On Monday November 29, 2010, 6:14 pm EST
Sales could top $1 billion
on a manic Cyber Monday
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cyber
Monday started as a gimmick to get people to shop at their desks on the first
workday after Thanksgiving. But if you promote something enough, it can take on
a life of its own.
This year, stores swamped
customers with online ads and e-mail deals, and sales could top $1 billion, making
it bigger than any single shopping day last year.
Online sales were already
running 15 percent ahead of last year's by 3 p.m. Monday, with the biggest
shopping hours of the day still to come, according to IBM's Coremetrics
tracking service.
Ireland's bailout boosts
banks, inflames taxpayers
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland's
international bailout boosted its bank stocks Monday but outraged many
hard-pressed taxpayers, who questioned why the government's pension reserves
must be ravaged as part of a deal that burdens the whole country with the
mistakes of a rich elite.
Shares in Ireland's banks
rose sharply as markets were encouraged by the bailout's immediate focus on
injecting euro10 billion into the cash-strapped lenders out of a total of
euro67.5 billion ($89 billion) in loans.
But the Irish were shocked
by a key condition for the rescue -- that the government use euro17.5 billion
of its own cash and pension reserves to shore up its public finances, which
have been overwhelmed by recession and exceptional costs of a runaway
bank-bailout effort.
Stocks end off their lows,
weighed down by Europe
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
ended lower Monday on lingering fears that Europe's debt crisis will continue
to spread even after Ireland gets bailed out. The Dow Jones industrial average
dipped below 11,000 earlier, but recovered much of its losses late in the day.
The euro fell to a
two-month low as investors flocked to the safety of the dollar and U.S.
Treasurys. Gold prices also rose.
Investors are worried that
other weak European countries like Portugal and Spain will still need help even
after the $90 billion bailout package for Ireland announced on Sunday.
Obama calls for 2-year
freeze on federal pay
WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a two-year freeze of the salaries of
some 2 million federal workers, trying to seize the deficit-cutting initiative
from Republicans with a sudden, dramatic stroke. Though signaling White House
concern over record deficits, the freeze would make only a tiny dent in annual
deficits or the nation's $14 trillion debt.
The administration said the
plan was designed to save more than $5 billion over the first two years.
The proposal, which must be
approved by Congress, would not apply to the military, but it would affect all others
on the Executive Branch payroll. It would not affect members of Congress or
their staffs, defense contractors, postal workers or federal court judges and
workers.
Wal-Mart to buy 51 percent
of South Africa company
JOHANNESBURG (AP) --
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is buying a controlling stake in South Africa's Massmart
in a 17 billion rand (approximately $2 billion) deal. The investment gives the
world's biggest retailer a foothold in the country as it looks to accelerate
growth beyond its U.S. business.
The two retailers announced
on Monday that Wal-Mart would purchase 51 percent of Massmart for 148 rand
($20.71) per share. Massmart Holdings Ltd. currently has approximately 203.5
million shares outstanding, according to Thomson Reuters.
The offer comes about a
month after Wal-Mart disclosed it would likely make the partial offer instead
of going with its original plan to buy all of Massmart for about $4.25 billion.
The deal had sparked concerns from South African unions as well as some major
stockholders.
Kraft and Starbucks spar
over distribution deal
NORTHFIELD, Ill. (AP) --
Kraft Foods Inc. said Monday it is starting an arbitration proceeding against
Starbucks Corp.'s move to end its agreement with Kraft to distribute and
promote its packaged coffee in stores.
Earlier this month,
Starbucks said it would end its agreement with the foodmaker, which began in
1998. Sales at grocery stores and other retailers are increasingly important to
Starbucks, primarily because of its Via brand.
Starbucks says Kraft did
not meet its responsibilities to work closely with Starbucks on marketing
decisions and customer contacts. It said its decision to end the distribution
agreement is consistent with terms of their contract, initially set to expire
in 2014.
UN agency pushes new rules
on air cargo security
NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.N.
agency that oversees aviation is pushing new guidelines for cargo security to
counter al-Qaida's new mail-bomb strategy, but is stopping short of calling for
100 percent screening of packages, as pilots and some U.S. lawmakers have
urged.
The proposed changes by the
International Civil Aviation Organization concentrate on "supply-chain
security," or checking outbound shipments before they even reach the
airport. A draft of new guidelines will go out to all 190 member countries in
the next few weeks, the agency says.
Governments are
increasingly worried about cargo security as the holiday season swells the
number of packages moving around the world.
BA, Iberia shareholders
approve $8.9 bln merger
LONDON (AP) -- Shareholder
approval for a 5.7 billion pound ($8.9 billion) merger between British Airways
PLC and Iberia SA to create Europe's No. 3 airline was overshadowed Monday by
the threat of new strikes at the British flag carrier.
The two airlines revealed
at concurrent shareholder meetings in London and Madrid that more than 99
percent of investors had voted in favor of the merger, which the pair hope will
help counter falling demand from both business and leisure travelers in the wake
of the global credit squeeze.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 39.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,052.49. It had been
down as many as 163 earlier in the morning, falling to 10,929.28, the lowest
level in six weeks.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index edged down 1.64, or 0.1 percent, to 1,187.76. The technology-heavy
Nasdaq composite index dropped 9.34, or 0.4 percent, to 2,525.22.
Benchmark crude for January
delivery rose $1.97 to settle at $85.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in
December contracts, heating oil rose 4.19 cents to settle at $2.3581 a gallon
and gasoline added 7.43 cents at $2.2846 a gallon. Natural gas for January
delivery lost 18.9 cents to $4.210 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
added $1.54 to settle at $87.34 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.