NASDAQ TUMBLES: Major stock indexes fell across the board yesterday, led by tech shares. The Nasdaq had its biggest one-day decline since Sept. 24. Some big tech shares also helped drag down the Dow. The selloff was led by sharp declines from such bellwethers as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Intel. Since hitting a 21/2-year high on Jan. 26, the suddenly beleaguered Nasdaq has lost 6.5 percent over the last seven trading days - nearly all its gains so far this year.
FACTORY ORDERS UP: America's factories saw orders rebound in December, rising by 1.1 percent. The over-the-month increase reported by the Commerce Department Wednesday came after orders placed with factories dropped by 0.9 percent in November. For all of 2003, orders to U.S. factories rose by 3.9 percent - the best showing since 2000, when the economy was enjoying a record expansion - and a big improvement from the 1.9 percent decline registered in 2002.
REPTRON BANKRUPTCY ENDS: Reptron Electronics said Wednesday it has emerged from bankruptcy reorganization with a new $25-million line of credit with Congress Financial Corp., a subsidiary of Wachovia Bank. As previously reported, bondholders and unsecured creditors of the Tampa electronics manufacturer overwhelmingly approved the prepackaged reorganization plan two weeks ago. The bankruptcy allowed Reptron to shed more than $50-million in debt.
IBM TAKES OVER SPRINT CALL CENTERS: IBM Business Consulting Services will take over management of some of Sprint Corp.'s call centers across the country, including two in the Tampa Bay area, under an agreement announced Wednesday. IBM said the Tampa Bay area centers will continue to be operated by SR.Teleperformance under a contract with that company. Sprint said the five-year "multibillion dollar" agreement with IBM affects 21 vendor-operated centers and a Sprint-operated center in Nashville.
ORACLE BOOSTS BID FOR PEOPLESOFT: Business softwaremaker Oracle Corp. raised its hostile takeover bid for rival PeopleSoft Inc. by 33 percent to $26 per share Wednesday, setting the stage for more high stakes drama in the high-tech soap opera. The all-cash offer, which values PeopleSoft at $9.4-billion, tops Oracle's previous bid of $19.50 per share. The new offer is a 19 percent premium from PeopleSoft's closing price Tuesday. PeopleSoft's shares gained 81 cents, or 3.7 percent, to close at $22.70 Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Oracle's shares declined 64 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $13.27.
TREASURY TO AUCTION $56-BILLION IN NOTES: The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it will auction $56-billion in notes next week and will make a decision in May on whether the government should add one or more new securities to help finance the national debt. The department's consideration of selling new securities comes as the government's finances worsen. This year's budget deficit is expected to total a record $521-billion, even as the economic recovery is in full stride.
FANNIE MAE REJECTS SUIT CLAUSES: Home-loan giant Fannie Mae will no longer invest in any mortgages that force borrowers to surrender their right to sue lenders, under a new policy announced Wednesday. The move by the largest U.S. buyer of home mortgages comes two months after its No.2 rival, Freddie Mac, similarly decided to stop investing in mortgages that contain mandatory arbitration clauses, which require borrowers to refer disputes to a third party arbitrator.
