Business - Page 35

Reuters - Federal Reserve officials warned on Friday that inflation was still too high, reinforcing views the U.S. central bank will keep interest rates steady unless the economic outlook takes an unexpected turn. More Info...  

Reuters - Citigroup Inc. said on Friday fourth-quarter profit rose a greater-than-expected 3 percent as revenue increased in all major business lines, but growth lagged major rivals as expenses soared.

Reuters - General Electric Co. said on Friday that fourth-quarter profit rose at all units, but GE Industrial, which was hurt by poor plastics performance.

NewsFactor - Banks and credit card companies are rushing to notify their customers to keep an eye out for fraudulent activity on their accounts after several retailers discovered thefts of customer data from their computer systems. More Info...  

Reuters - U.S. consumer sentiment improved more than expected to a three-year high in January, propelled by falling gasoline prices and a favorable view of personal finances and the economy, a survey showed on Friday.

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the economy could be gravely hurt if the nation's fiscal house is not put in order and Social Security and Medicare aren't revamped.

Business

Reuters - IBM's quarterly profit rose 11 percent, but its shares fell more than 5 percent as the earnings failed to beat some investors' forecasts and computer hardware sales lagged some targets.

Reuters - French electrical engineering group Schneider Electric on Friday reported its 2006 fourth-quarter sales rose 12.3 percent to 3.664 billion euros, beating an average forecast in a Reuters Estimates poll of 3.481 billion euros. More Info...  

Reuters - Hilton Hotels Corp. and Beverly Hilton-owner Oasis West Realty LLC announced on Thursday plans to redevelop the hotel and build a 120-room Waldorf-Astoria hotel as well as condominiums on the nine-acre Beverly Hills, California property. More Info...  

Reuters - Continuing a torrid pace of deal-making, diversified conglomerate General Electric Co. said on Thursday it will buy two of Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s diagnostics business units for $8.13 billion in cash.

Reuters - Oil dropped below $50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May 2005 after U.S. data showed a sharp increase in crude supply in the United States, the world's top oil consumer.

Reuters - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole said on Wednesday he would require very convincing evidence to back an interest rate cut, but he did not rule out such a move. More Info...  

Reuters - Virgin America Inc. revised its ownership application on Wednesday, hoping to reverse a tentative decision by U.S. regulators to deny its bid to start low-cost airline service this year.

Investor's Business Daily - Mutual fund managers want their cash a little colder and harder these days. More Info...  

AP - Wholesale prices moderated in December after a big surge the previous month, while industrial production rebounded from three consecutive declines. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - Apple Inc. reported on Wednesday a 78 percent surge in quarterly profit, trouncing Wall Street expectations in a strong holiday season driven by sales of iPod digital music players.

Reuters - JPMorgan Chase & Co. , the third-largest U.S. banking group, said on Wednesday quarterly earnings rose 68 percent, helped by a big surge in investment banking revenue and a $622 million gain from selling its corporate trust unit to Bank of New York.

AFP - Taiwan food giant President Chain Store Corp said it has signed contracts with British retailer Marks and Spencer to form a joint venture in Taiwan.

Investor's Business Daily - Mutual fund shareholders should invest through fund groups that keep trading costs low. They need to be skeptical of the siren song played by hedge funds. More Info...  

Business

Reuters - Intel Corp.'s quarterly profit fell 40 percent amid a bruising price war with AMD and the top chipmaker's stock fell nearly 3 percent on Tuesday after it forecast gross margins would not improve this year.