IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON
Building of new homes declines in November
Struggling homebuilders cut back even more than expected last month, sending construction of new homes plummeting in November by the largest amount in almost a quarter-century.
New-home starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000 from a downwardly revised level of 771,000 in October, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
That is a drop of 18.9 percent, the steepest since March 1984. The total is far below the 740,000 pace that Wall Street economists expected.
Applications for building permits, considered a good sign of future activity, fell by 15.6 percent to 616,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 730,000 in October.
General Electric will halt quarterly forecasts
General Electric Co., which this year damaged its record of routinely meeting analysts' per-share estimates, will stop making annual and quarterly forecasts in an effort that may reduce the stock's volatility.
GE will instead outline earnings goals focused more on individual units, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said Tuesday at GE's 2009 outlook meeting in New York.
For example, 2009 profit in the industrial units will trail General Electric's September prediction, company officials said.
Investors have cut GE's market value by about half since April, when Immelt missed analysts' quarterly estimate by about 7 cents a share amid turmoil in global markets.
GE had never strayed even a full penny from the estimates in the previous 12 quarters, Bloomberg data show.
NEW YORK
PartyGaming founder will forfeit $300 million
A co-founder of an Internet gambling company who was listed among the world's billionaires last year has pleaded guilty to a federal crime and agreed to forfeit $300 million.
A smiling Anurag Dikshit of India entered the plea Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan. He is the co-founder of PartyGaming, an online gambling company registered in the United Kingdom.
Dikshit signed a cooperation agreement and prosecutors suggested they may eventually submit a letter to the judge asking for leniency.
The charge of violating the federal wire act carries a potential prison term of up to two years.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Adobe Systems profits increase 11 percent
Adobe Systems Inc., best known for its Photoshop and Acrobat software, said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit grew 11 percent, at the high end of the guidance it gave this month.
The San Jose-based company posted a profit of $245.9 million, or 46 cents per share, from September through November. Excluding one-time items such as restructuring charges and an income tax benefit, Adobe earned 60 cents a share.
Revenue rose 0.4 percent to $915.3 million from $911.2 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of 58 cents per share on sales of $918.3 million.
Adobe Systems shares rose 96 cents, or 4.49 percent, Tuesday to close at $22.32 on the Nasdaq National Market.
LOS ANGELES
Hovnanian Enterprises narrows quarterly loss
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed slightly from a year ago, but the homebuilder continued to struggle against declines in new-home contracts and falling land values.
After paying preferred stock dividends, the builder lost $450.5 million, or $5.79 a share, for the quarter that ended Oct. 31. That compares with a loss of $469.3 million, or $7.42 a share, a year earlier.
The results included $456.5 million in pretax charges, including $319.9 million in land-related charges.
Revenue fell 48.1 percent to $721.4 million from $1.39 billion.
NEW YORK
Hertz Global Holdings starts car-sharing plan
Hertz Global Holdings on Tuesday started a car-sharing service in New York, London and Paris -- the most ambitious step yet into that market by a traditional car rental company.
Like existing car-sharing companies, Hertz will place cars in a variety of locations that members of the sharing program, called "Connect by Hertz," can reserve online. Rentals are charged hourly; the annual membership fee includes insurance, gasoline, roadside assistance, maintenance and use of a universal key card.
New York users will pay a $50 annual membership fee plus hourly rates starting at $10. Frequent users can choose a monthly rate.
NEW YORK
Yields keep dropping for 30-year Treasurys
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond plunged to record lows below 3 percent Tuesday, showing that investors are finding it hard to stomach anything but government debt even for their long-term investments.
The 10-year note rose 2.28 points and yielded 2.36 percent.
The 30-year bond rose 4.44 points to 134.44 and yielded 2.78 percent.
