On Wednesday May 26, 2010, 6:10 pm
BP begins 'top kill' method to try to
plug gusher
COVINGTON, La. (AP) -- BP on Wednesday
launched its latest bid to plug the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico by
force-feeding it heavy drilling mud, a maneuver known as a "top kill"
that has never before been tried 5,000 feet underwater.
The oil giant's chief executive earlier
gave the procedure a 60 to 70 percent chance of working, and President Barack
Obama cautioned Wednesday there were "no guarantees."
BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the
company will pump mud for hours, and officials have indicated it may be a
couple of days before they know whether the procedure is working. The top kill
involves pumping enough mud into the gusher to overcome the flow of oil, and
engineers plan to follow it up with cement to try to permanently seal the well.
Facebook to simplify privacy controls
amid unrest
NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook is
simplifying its privacy controls amid growing unrest from many of its users.
Protesters have been organizing
campaigns to quit Facebook and privacy groups have complained to regulators
after Facebook announced new features last month, including "instant
personalization" that tailors other websites to users' Facebook profiles.
One complaint has been over the fact
that while Facebook allows users to hide their list of interests on their
personal profile pages, the user would still show up elsewhere as
"liking" that band, company or hobby. Zuckerberg said that under the
simplified controls, privacy preferences will be extending to those other
places as well.
Factory orders and new-home sales rise
in April
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economic
recovery got a lift in April as orders for large manufactured goods surged
while sales of new homes benefited from homebuyer tax credits.
Manufacturing is helping drive the
rebound. But some economists worry about the threat posed to U.S. exports from
the widening debt crisis in Europe. And some fear that home sales will falter
in coming months because the tax breaks for buyers have expired.
Still, economists found the two
Commerce Department reports generally encouraging.
Stocks fade late as euro sinks; Dow
ends under 10K
NEW YORK (AP) -- A drop in the euro set
off a late-day slide in stocks Wednesday and sent the Dow Jones industrial
average to its first close below 10,000 in nearly four months.
The Dow, up 135 points in morning
trading, ended down about 69. It was the eighth drop for the Dow in 10 days. Wednesday's
trading extended a streak of volatility since stocks went to their highest
level of the year in late April.
The late reversal underscored how
jittery traders are about Europe. They are worried that heavy debt loads in
European countries and more rounds of cost-cutting will hamper a recovery
there, which could spread quickly to other regions.
Treasury: AIG in better shape to repay
bailout
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Insurance giant
American International Group Inc. is better positioned to pay back all of its
$182 billion federal bailout, a key Treasury official testified Wednesday.
But AIG's ability to repay taxpayers
depends on its future profitability and the insurance industry's strength,
Treasury chief restructuring officer Jim Millstein said. He said AIG must
complete the planned sales of two large insurance subsidiaries and regain the
market's confidence.
The Congressional Oversight Panel,
which is monitoring the $700 billion financial bailout, has criticized
officials who managed the bailout for failing to consider alternatives, such as
filing for bankruptcy or demanding concessions from AIG's creditors.
Disney exec's assistant charged in
trade scheme
NEW YORK (AP) -- An assistant to a top
executive at Walt Disney Co. was arrested Wednesday along with her boyfriend on
charges that they offered to sell secrets about the company's financial picture
to investment companies, authorities said.
Bonnie Hoxie, who had been a secretary
to Disney's head of corporate communications, was accused of conspiracy and wire
fraud along with Yonni Sebbag, also known as Jonathan Cyrus.
Hoxie, 33, and Sebbag, 29, were
awaiting an initial appearance Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, where
they reside. It was not immediately clear who would represent them in court.
SEC proposing uniform 'audit trail' for
orders
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators
moved Wednesday toward requiring a uniform system for tracking all securities
orders on U.S. exchanges, in hopes of making it easier to investigate market
disruptions like the May 6 plunge.
Members of the Securities and Exchange
Commission proposed, on a 5-0 vote, requiring exchanges to maintain an
"audit trail" covering trading orders from start to routing to
execution.
The regulators say that would make it
easier to investigate market disruptions like the so-called "flash
crash" earlier this month that sent the Dow Jones industrials down nearly
1,000 points in less than 30 minutes.
Oil prices jump 4 percent after 3-week
slump
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rebounded
sharply Wednesday after weeks of being knocked down by economic uncertainty.
After dropping more than 20 percent in
three weeks, oil rallied 4 percent, the best one-day percentage gain since
September 30. Consumers, meanwhile, continue to benefit from declining prices
at the pump.
Investors chose to focus on positive
U.S. economic news instead of troubles in Europe. Government reports said
demand increased for both gasoline and big-ticket goods like refrigerators and
airplanes. Many investors now think oil is undervalued and a rally in equities
markets sparked a parallel rally in crude, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief
oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
Yahoo paints brightening picture
through 2013
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) -- Yahoo expects
to make more money than management previously pledged as the slumping Internet
company attracts more online advertisers and reaps savings from an upcoming
search partnership with Microsoft.
In a Wednesday presentation for stock
market analysts, Yahoo projected its operating profit margin will range from 18
percent to 24 percent by 2013. That's more ambitious than the margin of 15
percent to 20 percent margin forecast by the company in its last all-day
meeting with analysts seven months ago.
Yahoo is planning on its revenue to
increase by an average of 7 percent to 10 percent from 2011 through 2013. The
company didn't predict how much its revenue would improve this year after
falling 10 percent last year.
Toll Brothers takes smaller fiscal 2Q
loss
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Luxury homebuilder
Toll Brothers Inc. posted a narrower loss in its latest quarter and saw a surge
in orders for new homes, trends the company said were holding steady despite
the end of two homebuyer tax credits.
New home contracts jumped 41 percent in
the February-April period and the value of the builder's backlog increased on
an annual basis for the first time in four years, reflecting increased
confidence among buyers, the company said.
Toll said he believes customers are
becoming more confident in their job security, their ability to sell previous
homes and the outlook for home prices. Toll did sound a cautious note, however,
saying he expects a gradual recovery as the market faces headwinds from high
unemployment and volatility in the financial markets.
By The Associated Press
The Dow fell 69.30, or 0.7 percent, to
9,974.45. It was the first close below 10,000 since Feb. 8 when the Dow
finished at 9,908.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500
index fell 6.08, or 0.6 percent, to 1,067.95. The Nasdaq composite index closed
down 15.07, or 0.7 percent, to 2,195.88.
Benchmark crude for July delivery added
$2.76 to settle at $71.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, the Brent crude rose $2.19
to settle at $71.74 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.
In other Nymex trading in June
contracts, heating oil rose 4.9 cents to settle at $1.9207 a gallon, and
gasoline gained 3.96 cents to settle at $1.9704 a gallon. Natural gas jumped
10.4 cents to settle at $4.155 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Share this page