News For Thursday Jul 24, 2008 News For Thursday Jul 24, 2008

Business Business

New layoff filings jump as companies retrench - Added 6 minutes ago

The government reports that the number of newly laid off people filing claims for unemployment benefits bolted past 400,000 last week as companies trimmed their work forces to cope with a slowing economy. The Labor...

Southwest 2Q profit up, sales rise 11 percent - Added 9 minutes ago

Southwest Airlines Co. earned a profit in the second quarter and beat Wall Street expectations by continuing to rely on financial deals that lowered its fuel costs. Revenue increased by 11 percent, as Southwest raised...

Kimberly-Clark 2Q profit falls 10 percent - Added 10 minutes ago

Kimberly-Clark on Thursday said its second-quarter profit fell 10 percent, confirming pre-released results that showed it had been hurt by rising gas and distribution costs. Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker...

Ford posts $8.7 billion loss on asset write-downs - Added 11 minutes ago

Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it lost $8.67 billion in the second quarter and will retool two more North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants to build small, fuel-efficient vehicles. The net loss includes...

Lilly 2Q earnings rise 44 pct as sales increase - Added 13 minutes ago

Drug and medical device maker Eli Lilly & Co. posted a 44 percent increase in second-quarter earnings as sales growth was helped in part by the weaker dollar. Lilly reported net income of $958.8 million, or 88...

Qualcomm outlook falls short of expectations - Added 14 minutes ago

Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips that run cell phones, issued revised earning estimates Thursday that fall short of Wall Street targets. Qualcomm said earnings per share, excluding stock-based compensation...

Occidental Petroleum 2Q profit sets record - Added 14 minutes ago

Oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 62 percent, as record crude prices and higher production boosted results. The Los Angeles-based company earned a record $2.29...

AutoNation 2Q profit tumbles on sales drop - Added 17 minutes ago

AutoNation says its second-quarter profit tumbled 33 percent as its sales fell on a drop in vehicle demand. The nation's largest automotive retailer says it earned $51.8 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with...

National City posts $1.8B loss for 2nd quarter - Added 25 minutes ago

Regional bank National City Corp. on Thursday reported a huge loss for the second quarter, as mortgage loans soured and it took a big charge related to previous acquisitions. For the quarter ended June 30, the bank...

Insurance tests raise questions about some pickups - Added 43 minutes ago

The latest crash tests by the insurance industry raise safety questions about small pickups, which are drawing more interest because they get better mileage than larger trucks. The Insurance Institute for Highway...

Federal minimum wage rises to $6.55 today - Added 45 minutes ago

About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to...

Xerox 2Q profit declines 19 pct, but meets views - Added 46 minutes ago

Xerox Corp.'s second-quarter profit skidded 19 percent, but matched Wall Street's forecast, as the office-equipment maker was hurt by restructuring charges while its cash-cow supplies and services business hummed along...

E.W. Scripps 2Q profit drops 48 percent - Added 48 minutes ago

E.W. Scripps says second-quarter profit fell 48 percent on a sharp revenue decline at its newspaper properties and costs related to splitting off its digital businesses. Scripps's results include for the final time its...

Credit Suisse profit falls 62 pct - Added 48 minutes ago

Credit Suisse Group's profit skidded 62 percent from a year ago, but was a major improvement from the loss it posted in the first three months of this year. Switzerland's second largest bank said it earned 1.22 billion...

Stocks head for mixed open ahead of housing data - Added 51 minutes ago

Wall Street headed for a mixed open Thursday as investors eyed the release of key data on the troubled housing market and sifted through another stream of earnings reports. A fresh reading on sales of existing homes...

Dow Chemical reports decline in 2Q profit - Added 55 minutes ago

Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday that despite record sales and two double-digit price increases unveiled in the second quarter, its profit for the period fell 27 percent, in large part because of sharply higher costs for...

International boosts 3M 2Q results - Added 1 hour ago

Industrial conglomerate 3M says its second-quarter profit rose slightly on strong double-digit growth in international markets. St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Co. says it earned $945 million, or $1.33 per share, compared...

Medco 2Q profit up 22 percent on new deals - Added 1 hour ago

Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions said Thursday its second-quarter profit climbed 22 percent as it won new clients and prices for brand-name drugs increased. Medco Health Solutions Inc. earned $262.7...

Oil edges up after big drop a day earlier - Added 1 hour ago

Oil prices edged up Thursday after shedding nearly $4 a barrel in the previous day's session on concerns that high fuel prices are dampening demand in the world's biggest energy consumer. By midday in Europe, light,...

Visa survey shows foreign travel remains popular - Added 1 hour ago

The weak U.S. dollar has not dissuaded Americans from planning trips abroad this year, but they may be heading to destinations closer to home, according to a survey released Thursday by Visa Inc. Two in three...

Newmont Mining swings to 2Q profit - Added 1 hour ago

Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world's largest gold producers, said Thursday it swung to a profit in the second quarter as it sold more gold at higher prices. For the April-June quarter, Newmont reported net income...

Daimler's 2Q profit slips to nearly $2.2 billion - Added 1 hour ago

Car maker Daimler AG said Thursday its second-quarter profit slipped mainly on charges related to its stake in Chrysler LLC, and blamed its reduced full-year earnings outlook on a slowing global economy and higher...

AP Executive Morning Briefing - Added 3 hours ago

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Thursday, July 24, 2008: Visa survey shows foreign travel remains popular NEW YORK (AP) _ The weak U.S. dollar has not dissuaded Americans from...

Japanese shares rise on Wall Street gains, oil - Added 3 hours ago

Japanese shares rose for the third straight session Thursday, lifted by further gains on Wall Street and a continuing slide in oil prices. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index increased 290.38 points, or 2.18 percent, to...

Hyundai Motor profit slips as sales rise - Added 3 hours ago

South Korea's Hyundai Motor said Thursday that its second-quarter net profit declined nearly 11 percent despite higher sales, and vowed to fight high oil prices by aggressively exporting more fuel efficient vehicles. ...

Canon reports 13 percent drop in profit - Added 3 hours ago

Canon Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell 13 percent from a year ago as a stronger yen chipped away at the value of booming overseas sales of color copiers. The Japanese camera maker recorded a 107.84...

Expert warns wheat residue too valuable to lose - Added 5 hours ago

Times are good for wheat farmers, but they should resist the urge to harvest their crop residue and sell it for ethanol production, a federal researcher says. Leaving wheat residue on the ground helps preserve soil...

Housing bill won't solve market's problems - Added 6 hours ago

Cash-strapped homebuyers and borrowers facing foreclosure will get some relief from a housing bill passed by the House on Wednesday but the bill won't solve the deep-rooted ills of the U.S. housing market. The bill was...

WTO powers cite some progress in marathon meeting - Added 8 hours ago

A marathon meeting of the world's top commercial powers ended early in the morning in Geneva with negotiators citing some progress in talks on a new global trade pact. The 12-hour meeting ended Thursday at around 3:30...

Ship-barge crash closes Mississippi at New Orleans - Added 11 hours ago

A stretch of the Mississippi River at New Orleans could be closed for days as crews clean a 12-mile oil slick caused Wednesday when a tanker and barge collided, officials said. Heavy, almost tar-like fuel oil spilled...

Weak dollar, foreign sales boost drugmakers - Added 12 hours ago

Profits posted Wednesday by Pfizer Inc. and Wyeth show a common theme among pharmaceutical companies _ nearly all the growth they're seeing these days is overseas, driven by emerging markets and the weak dollar. ...

Toyota outsells GM worldwide in first half - Added 13 hours ago

General Motors Corp., pummeled by falling U.S. sales and high gas prices, lost the global sales lead to Toyota Motor Corp. in the first half of this year, but the churning market makes it difficult to predict which...

Product Recalls: vacuum attachment tools - Added 13 hours ago

The following recalls have been announced: _ About 987,000 Dirt Devil vacuum power brush attachment tools, made in China by TTI Floor Care North America, because plastic pieces inside the vacuum tool can break apart...

McDonald's swings to profit, may alter dollar menu - Added 13 hours ago

Consumers helped bring McDonald's Corp. back to profitability in the second quarter by spending on breakfast biscuits, chicken sandwiches and drinks despite the tough economy in the U.S. But the nation's No. 1...

PepsiCo 2Q profit rises 9 percent - Added 13 hours ago

American consumers shying away from bottled water and soft drinks hurt PepsiCo's bottom line, but growth in its international and Frito-Lay snack businesses was strong enough to lead the company to a 9 percent rise in...

Whirlpool reports 27 percent dip in 2Q profit - Added 13 hours ago

Household appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell 27 percent because of higher material and oil-related costs, and lower U.S. demand. "This is a very serious, severe economic...

Summary Box: Minimum wage increase may not go far - Added 14 hours ago

WHAT'S HAPPENING: The federal minimum wage will increase 70 cents, to $6.55 an hour, on Thursday, giving about 2 million workers a raise. IT MAY NOT HELP: With energy and food prices soaring higher, the increase will...

Sallie Mae's 2Q profit falls 72 percent - Added 14 hours ago

Student lender SLM Corp., more commonly known as Sallie Mae, said Wednesday its second-quarter profit plunged 72 percent as funding costs remained high amid further weakening in the credit markets and the company took...

Costco, AT&T, McDonald's, WaMu, Fannie big movers - Added 14 hours ago

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE AT&T Inc., up $1.24 at $33.06 The telecommunications company met adjusted second-quarter...

Stocks advance following sharp drop in oil prices - Added 14 hours ago

Stocks advanced for the second straight session Wednesday as another decline in oil prices and several upbeat profit reports eased some of Wall Street's concerns about the economy. Investors expect that a sustained...

Costco's profits squeezed by higher energy costs - Added 14 hours ago

Costco Wholesale Corp. _ which has attracted shoppers looking for cheaper options _ warned Wednesday that its earnings in the current quarter will be below Wall Street expectations as it faces higher energy costs that...

Treasury prices extend losses in flight to stocks - Added 14 hours ago

Treasury prices fell for a second straight session Wednesday as investors grew increasingly optimistic about the ability of banks and brokerages to weather the credit crisis. The drop in Treasurys came as the...

Agriculture futures fall on CBOT; livestock mixed - Added 14 hours ago

Agriculture futures traded lower Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for September delivery fell 13.5 cents to $7.8325 a bushel; December corn lost 1.75 cents to $5.905 a bushel; December oats slipped 2...

Hershey 2Q profit, sales up after price increase - Added 14 hours ago

Raising prices and streamlining its production lines helped Hershey to dramatically higher second-quarter sales and profit, the nation's largest candy maker said Wednesday, even as it absorbs spiraling commodity costs...

Costco sees 4Q below estimates - Added 14 hours ago

Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday that its earnings for the current quarter will be lower than expected as it delays raising prices on items from food to patio sets amid soaring energy costs that have accelerated in...

Waiters pick up part of LongHorn's labor costs - Added 15 hours ago

With the cost of everything from air conditioning to whipped cream rising, many restaurants have been raising prices. LongHorn Steakhouse is passing on part of the tab to its servers. LongHorn has instituted what its...

Commodities turn lower for 2nd day on crude drop - Added 15 hours ago

Commodities extended their slide Wednesday as crude oil fell below $125 a barrel, dragging down gold, soybeans, wheat and other hard assets as traders shifted money into equities. Crude dropped about $4 a barrel, bring...

Anheuser-Busch 2Q profit rises 1.8 percent - Added 16 hours ago

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. managed to turn a profit in the most recent quarter _ despite fears that rising costs for ingredients and fuel would cut into The King Of Beers' bottom line. But the St. Louis-based brewer, the...

Paulson: Rescue bill key to solving housing crisis - Added 16 hours ago

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that agreement on a sweeping housing rescue bill will send a strong message to investors around the world and will be key to helping the nation turn the corner on the...

New York Times to raise newsstand price to $1.50 - Added 16 hours ago

The New York Times Co. will increase the Monday-Saturday newsstand cost of its flagship paper by 25 cents to $1.50, the publisher said Wednesday. Times Chief Executive Janet Robinson said the price increase for The New...