BUSINESS BRIEFS
Wells Fargo wins merger battle for Wachovia
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a dramatic battle over the future of Wachovia, Wells Fargo prevailed yesterday, saying it will move forward with its merger with the Charlotte bank after Citigroup stepped aside.
After making dueling bids for Wachovia, Citi and Wells had been negotiating a compromise that included the possible splitting up of Wachovia's operations among the two companies.
But talks broke off yesterday afternoon, and Citi said it would not try to stop a Wells-Wachovia deal, although it will proceed with a lawsuit against the banks.
GM SHARES LOSE ONE-THIRD OF VALUE
NEW YORK — Shares of General Motors Corp. lost nearly one-third of their value yesterday, plunging to their lowest level since July 1950 after Standard & Poor's said the automaker's credit could fall further into junk status due to the "rapidly weakening state" of the global automotive market. GM shares plummeted $2.15, or 31.1 percent, to close at $4.76 after falling as low as $4.65. That low marked the automaker's lowest trade since March 15, 1950, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The automaker's shares are down 50 percent from their close of $9.45 at the end of last month.
Shares of GM have withered since peaking near $94 in 1999 and 2000, and they're down 89 percent from their 52-week high of $43.20 set a year ago Sunday.
OIL PRICES DROP BELOW $85 A BARREL
NEW YORK — Oil prices closed at their lowest level in a year yesterday, falling below $85 a barrel even after OPEC signaled it may try to slow crude's downward spiral by cutting production.
At the pump, retail gas prices kept falling, with a gallon of regular shedding 4.4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.403, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. In Hawai'i, a gallon of regular averaged $4.107 yesterday, down about 2 cents from yesterday and 23 cents from a month earlier.
Light, sweet crude for November Delivery fell $1.81 to settle at $86.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since Oct. 15, 2007.
Crude has shed about $60 — or 40 percent — since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11.
