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AP Business NewsBrief at 6:33 p.m. EST
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Stocks end lower as investors assess Fed rate cutNEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street finished moderately lower Wednesday, as further signs of economic deterioration dampened investors' earlier enthusiasm about the Federal Reserve's record interest rate cut. Stocks declined in the early going after a larger-than-expected loss from Morgan Stanley offered fresh evidence of the sizable obstacles the battered financial industry still faces. The company posted a loss of $2.37 billion, or $2.34 per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter. The report came a day after rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted its first quarterly loss since going public in 1999.
A refinancing rush as interest rates come downTony Jabon had an e-mail in to his mortgage broker by 10 a.m. The 35-year-old environmental consultant in Charlotte, N.C., had heard about the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its key interest rate to nearly zero and wanted to refinance to something lower than 5.5 percent.
OPEC cuts record 2.2 million barrels a dayORAN, Algeria (AP) _ OPEC on Wednesday agreed to slash 2.2 million barrels from its daily production _ its single largest cut ever _ while bloc outsiders Russia and Azerbaijan announced their own cutbacks of hundreds of thousands of barrels from the market. "I hope we surprised you," OPEC President Chekib Khelil said when asked whether the size of the cut would shock moribund oil markets into an upward trend. "If you're not surprised we need to do something about it."
AG takes himself out of Madoff fraud probeWASHINGTON (AP) _ The fraud investigation of Wall Street money manager Bernard L. Madoff took unusual twists Wednesday as the U.S. attorney general removed himself and the Securities and Exchange Commission looked into the relationship between Madoff's niece and a former SEC attorney who reviewed Madoff's business. The developments reflect growing criticism that Wall Street and regulators in Washington have grown too close. Madoff himself has boasted of his ties to the SEC.
Oil tumbles below $40 for first time since 2004Oil prices tumbled below $40 for the first time since the summer of 2004 Wednesday despite an announcement from OPEC of a record production cut of 2.2 million barrels a day. The drop shows that even the mighty Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has little sway over a growing global recession, analysts said. Crude prices are down more than 72 percent from their summer peak of $147 a barrel, yet tankers continue to idle in the Gulf of Mexico and other ports waiting for buyers.
Morgan Stanley loses $2.37 billion in fiscal 4QNEW YORK (AP) _ Morgan Stanley said Wednesday it lost $2.37 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as it took a range of losses on assets amid one of the roughest quarters for investment banks. The New York-based firm, which is aggressively building on its new status as a bank holding company, lost $2.34 per share for the quarter ended Nov. 30. It lost $3.61 billion, or $3.61 per share, during the year-ago period when it took a $9.4 billion write-down on mortgage-related assets as the housing crisis began to spiral downward.
French win over ConstellationCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ When Constellation Energy Group Inc. was struggling under a liquidity crisis so severe that it threatened to put the nation's largest wholesale power generator into bankruptcy, it was Warren Buffett who threw out a $1 billion life preserver to keep the company afloat. Now that it is more steady, Constellation Energy on Wednesday returned the life preserver to Buffett with a boatload of cash and scuttled a deal the two reached in September in which Buffett agreed to take over the company for $4.7 billion.
GM puts Volt engine plant on hold to conserve cashDETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp., anxiously conserving cash so it can keep operating into 2009, said Wednesday it would halt construction of a plant tied to one of its most important projects while the automaker awaits a Washington bailout. GM said it is putting the brakes on the construction of a factory in Flint, Mich., set to make 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car.
Chrysler asks dealers to lower withdrawalsNEW YORK (AP) _ Chrysler Financial warned its dealers that it may be forced to temporarily stop financing their vehicle inventories if dealers keep pulling large amounts of their money out of an account that helps fund those loans. Thomas F. Gilman, Chrysler Financial's vice chairman and vice chief executive, said in a letter to dealers dated Dec. 12 that recent withdrawals from the company's cash management account have been "unusual and unprecedented."
Nike shares rise on strong sales overseasBEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) _ Shoe and apparel company Nike Inc. said Wednesday that, despite weak domestic sales, its profit grew 9 percent in the second-quarter on strong sales overseas. The Beaverton, Ore.-based company reported its net income rose to $391 million, or 80 cents per share, compared with net income of $359.4 million, or 71 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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