NYSE --- Julie (slow)
Asia markets --- Cathy (fast)
>> a view of the sydney opera house, showers from morning to night, high temperature at 21 degrees celsius. american airlines there as plans to purchase 54 boeing planes. the world’s largest carrier aims to save $2.7 billion by delaying delivery of the planes up to seven years. american is trying to cut costs to stem losses and compete with low-cost carriers. a.m.r. has lost $6.9 billion since the end of 2000. american plans to buy only boeing jets during that time period. credit suisse first boston banker frank quattrone is permanently barred from the securities industry by the nasdaq, sentenced to 18 months in prison for urging employees to destroy documents during a probe. the nasd says it barred quattrone because of his behavior and in its words, described as egregious. the organization says his refulve to testify in the investigation undermined the nasd’s ability to carry out its mandatory responsibilities. energy and utility stocks led gains on wall street monday. shares of krispy kreme dropped as much as 16% on lower earnings. julie hyman reports from the new york stock exchange.
>> the s&p 500 today rose for the third session in four. we were tracking closely to the price of oil as oil closed lower at the end of the day, stocks going higher. not a huge gain for either the dow or s&p, but a gain nonetheless. wins groups today included insurers, utilities as well as tech hardware stocks. just a general positive tone we had in the market today. also, energy stocks gaining a little bit of a paradox here since the price of oil declined. record highs in many of these stocks, including exxon-mobil, once again, getting 1% to reach a record high, as well as occidental, e.o.g. and valero energy within the group at record highs. campbell’s soup closing at its highest since march of 2002. the company says first-quarter profits and sales up 9%, beating analysts’ estimates, offering discounts and new products. we saw shares of pulitzer rising to a record after the company said was exploring strategic options, including potentially offering itself up for share. also, shares of krispy kreme donuts remarkable today for their drop, their biggest decline in about six months, trading at their lowest since the initial public offering in april of 2000. the company said it had a third-quarter loss because of the cost of closing stores. same-store sales declined. excluding those costs, the company had profit of four cents a share while analysts were looking for 13 cents a share. also shares of forest labs declining today after a downgrade at banc of america securities. analyst there is worried about generic competition to their lexipro antidepressant.
>> asia stocks fell in u.s. trade. taiwan semiconductor and other computer-related companies led declines. merrill lynch said personal computer sales will slow over the next two years. the bank of new york asia a.d.r. index fell for the third day. sony’s credit rating is cut for the first time in more than a decade by standard & poor’s. the rating company says competition is eroding sony’s earnings. s&p lowered sony’s long-term credit rating a level to the sixth highest, a, from a-plus. the outlook for the rating is negative. s&p said it is likely to lower it. the move may raise borrowing costs at a time when the company needs to invest more to develop new products. earnings at sony have slumped as the company loses share to apple computer and sharp. mizuho financial group says profit may rise because of lower costs to write off bad loans. it previously said it would probably post a decline. net income is forecast to rise to 440 billion yen. mizuho cut bad loans below a government target before the deadline. six quarters of economic recovery is helping companies pay debt. mizuho said monday its first-half profit fell 8% . the lender failed to earn sufficient fee incomes to make up for reduced gains from stock investment. sumitomo mitsui financial says first-half profit fell, booking higher losses to eliminate debt. the bank says full-year profit will probably fall 46% to 180 billion yen for the year. coming up, the dollar trades near a record low against the euro at a time when the bush administration backs a strong dollar policy. we’ll talk to a currency strategist about strengthening the dollar.
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Listen Market briefing --- Cathy (fast)
Peoplesoft --- Su (fast)
Iran--- Ron (slow)
good morning, welcome to “ live.” in 20 minutes, a currency strategist will tell you where he sees the dollar headed next. can asia handle another discount airline? learn how nok air plans to compete in this crowded field. also, we’ll have more on the oracle-peoplesoft battle in a full market report from the new york stock exchange. sony’s latest setback and japanese bank earnings. international policymakers failed to stop the dollar’s slide against the euro. the dollar came within half a cent of its record low against the euro in trading. president bush said his government has a strong dollar policy, but currency strategists doubt the president’s word.
>> i look at the last lee or four days, it seems pretty clear that u.s. policymakers have opted on toward a policy of letting the dollar weaken as long as the weakness is orderly.
>> mccormick said the dollar will continue falling until policymakers step in.
>> our expectations are that the euro will peak somewhere around midyear 2005 near the 1.40 level. i think once you get there -- and you’re starting to see it at the $1.30 level―markets recognize it could have pain on the euro zone economy.
>> the dollar rebounded from a 4 1/2 year low against the yen after the yen was said to be climbing too rapidly.
>> at this point, it’s anyone’s guess but the closer we get to 100 i would think there would be increased pressure for them to step into the market .
>> the yen rose into the 102 range friday for the first time since march 2000. the international monetary fund cut its forecast for world economic growth next year, saying near record oil prices and the u.s. budget deficit may limit global growth to 4% next year. the i.m.f.’s managing director made the comments at a news conference in warsaw, polan. the u.s. economy is growing at a slower-than-expected percentage. gerhard schroeder encouraged the u.s. to trim its deficit, which he singled out as a reason behind the euro’s gain. the i.m.f. projected the world economy will grow 5% this year. oil prices fall on speculation the mild weather in the u.s. northeast means heating oil splice may be adequate for winter demand. another reason for the price drop is slower economic growth may lower demand for oil. on wall street, u.s. stocks rise as oil prices retreat. the dow climbs .3%, the s&p and nasdaq up more than .5%. citigroup sells its unit to general electric for $4.4 billion in cash. apple computer shares surged to a four-year high. an analyst from piper jaffray says apple shares may reach $100. he made the prediction after surveying 200 ipod users who said they already own a mcintosh or plan to within a year. shares of microsoft and other technology companies closed lower after merrill lynch says growth in personal computers will slow in the next two years. the bank of new york a.d.r. index falls almost .5%. treasuries rise on hopes an increase in the fed’s target interest rate will keep inflation under control. futures contract show a 90% chance policymakers will raise rates to 2.25%. japanese 10-year bonds climb to their highest in 10 months on speculation the dollar’s decline will hurt exports and slow growth. exports make up a 10th of the japanese economy. japan’s markets are closed today for a holiday. oracle shares closed lower after peoplesoft directors said they would not discuss a purchase unless oracle raises its bid. this is the latest in the 17-month takeover battle between the two companies. su keenan has details on that story.
>> this is a standoff that focuses attention on a delaware judge’s decision later this week and raises concerns that this struggle between the two software companies could be an equally lengthy proxy fight. as of friday, 60% of peoplesoft shareholders voted to support oracle’s bid. steve cohen says that should make it hard for peoplesoft’s board to block discussions.
>> well more than a majority of the shareholders found this bid to be acceptable. as a matter of fact, if you exclude the stock that’s critical affiliated with the management, the percentage that tendered is considerably higher.
>> oracle is calling the situation an impasse and sent peoplesoft’s board a letter today saying it continues to believe $21 a share is a fair price for peoplesoft, that analysts’ price targets were not incredible. the next step is to go to a delaware courtroom. one attorney says oracle may not get what it wants from the judge.
>> generally reluct reluctant to step into the day-to-day operations of the company, especially to overrule something as significant as a poison pill. so i don’t think oracle has high hopes of winning at the delaware court level.
>> analysts are saying it’s highly highly unlikely the judge will remove the poison pill clause which would allow oracle to release extra shares on the market . the stalemate is likely to extend the 17-month fight until peoplesoft’s annual meeting next april.
>> thank you, su. inflation in hong kong and singapore probably accelerated last month. in hong kong, retailers saying the property market rebounded. singapore consumers are paying more because of higher prices in oil and food. also today, taiwan will probably say order for exports slowed in october. taiwan sells most of its goods to the u.s. and china. expect export figures at 5:00 p.m. today in taipei. outside the business world, the u.s. pressured iran on its nuclear program. ron madison has more from tokyo.
>> good morning. u.s. president george w. bush says iran must prove it won’t seek nuclear weapons. bush made the comments after visiting columbia’s president, columbia president―alvaro uribe. the press cited a u.n. official as saying iran has produced about 50% of a uranium compound needed to make a nuclear bomb. in u.s.―a u.s. military spokesperson saying soldiers entered three homes in afghanistan, detaining three people. here you’re seeing the video taken of the hostages shortly after the capture. the group holding the u.n. workers is demanding the release of taliban workers. in the ukraine, tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets in keiv, protesting what many are calling a fraudulent presidential election. the prime minister took the lead with 49% after the tally. the opponent had 46% despite exit polls showing him grabbing 54% of the vote. the european union has called for a review of the results. that’s the latest look at world news. i’ll have another update coming up at the bottom of the hour i..
>> after the break, american airlines suffers a flight delay of a different kind, delaying the delivery of 54 boeing planes.
