Bloomberg:- Adidas-Salomon AG raised its annual earnings and sales forecasts as demand in the US increased and the company won orders tied to the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament.
- Wal-Mart said October sales rose 4.3% as gas prices fell and cooler weather spurred purchases.
- Exxon Mobil, Microsoft and Qualcomm led US companies to an average 15% gain in third-quarter profits as corporations weathered record oil prices and rising interest rates.
- Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video-game machine is already sold out on some Web sites including Wal-Mart Stores, a sign the company may have shortages when the console goes on sale this month.
- US retailers reported the strongest sales gain in four months, rising 4.4%, bolstering expectations for the holiday shopping season.
- Playboy Enterprises and Penthouse Media Group may make adult movies for portable video players such as Apple’s new iPod to capitalize on soaring demand for the devices.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan said the US economy is poised for continued growth even after the shock of two hurricanes raised energy prices and increased the risk of broader inflation.
- Merck won the second lawsuit to come to trail over its painkiller Vioxx, easing concerns that the company would have to settle thousands of cases after it pulled the drug from the market.
- The US economy hasn’t growth so fast for so long in almost 20 years, unemployment is near a four-year low and home ownership is at a record high, yet most Americans say President Bush is doing a bad job handling the economy.
- The US dollar is rising against the euro and climbed to a two-year high versus the yen after Greenspan said US growth remains “firm.”
Wall Street Journal:- Southwest Airline will debut a airplane today with basketball motif as part of its sponsorship with the NBA.
- Vonage Holdings, which sells Internet-based telephone service, may put itself up for sale for more than $2 billion.
- Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest carmaker, plans to develop products specifically for the US market and to improve its standing in quality surveys as it seeks to combat a sales decline in the world’s largest economy.
- The number of Americans with diabetes on dialysis machines doubled to almost 325,000 between 1988 and 2003.
- A sale of Knight Ridder could herald a raft of mergers and acquisitions in the newspaper industry.
- A Web-based technology that allows users of shared computers in Internet cafes, military installations and schools to send instant messages without jeopardizing their confidentiality, is attracting applications and investors.
- Google makes available thousands of public-domain books and documents through its search service starting today, the first program to scan works at several university and public libraries.
- Iridium Satellite LLC and other providers of satellite-telephone services have become the hottest companies in the telecommunications industry because of demand for dependable communications.
- Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross says he may spend more than $4.5 billion to assemble a group of auto-parts companies.
NY Times:- Media companies such as Viacom are losing their allure with investors as their stocks languish amid concern about the effects of the Internet and advertising trends.
NY Post:- Scientific-Atlanta may be exploring a possible sale of the company after hiring two investment banks earlier this year.
New Scientiest:- Nestle SA has applied for a patent for a beer-like foaming coffee drink.
