Recovery on track to strengthen at end of 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy started the year in free-fall but is on track to end 2009 on stronger footing. After a record four straight quarters of declines, the economy returned to growth in the July-to-September period. The government is expected to estimate the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent pace in the third quarter when it releases its final projection of last quarter's growth on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. EST.
Home sales likely rose again in November
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home resales are expected to have risen to their highest level in nearly three years in November, as an extraordinary level of federal support has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Economists project home sales rose 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.25 million, up from 6.1 million in October, according to Thomson Reuters. If accurate, it would be the third-straight increase and the best month for home sales since February 2007.
Obama to meet with small and community bankers
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will discuss the economy, lending to small businesses and financial regulation when he sits down at the White House with representatives of a dozen small and community banks. Obama scheduled Tuesday's session as a follow-up to a similar meeting he held last week with some of the nation's top bankers.
Asian markets rise, Nikkei at 3-month high
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian markets rose Tuesday, snapping a string of losses, as a weaker yen boosted Japanese shares to a three-month high and a flurry of corporate deals suggested greater confidence in the economic recovery. European markets gained. The deal announcements from Europe and the U.S. — regarded as a sign companies are becoming more willing to part with cash to expand — helped lift the Dow Jones industrials into positive territory for the month on Monday, giving it a 0.7 percent gain.
Oil hangs near $74 amid OPEC supply decision
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices hung near $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders anticipated OPEC will leave crude production levels unchanged at the group's meeting later in the day. Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 21 cents to $73.93 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 70 cents to settle at $73.72 on Monday.
Banks getting bum rap on not lending enough?
NEW YORK (AP) — Unlike big-city bankers, Stan Wilmoth didn't make lots of dumb loans during the boom. After the crash, he accepted not a dime of taxpayer money for his bank. His salary? "Substantially less" than the $1 million the former head of Merrill Lynch spent remodeling his office, he says. He credits his grandfather, a Protestant minister, with giving him "moral fiber." But judging from the rhetoric coming out of the Obama administration, Wilmoth, the folksy 58-year-old president of Heritage Bank of Reno, Nev., should be scorned, not praised.
GM taps Microsoft CFO to run finances
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. has hired the chief financial officer of Microsoft Corp. to take over the troubled automaker's books, tapping a cost-cutter who is now widely seen as a potential candidate to be GM's next CEO. Chris Liddell will become GM's finance chief starting next year and report directly to interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr., who also is a newcomer to the automaker. The 51-year-old Liddell is the first permanent top manager hired from outside the company since it left bankruptcy protection in July. Whitacre, who says he wants to shake up GM's slow and rigid culture, has pushed out top executives and promoted younger managers in recent weeks.
Gov't imposes 3-hour limit on tarmac strandings
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stinky toilets, crying babies, airless cabins — the Obama administration said Monday passengers don't have to take it any more. It ordered airlines to let people get off planes delayed on the ground after three hours. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the three-hour limit and other new regulations are meant to send an unequivocal message to airlines not to hold passengers hostage on stuck planes. Coming on the eve of the busy holiday travel season, the announcement was hailed by consumer advocates as "a Christmas miracle."
Merger news, analyst upgrades drive stocks higher
NEW YORK (AP) — Another wave of corporate dealmaking stoked investors' confidence in the economy and carried stocks sharply higher Monday. Analyst upgrades of Alcoa Inc. and Intel Corp. and positive momentum on President Obama's health care overhaul also helped drive a broad advance on the stock market. Major indexes closed off their highs of the day but still rose about 1 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped into the black for the month.
Hedge fund operator Rajaratnam pleads not guilty
NEW YORK (AP) — Wealthy hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and a codefendant pleaded not guilty Monday to charges they were major players in a scheme that used inside information to make stock trades that generated millions of dollars in profits. Prosecutors, who have described the case as a "wake up call for Wall Street," promised to hand over to defense attorneys 100 hours of intercepted phone calls made over eight months that they say implicate the defendants.
