On Friday November 19, 2010, 6:09 pm EST
Bernanke defends
bond-purchase plan, warns China
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hit back at critics, both at home and abroad, who
have challenged the central bank's $600 billion bond-purchase program.
In a speech in Germany, he
argued that Congress must help support the Fed's program with further stimulus
aid. And he issued a stern warning to China, saying it and other emerging
nations are putting the global economy at risk by keeping their currencies
artificially low.
Without more stimulus, high
unemployment could persist for years, he said. But in making that argument,
Bernanke risks heightening complaints that he's plunging the Fed into partisan
politics.
Harrah's folds hand on
planned stock offering
NEW YORK (AP) -- Harrah's
Entertainment Inc. canceled its planned initial public offering Friday, folding
its hand for now on what was already a money-losing bet on returning to the
stock market just three years after the casino giant went private.
It's a big setback for the
investors who paid top dollar for the largest American casino company right
before the economy tanked and took the gambling industry with it. The
cancellation is also a sign that an improving market for stock offerings, highlighted
by General Motors Co.'s successful return to the New York Stock Exchange on
Thursday, isn't ready for debt-laden companies in industries that are still
near the bottom.
China takes new step to
rein in lending, inflation
BEIJING (AP) -- China
ordered its banks Friday to hold more money as reserves in a new move to curb
lending and rising inflation that communist leaders worry might stir unrest.
It was China's second
reserve increase in two weeks and came as Beijing tries to restore normal
financial conditions following its recovery from the global crisis and cool
inflation that surged to a 25-month high in October.
The move comes amid
heightened tensions between the United States and China over the nations'
currency and economic policies. Critics charge that China could cool its
economy and tame inflation by letting its currency, the yuan, float freely
against the dollar.
Stocks eke out gains as
China raises bank reserves
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
posted slight gains Friday after China took more steps to curb inflation, which
traders fear could slow down the country's growth.
China ordered its banks to
hold more reserves, the second time it has done so in the past two weeks. The
goal is to curb lending and avoid speculative bubbles. Inflation in China shot
up to a more than two-year high last month. Investors also expect China to
raise key interest rates as part of its effort to control inflation.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 22.32, or 0.2 percent, to 11,203.55.
FDA pulls Darvon painkiller
due to safety risks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
maker of the painkiller Darvon is pulling the drug off the market at the
request of public health officials who say the more than 50-year-old pill
causes potentially deadly heart rhythms.
The Food and Drug
Administration said Friday that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals had agreed to halt all
U.S. marketing of Darvon and the related brand Darvocet, which have been
subject to safety concerns for decades. The Kentucky company confirmed the move
in its own statement.
The FDA also ordered
generic drugmakers to stop making and selling low-cost drugs containing the
active ingredient in Darvon, called propoxyphene.
GM stock rises above
closing price from first day
DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors' stock rose the second day it traded as it rebounded from an early
swoon.
The automaker's stock
closed at $34.26, up 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, on Friday. The broader market
rose modestly.
After a successful return
to public markets the day before, GM's stock dropped $1.08 to $33.11 in the
first half-hour of trading Friday before investors started buying again.
The demand gradually lifted
the stock price until it finally rose above Thursday's close of $34.19 just
before the end of trading. The stock was traded more than 100 million times,
less than one-quarter of its volume on Thursday.
Irish, EU, IMF face
marathon talks for loan deal
DUBLIN (AP) -- As EU
experts dug through the books of Ireland's debt-crippled banks, the question
moved from whether Ireland will take an international bailout to under what
conditions.
On the firing line was
Ireland's prized low business tax, which the government says has lured 1,000
multinationals to Ireland over the past decade -- but which it may have to give
up to satisfy conditions of being rescued.
The Irish rescue is the
latest act in Europe's yearlong drama to prevent mounting debts and deficits
from overwhelming the weakest members of the 16-nation eurozone. Greece was
saved from bankruptcy in May, and analysts say Portugal could be next in line
after Ireland for an EU-IMF lifeboat.
Wells to pay Citi $100M to
settle Wachovia lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wells
Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $100 million to Citigroup Inc. to settle a
dispute related to its acquisition of Wachovia Corp. in October 2008, at the
height of the financial crisis.
Wachovia was teetering on
the brink of collapse from bad real estate loans when it initially agreed to be
bought by Citigroup in a deal supported by the U.S. government. Days later,
Wells Fargo swooped in with a sweeter deal and snatched Wachovia away from
Citigroup. An irate Citi sued Wells soon thereafter, leading to the settlement
announced Friday.
Citigroup, in its lawsuit
filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accused Wells and
Wachovia of breach of contract and sought $60 billion in damages.
Salesforce shares soaring
on cloud computing craze
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A hot
high-tech concept known as "cloud computing" is lifting
Salesforce.com Inc.'s stock to lofty heights.
The shares rocketed more than
18 percent Friday after Salesforce issued a strong third-quarter earnings
report and an optimistic management forecast that persuaded several analysts
that the stock is bound to climb even higher. As it is, Salesforce in nearly 6
1/2 year as a public company is proving to be more fruitful than high-tech
darling Google Inc.
The fervor surrounding
Salesforce has been swelling during the past year because the company appears
to be sitting in a sweet spot as more businesses and government agencies change
the way they buy and use software.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 22.32, or 0.2 percent, to 11,203.55.
The broader Standard &
Poor's 500 index rose 3.04, or 0.3 percent, to 1,199.73. The technology-focused
Nasdaq composite index rose 3.72, or 0.2 percent, to 2,518.12. The Nasdaq,
which lost less than 0.1 percent, was the only major index to finish the week
with a loss. The Dow and S&P 500 eked out weekly gains of less than 0.1
percent.
On Friday, benchmark oil
for December delivery fell 34 cents to $81.51 on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Since the contract expires Friday, many traders have shifted to the
January contract, which dropped 44 cents to $81.98 a barrel.
In other early Nymex
trading in December contracts, heating oil fell 2.07 cents to $2.2744 a gallon,
gasoline lost 3.23 cents to $2.1960 a gallon and natural gas added 15.7 cents,
or 4 percent, to $4.164 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude gave
up 71 cents to $84.34 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.