Bank and economic woes hit Wall St; Oracle dives late - Business

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Business News

House passes housing bill; Bush lifts veto threat (Reuters)

Reuters - The House of Representatives passed a massive housing rescue bill on Wednesday while the White House dropped a threat to veto it, paving the way for measures aimed at shoring up the worst U.S. housing market since the Great Depression.

Amazon profit, sales above view and shares rise (Reuters)

Reuters - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday quarterly profit doubled and sales grew 41 percent, indicating to Wall Street that many cost-conscious shoppers are heading online to save money in a tough economy.

SemGroup gets court OK for initial bankruptcy motions (Reuters)
Reuters - SemGroup LP, an Oklahoma-based oil trading services company, on Wednesday said it received approval from the Bankruptcy Court for its initial motions related to its bankruptcy.

Microsoft exec who led Yahoo bid leaving company (Reuters)
Reuters - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday that Kevin Johnson, who as president of Microsoft's largest business division spearheaded the company's pursuit of Yahoo Inc , is leaving the software maker.

China's Zhongxing in talks with GM, FAW: source (Reuters)
Reuters - China's Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Co is in talks with General Motors and major Chinese automaker FAW Group to explore opportunities for cooperation, including equity ties, a source close to the situation said on Thursday.

Sluggish Economy Slows 'Somewhat' As Oil Squeezes Spending, Fed Reports (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - The economy has slowed "somewhat" as rising energy prices and the credit crunch force consumers to cut back, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dropped on Wednesday as financial shares slid when concerns resurfaced that bank profits will take much longer than expected to recover from the housing slump.

By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dropped on Wednesday as financial shares slid when concerns resurfaced that bank profits will take much longer than expected to recover from the housing slump.
Surging oil prices and data showing a tumble in orders for U.S.-made manufactured goods revived concerns that the economy is already in recession.
Bank stocks tumbled across the board when a prominent analyst lowered her first-quarter profit forecasts for Citigroup, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), and Wachovia Corp (WB.N). The S&P financial index fell 3.5 percent, marking its biggest setback after rising more than 10 percent in the last two weeks.
Oppenheimer & Co analyst Meredith Whitney said bank profits would not start growing any time soon because of fallout from what she called the worst credit cycle in generations.
Financials are down "on the combination of Citigroup, Meredith Whitney coming out with talk of more potential write-downs and a lot of profit-taking. Financials moved big the last two weeks," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group in Denver, Colorado.
The other backdrop for the drop in Citigroup's stock was news that the largest U.S. bank by assets has agreed to pay Enron creditors $1.66 billion to settle a lawsuit over its responsibility in the energy trading company's downfall.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI finished down 109.74 points, or 0.88 percent, at 12,422.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dropped 11.86 points, or 0.88 percent, to end at 1,341.13 -- marking the broader market's first decline in four days. The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 16.69 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 2,324.36.
After the bell, there was unnerving news from the technology front as Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), a major software maker, posted quarterly revenue that missed Wall Street's forecasts. Oracle shares slid 8.3 percent to $19.20 after the bell from their Nasdaq close at $20.94.

Other news from Business category:

Amazon profit, sales above view and shares rise - 24, Jul 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday quarterly profit doubled and sales grew 41 percent, indicating to Wall Street that many cost-conscious shoppers are heading online to save money in a tough economy.

More
Creditors say fraud possible in SemGroup collapse - 24, Jul 2008
WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A group of SemGroup LP creditors on Wednesday raised the prospect that unauthorized energy trading may have caused the $3.2 billion loss that sank the 12th-biggest privately held U.S. company.

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Wall Street rises on oil drop, housing plan optimism - 24, Jul 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday as financial shares climbed on optimism about a rescue plan for mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and as the price of oil fell.

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Pulte Homes second-quarter loss narrows - 24, Jul 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pulte Homes Inc posted a smaller quarterly loss on Wednesday, but said buyer confidence remained shaky.

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Amazon net profit doubles, helped by asset sale - 24, Jul 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's quarterly net income doubled from a year ago and beat Wall Street targets, though much of the gain was related to the sale of European DVD rental assets, confusing some investors.

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Fed says price pressures gain, growth slackens - 24, Jul 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States faced increasing inflationary pressures in recent weeks amid slowing economic growth, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, as it described conditions in some areas as "grim," "morose" or "bleak."

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House passes housing bill; Bush lifts veto threat - 24, Jul 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives passed a massive housing rescue bill on Wednesday while the White House dropped a threat to veto it, paving the way for measures aimed at shoring up the worst U.S. housing market since the Great Depressi
More
New York Times quarterly profit, revenue fall - 23, Jul 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Times Co reported
lower quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday as newspaper
advertising revenue fell nearly 12 percent.

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AT&T profit rises on wireless growth - 23, Jul 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top phone company AT&T Inc posted on Wednesday a higher quarterly profit as stronger-than-expected growth in wireless subscribers compensated for shrinking traditional landlines.

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Glaxo to invest in diversity, cautious on outlook - 23, Jul 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline's new chief executive set out plans to make the world's second largest drugmaker a broader business with lower costs, but kept a cautious view on short-term prospects that knocked its shares.

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Software News

Attack Code Released for New DNS Attack (PC World)
PC World - Attack code has been released for a major flaw in the Internet's DNS software.

Facebook to help some programmers, punish others (AP)

AP - Facebook Inc. is introducing more tools to help the software applications fueling the online hangout's popularity and is promising to intensify its efforts to weed out programs that violate its rules for protecting users' privacy.

Facebook expands winning open platform formula (AFP)

AFP - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg painted a vision of an Internet future with the website in its soul to a faithful throng of software developers at the Internet firm's annual "F8" conference..

Microsoft's Online Woes Hint at Larger Vulnerability (PC World)
PC World - Microsoft has built its massive software business by watching other companies take the lead in emerging technology markets and...

Sprint's Palm Centro Gets Software Update (TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - The update improves IMAP compatibility with Gmail, and provides an updated setup wizard for the Web-based e-mail.

Amazon profit, sales above view and shares rise - 24, Jul 2008

Creditors say fraud possible in SemGroup collapse - 24, Jul 2008

Wall Street rises on oil drop, housing plan optimism - 24, Jul 2008

Pulte Homes second-quarter loss narrows - 24, Jul 2008

Amazon net profit doubles, helped by asset sale - 24, Jul 2008

Fed says price pressures gain, growth slackens - 24, Jul 2008

House passes housing bill; Bush lifts veto threat - 24, Jul 2008

New York Times quarterly profit, revenue fall - 23, Jul 2008

AT&T profit rises on wireless growth - 23, Jul 2008

Glaxo to invest in diversity, cautious on outlook - 23, Jul 2008