money-finance-investment-blog.com

Goodyear reported record sales in the second quarter, earning $75 million on the strength of international markets and higher-priced tires.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Thursday cut its ratings for all three of the U.S.-based automakers further into junk status, citing worries about their mounting cash losses and the continued deterioration of the U.S. auto market.

Revlon reported second-quarter profit that was in line with market estimates, helped by higher shipments of Revlon color cosmetics.

WASHINGTON - Sometimes, I guess, timing is everything.

When DaimlerChrysler AG announced in 2006 that it planned to bring the Smart fortwo micro car to the United States after nearly a decade in Europe, gas prices had reached about $2.80 a gallon.

What makes a motorcycle - not some rare collectible, but a new, limited-production model - worth $120,000?

Former Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz has decided to leave JPMorgan Chase, which purchased his now-defunct investment bank earlier this summer in a stunning Federal Reserve-led buyout. As The Post first reported in June, Schwartz has been fielding…

NEW YORK (AP) — Drug store and pharmacy operator CVS Caremark said Thursday its second-quarter profit grew 7 percent as sales at its retail drug stores rose.

In a plan to save the Everglades, Florida officials and a family-run sugar company are seeking a delicate balance.

The brothers behind the popular Facebook application Scrabulous have returned with a new word puzzle game, only two days after they took down their Scrabble-like game in the wake of a lawsuit filed against them by board-game maker Hasbro.

Cablevision said profits fell 69 percent, but earnings in the year-ago period were boosted by the sale of the company’s stake in a regional sports network.

Tyco International reported higher-than-expected profit as operating income increased in each of its five divisions, and the conglomerate raised its full-year forecast.

Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is finally poised to realize its potential as a global player, economists say.

The negotiations foundered on the right of developing countries to protect critical agricultural products from competition in exchange for cutting tariffs on imported industrial goods.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — International Paper says its second-quarter profit jumped 20 percent, beating Wall Street’s estimates, as strong international sales helped offset rising raw material costs.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Kellogg says its profit rose 3.7 percent in the second quarter as a result of product innovation and raising prices to offset higher costs. The cereal and snack maker met Wall Street’s expectations.

Photography company Eastman Kodak said net income fell and sees its 2008 earnings at the lower end of its previous forecast.

Economic growth picked up in the second quarter as tax rebates energized consumers. The rebound followed a treacherous patch where the economy jolted into reverse at the end of 2007.

Exxon Mobil reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results fell well short of Wall Street expectations and shares fell in premarket trading.

THE CLOSING BELL: Wall Street sank Thursday, after weak readings on economic growth and the job market touched off renewed concerns about the financial health of businesses and consumers. New York Stock Exchange,
NASDAQ

WASHINGTON — The House moved today to make college costs more transparent, and possibly more affordable, in passing the first major overhaul of the federal higher education act in a decade.

TODAY we are going to start with a quiz. Let’s say your family owed $8,899 on this exact date in 2007. But after a year of buying food and clothes, paying for the kids’ education and health costs, as well as the occasional splurge at McDonald’s…

If the Securities and Exchange Commission expands its clampdown on short-selling, it is widely expected to slam hedge funds like Stephen Cohen’s SAC Capital and James Simon’s Renaissance Technologies, which profit from fast-and-furious trading…

The ad battle between Verizon and Time Warner Cable, which has already landed them in court, could get even more bruising as they go head-to-head in the Big Apple. Both companies are ramping up spending and deploying new ad campaigns in their…

The fund that pioneered do-gooder investing three decades ago got nailed by the Securities and Exchange Commission for concealing scores of sin-and-vice investments in its hallowed portfolios over more than five years. New Hampshire-based Pax…

Music giant EMI continues to transform its creative executive team under the ownership of private-equity firm Terra Firma and CEO Guy Hands. Rob Stevenson, one of the former top evaluators of rock talent at Universal Music Group’s Island Def Jam…

Jones Apparel Group, a key supplier to the nation’s department stores, gave a cautious outlook for fall and holiday shopping despite better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The owner of the Jones New York clothing brand and the Nine West shoe…

Automaker Chrysler LLC is in talks with a range of overseas partners, including India’s Tata Motors Ltd and Italy’s Fiat SpA, as it seeks to raise cash and open doors to faster-growing markets outside the United States, people briefed on the talks…

Lazard boss Bruce Wasserstein is hitting homeruns while most of his rivals are getting hammered. His advisory firm yesterday beat analyst estimates for second-quarter earnings on strong fees from advising on a number of large deals - most notably…

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s parent The McGraw Hill for allegedly giving municipal bonds lower ratings than comparable corporate or structured debt. “We are holding the credit-rating…

Refco pact Phillip Bennett, the former head of Refco who was accused of or chestrating a fraud that led to the demise of the commodities broker, has reached a settle ment with the SEC, according to court doc uments. Bennett did not admit or deny…