On Thursday November 11, 2010, 6:16 pm EST
Specter of trade war looms
as G-20 nations gather
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --
The world's economies stand on the brink of a trade war as leaders of rich and
emerging nations gather in Seoul.
A dispute over whether
China and the United States are manipulating their currencies is threatening to
resurrect destructive protectionist policies like those that worsened the Great
Depression. The biggest fear is that trade barriers will send the global
economy back into recession.
Hopes had been high that
the Group of 20, which includes wealthy nations like Germany and the U.S. and
rising giants like China, could be a forum to forge a lasting global economic
recovery. Yet so far, G-20 countries haven't agreed on an agenda, let alone
solutions to the problems that divide them.
G-20 leaders were expected
to issue a communique detailing results of the summit on Friday.
SKorea, US fail to finalize
stalled trade deal
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --
South Korea and the United States failed to score a breakthrough on a
long-stalled free trade agreement and will keep negotiating, their presidents
said Thursday, in a sharp setback to hopes of speedily ratifying the ambitious
accord.
The two sides have been
holding negotiations this week to jump-start the deal to slash tariffs and
other barriers to trade that was signed in 2007 when previous administrations
were in power. It remains unratified by lawmakers in both countries.
Progress has been slowed by
U.S. demands that South Korea reduce its surplus in auto trade and further open
its market for American beef. The global financial crisis in 2008 and recession
that followed also sapped momentum.
New 'Call of Duty' blasts
last year's sales record
NEW YORK (AP) -- "Call
of Duty: Black Ops" blasted entertainment records this week by raking in
$360 million in its first 24 hours on sale, a dramatic and lucrative indication
that video games have cemented their place as mainstream entertainment on a par
with movies, books and music.
For the hordes of devoted
fans who waited at midnight Monday to get their hands on the military shooter,
this is hardly a surprise. For them, popping the new "Call of Duty"
into a game console is the equivalent of turning on the TV to watch the Super
Bowl or sitting back with a tub of popcorn to watch the latest blockbuster
movie.
But while movies happen at
you, video games allow the user to affect the story's outcome. That hands-on
experience and interactions with other players fit the emerging social-media
era where consumers demand a voice in whatever they do.
Holiday shopping battle
starts to get pitched
NEW YORK (AP) -- From free
shipping from Wal-Mart to Sears stores open on Thanksgiving for the first time,
the battle for holiday shoppers' dollars has begun in earnest.
The early competition to
break through shoppers' caution about spending promises savings for those
willing to buy amid an economy that's still worrying many. It also promises
convenience. Retailers are offering deals anytime, anywhere their customers
want, through websites, smart phones and Facebook.
Black Friday, the day after
Thanksgiving that typically kicks off holiday shopping, is not only being
marketed as "Black Friday week," but for a growing number of stores,
"Black Friday month."
Stocks sink as Cisco's
outlook disappoints
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
tumbled Thursday after a disappointing outlook from Cisco Systems Inc. rattled
a market already on edge as an economic summit of world leaders got under way
in South Korea.
Global leaders were sharply
divided over currency and trade policies heading in to the Group of 20 summit
meeting in Korea, and a sense of pessimism was hanging over the start of the
meeting of top officials from rich and emerging economies.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 73.94, or 0.7 percent, to close at 11,283.10, after trading down
as much as 126 earlier in the day. The index has fallen for three out of the
last four sessions.
Cisco's shortfall an omen
for rest of tech world
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A
gloomy outlook from Cisco is shaking some investors' faith in the strength of
the technology industry's recovery.
Corporations have loosened
their purse strings after slashing their budgets. Some governments have poured
money into stimulus-fueled technology projects. Consumers are starting to snap
up cell phones and gadgets again after backing off in the past few quarters.
But Cisco Systems Inc.
revealed severe slowdowns in spending by state and local governments in the
U.S. and by governments in Japan and Europe. That has investors worried that
other companies will show similar trends when they report their next earnings.
Companies yank cord on
residential phone books
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) --
What's black and white and read all over? Not the white pages, which is why
regulators have begun granting telecommunications companies the go-ahead to
stop mass-printing residential phone books, a musty fixture of Americans'
kitchen counters, refrigerator tops and junk drawers.
In the past month alone,
New York, Florida and Pennsylvania approved Verizon Communications Inc.'s
request to quit distributing residential white pages. Residents in Virginia
have until Nov. 19 to provide comments on a similar request pending with state
regulators.
Telephone companies argue
that most consumers now check the Internet rather than flip through pages when
they want to reach out and touch someone.
Disney 4Q comes in below
forecasts; shares fall
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The
Walt Disney Co. said Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 7
percent, hurt by the shift of some revenue for ESPN to the third quarter and
one fewer week in the quarter than a year ago. The results were short of
analysts' expectations and shares fell.
Net income in the three
months to Oct. 2 fell to $835 million, or 43 cents per share, from $895
million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.
Factoring out one-time
items, adjusted earnings came to 45 cents per share, down from 46 cents a year
ago and a penny below the forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Viacom to sell 'Rock Band';
earnings top estimates
NEW YORK (AP) -- Viacom
Inc. said Thursday that it plans to sell the company that developed the
"Rock Band" video game franchise, a move that cut the media
conglomerate's third-quarter earnings by 59 percent.
The division, called
Harmonix, has dragged on the company's results for the past several quarters as
shoppers continue to avoid big discretionary buys. Music games such as
"Rock Band" have struggled in particular because of the pricey
accessories required to play them.
But Viacom's results
otherwise beat Wall Street expectations, and its publicly traded shares climbed
nearly 3 percent.
Europe faces prospect of
more bailouts
LONDON (AP) -- Europe's
government debt crisis intensified Thursday as worries grew that the
continent's most financially troubled countries, mainly Ireland and Portugal,
will need a bailout to avoid bankruptcy just as Greece did earlier this year.
Ireland was the epicenter
of the latest shockwave through Europe's financial system, with fears growing
that its bank bailout -- the world's costliest when measured per capita -- will
overwhelm the country's finances and force the government to seek a financial
rescue from its partners in the shared euro currency.
The price investors demand
to hold the debt of Ireland hit new euro-era highs on Thursday. Those high
yields are both signs of market fear and a big problem for the Irish
government, as it indicates how expensive it will be for it to borrow the next
time it needs to.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 74, or 0.7 percent, to close at 11,283 Thursday. It had been down
as much as 126 earlier.
The S&P 500 index fell
5, or 0.4 percent, to 1,213, and the Nasdaq lost 23, or 0.9 percent, to 2,555.
Benchmark oil for December
delivery was unchanged at $87.81 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
December contracts, heating oil fell $1.53 to $2.4266 a gallon and gasoline
slipped less than a penny to $2.2357 a gallon. Natural gas was down 11.9 cents
at $3.927 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
slipped 15 cents to $88.81 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.