BUSINESS BRIEFS
U.S. agents raid Horizon Lines Inc.
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal agents yesterday searched the offices of shipping and logistics giant Horizon Lines Inc. as part of a probe of pricing practices of ocean carriers operating in Puerto Rico, the company said.
Authorities took computers and boxes from the Charlotte-based firm's headquarters. Horizon said the agents had search warrants and a grand jury subpoena. Horizon is the second-largest shipping company serving Hawai'i.
GOOGLE SHARES SOAR ON EARNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO — Investors appear ready to embrace Google Inc. again after weeks of hand-wringing over whether the faltering U.S. economy would bog down the Internet search leader's money-making machine.
Google won back Wall Street with first-quarter earnings and revenue growth that surpassed analysts' predictions, propelled by an aggressive push outside the United States. Yesterday's news lifted Google's recently sagging shares by $76.42, or 17 percent, in after-hours trading. A similar gain during today's regular session, would mark the largest one-day increase in Google's shares since the company went public in August 2004.
MERRILL LYNCH WILL FIRE 3,000 MORE
NEW YORK — Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's largest brokerage, yesterday said it would cut another 3,000 jobs after more than $6.5 billion of fresh write-downs pushed it to a loss for the first quarter.
It marks the third straight quarterly loss for Merrill amid a global credit crisis that began last summer. Banks and brokerages have racked up nearly $200 billion in write-downs to date, with more feared to come.
John Thain, hired as chief executive four months ago to clean up the firm's books, cautioned that things were unlikely to improve in the next couple quarters. The New York-based brokerage lost about $2 billion during the most recent quarter, and has now written off about $29 billion worth of risky asset-backed securities and leveraged loans.
SALLIE MAE MAY HALT STUDENT LOANS
WASHINGTON — Sallie Mae says it cannot write money-losing student loans indefinitely.
Top executives are holding "daily deliberations" about how long the nation's largest student lender can sacrifice its bottom line for the sake of college-bound students, Sallie Mae CEO Albert J. Lord said yesterday.
Experts said that unless the government intervenes or market conditions rapidly improve, Sallie Mae could have no choice but to stop writing new loans.
House lawmakers yesterday approved a measure to boost the availability of credit for Sallie Mae and other student lenders, and analysts say the Treasury Department could act as soon as next week.
2 REPORTS BOOST RECESSION FEARS
NEW YORK — Higher unemployment claims and weak readings from two economic indexes reinforced recession worries yesterday.
The Labor Department said applications for jobless benefits rose to 372,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week.
Separately, the New York-based Conference Board's gauge of future economic activity rose 0.1 percent for March, reversing five months of decline. But the private business group's indicator has shown a 3.3 percent annual rate of decline since March 2007.
The Conference Board said another of its indexes, which measures current economic activity, has also deteriorated in recent months, with weakness becoming more widespread among the components of both.
S. KOREA AGREES TO IMPORT U.S. BEEF
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea tentatively agreed to resume U.S. beef imports that had been halted over concerns of mad cow disease, a news report said today, just hours before the two countries' leaders were to hold a summit.
Imports have been on hold since October when a U.S. shipment was found to contain animal parts banned over mad cow concerns. The report followed overnight negotiations in Seoul between the sides, which were drafting an agreement to be announced later today, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Agriculture Ministry.
