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AP Business NewsBrief at 11:13 a.m. EST
(AP Online Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Stocks Edge Up After Tuesday's PlungeNEW YORK (AP) _ Stocks rose tentatively Wednesday as investors, still uneasy about the economy, wrestled with whether to buy back into a market battered a day earlier by recession worries. Better-than-expected profit results from Walt Disney Co. handed Wall Street some good news. Disney posted a 26 percent decline in profit late Tuesday, but the results beat expectations. The company _ one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrials _ reported a 9 percent rise in revenue, thanks in part to the success of brands such as ESPN, "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana."
Productivity Slowed in 4th QuarterWASHINGTON (AP) _ Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, increased at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the October-December quarter, down from a 6 percent performance in the July-September period. The slowdown reflected the fact that overall economic activity weakened considerably in the final three months of last year.
Cable TV Drives Time Warner 4QNEW YORK (AP) _ Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media conglomerate, reported a 41 percent decline in fourth-quarter profits Wednesday following a big gain last year from the sale of AOL's European online access business. Without those gains and other one-time effects, adjusted profits rose 17 percent on stronger results at cable TV and from movies. Time Warner said it expected that growth to slow in 2008 to a range of 7 percent to 9 percent.
Toll Brothers Revenue Slips AgainHORSHAM, Pa. (AP) _ Toll Brothers Inc. said Wednesday that revenues are expected to slide 22 percent during the first quarter, and the luxury-home builder is not "seeing much light at the end of the tunnel." Home contracts sank 38 percent, to 904 homes, and signed contracts fell 46 percent, to $573 million, compared with $1.07 billion during the first quarter last year, the homebuilder said in a preliminary report.
McClatchy Swings to 4Q ProfitNEW YORK (AP) _ McClatchy Co. swung to a profit following losses a year ago on the sale of its Minneapolis newspaper, but the publisher also said it would take a charge to reflect a sharp decline in its stock price. The company's operating results continued to be hard-hit by the real estate downturn in California and Florida, where it owns several newspapers, and the company said the advertising picture for 2008 wasn't looking any better. McClatchy said it now expects first-quarter advertising to decline in the low double-digit percentage range.
Cigna 4Q Profit Up 13 PercentPHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Health insurer Cigna Corp. on Wednesday said fourth-quarter profit rose 13 percent as double-digit gains in overseas business as well as group disability and life helped to offset a slight decline in health care earnings. The company also raised its 2008 earnings in anticipation of strong growth in its international and group businesses. Shares of Cigna rose $1.07, or 2.2 percent, to $48.88 in morning trading.
BHP Billiton Launches Bid for Rio TintoSYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ BHP Billiton formalized its unwelcome takeover bid for Rio Tinto on Wednesday and raised the stakes with an all-share offer worth $147.4 billion that would create a global mining monolith. Rio Tinto, which rejected an initial approach from BHP Billiton last year as too low, said it would consider the new offer, and urged its shareholders not to act hastily.
IAC Loses $369.9M on Mortgage WoesNEW YORK (AP) _ Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp reported Wednesday that it lost $369.9 million in its fourth quarter, due to higher taxes, difficulty in its mortgage referral unit and costs for proposed spinoffs that would make five companies out of one. Its shares tumbled 4 percent in morning trading. The report comes as Diller and Liberty Media boss John Malone are battling for control of the Internet conglomerate whose business include the HSN home shopping network, Ask.com, Ticketmaster, Citysearch, Evite and LendingTree.
Drugmaker Biogen Idec 4Q Profit SurgesBOSTON (AP) _ Biogen Idec Inc. on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 84 percent on strong sales of the company's two leading drugs, and a gain from a multiple sclerosis drug that returned to the market after being temporarily withdrawn over safety concerns. The results, which beat Wall Street expectations, come as the biotechnology company remains under pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn to find a large pharmaceutical firm willing to make a buyout offer.
Oil Prices Drop on Sharp Jump in SupplyNEW YORK (AP) _ Oil futures dropped Wednesday after the government reported unexpectedly large jumps in supplies of crude oil and gasoline and a surprise increase in stocks of heating oil. Coming amid anxiety about the economy's health, and concerns that demand for oil and gasoline is falling, the inventory report reinforced a growing view that oil and petroleum product supplies are adequate.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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