BUSINESS BRIEFS
Retailers' profits down; gloomy outlook ahead
Advertiser News Services
NEW YORK — Retailers marched out a series of cheerless results yesterday for their most important season of the year, the fourth quarter, when consumers seem to have put off buying almost anything they had a choice about.
From Macy's to Target and RadioShack, Home Depot to Office Depot, companies are laying off workers, cutting prices and closing stores and whole divisions to deal with record-low consumer confidence and projections of another year of slow sales.
Target said yesterday that it is responding by expanding its food offerings and bolstering its private-label lines. It also said in January that it will cut 9 percent of its headquarters staff, close a distribution center and reduce new-store openings.
Macy's Inc. reported that its fourth-quarter profit fell nearly 59 percent. But those results beat analyst expectations, and Macy's shares rose 12 percent.
NORTHERN TRUST UNDER SCRUTINY
NEW YORK — Northern Trust Corp., a bank that received $1.6 billion in government funds, is facing scrutiny for hosting parties and other events connected to its sponsorship of a professional golf tournament.
Reports of the parties brought a swift protest from Washington, with Democratic lawmakers pressing the bank to return the money spent on the events, and Sen. John Kerry proposing legislation restricting banks that received government funds from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences or entertainment events.
Many banks that received money as part of the government's $700 billion government package passed last fall have come under heavy criticism in recent weeks about their spending habits — from hosting conferences to buying corporate jets — after obtaining the funds.
OIL PRICES RALLY NEAR $40 A BARREL
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Energy prices rose on the coattails of broader financial markets yesterday as investors shook off more bad housing news and a dismal government report suggesting that consumer confidence is in free fall.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery rallied to settle up $1.52 at $39.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have failed to settle above $40 for more than two weeks and inventories of crude are surging toward record levels.
PANEL OPPOSES AUTO BANKRUPTCIES
WASHINGTON — An Obama administration task force considering the fate of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC is discouraging bankruptcy protection as an option for the struggling companies, two senators said yesterday.
Michigan Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow said they argued against bankruptcy as a way to restructure GM and Chrysler. In meetings yesterday with members of the panel, the lawmakers said Obama's team did not push bankruptcy as a viable choice.
