AP
Business
Highlights
Wednesday
March 11, 6:26 pm ET
Stocks extend gains into second day
Stocks ended with modest gains Wednesday but the Dow Jones
industrial average still recorded its first two-day climb since Feb. 5-6. The
buying was far more subdued than on Tuesday when Citigroup Inc.'s upbeat
assessment of its business sent investors rushing into the market, in part to
cover bets that stocks would continue to slide. The Dow on Wednesday ended up
nearly 4 points at 6,930.40 after jumping 379 the day before.
Ford says modified UAW pact brings foreign parity
DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that recent
modifications to its contract with the United Auto Workers union would help the
company achieve parity with wages paid in the
In a conference call to review changes to the 2007 collective
bargaining agreement, Ford said its labor and benefit costs would total $55 an
hour by the end of the year, compared with estimates of $48 to $49 at foreign
automaker plants in the
The Dearborn-based automaker said that further parity would be
achieved in the following years, but did not offer specific numbers.
Budget deficit reaches $765B in 5 months
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lower tax revenue and massive government
spending on the bank bailout pushed the federal deficit to $765 billion in the
first five months of the budget year, well on its way to hitting the Obama
administration's projection of a record annual imbalance of $1.75 trillion.
The Treasury Department also said Wednesday that the February
deficit reached $192.8 billion. That's a record for the month and up 10 percent
from a year ago, but below analysts' expectations of $205.7 billion.
Freddie Mac seeks $30.8B in
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Freddie Mac said Wednesday it will ask the
government for nearly $31 billion in additional aid after posting a gargantuan
loss of more than $50 billion last year as the
The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $23.9 billion, or
$7.37 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. That compares with a loss of
$2.5 billion, or $3.97 a share, in the year-ago period.
The recent loss was driven by $13.2 billion in hedged trades,
$7.2 billion in credit losses from the declining housing market conditions and
$7.5 billion in writedowns of the value of its
mortgage-backed securities. The company also took a charge of $8.3 billion for
now-worthless tax credits.
NY AG requests Merrill bonus order be overturned
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo
filed a request Wednesday asking a judge to end a temporary confidentiality
order that keeps private the details of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch & Co.
employees just before the firm was sold to Bank of America Corp.
A judge is scheduled to determine on Friday if a temporary order
that keeps individual bonus information confidential should be made permanent.
Bank of
Billionaire Stanford to take the 5th in fraud case
DALLAS (AP) -- Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford and one of his
top officials have asserted their Fifth Amendment right against
self-incrimination in the federal government's fraud case against them and
Stanford's companies, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
Stanford said he will "decline to testify, provide an
accounting or produce any documents" related to the Securities and
Exchange Commission's civil case, which accuses him of running a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Finance chief James M. Davis, using similar language, also
asserted his right not to incriminate himself.
Official warns Congress not to force lending
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top Treasury official told Congress
Wednesday that the federal government should not micromanage banks that receive
taxpayer assistance, a caution to lawmakers itching to see results from a $700
billion rescue program for the financial sector.
Neel Kashkari, interim assistant
secretary for financial stability at Treasury, told a congressional oversight
panel that banks should not be forced to make loans that bankers might deem
risky.
Kashkari,
who was put in the job during the Bush administration, testified amid growing
impatience among members of Congress who want evidence that the taxpayer money
and the Treasury strategies are actually loosening credit markets.
4 states see double-digit jobless rates in Jan.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four states -- California, South Carolina,
Michigan and Rhode Island -- registered unemployment rates above 10 percent in
January, and the national rate is expected to hit double digits by year-end.
The
SEC head says 'uptick rule' may be reinstated
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dramatic changes in the global economy may
merit restoring a federal rule aimed at preventing a massive plunge in a stock
price caused by a rush of short sellers, the head of the Securities and
Exchange Commission said Wednesday.
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said the agency "hopefully"
will propose for public comment next month reinstatement of the so-called
uptick rule.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top
Jim Lentz, Toyota's top U.S. executive, said he stressed the
company's concerns for
Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker in global vehicle sales, has
warned of a $3.54 billion loss for the fiscal year through March -- its first
annual loss since 1950 -- because of the economic downturn. Lentz requested the
meeting with the panel to discuss conditions of the U.S. auto industry, but
said
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 3.91, or 0.1 percent, to 6,930.40.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.76, or 0.2 percent, to
721.36, while the Nasdaq
composite index, which has a heavy representation of tech stocks, rose 13.36,
or 1 percent, to 1,371.64.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slipped 1.45, or 0.4
percent, to 366.30.
Benchmark crude for April delivery fell $3.38 to settle at $42.33
a barrel on the
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for
April delivery fell 4.6 cents to settle at $1.2512 a gallon, while heating oil
slipped 6.56 cents to settle at $1.1331 a gallon. Natural gas for April
delivery fell 4.2 cents to settle at $3.798 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent prices settled where they began at $43.96 on the ICE
Futures exchange in