IN BRIEF
Price for oil tumbles on swine-flu reports
Oil prices dipped to around $50 a barrel Monday as a strong dollar and new reports of swine flu threatened to slow summer travel and sent jitters through global markets.
Benchmark crude for June delivery fell $1.41 to settle at $50.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude prices have defied traditional market fundamentals for weeks and risen in the face of an awful economy and growing supplies of oil.
Swine flu worries pushed both oil and equity markets down Monday.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
Whirlpool profit sinks on weak demand
Whirlpool Corp., the world's largest maker of stoves, refrigerators and other major home appliances, said Monday its first-quarter profit fell 28 percent on slumping sales, softening consumer demand and the stronger dollar.
But its shares climbed as it beat Wall Street's expectations for a loss for the January-March period and reaffirmed its full-year outlook which is above analysts' consensus forecast.
One analyst said the company is doing well in the face of the economic downturn.
NEW YORK
Verizon profit, revenue top expectations
Verizon Communications Inc. said Monday its earnings grew 5 percent in the first quarter, boosted by its acquisition of Alltel Corp. and strong demand for its wireless, Internet and TV services.
Verizon, which is the second-largest U.S. telecommunications provider, earned $3.21 billion, or 58 cents per share, compared with $3.05 billion, or 57 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding charges related to its acquisition of Alltel, Verizon earned 63 cents per share -- 4 cents higher than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.
CHICAGO
Boeing CEO calls slump 'lifetime' event
Boeing Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney assured shareholders Monday that the company is in strong shape to ride out the "once-in-a-lifetime" downturn that has walloped its profits, jetliner orders and stock price.
Putting an upbeat spin on a slump that has hit both the aerospace company and its customers hard, he cited as reasons for optimism Boeing's huge backlog of orders, diversification between commercial airplanes and defense and its continued, albeit halting, progress on the 787.
McNerney also reiterated that the oft-delayed new passenger jet will take to the air before the end of June.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
Corning says profits slip on slumping sales
Specialty glassmaker Corning Inc. said Monday its first-quarter profit fell 99 percent on slumping sales and a charge for previously-disclosed job cuts.
But its adjusted earnings topped Wall Street expectations on a mid-quarter rebound in demand for its flat-screen television glass.
The world's largest maker of liquid-crystal-display glass earned $14 million, or a penny a share, in the January-March quarter, down from $1.03 billion, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, its latest profit of 10 cents a share exceeded Wall Street's forecast of 5 cents a share.
Sales fell 39 percent to $989 million from $1.617 billion a year ago but that also topped analyst's forecasts of $963.4 million.
Its shares rose 51 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $15.84 Monday. The stock is still down 43 percent from its 52-week high of $28.07 set on May 19. It traded as low as $7.36 six months later.
PITTSBURGH
U.S. Steel posts rare quarterly loss
United States Steel Corp. posted its first quarterly loss in more than five years as the recession pinched demand for the metal, and the company announced steps to cut costs and raise capital including deferring contributions for retiree health insurance.
The results were even worse than Wall Street had expected, and the company predicted another loss in the second quarter.
The huge steel producer said Monday it lost $439 million, or $3.78 per share, in the first three months of the year. That compared with net income of $235 million, or $1.98 per share, a year earlier.
Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said sales tumbled 47 percent to $2.75 billion from a record $5.2 billion a year earlier.
Analysts expected a loss of $1.69 per share on sales of $3.14 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
SAN DIEGO
Qualcomm records loss on settlement
Qualcomm Inc. posted a fiscal second-quarter loss Monday on a hefty payment to rival chip maker Broadcom Corp. to end legal disputes that spanned several continents.
The settlement with Broadcom, announced late Sunday, calls for Qualcomm to pay $891 million over four years. Broadcom is a relative newcomer to the business of making chips for cell phones but proved to be a fierce legal adversary.
Qualcomm lost $289 million, or 18 cents a share, during the three months ended March 29, compared to a profit of $766 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. The latest quarter includes a charge of $748 million, or 43 cents a share, to pay Broadcom.
WASHINGTON
Pay gap shrinks for women in government
Women working in the federal government still earn less than their male counterparts, but the pay gap is shrinking.
The difference between average annual salary for men and women in the federal work force declined from 19 cents to 11 cents on the dollar between 1998 and 2007, according to a draft report from the Government Accountability Office.
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, is set for release today at a hearing of the Congress' Joint Economic Committee.
NEW YORK
Treasurys increase on swine-flu worries
Treasurys rose Monday as stocks fell on worries about swine flu cases spreading.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.75 points to 98.59 points. Its yield fell to 2.92 percent from 2.99 percent late Friday.
The 30-year bond rose 0.81 points to 94.13 points and its yield fell to 3.83 percent from 3.88 percent.
The two-year note rose 0.13 points to 99.97 points and its yield fell to 0.88 percent from 0.97 percent.
