On Thursday January 14, 2010, 5:43 pm
Retail sales fall unexpectedly; jobless
claims up
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retail sales
unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on
record and highlighting the formidable hurdles facing the economy as it
struggles to recover from the deepest recession in seven decades.
In another disappointing economic
report, the number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits
rose more than expected last week as jobs remain scarce.
Still, many economists, puzzled by the
retail sales decline that follows reports from retailers of brighter holidays,
cautioned that the December figures don't necessarily signal a big consumer
pullback and could be a blip.
Stocks rise as optimism builds about
earnings
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Dow Jones
industrial average closed above 10,700 for the first time in 15 months on
Thursday as investors bet that stronger results would revive a disappointing
start to the corporate earnings season.
The stock market's advance was uneven,
with technology stocks rising ahead of quarterly earnings from chip maker Intel
Corp. and financials climbing before a profit report from JPMorgan Chase &
Co. due Friday. Safe havens like utilities and consumer staples stocks fell.
The Dow industrials rose 30 points to
10,710.55, while broader indexes posted bigger advances.
Obama tells banks: `We want our money
back'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack
Obama told banks Thursday they should pay a new tax to recoup the cost of
bailing out foundering firms at the height of the financial crisis. "We
want our money back," he said.
In a brief appearance with advisers at
the White House, Obama branded the latest round of bank bonuses as
"obscene." But he said his goal was to prevent such excesses in the
future, not to punish banks for past behavior.
The tax, which would require
congressional approval, would last at least 10 years and generate about $90
billion over the decade, according to administration estimates.
Google's decision on China traces back
to founders
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc.
co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have always said they put their
principles before profit, even to the point of using their control of the
company to take a stand.
The billionaires' idealism underlies a
potentially expensive decision disclosed this week: Google's threat to leave
China's rapidly growing Internet market in defense of free speech and its
users' privacy rights.
It's a bold move unlikely to be made
without the explicit support of Page and Brin, given the possible fallout.
Departing the world's most populous country could slow Google's earnings growth
and weigh on its stock.
Geithner will testify on secretive
bailout deals
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner is set to testify before a House probe into his role in deals
that sent billions of bailout dollars to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other big
banks.
Staffers for the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform say Geithner is confirmed to appear at a
hearing Jan. 27 on the bailout of American International Group Inc.
The committee wants to know why the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York paid banks to cancel their contracts with AIG
and didn't demand concessions. The deals might have cost taxpayers billions
more than necessary.
Feds step up antitrust investigation
into Monsanto
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Justice
Department has intensified its antitrust investigation into Monsanto Co.,
demanding internal documents that outline marketing tactics of the world's
biggest seed company.
The demand, disclosed Thursday by
Monsanto, formalizes a months long investigation into possible antitrust
violations at the company, which has gained unprecedented power in the
multibillion market for biotech seeds. It has already provided millions of
pages of documents to the department and is cooperating with the agency's civil
probe, spokesman Lee Quarles said Thursday.
Bernanke makes case for Fed keeping
banking powers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke waged a fresh battle against Senate efforts to strip the
Fed from banking supervision.
Bernanke, in a paper to Congress
released Thursday, argued that stripping the Fed of such power would deprive
the central bank of information that factors into the setting of interest rates
to influence overall economic activity.
During the most recent financial
crisis, information from banking supervisors helped Fed officials better
understand the depths of credit problems, leading them to lower interest rates
more quickly and aggressively than they otherwise would, the paper said.
Cadbury makes final defense against
Kraft
LONDON (AP) -- Cadbury PLC said
Thursday that The Hershey Co. would have to "pay a great price" if it
decided to formally wade into the bidding against Kraft Foods Inc. for the
British candy maker.
As Cadbury made its final formal
defense against Kraft's "derisory" hostile 10.3 billion pound ($16.5
billion) bid by reporting strong 2009 sales growth, Chairman Roger Carr was
more amenable about the prospect of a Hershey bid.
However, he said there was more of a
natural understanding between Hershey and Cadbury as two pure play
confectionary companies, adding that Hershey would have more to gain from any
deal by acquiring Cadbury's international breadth.
European Central Bank: Recovery to be
uneven
LONDON (AP) -- European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet indicated interest rates in the 16-country euro area
would not be rising soon amid an uneven economic recovery, and dismissed
speculation that Greece might leave the euro over its budget crisis.
At its meeting Thursday in Frankfurt,
the bank, which sets policy for single currency zone and its 330 million
people, kept its main refinancing rate at a historic low of 1 percent for the
eighth month running.
Trichet warned at a news conference
afterward that a tentative recovery that started at the end of last year is
likely to be "uneven" and that growth would only be
"moderate."
Intel 4Q profit climbs as PC market
turns around
Intel Corp. said Thursday its
fourth-quarter profit ballooned as a strong rebound in the personal computer
market overcame a hefty payment Intel made to its biggest rival.
Intel also said its revenue and profit
margin in the current quarter could be better than what analysts are expecting,
and its shares rose in extended trading.
Computer shipments grew more sharply
than expected in the fourth quarter, and Intel supplies the vast majority of PC
microprocessors. That helped Intel generate net income of $2.3 billion, or 40
cents per share. That was more than nine times as much as it earned in the
year-ago quarter, when profit totaled $234 million, or 4 cents per share.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 29.78, or 0.3 percent, to
10,710.55.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500
index rose 2.78, or 0.2 percent, to 1,148.46, and the Nasdaq composite index
rose 8.84, or 0.4 percent, to 2,316.74.
Benchmark crude for February delivery
fell 26 cents to settle at $79.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude for February delivery gave up 40 cents at $77.91 a
barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Natural gas prices dipped 14.5 cents on
the inventory report to settle at $5.588 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, at one point falling almost 4 percent.
In other Nymex trading in February
contracts, heating oil dropped 1.17 cents to settle at $2.0829 a gallon and
gasoline gained 1.36 cents to settle at $2.0738 a gallon.