- 05Dec
(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc, which has lagged behind its peers in recovering from the financial crisis, said it is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide, about 4 percent of its staff, to save as much as $1.1 billion a year in expenses. The move will initially result in pre-tax charges of $1 billion against fourth-quarter earnings, the No. 3 U.S. bank by assets said on Wednesday.
- 05Dec
(Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc tumbled nearly 4 percent on Wednesday, rounding off a bleak ten weeks for the most valuable U.S. company, with analysts citing factors such as increasing competition in the tablet market. The stock was one of the biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500, dropping 5.2 percent to $545.56 at one point as more than 17 million shares changed hands, putting it on track to surpass the company'saverage daily volume over 50 days of 21 million shares.
- 05Dec
(Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc on Wednesday said it struck a deal to buy Plains Exploration & Production Co and McMoRan Exploration Co for a total of $9 billion in a bold bid to diversify into the U.S. energy sector. But Freeport's shares tumbled 14 percent and the cost of protecting its debt against default soared as investors and analysts slammed the move as unnecessary. A managing director at one of the company's top-five shareholders said management had done nothing to justify the combination.
- 05Dec
(Reuters) - Private-sector hiring took a hit in November due to the impact of storm Sandy on the northeastern United States but the country's huge services sector continued to expand. The ADP National Employment Report, which is closely watched as it comes two days ahead of the government's monthly national employment report, showed that the private sector added 118,000 jobs during the month, below expectations for a gain of 125,000.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - Stocks finished slightly lower on Tuesday in a quiet session as the back-and-forth wrangling over the "fiscal cliff" gave investors little reason to act. Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slipped 13.90 points, or 0.11 percent, to end unofficially at 12,951.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dipped 2.42 points, or 0.17 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,407.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC shed 5.51 points, or 0.18 percent, to close unofficially at 2,996.69.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - Republicans in the Congress attacked each other on Tuesday over their leadership's "fiscal cliff" offer to Democratic President Barack Obama as a group of governors visited the White House to voice concern about the impact on the states of the year-end tax-and-spending deadline. The disarray in Republican ranks over how far to compromise the party's anti-tax stance could complicate what are expected to be intense negotiations between House Speaker John Boehner and Obama. Each will need the backing of their respective troops in Congress in order to bargain credibly.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - American Airlines passenger service agents, the only major employee group at the carrier not unionized, began voting Tuesday on whether to be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. About 9,700 airport agents and reservations representatives are eligible to cast ballots in a vote being conducted by the National Mediation Board (NMB), said Chuck Porcari, a CWA spokesman. Voting ends January 15.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - American International Group Inc (AIG.N) shuffled the management of its mortgage insurance unit for the second time this year, naming a new chief executive for United Guaranty and moving the prior CEO to a senior underwriting position. AIG said on Tuesday that Donna DeMaio would become CEO of United Guaranty, which has become a core unit for the company in the wake of its post-bailout restructuring.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) ability to produce consistent profits will be a key factor in the bank's upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve stress test, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday. The second largest U.S. bank by assets has sufficient capital under new global standards, but its earnings are still being affected by losses from its legacy mortgage business, Moynihan said at an investor conference in New York.
- 04Dec
(Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) board member Rajat Gupta can remain free on bail while he appeals his insider-trading conviction, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Gupta had been scheduled to surrender January 8 to start a two-year prison sentence. But after hearing arguments from Gupta's lawyer and prosecutors, a two-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York granted Gupta's request to stay out of prison.
