Container Top
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Search

Events Calendar

EVENT SEARCH:

In This Section


Most Read Stories


Blogs:


Pets:
Officials: NYer Had 20 Dead Dogs Buried in Yard

The Heldenfiles:
Monday Notebook

Patrick McManamon:
Time for Kokinis, Browns to agree and part ways

Akron Zips:
Zips tip off tomorrow

Tribe Matters:
Indians announce spring dates

Cleveland Browns:
Mangini doesn't name a quarterback

Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – November 9

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Shaq: It’s All About Winning Championships

Buckeye Blogging:
Weekly ‘B’ Deck Report – New Mexico St.

Varsity Letters:
Louisville’s Bobby Swigert headed to Boston College

All Da King's Men:
If It Looks Like Islamic Terrorism…

Blog of Mass Destruction:
Dems Message To Women: Don't Enjoy The Sex

Akron Law Café:
Abortion Analogies

See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler

Car Chase:
Clock Tender- Extending the Life of Collector Car Clocks

Let's Talk Real Estate:
Rumors: Akron Starbucks Closing

Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.

Sound Check:
The Black Keys to perform benefit concert at Musica on November 27

HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio

Akron Gamer:
New 'Call of Duty' could set entertainment record

Bank reports bring mixed stock results ...

Bank reports bring mixed stock results

Wall Street started the week with a mixed performance Monday, as investors regained a cautious stance in response to a weaker-than-expected profit report from Bank of America Corp. and Cleveland-based National City Corp.'s news.

Investors were clearly uneasy about extending last week's big gains after Bank of America reported that its first-quarter earnings fell 77 percent on write-downs and widening credit losses. The bank's news followed a week in which big-name companies in general turned in better-than-expected numbers for the first quarter, helping the major stock indexes to gains of more than 4 percent.

Not all the earnings news on Monday was disappointing. Merck said its profit nearly doubled in the first quarter because of a $1.4 billion distribution from a partner drug company and a slight rise in sales.

With little in the way of economic data set to arrive this week, investors are looking at a big flow of corporate reports for insights into the well-being of the economy.

Minivan, truck sales
to sink, Ford says

Ford Motor Co. forecast Monday that U.S. industrywide sales of minivans could fall to a 23-year low in 2008 while large pickups decline to the fewest in a decade as more consumers turn to smaller cars.

Minivan sales could drop below 600,000 for the first time since 1985 and large pickups could slide to fewer than 2 million, a level they have topped annually since 1998, said George Pipas, sales analyst. He said pickup sales have been hurt by the decline in the housing industry.

The forecast by the third-largest automaker in U.S. annual sales underscores the difficulty Ford, General Motors and Chrysler face as high gasoline prices hurt demand for larger pickups and sport-utility vehicles.
Wal-Mart stays atop
Fortune 500 list

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shrugged off weak consumer spending to remain atop the 2008 Fortune 500 list, edging Exxon Mobil Corp. for the second straight year in the magazine's annual ranking of the nation's largest publicly traded companies based on revenues.

Goodyear ranked 119th while FirstEnergy was 209th.

Canada plans to ban
BPA in baby bottles

The Canadian government moved to ban polycarbonate infant bottles, the most popular variety on the market, after it officially declared one of their chemical ingredients toxic. Because of regulatory procedures, however, government officials said that a ban probably would not be fully in effect for about a year.

The action, by the departments of health and environment, is the first taken by any government against ''bisphenol-a,'' or BPA, a widely used chemical that mimics a human hormone. It has induced long-term changes in animals exposed to it through tests.

The toxic designation will allow Canada eventually to ban the manufacture, import or sale of baby bottles made with polycarbonate. Polycarbonate, which dominates the North American baby bottle market, mimics glass but is lighter and shatter-resistant.
Economy, gas prices
top issues for voters

The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on the minds of voters, according to a poll by Yahoo News. With growing layoffs, tight credit and an ailing housing market, 67 percent say the economy is an extremely important issue, up from 46 percent in November. Gasoline prices follow close behind at 59 percent. The war in Iraq — the dominant issue for several years — stands at 48 percent.

Auto sales are doing worse than expected

Auto sales are falling harder and faster this year than anyone anticipated because of a combination of factors not seen since the oil shock of the 1980s. In addition to a weak economy and sagging consumer confidence, gasoline prices have risen to record highs and credit is hard to come by, forcing dealers to turn away prospective customers.

The rough conditions are prompting many auto executives to rethink their assumptions that sales would rebound in the second half of 2008 after a short-lived slump.

Bank reports bring mixed stock results

Get the full article here.


Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Reprint  Reprint   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
















Most Commented Stories