Companies:
Fed slows $1.45T program to aid housing market
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the
economy on the mend, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it is slowing the
pace of a program to lower mortgage rates and prop up the housing market.
The Fed decided to stretch
out its goal of buying $1.45 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and debt
issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae until the end of the first
quarter of 2010. Originally, the central bank intended to complete buying those
securities by the end of this year.
It marked the second time
since August that the Fed has opted to slow some of its extraordinary support
to revive the economy and spur Americans to boost spending. It shows that Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are increasingly confident the
recovery will take hold.
To foster the recovery, the
Fed also decided to hold the target range for its key bank lending rate at a
record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. It again pledged to keep rates
there "for an extended period."
Proposal would limit scope
of new oversight agency
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ceding
ground amid growing business opposition, the Obama administration on Wednesday
signaled a willingness to exempt retailers, real estate brokers, lawyers, auto
dealers, cable companies and accountants from oversight of its proposed
Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner told Congress that he supports a plan by Democratic Rep. Barney Frank
that would narrow the purview of the new consumer watchdog. His remarks all but
guarantee that lawmakers will move ahead with financial reform legislation less
ambitious than the plan that President Barack Obama outlined in June.
Top nations still at odds on
eve of G20 summit
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- On the
eve of a summit of the world's 20 top economies, the Obama administration
pressed leaders on Wednesday to overcome differences and work together more
closely in confronting thorny financial and environmental problems.
"We simply cannot walk
away from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and not do
everything in our power to reform the system that contributed to this
breakdown," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a congressional panel
in Washington.
President Barack Obama,
delivering his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, urged
world leaders to join him in confronting an abundance of global challenges.
"Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot
now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," he
said.
Stocks end lower despite
better view from Fed
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors
were encouraged by the Fed's latest improved assessment of the economy, but not
enough to propel the Dow Jones industrial average past 10,000.
Stocks closed lower
Wednesday as a brief rally followed the Fed's economic statement and then
faded. The Dow came within 82 points of crossing 10,000 for the first time
since October, but ended the day with a loss of 81.
Stocks often trade
erratically on days when the Fed meets to discuss interest rates as investors
pore over the statement accompany the Fed's interest rate decision for clues
about the economy and what the central bank's next steps might be.
Ford to make low cost
compact car in India
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Ford Motor
Co. unveiled a made-in-India compact car and flagged expanded production in
China as it seeks to boost sales in Asia, a region the U.S. automaker has
hardly dented but is counting on to drive growth.
The four-door
"Figo", which is Italian slang for 'cool', will go on sale in India
during the first quarter of next year, Ford executives told a press conference
Wednesday. There are also plans to export the low-cost car to other Asian
countries.
The Figo represents a change
of gear for U.S. automakers, which have been slow to penetrate India's small
but fast-growing car market but are now increasingly chasing growth in Asia.
Oil tumbles below $69 per
barrel; supplies jump
Crude and gasoline prices
fell sharply Wednesday on more evidence of a huge glut in supply, with the
economy still damaged by the worst recession since the 1930s.
Natural gas, which is seeing
the same buildup in supply because of anemic industrial production, continued
to spike, however. Prices jumped nearly 7 percent Wednesday.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery tumbled nearly 4 percent, or $2.79, to settle at $68.97 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
General Mills 1Q profit
jumps as costs fall
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --
General Mills Inc., the maker of Cheerios and Yoplait yogurt, said Wednesday
that its fiscal first-quarter profit surged 51 percent as ingredient costs fell
and demand for its products remained strong.
The Minneapolis-based
company's results exceeded Wall Street expectations, and the company raised its
outlook for the full year, sending shares up in trading Wednesday.
General Mills said earned
$420.6 million, or $1.25 per share for the quarter that ended Aug. 30, up from
$278.5 million, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sales volume remained
strong, helped in part by consumers eating at home more often. Revenue for the
quarter grew 1 percent to $3.52 billion with strong sales of cereal and
Pillsbury products, which jumped 9 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Wall
Street expected revenue of $3.49 billion.
Fallen money-market fund
makes $1B distribution
BOSTON (AP) -- A
money-market mutual fund that held more than $60 billion before it notoriously
"broke the buck" a year ago said Wednesday it will hand out $1
billion in a fifth distribution to investors from the fund's remaining assets.
The $1 billion distribution,
the smallest of five partial payouts since the Reserve Primary Fund's collapse,
will be made to shareholders on or about Oct. 2, said New York-based Reserve
Management Co., which ran the fund.
After that payout, the fund
will hold about $3.5 billion. The final distribution and its timing is tied up
in a pending civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission
against Reserve Management and its two top executives.
AutoZone 4Q profit slips,
shares tumble
NEW YORK (AP) -- Auto parts
retailer AutoZone Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 3.1
percent, citing tough comparisons to a prior-year period that included an extra
week of sales. Its shares dropped more than 7 percent.
Bill Rhodes, AutoZone's
chairman, president and chief executive, said consumers remained focused on
trying to save money during the quarter by spending more on basic maintenance
in order to keep their cars on the road longer.
For the quarter ended Aug.
29, the Memphis, Tenn.-based company earned $236.1 million, or $4.43 per share,
down from $243.7 million, or $3.88 per share, a year ago. The per-share figures
rose because it had fewer shares outstanding in the latest period.
Analysts polled by Thomson
Reuters expected a profit of $4.45 per share for the latest quarter.
Sales rose 1 percent to
$2.23 billion from $2.21 billion and matched analysts' estimates.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 81.32, or 0.8 percent, to 9,748.55.
The broader Standard &
Poor's 500 index fell 10.79, or 1.0 percent, to 1,060.87, while the Nasdaq
composite index fell 14.88, or 0.7 percent, to 2,131.42.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery tumbled nearly 4 percent, or $2.79, to settle at $68.97 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
gasoline for October delivery fell about 7.67 cents to settle at $1.7049 a
gallon, and heating oil lost 5.27 cents to settle at $1.7594 a gallon. Natural
gas rose 25.1 cents to settle at $3.86 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
tumbled $2.54 to settle at $67.99 on the ICE Futures exchange.
