Recharging debate, Obama expands
offshore drilling WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shaking up years of
energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Obama's move allows drilling from
Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska, and
exploration could begin 50 miles off the coast of Virginia by 2012. He also
wants Congress to lift a drilling ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Tortoise rally: Stocks have slow but
big 1Q gain NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks on Wednesday
ended a first quarter that many investors and analysts would describe as
healthy. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 4.9 percent by amassing a
string of steady gains that were far from the supersized jumps seen in 2009.
The Dow Jones industrials are up 4.1 percent, but with unremarkable gains of 50
points here and 15 there. They've had few of the triple-digit swings that used
to be commonplace. The market's relative tranquility has
made many analysts upbeat about the chances that its gains will hold. The
market has gotten used to the idea of a bumpy economic recovery, including the
continuing struggles of the housing market. But analysts warn, for stocks to
extend their January-March gains, investors will need to see employers hiring
again. Factory orders rise for 10th time in 11
months WASHINGTON (AP) -- Factory orders rose
in February, bolstered by strong demand for industrial machinery and commercial
aircraft. It was the 10th increase in 11 months as manufacturing continues to
provide crucial support for the nation's economic recovery. Manufacturers, which were hit hard by
the recession, are benefiting from overseas orders and increased business
spending on capital equipment. The Commerce Department said Wednesday
that new orders rose 0.6 percent last month, just ahead of analysts' estimates
for a 0.5 percent increase, according to Thomson Reuters. Still, that was the
lowest uptick since August 2009. UAW health trust gets $1.78B from
warrant auction DETROIT (AP) -- A union trust fund that
pays the health care bills for retired Ford factory workers raised $1.78
billion by selling warrants to buy the automaker's stock. The More than 200,000 retirees and their
spouses are covered by the trust, which started paying their health care costs
in January after Ford began transferring to the fund cash and other assets,
including the warrants, valued at $14.8 billion. RIM: higher 4Q profit as subscriber
base grows TORONTO (AP) -- For the three months that ended Feb.
27, RIM earned $710.1 million, or $1.27 per share. That was up 37 percent from
a year earlier and was nearly in line with analysts' predictions of $1.28 per
share. Yet revenue of $4.08 billion, while
rising 18 percent over the same period a year earlier, was short of the $4.31
billion expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Soybean, corn prices tumble after crop
report NEW YORK (AP) -- Soybeans plunged
Wednesday after the government reported that stockpiles of beans are larger
than expected. Corn and wheat also fell sharply in response to the Agriculture
Department report. The department said 2010 looks to be
another record year of soybean production. May soybeans fell 33 cents, or 3.4
percent, to settle at $9.41 a bushel. Wednesday's slide was similar to the drop
in early January after a crop report showed bigger-than-expected soybean
production. The department also said farmers intend
to plant 78.1 million acres of soybeans in 2010. That would be less than 1 percent
more than last year, but still set a new record. Oil rises near $84 with weak US dollar Oil prices rose near $84 a barrel
Wednesday as the dollar weakened and oil traders shrugged off weak job news and
a bigger-than-expected build in crude inventories. Benchmark crude for May delivery
climbed by $1.39 to settle at $83.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Even a surprisingly poor jobs report
didn't pull down oil prices. Payroll company ADP said employers slashed 23,000
private-sector jobs in March. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast
the report would show employers added 40,000 jobs during the month. CHICAGO (AP) -- The charge will hurt earnings by 20
cents per share in the first quarter of 2010. In 2013 Several other companies have said they
will take accounting charges due to the health care reform bill including
AT&T, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and 3M Co. NEW YORK (AP) -- Automakers are scheduled to report
March U.S. sales on Thursday. NEW YORK (AP) -- American, a unit of AMR Corp., also
plans to add 23 more flights to and from seven new destinations out of New
York's JFK and LaGuardia airports by the end of the year. By The Associated Press The Dow fell 51 points, or 0.5 percent,
to 10,856.63. The broader Benchmark crude for May delivery
climbed by $1.39 to settle at $83.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other Nymex trading in April
contracts, heating oil rose 3.99 cents to settle at $2.1646 a gallon, and
gasoline gained 3.53 cents to settle at $2.31 a gallon. Wednesday is the last day for trading
the April heating oil and gasoline contracts, and most traders have switched
over to May contracts. May heating oil rose 4.74 cents to settle at $2.1790 a
gallon, and May gasoline added 3.51 cents to settle at $2.3072 a gallon. Natural gas for May delivery fell 10.4
cents to settle at $3.869 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude rose $1.42 to
settle at $82.70 on the ICE futures exchange.