NYSE --- Deb (fast)
World news --- Bernie (slow)
>> u.s. stocks recover from early losses in the session. the biggest drop in oil prices so far this year sparked something of a recovery from an inflation report that reinforced the fed’s concern about increasing price pressures. looking at the indexes, the dow jones the only loser among the three indices. the s&p and nasdaq with small gains.
>> the dow jones industrial average closing just a little bit lower in wednesday’s session and in fact the dow has lost 485 points since we saw that 3 1/2 year high in the dow on march 4. the market has been consumed with interest rates and oil. those were big topics in today’s session. looking at the interest rate sensitive stocks, utilities lower, financials lower and real estate eked out a gain. one of the best performers in the s&p 500, household products. in fact, there is a merrill lynch conference in new york about retailing leaders, household products and cosmetics and those of these companies will speak at that conference so many of those stocks performing well today. energy stocks and oil service companies fell after the price of crude oil fell more than $2 a barrel on a report that inventories rose to their highest level since july of 2002. we did see natural gas, also oil services lower. however, what we did see, those airlines performing quite well and of course airlines have been lower as we have been seeing the price of oil ratcheting higher. but seeing that reversal in oil prices also seeing the airlines performing well. material stocks, another laggard in the s&p 500 and also auto-related, they were lower. look at some of the auto-related stocks, delphi slashed their quarterly dividend 57% as they try to conserve cash in the face of a $350 million loss this year. delphi reducing their dividend to three cents a share from seven cents a share. general motors once again lower. they may sell a stake in their commercial mortgage unit as the company tries to raise cash a week after forecasting their biggest quarterly loss in 13 years. i’m deborah kostroun at the new york stock exchange for bloomberg news.
>> beverage makers are shaking up the soft drink business. coke will introduce a zero calorie soda called coca-cola zero. they’ve had diet coke in the market for two decades. pepsi will alter its formula with splenda. both companies trying to increase sales to health-conscious consumers shifting to zero calorie drinks and bottled water and sports drinks. coca-cola zero will be marketed to consumers age 18 to upper 20’s who don’t drink diet coke. the new pepsi one will be distributed throughout the u.s. by next month and ron madison is a voracious consumer of coke light. i can attest to that. he downs at least a six pack every day.
>> i like it with all the surely in it, bernie.
>> twice the caffeine, yeah.
>> looking at world news, for the second time in less than a day, a u.s. federal appeals court has rejected a bid by the parents of terri schiavo to have their daughter’s feeding tube reinserted. in the decision, the atlanta-based u.s. circuit court of appeals refused bob and mary schindler’s request for an emergency rehearing by the full court. it’s been six days since the feeding tube was removed. terri’s mother made an emotional appeal.
>> all i can see is terri’s face in front of me, dying, starving to death. please, someone out there stop this cruelty, stop the insanity. please let me daughter live.
>> terri schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance. the parents have vowed to take their fight to the u.s. supreme court which has previously refused to get involved. the united states, canada and mexico pledge to strengthen cooperation between the three countries on security and economic issues. u.s. president george w. bush met with canadian prime minister paul martin and mexican president vicente fox in texas. they all agreed to work to streamline everything from travelers moving across borders to stepping up security in aviation and shipping industries. relations between the three north american countries cooled after america’s northern and southern neighbors opposed the iraq war. canada’s leaders say the countries need a renewed partnership now. the u.s. social security system may run out of assets earlier than expected. the trustees of the program released a report saying u.s. social security funds will be exhausted in the year 2041. that is a year earlier than previously forecast. the news is triggering a new wave of arguments, now, between democrats and republicans over the fund’s future. the bush administration wants to allow some of the social security payroll taxes to be diverted into investment accounts while democrats say the administration is trying to manufacture a prices to privatize the program. the trustees said the 70-year-old program will start paying out more in benefits than it takes in starting in 2017. that, also a year earlier than previously forecast. that is the latest look at world news. there’s much more “bloomberg live” headed your way after a quick break.
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Listen Market briefing --- Bernie (slow)
Australia stock market --- David (slow)
in a moment, the u.s. dollar jumped for a fifth day, how long can the rally last? we’ll speak way currency strategist? new york. we’ll speak about the video game wars with an analyst in sill silicon valley, california n.45 minutes, we’ll find out if seven rate hikes in a row are working to cool new zealand’s economy. we’ll have the g.d.p. numbers from new zealand and live reaction from the head of a local retailer called pumpkin patch. we’ll hear from the former deputy prime minister and finance minister of malaysia, anwr eastbound him―ibrahim. february consumer prices rose .4%, the biggest increase in four months and larger than expected. stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the core rate rose .3%, the fastest pace in five months, also above views. the report lifted the dollar on expectations that inflation, which is picking up, may lead the fed to speed up rate hikes. the fed issued a warning on inflation when it raised interest rates yesterday, saying pressures on inflation have picked up. many economists say that statement indicates they may accelerate the planned measured pace of rate increases. the department of energy in the u.s. reported that inventories of crude supplies rose to the highest since july of 2002. more than four million barrels were added to a stockpile of last week, doubling what analysts expected. oil prices down $3 from last week’s record of $57.60 a barrel. the energy department said the u.s. imported 8% more oil compared to the same period last year. the s&p and nasdaq composite index finished higher for the first time this week and the dow finished lower .1%. exxon-mobil, chevrontexaco and conocophillips sold off and the market rotated into smaerks -- semiconductors, which have been some of the worst performers. in the treasury market , the 10-year note gained -- asian stocks that fell in u.s. trading, commodity shares including petrochina and b.h.p. billiton down this morning after the prices of oil, copper and gold fell. a report showing the pickup on u.s. inflation weighed on the stocks. the bony indexes were all down and nikkei futures, a look at the japanese market priced in the chicago merc. trading, ahead of osaka and 30 mother north of singapore. stocks to watch is livedoor, the media company that won a court order over a plea to stop its bid for nippon broadcasting. you’re looking the chief of livedoor. sanyo electric widened its loss estimate, expecting 120 billion yen loss, or about $1 billion u.s. in the current financial year ending next week, 70% larger than its previous estimate. shobi will have that story coming up. and seiko epson cut its profit forecast, blaming slowing sales ofenk jet printer parts and falling prices of panel displays. australian futures up a day after the main market index posted the biggest loss of the year. we’re on a negative roll 55 minutes ahead of trading. the 200 index fell 1.5% yesterday. we’ll cheek with david tweed in new south wales. energy stocks fell along with oil prices. the broader s&p 500 gained. what are australian stocks likely to follow in terms of the tone in the market today?
>> given the weighting of some of the oil stocks here in australia, i find it curious that the futures are indicating up .1%. b.h.p.’s shares in new york dropped 3.7% overnight and that’s about 1.6% below the close in sydney. b.h.p. has representation in the australian index of 8.4%, by far the biggest stock in the index. so if you do see b.h.p. declining, one would expect it to drag the index lower. that said, a drop in the oil price could be considered good news with regard to consumers because it’s going to cut fuel costs and will be encouraging spending for companies such as harvey norman or qantas which benefit from lower fuel costs. those will be the ones to watch for. that said, also woodside petroleum, another oil company in australia, second biggest one, its shares have been dropping. they’ve dropped from a record for two consecutive days. that one could be lower today, as well. and then again, we’ve seen declines in metal prices. rio tinto, a big copper producer, could drop on the back of the metal price and that won’t help b.h.p., either. i would like to bring your attention to a couple of stocks that will probably decline going ex-dividend today, including a&n, telstra and woolworth.
>> across the water, new zealand is going to be out with fourth-quarter g.d.p. this morning. what are we forecasting there?
>> we’re looking for an increase in fourth-quarter g.d.p. of .6% according to the 12 economists surveyed by bloomberg news. the central bank governor, allen bollard, is forecasting 1.1% increase. if it comes in below that, that could ease pressure on him to increase rates. he’s increased rates for the seventh time in 15 months at the beginning of march.
>> thank you, david. we’ll catch up with you closer to the market open in sydney today. david tweed, of course, covering the australian markets for us. in other markets today, watch out for tom group here in hong kong. h-2 profits yearly quadrupled at the publishing company owned by li ka-shing. it’s more of a traditional media group right now. thanks to sales in its tom online internet unit of the we’ll speak with the chief executive officer later on this morning and learn what he’s planning to do in china and any expansion plans in the cards. china unicom probably doubled fourth-quarter profits after network purchases from its parent company. analysts say fourth-quarter net income may climb to $133 million u.s. china unicom has boosted sales by expanding networks and slashing subscription rates to add users in outback, rural areas. analysts are concerned that overall earnings may fall because of rising marketing costs. figures from thomson financial services show some of them have cut their outlooks for 2005 earnings because of increased costs. taiwan central bank may raise its benchmark interest rate later today because of worries of inflation sparked by higher crude prices. it would be the third raise in the row. we spoke with nine economists who predict a .25% increase. the decision will be announced after 5:00 p.m. in taipei today. after the break, u.s. stocks end stabilized. our reporter in new york will bring us the report next.
