Yahoo! News: Business

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• Consumer sentiment at year low; fiscal debate weighs
• Boeing probe focuses on battery, more checks due
• Caterpillar writes off most of China deal after fraud
• Strong banks, energy companies stand out in early earnings
• As GE profits rise, investors wonder about cash plans
• Fed missed warning signs in 2007 as crisis gained steam
• Goldman officials get over $100 million in stock-filings
• Supreme Court to hear law firm appeals in Allen Stanford case
• Morgan Stanley upbeat about future profits, performance
• Dow, S&P 500 end at five-year highs on early earnings beats
• Overcharging batteries eyed in Boeing 787 fires
• Some road warriors standing by Boeing's 787
• Stocks end week with gains; GE rises, Intel falls
• Transcripts show Fed underestimated crisis in 2007
• Toyota settlement may signal future legal strategy
• IRS loses lawsuit in fight against tax preparers
• Winfrey's Armstrong interview seen by 3.2 million
• GE earnings rise on emerging market growth
• Morgan Stanley's profit surges, stock soars
• Jobless rates fall in less than half of US states

Consumer sentiment at year low; fiscal debate weighs Posted: 18 Jan 2013 10:44 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated for a second straight month to its lowest in over a year in January, with many consumers citing fallout from the recent "fiscal cliff" debate in Washington, a survey released on Friday showed. The sharp drop in sentiment over the last two months coincides with rancorous federal budget negotiations that have led to higher taxes for many Americans. ...

Boeing probe focuses on battery, more checks due Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:11 PM PST TAKAMATSU, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. and Japanese aviation safety officials wrapped up their initial investigation of a badly damaged battery from a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet on Friday, saying further checks would be held in Tokyo and could take a week to complete. But the top U.S. transportation official, Ray LaHood, said the 787 would not fly until regulators were "1,000 percent sure" it was safe. A week earlier, LaHood said he would not hesitate to travel on a Dreamliner. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. ...

Caterpillar writes off most of China deal after fraud Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:23 PM PST (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc uncovered "deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct" at a subsidiary of a Chinese company it acquired last summer, leading it to write off most of the value of the deal and wipe out half a quarter's profits. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of tractors and excavators, said on Friday it would take a noncash goodwill impairment charge of $580 million, or 87 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2012. Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.70 per share in the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ...

Strong banks, energy companies stand out in early earnings Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:02 AM PST (Reuters) - If the latest week of earnings season has told investors anything, it is that strong banks and energy companies are getting stronger, while weaker banks and technology companies are far from conquering the challenges they have faced in the last few years. Any sense of optimism for 2013 has to be tempered by a steady decline in earnings growth forecasts, as well as a recent rise in companies making mass layoffs in attempts to get costs further under control. With U.S. ...

As GE profits rise, investors wonder about cash plans Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:50 AM PST (Reuters) - What's Jeff Immelt going to do with the money? General Electric Co shareholders are wondering what the company's chief executive plans to do with a cash windfall that could total tens of billions of dollars over several years as the company sells its remaining stake in NBC Universal and recoups more of the profits earned by finance unit GE Capital. Last year GE Capital sent $6.4 billion back to the company's headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. Analysts estimate that the unit could generate a similar amount of cash this year. ...

Fed missed warning signs in 2007 as crisis gained steam Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve felt for most of 2007 that problems in housing and banking were isolated and unlikely to tear down the U.S. economy as they ultimately did. Even as crisis signals started flashing red with the freezing of credit markets during the summer, Fed officials believed the troubles would be moderate and short-lived, according to transcripts of the 2007 meetings released on Friday after the customary five-year lag. U.S. ...

Goldman officials get over $100 million in stock-filings Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:20 PM PST (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc awarded 22 senior executives and board members more than 736,000 restricted shares worth nearly $104 million as part of their 2012 bonuses, according to securities filings on Friday. Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein received 94,320 restricted shares, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The shares were worth $13.3 million as of Goldman's closing price of $141.01 on Thursday, when the shares were granted. ...

Supreme Court to hear law firm appeals in Allen Stanford case Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:09 PM PST (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday accepted appeals by law firms that once represented convicted swindler Allen Stanford and were trying to avoid lawsuits by victims seeking to recoup losses from his $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Former Stanford clients had sued the New York-based firms Chadbourne & Parke and Proskauer Rose, as well as Thomas Sjoblom, a lawyer who worked at both. These lawsuits, brought under state laws, accused Sjoblom of obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into Stanford, and sought to hold Chadbourne and Proskauer responsible as well. ...

Morgan Stanley upbeat about future profits, performance Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:06 PM PST (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman said the bank has turned itself around and can meet its goals for profitability, his boldest pronouncement yet about the near-term potential for a company that has long lagged its peers. The investment bank and wealth manager on Friday posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' average estimate by a wide margin, helped by a big jump in trading revenue and stronger performance in its wealth management group. ...

Dow, S&P 500 end at five-year highs on early earnings beats Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:40 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 closed at five-year highs on Friday as the market registered a third straight week of gains on a solid start to the quarterly earnings season. Morgan Stanley was the latest Wall Street bank to report strong results. Its better-than-expected earnings followed similar report cards from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase earlier in the week. Shares of Morgan Stanley shot up 7.9 percent to $22.38. It reported a fourth-quarter profit after a year-earlier loss, helped by higher revenue at the bank's institutional securities business. ...

Overcharging batteries eyed in Boeing 787 fires Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — It's likely that fires on two Boeing 787 Dreamliners were caused by overcharging lithium ion batteries, aviation safety and battery experts said Friday, pointing to developments in the investigation of the Boeing incidents as well as a battery fire in a business jet more than a year ago.

Some road warriors standing by Boeing's 787 Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:51 PM PST DALLAS (AP) — Some frequent fliers say they aren't worried about safety aboard Boeing's problem-plagued 787 aircraft, while many less-seasoned travelers are often unaware of what model of plane they're flying on.

Stocks end week with gains; GE rises, Intel falls Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:07 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Better earnings from General Electric and Morgan Stanley helped the stock market inch higher Friday, as major indexes closed out their third straight week of gains.

Transcripts show Fed underestimated crisis in 2007 Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:09 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials in 2007 badly underestimated the scope of the approaching financial crisis and how it would tip the U.S. economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, transcripts of the Fed's policy meetings that year show.

Toyota settlement may signal future legal strategy Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — As Toyota Motor Corp. chips away at settling lawsuits claiming its vehicles suddenly accelerate, the question remains whether attorneys who sued could prove to a jury there was a design flaw.

IRS loses lawsuit in fight against tax preparers Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred the IRS from imposing a series of new regulations, including a competency exam, on hundreds of thousands of tax preparers.

Winfrey's Armstrong interview seen by 3.2 million Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:14 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey's interview with Lance Armstrong is more than an illustration of a hero athlete tumbling from the heights. It's also a pivotal moment for a famous media figure trying to climb the ladder back up.

GE earnings rise on emerging market growth Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:05 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric Co. has been re-energized.

Morgan Stanley's profit surges, stock soars Posted: 18 Jan 2013 03:07 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Profits roared back at the investment bank Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter, reversing a loss in the same period a year ago, when its results were weighed down by a costly legal settlement.

Jobless rates fall in less than half of US states Posted: 18 Jan 2013 09:18 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates fell in less than half of U.S. states last month, as steady but slow hiring is making only gradual improvement in the job market.

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