On Thursday March 25, 2010, 6:11 pm EDT
Eurozone agrees on bailout
plan for Greece
BRUSSELS
(AP) -- Countries that use the euro said Thursday they have agreed on a
financial backstop for Greece that would combine loans from other eurozone
governments and the International Monetary Fund, a move aimed at stopping the
government debt crisis that has undermined the shared currency.
The bailout program could
be used only if Greece winds up shut out of normal market financing such as
selling government bonds, and would require all 16 countries to agree on
releasing the loan funds.
Stocks give up steep gains
on renewed Greece woes
NEW YORK (AP) -- Renewed
concern about Greece's debt problems short-circuited the big stock market
rally.
The Dow Jones industrial
average closed Thursday with a gain of just 5 points to 10,841.21, after
earlier rising to a new high for 2010. Broader indexes slipped.
The market's advance
fizzled after European Central Bank's president Jean-Claude Trichet told French
television that Europe must take responsibility for its financial problems.
That raised concerns about when a rescue for Greece might come.
Officials from European
nations were meeting late Thursday to discuss their economic problems, and a
deal was finally announced late in the day.
Initial jobless claims drop
more than expected
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New
claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week as layoffs
ease and hiring slowly recovers.
The decline brought the
four-week average of claims, which smooths volatility, to its lowest level
since
The Labor Department said
Thursday that first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped by 14,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 442,000. That's below analysts' estimates of 450,000,
according to Thomson Reuters.
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Attorneys
for
Bernanke: Record-low rates
needed to aid economy
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Record-low interest rates are still needed to rev up the economic recovery,
Bernanke, in testimony to
the
The Fed chief didn't offer
new clues about when the central bank might reverse course and start tightening
credit. He said that would need to happen when the "expansion
matures." Some investors and analysts think higher rates could come in the
fall.
Laptop, TV sales help juice
Best Buy's 4Q profit
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even in a
weak economy, Americans increasingly feel that gadgets such as smart phones
aren't luxuries but necessities.
That shift has helped
electronics sales weather the recession better than some other categories and
helped Best Buy post a strong fourth-quarter profit Thursday on a steep sales
increase fueled by flat-panel TVs, notebook computers and wireless gadgets.
Best Buy's profit rose 37
percent, and its revenue grew 12 percent to $16.55 billion. It also projected a
brighter-than-expected 2010.
Car fire raises safety
concerns for
MUMBAI, India (AP) -- When
it was launched less than a year ago, the $2,500 Tata Nano was promoted as a
safe, ultra-cheap car for poor Indians, an alternative to the motorbikes that
zoom precariously around the country.
New questions about the
safety of the pint-sized auto are being raised, however, after one of them
burst into flames Sunday as it was being driven home from the showroom.
Software engineer Satish
Sawant, his wife and 5-year-old son escaped from the silver Tata Nano -- which
still bore a celebratory garland of marigolds on the front hood -- before the
tiny car was engulfed by fire.
Gov't to unveil plan to
shrink some home loans
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Obama administration will announce Friday a plan to reduce the amount some
troubled borrowers owe on their home loans, two people briefed on the matter
said.
The two people declined to
be identified because the program had not yet been announced. Details could not
immediately be learned. But earlier in the day, Herbert Allison, an assistant
Treasury secretary, told reporters officials are close to expanding the
administration's $75 billion foreclosure relief effort.
The administration is also
expected Friday to announce aid for homeowners who have lost their jobs.
The White
Deere says health care law
will raise expenses
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Deere
& Co. said Thursday that changes to the health care law signed into law
this week will raise related costs this year by $150 million.
The biggest U.S. maker of
farm equipment became the second major company in as many days to say it would
take a charge for fiscal 2010.
Deere and Caterpillar Inc.,
which reported that it would record a $100 million charge Wednesday, say the
health care overhaul President
Both companies said it was
a one-time charge as they adjust to the new level of expected taxes.
Subway to begin breakfast menu
April 5
CHICAGO (AP) -- Subway is
joining the increasingly crowded breakfast scramble in a move that the sandwich
chain hopes will help add customers and sales.
After years of testing,
almost all of Subway's 23,000 U.S. restaurants will begin selling the meal
April 5. When they do, the nation's largest restaurant chain by number of
outlets will be a big player in the breakfast game, which can be handsomely
profitable if done right.
Sandwiches will be served
on an English muffins, flatbread or the restaurant company's traditional sub
rolls.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 5.06, or 0.1
percent, to 10,841.21. It has risen in 16 of the past 20 days.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index fell 1.99, or 0.2 percent, to 1,165.73, while the
Benchmark crude for May
delivery fell 8 cents to settle at $80.53 a barrel on the Nymex.
Natural gas for April
delivery dropped 12.4 cents to settle at $3.981 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell as low as $3.94 earlier in the day, the
lowest for the April contract.
In other Nymex trading in
April contracts, heating oil fell less than a penny to settle at $2.0693 a
gallon, and gasoline lost less than a penny to settle at $2.2177 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude slid
a penny to settle at $79.61 on the ICE futures exchange.