Business News

Feds close Douglass National Bank
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Douglass National Bank on Friday and named the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver. In a release Friday, the FDIC said that all of Kansas City-based Douglass' deposit accounts were transferred to Liberty Bank and Trust Co., based in New Orleans, and will be available as usual. Douglass had $58.5 million in assets and $53.8 million in deposits on Oct. 22. The FDIC said that the transaction was the least costly option and estimated that the transaction's cost to its Deposit Insurance Fund is about $5.6 million.

Separately on Friday, Douglass reported that it had lost $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. During the first nine months of 2007, Douglass lost $1.1 million. The 25-year-old bank -- the only one in metropolitan Kansas City owned by African-Americans -- lost $4.2 million in 2006. Bank assets shrank by 10 percent, or $5.7 million, during the most recent quarter to $52.5 million.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=ACBJ&date=20080126&id=8095611
 
NY subpoenas Merck and Schering-Plough over Vytorin
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed Merck & Co and Schering-Plough Corp for documents and information to see whether the companies hid the results of a study on their cholesterol drug Vytorin. The move, announced on Saturday, came one day after U.S. regulators said they would review the study, called Enhance, which showed Vytorin worked no better than a generic in preventing the build-up of arterial plaque. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was not advising doctors to stop prescribing Vytorin, but shares of the two companies fell on Friday as news of the review unnerved investors.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?feed=OBR&Date=20080126&ID=8095683
 
Tyson To Eliminate 1,500 Of 2,400 Jobs
Tyson Foods Inc. said it will cease beef slaughter operations at its Emporia, Kansas, beef plant in the next few weeks, resulting in the elimination of 1,500 of 2,400 jobs. Affected workers will continue to be paid and receive benefits for 60 days, and the company will work with affected employees to discuss other employment opportunities within the company.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/article/correct-tyson-eliminate-1500-2400-jobs_451948_1.html
 
Emerson Electric first-quarter profit rises
Industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co. reported a 27 percent jump in quarterly net profit, reflecting continued strength in its network power segment and its process management unit, which serves the booming energy sector. Net earnings rose to $565 million, or 71 cents per share, in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec 31, compared with $445 million, or 55 cents per share a year earlier.
http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSWNAS929020080205
 
Services index plummets, points to recession
The U.S. services sector retrenched sharply in January to levels not seen since the 2001 recession, renewing fears about an economic slump. The Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing plummeted to 41.9 from 54.4 in December, its largest monthly decline on record and a far greater drop than Wall Street expected.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSWEN379020080205
 
Coca-Cola acquires 40 pct stake in Honest Tea
Coca-Cola Co reached an agreement to acquire a 40 percent stake in organic tea maker Honest Tea Inc, the latest step by the world's largest beverage company to expand in faster-growing noncarbonated drinks. Financial terms of the investment in Honest, which makes bottled ready-to-drink beverages, were not disclosed. The soft drink maker said it may elect to buy the outstanding interest sometime in the future.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0543967020080205
 
ADRs fall sharply as US recession fears mount
U.S.-listed shares of overseas companies tumbled as concerns about a U.S. recession escalated. Financial companies, which have been hit hard by concerns about the credit market, and auto makers, which are big exporters to the United States, were among top decliners. The Bank of New York's index of leading American Depositary Receipts was down 3.5 percent while the 30-share Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 2 percent. Recession worries mounted as a U.S. report showed activity in the services sector unexpectedly slumped to a level not seen since the previous recession.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0517523520080205
 
Shares of General Motors and Ford Slide After Analyst Says Auto Stocks Are Overpriced
Shares of auto makers Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. declined Wednesday after a Bear Stearns analyst downgraded both stocks, saying expectations are too high given weakness in the U.S. economy. It is becoming harder for consumers to afford cars, but auto makers and suppliers are expecting impossibly high levels of profit growth. That is making the shares' current value too expensive.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/apfn_auto_makers_out_of_the_gate.html?.v=2
 
Worker Productivity Slows Sharply
Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, increased at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the October-December quarter, down from a 6 percent performance in the July-September period. The slowdown reflected the fact that overall economic activity weakened considerably in the final three months of last year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/economy.html
 
Cable TV Drives Time Warner 4Q
Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media conglomerate, reported a 41 percent decline in fourth-quarter profits Wednesday following a big gain last year from the sale of AOL's European online access business. Without the year-ago gains and other one-time effects, adjusted profits rose 17 percent on stronger results at cable TV and from movies. Time Warner said it expected that growth to slow in 2008 to a range of 7 percent to 9 percent.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/earns_time_warner.html
 
U.S. productivity rises, labor costs growth muted
U.S. productivity in the fourth quarter rose at a stronger-than-expected pace as employers cut working hours by the most in nearly five years, helping restrain growth in labor costs. U.S. non-farm productivity, or hourly output per worker, rose at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the fourth-quarter, news that may help comfort a Federal Reserve that has shifted its focus away from inflation to slash interest rates in recent weeks to curb slowing growth.
http://www.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idUSN0625821720080206
 
PepsiAmericas Chief Executive Robert Pohlad Buys 200,000 Shares for $25.65 Apiece
The chairman and chief executive of PepsiAmericas Inc. bought 200,000 shares of stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Robert Pohlad reported he bought the shares for $25.65 apiece on Monday. Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/pepsiamericas_insider_transactions.html?.v=1
 
Cisco shares fall on disappointing revenue forecast
Cisco Systems Inc. saw its shares drop more than 8% in after-hours trading after the company issued a lower-than-expected revenue forecast for its third fiscal quarter, citing the slowing economy. In a conference call to discuss the company's second quarter results, CEO John Chambers said the company expects revenue for the April quarter to grow 10% from the previous year. That equates to revenue of about $9.8 billion, lower than the $10.19 billion expected by analysts for the period, according to Thomson Financial. Chambers said order-growth rates in the month of January were below expectations, leading the company to be cautious about the outlook for the next few months.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Sto...4CBC-9535-178FFFD3D808}&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo
 
Macy's Cutting About 2,300 Jobs
Macy's Inc. said it will cut about 2,300 management jobs as the department store operator consolidates three regional divisions and decentralizes buying in a bid to reduce costs and boost sales. The announcement came as Macy's announced separately that it had a steeper-than-expected drop in sales in January at established stores. Shares fell almost 5 percent on the news.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080206/macy_s_changes.html
 
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