On Friday April 23, 2010, 5:38 pm EDT
Lawmakers turn to credit raters,
prepare overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers rewriting
financial regulations took aim Friday at credit rating agencies, whose analysts
often gave safe ratings to risky investments that contributed to the financial
crisis.
At a hearing Levin chaired Friday,
former executives acknowledged that competition within the industry often led
the agencies' analysts to rate high-risk securities as safe.
Greece seeks bailout from IMF, European
Union
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Hobbled by
exorbitant borrowing costs, Greece triggered an emergency aid plan Friday to
draw cash from the International Monetary Fund and countries that use the euro
-- the first test of whether the EU is prepared to bail out one of its members.
The package has enough money to keep
Greece from defaulting on its massive debts anytime soon. But Athens still
faces years of painful cutbacks and questions about its long-term finances,
raising worries that its troubles will affect other indebted members of the
European Union and further harm the euro currency.
New home sales, orders for most durable
goods rise
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes
took the biggest monthly jump in 47 years in March, while orders for most large
manufactured products rose by the largest amount since the recession started.
The two reports were a sign that the
recovery is picking up speed, and some economists are raising their estimates
for U.S. economic growth this year.
Factories are benefiting from a sharp
increase in orders from U.S. and foreign businesses. But the housing market's
fuel is coming from a less sustainable source: government subsidies. Some
analysts predict demand for homes will fall again over the summer, preventing
the beleaguered sector from adding much to the economic recovery.
Stocks rise again; Dow up for 8th
straight week
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks rose Friday
after a strong report on new home sales offset mixed news from corporate
earnings reports. The market was held in check for much of the day after Greece
decided to tap a bailout program.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed
higher for the 11th time in the past 12 trading days. Friday's gains wrapped up
the index's eighth consecutive weekly gain, which matches the longest winning
streak for the Dow since a two-month stretch that ended in January 2004.
The Dow rose 69.99, or 0.6 percent, to
11,204.28. Five stocks rose for every two that fell on the
Administration trims bailout cost
estimate to $87B
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner is telling Congress that the administration believes the final
cost of the government's heavily criticized financial bailout effort could be
as low as $87 billion.
Geithner made the new estimate in a
letter Friday to congressional leaders that was obtained by The Associated
Press.
A year ago, officials were estimating
the bailout could cost as much as $500 billion.
The new estimate said the biggest
losses will occur from the government's support of mortgage companies
Tax evader who blamed Holocaust gets 10
months
MIAMI (AP) -- A tax evader was
sentenced Friday to 10 months in federal prison after claiming his Jewish
parents' experience fleeing the Nazi Holocaust drove him to compulsively hide
more than $10 million in secret accounts at Swiss bank UBS AG and other
offshore tax havens.
U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan
imposed the longest sentence to date for a UBS client against 65-year-old Jack
Barouh, even after giving him credit for cooperating in the ongoing
investigation and belatedly attempting to come clean with the Internal Revenue
Service.
Oil drilling accidents prompted new
safety rules
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal agency
that oversees offshore oil drilling was so concerned about deaths and injuries
it had documented that it was moving to impose new safety rules even before
this week's oil rig explosion off the Louisiana coast, according to records obtained
by The Associated Press.
A Minerals and Management Service
review published last year found 41 deaths and 302 injuries out of 1,443
accidents, the majority caused by human error and operational and maintenance
problems. The new rules focus on preventing human error, a safety area that
hadn't received as much attention in the past.
Schlumberger 1st-quarter profit falls
28 percent
NEW YORK (AP) -- Schlumberger Ltd. on
Friday posted another drop in earnings while saying it continues to see signs
of improving demand for its services.
First-quarter profit fell 28 percent at
the world's biggest oilfield services provider. Revenue declined almost 7
percent and Schlumberger incurred charges related to health care reform.
But the company said evidence is
mounting that higher oil prices will lead to increased drilling activity by its
international customers. Slumping demand for oil and a plunge in prices in late
2008 and early 2009 had curtailed oil exploration and production around the
globe.
Xerox's 1Q results lift stock as
revenue climbs
NEW YORK (AP) -- Xerox Corp. posted its
first quarter of revenue growth in more than a year on Friday, boosted by its
foray into the services business and an upswing in corporate spending on
printer and copier supplies.
The company also offered a
second-quarter earnings forecast that topped Wall Street expectations.
Its stock rose 90 cents, or 8.6
percent, to $11.35 in late afternoon trading after hitting a new 52-week high
of $11.72 earlier in the day.
The results came about 10 weeks after
Xerox closed its $6.4 billion acquisition of business outsourcer Affiliated
Computer Services Inc. and offered more evidence that companies are loosening
their purse strings as the recession eases.
GM replaces longtime Chevrolet
advertising agency
DETROIT (AP) -- The agency that created
the line "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet" and other memorable ad
campaigns for the car brand over the past 91 years is being replaced.
Campbell-Ewald has been the Chevrolet
ad agency since 1919. Its other ad themes for Chevy have included
"Heartbeat of America" and "Like a Rock." GM thanked
Campbell-Ewald for its years of service.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 69.99, or 0.6 percent, to
11,204.28.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index
rose 8.61, or 0.7 percent, to 1,217.28, while the
Benchmark crude for June delivery rose
$1.42 to settle at $85.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading in May
contracts, heating oil rose 3.55 cents to settle at $2.2505 a gallon, and
gasoline gained 5.29 cents to close at $2.3531 a gallon. Natural gas rose 12.9
cents to settle at $4.257 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude advanced $1.58
to settle at $87.25 on the ICE Futures exchange.