Business and Finance news

China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, praised Washington for its rescue of the ailing mortgage giants, but investors had no illusions the bailout would end the global credit market misery.
As battered financial stocks rallied and investors sold safe-haven bonds, analysts cautioned that the plan announced on Sunday […]

The U.S. government on Sunday seized control of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an aggressive move to help the distressed U.S. housing market and economy.
Officials were concerned mounting losses at the two companies, which own or guarantee almost half of the country’s $12 trillion in outstanding home mortgage debt, was […]

Dell Inc. is planning to sell off its computer manufacturing facilities around the world, according to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Dell opened its plant in Winston-Salem in 2005, winning about $300 million in state and local incentives. The factory employs about 1,150 people.
According to the Journal article, Dell is shopping its factories to […]

Economic growth in the Federal Reserve’s Tenth District, which includes Albuquerque, Santa Fe and nothern New Mexico, remained modest in early April and May, according to the Fed’s latest Beige Book , a survey of economic activity published eight times a year.
The district, based in Kansas City, includes part or all of seven states: Oklahoma, […]

JetBlue Airways and New York City-area airports experienced some of the worst flight delays in the industry for July, according to a monthly report.
Among the major carriers, JetBlue (JBLU) flights had an on-time arrival rate of 64.6%, according to the survey released by the Department of Transportation on Wednesday. United Airlines (LCC, Fortune 500) […]

Motion Industries has purchased regional industrial supplies firm Drago Supply Co.
Drago, based in Port Arthur, Texas, has eight locations in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana with annual revenues of about $75 million, according to a news release. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Drago’s leadership will remain in place with Joe Drago serving as president, […]

The city of Hayward will eliminate more than a dozen staff and management jobs in its public works and economic-development departments as it looks to close a budget gap.
The city sent out 16 layoff notices Tuesday, according to City Manager Greg Jones, with the cuts effective Oct. 1. The layoffs total less than 2 percent […]

Stocks slipped Friday morning as oil prices spiked and a report showed a surprisingly steep drop in personal income, raising worries about a bigger consumer spending slowdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 (SPX) index and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) all declined in the early going.
Oil prices were up […]

Manufacturing in China contracted for a second month in August, underscoring the risk of a slump in the world's fourth-biggest economy.
The Purchasing Managers' Index was a seasonally adjusted 48.4, unchanged from July, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in an e-mailed statement.
China has halted gains by the yuan and […]