Deere sees some stability on farms in bruising trade fight
MICHELLE CHAPMAN
February 21, 2020
Deere had a surprisingly strong first quarter after an extended period in which it was bruised by the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.“Farmer confidence, though still subdued, has improved due in part to hopes for a relaxation of trade tensions and higher agricultural exports,” CEO John May said in a prepared statement Friday.China announced Friday that it suspended more punitive tariffs on imports of U.S. industrial goods in response to a truce in its trade war with Washington. Under their “Phase 1” agreement signed in January, Washington agreed to cancel additional tariff hikes and Beijing committed to buy more American farm exports.China's retaliatory tariffs have clobbered exports of soybeans and other commodities, hurting farmers, and in turn, farming equipment manufacturers.The Trump administration has provided $27 billion in aid to farmers to ease the pain of his trade war. And in a tweet Friday, he promised to expand the bailout if farmers need it as they await the economic benefits of his recent trade deals with Mexico, Canada and China. He said the aid would be financed by revenue from his tariffs on foreign goods — taxes that are paid by American importers.Deere, based in Moline, Illinois, has posted three consecutive quarters of falling profits and slowing sales growth with trade tensions between the world's two largest economies ongoing.For the three months ended Feb. 2, Deere & Co. earned $517 million, or $1.63 per share. The per-share earnings easily beat the $1.28 that industry analysts had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research, and it topped last year's quarterly profit of $498 million, or $1.54 per share.Adjusted revenue —which excludes financial services revenue— was $6.53 billion, also beating Wall Street's estimate of $6.2 billion.The quarterly performance is in contrast to a year ago, when Deere cautioned on anxious farmers and rising costs.Looking ahead, the companystill foresees fiscal 2020 earnings of $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion,unchanged from its previous guidance.Shares of Deere & Co. jumped more than 6% at the opening bell.—————Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DE
Asian shares mostly rise despite continuing virus fears
YURI KAGEYAMA
February 18, 2020
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Wednesday, despite overnight losses on Wall Street and continuing fears about an outbreak of a new virus that began in China.The Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% in morning trading to 23,453.59 after data for January showed Japan's exports fell less than expected in January. R...
Boy Scouts seek bankruptcy, urge victims to step forward
DAVID CRARY and BRADY McCOMBS
February 18, 2020
The Boy Scouts of America urged victims to come forward Tuesday as the historic, 110-year-old organization filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a huge compensation fund for potentially thousands of men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other lea...
HSBC cuts headcount by 35,000 in deep overhaul
DANICA KIRKA and ELAINE KURTENBACH
February 18, 2020
LONDON (AP) — Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, will shed some 35,000 jobs as part of an overhaul to focus on faster-growing markets in Asia and as it tries to cope with a slew of global uncertainties, from Brexit to the trade wars to the new coronavirus.The interim chief executive, Noel Quinn, said Tu...
Newspaper chain McClatchy files for bankruptcy protection
TALI ARBEL and MICHELLE CHAPMAN
February 13, 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — McClatchy, the publisher of the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and dozens of other newspapers, has filed for bankruptcy protection as it struggles to pay off debt while revenue shrinks because more readers and advertisers are going online.McClatchy said Thursday that its 30 newspap...
McClatchy has 30 papers in 14 states, operations continue
The Associated Press
February 13, 2020
McClatchy, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, operates 30 newspapers in 14 states.The newspapers include The Miami Herald and The Kansas City Star and will continue to operate as McClatchy reorganizes under bankruptcy protection, according to the company.The publisher’s origi...
Airbus CEO sees no short-term benefit from Boeing MAX woes
DAVID McHUGH
February 13, 2020
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Airbus' chief executive said Thursday that his company sees no short-term benefit from Boeing's troubles with its grounded 737 MAX because the competing A320 is sold out years ahead.CEO Guillaume Faury said that safety was a shared concern in the industry. He made the remarks at th...
Solid earnings send stock indexes higher on Wall Street
ALEX VEIGA
February 12, 2020
Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Wednesday, driving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes to more record highs.Technology stocks powered much of the rally as investors focused on the latest batch of mostly solid company earnings reports. The latest gains came as worries about the economic im...
Asian shares rise despite worries about virus outbreak
YURI KAGEYAMA
February 11, 2020
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were higher Wednesday, although the outbreak of a new virus in the region continued to weigh on investor sentiments.Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% in morning trading to 23,813.14. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,094.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.7% to 27,771....
Economic impact of virus widens as Ericsson exits trade show
The Associated Press
February 7, 2020
BEIJING (AP) — More than a month after the outbreak of China's deadly virus, the economic damage is being felt by more businesses and is threatening the outlook for the global economy.In a report Friday, the Federal Reserve warned that the virus represents an international risk.“The recent emergen...
Asian stock markets retreat after surge on China tariff cut
JOE McDONALD
February 6, 2020
Asian stock markets retreated Friday following a surge after China announced a tariff cut on U.S. imports.Market benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney all declined. Tokyo was flat. Major Asian markets jumped more than 2% on Thursday after Beijing said it will cut duties on $75 billion of ...
Twitter shares jump on rise in user numbers, revenue
The Associated Press
February 6, 2020
Shares in Twitter jumped Thursday after the social media company said revenue and user numbers exceeded forecasts in the latest quarter, though profit fell as expenses rose.The San Francisco-based tech company said that fourth-quarter net income fell 53% to $119 million, or 15 cents per share. That's down...
