 billion stimulus
package for the U.S. economy.
The Standard and Poor's 500
index fell 2.60, or 0.2 percent, to 1,223.25.
The Nasdaq composite index
continued to outperform other market measures, as it has done all year, edging
up 1.07, or 0.04 percent, to 2,580.05. The technology-focused index is up 13.7
percent for the year, compared to a 9.4 percent gain for the Dow and a 9.7 gain
for the S&P 500.
Benchmark oil for December
delivery settled up 21 cents to $87.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the high for the year. The price of oil has risen more than 16
percent since Labor Day.
In other Nymex trading in
December contracts, heating oil rose 1.29 cents to settle at $2.3977 a gallon,
gasoline slipped 0.15 cent to $2.1785 a gallon and natural gas added 15.1 cents
to settle at $4.088 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
gained 35 cents to settle at $88.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.