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AP Business NewsBrief at 5:20 a.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Lawmakers visit White House for budget talksWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama is having friend and foe alike come to the White House to talk about cutting the budget deficit, with less than four weeks to avert a first-ever default on U.S. financial obligations. Thursday's talks will include top lawmakers in both parties. Negotiations are gaining urgency by the day, because Republicans are insisting on major cuts to the deficit as the price for approving legislation to maintain the government's ability to borrow money and stave off a market-rattling default. World markets rise, brushing off China rate hikeBANGKOK (AP) _ World markets managed modest gains Thursday, shrugging off a weak U.S. growth report and an interest rate hike in China. Oil prices rose above $97 a barrel as a report showed U.S. crude supply fell more than expected last week, suggesting demand is improving. The dollar slipped against the euro and the yen. Samsung says 2nd-quarter operating profit fellSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Samsung Electronics' profitability slumped in the second quarter as strong performance in fast-growing smartphones could not overcome weakness in liquid crystal displays. Operating profit for the three months that ended June 30 will fall to between 3.5 trillion won and 3.9 trillion won ($3.7 billion) from 5.01 trillion won a year earlier, Samsung said in a statement. House and Senate panels take up 3 trade billsWASHINGTON (AP) _ House and Senate committees are disagreeing over how to handle American workers laid off because of foreign competition as they take up legislation to implement long-pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Both the Finance Committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Ways and Means Committee in the Republican-led House will consider the three trade deals Thursday, which have drifted in political limbo since they were signed during the George W. Bush administration. Report: tabloid's hacker targeted dead soldiersLONDON (AP) _ A published report says that the telephone numbers of relatives of dead military personnel have been found in files amassed by a detective employed by a Sunday tabloid newspaper. The Daily Telegraph's report in Thursday's edition could not be independently verified, and the newspaper did not identify the source of its information. There was no indication whether any of those telephones had been hacked. Singapore Temasek investments edge up to recordSINGAPORE (AP) _ Singaporean state investment company Temasek Holdings said its investments inched higher to a fresh record high in its last financial year as Asian companies reaped solid profits. Temasek said in an annual report Thursday that the value of its investments rose 3.8 percent to 193 billion Singapore dollars ($157 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31. The portfolio rose 42 percent in the previous fiscal year. Oil rises to above $97 after US crude supply dropSINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices rose to above $97 a barrel Thursday in Asia as a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected for a second week, suggesting demand is improving. Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 73 cents to $97.38 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude lost 24 cents to settle at $96.65 on Wednesday. FACT CHECK: Obama's juggling act on TwitterWASHINGTON (AP) _ The debt-ceiling deal that President Barack Obama hopes to negotiate with Republicans won't solve the nation's problem with red ink, as he stated in his first Twitter session with the public. And no, the payroll tax cut he got out of Congress isn't putting an extra $1,000 into the pockets of "almost every single American." Obama took a few shortcuts with the facts Wednesday when fielding questions from people on the social networking site. Twitter's trademark brevity wasn't an issue with the president _ he answered verbally, for as long as he wanted. Even so, it was a juggling act and not everything came out right. Lagarde, taking over IMF, vows to diversify boardWASHINGTON (AP) _ The new chief of the International Monetary Fund pledged Wednesday to diversify the global lending organization and give developing nations a greater voice on its board. Christine Lagarde is the first woman to lead the IMF. She takes over after her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned in May to fight charges that he sexually assaulted a New York City hotel housekeeper. Auto industry, seeing new life, is on hiring spreeDETROIT (AP) _ Volkswagen opened a plant in Tennessee last month with 2,000 workers. Honda is hiring 1,000 in Indiana to meet demand for its best-selling Civic. General Motors is looking for 2,500 in Detroit to build the Chevy Volt. Two years after the end of the Great Recession, the auto industry is hiring again _ and much faster than the rest of the economy. As an employer, it's growing faster than airplane manufacturers, shipbuilders, health care providers and the federal government. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |