Factory orders jump 5.9 percent in July By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
1 minute ago
WASHINGTON - Factories saw orders for big-ticket goods jump 5.9 percent in July, the most in 10 months, an encouraging sign that many manufacturers are holding up to the stresses caused by a housing slump and a credit crunch.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Commerce Department reported Friday that the sizable increase in new orders for "durable" goods followed a 1.9 percent rise in June. Durable goods are costly manufactured items expected to last at least three years.
The fresh barometer of manufacturing activity was better than economists were expecting; they were forecasting a 1 percent increase. Gains were widespread. Orders went up for machinery, automobiles, metal products, airplanes and communications equipment. That blunted a drop in demand for computers, as well as electrical equipment and appliances.
The 5.9 percent increase posted in July was the most since September, when overall manufacturing orders went up 8.8 percent.
The pickup in demand for manufactured goods comes against a backdrop of a growing global economy, which has produced a bigger appetite for some U.S. exports.
Friday's manufacturing report offered a spot of relief from recent turbulence on Wall Street, which has darkened investors' feelings about the nation's financial prospects.
Fears that the worsening housing slump and credit crunch could hurt the economy have gripped Wall Street investors in recent weeks, causing stocks to swing wildly.
"The downside risks to growth have increased appreciably," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues concluded on Aug. 17. It was a much more sober assessment than they had offered just 10 days earlier when they met to examine economic conditions and interest rates. Against this backdrop, the central bank sliced the rate it charges banks for loans, a narrowly tailored move aimed at propping up sagging financial markets.
If problems persist, the Fed could opt for more aggressive action: reducing an important interest rate, called the federal funds rate, on or before Sept. 18, the Fed's next regularly scheduled meeting. The Fed hasn't cut this rate in four years. It is the Fed's main tool for influencing overall economic activity.
The funds rate, the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans, has stayed at 5.25 percent for more than a year. A cut to the funds rate would bring lower interest rates for millions of people and businesses.
In the manufacturing report, orders for automobiles rose 9.8 percent in July, the most since January 2003. Demand for primary metals, including steel, increased 7.9 percent, the biggest rise since July 2004. Orders for communications equipment soared 20.7 percent, the most since March 2006. Demand for airplanes for commercial use rose 12.6 percent. Airplane orders for defense purposes increased 15.8 percent in July.
Demand for computers, however, dropped 4 percent in July and orders for electrical equipment and appliances fell 1.2 percent — two weak spots in an otherwise strong report.
Overall, the figures suggest that capital spending by businesses is weathering the financial storm so far. Credit problems, however, worsened in August, so upcoming reports on manufacturing will offer more insight into companies' spending.
Spending by businesses and consumers is a key ingredient to the country's overall economic health.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Factory orders jump 5.9 percent in July By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
Rocker gets doctorate — 30 years late 1 hour, 43 minutes ago
Rocker gets doctorate — 30 years late 1 hour, 43 minutes ago
LONDON - Guitarist and songwriter Brian May has completed his doctorate in astrophysics — three decades after he put academia on hold to form the rock group Queen.
ADVERTISEMENT
The rocker was awarded his qualification Thursday by London's Imperial College and said submitting his thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," to supervisors was as nerve-racking as any stadium gig.
"I'm feeling rather joyful. I cannot tell you how much of a weight off the mind it is," May said late Thursday.
May was an astrophysics student at Imperial College when he joined Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor to form Queen in 1970, but dropped his doctorate as the glam rock band became successful. Queen became one of Britain's biggest music groups in the 1970s, with hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You."
Following Mercury's 1991 death, May produced two solo albums, the latest of which, "Another World" appeared in 1998.
But the guitarist continued to pursue his out-of-this-world interests — and last year co-authored a book titled "Bang! The Complete History of the Universe."
He told reporters Thursday that handing over his completed thesis — a 48,000 word study which seeks to prove planets and dust clouds in our solar system orbit in the same direction — and facing examiners for a review of his work was a tough challenge.
"It was a bit nerve-racking walking into the room, but once we got going it was fascinating," May said. "There's always that feeling they could ask that big question that could sink you, but luckily they didn't."
May will be formally presented with his doctorate next May at a ceremony at London's Royal Albert Hall.
___
On the Net:
The Official Brian May Web site: http://www.brianmay.com
Nicole Richie serves 82 minutes in jail By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
Nicole Richie serves 82 minutes in jail By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 15 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - Nicole Richie was released from jail Thursday after serving 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of drugs.
ADVERTISEMENT
The reality show star, who checked into a women's jail at 3:15 p.m., was released at 4:37 p.m. "based on her sentence and federal guidelines," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Maribel Rizo said without elaborating.
Under a federal court mandate to manage jail overcrowding, arrestees sentenced to 30 days or less for a nonviolent offense are usually released within 12 hours, the sheriff's department said in a statement.
Under the guidelines, Richie was "treated in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence," the statement said.
Richie, 25, was originally sentenced to 96 hours in jail, but that was reduced to 90 hours because of time served when she was arrested.
Richie arrived at jail with her attorney Shawn Chapman Holley and her boyfriend, Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden. Her time at the Century Regional Detention Facility was spent getting booked, including taking a mugshot and submitting her fingerprints, Holley said.
She didn't reach her jail cell.
"She was really treated like any other inmate," Holley said. "I think every inmate in her position, with that type of charge, would have been treated as she was."
Just hours before Richie did her time, Lindsay Lohan was charged with seven misdemeanor drunken-driving and cocaine charges for two arrests in the last four months. Attorney Blair Berk arranged a plea bargain and Lohan was sentenced to one day in jail, 10 days of community service and must complete a drug treatment program. She was also fined and placed on 36 months probation.
Richie served her 82 minutes at the county jail in suburban Lynwood, the same place her "The Simple Life" co-star Paris Hilton was housed for nearly three weeks after she was convicted of driving on a suspended license while on probation for an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
Richie was arrested on Dec. 11, 2006, after witnesses reported seeing her black Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle headed the wrong way on a freeway in Burbank. The California Highway Patrol said they found her parked in the car pool lane.
Richie pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor DUI charge in a deal with prosecutors that helped her avoid a potential year in jail because it was a second driving-under-the-influence conviction.
Her first conviction was in 2003 for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Richie, the daughter of Lionel Richie, told authorities after being arrested in December that she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin, a CHP officer said at the time. No drugs were found on her or in her car.
Astronomers find a hole in the universe By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Astronomers find a hole in the universe By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there. The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing. That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Astronomers have known for many years that there are patches in the universe where nobody's home. In fact, one such place is practically a neighbor, a mere 2 million light years away. But what the Minnesota team discovered, using two different types of astronomical observations, is a void that's far bigger than scientists ever imagined.
"This is 1,000 times the volume of what we sort of expected to see in terms of a typical void," said Minnesota astronomy professor Lawrence Rudnick, author of the paper that will be published in Astrophysical Journal. "It's not clear that we have the right word yet ... This is too much of a surprise."
Rudnick was examining a sky survey from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which essentially takes radio pictures of a broad expanse of the universe. But one area of the universe had radio pictures indicating there was up to 45 percent less matter in that region, Rudnick said.
The rest of the matter in the radio pictures can be explained as stars and other cosmic structures between here and the void, which is about 5 to 10 billion light years away.
Rudnick then checked observations of cosmic microwave background radiation and found a cold spot. The only explanation, Rudnick said, is it's empty of matter.
It could also be a statistical freak of nature, but that's probably less likely than a giant void, said James Condon, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He wasn't part of Rudnick's team but is following up on the research.
"It looks like something to be taken seriously," said Brent Tully, a University of Hawaii astronomer who wasn't part of this research but studies the void closer to Earth.
Tully said astronomers may eventually find a few cosmic structures in the void, but it would still be nearly empty.
Holes in the universe probably occur when the gravity from areas with bigger mass pull matter from less dense areas, Tully said. After 13 billion years "they are losing out in the battle to where there are larger concentrations of matter," he said.
Retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran said of the discovery: "This is incredibly important for something where there is nothing to it."
___
On the Net:
Rudnick paper: http://xxx.lanl.gov/pdf/0704.0908
National Radio Astronomy Observatory: http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2007/coldspot/
Troubled ex-astronaut back in court By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer
Troubled ex-astronaut back in court By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago
ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak, accused of attacking a romantic rival, arrived in court Friday with a swarm of photographers snapping away as she was escorted to a private room to prepare.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nowak didn't speak to reporters, but her attorney said she had written her first public statement and planned to read it after the hearing.
At the hearing, attorney Donald Lykkebak said he would ask Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet to throw out evidence in the case, including an interview Nowak gave to police and items found during a search of her car, and ask that she be allowed to remove a GPS ankle monitoring bracelet.
Nowak, a 44-year-old Navy pilot, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault.
In an interview with detectives, she said she and Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman were vying for the affection of a shuttle captain, and she confronted Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot because she wanted to know "where she stands."
She is accused of attacking Shipman with pepper spray and trying to jump into her vehicle. Police say Nowak also had a duffel bag with a steel mallet, 4-inch knife and a BB gun.
Lykkebak contends police searched Nowak's car without her permission or a warrant. He said in additional court filings that she gave the interview under duress — after being held for three hours, deprived of sleep and a phone call and unadvised of her constitutional rights. The interview persisted, Lykkebak said, despite Nowak saying "Should I have a lawyer?" three times.
Nowak wants the monitoring bracelet removed because it is bulky and interferes with her ability to exercise — a requirement for a Navy officer. It also inhibits her ability to drive, fly on a commercial airplane and monitor her children in the pool, according to the defense.
Kepler Funk, an attorney for Shipman, said he planned to fight the motion.
Floodwaters begin receding in Ohio By DAN STRUMPF, Associated Press Writer
Floodwaters begin receding in Ohio By DAN STRUMPF, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 42 minutes ago
CHICAGO - Strong thunderstorms pounded northern Illinois, damaging buildings, bringing planes and trains to a halt and leaving hundreds of thousands without power early Friday, while floodwaters that swamped other parts of the Midwest began receding.
ADVERTISEMENT
A storm packing winds over 70 mph swept through the Chicago area Thursday evening. A roof collapsed at the dock area of an industrial building in the suburbs, injuring 40 people but none seriously, police said.
About 310,000 customers in northern Illinois were without power Thursday night, including 62,000 in Chicago, ComEd spokesman Tom Stevens said. It could take days to restore power for some customers north of the city, he said.
Kimber Hall, 20, was riding her bike along Lake Michigan when winds rolled in and the skies opened up.
"Out of nowhere the sky just went black," said Hall, a student at Columbia College in Chicago. "Sheets of rain. Lightning hit a tree about 25 feet away from me. A branch hit me in the face."
Hall said she found shelter in a nearby underpass, where others had huddled to escape the storm.
Other storms lashed Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana on Thursday, while at least one tornado was reported about 50 miles northeast of Grand Rapids, Mich. About 115,000 homes and businesses in Michigan were blacked out early Friday, utilities reported.
The death toll from storms and flooding across the Upper Midwest and from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin that swept Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri over the past week rose to at least 26.
Hard-hit Ohio finally got a break from flooding on Thursday, though the tally of damaged homes was put at 700 in one county alone.
Adding to the misery, temperatures hit the upper 90s across the state. Schools in Cincinnati closed because of the heat for the first time in at least 10 years.
In Findlay, which saw its worst flooding in nearly a century, some of the more than 1,000 people who had been displaced returned home Thursday to pump water from their basements and start tallying their losses.
"Most of it's ruined," Joe Lamb said as he sorted through a bin of soaked NASCAR memorabilia, hosing off the mini Dale Earnhardt collector cars and tossing the rest. "Our Christmas stuff, everything."
A day earlier, firefighters and volunteers in boats and canoes navigated waist-deep water to rescue people and pets. Some residents were still stuck in a shelter where 200 people slept Wednesday night.
In Chicago, Steve Moore walked Wrigleyville's sidewalks Thursday after a day of dodging rain and lightning.
"It was so dark and so grey, I could hardly see out the window," said Moore, 28, a network consultant. "The first time I tried to go out there, the wind was so strong ... the door blew back in my face."
For some businesses, the storm was a boon as people raced to get out of the rain.
"It was out of control," bartender Nick McCann said. "People would not leave. ... We had $2 margaritas, and people were getting hammered."
About 500 flights at O'Hare International Airport were canceled Thursday evening and others delayed for more than 2 1/2 hours, Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez said. Delays at Midway Airport averaged 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Strong winds knocked down a hangar under construction at the Gary/Chicago International Airport. The hangar is now "a pile of metal," Gary Jet Center president Will Davis said.
In northern Illinois, the Fox River flooded some homes in Fox Lake while other residents stacked sandbags to protect their houses, said Ami McEwan, assistant administrator for Lake County.
"Most of them are sandbagging and keeping it at bay," she said.
A foot of water stood over roads in the Rochelle area, about 20 miles west of De Kalb, and the Des Plaines River was more than 3 feet above flood stage north of Waukegan, according to the National Weather Service.
In southwestern Wisconsin, the National Guard pumped water to relieve pressure on at least one dam, said Mike Goetzman, a spokesman for Wisconsin Emergency Management. The earthen dam suffered erosion earlier this week when water from weekend thunderstorms overflowed it.
___
Associated Press writers Don Babwin, Megan Reichgott and Sophia Tareen in Chicago and John Seewer in Findlay, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Monster.com waited 5 days to disclose data theft 16 minutes ago
Monster.com waited 5 days to disclose data theft 16 minutes ago
BOSTON (Reuters) - Monster.com waited five days to tell users its system had been hacked, in a security breach that resulted in the theft of confidential information for more than a million users, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
By the time the U.S. job-matching Web site shut down the illegal operation, run from two server computers at a Web-hosting company in Ukraine, the names and confidential contact information of some 1.3 million job seekers had been stolen, Patrick Manzo, vice president of compliance and fraud prevention for Monster Worldwide Inc, said in a phone interview.
Monster first learned of the problem on August 17, when investigators with Internet security company Symantec Corp told Monster that it was under attack, Manzo said.
"In terms of figuring out what the issue was, that was a relatively quick process," he said. "The other issue is you want to make sure exactly what you are dealing with."
His security team spent the weekend investigating, located the rogue servers, and got the Web-hosting company to shut them down some time either late in the evening on August 20, or early in the morning of August 21, he said.
Monster first told its customers about the data loss on August 22 in a notice posted on its home page, www.monster.com.
It warned them that their contact data might have been stolen and that the thieves had already sent spam to some Monster users asking for personal financial information and trying to get them to download malicious software.
Monster then announced on Thursday that names and contact information of some 1.3 million job seekers had been stolen.
Stock futures flat ahead of housing data By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
Stock futures flat ahead of housing data By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
7 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Stock futures were little changed Friday after a better-than-expected durable goods report, but Wall Street still remained cautious ahead of data expected to show further trouble in the housing market.
ADVERTISEMENT
Futures, which were down most of the premarket session, got some lift after the Commerce Department reported demand surged for expensive goods during July. The broad-based increase topped projections in a key barometer of capital spending by businesses.
Orders for durable goods rose by 5.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $230.70 billion. Durables — goods designed to last at least three years — rose 1.9 percent in June, revised from a previously estimated 1.3 percent advance.
However, investors were still hesitant ahead of a Commerce Department report expected to show further slowing of new home sales and a drop in home prices during July. Economists surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted, on average, that sales of new single-family homes will have fallen in July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 825,000 units, down from 835,000 in June.
The report will be closely watched by some economists who feel the U.S. is moving toward a recession because of the ongoing housing slump.
The housing data will also be scrutinized by the Federal Reserve. Many on Wall Street hope the Fed will cut the benchmark fed funds rate to ease the impact of a tightening of the credit market due to troubles in subprime mortgages.
Wall Street snapped a five-day advance on Thursday as investors had lingering worries about the impact of credit problems on the economy.
Dow futures expiring in September rose 4.00, or 0.03 percent, to 13,265, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures edged up 0.90, or 0.05 percent, to 1,467.20. Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 0.50, or 0.03 percent, to 1,939.00.
Investors globally also seemed hesitant to put money into the market ahead of the U.S. open. Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.03 percent, Germany's DAX index shed 0.39 percent, and France's CAC-40 was unchanged. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.41 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.20 percent.
In corporate news, retailer Gap Inc. late Thursday posted a 19 percent rise in quarterly earnings and announced plans for a $1.5 billion share buyback. However, rival Aeropostale Inc.'s quarterly results came in below Wall Street estimates.
H.J. Heinz Co. said the introduction of new products and a surge in marketing helped push first-quarter profit up about 6 percent from the year-ago period. Results came in well above Wall Street projections.
Meanwhile, Burger King Holdings Inc. said longer store hours and new menu items pushed its fiscal fourth-quarter to a profit after a year-earlier loss.
Oil prices rose 6 cents to $69.89 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices have fallen after it appeared there was no major damage to oil rigs as Hurricane Dean pushed through Mexico.
Fatah protest in Gaza against Hamas turns violent By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Fatah protest in Gaza against Hamas turns violent By Nidal al-Mughrabi
33 minutes ago
GAZA (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas confronted gunmen from Hamas on Friday in the biggest protest against the Islamic group since it seized power in Gaza in June.
Crowds of members and supporters of Abbas's Fatah group marched in Gaza City while dozens hurled stones at a security complex commandeered by Hamas's Executive Force during the violent takeover.
Drivers honked car horns and protesters were seen riding on the hood of vehicles. Hamas gunmen fired at protesters and reporters, witnesses said, but no injuries were reported. Bullets peppered the front of a store.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
"Jihad, jihad! (Holy war)," protesters chanted as they marched down the streets, applauding as others smashed an unmanned Hamas security post on the roadside.
Hamas security men detained three journalists, including a photographer from French news agency Agence France-Presse, witnesses said.
Others beat up a Reuters cameraman and tried to arrest him until protesters freed him by force. Hamas security men also smashed another journalist's television camera.
"The events today are a clear sign that Fatah did not vanish with the Hamas coup," a Fatah official told Reuters. "People are against Hamas suppression of Fatah. Hamas thought it can eliminate Fatah -- they are wrong. Fatah is rising again."
Fatah officials said Hamas had detained hundreds of their men since the Gaza takeover. More than 100 were still in prison and many had been tortured.
Hamas has said all arrests were non-political and only criminal charges were filed. It has also said Abbas's security forces had in turn detained up to 500 of its supporters in the West Bank, where the president still maintains control.
Several attempts to restart negotiations between the two factions have been unsuccessful. Abbas has fired the Hamas-led government in Gaza, formed after the Islamic group beat Fatah in a 2006 parliamentary election.
