MarketWatch Headlines

MarketWatch Headlines
Illinois-based Nat'l Bank of Commerce closed At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkeley, Ill.-based National Bank of Commerce was closed by regulators Friday, marking the first bank failure of 2009, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said in a statement. Republic Bank of Chicago will assume all of National Bank of Commerce's deposits, while the two locations of National Bank of Commerce will reopen Saturday as branches of Republic Bank, the FDIC said. National Commerce Bank had total deposits of $402.1 million as of Jan. 7, and total assets of $430.9 million, the FDIC said.
U.S. government mulls state-run 'bad bank,' WSJ reports At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. government is considering new ways to steady the financial system, including the possible creation of a state-run "bad bank" that would buy troubled assets from struggling lenders, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. Officials at the Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., in consultation with the incoming Obama administration, are discussing a range of options because they realize the banking crisis is larger than originally thought, the newspaper explained. Another possible solution would standardize efforts to have...
Gannett to close Tucson Citizen if it can't sell assets At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gannett Co. said late Friday it is seeking a buyer for certain assets of the Arizona-based Tucson Citizen. The newspaper company said that if a sale is not completed by March 21, it will have to close the paper.
ConocoPhillips to trim work force by 4% At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- ConocoPhillips said late Friday it will trim its work force by about 4%, and will reduce the number of contractors it uses. The announcement comes as the oil company approved a $12.5 billion capital program for 2009, down from $15.3 billion in 2008. ConocoPhillips has just over 32,000 employees. Shares of ConocoPhillips fell 2.1% to $48.35 in after-hours activity.
ConocoPhillips outlines 2009 capital program At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- ConocoPhillips said late Friday it approved a capital program of $12.5 billion for 2009. The oil company said that $11.7 billion of the amount is the company's 2009 capital budget and $800 million will fund a business venture with exploration and production company EnCana Corp. . ConocoPhillips said that about 82% of the capital program will go toward exploration and production, and 16% will go toward refining and marketing.
Moody's cuts BofA, Merrill Lynch on quarterly losses At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service on Friday lowered the debt ratings of Bank of America Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. to A1 from Aa3. The downgrade follows the disclosure of substantial losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter and more modest losses at Bank of America. "Moody's views positively the actions taken by Bank of America to limit further losses in the asset pool, to bolster its Tier 1 capital, and to cut its common dividend. However, in light of the magnitude of losses at Merrill Lynch, Moody's has concerns that the risk management challenges at Merrill...
U.S. stocks off for week as financials roil market At MarketWatch 01/16/09
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Friday ended with daily gains and weekly losses after an up-and-down day that had some of the biggest financial companies hit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 68.73 points, or 0.8%, to 8,281.22, leaving it down 3.7% from last Friday's close. The S&P 500 gained 6.38 points, or 0.8%, to 850.12, leaving the broad market indicator with a weekly loss of 4.5%. The Nasdaq Composite added 17.49 points, or 1.2%, to stand at 1,529.33, down 2.7% from a week ago.
Moody's may cut Citi, notes concerns over preferred dividend At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service on Friday placed Citigroup Inc.'s long-term debt rating of A2 as well as its Prime-1 short-term rating under review for possible downgrade. Moody's also lowered its ratings on preferred stock issued by Citigroup to Baa3 from Baa2 due to greater possibility that preferred dividends could be deferred. "Citigroup's current preferred dividend payments are a hurdle for future capital generation, especially when considering Citigroup's poor earnings prospects for 2009," said Sean Jones, Moody's senior vice-president. The review will focus on...
Barclays sees full-year profit topping analyst forecasts At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Barclays PLC said Friday that full-year profit will likely exceed analyst forecasts, adding that directors of the bank know no reason why its share price slumped. The board of the U.K. bank expects full-year pre-tax profit, including all costs, impairments and market valuations, to come in above 5.3 billion pounds, which is the consensus forecast of sell-side analysts. Barclays also said its tier one capital ratio will be roughly 9.5% at the end of 2008. This ratio is a closely watched measure of banks' financial strength. Barclays shares slumped 25% during...
Toyota recalls 214,500 Lexus cars over possible fuel leak At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it is recalling about 214,500 Lexus cars in the United States because of possible fuel leaks. The company said that ethanol fuels could corrode fuel delivery pipes and result in a leak. The recall affects certain 2006 through 2008 models of GS300/350, IS250/350, and LS460/460L vehicles.
Oil rises on short-covering; loses 10.6% in week At MarketWatch 01/16/09
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures erased earlier losses Friday, rallying more than 2% as traders short-selling February oil bought the contract to cover their positions before February futures expire on Tuesday. Meanwhile, traders moved their short positions to March futures, the next front-month contract, pushing down the March contract by more than 2% and shrinking the price difference between the two successive futures contracts.Crude for February delivery ended up $1.11, or 3.1%, at $36.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped 3.4% to as low as $34.18...
AMD to record $684 million charge related to ATI purchase At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Friday said it will record a $622 million goodwill impairment charge related to its acquisition of ATI Technologies. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip giant said it is also posting an additional $62 million charge related to its purchase of the graphics chip company in 2006.
Europe says Microsoft can't include its browser in Windows At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- European antitrust regulators have told Microsoft Corp. that the company's practice of including its Internet browser with its popular Windows operating system violates European competition law, Microsoft said Friday. Microsoft said in a statement that it's been told that related remedies put in place by U.S. courts when Microsoft settled an antitrust case in this country in 2002 are not adequate for Europe, though a "final determination" hasn't been made on the matter. Microsoft said it is "studying the statement of objections" from the European Commission and...
S&P affirms Citi counterparty rating, has dividend concerns At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's affirmed its counterparty credit rating on Citigroup Inc. Friday, but lowered its hybrid capital issues rating because of dividend concerns. The action comes after Citi posted a net fourth-quarter loss of $8.29 billion and announced plans to reorganize the company. The ratings agency has a A/A-1 counterparty credit rating on Citi with a stable outlook. S&P cut its ratings on Citi's hybrid capital issues to BB from BBB, on increased concerns that dividend payments could be deferred.
ConAgra names John Gehring as chief financial officer At MarketWatch 01/16/09
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- ConAgra Foods Inc. said Friday it named John Gehring, currently senior vice president and controller, as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Gehring succeeds Andre Hawaux who was promoted to president of consumer foods unit.More MarketWatch headlines...