Business News

WASHINGTON - The nation's industrial sector was humming in March, with production at factories, mines and utilities rising by 0.6 percent.

BEIJING - China's Cabinet called for new measures Friday to clamp down on investment and bank lending to head off signs that the country's breakneck economy may be overheating.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. industrial production rose 0.6 percent in March, slightly more than expected, as mining and utility output became less volatile and capacity use reached its highest point in 5-1/2 years, the Federal Reserve said on Friday.

TOKYO - Japan's finance minister called for monitoring long-term interest rates which have been rising since the nation's central bank indicated recently it is preparing to tighten its monetary policy after a long period of low rates.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China relaxed its capital controls on Friday to make it much easier for individuals and companies to buy foreign currencies and invest abroad.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq Composite Index rose on Thursday, lifted by gains in Intel Corp. on expectations the company may cut its chip prices to expand market share.

NEW YORK - Stocks inched higher in light trading Thursday after government data indicated that the economy was growing at a slower pace, raising investors' hopes that moderating economic growth might halt the Federal Reserve's streak of interest rate hikes. The major indexes ended the week narrowly mixed.

Dow Jones Industrials

TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto stock market finished higher Friday in a broad-based gain led by technology and mining stocks, but its benchmark index finished flat on the week.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures ticked higher on Thursday with conglomerate and market bellwether General Electric due to report quarterly figures as investors hoped for bullish earnings to give the indexes new impetus.

NEW DELHI - Indian software company Infosys Technologies Ltd. said Friday its earnings rose 32 percent in its latest fiscal year and yearly revenue exceeded $2 billion for the first time amid strong growth in the information technology industry.

SEOUL, South Korea - Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's largest company, said Friday its first-quarter net profit rose 26 percent from the year before amid strong demand for large flat-screen televisions.

NEW YORK - Several newspaper publishers reported lower first-quarter results Thursday as sluggish advertising, higher newsprint prices, new costs for expensing stock options and one-time charges took their toll.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could rise next week with analysts expecting companies to report strong quarterly profits as the earnings season gets into high gear.

Technology stocks led Wall Street higher on Thursday as a flurry of positive corporate earnings helped stocks weather a rise in long-term interest rates.

While shares of industrial property REIT AMB Property (NYSE: AMB - News) have shed 10% of their value in about a month, the results it reported for its first quarter weren't bad.

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages climbed this week to their highest point in nearly four years, a development that could put a further crimp in housing activity.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Intuit Inc., the maker of personal finance software like Quicken and TurboTax, said Wednesday it is teaming with health care companies to develop new products to help Americans manage their health care.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - H&R Block Inc. said it saw a 5.4 percent increase in the number of income tax customers during the second half of March, and estimated 30 percent of taxpayers had yet to file their income tax forms for the year.

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. - Weekly Home Mortgage Rates

CHICAGO (AFP) - General Motors Corp said it could take a three billion dollar charge in the first quarter for payments to a new health care fund for retired workers.

MOSCOW - Russia's OAO GAZ automaker agreed to buy DaimlerChrysler AG production lines in suburban Detroit and move them to Russia, where it will produce DaimlerChrysler cars under license.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Schwarz Pharma could get over $200 million and royalties from a licensing deal with Pfizer over an incontinence drug, Schwarz said on Thursday, sending its shares 13 percent higher.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's Roche has filed for approval in the United States its Avastin cancer drug for treatment of the most widespread form of lung cancer, the drug-maker said on Wednesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Internet conglomerate Softbank said it planned to drop the Vodafone brand in Japan after buying the British cellphone giant's struggling local operations.

I'm considering starting a temporary staffing company. I'll have to bootstrap the startup period, as my credit is marginal and I don't own real estate. Industry standard is to pay employees every week or two, but even if I bill weekly, clients don't pay for at least 30 days. With the revenue and expense cycles so out of sync, how can I finance the business to best stretch my limited working capital?

I spend a lot of my time thinking about "low-probability disasters." That's a polite term for those unexpected, unwelcome events that take a stock market or a currency down 40%, 50%, or even more in a relatively short time. Low probability disasters -- like the 1997 Asian financial crisis or the tech bust -- can wipe out years of gains in a flash. They're the monster in the woods that every once in a while turns out to be real.

It was a tight race, but final unofficial results confirm that Romano Prodi is likely to replace Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's Prime Minister. But the victory celebrations may be tempered by some daunting facts. Prodi has to govern with a small majority, and must hold together a coalition of more than 10 parties, which will complicate prospects for structural reform. This could hamper Italian growth prospects, and have a negative impact on the credit rating agencies' outlook for the eurozone's third largest economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could rise next week with analysts expecting companies to report strong quarterly profits as the earnings season gets into high gear.

Elements of the Securities and Exchange Commission's new policy on media subpoenas, according to documents issued by the agency Wednesday:

(PRWEB) - Orlando, FL (PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Marc Middleton, founder of Boomer Broadcasting Inc.

(PRWEB) - Toronto, ON (PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Computer Aid (CAI) is hosting a one-day seminar in Toronto, ON that will show CIOs and senior IT practitioners how to dramatically improve the productivity and quality of their software development and maintenance organizations.

(PRWEB) - Hartford, CT (PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Computer Aid (CAI) is hosting a one-day seminar in Hartford, CT that will show CIOs and senior IT practitioners how to dramatically improve the productivity and quality of their software development and maintenance organizations.

(PRWEB) - Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Internet Broadcasting, the nation’s largest national platform of TV station web sites, today announced a record 13.

(PRWEB) - Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 14, 2006 -- Internet Broadcasting, the nation’s largest online local news publisher, today announced additional information regarding the success of NBCOlympics.

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages climbed this week to their highest point in nearly four years, a development that could put a further crimp in housing activity.

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. and negotiators for its pilots union reached a tentative agreement Friday on long-term pay and benefit cuts that could avert a strike at the nation's third largest carrier and ease uncertainty among travelers over the busy holiday weekend.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A widely used Bausch & Lomb contact lens solution was pulled from major U.S. retailers' shelves on Thursday at the urging of the company, as a lawsuit was filed charging that it failed to disclose the product's link to serious eye infections among users in Asia.

It's hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but all interviewed agree with the Waiter Rule: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. , which is operating under bankruptcy protection, and the union representing its pilots on Friday said they reached a tentative agreement, potentially averting a strike that could have been fatal to the airline.