Fed pumps $41B to Increase Liquidity
The Federal Reserve pumped $41 billion into the U.S. financial system Thursday, one of its largest cash infusions to help companies get through a credit crunch that took a turn for the worse in August.
The action comes one day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and all but one of his central bank colleagues voted to slice a key interest rate for the second time in six weeks to protect the economy from the ill effects of collapse in the housing market, aggravated by the credit troubles.The Fed on Wednesday ordered its key rate, called the federal funds rate, to be lowered by one-quarter percentage point to 4.50 percent. That followed up on a bolder, half-percentage point cut in September.
Those two rate reductions might be sufficient to help the economy make its way safely through trouble spots, Fed policymakers indicated.


Dollar recover from record low vs. euro
The dollar recovered slightly against the euro and pound after hitting new lows against those currencies in European trading Thursday, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by a quarter of a point.
The 13-nation euro bought $1.4439 in morning trading, down from its record high of $1.4503 but slightly higher than the $1.4434 it bought in late trading in New York on Wednesday.

Stocks Close with Sharp, Board Declines
Stocks fell harshly Thursday as the major indexes registered a distribution day.A late wave of selling sent the indexes to their session lows at the closing bell. Three indexes -- the Dow, the S&P 500 and the small-cap S&P 600 -- slid below their 50-day moving avearages. More importantly, volume rose across the board, indicating institutional investors were selling. The S&P 600 took the biggest hit, plunging 4.2%. The other indexes suffered less but still hefty damage. The Nasdaq was down 2.2%, S&P 400 2.2%, Dow 2.6% and S&P 500 2.6%.


Exxon Mobil: $9.4B profit in 3 months
Exxon Mobil made $9.4 billion in the last three months, 10 percent less than last year and below what analysts expected as gasoline and diesel prices failed to keep pace with rising crude costs.
The quarterly performance by the world's second-largest company after Wal-Mart fell short of its all-time record. In the last quarter of 2005, Exxon Mobil (Charts, Fortune 500) made a profit of $10.7 billion - the largest quarterly corporate profit ever recorded.


CBS Profit Up 8.3 percent on TV, Outdoor gains
CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched TV network, said third-quarter profit rose 8.3 percent as higher earnings from television and outdoor advertising made up for a drop at the radio unit.
Net income increased to $343.3 million, or 48 cents a share, from $316.9 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, New York-based CBS said today in a statement. Sales fell 2.9 percent to $3.28 billion. Full-year revenue will also drop, CBS said.

Morningstar beats on international growth
Investment research firm Morningstar said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose 47 percent due to growth in international operations and its institutional products and services segment.
Morningstar's (Charts) net income rose to $19.9 million, or 41 cents per share, from $13.5 million, or 29 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

Other news include:
Argentina resumes wheat exports
Lenovo celebrates 177% profit spike

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Labels: Takeaways for Today

This entry was posted by David Choi, on Thursday, November 1, 2007. You can leave your response.