BUSINESS BRIEFS
Telemarketing scams targeted in national sweep
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal and state officials announced a widespread crackdown yesterday against telemarketing scams that have bilked thousands of consumers, many of them elderly, out of tens of millions of dollars.
The sweep, dubbed "Operation Tele-PHONEY," was coordinated by the Federal Trade Commission and has yielded more than 180 enforcement actions in the United States and Canada. That makes it the largest such operation the FTC has ever coordinated, the agency said.
William Kovacic, chairman of the FTC, said the 180 cases include new civil charges filed by the FTC against 13 telemarketers that defrauded more than 500,000 consumers out of $100 million.
SOME FEAR HP'S GAINS WON'T LAST
SAN FRANCISCO — Strong demand outside the United States for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s computers, printers and other products widened its profit margin in its second quarter, but investors worry the trend will break as HP digests Electronic Data Systems Corp. this year.
The results released yesterday came as no surprise because HP provided a snapshot of its latest quarterly earnings and revenue last week when the Palo Alto-based company jolted investors with its planned $13.2 billion acquisition of technology services specialist EDS.
The deal has raised concerns that Plano, Texas-based EDS will cause more trouble to HP than it's worth and slow the financial momentum building at HP since it hired Mark Hurd as chief executive a little more than three years ago.
HOME DEPOT PROFIT FALLS 66%
ATLANTA — The Home Depot Inc. reported a 66 percent drop in first-quarter profit yesterday because of a large one-time charge and continued weakness in the housing market. The company did not update its guidance for the year.
The results, excluding the charge, beat Wall Street expectations despite a decline in overall sales and sales at stores open at least a year. Its shares fell $1.50, or 5.2 percent, to $27.37.
The challenge for Home Depot, like its smaller rival, Lowe's Cos., is a slumping U.S. housing market. Seventy percent of Home Depot sales come from homeowners, while the other 30 percent come from professionals such as contractors, according to the company.
FANNIE MAE CEO SEES GAINS AHEAD
NEW ORLEANS — Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Daniel Mudd told shareholders willing to endure "near-term pain" they will be rewarded by the mortgage-finance company's growth and profitability once the U.S. housing market recovers.
The company's government-sponsored status and expanding dominance of the mortgage market gives it a competitive edge in the industry, Mudd said in a speech at Fannie Mae's annual meeting in New Orleans.
The U.S. housing crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, is at the halfway point, Mudd said yesterday.
Fannie Mae "has the best opportunity in years to grow and add shareholder value, simply by doing our job," Mudd told investors. "That job is to stay in the market while others have fled and keep money flowing from investors to housing."
HONDA PLANS NEW HYBRID IN 2009
TOKYO — Honda Motor Co. will sell a new, improved and affordable gas-electric hybrid in the U.S., Japan and Europe starting in early 2009, the company's president said today.
Takeo Fukui said that "green" cars, especially hybrids, will be a pillar of Honda's strategy for the next three years, starting this fiscal year that began April 1.
He did not say what the price of the vehicle would be. But he said the new hybrid will be a five-door sedan seating five passengers, and it will feature new technology that reduces the size and weight of the hybrid system to increase fuel efficiency.
