January 29, 2009 6:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached the highest level
on records that go back more than 40 years, the government said Thursday, and
more layoffs are spreading throughout the economy.
The Labor Department reported that the
number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week
ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest since
records started in 1967. That's an increase of 159,000 from the previous week
and worse than economists' expectations of 4.65 million.
As a proportion of the work force, the
tally of unemployment benefit recipients is the highest since August 1983.
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Ford posts $14.6B 2008 loss, still won't
seek aid
The second-largest U.S.-based automaker
on Thursday reported a $14.6 billion net loss for 2008, beating its old record
of $12.6 billion set two years earlier. Ford lost $5.9 billion in the fourth
quarter, but more importantly it spent $5.5 billion more than it took in,
dropping its cash reserves to $13.4 billion at year's end.
The company, like other automakers,
predicted a slow start to the year with a small recovery in the second half
aided by government stimulus packages. But Ford is behaving like it's expecting things to get worse. The company told lenders
Thursday that it wants to borrow the remaining $10.1 billion of its secured
credit line. The money is to arrive Tuesday, but Ford executives said they
don't plan to use it for operating expenses.
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Stocks fall on fresh worries about
economy
News that unemployment claims reached a
record high and that new home sales hit a record low forced the major stock
indexes to give back all of Wednesday's gains, and then some. The Dow Jones
industrial average sank 226 points, or 2.7 percent, while other indicators
tumbled more than 3 percent.
Volatility still has a grip on the
Street. While stocks had soared Wednesday on hopes that the government will
take bad debt off banks' books, investors retreated in response to some harsh
reminders that it might be a while before the nation's 14-month-old recession
ends, even if banks get more aid.
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Obama calls $18B in Wall Street bonuses
'shameful'
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama
issued a withering critique Thursday of Wall Street corporate behavior, calling
it "the height of irresponsibility" for employees to be paid more
than $18 billion in bonuses last year while their crumbling financial sector
received a bailout from taxpayers.
"It is shameful," Obama said
from the Oval Office. "And part of what we're going to need is for the
folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show
some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility."
The president's comments, made with new
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side, came
in swift response to a report that employees of the
Obama said he and Geithner
will speak directly to Wall Street leaders about the bonuses, which threaten to
undermine public support for more government intervention as the economy keeps
reeling.
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Kodak posts 4Q loss, plans up to 4,500
job cuts
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The digital
revolution did away with 40,000 jobs at Eastman Kodak Co. over the last five
years.
The global recession is reducing the
photography icon's ranks still further to around 20,000, a level not seen since
the Great Depression.
Kodak said Thursday it lost $137 million
in the fourth quarter on plunging sales of both digital and film-based photography
products. It plans to eliminate 3,500 to 4,500 jobs, or 14 percent to 18
percent of its work force, in 2009.
Its stock lost nearly 30 percent of its
value, sinking $2.08 to end at $4.99, a decades-long low. Shares bottomed at
$4.89 earlier in the session.
Its loss in the October-December period
amounted to 51 cents a share. That compares with a year-ago profit of $215
million, or 75 cents a share.
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Amazon stock soars on strong profit and
outlook
Amazon had called the holiday season its
"best ever," and the earnings report backed up the idea that the
online retailer is not being seriously hurt by cutbacks in consumer spending.
Amazon said its revenue in the current quarter should be between $4.53 billion
and $4.93 billion, while analysts are expecting $4.57 billion.
Shares of the Seattle-based company shot
up $6.39, or 12.8 percent, to $56.39 in after-hours trading. The stock had
fallen 36 cents to finish regular trading at $50.
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Tumbling crude drags down 4Q for oil
majors
HOUSTON (AP) — Oil's rapid decline to
close out 2008 has stung major producers on both sides of the Atlantic, as
Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported its first quarterly loss in a decade and
Occidental Petroleum said its profit fell nearly 70 percent in the final three
months of the year.
Oil was trading around $100 a barrel
when the fourth quarter began Oct. 1 but tumbled below $45 by the time a new
year had arrived. The plunge is even greater when compared to July, when crude
neared a stunning $150 per barrel.
Lower oil prices have forced many producers
to scale back spending. The industry has cut at least 8,000 jobs in January
alone, and final-quarter financial results have been a sharp departure from the
huge profits for much of 2008.
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Airline losses for fourth quarter mount
ATLANTA (AP) — Deep capacity cuts,
checked bag fees and aggressive fare sales couldn't stop the airline industry's
bleeding from the impact of bad bets on fuel hedges and the drop-off in demand
due to the weak economy. After more carriers posted losses Thursday, the total fourth-quarter
red ink for the top nine
The Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc.
reported that it swung to a $75.2 million loss in the fourth quarter.
Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. said it lost $266 million in the
quarter. Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. posted a $541 million
quarterly loss and New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. disclosed a $49 million
pretax loss for the final three months of 2008.
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New home sales post 14.7 pct drop in
December
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new homes
plunged to the slowest pace on record last month as the hobbled homebuilding
industry posted its worst annual sales results in more than two decades.
The Commerce Department said Thursday
that new home sales fell 14.7 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 331,000, from a downwardly revised November figure of 388,000.
December's sales pace was the lowest on
records dating back to 1963. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had
expected sales would fall to a rate of 400,000 homes.
For 2008, builders sold 482,000 homes,
the weakest results since 1982, when 412,000 homes were sold.
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Oil prices fall on housing, industry,
job numbers
A worsening recession has cut severely
into energy spending by businesses and consumers, pushing prices near five year
lows.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery
fell 72 cents to settle at $41.44 a barrel on the
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By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrials fell 226.44,
or 2.70 percent, to 8,149.01.
Broader stock indicators also sank. The
S&P 500 index fell 28.95, or 3.31 percent, to 845.14, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 50.50,
or 3.24 percent, to 1,507.84.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery
fell 72 cents to settle at $41.44 a barrel on the
In other Nymex
trading, gasoline futures rose 4.74 cents to settle at $1.2309 per gallon.
Heating oil dropped less than a penny to settle at $1.4215 a gallon while
natural gas for March delivery rose 12.6 cents to settle at $4.576 per 1,000
cubic feet.
In