US demands recall info; WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government
ordered The Transportation Department is
demanding that Simon Properties offers General Growth
$10B buyout LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Simon Property
Group Inc., the nation's largest shopping mall owner, made a $10 billion
hostile bid Tuesday to acquire ailing rival General Growth Properties. The acquisition would allow General
Growth, the No. 2 owner of shopping centers, to emerge from Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection. General Growth filed for bankruptcy last year after
buckling under the weight of billions in debt it racked up during a massive
expansion effort fueled by cheap credit. The move is Simon's second attempt at a
major acquisition in three months. In December, Simon offered $700 million in
cash and stock to buy more than 60 outlet shopping centers from another
competitor, Prime Outlets Acquisition Co. The deal is pending. Stocks gain on earnings, deals and hope
for Greece NEW YORK (AP) -- Signs that the economy
is indeed strengthening gave investors a surge of optimism and sent stocks
sharply higher. The Dow Jones industrials soared almost
170 points to 10,268.81 Tuesday on upbeat earnings reports and corporate deals.
Investors who have been anxious in recent weeks about economic problems
overseas were able to put aside their concerns for the time being. They focused
instead on the domestic economy. The dollar fell as investors felt less
of a need to stash their money in safer investments. Oil, gold and other
commodities joined stocks as the beneficiaries of the market's renewed
confidence. And the stocks of energy and materials producers were among the
day's big winners. Mortgage delinquencies tick higher in
4th-qtr 2009 NEW YORK (AP) -- The percentage of
homeowners late with mortgage payments hit another record during the last three
months of 2009, and the pace at which they fell behind took a turn for the
worse, a new report says. For the fourth quarter, 6.89 percent of
mortgage payments were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting
agency TransUnion. That's up from 4.58 percent in the final three months of
2008. The previous record delinquency rate was 6.25 percent in the third
quarter of 2009. The latest report marked the 12th
consecutive quarter -- equal to three full years -- that delinquency rates have
risen from the previous year. More worrisome was that the quarter-to-quarter
trend swung higher after declining in each of the previous three quarters. Schering-Plough purchase hikes Merck
sales, profit TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Drugmaker Merck
& Co. on Tuesday posted huge jumps in revenue and profit for the fourth
quarter, mainly due to its purchase of Schering-Plough Corp., its longtime
partner on lucrative cholesterol drugs. It disclosed a little detail on its
planned restructuring, but gave no forecast for 2010 profit or research spending. Merck reported net income of $6.49
billion, or $2.35 per share, up from $1.64 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year
earlier. The big gain was due to $7.8 billion worth of mostly merger-related
accounting items, plus a few billion dollars in sales from Schering-Plough
products. Merck said the first phase of its
restructuring program is expected to bring annual savings of $2.6 billion to $3
billion in 2012 -- the bulk of its previously announced plan to save $3.5
billion a year by 2012, a key merger goal. Foreigners cut Treasury stakes; rates
could rise WASHINGTON (AP) -- A record drop in
foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury bills in December sent a reminder that the
government might have to pay higher interest rates on its debt to continue to
attract investors. China reduced its stake and lost the
position it's held for more than a year as the largest foreign holder of
Treasury debt. The Treasury Department said foreign
holdings of U.S. Treasury bills fell by a record $53 billion in December. That
topped the previous record drop of $44.5 billion in April 2009. Whole Foods Market's profit surges in
1Q AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Whole Foods
Market Inc. said Tuesday that stronger sales helped send its first-quarter
profit soaring, prompting the natural and organic grocer to raise its outlook
for the year. Whole Foods, based in Austin, Texas,
said it earned $49.7 million, or 32 cents per share, for the quarter. That's up
from $27.8 million, or 20 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last
year. Sales for the company grew 7 percent to
$2.64 billion as Whole Foods used better prices to draw more shoppers. The results beat Wall Street's
expectations of 26 cents per share on revenue of $2.6 billion, according to a
poll by Thomson Reuters. Gasoline prices hit a new low for 2010 Motorists are still getting a break at
the pump, as gasoline prices continued their monthlong slide on Tuesday,
dropping to a new low for 2010. Oil prices spiked above $77 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange, spurred by upbeat economic news. Today's rise
may not translate into higher pump prices immediately. Although there have been
price swings of 4 or 5 percent in oil from time to time, crude prices per
barrel have lingered mainly in the $70s over the last few months. Retail gasoline prices hit a nationwide
average of $2.61 per gallon and fell below $2.40 in parts of the country;
including Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil
Price Information Service. Kraft 4Q profit surges; Cadbury is next
challenge PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Kraft's income
more than tripled in its first quarterly report since it acquired British candy
maker Cadbury, in part on CEO Irene Rosenfeld's turnaround program. The next challenge will be delivering
on bold promises for international growth to satisfy investors and silence the
deal's doubters. Kraft reported Tuesday that it earned
$710 million, or 48 cents per share, for the quarter, up sharply from $178
million, or 12 cents per share, in the same quarter of the prior year. The
company credited the growth to a multiyear turnaround, which included cutting
costs, shedding some business lines and increasing its focus on its most
profitable products. Burger King revamps coffee, eyes menu
rehab CHICAGO (AP) -- Burger King plans to
launch a massive new coffee line as it tries to overhaul its breakfast menu and
boost its slumping business. The nation's No. 2 burger chain will
add Starbucks Corp.'s Seattle's Best Coffee to all its U.S. restaurants in a
phased rollout that begins this summer, executives told The Associated Press on
Tuesday. The move takes a page from rival
McDonald's Corp.'s success with its McCafe line of coffee drinks, which have
been credited with boosting its performance. The deal also adds a new wrinkle
to the coffee wars, because McDonald's coffee campaign has been seen as taking
aim at Starbucks. By The Associated Press The Dow rose 169.67, or 1.7 percent, to
10,268.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose
19.36, or 1.8 percent, to 1,094.87, while the Benchmark crude for March delivery rose
$2.88 to settle at $77.01 a barrel on the Nymex. Natural gas lost 15.8 cents to settle
at $5.310 per 1,000 cubic feet. In other Nymex trading in March
contracts, heating oil rose 7.74 cents to settle at $1.9963 a gallon, and
gasoline climbed 5.87 cents to settle at $1.9882 a gallon. In London, Brent crude was up $3.17 to
settle at $75.68 on the ICE futures exchange.