Bloomberg:
- FedEx Corp.(FDX) said quarterly profit fell for the first time in three years and cut its earnings forecast for the current quarter because of a slowing economy. The shares are 2% lower on the report.
- Fremont General(FMT) will sell $4 billion of loans at a discount to reduce the risk of further losses. The shares are soaring 15% on the report.
- Morgan Stanley(MS) said first quarter profit rose 70% to an all-time high on trading gains and a jump in investment-banking fees. The shares are rising 4.4%.
- Investors in March were the most bearish on US equities since the market bottom in July of last year, a Merrill Lynch survey showed. Cash levels also reached the highest since August of last year.
- Russia is beginning to exert pressure on Iran to obey United Nations demands to stop enriching uranium as a way to disrupt a suspected bomb-development effort.
- Dell Inc.(DELL) said it plans to buy companies to boost its services unit, expanding sales outside its main business of selling PCs.
- Citadel Investment Group LLC, the hedge fund that bought ResMae Mortgage Corp. for $180 million earlier this month, now owns a 4.5% stake in Accredited Home Lenders Holding(LEND).
- Investment firms around the world that take stakes in hedge funds, known as funds of hedge funds, dropped in popularity because of high fees, according to a study by State Street Corp. in Boston. About a third of institutional investors such as pension- and endowment-fund managers said they don’t use funds of funds, up from a quarter a year earlier, State Street said today in its third annual hedge-fund study.
- Monsanto(MON) and BASF AG plan to spend as much as $1.5 billion to develop crops that have higher yields and resist drought.
- Honda, Continental Air, Goldman Sachs and Hewlett-Packard are among the leading companies featured in FORTUNE’s Special Report on “Going Green.”
- Nickel is falling for a third consecutive day in London on speculation the current prices will lead steelmakers to switch to cheaper alternative ingredients.
Wall Street Journal:
- Sales of compact discs plunged 20% to 81.5 million units in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier. Digital sales have risen 54% to 173.4 million songs from a year earlier.
- The US Congress is focusing on improved collection of back taxes.
- A Starbucks Corp.(SBUX) stock drop may set its shares up for a gain as the company’s brand name may be more resilient than investors think.
- Thornburg Mortgage(TMA) top executives have bought more than $5 million in company shares last week after its shares reached a recent low, indicating their confidence in the company.
NY Times:
- Walt Disney’s(DIS) ABC may change the way it interrupts programs for commercials in an effort to retain viewers’ attention when advertising is shown.
NY Daily News:
- Transportation Security Administration officers will board Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains to supplement security checks on the busiest US commuter railroads.
AP:
- An Iranian dissident in the US said Iraqi insurgents are being trained for guerrilla warfare in secret camps in Iran with the cooperation of the Islamic Republic’s top leadership.
Financial Times:
- Accredited Home Lenders Holding(LEND) has a chance at survival. A recent loan allows the company to hang onto some of its new loans, rather than selling them at depressed prices.
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