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AP Business NewsBrief at 1:35 a.m. EDT
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Car buyers' satisfaction with US brands stumblesNEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. car buyers are growing less satisfied with their purchases from domestic automakers while their Asian and European competitors continue to improve, according to a recent survey. Consumer satisfaction with U.S. auto brands slipped as Lexus and BMW tied for first place, followed by Toyota and Honda, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index released Tuesday.
Obama book falls victim to booksellers' rivalryNEW YORK (AP) _ A new book about Sen. Barack Obama has intensified a rivalry between two powerful competitors: Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Amazon.com. Chelsea Green Publishing, a small, liberal publisher based in Vermont, is releasing Robert Kuttner's "Obama's Challenge," a call for Obama to enact a bold, progressive economic agenda. It plans to distribute copies at next week's Democratic National Convention, where Obama is expected to get the party's presidential nomination.
Wall Street pulls back as financials fallNEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street retreated Monday after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years on concerns that the government might need to bail out the mortgage financiers. Weakness in the overall financial sector sent the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 175 points. Investors were again uneasy about the health of financial companies after media reports of further problems in the sector. Barron's said the U.S. Treasury might have to bail out government-chartered Fannie and Freddie, which, the weekly noted, would likely wipe out shareholders' equity in the companies.
SoCal home sales climb in July, prices fallSAN DIEGO (AP) _ Southern California home sales surged to a 16-month high in July as prices kept falling and bargain-hunters snapped up foreclosed properties, a research firm said Monday. A total of 20,329 homes and condos _ including new and existing models _ were sold during July in the six-county region, up 13.8 percent from July 2007 and up 16.7 percent from June, MDA DataQuick said.
Fannie, Freddie fall on renewed bailout fearsWASHINGTON (AP) _ Whether or not the government is actually on the verge of taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investor fears that a bailout is imminent could turn such a worst-case scenario into reality. Amid renewed concern that shareholders will wind up with nothing if the government intervenes to bail out the troubled companies, shares in the mortgage finance giants tumbled Monday to the lowest levels in nearly two decades.
Researchers: Merck Vioxx study was for marketingTRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ A 1999 Merck & Co. study of its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, touted to participating doctors and patients as meant to show whether Vioxx caused fewer stomach problems than another drug, was primarily a stealth marketing strategy, researchers report. The true purpose was to get lots of doctors and patients in the habit of using Vioxx just in time for its launch, according to doctors who uncovered internal Merck memos discussing the strategy behind the study, called ADVANTAGE. They did so while reviewing roughly a million Merck documents for plaintiffs' lawyers preparing for trials in Vioxx lawsuits.
'Liar loans' threaten to prolong mortgage crisisIn the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" _ mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets." The nation's struggling housing market, already awash in subprime foreclosures, is now getting hit with a second wave of losses as homeowners with liar loans default in record numbers. In some parts of the country, the loans are threatening to drag out the mortgage crisis for another two years.
Oil prices fall below $113 as storm threat easesNEW YORK (AP) _ Crude prices settled below $113 a barrel for the first time in over three months Monday as Tropical Storm Fay steered clear of oil-producing infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 90 cents to settle at $112.87 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $115.35. It was the first time crude ended below $113 since May 1. The contract fell $1.24 on Friday to settle at $113.77 a barrel, about $35, or 24 percent, lower than its trading record of $147.27, set July 11.
Lowe's beats 2Q estimates, despite profit dropCHICAGO (AP) _ Repairs to drought-stricken flower beds and sales of freezers designed to hold bought-in-bulk food helped Lowe's Cos. Inc. post a better-than-expected second-quarter profit. But the nation's faltering economy and sluggish housing industry still sent profit at the nation's second-largest home improvement chain down nearly 8 percent.
Ocean platform could take 20 pct of US oil importsHOUSTON (AP) _ An oil terminal and pipeline network expected to be built off the Texas Gulf Coast and open in about two years would be capable of handling nearly 20 percent of the nation's daily imported oil. Demand from expanding refineries along the coast, from Freeport to Port Arthur, is driving the $1.8 billion project, executives of the joint partnership said Monday. It will be the second offshore port in the Gulf of Mexico.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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