Stocks tumble as worries about Europe
return NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks tumbled for a
second day Friday after concerns grew that the deep spending cuts under
Europe's bailout plan would slow a global recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average ended
down 163 points but closed well off its lows of the day. The Dow and other
major stock indexes still posted big gains for the week after rocketing higher
Monday on hopes that a bailout plan for Europe would prevent a debt crisis in Greece
from spreading. The latest drop followed a slide of
more than 3 percent in European markets. The euro dropped to a 19-month low
against the dollar. Gov't data show solid recovery but
concerns remain WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy is being
boosted by higher retail sales, stronger factory output and a rise in
companies' stockpiles. That picture emerged from reports
Friday pointing to an economy that's improving modestly but steadily after the
worst recession in decades. Yet the recovery needs stronger job creation, and
it remains under pressure from fears that Europe's debt crisis could slow the
U.S. economy. Consumers drove retail sales up 0.4
percent last month. Consumer spending spending, which accounts for 70 percent
of economic activity, rose in the first three months of this year at the
fastest pace in three years. Industrial production also climbed in April.
Manufacturers have played a leading role in powering the recovery. Obama pledges permit review, end to
cozy oil links WASHINGTON (AP) -- Declaring himself as
angry as the rest of the nation, President As Louisiana wildlife officials
reported huge tar balls littering a beach, BP PLC technicians labored to
accomplish an engineering feat a mile below the water surface, the latest
scheme to stop the flow after all others have failed, more than three weeks
since the oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the disastrous
leak. Merchants score Senate win in fight
over card fees BOSTON (AP) -- Congress appears poised
to tighten restrictions on the fees that merchants pay when customers swipe
debit cards at cash registers. An amendment that cleared the Senate
late Thursday is a loss for card payment networks like Visa and But even if the amendment becomes law,
it's unclear whether savings from reductions in debit card swipe fees would
trickle down to consumers in the form of lower prices, or would largely be kept
by merchants. Swipe fees, formally called interchange
fees, are charges that a merchant's bank pays the issuer of a customer's card
for each electronic transaction. Google grabs personal info off of Wi-Fi
networks MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- Google
says it has scooped up snippets of people's online activities broadcast over
unprotected Wi-Fi networks during the past four years. The admission made Friday is likely to
raise more worries about potential privacy breaches as Google gathers volumes
of personal information through its search engine and other services. Google picked up fragments of e-mails
and Web addresses while its cars were photographing neighborhoods for the
"Street View" feature on its mapping service. Growth, rate worries drive euro near
4-year low WASHINGTON (AP) -- The euro sank to
near a four-year low against the dollar Friday on renewed worries over the
European debt crisis. The stronger dollar could spell trouble for a U.S.
economy still recovering from a deep recession. A stronger dollar against the currency
used by 16 nations in Europe would translate into cheaper European vacations
for American travelers. But it would hurt U.S. exports because American-made
products would be more expensive in those markets. Economists said the tumbling euro could
reflect fears that the European debt crisis will turn into a replay of the Penney joins retail profit party;
outlook muted NEW YORK (AP) -- J.C. Penney Co.
finished a week of retail earnings reports that showed big improvements in
sales and profits. But amid the gains, a string of muted outlooks fueled
worries on Wall Street that the consumer comeback might not pick up steam. Penney reported Friday that its
first-quarter net income more than doubled as shoppers spent more on a variety
of merchandise, from shoes to men's clothing. The retailer also raised its
full-year outlook, but even that didn't impress investors, sending shares down
63 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $27.54. Penney's results mirrored a theme
played out all week. Nordstrom Inc., Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. all saw
shares fall for the week after posting big profit gains. Big seller in market drop ID'ed as
Waddell & Reed DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Shares of
money manager Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. fell Friday as it was
identified as the stock trader that sold off a large number of index futures
contracts during last Thursday's market collapse. The company's stock fell $1.81, or 5
percent, to $32.25, on a day when broader markets fell nearly 2 percent. Waddell's sale of 75,000 e-mini futures
contracts in a 20-minute span on May 6 drew the attention of regulators,
Thomson Reuters reported. E-minis are tied to the value of Feds conducting criminal probe of W.Va.
mine blast WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors
said Friday they are investigating whether there was "willful criminal
activity" by the company that operates the West Virginia mine where 29
workers died in an accident last month. The U.S. attorney's office for the
Southern District of West Virginia said in a letter that investigators are
looking into actions by the mine's operator, Performance Coal, and its
directors, officers and agents. The letter, obtained by The Associated
Press, asks the Labor Department to hold off pursuing dozens of civil cases
against Performance for alleged mine safety violations. Performance is a subsidiary of Massey
Energy Co., which owns the Upper Big Branch mine. By The Associated Press The Dow Jones industrial average fell
162.79, or 1.5 percent, to 10,620.16. The Dow had been down nearly 246 points.
It has fallen seven of the last nine days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index
lost 21.76, or 1.9 percent, to 1,135.68, while the Benchmark crude for June delivery lost
$2.79, almost 4 percent, to settle at $71.61 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. That's down about 18 percent from an intraday high of
$87.15 a barrel on May 3, an 18-month peak. Friday's settlement price is the
lowest since crude settled at $71.19 on Feb. 5. In other Nymex trading in June
contracts, heating oil fell 7.13 cents to settle at $2.0606 a gallon, and
gasoline lost 6.43 cents to settle at $2.1308 a gallon. Natural gas was down
2.7 cents to settle at $4.312 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, June Brent crude lost $2.93
to settle at $77.18 on the ICE futures exchange.