Business News

SocGen fined over trading scandal

AP - Fri Jul 4, 5:27 PM ET

PARIS - France's central bank announced Friday that it has fined Societe Generale $6.3 million for "serious shortcomings" in its internal controls that led to nearly $7.8 billion in trading losses announced earlier this year.

Economy News

  • Passersby walk past a price board indicating regular gas is sold at 190 yen (US$1.79) per liter (0.26 gallon) and the high-octane gas at 200 yen ($1.88) per liter at a gas station in Tokyo Thursday, July 3, 2008. Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
    G-8 meets as economy storm clouds thicken AP - Fri Jul 4, 1:26 PM ET

    SAPPORO, Japan - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

  • Robert M. Kimmitt, Deputy Secretary ofthe U.S. Department of Treasury, speaks during a conference on Sovereign Wealth Funds at the Asia Society in New York, April 14, 2008. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
    Kimmitt confident in economic fundamentals Reuters - Fri Jul 4, 9:18 AM ET

    BERLIN (Reuters) - Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said on Friday he was confident about the United States' economic fundamentals in the long term despite a current rough patch and was quite optimistic about the future.

  • A sign displaying gas prices is seen in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 3, 2008.  Fewer Californians are expected to travel during this year's Independence Day weekend because of record-high gas prices and high airfares, according to an AAA travel survey.  (AP Photo/ Matt Sayles)
    Gas prices hit another high for holiday weekend AP - Fri Jul 4, 8:11 AM ET

    NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

Stock Markets News

  • A stock trader observes the developments in the stock market in Frankfurt, March 2008. European stock exchanges suffered sharp falls Friday on fresh fears for the health of the banking sector sparked by a report from Goldman Sachs.(AFP/DDP/File/Thomas Lohnes)
    European exchanges post sharp falls on fears for banking sector AFP - Fri Jul 4, 1:57 PM ET

    LONDON (AFP) - European stock exchanges suffered sharp falls Friday on fresh fears for the health of the banking sector sparked by a report from Goldman Sachs.

  • Traders can be seen on the floor of the crude oil futures pit of the New York Mercantile Exchange, June 30, 2008. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
    European shares fall, Asia markets mixed AP - Fri Jul 4, 1:29 PM ET

    LONDON - European markets fell and Asian markets were mixed Friday as investors digested uneven readings on the U.S. economy and oil prices that remained near records. Japan posted its 12th straight day of losses.

  • People checking the stock prices are reflected on an electronic stock board in Tokyo as Japan's key stock index extended its sell-off to a 12th straight session Friday, July 14, 2008 — its longest slide in 54 years. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock Average slipped 27.51 points to 13,237.89, down for the 12th day, which is the longest losing streak since the index stumbled for 15 straight trading days starting April 28, 1954. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)
    Japan's key stock index extends losses AP - Fri Jul 4, 5:17 AM ET

    TOKYO - Japan's key stock index extended its longest slide in more than a half-century, as record oil prices intensified concerns over the impact on corporate earnings and consumer demand.

Earnings News

  • A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, June 26, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
    For stocks, escaping bear hinges on oil, GE Reuters - Thu Jul 3, 7:36 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - It will be tough for Wall Street to shake off the bear market blues next week if the price of oil keeps rising and the earnings season kick-off from Alcoa and General Electric disappoints investors.

  • Correction: Earns-Research in Motion AP - Wed Jul 2, 3:13 PM ET

    TORONTO - In a June 25 story about quarterly earnings at Research In Motion Ltd., The Associated Press incorrectly reported that the BlackBerry Bold will be a touch-screen phone. Current plans do not call for the device to have a touch screen.

  • A Family Dollar store is seen in a handout photo. (Handout/Reuters)
    Family Dollar beats estimates, shares jump Reuters - Wed Jul 2, 9:11 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit as the discount retailer kept a tight control on expenses and inventory to navigate the tough environment, sending its shares up than 11 percent.

Industries

  • A motorist holding a fuel pump at a petrol station. Oil prices fell on profit-taking, a day after surging to record highs on the back of a weak dollar and concerns over tight supplies(AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri)
    Gas prices hit another high for holiday weekend AP - Fri Jul 4, 8:11 AM ET

    NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

  • In this June 4, 2008 file photo, Chrysler and Dodge vehicles are lined up at a Chrysler dealership in Portland, Ore. Analysts at JPMorgan painted a bleak picture for Detroit's automakers Thursday, July 2, 2008, suggesting General Motors Corp. might need to raise $10 billion, Ford Motor Co. could be forced to sell Volvo and Chrysler LLC may have few if any options by late next year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)
    Chrysler looks at auto alliance with Chinese AP - Fri Jul 4, 5:48 AM ET

    BEIJING - Chrysler LLC, looking for foreign partnerships to help drive its business as U.S. sales slump, announced a deal with China's Great Wall Motor Co. on Friday to study sharing technology, components and distribution.

  • Judge urges Eli Lilly to settle Zyprexa lawsuit AP - Thu Jul 3, 10:52 PM ET

    INDIANAPOLIS - A federal judge in New York is urging Eli Lilly and Co. to settle a multibillion-dollar lawsuit filed by insurance companies, unions and others who claim the pharmaceutical giant overpriced its top-selling drug Zyprexa and exaggerated its usefulness.

Opinion

  • Ruined by 401[k] Predators BusinessWeek Online - Thu Jul 3, 8:08 AM ET

    Stan Morrill was confident his nestegg would provide for him and his wife for the rest of their lives. After all, the Eastman Kodak veteran, a factory worker for 31 years, had attended the free financial seminar recommended to him by co-workers. Morrill says the host, Michael J. Kazacos, one of Morgan Stanley's top brokers, dazzled him with a plan that would let him retire at 49. Morrill just had to roll over his pension and 401(k) into a tax-deferred account managed by Kazacos. ...

  • To Bill or Not to Bill BusinessWeek Online - Thu Jul 3, 8:08 AM ET

    I work for a management consulting firm where client satisfaction is by far the biggest priority. I've been here for four years and have had four excellent performance reviews. Right now I'm working on a client project that takes up a tremendous amount of time. My project manager gives me special subassignments at the rate of two or three a week, on top of my usual tasks. I have been completing these assignments at night, because I'm away from home anyway during the week and because my client contacts need me focused on their priorities all day long.

  • Will You Outlive Your Money? BusinessWeek Online - Thu Jul 3, 8:08 AM ET

    Retirees with plump nest eggs are attractive targets for unscrupulous financial advisers who advise them to make unwise withdrawals. "The 'why work' pitch is epidemic," says Peter Moujay, a Pensacola (Fla.) attorney. Moujay has represented some 100 retirees of Marathon Refinery in rural Robinson, Ill., and a similar number of AT&T telephone workers out of Michigan, who were targets of such a scheme. Here's a chart outlining how long your money will last given certain withdrawal rates. ...

Most Popular Business News

  • Trinity Boat Vice President William S. Smith III, left, and Trinity Boat President John Dane III pose in front of one of their super yachts at Trinity Boats in New Orleans, Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Although the world economy is being shaken by $135-per-barrel oil, there's no shortage of buyers willing to put down tens of millions of dollars for a 'super yacht,' a floating second home reserved for stratospheric income brackets. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
    Smooth sailing for yacht builders despite economy AP - Fri Jul 4, 2:09 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - Fuel prices are soaring and credit markets tightening, but the super-rich are still lining up to pay tens of millions of dollars for mega yachts.

  • Ainu's Mina Sakai performs in a concert of the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Sapporo, northern Japan, Friday, July 4, 2008. A gathering of indigenous peoples blamed the Group of Eight's economic agenda for global warming and rising food and fuel prices - the very problems the G-8 leaders plan to tackle at their summit next week. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
    Gas prices hit another high for holiday weekend AP - Fri Jul 4, 8:11 AM ET

    NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

  • Florida Supreme court nixes Indian casino pact AP - Thu Jul 3, 3:09 PM ET

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday overturned an agreement Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Seminole Tribe to expand gambling at its casinos, saying the governor had no right to allow games that are illegal elsewhere in the state.