AP
Business Highlights
Thursday
February 5, 6:43 pm ET
Stores see January sales fall; Wal-Mart
posts rise
The malaise crossed the spectrum of retailing, from department
stores to teen chains. Gap Inc., luxury retailer Saks Inc. and Children's Place
Retail Stores Inc. were among those posting deeper-than-expected
sales declines.
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, was a notable exception,
reporting sales that beat Wall Street's forecast, as shoppers continued to
focus on necessities like groceries.
Actors, baseball legends on Madoff
client list
All three have at least one thing in common: Their names appear
on a list of several thousand clients of disgraced financial wizard Bernard Madoff. The list has been made public in a court filing in
The list emerged late Wednesday, testament to the sweeping nature
of Madoff's alleged fraud. The 162-page list includes
Madoff's relatives, prominent business people,
celebrities, and charitable institutions. Each page carries 84 single-spaced
lines. Some customers are listed multiple times, presumably because they had
multiple accounts.
The list does not say how much money the customers may have lost,
nor does it spell out their specific connection to Madoff.
Treasury chief to unveil overhaul plan for bailout
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
and other top officials are putting the finishing touches on a plan to overhaul
the government's $700 billion financial rescue program.
A Treasury official said Geithner will
deliver a speech on Monday outlining the new plan.
But Treasury officials would not comment on a report Thursday
that the administration is considering proposing changes to the current
accounting standard that require banks to carry assets such as mortgage-backed
securities on their books at fair value, a process known as "mark to
market."
Stocks jump as retail, tech stocks advance
Investors shook off weak economic readings Thursday and placed
bets on retail and technology stocks after several companies posted
better-than-expected sales and profit reports. The major indexes gained more
than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 106
points.
Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Macy's Inc. turned
in better-than-expected sales figures for January.
New jobless claims jump more than expected to 626K
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New jobless claims jumped far more than
expected last week in an already dismal labor market, and there's no relief in
sight for workers as mass layoffs persist.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of newly
jobless workers seeking benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted
626,000, from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 591,000. The
latest total is far more than analysts' expectations of 583,000.
That's also the highest since October 1982, when the economy was
in a steep recession, though the work force has grown by about half since then.
Watchdog: Treasury overpaid for bank stocks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal
government overpaid for stocks and other assets in attempting to help financial
institutions last year, a government watchdog said Thursday, taking further
issue with the beleaguered $700 billion rescue program.
Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel
for the bailout funds, told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that
Treasury in 2008 paid $254 billion and received assets worth about $176
billion.
The figures were reached by extrapolating the results of a study
of 10 government transactions, comparing the price paid by Treasury and the
value of the asset at the time of purchase. A full report will be released
Friday.
News Corp. loses $6.4 billion in 2Q
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- News Corp., the global media giant controlled
by Rupert Murdoch, said Thursday it lost $6.4 billion in its most recent
quarter because of a massive write-down in the value of its assets.
The New York-based company, which owns The Wall Street Journal
and the Fox broadcast network, also forecast a 30 percent drop in operating
profits for the fiscal year to June from a year ago, when it earned $5.13
billion.
News Corp. shares rose 5 cents to $7.50 in after-hours trading.
Some TV stations to end analog signal on Feb. 17
When Congress postponed the mandatory transition to digital TV
until June, it also gave stations the option to stick to the originally
scheduled date of Feb. 17.
That means the shutdown of analog signals, which broadcasters had
hoped would happen at nearly the same time nationwide, could now unfold in a
confusing patchwork of different schedules.
Bank of England cuts, ECB holds steady
LONDON (AP) -- The European Central Bank halted its campaign of
interest rate cuts on Thursday, leaving its benchmark at 2 percent while the
Bank of England cut by a half-point to a record low 1 percent as it tries to
get the ailing British economy back on track.
The widely expected decisions by both banks marked their
decidedly different approaches to the global economic woes that have sent
financial markets plunging and led to thousands of layoffs, reduced worker
hours and factory shutdowns across
The ECB, central bank for the 16 countries that use the euro with
their 330 million residents and euro4 trillion ($5.6 trillion) economy, has
been more cautious in cutting rates, which can stimulate growth by lowering
borrowing costs for businesses and consumers but can stoke inflationary
pressures down the line.
Senate pushes on stimulus; Obama says time to act
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate moderates worked to cut tens of
billions of dollars from the economic stimulus bill in hopes of clearing the
way for passage Thursday as the government spit out grim new jobless figures
and President Barack Obama warned of more bad news to come.
Obama implored lawmakers in both parties to send him legislation
to begin fixing the worst economic crisis in decades.
Obama added he would "love to see additional
improvements" in the bill, a gesture to the moderates from both parties at
work on trying to trim the $920 billion price tag.
But with the Senate plodding through a fourth day of debate,
earlier talk of a large, bipartisan vote for the legislation was fading.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrials rose 106.41, or 1.34 percent, to
8,063.07. The Dow fell as much as 111 points early in the session.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500
index rose 13.62, or 1.64 percent, to 845.85, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 31.19, or 2.06 percent,
to 1,546.24.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 85 cents to settle at
$41.17 a barrel on the
In other Nymex trading, gasoline
futures rose 5.64 cents to settle at $1.2748 a gallon. Heating oil added 4.02
cents to settle at $1.3672 a gallon, while natural gas for March delivery
gained 4.5 cents to settle at $4.642 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In