Business News

NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

SAPPORO, Japan - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

WASHINGTON - The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

LONDON (AFP) - European equities fell on Friday as investors pocketed gains won a day earlier, mulled more bad news for the banking sector and began looking to next week in the absence of Wall Street trading, dealers said.

HONG KONG - Asian markets were mixed Friday as investors digested uneven readings on the U.S. economy and more record oil prices. Japan posted its 12th straight day of losses.

TOKYO - Japan's key stock index extended its longest slide in more than a half-century, as record oil prices intensified concerns over the impact on corporate earnings and consumer demand.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It will be tough for Wall Street to shake off the bear market blues next week if the price of oil keeps rising and the earnings season kick-off from Alcoa and General Electric disappoints investors.

TORONTO - In a June 25 story about quarterly earnings at Research In Motion Ltd., The Associated Press incorrectly reported that the BlackBerry Bold will be a touch-screen phone. Current plans do not call for the device to have a touch screen.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit as the discount retailer kept a tight control on expenses and inventory to navigate the tough environment, sending its shares up than 11 percent.

NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

BEIJING - Chrysler LLC, looking for foreign partnerships to help drive its business as U.S. sales slump, announced a deal with China's Great Wall Motor Co. on Friday to study sharing technology, components and distribution.

INDIANAPOLIS - A federal judge in New York is urging Eli Lilly and Co. to settle a multibillion-dollar lawsuit filed by insurance companies, unions and others who claim the pharmaceutical giant overpriced its top-selling drug Zyprexa and exaggerated its usefulness.

Stan Morrill was confident his nestegg would provide for him and his wife for the rest of their lives. After all, the Eastman Kodak veteran, a factory worker for 31 years, had attended the free financial seminar recommended to him by co-workers. Morrill says the host, Michael J. Kazacos, one of Morgan Stanley's top brokers, dazzled him with a plan that would let him retire at 49. Morrill just had to roll over his pension and 401(k) into a tax-deferred account managed by Kazacos. ...

I work for a management consulting firm where client satisfaction is by far the biggest priority. I've been here for four years and have had four excellent performance reviews. Right now I'm working on a client project that takes up a tremendous amount of time. My project manager gives me special subassignments at the rate of two or three a week, on top of my usual tasks. I have been completing these assignments at night, because I'm away from home anyway during the week and because my client contacts need me focused on their priorities all day long.

Retirees with plump nest eggs are attractive targets for unscrupulous financial advisers who advise them to make unwise withdrawals. "The 'why work' pitch is epidemic," says Peter Moujay, a Pensacola (Fla.) attorney. Moujay has represented some 100 retirees of Marathon Refinery in rural Robinson, Ill., and a similar number of AT&T telephone workers out of Michigan, who were targets of such a scheme. Here's a chart outlining how long your money will last given certain withdrawal rates. ...

WASHINGTON - The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

FRESNO, Calif. - Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The embattled chairman of a major Taiwan securities firm was found dead in waters close to the island on Friday morning, the firm said, startling the financial community and sending the company's shares tumbling.