Press of Atlantic City - National Business

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Business

Aug 08, 2008	Top 10 stocks
Aug 08, 2008	$50 for two collect phone calls well above cap set by N.J.
Aug 08, 2008	Trump casinos post $29.8M. loss in second quarter
Aug 08, 2008	South Jersey Industries' earnings down in 2nd quarter
Aug 07, 2008	Top Ten Stocks, Aug. 6, 2008
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Technology

Aug 08, 2008	Hackers mull physical attacks on a networked world
Aug 08, 2008	Yahoo to let visitors decline more targeted ads
Aug 08, 2008	S&P upgrades outlook on Affiliated Computer
Aug 08, 2008	Broadcom wins initial ruling in GPS patent dispute
Aug 08, 2008	Cable companies stole telcos' lunch in 2Q
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Autos

Aug 08, 2008	NASCAR defends firing of former official
Aug 07, 2008	Lexus once again tops JD Power dependability study
Aug 07, 2008	Toyota 1Q profit falls on US weakness, strong yenAP Business Writer Dan Strumpf in New York contributed to this report.
Aug 06, 2008	Nissan shows test models of electric car, hybrid
Aug 05, 2008	Chrysler's future cloudy after year with Cerberus
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Jobs

Aug 05, 2008	Green jobs, subprime confessions
Aug 05, 2008	Utah state employees make switch to 4-day workweek
Aug 01, 2008	Jobless rate climbs as 51,000 jobs vanishAP Business Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.
Jul 31, 2008	Jobless claims hit 2003 high, linked to outreach
Jul 31, 2008	Employment costs post moderate gain in 2nd-qtr
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Real Estate

Aug 08, 2008	Real Estate Close-Up: Kansas City
Aug 07, 2008	Pending home sales rise 5.3 percent
Aug 06, 2008	Conn. sues Countrywide over lending practices
Aug 06, 2008	Freddie Mac swings to 2Q loss
Aug 05, 2008	Treasury hires Morgan Stanley on Fannie, Freddie
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Science & Nature

Aug 05, 2008	Star Watch: Perseid meteor shower to swell to peak
Aug 05, 2008	For local beachgoers, it's distant encounters of the shark kind
Jul 29, 2008	What's in a name? For sand fleas, it depends on where you live
Jul 29, 2008	'Evening star' Venus returns to night sky
Jul 22, 2008	A clear sky sets stage for a sea of big stars
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Oil sinks on stronger dollar to $115 a barrel

By MADLEN READ

Published: Aug 08, 2008

Oil prices dove to $115 a barrel on Friday, driven lower by a huge jump in the U.S. dollar, signs of moderating demand around the world and the burgeoning belief that commodities may have peaked.

Shrugging off concerns about a sabotaged oil pipeline in Turkey, investors pulled their money out of commodities and put it back into stocks - giving crude oil a weekly loss of nearly $10 a barrel, and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 300 points.

With energy losing its luster in the marketplace, the cost of roadside gasoline has been crawling lower. The average retail price for a gallon of gasoline slipped to $3.836 Friday. That's down about a penny from Thursday, and down nearly 28 cents from the record high of $4.114 reached July 17.

"We're probably going to see gasoline at the retail level around $3.50 for Labor Day," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com. More

Aug 08, 2008

• Stocks jump as oil prices fall sharply

Wall Street rebounded smartly Friday, shooting higher as a surge in the dollar and another plunge in oil prices eased some of investors' worries about losses at mortgage finance company Fannie Mae. The Dow Jones industrials soared more than 300 points, more than wiping out a big loss from the previous session, and all the major indexes had their best weekly gains since April.

Aug 08, 2008

• Fannie Mae loses $2.3B in quarter as defaults rise

Fannie Mae is making bold cutbacks that will send shock waves through the mortgage market, after posting a quarterly loss Friday that was three-times larger than Wall Street expected.

Aug 08, 2008

• Productivity growth slowed in spring

The efficiency of America's workers grew at a slightly slower pace in the spring as companies sought to produce more with leaner work forces. Workers' compensation growth slowed, too.

Aug 08, 2008

• Stocks head for higher open ahead of economic data

Stocks headed for a higher open Friday, a day after a sharp pullback, as oil prices declined and investors awaited a government reading on worker productivity.

Aug 08, 2008

• Commodities slowdown could last months, longer

The commodities boom that just weeks ago looked unstoppable may have finally burned itself out.

Aug 08, 2008

• Insurance weighs on Berkshire Hathaway's 2Q profit

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported an 8 percent decline in second-quarter profit Friday because it collected fewer insurance premiums and recorded $1 billion in unrealized derivative losses.

Aug 08, 2008

• Treasurys pull back as investors rush into stocks

Treasury prices dropped Friday as the falling price of oil sent investors rushing back into the stock market. However, longer-term maturities rose in after-hours trading.

Aug 08, 2008

• Commodities take a dive on rising US dollar

Grains, energy and metals prices tumbled Friday after a sharp jump in the dollar once again lessened the appeal of commodities as a hedge against the weakening currency.

Aug 08, 2008

• UBS settles $18.6B auction-rate securities case

Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed Friday to buy back nearly $20 billion in auction-rate securities from investors, a day after Citigroup Inc. reached a similar settlement with regulators for $7 billion as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the collapse of the market for the bond-like investments.

Aug 08, 2008

• Tyson plant adds Muslim holiday, keeps Labor Day

Union workers and officials at a Tyson Foods plant in Tennessee said Friday they have agreed to reinstate Labor Day as a paid holiday, and the plant will also observe the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr this year.

Aug 08, 2008

• McDonald's July same-store sales rise 8 percent

Despite a tough U.S. economy, McDonald's Corp. posted an 8 percent gain in July same-store sales on Friday as hungry consumers worldwide lined up for breakfast items and the classic Big Mac sandwich.

Aug 08, 2008

• Dollar soars higher on euro zone woes

The dollar soared Friday in what analysts are calling a game-changing move as concerns about the deteriorating euro zone economy gripped investors and commodities sold off.

Aug 08, 2008

• Dollar soars higher on euro zone woes

The dollar soared Friday in what analysts are calling a game-changing move as concerns about the deteriorating euro zone economy gripped investors and commodities sold off.

Aug 08, 2008

• Treasurys pull back as investors rush into stocks

Treasury prices dropped Friday as the falling price of oil sent investors rushing back into the stock market.

Aug 08, 2008

• European banks post better-than-expected results

The Royal Bank of Scotland posted first-half losses Friday that weren't nearly as bad as some analysts had feared, rounding out what is shaping up to be a relatively bright earnings season for Europe's biggest financial institutions.

Aug 08, 2008

• Real Estate Close-Up: Kansas City

First came H&R Block Inc. Then the downtown Kansas City, Mo.'s resurrection followed.

Aug 08, 2008

• UK bank RBS posts giant half-year loss

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC on Friday reported a half-year loss of 802 million pounds (US$1.5 billion), forced deep into the red by 5.9 billion pounds (US$11.4 billion) in write-downs as the U.S. subprime credit crisis exacted more pain fully a year after it began.

Aug 08, 2008

• As phone books multiply, so do consumer hang-ups

It's been a fixture on kitchen counters, refrigerator tops and junk drawers for decades.

Aug 08, 2008

• Pilots complain airlines restrict fuel to cut cost

Pilots are complaining that their airline bosses, desperate to cut costs, are forcing them to fly uncomfortably low on fuel.

Aug 08, 2008

• Productivity growth slows to 2.2 percent in spring

The efficiency of America's workers grew in the spring at a slightly slower pace as companies sought to produce more with leaner work forces.

Aug 08, 2008

• Beazer Homes 3Q loss narrows

Beazer Homes USA Inc. said Friday it posted a narrower loss in its fiscal third quarter despite lower revenue as the homebuilder's expenses declined. The quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

Aug 08, 2008

• Crow Tribe strikes deal for $7B coal project

The Crow Tribe struck a deal Thursday with an Australian company toward building a $7 billion plant to convert coal into liquid fuels, which would be among the first such projects in the nation.

Aug 08, 2008

• California eyes cattails to combat climate change

On one side of the gravel road are hundreds of acres of corn. On the other is a different crop that scientists hope will enable farmers to rebuild sinking islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, combat global warming and make a profit at the same time.

Aug 08, 2008

• Oil dips to near $119 on stronger dollar

Oil prices dropped to near $119 a barrel Friday in Asia as a strengthening dollar and worries about economic growth offset supply concerns over Turkish pipeline sabotage that was claimed by Kurdish rebels.

Aug 07, 2008

• Venezuela's inflation hits 33.7 percent in July

Venezuela's annual inflation climbed to 33.7 percent in July in metropolitan Caracas, but slowed its pace as price controls on food were eased and supply increased, the Central Bank said Thursday.

Aug 07, 2008

• Mexico's annual inflation hits 3-year high in July

Mexico's central bank says rising food and gasoline prices have pushed inflation to its highest level in three years.

Aug 07, 2008

• Lexus once again tops JD Power dependability study

Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

Aug 07, 2008

• Citigroup returning billions to investors

Citigroup Inc. will buy back more than $7 billion in auction-rate securities and pay $100 million in fines as part of settlements with federal and state regulators, who said the bank marketed the investments as safe despite liquidity risks.

Aug 07, 2008

• Wheat prices jump on bargain buying, crude rise

Wheat prices jumped more than 50 cents a bushel Thursday after a big decline the previous day attracted new buyers seeking to lock in cheap supplies of the grain used to make pasta, bread and other food.

Aug 07, 2008

• Company recalls beef linked to Va. E. coli cases

A food company voluntarily recalled frozen ground beef Thursday that has been linked to 27 confirmed cases of E. coli at a Boy Scout camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Aug 07, 2008

• EPA denies Texas governor's ethanol waiver request

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday denied a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry to cut the federal ethanol mandate in half for a year.

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