ORDERS UP, JOBS DOWN: An unexpectedly strong advance in orders to factories for big-ticket goods combined with a report that new jobless benefit claims hit the highest level in a year depict an economy inching away from the threat of a double-dip recession but still unable to mount a sustainable rebound, economists said. The Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods rose by a solid 2 percent in March, surprising economists who had been looking for a decline. The Labor Department, meanwhile, reported that the number of newly laid off Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose by 8,000 last month to 455,000, the highest level since late March 2002.
VERIZON TOLD TO NAME NAMES: U.S. District Judge John D. Bates rejected a constitutional challenge by Verizon Communications Inc., which is trying to avoid turning over the names of two of its Internet subscribers suspected of illegally offering free music for downloading. Bates determined that First Amendment protections concerning anonymous expression do not conflict with the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The latest ruling means consumers using dozens of popular Internet file-sharing programs can more easily be identified and tracked by copyright owners.
INCUBATOR GRANT AWAITED: The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to decide within a week whether to give $200,000 to establish a technology incubator program at the Young-Rainey STAR Center in Largo to foster development of local tech companies, according to the center's assistant director, Paul Sacco. If the center gets the grant, it plans to ask the Pinellas County Commission to donate 20,000 square feet of office space at the center for the incubator, which would accept applications from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Polk, Sarasota and Manatee counties.
COMPETITION HURTS CHRYSLER: DaimlerChrysler AG said Thursday it will be difficult for its U.S.-based Chrysler Group to achieve its 2003 profit target, following a first quarter in which heavy incentives and lower volume offset cost savings. The German-American automaker said its first-quarter profit fell amid heavy price competition and the Iraq crisis, but results still beat analysts' expectations. DaimlerChrysler earned 588- million euros ($646-million) for the first three months of 2003. That compared to 2.5-billion euros a year earlier when profits were inflated by the sale of shares in its information systems division. Analysts were expecting a profit of 508- million euros ($558-million).
GE BUYS SILICONE UNIT: General Electric Co. said Thursday it agreed to acquire Crompton Corp.'s silicone unit in a deal valued at as much as $1.05-billion. The purchase, expected to close in the summer, will give GE access to the $450-million in annual sales that the Crompton unit brings in. Under the agreement, Crompton will get GE's specialty chemicals operation, which is valued at $160- million. GE also will pay Crompton $645-million in cash, as well as payments of $105-million to $250-million over three years, based on performance targets.
5TH CFO AGREES TO DEAL: Aaron Beam, a founder of HealthSouth Corp. and its first chief financial officers, agreed to plead guilty Thursday and join four other former CFO's in helping prosecutors probe the role of fired Chief Executive Richard Scrushy in an alleged $2.5-billion accounting fraud. Beam, 59, will admit to one count of bank fraud for lying between April 1996 and October 1997 to lenders of HealthSouth, an operator of rehabilitation hospitals, prosecutors said.
SUV MARKETERS WARNED: Eight state attorneys general, including Charlie Crist of Florida, have notified 16 car makers that their ads for sports utility vehicles may be dangerously deceptive. Targeting ads that blur the line between cars and SUVs, the officials criticized portrayals that suggest SUVs can safely perform emergency avoidance maneuvers at high speeds. They also said ads that boast of cargo capacity, rather than the importance of weight and distribution of cargo, are misleading. Many of the same issues were addressed when all 50 states settled their deceptive advertising investigation of Ford Motor Co. following fatalities involving the Ford Explorer. Ford recently paid $51.5-million and agreed to change its ad practices; $30-million of the settlement is going to an SUV Safety Awareness campaign beginning in the fall.
RAYTHEON CEO QUITS: Daniel Burnham, who has tried to return Raytheon Corp. to its core defense business during five years as chief executive, announced he will resign effective July 1. Former U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman, Raytheon's lead director, said the choice was Burnham's. He will be succeeded by William H. Swanson, a 31-year company veteran and currently president. Also Wednesday, Raytheon stockowners repealed the company's so-called poison pill, a shareholder-rights plan that dilutes stock holdings when one party accumulates a large block, making a takeover easier now.
SHAREHOLDERS DEMAND SAY: Shareholders of Verizon Communications Inc. passed a resolution during their annual meeting in Fort Wayne, Ind., giving themselves the power to approve some executive severance agreements. Under the resolution, shareholders would have to approve severance packages if the amount of benefits is more than 2.99 times the sum of an executive's base salary plus bonus, the company said in a statement.
NORTHWEST CUTS SALARIES: Northwest Airlines plans to cut the salaries and benefits of its 3,000 management employees by 5 percent to 15 percent to help the company return to profitability. Northwest already has asked for substantial cuts in pay and benefits from its three largest unions. The carrier announced a $396-million first-quarter loss last week. Northwest's proposed restructuring plan would save about $950-million annually.
NAPSTER'S BACKERS SUED: Major recording labels Universal Music and EMI have sued the venture capitalists who backed Napster Inc., claiming they contributed to the copyright violations by millions of the song-swapping service's users. The federal lawsuit names Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and two of the San Francisco firm's general partners, Hank Barry and John Hummer. The suit seeks punitive damages, along with $150,000 per violation. It also is intended to discourage others from investing in any of the file-swapping services that have risen in Napster's place.
2-YEAR T-BILLS RISE: Yields rose at the U.S. Treasury's monthly auction of two-year notes. The Treasury sold a record-tying $27-billion of the notes at a yield of 1.704 percent, up from 1.692 percent March 26 and the highest since 1.71 percent at the Jan. 29 auction.
EarningsArcher Daniels Midland: The agribusiness giant said third-quarter earnings fell slightly as a result of lower oilseed crush margins in North America and Europe.
AT&T Corp.: Cost-cutting allowed the nation's largest long-distance company to surprise Wall Street with a sizable first-quarter profit, but competition in the long-distance market continued to depress sales.
Xerox Corp.: The world's biggest copier maker had a narrower first-quarter loss because it increased sales of more profitable color machines.
AOL Time Warner Inc.: The world's largest media company posted its biggest quarterly profit since being formed in 2001. Revenue climbed 6.3 percent as it signed up more subscribers at the HBO television network and sold more DVDs of Warner Bros. movies.
AMR Corp.: The parent company of American Airlines blamed weaker-than-expected first-quarter results on weak travel demand caused by the sluggish economy, war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak. CEO Donald J. Carty also said high fuel prices and low fares contributed to results that were "truly dreadful."
Boeing Co.: The world's biggest airplane maker said its first-quarter loss narrowed as it took smaller writedowns. The company cut its 2003 profit forecast because of expected losses on loans by its finance unit.
Hilton Hotels Corp.: The third-largest U.S. hotel company said first-quarter profit fell 74 percent as the war in Iraq and a slowing economy led to reduced travel and lower bookings.
Royal Caribbean Cruises: The world's second-largest cruise line company said first-quarter profit rose 1 percent, as an increase in the number of ships it operates helped make up for a drop in bookings.
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.: The Jacksonville grocery retailer reported that it met its own targets for the third quarter, showing a gain over 2002 despite Easter falling in the fourth quarter this year.
Technology Research: The Clearwater maker of electrical safety products said its net income quadrupled in the fiscal year ended March 31 because of increased demand from the U.S. military, lower interest expenses on its debt and higher profit margins. It will pay a fourth-quarter dividend of 1.5 cents per share April 25. Its stock closed Wednesday at $2.90, up 27 cents per share.