Corporate Finance

• `Dark Knight' sets weekend record with $155.34M
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box-office superheroes.
   
  
• Unemployment, stocks push down leading indicators
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Factories laying off workers, stocks tumbling and shoppers ditching their credit cards forced the economy to contract in June, a trend likely to continue in the second half of 2008, a private business group said Monday.
   
  
• Electronic Arts extends deadline to buy Take-Two
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. has again extended the deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
   
  
• Hasbro posts 2nd-qtr profit, beats Wall St. view
  AP ( 21, 2008)
  PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) - Toymaker Hasbro Inc. said Monday second-quarter profit rose, helped by demand for products related to movies including "Iron Man" and "Star Wars."
   
  
• IBM 2Q profit soars on services strength
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - IBM Corp.'s earnings, used to gauge the health of global technology spending, were a bright spot in an otherwise dreary economic landscape.
   
  
• Economic worries loom over Google's 2Q earnings
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. has successfully tackled a lot of complex problems during its first decade in business, but even the Internet search leader may be hard pressed to find a way to sustain its rapid earnings growth amid a sputtering economy in the United States and parts of Europe.
   
  
• AMD shares fall after CEO steps down, weak 2Q
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell at the market open Friday, a day after the chip maker reported the departure of Chief Executive Hector Ruiz and reported a wider second-quarter loss than analysts expected.
   
  
• Microsoft 4Q profit rises, Web ad business rocky
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  SEATTLE (AP) - Shares of Microsoft Corp. sank more than 5 percent on Friday, a day after the company missed Wall Street's earnings forecast by a penny, and issued softer-than-expected guidance for the current first quarter.
   
  
• Freddie Mac takes step toward issuing stock
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Mortgage financier Freddie Mac took a step toward issuing common and preferred stock to help bolster its balance sheet Friday when it completed a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
   
  
• Citigroup posts $2.5B loss, but beats expectations
  AP ( 18, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Citigroup posted another loss and laid off 6,000 employees in the second quarter as it struggled with surging loan defaults, but the $2.5 billion shortfall was smaller than Wall Street anticipated.
   
  
• Fortis scrubs cash dividends; raising $2.35B
  AP ( 26, 2008)
  AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch bank Fortis will issue $2.35 billion in new shares and scrap cash dividends for the year to shore up its balance sheet.