Business
J.M. Smucker 2nd-quarter profit soars on coffee
J.M. Smucker Co. nearly tripled its profit in the second quarter as the addition of Folgers coffee gave a jolt to its lineup and lower commodity prices for coffee beans and other items fattened its profit margins.
Nov 20, 2009 | 4:35 pm
Regulators shut small Florida bank
Florida banking regulators have shut down Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, marking the 124th U.S. bank to succumb this year to the struggling economy and rising loan defaults.
Nov 20, 2009 | 4:25 pm
D.R. Horton sees 26 perecent spike in 4Q orders
Homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc., saw new home orders spike 26 percent from a year ago in the latest quarter as buyers raced to close deals and take advantage of a federal tax credit. But a wider-than-anticipated loss fueled by write-downs sent shares tumbling more than 15 percent Friday.
Nov 20, 2009 | 4:20 pm
Chase drops arbitration from card contracts
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is dropping a clause from its credit card contracts that required disputes with customers to be handled through binding arbitration, a move that could lead to consumers filing class-action and other lawsuits.
Nov 20, 2009 | 3:40 pm
AP changes roles for 6 news editors, 4 photo eds
The Associated Press has named six news editors to oversee expanded multistate territories and has assigned four interim regional photo editors as part of a restructuring of U.S. news management to ensure the continuing strength of the news cooperative's state reports.
Nov 20, 2009 | 3:35 pm
Stocks fall for 3rd day as dollar strengthens
The stock market ended a down week with light selling as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt.
Nov 20, 2009 | 3:30 pm
GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on
A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.
Nov 20, 2009 | 3:10 pm
B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders
Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.
Nov 20, 2009 | 2:45 pm
Suit over search-engine keywords tries new angle
A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.
Nov 20, 2009 | 2:25 pm
More states add jobs, but many for temporary staff
In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.
Nov 20, 2009 | 2:15 pm
Natural gas plunges 12 percent this month
Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 12 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed homeowners to leave the heat off.
Nov 20, 2009 | 2:10 pm
ALL BUSINESS: Economics 101, by way of toy hamster
In a world full of economic indicators, the best one during the holiday season may prove to be a furry toy hamster.
Nov 20, 2009 | 1:00 pm
Senate Dems moving ahead on crucial health vote
A wavering centrist Democrat said Friday he'd stand with Senate Democratic leaders on a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill amid indications other moderates would fall in line.
Nov 20, 2009 | 12:25 pm
Web sites cater to for-sale-by-owner home sellers
Selling a home without a real estate agent can save thousands of dollars in commission fees, but it can also be a painstaking, confusing task.
Nov 20, 2009 | 12:05 pm
EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27
European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.
Nov 20, 2009 | 10:00 am
Dell's profit, stock drop on weak quarterly report
Some of the computer industry's biggest players _ such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. _ have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.
Nov 20, 2009 | 9:55 am
Trichet: time to withdraw some support measures
Although it is too early to say the crisis is over, it is time to withdraw some of the policy measures that supported the financial system through the credit crunch, the European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Friday.
Nov 20, 2009 | 9:00 am
Library group offers text search to 4.6M books
A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes.
Nov 20, 2009 | 7:50 am
Gap profit up 25 pct in 3Q as Old Navy recovers
Shoppers spent more money at low-price Old Navy stores in the third quarter, helping Gap Inc.'s profit climb 25 percent compared with last year, the retailer said Thursday.
Nov 20, 2009 | 6:05 am
GM to release plan for European units in December
General Motors Co. said it expects to release a full restructuring plan for its Opel and Vauxhall operations in mid December, but did not specify the amount of cuts to capacity and jobs it would seek.
Nov 20, 2009 | 5:50 am
