Bloomberg:
- Russian oil exports rose in November at their fastest pace in eight months after this year’s surge in oil prices encouraged investments in drilling, helping lift crude output to a record.
- A UN human rights investigator said torture is still widespread in China and said officials had tried to obstruct his fact-finding mission, after it was officially sanctioned by the government.
- Boeing’s biggest engineers’ union voted to accept a new three-year labor agreement that boosts pay and preserves health-care benefits, helping the company avoid a strike and keep its 787 model aircraft program on schedule.
- Futures traders kept bets that the Fed will increase its benchmark interest rate to 4.75% by April after a government report showed US companies added more jobs than expected last month.
- Carl Icahn’s hedge funds plan to make a tender offer of $40 a share for as many as 29.6 million shares of Fairmont Hotels.
- The dollar rose for a second day against the euro after a government report showed the US economy in November added the most jobs in four months.
- Crude oil, heating oil and gas are rising for a third day on speculation that colder weather and a strong US economy will boost demand.
- GM, coming off a 7.4% decline in November sales, is raising rebates by $500 on mid-sized sport-utility vehicles such as the Chevy TrailBlazer.
Wall Street Journal:
- The US economy has created 3.5 million jobs and $750 billion in personal income during the past 16 months, facts that defy the gloomy assessments of “pouting pundits,” Brian Wesbury wrote.
- Ford Motor is likely to close three assembly plants in St. Louis, Atlanta, and St. Paul, Minnesota as well as an engine-parts factory and a truck-assembly center. Ford’s most popular model, the Explorer, has seen sales plunge 30% as gas prices surged.
- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain’s second-largest bank by market value, is seeking to boost its North American business by generating fees helping Mexican immigrants in the US send money home to family.
- Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina used early intervention and monitoring to boost average reading scores, making it one of the few regions to show big gains in average reading tests.
- Investors, especially in Europe, have been buying a new product called structured notes, which are tied to mutual funds or hedge funds.
- President Bush is trying to bolster his relations with Democratic members of Congress to gain backing for his trade agenda.
Business Week:
- The shares of Spectranetics, a maker of devices used in coronary artery treatments, may gain as the number of laser-based procedures rise, citing Kornitzer Capital Management’s Elizabeth Jones.
Financial Times:
- Shareholder activist Carl Icahn is considering splitting Time Warner into four companies as part of a radical restructuring plan.
- Three groups of bidders are preparing offers for Albertson’s.
Tex Report:
- Posco may lower prices of hot-rolled coil steel in January for its domestic customers.
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