On Thursday February 4, 2010, 5:55 pm
EST
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Earlier Thursday, the
The company says it made a change in
the 2010 braking system last month to correct cars in production. The company
has not made a decision about cars on the road.
Stocks tumble on worries about jobs,
European debt
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks buckled Thursday
under the growing belief that the global economy is weaker than many investors
expected and likely to stop companies from hiring. The Dow Jones industrials
briefly traded below 10,000 for the first time in three months.
A flood of bad news, including rising
debt levels in European nations and an unexpected jump in the number of
Americans filing for unemployment benefits, had investors pulling money out of
assets like stocks and commodities that look increasingly risky. Fears of more
disappointing news Friday, when the government issues its January employment
report, contributed to the slide.
The Dow fell 268.37, or 2.6 percent, to
10,002.18. The Dow has fallen 723 points, or 6.7 percent, since closing at a
15-month high of 10,725.43 on Jan. 19.
New York AG filing civil charges
against BofA
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Attorney
General's office said Thursday it filed civil charges against Bank of America
and its former CEO Ken Lewis, saying the bank misled investors about
Civil charges were also being filed
against Joe Price, who was chief financial officer at the time of the deal and
is now head of BofA's consumer banking division.
At the same time
Companies boost productivity and put
off hiring
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Employers are
managing to boost production without creating new jobs. The question is when
they'll feel the need to ramp up hiring.
Squeezing more output from their
existing staffs allowed companies to boost productivity in the October-December
quarter. And last week, the number of people filing new claims for jobless aid
rose. The two Labor Department reports Thursday suggested that companies are
still cutting costs and putting off hiring even as the economy recovers.
Many employers lack confidence that the
recovery is sustainable, especially as government stimulus measures fade,
economists said. Companies still feel bruised from the recession.
Retailers report solid gains in key
figure for Jan
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wealthier shoppers
went on a buying binge in January and even middle-income Americans spent a
little more, retailers said Thursday. Some chains reported their brightest
monthly results in years.
The prospects for many stores'
fourth-quarter profit also brightened further. Macy's, Gap Inc., Children's
Place Retail Stores Inc. and others raised their outlooks Thursday, because
they didn't have to discount as heavily to sell what they ordered for the
holiday season and their total sales rose.
Compared with a sharp drop last year in
January sales at stores open a least a year, the strong performances offered a
nice finish to the industry's fiscal year, which typically ends in January.
New ketchup packet allows for dunking
or squeezing
For decades there was only one way to
use the humble ketchup packet, and it was messy. Now, thanks to a redesign by
Heinz, fast-food lovers have a choice: the traditional squeeze play -- or the
option to dunk.
You want fries with that, in the
minivan? No problem.
The redesigned ketchup pack, unveiled
Thursday by H.J. Heinz Co., is shaped like a shallow cup. The top can be peeled
back for dipping, or the end can be torn off for squeezing. It holds three
times as much ketchup as a traditional packet.
Heinz struggled for years to develop a
container that lets diners dip or squeeze, and to produce it at a cost that is
acceptable to its restaurant customers.
Energy prices swoon on bleak jobs data,
stocks
NEW YORK (AP) -- Energy prices dropped
Thursday as dismal job news, a sinking stock market and a lower-than-expected
draw on natural gas supplies dimmed hopes for stronger energy demand.
Benchmark oil for March delivery fell
$3.84 to settle at $73.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was
the biggest one-day drop in four months.
In London, Brent crude for March
delivery shed $3.79 to settle at $72.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Natural gas prices lost 0.3 cent to
settle at $5.416 per 1,000 cubic feet, after the
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional
Democrats challenged executives from Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal on
Thursday to show that the cable TV operator's plan to take control of the
entertainment company won't hurt consumers and rivals.
In back-to-back hearings, members of
Comcast is seeking federal approval to
acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co. The
Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are expected to
sign off, but likely with conditions. Input from Congress could sway the
outcome of those regulatory reviews.
S&P cuts Berkshire's rating, cites
Burlington deal
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Standard &
Poor's has followed through on its warning and lowered Berkshire Hathaway
Inc.'s long-term credit rating Thursday as the Omaha firm readies to acquire
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
The ratings agency lowered Berkshire's
rating one notch to "AA+" from "AAA," its highest
designation.
S&P also removed the ratings from
CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications in November, and
called the outlook stable.
Berkshire Hathaway officials didn't
immediately respond to a request for comment.
GlaxoSmithKline Q4 profit up 66 pct
LONDON (AP) -- GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the
world's second largest drug maker by revenue, reported Thursday that its
fourth-quarter profit soared by 66 percent, boosted by strong sales of swine
flu vaccine and flu medicine.
In the three months ending Dec. 31, Glaxo
turned a net profit of 1.63 billion pounds ($2.6 billion), compared to 982
million pounds a year earlier. The strong finish pushed full-year profits up 20
percent to 5.5 billion pounds.
Sales of Relenza, the company's drug
for treating flu, totaled 720 million pounds for the year, compared to just 57
million pounds in 2008. In the fourth quarter, Relenza sales rose to 256
million pounds from 13 million pounds a year earlier.
By The Associated Press
The Dow fell 268.37, or 2.6 percent, to
10,002.18. The Dow has fallen 723 points, or 6.7 percent, since closing at a
15-month high of 10,725.43 on Jan. 19.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500
index fell 34.17, or 3.1 percent, to 1,063.11, its steepest drop since April
20, 2009.
The
Benchmark oil for March delivery fell
$3.84 to settle at $73.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was
the biggest one-day drop in four months.
In London, Brent crude for March
delivery shed $3.79 to settle at $72.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Natural gas prices lost 0.3 cent to
settle at $5.416 per 1,000 cubic feet, after the
In other Nymex trading in March
contracts, heating oil fell 8.42 cents to settle at $1.9352 a gallon, while
gasoline dropped 8.54 cents to settle at $1.9508 a gallon.
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