IN BRIEF
Public meeting will focus on power plant
At the request of the Sierra Club, the Bureau of Land Management will hold a local public meeting today on the environmental impact statement filed by LS Power for a 1,600 megawatt coal-fired power plant planned near Ely.
The bureau previously planned to hold meetings only in other parts of Nevada.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the bureau's offices at 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive.
DALLAS
Exxon Mobil sticks to greenhouse gas stance
Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday reiterated its position that creating far-reaching policies to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions is important but premature even as some shareholders lambasted the oil giant for what they said was an irresponsible and even dangerous environmental stance.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company was criticized by a dozen or so of the 450 attending its annual shareholder meeting. In particular, several environmental-minded investors asked the Irving-based company to set quantitative goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to commit to greater investment in renewable sources of energy.
They got neither.
Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson continued to insist the prudent strategy was to focus on finding and producing new supplies of crude oil and natural gas. The reason: Exxon Mobil is a petroleum and petrochemical company, and worldwide demand for its products will persist for decades.
NEW YORK
Allied Systems sheds bankruptcy protection
Automobile hauler Allied Systems Holdings has emerged from nearly two years of bankruptcy.
The Decatur, Ga., company formerly Allied Holdings, confirmed that its shares, which had traded on the Pink Sheets, were canceled and holders won't receive any distribution under the reorganization.
Allied, which sought bankruptcy protection in July 2005, will issue new shares to pay bankruptcy claims, but doesn't expect they will trade on any market system or over the counter.
IBM cuts 1,570 jobs, mostly in tech unit
International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer-services company, cut about 1,570 jobs mainly in its technology services unit, where profit fell 19 percent in the latest quarter.
Most of the reductions were in North America and workers were notified Wednesday, said Edward Barbini, a spokesman for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM.
The division accounted for more than a third of IBM's $22 billion in sales in the first quarter.
The cuts are equal to about 1.2 percent of the U.S. work force.
IBM shares rose $1.02, or 0.96 percent, Wednesday to close at $106.93 on the New York Stock Exchange.
NEW YORK
Bonds rise slightly amid glut of reports
U.S. Treasury bonds were little changed Wednesday, as the market weathered a busy day that included a bond auction, jobs data, and the release of minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting.
At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was up 94 cents per $1,000 in face value, or 0.94 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 4.87 percent from 4.89 percent.
The 30-year bond rose 0.22 points. Its yield fell to 5.01 percent from 5.02 percent.
