WRAL.com - AP Business News

Obama outlines rebuilding plans to create jobs

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:04:17 -0500

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday outlined his plan to create 2.5 million jobs in coming years to rebuild roads and bridges and modernize schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

Federal regulators shut 2 California thrifts

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:09:15 -0500

Federal regulators on Friday shut down two big thrifts based in Southern California, saying they fell victim to the acute distress in the housing market in that state.

Hollywood actors guild to seek strike

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:24:06 -0500

The Screen Actors Guild said Saturday it will ask its members to authorize a strike after its first contract talks in four months with Hollywood studios failed despite the help of a federal mediator.

Dow up 494 as Obama prepares to name treasury boss

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:43:10 -0500

Wall Street put a stop to a terrifying decline and stormed higher Friday as President-elect Barack Obama appeared ready to tap the chief of the New York Federal Reserve as the next treasury secretary and hand him the herculean task of righting the U.S. financial system. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had broken even for the day until news of the nomination leaked about an hour before the close, raced upward and finished 494 points higher, a rally of more than 6 1/2 percent.

Pressure on Citigroup builds, shares fall below $4

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:49:19 -0500

Pressure intensified on Citigroup to sell part or all of itself as its stock fell below $4 a share on Friday and fears escalated about future loan losses.

FDIC OKs backing for bank debt, deposits

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:27:12 -0500

The FDIC will guarantee up to $1.4 trillion in U.S. banks' debt for more than three years as part of the government's financial rescue plan.

Obama moves quickly to fill Cabinet positions

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:53:16 -0500

President-elect Barack Obama has moved with unusual speed to select officials for his administration, and senior Democratic officials say he intends to name Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary as soon as Monday.

GM, Chrysler making deep cuts to hold on for loans

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:35:14 -0500

When Chrysler was near death and awaiting a government bailout in 1979, then-CEO Lee Iacocca ordered drastic spending cuts and required all checks above $1,000 to be approved by a senior vice president.

Wal-Mart names Duke to succeed Scott as CEO

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:19:18 -0500

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, unexpectedly announced Friday that its chief executive will retire in February and be replaced by the head of its international division.

US gas prices dip below $2, lowest in 3-plus years

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:32:13 -0500

Only four months after peaking at an unheard of $4.11 a gallon, the national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 Friday, its lowest point in more than three years. Yet the global economic contrast between then and now could not be more stark.