Archive for July 18th, 2008

The iPhone maker is on the losing side of the expectations game: Even if it meets earnings estimates next week, its shares are likely to fall.

Wall Street was erratic Friday, with blue chips fluctuating between positive and negative territory and the Nasdaq in retreat, amid some encouraging results in the financial sector and disappointments among tech companies.

Starbucks Corp. released a list Thursday of the 616 stores it will shutter by the first half of 2009.

With commodity, fuel and insurance costs hitting record highs, small-business owners are anxious about next week's federal minimum wage hike, which will require employers in 26 states and the District of Columbia to raise their base to at least $6.55.

A two-day rally aside, the beating that financial stocks have taken lately have knocked out some top money managers and their brand-name mutual funds.

Oil prices rebounded Friday, bouncing off a nearly $16-a-barrel drop over the prior three days, on a more positive world economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund and reduced output from Nigeria.

The Dodge Challenger SRT-8 and Nissan GT-R show off their companies' performance skills. But are "halo cars" like these out-of-place today?

Stock prices wavered Friday but failed to hang onto gains as oil prices swung back up. Disappointing earnings reports from tech companies outweighed positive news from Citigroup.

Citigroup booked a $2.5 billion quarterly loss Friday, but surprised investors as it took fewer painful marks against its books and stayed ahead of Wall Street's dreary earnings projections.