Despite recovery, employers
aren't ready to hire
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June
1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected.
The report shows that the
worst recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain and
underscores one of the biggest threats to the nascent economic recovery: that
consumers, worried about job losses and stagnant wages, will restrain spending.
Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's economy.
Meanwhile, a surprise drop
in factory orders extended the recent string of disappointing economic
readings. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 0.8 percent in
August following a 1.4 percent gain in July. Analysts had been expecting a 0.7
percent increase.
Stocks fall following
disappointing jobs report
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
posted modest losses Friday after a disappointing monthly jobs report brought
fresh concerns that a recovery in the troubled labor market may be a long way
off.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell for a fourth straight day, losing 22 points a day after tumbling
203 points following weak reports on manufacturing and weekly claims for
jobless benefits. On Friday, the Dow fell 21.61, or 0.2 percent, to 9,487.67,
after falling as much as 79 points.
The market's optimism has
been tested this week by a number of economic indicators that have either
weakened or fallen short of expectations, a disappointment after several months
of hopeful signs on key industries like housing and manufacturing. That has led
investors to question whether the 50 percent surge in stocks over the past six
months can be sustained.
BofA board forms CEO search
committee
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Bank
of America Corp. said Friday it created a six-member committee of directors to
find a successor for CEO Ken Lewis.
The move comes two days
after the bank said Lewis plans to retire at the end of the year.
The committee is being led
by Bank of America Chairman Walter Massey, spokesman Bob Stickler confirmed.
Massey took over as chairman earlier this year after shareholders voted at the
bank's annual meeting to split the chairman and CEO positions at the bank.
Lewis served as chairman and CEO since 2001.
Other members include
Charles Gifford, Thomas May, Thomas Ryan, Donald Powell, and Charles Holliday.
The committee briefly met after a regular bank board meeting Friday.
Comcast looks to future in
bid for NBC Universal
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Years
ago, Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts was asked at a conference what kept him
awake at night. His answer: A new technology that would severely hurt the cable
TV business.
His fears haven't come to
fruition yet. But the growing popularity of watching shows, movies and other
content streamed over the Internet or over cell phone networks make the cable
pipe less important for video than it ever has been in the history of the
business.
Now Comcast is in talks with
General Electric Co. to take a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal. The nation's
largest cable operator is expected to pay $4 billion to $6 billion in cash,
merge its cable networks into a spun-off NBC Universal and help shoulder $10
billion to $12 billion of debt at the new company.
Jobs data send oil prices
tumbling below $70
UNDATED (AP) -- Oil prices
tumbled Friday as unemployment hit a 26-year high, sowing more doubts about the
strength of the economic recovery and crude demand.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery fell 87 cents a barrel to settle at $69.95 on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Prices fell as low as $68.32 earlier in the day. Heating oil and
gasoline prices also fell.
Natural gas, which fell 8
percent Thursday after the government reported consumption has dropped so low
that the U.S. is now storing more than at any other time on record, added 25.2
cents to settle at $4.718 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Crude has about doubled in
price since February, pulled higher in part by the hope that the economy is
coming back from the worst recession since World War II, a six-month rally on
Wall Street and a battered dollar.
Madoff trustee sues Madoff
family for almost $200M
NEW YORK (AP) -- Bernard
Madoff's brother, sons and a niece used the family finance business like a
"piggy bank," a court-appointed trustee charged Friday as he demanded
in a lawsuit that they return almost $200 million in money to be distributed to
cheated investors.
The trustee, Irving Picard,
sought $198.7 million from Madoff's brother, Peter, who had worked at Madoff's
Manhattan investment company since 1965, and sons, Mark and Andrew.
Also sued was Shana D.
Madoff, Bernard Madoff's niece and Peter Madoff's daughter.
Lawyers for the Madoff's
brother and sons did not immediately return a phone call for comment. A message
for comment left at Shana Madoff's East Hampton home was not immediately
returned.
TD Bank computer glitch
gives customers headaches
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) --
Computer problems have been causing headaches this week for customers of the
financial institution that calls itself "America's Most Convenient
Bank."
TD Bank officials say there
have been delays in getting transactions to show up in the customers' accounts.
They say the problems sprung from complications integrating the computer
systems and Web sites last weekend of the old TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank.
In the days just a few years
ago before online banking was widespread, most customers would not have
noticed.
But now, they're so aware
that they've overwhelmed the phone lines at the bank's call center, filled
branch lobbies and have made their gripes public on Twitter.
Bondholders committee, board
OK CIT restructuring
NEW YORK (AP) -- Struggling
CIT Group Inc. has launched a debt restructuring effort it hopes will trim at
least $5.7 billion from its balance sheet, but also is asking bondholders to
approve a prepackaged reorganization plan in case it is forced to file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
New York-based CIT, one of
the nation's largest lenders to small and midsize businesses, has been
devastated by the downturn in the credit markets and is attempting to
restructure its operations to remain in business. CIT received $2.3 billion in
federal bailout aid last fall, a $3 billion emergency loan in July from some of
its largest bondholders, and bought back $1 billion in debt but still needs to
reduce its debt burden to survive.
Allergan suing FDA over
off-label policy
NEW YORK (AP) -- Allergan
Inc., the maker of the Botox wrinkle treatment, challenged the government's ban
on off-label drug marketing to doctors, saying it violates the company's right
to freedom of speech.
The company contends in a
lawsuit filed Thursday that it should be able to educate doctors about the
risks and benefits of using treatments for unapproved uses.
Botox is approved for
several uses by the Food and Drug Administration. In addition to its use as a wrinkle
treatment, it is approved for eye muscle disorders and excessive underarm
sweating. But physicians often use it for unapproved, or off-label, indications
including muscle-spasm conditions.
By The Associated Press
the Dow fell 21.61, or 0.2
percent, to 9,487.67.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index fell 4.64, or 0.5 percent, to 1,025.21, and the Nasdaq composite
index fell 9.37, or 0.5 percent, to 2,048.11.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery fell 87 cents a barrel to settle at $69.95 on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Natural gas added 25.2 cents
to settle at $4.718 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil fell 3.06 cents to settle at $1.7968 a gallon. Gasoline for
November delivery dropped 1.7 cents to settle at $1.7409 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude fell
$1.12 to settle at $68.07 on the ICE Futures exchange.