Archive for June 23rd, 2008

The skyrocketing price of fuel could "devastate" the airline industry and hurt the economy, according to a report from the Business Travel Coalition released Monday.

The stock price of General Motors Corp. neared its lowest level in 33 years Monday after a credit-rating agency's report cast a further shadow on the embattled U.S. auto industry.

Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 tobacco company, said Monday it has ended test markets of Marlboro-branded cigarettes that use a high-technology filter.

Question: Money Magazine has recommended mutual funds after they've reopened to new investors. But what if your fund has just closed? Is it time to sell? - Marc Maschhoff

Rising oil prices and more woes for the financial and auto sectors were among the factors pressuring stocks Monday afternoon.

Oil prices were volatile Monday morning as the dollar strengthened and investors weighed a production increase by Saudi Arabia against potential supply disruptions in Nigeria.

Congress is focusing on energy speculation Monday, as some lawmakers blamed Wall Street traders for record oil and gasoline prices.

Barack Obama is shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no." His slim figure had been bent forward in a folding chair (prime position to radiate outsized charm). But my question - does he consider corporate America a destructive force? - prompts him to bolt upright to a more defensive pose. It's a purposely provocative query, but a fair one: When Obama talks about business, it's usually to complain about corporate tax breaks or trade deals or jobs shipped overseas. High-paid CEOs are the familiar villains in his stump speeches, including the one he has just given on this Raleigh fairground. Free-market critics look at his varied plans to raise taxes and pronounce him hostile to wealth creation and market growth. And in a small but telling episode during the Indiana primary, his campaign used a 2007 Fortune cover story - "Business Loves Hillary" - to attack Clinton, as if "business" were a dirty word, not the nation's economic engine.

Who needs Google and Apple? Agriculture companies are the new "it" stocks.