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• Sysco's Profit Margins Pressured by High Food Prices
  Shares of Sysco Corp., the biggest North American distributor of food to restaurants, fell the most in more than five months after second-quarter earnings trailed analysts estimates. The Houston-based company said rising food costs were squeezing profit margins.Sysco...
• Yum Brands Posts 30 Percent Profit Rise
  The owner of the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC chains says its fourth-quarter profit rose 30 percent, thanks to its fast-growing overseas operations and to a strong showing from Pizza Hut in the U.S.Yum Brands Inc. said Monday that Taco Bell had another sluggish quarter in...
• Boeing Finds Problem in 787 Tail
  Boeing says repairs are needed in the tail sections of some of its new 787s. It says there is no immediate safety concern and the planes will keep flying. Boeing has delivered five of the planes since September. All of them went to Japan's All Nippon Airways. Boeing has...
• GM Aims for 10 Percent Profit Margin Over Next Few Years
  If GM could achieve its target of a 10 percent margin, then it may generate up to $15 billion in profits and record net income in excess of $10 billion, based on the level of revenue GM had last year. That revenue is estimated at close to $150 billion, the newspaper...
• Loews Profit Tumbles on Lower Investment Income
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• Glencore, Xstrata Hammer Out Premium as Deal Nears
  Top executives at Glencore and Xstrata are hammering out the final details of a proposed $80 billion merger, including the premium on offer by the commodities trading giant to secure approval from the miner's shareholders. Sources involved in the talks have told Reuters...
• AMR’s Horton Willing to Weigh Acquisitions After Bankruptcy Exit
  AMR Corp. s American Airlines, whose bankruptcy made it a possible takeover target, may try to buy a rival after leaving Chapter 11 as the U.S. industry shrinks, Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said. It s not hard to envision how we could be a force in the industry and,...
• Equifax Growth on Expansion, M&A
  Information services company Equifax (EFX) is one of the three companies which provide credit reports on consumers who want to borrow money. The company is growing through mergers acquisitions (M A) and expansion of products and services it offers. Equifax collects...
• New Leadership Keeps Target On Track
  Expected strong sales for Target s (TGT) fiscal 2011 fourth quarter has paved the way for a smooth transition for an incoming chief financial officer, whose main leadership challenge will be to keep the company on track during continuing economic weakness. The current CFO...
• Abbott Labs a Growth and Income Double Play
  Diversified healthcare player Abbott Labs (ABT) is a solid double play for growth and income investors. Its strong product portfolio feeds sales, fueling steady dividend increases. All of Abbott s key businesses are growing. Pharmaceuticals account for more than half of...
• CVS: Undervalued, Rewards Investors Well
  Pharmacy chain CVS (CVS) is undervalued, growing and rewards its investors well, analysts say. CVS s earnings, cash flow and dividends have notched double-digit increases for the past five years and show no signs of letting up. No surprise, then, that the drug store is a...
• Boeing Orders Checks of 787 Dreamliners on Fuselage Delamination
  Boeing Co. ordered inspections of 787 Dreamliners after finding signs of delamination on the fuselage of the first passenger jetliner built chiefly of carbon-fiber composites.There is no short-term safety concern from the fault, which was caused by an incorrect assembly...
• WSJ: GM Aims for 10% Profit Margin Over Next Few Years
  General Motors aims to raise its profit margin to 10 percent over the next several years, up from the current margin of about 6 percent, Daniel Ammann, chief financial officer, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. If GM could achieve its target of 10 percent...
• PepsiCo Said in Talks to Recruit Former Wal-Mart Executive
  PepsiCo Inc., which will announce a turnaround plan next week, is trying to recruit former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive Brian Cornell for a significant job with the soda and snacks company, according to two people familiar with the discussions.The position would report...
• Micron Names COO Durcan to Succeed CEO Killed in Plane Crash
  Micron Technology Inc. named Mark Durcan as its chief executive Saturday, replacing Steve Appleton, who died Friday after crashing an experimental plane.Durcan, 51, who had been planning to retire in August, was appointed by the board of Boise, Idaho-based Micron after...
• JPMorgan Turns Bullish on Dell Stock
  JPMorgan has had a change of heart about Dell. The firm issued a research note upgrading the company to overweight from underweight, Forbes.com reported. The financial giant believes that in the next three to six months, Dell may pave a path to 4 percent to 5 percent...
• Panasonic Warns of Record $10.2 Billion Annual Net Loss
  Japanese electronics maker Panasonic forecast Friday it would log a record net loss of 780 billion yen ($10.2 billion) for the year through March, nearly twice its previous estimate, amid weak TV and mobile phone sales and restructuring costs.Panasonic also blamed...
• Can Kansas City Southern Repeat in 2012?
  Railroad company stock Kansas City Southern (KSU) posted a share price gain of 42 percent in 2011. The company is poised to continue growth of revenue and profits in 2012, but can the share price repeat that show, or even post a positive return for the year? Kansas City...
• Specialty Retailers Likely to Post Mixed Results
  For specialty retailers, the holiday season is the make-or-break period of the year. These companies can generate up to half of annual profits in November and December. Specialty clothing retailers Limited Brands (LTD), Gap (GPS) and Abercrombie Fitch (ANF) are likely to...
• Flowserve On Upswing Out of Recession
  Flowserve (FLS) provides products necessary for the infrastructure of industries such as oil and gas and chemical manufacturing. Recent results indicated the company may be on a sustained upswing coming out of the recent recession. Flowserve produces what it calls fluid...
• Gannett Making Big Push to Digital
  Publishing company Gannett (GCI) is best known for the 80 newspapers and 600 magazines it produces. Print publishing is a troubled sector, yet Gannett is making a strong push towards digital offerings. Gannett divides its business into three divisions: Publishing covers...
• Caterpillar CFO Sees ‘Tail Wind’ From Demand in U.S., Europe
  Caterpillar Inc., the largest construction and mining equipment maker, said the business cycle is in the early stages of a recovery and the company expects to see a tail wind from U.S. and European demand. We are just two years into it, Chief Financial Officer Ed Rapp...
• Merck Profit Beats Analyst Estimates on Diabetes Drug Sales
  Merck Co., the second-largest U.S. drugmaker, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates on higher sales of diabetes medicines. The company forecast 2012 earnings that matched estimates.Net income was $1.51 billion, or 49 cents a share, compared with a...
• Sony Doubles Loss Forecast Amid Weak TV Sales, Disasters
  Hammered by weak TV sales, a strong yen and production disruptions from flooding in Thailand, Sony Corp. on Thursday reported a net loss of 159 billion yen ($2.1 billion) for the October-December quarter and more than doubled its projected loss for the full fiscal...
• Glencore Aims to Buy Rest of Xstrata, Create Mining Titan
  Glencore International Plc, the world s largest publicly traded commodities supplier, is in talks to buy the shares in Xstrata Plc that it doesn t already own to add coal, copper and nickel mines from Africa to Asia. Glencore made an approach about an all-share offer for ...

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