News For Sunday Sep 7, 2008 News For Sunday Sep 7, 2008

Business Business

AirAsia takes risks with expansion amid downturn - Added 8 minutes ago

AirAsia, the region's biggest budget carrier, is making a risky bet. As soaring fuel prices have forced other airlines to cut back, shed jobs and ground planes, AirAsia is doing the opposite: increasing flights, adding...

Price increases push US soy beyond reach of poor - Added 14 minutes ago

With the dollar a day he earns scrounging for scrap metal and paper, Jumadi can't buy his family beef or even chicken. But until now, the rail-thin scavenger could at least afford soy. His wife and two children snacked...

Candidates weigh in on stabilizing Fannie, Freddie - Added 2 hours ago

!!-- hobj:203 -->The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as Sunday, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday as candidates and congressional leaders seized on...

Talks fail; machinists strike Boeing Co. - Added 6 hours ago

!!-- pobj:WAEVE101-0905081757 -->Striking Boeing Co. production workers hunkered down Saturday for what could be along, bruising battle with costly repercussions for both sides. Greeted by friendly honking from passing...

Fannie, Freddie blind to the bubble - Added 7 hours ago

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac _ despite their robust cadre of economists and mortgage experts _ failed to heed warnings that the most dramatic housing bubble in U.S. history would burst. The companies _...

Contract talks fail; machinists strike Boeing Co. - Added 15 hours ago

Boeing Co. machinists walked out on strike Saturday after contract talks arbitrated by a federal mediator failed to produce an agreement. About 100 union members hoisted their strike signs at 12:01 a.m. outside the...

Report: Nomura considering stake in Lehman - Added 23 hours ago

Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage group, is considering buying a stake in U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday. Nomura has funds exceeding more than $1.87 billion...

Silver State Bank in Nevada is shut - Added 1 day ago

Regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in commercial real estate and land development. It was the 11th failure this year of a federally...

Talk of financial crisis sparks unease in S. Korea - Added 1 day ago

Headlines warn of a "September crisis." The currency falls to a four-year low and the stock market tumbles. Rumors swirl that foreign investors will pull out their money. A spasm of anxiety has gripped South Korea this...

As unemployment spikes, companies weigh options - Added 1 day ago

U.S. companies have cut more than 550,000 jobs so far in 2008 as they try to preserve their profits in a slumping economy, but analysts say such downsizing must be done carefully for corporations to have any long-term...

Soybeans tumble as dollar gains ground on euro - Added 1 day ago

Soybean prices tumbled Friday after the dollar continued its rally against the euro, giving investors more reasons to sell commodities that were bought as a hedge against inflation. Corn and wheat also fell sharply. ...

Treasury prices decline as investors take profits - Added 1 day ago

Treasury prices fell Friday as investors cashed in profits from the strong gains the bonds made earlier in the week. Also weighing on Treasurys was an afternoon reversal in the stock market, even after the government...

GE may face civil action on securities violations - Added 1 day ago

General Electric Co. said Friday it has been informed that the Securities and Exchange Commission may recommend fines and other action for possible violations of securities law related to accounting changes the company...

Prosecutors: Loss in AIG scheme exceeds $1B - Added 1 day ago

Federal prosecutors in Connecticut say a scheme to manipulate the financial statements of the world's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc., resulted in a loss of more than $1 billion to...

Summary Box: Unemployment hits 5-year high - Added 1 day ago

THE LATEST: The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent August and employers slashed jobs for the eighth month in a row. WHAT IT MEANS: With jobs harder to find, there's growing fears that...

Unemployment climbs to 5-year high of 6.1 percent - Added 1 day ago

The nation's unemployment rate bolted above the psychologically important 6 percent level last month for the first time in five years _ and it's likely to go even higher in the months ahead, possibly throwing the...

Stocks mostly rise as investors snap up financials - Added 1 day ago

Wall Street wrestled with intensifying economic worries Friday, extending sharp losses after a disheartening jobs report and then grudgingly engaging in some mild bargain hunting that gave the market some modest gains....

Nokia, UST, Lehman, Safeway, SanDisk big movers - Added 1 day ago

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Merrill Lynch & Co., up 52 cents at $26.73 Merrill Lynch rebounded to end the day higher as...

GE says SEC probing possible securities violations - Added 1 day ago

General Electric Co. says the Securities and Exchange Commission staff has notified the company it may recommend fines and other action for possible violations of securities laws. GE said Friday that the notification...

InfoGroup no longer faces delisting from Nasdaq - Added 1 day ago

Database provider InfoGroup Inc. said Friday it no longer faces the threat of being delisted, but the Nasdaq plans to reprimand the firm publicly. InfoGroup ran afoul of Nasdaq's rules in April by failing to file...

NY Times to combine some sections in metro area - Added 1 day ago

The New York Times plans to reduce the number of standalone sections of the New York metropolitan editions of the newspaper, a move designed to save money by cutting labor costs. No job cuts are expected as part of the...

Review panel criticizes Great Lakes health study - Added 1 day ago

Substandard science has hurt a federal agency's seven-year effort to document possible links between industrial pollution and health problems in the Great Lakes region, an independent review panel said Friday. The...

Altria calls reports on UST 'pure speculation' - Added 1 day ago

Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, said Friday that a report of its impending acquisition of UST was "pure speculation." Analysts said the deal makes perfect sense. The New York Times reported...

Oil prices drop as jobs data add to demand worries - Added 1 day ago

Oil prices sank to a five-month low Friday as a jump in the U.S. unemployment rate signaled to traders that Americans might keep paring back their energy use to save money. The Labor Department said the economy lost...

Agriculture futures end trading lower on CBOT - Added 1 day ago

Agriculture futures traded lower Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for December delivery fell 25.5 cents to $7.515 a bushel; December corn fell 16 cents to $5.485 a bushel; December oats lost 2 cents to $3.41...

Details about Altria, UST - Added 1 day ago

WHAT THE COMPANIES SAY: Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, called a New York Times report that it would buy rival UST Inc. for more than $10 billion "pure speculation." UST declined to comment. ...

Bank of America ready to settle securities probes - Added 1 day ago

Bank of America Corp. said Friday it is ready to settle federal and state investigations into sales of risky auction-rate securities, joining eight other big investment banks that have agreed to buy back a total of more...

Is the financial crisis over? Not so fast - Added 1 day ago

Oil prices are down, the dollar is up, and U.S. growth and exports have perked up a little. So is the global financial crisis winding down anytime soon? Top economists and business leaders meeting Friday at an Italian...

Home loan troubles break records again - Added 1 day ago

The source of trouble in the mortgage market has shifted from subprime loans made to borrowers with bad credit to homeowners who had solid credit but took out exotic loans with ballooning monthly payments. The Mortgage...

US oil and gas rig count down by 18 - Added 1 day ago

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 18 this week to 2,013. Of the rigs running nationwide, 1,586 were exploring for natural gas and 416 for oil, Houston-based...

Continental to charge $15 for 1st checked bag - Added 1 day ago

Continental Airlines Inc. said Friday it is charging some coach customers $15 for a first checked bag, matching a similar fee imposed by most other major U.S. carriers. A company spokeswoman said the fee would help...

Informa shares fall after it rejects takeover bid - Added 1 day ago

Shares at Informa PLC, the London-based publisher of Lloyd's List maritime newspaper, fell almost 7 percent on Friday after the company rejected a reduced $3.4 billion takeover bid from a private equity consortium. ...

Dollar mostly higher, gold rises in Europe - Added 1 day ago

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Friday. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.4281, down from $1.4331 late Thursday in New York. Later, in midday trading in New York on...

German industrial production fell in July - Added 1 day ago

German industrial production fell 1.8 percent in July compartede with June, with the three main categories of output showing declines, the ministry of the economy said Friday. The government said capital goods demand...

Honda bringing back Insight nameplate for hybrid - Added 1 day ago

Honda is bringing back the defunct Insight nameplate for a hybrid-only vehicle planned for the Japanese, European and North American markets early next year, as the automaker strives to play catch-up with rival Toyota...

World markets sink after Wall Street plunge - Added 1 day ago

World stock markets fell sharply Friday in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street amid mounting concerns about a slumping U.S. economy and its impact on global growth. Disappointing reports on U.S. retail sales and...

Assurant signs warranty accord with GE unit - Added 1 day ago

Specialty insurer Assurant Inc. has agreed to acquire the warranty management business of General Electric Co.'s appliance and consumer electronics division. Under the formal accord with GE Consumer & Industrial,...

AP Executive Morning Briefing - Added 1 day ago

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, Sept. 5, 2008: Asian markets plunge after Wall Street sell-off TOKYO (AP) _ Asian stock markets plunged Friday after more bad news on the U.S....

Wet summer brings mushroom boom to Northeast - Added 2 days ago

There's a mushroom boom in the wet woods of the Northeast this summer. Hillsides bloom with black trumpets. Disc-shaped mushrooms called artist's conch sprout from tree trunks. Forests are laced with tasty chanterelles...

Boeing, machinists union meet with mediator - Added 2 days ago

Representatives from Boeing Co. and the machinists union met with a federal mediator Thursday as the clock ticked on an unusual two-day contract extension after union production workers soundly rejected a contract offer...

Lloyd's of London push into emerging markets - Added 2 days ago

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, signaled its intention to push its business in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America and oil rich countries in the Gulf, warning on Friday that a shift in...

Greenspan: Don't use Fed as a 'magical piggy bank' - Added 2 days ago

Troubled by the Bear Stearns debacle, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is advocating a new way of dealing with government bailouts of companies whose sudden collapse could wreak havoc on the country's...

MISSING TITLE - Added 2 days ago

Sen. John McCain has accepted the Republican presidential nomination. ...

Prisons scramble to make digital TV switch - Added 2 days ago

The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons across the nation _ broadcast television. When the nation's broadcasters make the switch from...

Relief in New Orleans, punishment in Baton Rouge - Added 2 days ago

The path of Hurricane Gustav offered New Orleans a reprieve, but 80 miles away where utilities say the devastation was the worst they have ever seen, the storm offered nothing but punishment. The region's top power...

Oil's climb forced companies to become leaner - Added 2 days ago

Conventional wisdom had long held that some industries would collapse if oil topped $100 a barrel. As oil neared $150, sending costs higher for everything from jet fuel to plastic jars, the question was how many...

Comcast appeals FCC Web traffic-blocking decision - Added 2 days ago

Comcast Corp. is appealing an FCC ruling that the company is improperly blocking customers' Web traffic, triggering a legal battle that could determine the extent of the government's authority to regulate the Internet. ...

Breeden details year of progress at H&R Block - Added 2 days ago

A year after orchestrating a takeover of H&R Block Inc.'s leadership, Richard Breeden gave shareholders an update Thursday on efforts to rejuvenate the tax preparation giant, saying some success has been made but...

Treasury prices rise as investors flee stocks - Added 2 days ago

Treasury prices rose moderately Thursday, as a plummeting stock market sent investors back into safer, fixed-income government securities. A Labor Department report showing that new applications for unemployment...

Stocks plummet after retail, unemployment data - Added 2 days ago

Dejected investors sent stocks plunging Thursday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 340 points after retailers and the government added to a mountain of bad economic news and devastated hopes for a...