On Wednesday December 1, 2010, 5:54 pm EST
Stocks rise sharply on
signs of economic growth
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
started December with a jump. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 249 points,
its biggest gain since Sept. 1.
An encouraging employment
report and hopes that Europe's debt crisis may ease boosted major indexes on
Wednesday, erasing nearly two weeks of losses. Bond prices and the dollar fell
as investors moved money into riskier assets.
Signs that the U.S. job
market thawed in November jumpstarted the gains. ADP Employer Services, a
payroll company, said small businesses added the largest amount of workers in
three years last month, well ahead of what analysts had forecast.
Fed ID's companies that
used crisis aid programs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Federal Reserve revealed details Wednesday of trillions of dollars in emergency
aid it provided to U.S. and foreign banks during the financial crisis.
New documents show that the
most loan and other aid for U.S. institutions over time went to Citigroup, followed
by Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs,
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Many of the individual loans they took were
worth billions and had short durations but were paid back and renewed many
times.
Merrill Lynch was later
acquired by Bank of America, while Bear Stearns collapsed and was sold to
JPMorgan.
The documents are a
reminder of how crippled the financial system had become during the crisis and
how much it's recovered since. Banks earned $14 billion from July through
September this year.
Most major automakers see
strong November sales
DETROIT (AP) -- All major
automakers but Toyota reported strong U.S. sales increases in November as the
auto industry's slow-motion recovery continued to gain traction.
Ford, General Motors,
Chrysler, Nissan, Hyundai and Honda all reported double-digit increases, and
only Toyota, which has been hurt by a string of safety recalls, had a sales
drop. Overall, according to Autodata Corp., U.S. sales last month rose 17
percent from November 2009, a month marked by consumer paralysis due to high
unemployment.
The November performance
helped an industry that is trying to recover from last year's historic lows as
credit froze up and two major automakers slid through bankruptcy court. Sales
started the year with promise, peaked in May as consumer confidence rose, fell
off during the summer and now have started to rebound.
European officials seek way
out of crisis
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European
officials searched urgently Wednesday for ways to contain the region's debt
crisis, amid expectation that a rebound in government bond markets would prove
only temporary.
The EU's monetary affairs
chief, Olli Rehn, lobbied for further action from the European Central Bank
such as government bond purchases to help calm financial markets, a day ahead
of a key meeting of the bank's governing council.
Meanwhile, EU regulators
loosened rules on bank bailouts for at least another year, while Spain
announced additional cutbacks, trying to dispel concerns its economy --
regarded as potentially too big to bail out -- might falter.
Citing BP, Obama rejects
East Coast oil drilling
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pointing
to the BP blowout and risks of a new environmental disaster, the Obama
administration reversed itself Wednesday and promised not to pursue offshore
drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico or anywhere else along the nation's East
Coast.
The decision was hailed in
tourism-dependent Florida but criticized by the oil industry, which said the
administration was stifling crucial U.S. energy production and costing
recession-battered jobseekers golden opportunities for new work.
The administration had
backed a major expansion of offshore drilling earlier this year, in part to
gain support for comprehensive climate legislation in Congress, one of
President Barack Obama's top legislative goals.
With that bill now off the
table, the president stands much to gain politically by saying no to powerful
oil interests.
Economy appears headed for
strong finish for 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
economy is showing new life in the final months of the year.
Factories are busier,
construction spending is up, and auto sales are rising. And on Wednesday the
stock market had its best day since September after a report that the private
sector hired the most workers in three years.
A private trade group said
U.S. factory output grew for the 16th straight month in November as auto sales
rebounded and businesses invested more in industrial machinery.
The Institute for Supply
Management said its index of manufacturing activity came in at 56.6 for
November. Any reading above 50 indicates growth. The October figure was 56.9.
At the depths of the recession, it was closer to 30.
And a new survey by the
Federal Reserve finds that almost all of the nation -- 10 of its 12 regions --
is growing economically. Only two regions, those around Philadelphia and St.
Louis, report that business conditions are mixed.
Cyber Monday sales top $1
billion for first time
NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans
jumped on deals and promotions offered online on Cyber Monday, spending $1
billion and making it the busiest online shopping day ever, according to new
data.
Research firm comScore Inc.
says revenue rose 16 percent from a year ago to $1.03 billion on the Monday
after Thanksgiving, the first one-day spending total above $1 billion ever.
Still, analysts cautioned
that better results in stores and online during the busy Thanksgiving weekend
don't necessarily mean the whole holiday period will be strong. Shoppers might
have just been lured by discounts, pulling forward sales from December.
A better picture will
emerge Thursday, when the nation's retailers release revenue figures for the
month.
FDA panel rejects Merck
drug for prostate cancer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A panel
of federal health experts unanimously rejected the use of Merck's Proscar to
prevent prostate cancer, saying the drug could actually raise the risk of the
most serious types of tumors.
The Food and Drug
Administration panel of cancer experts voted 17-0 with one abstention that the
drug's risks outweighed its benefits. The panel is scheduled to vote later on a
similar drug from GlaxoSmithKline.
Studies by both companies
showed their drugs decrease low-grade prostate tumors by nearly 25 percent.
However, panelists noted
that a small number of men treated with the drugs actually developed more
aggressive tumors. Panelists said the risk of increasing deadly tumors
outweighed the reduction in tumors that are seldom fatal.
WikiLeaks website kicked
off Amazon's servers
NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon.com
Inc. forced WikiLeaks to stop using the U.S. company's computers to distribute
embarrassing State Department communications and other documents, WikiLeaks
said Wednesday.
The ouster came after
congressional staff questioned Amazon about its relationship with WikiLeaks,
said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut.
WikiLeaks confirmed it
hours after The Associated Press reported that Amazon's servers had stopped
hosting WikiLeaks' site. The site was unavailable for several hours before it
moved back to its previous Swedish host, Bahnhof AB.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 249.76, or 2.3 percent, to 11,255.78. The Dow's jump was big, but
didn't rank among the top five point gains this year. The Dow had its largest
gain on May 10, when it soared 404 points.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 25.52, or 2.2 percent, to 1,206.07. The Nasdaq composite rose
51.20, or 2.1 percent, to 2,549.43.
Benchmark oil for January
delivery gained $2.64, or 3.1 percent, to settle at $86.75 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline jumped 5 percent while other energy products
posted solid gains on the day.
In other Nymex trading in
January contracts, gasoline added 11.36 cents to settle at $2.3004 a gallon,
heating oil rose 8.12 cents to $2.4506 a gallon and natural gas gained 8.9
cents to $4.269 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
settled up $3.42 at $88.87 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.