|
Business Top Stories • Terra picks CF buyout bid over previous Yara deal
(AP)
AP - Fertilizer company Terra Industries says it will pursue a bid to be acquired by CF Industries instead of a previous agreement with Norway's Yara.
• Bank of America ends overdraft fees on debit cards
(AP)
AP - Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. It's a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees.
• China February exports jump 45.7 percent
(AP)
<p>AP - China's exports rose in February in a new sign of growing global demand that could help persuade officials to let the Chinese currency rise.
• Curbing derivatives might hurt, not help, Greece
(AP)
AP - Derivatives have become a dirty word.
• Senate to pass jobless aid, business tax breaks
(AP)
AP - Legislation blending help for the jobless with popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is slated to pass the Senate Wednesday over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.
• Sarkozy to take tanker fight to Obama
(AP)
AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will raise concerns that the U.S. Air Force's $35 billion tanker contract is anticompetitive when he visits President Barack Obama later this month, a spokesman said Wednesday.
• SEC sues ex-NY loan trader over alleged kickbacks
(Reuters)
Reuters - A former stock loan trader at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp in New York received well over $100,000 of cash kickbacks by steering orders to other brokerage firms, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
• Economists trim 2011 U.S. growth forecast
(Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. economists raised their forecast for economic growth in 2010 in March, the third straight monthly rise, while trimming their growth forecast for 2011, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
• Axel Springer 2009 net income falls 45 percent
(AP)
AP - German publisher Axel Springer AG said Wednesday that net income fell 45 percent in 2009 to euro314 million ($427 million), with a drop in demand for newspapers and magazines mitigated only partially by new Internet revenues.
• Turkey, IMF end loan talks
(AP)
AP - Turkey says it and the International Monetary Fund have mutually agreed to call off talks for a loan.
• Nationalized UK bank Northern Rock back in profit
(AP)
AP - Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock said Wednesday that it returned to profit in the second half of 2009 as interest income rose and losses on loans fell.
• Portugal sells $1.34 billion worth of bonds
(AP)
AP - Financially troubled Portugal raised euro990 million ($1.34 billion) Wednesday in a key bond auction that had more bids than bonds available, suggesting the government's austerity plan is easing market concerns about the country's ability to pay off its high debts.
• Dollar General sues rival chain over colors
(AP)
AP - Dollar General Corp. has filed a federal lawsuit against rival discount chain Fred's Inc., claiming the smaller company is using its trademark yellow and black colors.
• Commercial delinquency lower than other mortgages
(AP)
AP - Commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday.
• OPEC raises 2010 oil demand forecast
(AP)
AP - World oil demand is projected to grow by 900,000 barrels per day in 2010, OPEC said Wednesday, revising up its previous month's forecast while cautioning that the increase is hinged on a sustained global economic rebound, particularly in the United States.
• GM Daewoo vows to return to black this year
(AFP)
AFP - GM Daewoo, the South Korean unit of struggling US auto giant General Motors, said Wednesday it intends to return to profit this year and currently needs no further financial support from creditors.</p>
• Real Estate's Link to the Small Business Credit Crunch
(BusinessWeek)
BusinessWeek - It's no secret that small businesses in the U.S. face difficulties accessing credit. According to a survey of a random sample of 751 small businesses conducted by Gallup at the end of 2009 for the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation, 44% of small businesses seeking credit in 2009 received only some or none of the money they sought. This level of credit access compares poorly with mid-2000, when nine of every 10 companies seeking credit received it. While there is broad agreement that a small business credit problem exists, there is less consensus about its causes. ...
|
