IN BRIEF
NEW YORK
Stock indexes rise after retail sales news
Wall Street indexes surged Wednesday after the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in retail sales last month and eased some concerns about consumers' willingness to spend despite economic uncertainty.
The 0.3 percent rise in January retail sales, which followed a drop during December, alleviated some of the market's worries that consumers were retrenching because of rising fuel prices, a faltering real estate sector and a choppy stock market. Analysts had expected a 0.3 percent decline in January sales.
The Dow rose 178.83, or 1.45 percent, to 12,552.24. The blue chip index finished at its highs of the session.
Broader indexes also moved higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 18.35, or 1.36 percent, to 1,367.21, and the Nasdaq composite rose 53.89, or 2.32 percent, to 2,373.93.
NEW YORK
Wynn Resorts shares fall most since October
Wynn Resorts Ltd., the casino company run by developer Steve Wynn, fell the most since October in New York trading following a decline in earnings at its Las Vegas property.
In Las Vegas, where Wynn Resorts is based and expanding with the $2.2 billion Encore scheduled to open next year, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped 3.8 percent to $97.3 million in the fourth quarter, the company said Tuesday in a statement. Slot machine revenue was unchanged from a year earlier and winnings by gamblers increased.
Wynn fell $8.93, or 7.45 percent, to $110.91 at 4:30 p.m. in Nasdaq National Market composite trading, erasing the year's gains.
SAN FRANCISCO
Levi Strauss profits rise for ninth quarter in row
Levi Strauss & Co. shook off a sales slowdown in the United States late last year to boost its profit for the ninth straight quarter and cap the jeans maker's best year in more than a decade.
The San Francisco-based company said Tuesday that it earned $267 million during its fiscal fourth quarter ended Nov. 25, more than double the $96 million profit for the same time in 2006.
Although it's privately owned by the descendants of its founder, Levi Strauss releases its financial results because some of its debt is publicly traded.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $1.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said it will cut 1,000 jobs as the nation's second-largest investment bank trims its residential mortgage operations amid the continued deterioration of the mortgage markets.
The New York-based company said it will shutter its U.K. business that issues home loans and significantly scale back its mortgage business in the United States. Morgan Stanley joins hundreds of lenders in scaling back operations as the worst U.S. housing market in 26 years slows economic growth.
Morgan Stanley said it will continue to service loans in the U.S. through its Saxon Mortgage Services units. It will also offer residential mortgages to brokerage clients through Morgan Stanley Credit Corp.
MILWAUKEE
MGIC looking for ways to boost its capital
Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. said it's looking for ways to boost capital after announcing it lost almost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter as more homeowners struggled to make payments.
The nation's largest mortgage insurer still doesn't see making money this year, if delinquencies and losses continue to rise and fewer homeowners get back on track with payments, Chairman Curt Culver said.
MGIC said it lost $1.47 billion, or $18.17 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $121.5 million or $1.47 per share in the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose 8.7 percent to $399.1 million from $367.2 million.
ATLANTA
Coca-Cola earnings climb 79 percent
The Coca-Cola Co. reported Wednesday a 79 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit and maintained its growth targets despite a slowing U.S. economy but has no plans to be more aggressive with its stock buybacks.
The Atlanta-based company said it earned $1.21 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to a profit of $678 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier, when the company took a big impairment charge at its largest bottler.
Excluding one-time items, Coca-Cola said it earned $1.36 billion, or 58 cents a share, in the quarter, ahead of the 55 cents a share analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting.
Revenue in the quarter rose 23.6 percent to $7.33 billion, compared to $5.93 billion.
NEWARK, N.J.
Price fix may be a dark (chocolate) secret
If you feel your Valentine's Day chocolates are not such a sweet deal this year, you're not alone. Regulators are investigating price fixing among candy makers in at least three different countries.
In the past week, the German Federal Cartel Office raided the offices of seven of leading chocolate companies, including Mars, Kraft Foods and Nestle SA, searching for documents.
Three months ago, Canada's Competition Bureau searched the offices of several companies, many of the same ones as in Germany.
The Canadian investigation sparked several American lawsuits accusing the world's biggest chocolate companies of violating antitrust laws.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to confirm it is investigating, yet several companies confirmed receiving inquiries.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices decline after retail sales news
Treasury prices fell Wednesday after a new retail sales report showed an unexpected increase in consumer spending for January after the dismal holiday season.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 0.38 points to 98.38 with a yield of 3.70 percent, up from 3.67 percent late Tuesday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The 30-year long bond dropped 1.09 to 97.65 with a yield of 4.51 percent, up from 4.47 percent.
