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| Dow and Nasdaq dip, S&P inches up after two-day Sandy shutdown Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 12:23 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The stock market slowly returned to life on Wednesday after two days in the dark, in the wake of the massive storm Sandy that caused the market's first weather-related two-day closure since the late 19th century. The major stock indexes' early gains were short-lived as buying receded quickly. The S&P 500 was mostly flat in a session that is on track to be busier than the average day in U.S. markets, in part because of pent-up demand after the two-day closure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Citi banking site briefly down, bank declines to discuss cause Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 12:16 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Some of Citigroup Inc's banking sites went down for about half an hour on Wednesday, making its online banking system temporarily inaccessible to customers, some of whom were housebound in the wake of giant storm Sandy. Bank spokesman Andrew Brent said the outage also affected applications for mobile devices such as the iPad, but that all sites and apps had been restored to service. He declined to discuss the cause of the outage. Citi, Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and other U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Power outage hits Knight Capital, cuts off trading Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 12:15 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A failed backup power generator has forced Knight Capital Group to tell clients to route all stock orders away from the brokerage on Wednesday, as the effects of Sandy, the massive storm that slammed into the U.S. East Coast, were still being felt. It was the second time in three months the Jersey City, New Jersey-based broker has had to ask clients to route orders elsewhere. Knight, a top U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thomson Reuters investigates foreign exchange client Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 12:01 PM PDT (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp is investigating whether one of its currency trading customers gained an unfair advantage when making high speed foreign exchange trades on its platform. Lucid Markets, a privately held electronic trading firm registered in Great Britain, may have benefited from trades using several connections on the Thomson Reuters Matching platform. "As the operator of one of the largest FX dealing communities, providing a level and fair playing field for the community is paramount," said a Thomson Reuters spokeswoman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street scrambles to raise cash after Sandy Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:58 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street firms and U.S. banks scrambled to raise cash on Wednesday, as U.S. financial markets resumed normal trading after a devastating storm pummeled the U.S. East Coast and closed major markets for two days. Major banks and investment houses rely on the money markets - a key cash source for financial markets - to finance trading positions and loans they make. Companies sell commercial paper and other short-term debt to money market funds and other investors to fund their inventories and payrolls. ... Full Story | Top |
| GM sees European operations breaking even by mid-decade Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:57 AM PDT  DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co posted a surprisingly strong profit on Wednesday on higher sales and vehicle prices, mainly in the United States, and said it was targeting a return to break-even levels in its European operations by mid-decade. Shares of the automaker rose more than 10 percent as investors welcomed better-than-expected results in North America, South America and the International unit that includes China, as well as a more defined roadmap for ending its European losses. GM's stock debuted at $33 a share when it re-entered the market in the fall 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| TSX climbs to one-week high as mining stocks surge Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:55 AM PDT  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday, as the materials sector rose with higher commodity prices and after Potash Corp said it has ramped up efforts to acquire a smaller rival. The materials group rose 1.28 percent. Potash gained 0.8 percent at C$40.29 after the fertilizer company confirmed its interest in increasing its stake in Israel Chemical Ltd. Volumes on Toronto's stock market picked up as U.S. equity markets resumed trading after a two-day closure due to massive storm Sandy. "It's a fairly positive tone here. ... Full Story | Top |
| Disney to buy "Star Wars" producer for $4.05 billion Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:55 AM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co agreed to buy filmmaker George Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd and its "Star Wars" franchise for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, a blockbuster deal that includes the surprise promise of a new film in the series in 2015. The deal unites a boutique Northern California film studio that brought special effects into the digital era with a venerable Hollywood powerhouse that has shown a knack for getting the most out of big-name entertainment brands. ... Full Story | Top |
| GM spends $3.6 billion on lump-sum pension buyouts Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:53 AM PDT DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co spent $3.6 billion on pension buyouts this year for white-collar retirees as part of a plan to cut about one-fifth of its global pension liability. About 30 percent of 44,000 eligible salaried retirees agreed to take a lump-sum payment in lieu of monthly pension checks, the largest U.S. automaker said in its quarterly securities filing on Wednesday. GM reported surprisingly strong quarterly earnings earlier in the day, sending its shares up 10 percent to $25.57. ... Full Story | Top |
| RIM starts carrier testing on BlackBerry 10 devices Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:48 AM PDT  TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion has started carrier testing of its new line of BlackBerry 10 devices ahead of the launch of the devices in the first quarter of 2013, the company said on Wednesday. "In the last week, BlackBerry 10 achieved lab entry with more than 50 carriers, a key step in our preparedness for the launch of BlackBerry 10 in the first quarter of 2013," said RIM's Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, in a brief statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Phillips 66 quarterly profit up on good margins Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:45 AM PDT HOUSTON (Reuters) - Increased access to cheaper crude oil from the United States and Canada boosted Phillips 66's quarterly profits above analyst expectations after the U.S. refining company spun off from ConocoPhillips earlier this year, the company reported on Wednesday. More than half of the company's refining capacity is in the central corridor of the U.S. with access to those cheaper crudes in North Dakota, Texas, Kansas and other states, executives told analysts during Phillips 66's third-quarter earnings conference call. "Our U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Bush-era trade deal with Panama goes into force Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:39 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. free trade agreement with Panama went into force on Wednesday, five years after it was originally negotiated, opening the way for increased U.S. exports as the Central American country continues its canal expansion project. Senior U.S. lawmakers and business groups welcomed implementation of the agreement, which was signed in June 2007 when George W. Bush was still president. "This trade deal will guarantee access to Panama's $20.6 billion services market and more than $15 billion in infrastructure projects ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Over 6 million remain without power in Northeast Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:38 AM PDT  (Reuters) - About 6.2 million homes and businesses in 16 states remained without power on Wednesday as utilities scrambled to restore service disrupted by Hurricane Sandy, federal data showed. The power companies had restored electricity to some 2 million customers in the U.S. Northeast, although the pace of recovery in New York appeared to lag behind other storm-hit states, the data showed. At the storm's peak, 8.48 million customers were without power after Sandy came ashore with hurricane-force winds in New Jersey on Monday, according to a Department of Energy collection of data. ... Full Story | Top |
| We did what banks wanted, UBS trader on trial says Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:34 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli said on Wednesday that he and Jerome Kerviel, the Societe Generale "rogue trader", got into trouble only because they had lost money for their employers. Adoboli, 32, was arrested on September 15, 2011, and blamed for losses of $2.3 billion. He is on trial in London accused of two counts of fraud and four of false accounting, which he denies. The prosecution say Adoboli traded far in excess of his risk limits, concealed his positions through fictitious bookings and lied to the back office when asked questions about his trades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy spending hopes drive rally for recovery companies Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 11:20 AM PDT (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy has caused tens of billions of dollars in damage up and down the U.S. East Coast, but the recovery and reconstruction spending that will follow could pump an almost equal amount right back into the economy, driving a rally for some stocks as markets reopened on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
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