| Business News |
Oil slumps on easing storm worry and dollar
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Oil tumbled more than $5 on Tuesday,
pushing losses so far this week to about $10, as forecasters
said an Atlantic hurricane would steer clear of offshore oil
platforms and the greenback gained against other currencies.
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Alcoa's profit off but tops forecasts
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc on
Tuesday posted a smaller-than-expected drop in second-quarter
profit, lifting its shares, as higher aluminum prices and sales
volumes offset higher costs.
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Anheuser-Busch sues InBev over takeover attempt
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc sued
InBev NV in an effort to stop its Belgian-Brazilian
suitor from taking any more steps to replace the U.S. brewer's
board of directors, which had rejected a $46.3 billion takeover
offer from InBev.
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Stocks rise on banks and lower oil
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Stocks rose in another turbulent
session on Tuesday as a pullback in oil prices eased worries
about consumer and business spending, while financial shares
gained after the Fed chairman said he may keep open a lifeline
for banks.
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Traders plead guilty to foreign exchange scam
(Reuters)
Reuters - Two currency traders pleaded guilty on
Tuesday to defrauding investors, admitting their firm engaged
in almost no trading and that they misappropriated money from
investors and used it to buy luxury homes and cars, federal
prosecutors said.
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Paulson says U.S. home foreclosures to stay high
(Reuters)
 Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson said on Tuesday that home foreclosure starts may hit
2.5 million this year, many of them the borrowers' own fault
for taking out loans they couldn't afford.
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| Bank and economic woes hit Wall St; Oracle dives late - 27, Mar 2008 |
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.
(c) 2008 Reuters
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| Other news from Business category: |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens on Tuesday called for a massive switch to natural gas as a transportation fuel and a boost in wind power in a plan aimed at reducing U.S. foreign oil dependence by a more than a third.
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NEW YORK/PASADENA, California (Reuters) - IndyMac Bancorp Inc said on Tuesday depositors were withdrawing cash at an "elevated" pace after a key U.S. senator questioned the big mortgage lender's ability to survive the U.S. housing crisis.
More
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank might keep open a lifeline to financial firms, while the latest data showed distress in the housing and retail sectors continues.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose in another turbulent session on Tuesday as a pullback in oil prices eased worries about consumer and business spending, while financial shares gained after the Fed chairman said he may keep open a lifeline for banks.
More
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil tumbled more than $5 on Tuesday, pushing losses so far this week to about $10, as forecasters said an Atlantic hurricane would steer clear of offshore oil platforms and the greenback gained against other currencies.
More
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc said on Tuesday it would eliminate 600 jobs and consolidate its businesses to cut costs.
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LONDON (Reuters) - Oil tumbled to below $137 on Tuesday, dropping by about $9 this week, as the dollar gained and concern eased over an Atlantic hurricane.
More
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DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp is developing plans to cut costs and improve its "cash and funding position," Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said in an e-mail to the automaker's managers and team leaders.
More
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG plans to cut around 4 percent of its workforce worldwide as part of an overhaul and as a result of the global economic downturn, Siemens said on Tuesday.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday said the U.S. central bank might keep open a lifeline to financial firms as it fights to keep the credit crisis from wreaking further havoc on the struggling economy.
More
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| Software News |
EA says has complied with FTC request on Take-Two
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Video game publisher Electronic
Arts Inc said on Tuesday it complied with a
regulator's request for more information on its Take-Two
Interactive Software Inc bid, moving a step closer to
buying its rival.
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VMware shares plunge on CEO change, slowing growth
(AP)
AP - VMware Inc. abruptly replaced co-founder Diane Greene as chief executive Tuesday and lowered its sales outlook, triggering alarms that pounded the business software maker's shares to their lowest depths since the company's lucrative public offering 11 months ago.
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Microsoft Sets Hosted-services Pricing, Irks Partners
(PC World)
PC World - Some Microsoft partners are less than thrilled by the company's push into a software-plus-services model, which will compete...
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Irrigation Systems Soak up Top Prizes in Software Contest
(PC World)
PC World - An irrigation automation system, developed by a team of Australian students, won Microsoft's Imagine Cup programming contest.
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VMware warns on revenue, replaces CEO
(Reuters)
Reuters - Business software maker VMware Inc
warned on Tuesday that 2008 revenue growth will fall short of
expectations and said it has replaced its chief executive,
sending its shares tumbling 30 percent.
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New Yahoo board might lure Microsoft back into talks
(USATODAY.com)
USATODAY.com - Microsoft threw its weight behind investor Carl Icahn's effort to oust Yahoo's board next month, saying Monday that a successful rebellion would encourage the software maker to renew its takeover bid for Yahoo or negotiate another deal.
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