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2D_Digest: EU threatens Microsoft with some big fines

By Times Wires
Published March 2, 2007

BRUSSELS, Belgium

The European Union threatened Microsoft Corp. on Thursday with fines as high as $4-million a day, claiming the software company was still not offering a fair deal to rivals seeking to make their products more compatible with Windows. Microsoft said the EU Commission's demands were not reasonable. "It is hard to see how the commission can argue that even patented innovation must be made available for free," said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. The EU complained that three years after a landmark antitrust ruling to open up the market, the world's largest software maker still refused to cooperate.

New York

Wall Street still regaining balance

A still skittish Wall Street closed modestly lower Thursday, having clawed its way back from an early-session plunge after upbeat manufacturing data allayed fears about a flagging U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrials ended 34 points lower after tumbling 209 points in early trading and then briefly reaching positive territory in the afternoon. A free fall Tuesday sliced 416 points off the Dow. Markets rebounded halfheartedly Wednesday on calming words about the economy from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. "The aftermath of Tuesday's major sell-off will linger for the next couple of days," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc.

Detroit

GM makes money, rest of Big 3 sinks

General Motors Corp. surprised the industry Thursday by reporting a 3.7 percent year-over-year sales rise in February. By contrast, Ford Motor Co. posted a 13.5 percent sales slide and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group had an 8.3 percent dip. Ford's blamed ongoing efforts to cut low-profit fleet sales, but it also saw a 12 percent drop in sales of F-Series pickups. DaimlerChrysler, which includes Mercedes, reported an 8 percent decrease with Chrysler dragging down Mercedes sales. Toyota's annual sales were up 12.2 percent, but it failed to supplant Ford as the No. 2 automaker.

Washington

Personal incomes take upward leap

Personal incomes rose in January at the fastest clip in a year, bolstered by bonus payments to high-income executives. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that personal incomes rose by 1 percent in January while consumer spending was up by 0.5 percent. The income advance was the largest since a 1.3 percent jump in January 2006 and both the income and spending gains were bigger than had been expected.

So, what's a minor accident now?

Those minor fender benders might cost more than you think, according to new crash tests released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It found that most bumpers on midsize cars do little to prevent costly damage to vehicles, even in low-speed crashes of up to 6 mph. Testing for the first time by the Virginia-based Institute found that only three midsize vehicles - the Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Camry and Mazda 6 - sustained less than $1,500 in repairs from each of the four crash tests.

Times wires

[Last modified March 1, 2007, 23:16:23]