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Published: 2012-05-17 17:37:24.0

Nervous investors send S&P lower for fifth day

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks hit a four-month low on Thursday as rising Spanish bond yields increased investor anxiety over that country's banks and another round of weak data undermined hopes for U.S. economic recovery. Growing worries over developments in the euro zone and lackluster economic data pushed the S&P's losing streak to five consecutive days. The index, which closed at a level not seen since mid-January, has now relinquished more than half of its gains from the first quarter. ...

  
  

Facebook prices at top of range in landmark IPO

• NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc priced its initial public offering at the top of its target range to raise more than $16 billion, as strong demand, particularly from retail investors, fuels anticipation of a big pop in the stock when it begins trading Friday on the Nasdaq. Predictions of how much the stock will rise on its first day of trade vary greatly -- some experts said the high IPO price and increased float could limit gains to 10 percent to 20 percent, while others said anything short of a 50 percent jump would be disappointing given the hype. ...

  
  

JPMorgan's Dimon says will testify before Congress

• WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has agreed to testify before Congress over the bank's recent trading losses, which have ignited a political debate over whether large U.S. banks need to be reined in by regulators or new laws. U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson said in a statement on Thursday that his panel will invite Dimon to appear before Congress. ...

  
  

Gupta trial could feature big corporate stars

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lloyd Blankfein, Warren Buffett and other well-known chieftains of corporate America might be called to testify at the insider trading trial starting on Monday of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble Co director Rajat Gupta. Blankfein, who runs Goldman, and Buffett, who runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc , are among dozens of people that lawyers for the government and for Gupta said on Thursday might be mentioned or might testify at the trial, which is expected to last about three weeks. ...

  
  

Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless plans to make its data-hungry customers pay a lot more, either in service fees or smartphone prices, as it tries to cut costs and boost revenue from data services. The No. 1 U.S. mobile provider said it will eliminate unlimited data plans for all customers who upgrade their cellphone at a discounted rate, potentially driving more business to its smaller rival Sprint Nextel . Only customers who pay full price for their cellphones will be able to keep unlimited data service plans for a flat monthly fee of $30 a month. ...

  
  

MF Global clients bash fat fees, seek quick wind-down

• (Reuters) - The legal team winding down MF Global's bankruptcy estate, led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, has racked up nearly $25 million in estimated fees since its November 25 appointment. Now a customer group is planning to ask that the case be streamlined so that Freeh and his team receive less and customers receive more. On Friday, a coalition of former MF Global customers plans to argue in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan that the Chapter 11 liquidation of the MF parent entity should be converted to a so-called Chapter 7, coalition leader James Koutoulas said on Wednesday. ...

NYC Comptroller opposes re-election of Chesapeake directors

• (Reuters) - New York City Comptroller John Liu, the city's fiscal watchdog, on Thursday urged shareholders of Chesapeake Energy Corp to withhold support for two directors up for re-election, citing the company's recent governance woes. Last month, Reuters reported that Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake's chief executive officer, has used his interest in company oil and gas wells as collateral for $1. ...

  
  

Leaders of UAL pilots' union call for strike vote

• (Reuters) - Pilot union leaders at United Continental Holdings , the parent of United Airlines, called o n Thursday for members to hold a vote on whether to strike over stalled contract talks. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing pilots who flew for old United and Continental Airlines before the two merged in 2010, said it had not set a date for any vote. "There has been more than ample time to reach agreement on a new contract. ...

Gap raises profit outlook, shares rise

• (Reuters) - Gap Inc raised its yearly profit forecast, prompted by first-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street estimates and rising sales, and its shares rose 8 percent after hours. For the full year, Gap estimated earnings of $1.78 to $1.83 a share, above the $1.75 to $1.80 it forecast in February. "It's important to remain measured in our outlook given that our biggest selling seasons are still ahead of us," said Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Simmons. Given the first quarter beat, "the current forecast does appear to be conservative," said Betty Chen, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. ...

  
  

BNY Mellon, IRS spar over $900 million tax benefit

• WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp faced off against the U.S. government on Thursday in closing arguments over a $900 million tax benefit that the Internal Revenue Service called "tax abuse." The case is the first to go to trial since the IRS accused some banks of generating artificial foreign tax credits through loans with London-based Barclays Plc . The tax benefit stems from a $1.5 billion loan to BNY Mellon from Barclays Plc , which also helped several other U.S. banks generate billions in foreign tax credits. Barclays has not been accused of any wrongdoing. ...

Strong Wal-Mart profit trumps bribery probe concerns

• (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's profit and sales surpassed expectations as more people shopped at its established U.S. stores and spent more, pushing shares up more than 4 percent despite ongoing internal and government probes into possible bribery. Wal-Mart's shares jumped and briefly recovered all of the 8.2 percent plunge sustained after an April 21 New York Times report uncovered an alleged past bribery scheme in Mexico that the newspaper said Wal-Mart executives knew about. The first-quarter results, including a 10.1 percent increase in profit, showed that Wal-Mart's U.S. ...

  
  

Appeals court revives POM lawsuit versus Coca-Cola

• SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An appeals court on Thursday revived part of a lawsuit against Coca-Cola Co in which POM Wonderful LLC accused Coke of falsely advertising its "Pomegranate Blueberry" juice product. POM sued Coca-Cola in 2008 saying it had misled consumers into believing the drink, under the Minute Maid brand, consisted primarily of pomegranate and blueberry juices, according to the ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. POM claimed the drink contained mainly apple and grape juices. A lower court resolved the case in Coca-Cola's favor before trial. ...

  
  

MGIC sues Freddie Mac in insurance dispute

• (Reuters) - Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp has sued mortgage financier Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Administration to settle a dispute over coverage limits on certain insurance policies. MGIC said on Thursday it filed the suit in federal court in Wisconsin. The disagreement has been going on for some time, and centers on loss limits on policies that insure Freddie Mac, the No. 2 provider of U.S. mortgage money. ...

  
  

HP mulls cutting at least 25,000 jobs: sources

• (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is considering cutting its workforce by 8 to 10 percent, or a minimum of 25,000 jobs, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as newly installed CEO Meg Whitman strives to return the storied Silicon Valley institution to growth. The job cuts, which could include retirements, are under discussion but have not yet been finalized, several people familiar with the situation told Reuters. The sources did not elaborate on a time frame or other details. ...

  
  

AT&T eyes lower subsidies, shared data plans

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Inc is hoping to help its margins by lowering smartphone subsidies and the company also aims to boost revenue with a new offering that would allow consumers to share their data allowance between tablets and smartphones. Now that growth is slowing for U.S. contract customer operators, including No. 2 U.S. mobile operator AT&T and its rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp are looking for new avenues for expansion, while they try to control costs. ...

  
  

GM to make first sports car with SS nameplate

• DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co, the largest U.S. automaker, will begin selling its first rear-wheel-drive performance sedan under the Chevrolet brand in the United States in 17 years, it said Thursday. The Chevrolet SS will be equipped with a V8 engine and built as a 2014 model. It will arrive in showrooms in late 2013. The production car will also double as GM's NASCAR race car and will debut in the 2013 Daytona 500 next year. The NASCAR version and the one to be sold in showrooms look so much alike that GM plans to camouflage the NASCAR model while testing, spokesman Monte Doran said. ...

  
  

Warren Buffett to buy Media General newspapers

• (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is boosting its bet on the newspaper industry, with a deal to buy the majority of Media General Inc's papers for $142 million in cash, making him one of the largest publishers in the United States. The deal announced Thursday means Buffett will have a stable of about 25 daily newspapers across the country. Buffett is staking his claim in an industry dogged by plummeting advertising revenue and readers who are choosing digital formats over paper and ink. ...

  
  

Jobless claims steady, mid-Atlantic factories sag

• WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for jobless benefits last week held at levels suggesting sluggish growth in hiring and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region contracted in May, worrisome signs for a still-fragile economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits held at 370,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was a little higher than analysts forecasted in a Reuters poll. "We are really not showing much momentum in the labor market at this time," said Sean Incremona, an economist at 4Cast in New York. ...

  
  

Analysis: Will mild winter mean summertime blues for retailers?

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the meteoric jump in shares of Apple Inc and turmoil in the bank sector garnering the spotlight in recent months, one group managed to fly under the radar despite strong gains - retailers. Since hitting a 13-month low in early October and flirting with bear market territory, the S&P 500 has risen 17.2 percent. During the same time frame the S&P retail index has climbed 22.6 percent. The gains were supported by a confluence of events: improvement in the domestic economy, a mild U.S. ...

Dish: FCC timeline for wireless network unrealistic

• WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp told U.S. communications regulators on Thursday that their proposed timetable for Dish's planned wireless network was unrealistic and carried too harsh a penalty for failing to meet requirements. The second-largest satellite TV provider in the United States proposed that it have four years to reach an initial milestone, instead of the three years proposed by the Federal Communications Commission. That initial phase would reach 60 million people under the Dish proposal, rather than the 30 percent of the U.S. ...

Delta Air to trim capacity on trans-Atlantic routes

• (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc will cut capacity on trans-Atlantic routes another 5 percent after Labor Day in September, a "proactive" measure aimed at blunting the risk of a weak European currency and soaring fuel costs, airline president Ed Bastian said on Thursday. Speaking on a webcast of a Merrill Lynch transportation conference, Bastian said the company's total full-year capacity - the number of seats it sells - will be down 3 to 4 percent. The second-largest U.S. airline had previously said it would cut 2012 capacity by 2 to 3 percent. ...

U.S. lawmakers seek info in Wal-Mart corruption probe

• WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers sought additional information from Wal-Mart Stores Inc in an unfolding corruption investigation, focusing further congressional scrutiny on the scandal over its rapid expansion in Mexico. Representatives Elijah Cummings and Henry Waxman, both Democrats, asked on Thursday to speak with a former top executive at Wal-Mart who urged the company to investigate bribery allegations, but left the company in 2006. ...

Analysis: Facebook can't take Asian growth for granted

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Even as Facebook fever grips investors ahead of the social networking giant's potential $100 billion-plus initial public offering, its breakneck growth in Asia may be slowing as it moves beyond desktop users to those who access the Internet largely or solely from a mobile phone. In March, Facebook revised its own SEC filings to scale back its scope for further growth in India - its third-biggest user base and the largest population it currently has access to - China remains off-limits to Facebook. ...

  
  

General Motors chooses UK over Germany for new Astra

• LONDON (Reuters) - General Motors Co opted to build the next generation of its Astra compact in Britain, leaving its plant in Bochum, Germany in danger of closure as it revamps the business to counter more than a decade of losses in Europe. The U.S. carmaker said on Thursday it would invest $200 million in its Ellesmere Port plant in northwest England to build the car after workers at the site overwhelmingly agreed to a new pay deal. ...

Groupon CEO, founders to keep shares after lockup

• NEW YORK (Reuters) - Groupon Inc Chief Executive Andrew Mason and the company's other founders are planning to keep their shares in the company after a trading lock-up expires on June 1. Groupon's lock-up expiration will allow some pre-initial-public-offering investors to sell their shares, and analysts say that the approach of the expiration has put Groupon's stock under additional pressure. "We have no intention to sell," Mason said during a webcast of an investor meeting on Thursday, adding that he believes in the long-term future of the online coupon company. ...

  
  

Acura recalls over 56,000 cars in N. America

• (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd's Acura brand is recalling 56,881 TL sedans from model years 2007 and 2008 in North America to replace a power steering hose that could leak over time and potentially cause a fire. The recall affects 52,615 TL sedans in the U.S. and another 4,266 in Canada, the Japanese automaker said. Acura said the hose may deteriorate and leak over time. Leaking fluid could lead to a loss of power steering assistance or could cause smoke and fire, the Japanese automaker said. Acura said no crashes, injuries or fires have been reported related to the issue. ...

  
  

Explorer Cairn's shareholders revolt over pay

• LONDON (Reuters) - British oil explorer Cairn Energy said investors holding two thirds of its stock voted against executive pay awards in one of the biggest rebellions to take place yet in the 'shareholder spring' of salary disapproval. A growing number of investors in British companies are registering their disapproval at rates of executive pay. The shareholder revolts follow public anger at big pay rises for executives at a time when many Britons are feeling the pinch as a result of high inflation and weak wage growth. ...

Tiffany raises dividend 10 percent

• (Reuters) - Upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co raised its dividend for the 11th time in 10 years on Thursday. The quarterly dividend will be increased by 10 percent to 32 cents per share from 29 cents. Tiffany will report quarterly earnings next week, with analysts expecting a profit of 69 cents per share on revenues of $816.9 million. A year earlier it earned 67 cents a share. (Reporting By Phil Wahba; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

  
  

Europe's banks on the brink

• LONDON, May 17 (IFR) - The euro zone crisis was in full swing when Jean-Claude Trichet took the podium in Berlin last October 6 for his final press conference as president of the European Central Bank. Having helped create one of the longest periods of price stability in the history of central banking, Trichet was closing out his eight-year reign under siege. Soaring oil prices had made a mockery of the bank's superlative record on inflation, while the worst recession on the continent since World War II had morphed into a full-scale sovereign debt crisis. ...

  
  

No respite for HP, Dell in Windows 8: BMO

• (Reuters) - Microsoft's long-awaited launch of the Windows 8 OS may not change the fortunes of PC makers, BMO analysts said, lowering their price targets on the stocks of Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc . PC sales have been tepid for most of the last year. But volumes registered a surprise 1.9 percent growth in the first quarter of this year, according to Gartner. Windows 8 OS's long-awaited launch this year is widely expected to boost PC sales. But BMO was less optimistic. "Windows 8 will prove to be a disappointment, at least out of the gate," analyst Keith Bachman wrote in a note. ...

Facebook's IPO one of world's largest

• Facebook's initial public offering of stock is one of the largest ever. The world's definitive online social network is raising at least $16 billion for the company and its early investors in a transaction that values Facebook at $104 billion.

Gap 1Q profit flat but outlook bright, shares rise

• Sales gains at its Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic chains and online helped clothing seller Gap Inc. overcome rising costs and post first-quarter net income on Thursday that was unchanged from a year earlier.

  
  

Facebook's $16 billion IPO one of world's largest

• Facebook's initial public offering of stock is one of the largest ever. The world's definitive online social network is raising at least $16 billion for the company and its early investors in a transaction that values Facebook at $104 billion.

Caretaker Greek Cabinet, legislators sworn in

• Greece swore in 300 legislators for just one day before it dissolves Parliament and calls new elections, among them 21 lawmakers from Golden Dawn — arguably the most far-right party to be involved in a European national legislature since Nazi-era Germany.

  
  

Questions and answers on blockbuster Facebook IPO

• Taking a company public isn't as simple as collecting Facebook friends.

Money market fund assets fall to $2.569 trillion

• Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets fell by $5.35 billion to $2.563 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.

Wal-Mart's 1Q profit up 10.1 percent

• Wal-Mart may have gotten its groove back, but an alleged bribery scheme threatens to curtail its progress.

  
  

Sears spins off Canada stake to focus on US stores

• Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday it returned to a profit in the first quarter as it benefited from a gain on the sale of underperforming stores. The troubled retailer also said it would spinoff a stake in its Canada unit to focus on turning around its U.S. business.

JPMorgan CEO willing to appear before Senate panel

• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is willing to testify at a congressional hearing this spring on the bank's $2 billion trading loss.

Profiles of the 2 nominees to Fed board

• Profiles of President Barack Obama's two nominees to the seven-member Federal Reserve Board who were confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.

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