BUSINESS BRIEFS
Goldman Sachs posts profit but cautious on 2008
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. yesterday gave a cautious outlook for Wall Street in 2008 because of the ongoing credit crisis, even as the world's largest investment bank chalked up another record-breaking year.
During the fiscal fourth quarter, Goldman's $3.17 billion profit was fueled by higher investment banking fees, one-time asset sales, and surprisingly strong debt trading results. Though quarterly results easily surpassed Wall Street's projections, for some analysts they lacked the kind of power and finesse investors have come to expect.
There had been wide hope that Goldman's cadre of top bankers would be able to take advantage of the market dislocation by scooping up distressed securities and locking in profit. Instead, Goldman said it faced one of the worst Novembers on record, which has only somewhat loosened this month.
NEW HOUSING AT 16-YEAR LOW
WASHINGTON — Housing construction fell in November with single-family activity dropping to the lowest level in more than 16 years. Analysts said the recession in housing showed no signs of a turnaround.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 3.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.187 million units.
Construction of single-family homes fell by 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 829,000 units. It was the eighth consecutive drop in single-family starts, pushing activity in this area to the lowest level since April 1991. Apartment building rose last month by 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 332,000 units.
In an ominous sign for future activity, the government reported that applications for building permits fell for a sixth straight month, dropping by 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.15 million units, the slowest pace for building permits since June 1993.
NEW BOSS TAKES HELM AT SPRINT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sprint Nextel Corp. reached out to a familiar face in its search for a leader to boost subscriber numbers and make the nation's third-largest wireless provider's competitive again.
The Reston, Va.-based company named Dan Hesse, chairman and chief executive of wireline company Embarq Corp., as its new president and chief executive officer.
Hesse, an almost 30-year telecommunications veteran who at one time ran AT&T Wireless, operated Sprint's local telephone division for a year before it was spun off to form Embarq last year.
He replaces Gary Forsee, who was ousted from Sprint Nextel in October following several quarters of falling subscriber numbers and other operational troubles.
The selection of Hesse, whose name was mentioned early as a possible CEO replacement, was greeted with approval from most industry observers yesterday.
JAPAN IPHONE LAUNCH DISCUSSED
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc. is negotiating with Japan's top cellular company to launch the iPhone in Japan, though the cut of subscriber revenue that Apple wants has been a sticking point, according to a report published yesterday.
NTT DoCoMo spokesman Shuichiro Ichikoshi said company President Masao Nakamura met recently with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs. Shuichiro declined to comment further.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, reported that Jobs and Nakamura discussed launching the iPhone in Japan.
Apple has said it plans to launch the device in Asia in 2008 but has not provided details. NTT DoCoMo had nearly 53 million subscribers and commanded more than half of Japan's mobile phone market at the end of September, but has struggled to add new users in recent months amid fierce competition from KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp., which have slashed rates.
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