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AP Business NewsBrief at 10:50 p.m. EST
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oil plummets below $44 per barrel on economic newsSINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices were steady near four-year lows below $44 a barrel Friday in Asia as more bad U.S. economic news soured the outlook for global growth and demand for crude. Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down 3 cents at $43.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Singapore. The contract fell overnight $3.12 to settle at $43.67, the lowest since January 2005.
Street turns cautious ahead of employment reportNEW YORK (AP) _ A period of relative calm on Wall Street ended Thursday as stocks tumbled in the final hour of trading on growing investor anxiety ahead of the government's November employment report. The major indexes each slid more than 2.5 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which dropped 216 points after rising in seven of the last eight sessions.
Bernanke wants more action to curb foreclosuresWASHINGTON (AP) _ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pleaded Thursday for more government action to relieve the foreclosure crisis and break a vicious cycle in which the housing meltdown is plunging the country deeper into recession. Beaten-down shoppers, meanwhile, handed retailers their worst month in at least 39 years. And the number of people drawing jobless benefits hit a 26-year high, with the November employment figures due out Friday likely to show more deep job cuts.
AT&T to cut 12,000 jobs, 4 percent of staffNEW YORK (AP) _ Pressured by the economic turmoil and the mounting loss of traditional phone customers, AT&T Inc. is cutting 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. The Dallas-based telecommunications company, the nation's largest, said the job cuts will begin this month and run throughout 2009. The company also plans to lower its capital spending next year, and one analyst estimates that reduction could be as much as $2 billion.
Carmakers' bailout pleas hit Senate skepticismWASHINGTON (AP) _ Desperate U.S. automakers ran into fresh obstacles from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as they appealed with rising urgency _ and a new dose of humility _ for a $34 billion bailout. Without help, said one senator, "we're looking at a death sentence." With lawmakers in both parties pressing the automakers to consider a pre-negotiated bankruptcy _ something they have consistently shunned _ the Big Three were contemplating a government-run restructuring that could yield results similar to bankruptcy, including massive downsizing, in return for the bailout billions. But there was no assurance they could get even that.
Some autoworkers can get paid without leaving homeNEW YORK (AP) _ For more than two decades, many autoworkers who lose their jobs have been able to enjoy one of the best unemployment benefits in the nation: receiving nearly full paychecks without even leaving home. Since the 1980s, the industry's "jobs bank" has allowed thousands of laid-off workers to get paid for staying home or sitting in a union hall.
Employers announce a combined 20,000 jobs cutstype:italic; A round of more than 15,000 layoffs announced Thursday by AT&T Inc., DuPont and Viacom Inc. suggests a yearlong wave of job cuts is accelerating, just as the government is expected to report a higher unemployment rate for November on Friday.
Merck 2009 profit outlook misses estimatesTRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Drugmaker Merck & Co. on Thursday forecast lower profits and flat revenue in 2009 _ far below Wall Street expectations _ with management blaming the weak global economy, generic competition, slower sales of key products and restructuring charges. Merck shares slumped on the news.
BofA-Merrill merger vote may change Wall StreetCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ When shareholders vote on Bank of America Corp.'s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. on Friday, they are expected to transform the bank into a business befitting its name and change the face of Wall Street. The shotgun deal, valued at $50 billion when it was announced in September, will create the nation's largest financial services company. But it comes at the cost of independence for one of Wall Street's greatest institutions and is yet another sign that the era of big investment banks ruling the financial universe is over.
Capital One buying Chevy Chase Bank for $520MNEW YORK (AP) _ Capital One Financial Corp. said Thursday it will acquire Chevy Chase Bank for $520 million in cash and stock, as it continues to bolster its deposit base to help fund operations amid the ongoing credit crisis. Fresh off receiving $3.56 billion in funds as part of the government's bank investment program and raising more than $700 million through a stock offering, McLean, Va.-based Capital One will use $445 million in cash and 2.56 million shares of Capital One valued at $75 million, or about $29.30 per share, to acquire privately held Chevy Chase Bank.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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