Business News

Ford cuts production of pickups and SUVs, lowers profit goal

AP - 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. The automaker says it no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and didn't rule out layoffs and plant closures.

Economy News

  • High gas prices force cops to walk the beat more AP - 15 minutes ago

    NEWBERRY, S.C. - With gasoline climbing toward $4 a gallon, police officers around the country are losing the right to take their patrol cars home and are being forced to double up in cruisers and walk the beat more.

  • Home prices drop, jobless rolls at 4-year high Reuters - 56 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home prices fell a record 1.7 percent in the first quarter and the number of workers on jobless benefit rolls held at a four-year high, underscoring the economy's woes, data on Thursday showed.

  • Unsold 2008 Super Duty pickup trucks sit at a Ford dealership in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo., on Sunday, May 11, 2008.  Ford Motor Co. on Thursday, May 22, 2008 said it is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
    Ford cuts N. American production, cuts profit goal AP - 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

    DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. The automaker says it no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and didn't rule out layoffs and plant closures.

  • Report: Flight delays cost over $40 billion a year AP - 2 hours, 43 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - Congress says that getting stuck in airports and on runways cost the nation $41 billion last year in lost productivity and extra operating expenses.

  • Restaurant supplies are delivered in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, May 20, 2008. Inflation at the wholesale level slowed in April following a huge increase in March although prices for a number of items from prescription drugs to pasta shot upward. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
    Jobless claims drop to lowest level in 4 weeks AP - 2 hours, 49 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid off workers filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in a month.

Stock Markets News

  • Traders work on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange May 21, 2008. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
    Stocks advance after two-day plunge; oil declines AP - 14 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - Wall Street rebounded moderately Thursday after two sessions of steep declines brought by the surging price of oil.

  • Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, April 1, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
    Dow, S&P flat as early rally loses steam Reuters - 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were mostly flat on Thursday as the price of oil weighed on sentiment as it hit another record high before retreating, offsetting gains by financial company shares.

  • An installation at the London stock exchange. Blue chips closed lower after a seesaw day for the FTSE 100, and as investors' overlooked a rally on Wall Street, while London Stock Exchange ended as the biggest faller following poorly received full year numbers.(AFP/File/Ben Stansall)
    London shares close lower AFP - 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

    LONDON (AFP) - Blue chips closed lower after a seesaw day for the FTSE 100, and as investors' overlooked a rally on Wall Street, while London Stock Exchange ended as the biggest faller following poorly received full year numbers.

  • A trader shows the GCDS index curve at a bank in Paris, January 2008. Stock markets around the world mostly slid, weighed down by record-high oil prices that stoke inflation and bite into earnings(AFP/File/Jean Ayissi)
    World stocks hurt by 135-dollar oil AFP - Thu May 22, 11:20 AM ET

    LONDON (AFP) - Stock markets around the world mostly slid on Thursday, weighed down by record-high oil prices that stoke inflation and bite into earnings, analysts said.

  • Toronto stocks up, but bruised by BCE and oil Reuters - Thu May 22, 11:19 AM ET

    TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index clung to some of its early gains on Thursday morning but activity was volatile as the buyout of BCE seemed in jeopardy and oil prices dropped sharply, while financial shares bounced back from a three-session decline.

Earnings News

  • Kids model The Children's Place Spring 2005 Collection at a fashion show for children thrown during NYC Fashion Week. (PRNewsFoto/Reuters)
    Children's Place profit beats targets Reuters - 22 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Children's Place Retail Stores Inc reported a greater-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by an increase in sales, sending its shares up almost 15 percent.

  • In this March 15, 2006 file photo, customers enter the Barnes & Noble Bookseller in Woodmere, Ohio. Barnes & Noble Inc. on Thursday, May 22, 2008 said its loss widened in the first quarter as the nation's largest book seller absorbed a one-time charge related to a settlement over a tax dispute. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, file)
    Barnes & Noble loss widens, weighing Borders bid AP - 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - Barnes & Noble Inc. appears to be getting more serious about buying chief rival Borders Group Inc., confirming Thursday that it put together a management team to study the "feasibility" of a combination.

  • Hormel 2Q rises on lower costs, maintains outlook AP - 2 hours, 11 minutes ago

    MINNEAPOLIS - Hormel Foods said second-quarter profits rose 14 percent, helped by falling pork prices and strong Spam sales.

  • A Barnes and Noble book store is shown here in Encinitas May 20, 2008. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
    Barnes & Noble posts loss, cuts sales forecast Reuters - Thu May 22, 11:16 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc reported a wider quarterly loss on Thursday, hurt by a charge, and the bookseller cut its forecast for full-year sales at existing stores, citing the difficult retail environment.

  • Air France-KLM warns of challenging year ahead AP - Thu May 22, 8:38 AM ET

    PARIS - Air France-KLM said Thursday it expects the coming year to be "challenging" amid sharply higher oil prices and a sluggish global economy which contributed to a net loss in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Industries

  • High gas prices force cops to walk the beat more AP - 15 minutes ago

    NEWBERRY, S.C. - With gasoline climbing toward $4 a gallon, police officers around the country are losing the right to take their patrol cars home and are being forced to double up in cruisers and walk the beat more.

  • A customer awaits service near a new Ford Explorer SUV in the showroom of Golf Mill Ford in 2006, in Niles, Illinois. Ford Motor Company on Thursday said it is cutting production of large trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) as higher pump prices lead consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Tim Boyle)
    Ford downshifts gasoline-guzzlers, profit outlook AFP - 1 hour, 39 minutes ago

    CHICAGO (AFP) - Ford Motor Company on Thursday said it is cutting production of large trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) as soaring pump prices drive demand for more fuel-efficient cars.

  • A construction worker carries a steel form across the foundation of the Freedom Tower on Monday, May 19, 2008 in New York. Inflation at the wholesale level slowed in April following a huge increase in March although prices for a number of items from prescription drugs to pasta shot upward.  (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
    Wholesale inflation slows in April after March increase AP - Tue May 20, 5:49 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Wholesale inflation slowed in April following a big jump in March but the improvement is likely to be temporary as consumers are battered in coming months by price hikes for gasoline, food and a host of other items.

  • FDA urged to push hotline for side effects Reuters - Fri May 16, 12:54 PM ET

    ROCKVILLE, Maryland (Reuters) - A free hotline for patients to report serious medical side effects should be mentioned in television commercials and also needs to be more widely promoted on pill bottles and pharmacy packaging, U.S. health experts said on Friday.

  • Britain's Cable and Wireless profit falls 5.7 pct AP - 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

    LONDON - British telecommunications company Cable & Wireless PLC said it was considering splitting its business units after it posted a 5.7 percent drop in annual profit on Thursday.

Opinion

  • Recession Watch: Oil, Inflation, the Fed BusinessWeek Online - Thu May 22, 8:08 AM ET

    Oil prices reached nosebleed territory on May 21, moving above $133 per barrel in New York trading -- on the same day that Federal Reserve officials expressed growing concern about inflation. Here's a roundup of what policymakers, economists, and strategists had to say about oil, inflation, growth, and interest rates on May 21, as compiled by BusinessWeek.com, S&P MarketScope, and Action Economics:

  • Stocks: The Great Rebate Race BusinessWeek Online - Thu May 22, 8:08 AM ET

    The U.S. government is so eager to jump-start the economy with its stimulus package that the Treasury Dept. is even mailing rebate checks to the recently deceased. George Paquin, a financial planner in Chelmsford, Mass., is certain that one former client, who died last year, would have deposited the check in his bank account. But his daughter and executor will probably spend it on furnishings for her new home. Dead or alive, a customer with a rebate check would be a welcome sight at many retailers. ...

  • Grief at General Growth BusinessWeek Online - Thu May 22, 8:08 AM ET

    It's been one patch of bad road after another for John Bucksbaum, a hard-riding amateur cyclist who tests his mettle in the Alps. At General Growth Properties , the Chicago real estate trust he runs, Bucksbaum is struggling against stiff headwinds in retailing and housing. What's more, the credit crunch is jacking up the cost of refinancing billions of dollars of debt coming due over the next 18 months. To top it off, General Growth has been socked with punitive damages for the roughshod way it fought a rival shopping-center developer.

  • Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, April 29, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
    Rate uncertainty hangs over U.S. stocks Reuters - Sun Apr 27, 11:56 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - The stock market will likely start the week on a hesitant note with Wall Street facing the first Federal Reserve interest-rate decision in many months not knowing that a cut is likely guaranteed.

Most Popular Business News

  • Gov't home price index posts largest drop in 17-year history AP - 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - A home-price index considered to be the most comprehensive reading of the U.S. market posted the sharpest quarterly decline in its 17-year history, and analysts say housing has yet to bottom out.

  • Leroy Ryan, 65, left, and his son Vinnie Ryan, 19, fill their riding mowers with gas for use in their lawn-mowing business, at Orlean Market and Restaurant in Orlean, Va. on Thursday May 22, 2008. 'This year the gas prices are killing us,' says Leroy Ryan, 'I'm going to have to mow two lawns to pay for this gas.' Orlean Market will have to stop selling gas altogether if prices top $4, as the old-fashioned dials only go up to $3.99. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
    Gas tops $3.83 as early holiday travelers hit road AP - 28 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - Americans getting an early start on the Memorial Day weekend found that gasoline prices again sprinted to a new record high overnight, reaching a national average above $3.83 a gallon. Some analysts predict gas will break past $4 as early as next week.

  • Unsold 2008 models are reflected in the chrome grille of an unsold 2008 Edge at a Ford dealership in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo., on Sunday, May 11, 2008. Ford Motor Co. is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
    Ford cuts N. American production, cuts profit goal AP - 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

    DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. The automaker says it no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and didn't rule out layoffs and plant closures.

  • Jobless claims drop to lowest level in 4 weeks AP - Thu May 22, 9:02 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid off workers filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in a month.

  • A young girl eats next to a fireplace at the newly designed interior of the McDonalds fast food restaurant in Wolfratshausen south of Munich in this June 27, 2007 file photo. (Michaela Rehle/Reuters)
    McDonald's cooking fries in trans-fat-free oil AP - 2 hours, 44 minutes ago

    CHICAGO - McDonald's french fries are now trans-fat-free in all its restaurants in the United States and Canada, the fast-food restaurant chain said Thursday.