On Monday January 11, 2010, 5:52 pm
Finally, US automakers
start to see improvement
DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors may reopen some shuttered factories because it can't produce four of its
vehicles fast enough to meet demand, and Chrysler is set to hire more engineers
and product development workers.
While both companies still
depend on government help, the moves are signs of increased confidence that the
U.S. auto market bottomed out last year and will improve in 2010, even without
a jolt from a Cash for Clunkers-style program.
GM factories making the
Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX, all SUV-like crossovers, and
the Buick LaCrosse sedan are at or near capacity, GM's North American
president, Mark Reuss, told reporters at the Detroit auto show.
Alcoa sales slide though
net loss shrinks
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Alcoa
Inc. on Monday reported a smaller net loss for the fourth quarter Monday,
though revenue shrank without improvement in its aerospace, commercial building
and gas turbines businesses.
The company, based in
Pittsburgh, reported a net loss of $277 million, or 28 cents per share,
compared with a loss of $1.19 billion, or $1.49 per share, a year ago.
The most recent quarter
included $275 million, or 28 cents a share, in special charges. Revenue fell to
$5.43 billion from $5.68 billion.
SEC expands charges against
BofA
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
regulators have expanded their charges against Bank of America Corp. over
billions in bonuses paid at Merrill Lynch, accusing the bank of failing to
disclose mounting losses at Merrill before a shareholder vote approving the
combination of the two firms.
The Securities and Exchange
Commission announced Monday it had asked a federal judge in Manhattan to allow
it to file the new charges against the biggest U.S. bank. But the SEC also said
it wouldn't charge any individual Bank of America officials, directors or
attorneys because they are not alleged to have "deliberately
concealed" information from the bank's outside attorneys or otherwise
acted with intent to mislead.
Stocks end mostly higher as
industrials gain
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hopes that
global manufacturing activity is heating up lifted industrial stocks Monday
ahead of an earnings report from Alcoa Inc.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 46 points to 10,663.99, while the broader Standard & Poor's
500 index advanced for a sixth straight day. The Nasdaq composite index
slipped.
After the closing bell,
Alcoa posted revenue that topped expectations, but profits excluding one-time
costs fell short of forecasts. The report from the nation's largest aluminum
producer gave traders one of the first looks at how companies fared in the final
quarter of 2009. Earnings reports begin arriving in greater numbers next week
and will shape traders' assessment of the economy.
Gasoline prices zip toward
$3 mark
Gasoline prices on Monday
continued their push toward $3 per gallon.
Prices have been jumping on
the back of a strong oil market where the cost for a barrel has spiked 20
percent in the past month on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Skyrocketing gasoline
prices couldn't come at a worse time for motorists, who will see heating bills
jump after the worst cold spell in years.
Oil prices are now about
three times what they were a year ago.
Benchmark crude for
February delivery fell 23 cents to settle at $82.52 a barrel on the Nymex
Monday, despite signs of strong demand from China and a weak dollar.
Pelosi, LaHood laud US
investment in autos
DETROIT (AP) -- House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Obama administration officials defended last
year's federal bailout of the auto industry on Monday, citing optimism that
General Motors and Chrysler had made strides only months after exiting
bankruptcy.
Pelosi, D-Calif., and more
than a dozen lawmakers traveled to the auto industry's annual showcase.
Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood, who also toured the show, said the administration made the right
decision to save GM, Chrysler and auto lender GMAC Financial Services with
about $80 billion in aid, along with a separate $3 billion Cash for Clunkers
program that boosted auto sales during last summer's doldrums.
Heineken to buy Mexico's
Femsa for $5.5B in shares
AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Dutch
brewer Heineken NV said Monday it will buy the beer-making operations of
Mexico's Femsa in an all-share deal that values the maker of Dos Equis, Tecate
and Sol beers at $5.5 billion, excluding debt.
The buy increases
Amsterdam, Netherlands-based Heineken's presence in growth markets and cements
its position as the world's second-largest brewer by sales. It also continues a
decade-long trend toward concentration among the biggest players in the global
beer market.
Femsa Cerveza brands have a
43 percent market share in Mexico and a 9 percent share in Brazil -- two of the
world's top four most profitable beer markets, and both still fast-growing.
AOL to lay off up to 1,200
workers to reach target
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The
struggling Internet company AOL was laying off up to 1,200 workers this week
because it didn't get enough volunteers to accept buyouts.
AOL spokeswoman Tricia
Primrose said Monday that only 1,100 had volunteered to leave. That means AOL
would need to shed up to 1,200 positions to reach its previously announced
reduction target of up to 2,300, or about a third of its work force.
The cuts, which were on top
of thousands of positions shed in recent years, came as AOL separated from Time
Warner Inc. last month. AOL acquired Time Warner at the height of the dot-com
boom in 2001, but the combination proved disastrous, prompting Time Warner to
spin AOL off as a separate company.
Electronic Arts lowers
guidance for 2010
NEW YORK (AP) -- Video game
publisher Electronic Arts Inc. cut its full-year guidance on Monday as it
blamed weak demand in Europe and a shift toward games with lower profit margins
in North America.
The news sent shares down
sharply in extended trading.
For the fiscal year ending
in March, EA lowered its adjusted profit outlook to between 40 cents and 55
cents per share. That is down sharply from its earlier outlook of 70 cents to
$1 per share, and below analysts' expectations of 79 cents per share, as polled
by Thomson Reuters.
McDonald's promotes US
chief to president job
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) --
McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food chain, on Monday said the head
of its U.S. operations will become the company's new president and chief
operating officer.
Don Thompson will assume
his new role immediately and help oversee the burger chain's 32,000 worldwide
locations.
The 46-year-old replaces
longtime executive Ralph Alvarez, who retired at the end of the year for health
reasons. Alvarez had been thought to be a possible successor to current CEO Jim
Skinner.
Thompson began working at
the suburban Chicago fast food chain in 1990 and rose through the ranks. He was
named president of the company's U.S division in 2006.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 45.80, or 0.4
percent, to 10,663.99. The S&P 500 index rose 2.00, or 0.2 percent, to
1,146.98, while the Nasdaq fell 4.76, or 0.2 percent, to 2,312.41.
Benchmark crude for
February delivery fell 23 cents to settle at $82.52 a barrel.
In other Nymex trading in
February contracts, heating oil fell 2.02 cents to settle at $2.1801 a gallon
while gasoline fell 1.26 cents to settle at $2.1427 a gallon. Natural gas
futures fell 29.5 cents to settle at $5.454 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for
February delivery fell 40 cents to settle at $80.97 a barrel on the ICE Futures
exchange.