| Housing, job data push S&P to five-year high; Intel down late Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:47 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stronger-than-expected data on housing starts and jobless claims lit a fire under stocks on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to a five-year high and its third day of gains. A pair of economic reports lifted investors' sentiment. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a five-year low last week and housing starts jumped last month to the highest since June 2008. Strength in the housing and labor markets is key to sustained growth and higher corporate profits, helping to bring out buyers even on a day when earnings reports were mixed. ...
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| Housing, labor data provide upbeat signs on economy Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid hit a five-year low last week and residential construction surged in December, the latest signs that the U.S. economic recovery remains on track. The reports on Thursday showed the economy was weathering an uncertain fiscal environment surprisingly well. Still, growth in the fourth quarter was likely subdued with only a modest pick-up expected in the first three months of this year. ...
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| Boeing Dreamliners grounded worldwide on battery checks Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:59 AM PST  TOKYO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Airlines scrambled on Thursday to rearrange flights as regulators around the world joined the United States in grounding Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets while battery-related problems are investigated. Poland's state-controlled LOT Airlines said it would seek compensation from Boeing for grounding its two planes. It expects delivery of three more Dreamliners by the end of March, but would only take them if the technical issues have been resolved, deputy chief Tomasz Balcerzak told a news conference. ...
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| Intel's weak outlook, spending hikes unnerve Wall Street Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:07 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp's current-quarter revenue forecast disappointed Wall Street, while a sharp rise in planned 2013 capital spending unnerved investors who expect personal computer demand to dwindle. Shares of the world's leading chipmaker slid more than 5 percent after it projected 2013 capital spending at $13 billion - plus or minus $500 million - exceeding many analysts' estimates for about $10 billion. Intel said $2 billion of its increased spending would go toward expanding a facility for researching future manufacturing technology. ...
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| Citigroup profit hit by more than $2 billion in charges Posted: 17 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc posted $2.32 billion of charges for layoffs and lawsuits in its first financial report under new Chief Executive Michael Corbat, who said the bank needs to do better for shareholders. Earnings rose from a year earlier as trading revenue rebounded, but the result was well below Wall Street expectations and Citi shares were down 3.6 percent in Thursday afternoon trade. "We are not satisfied with these bottom-line earnings," Corbat told a conference call with analysts, the first time he has addressed them publicly since becoming CEO. ...
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| U.S. issues final tax anti-evasion rules, enforcement ahead Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Non-U.S. pension funds and mutual funds were spared the full brunt of new U.S. information-reporting rules on overseas accounts meant to catch Americans who dodge U.S. taxes by keeping their assets offshore. Chiefly targeting banks, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) rules, published by the U.S. Treasury on Thursday, require foreign financial institutions with $50,000 of any American taxpayer's assets to report the holdings to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. ... |
| United Continental sees fourth-quarter charges Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:41 PM PST (Reuters) - United Continental Holdings , the world's largest air carrier, said on Thursday it expects fourth-quarter charges of $430 million, much of which is tied to paying off its pension debt. The carrier said $309 million of the charges relate to an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp that modifies its duty to issue up to $500 million of senior notes. There were also costs of about $99 million tied to integrating systems and training, repainting planes and severance associated with job cuts. ... |
| Bank of America profit falls after mortgage-related charges Posted: 17 Jan 2013 09:39 AM PST  (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's quarterly profit fell 63 percent as it took $5 billion of mortgage-related charges, but the bank showed signs that it is moving past its problems as it shrank the group that deals with its troubled home loans. BofA, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, cut 3,000 jobs in its mortgage servicing unit in the fourth quarter and said it could reduce expenses in the division by $1 billion by year-end. It also made more home loans in the quarter, with mortgage volume rising 42 percent from a year earlier as borrowers refinanced at low rates. ...
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| Boeing overtakes Airbus in annual sales race Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:12 AM PST  TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Boeing re-captured the crown as the world's largest maker of passenger jets last year, overtaking Airbus for the first time in a decade as it recovered from delays on its new Dreamliner 787, only to face new problems on Thursday with the grounding of 787s over battery safety concerns. "I honestly wish all the best to my colleagues at Boeing to get this aircraft back into service, because an aircraft is designed to fly," Airbus's chief executive Fabrice Bregier told a news conference on the EADS subsidiary's sales. ...
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| Rio Tinto CEO pays price of calamitous acquisitions Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:44 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Rio Tinto sacked chief executive Tom Albanese on Thursday and revealed a $14 billion writedown almost entirely on the value of his two most significant acquisitions, the Alcan aluminium group and Mozambican coal. An engineer who became the miner's first American boss, Albanese will be replaced by Australian Sam Walsh who heads Rio's operations in iron ore, where it is the world's second largest producer. ...
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| Boeing: 787 production continues as planned Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:46 PM PST Boeing said 787s will keep rolling off the assembly line while it works to get the planes grounded by regulators back flying again. |
| Lithium batteries central to Boeing's 787 woes Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Lithium batteries that can leak corrosive fluid and start fires have emerged as the chief safety concern involving Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, a problem that apparently is far more serious than government or company officials acknowledged less than a week ago.
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| S&P 500 surges on housing starts, jobless claims Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:45 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard and Poor's 500 index climbed to another five-year high after strong reports on housing starts and unemployment claims made investors more optimistic about the U.S. economy.
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| Algeria: Army rescues hostages, toll unclear Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:40 PM PST  ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian helicopters and special forces stormed a gas plant in the stony plains of the Sahara on Thursday to wipe out Islamist militants and free hostages from at least 10 countries. Bloody chaos ensued, leaving the fate of the fighters and many of the captives uncertain.
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| US home construction in 2012 highest in 4 years Posted: 17 Jan 2013 01:20 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders started work on homes in December at the fastest pace in 4 ½ years and finished 2012 as their best year for residential construction since the early stages of the housing crisis.
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| Opinions vary as Colorado movie theater reopens Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:27 PM PST  AURORA, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado cinema where 12 people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting rampage nearly six months ago reopens Thursday with a remembrance ceremony and private screening for survivors — but for some Aurora victims, the pain is still too much, the idea too horrific.
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| Subway 'crisis': Is footlong sub really 11 inches? Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:51 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — What's in an inch? Apparently, enough missing meat, cheese and tomatoes to cause an uproar.
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| Government food price claims baffle Argentines Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:56 PM PST  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Six pesos a day. That's all it takes to eat in Argentina, at least according to the government.
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| Lessons learned, BofA makes a new mortgage push Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:12 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America wants a bigger slice of the mortgage market. This time, the bank is being more careful about how to get it.
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| Intel 4Q profit down, beats Street Posted: 17 Jan 2013 03:07 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, on Thursday said its fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent from the previous year, as PC sales continued to weaken.
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