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All times EDT.
—Adds: VENEZUELA-SAD MALLS, GUITAR FACTORY CLOSURE, ARGENTINA-FOOD-COOKAPP, TV-NBC-OLYMPICS, EARNS-ZYNGA, COCA-COLA-BUFFETT, BUFFETT-STOCK MARKET
—Updates: TRAIN SAFETY, DIGITAL LIFE-TECH TIPS-DOUBLE-LAYER PASSWORDS, WALL STREET, BRAZIL-INTERNET GOVERNANCE, OIL PRICES, RUSSIA'S ZUCKERBERG, EARNS-APPLE, EARNS-FACEBOOK, EARNS-SAFEWAY
TOP STORIES:
HEALTH OVERHAUL-WELLNESS PROGRAMS
That little voice nagging you to put down the cake and lace up the running shoes is increasingly coming from your employer and is likely to grow louder with a looming change under the federal health care overhaul. More companies are starting or expanding wellness programs that aim to reduce their medical costs by improving their employees' health. They're asking workers to take physical exams, complete detailed health assessments and focus on controlling conditions such as diabetes. Along with that, many companies are dangling the threat of higher monthly insurance premiums to prod workers into action. So far, these programs have had mixed success. By Tom Murphy and Catherine Lucey. SENT: 1,200 words, photo, video.
WEALTH GAP-PIKETTY-Q&A
NEW YORK — In his new book, Thomas Piketty, the French economist who helped popularize the notion of a privileged 1 percent, sounds a grim warning: The U.S. economy is beginning to decay into the aristocratic old Europe of the 19th century. In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Piketty, 42, held forth on the "dangerous illusion" of the meritocracy and his fix for limiting inequality. By Bernard Condon, Josh Boak and Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 1,200 words, photo.
With:
— PIKETTY-GLANCE— French economist Thomas Piketty and his research partners have transformed the wealth gap debate by popularizing the concept of a financially elite 1 percent. SENT: 460 words.
SMALLBIZ-SMALL TALK
NEW YORK — Gay small business owners say they still encounter prejudice from potential customers and that it costs them profits. The discrimination is often subtle. An owner senses from a potential client's body language or from a sales conversation cut short that they're uncomfortable. Sometimes it's more direct. And while owners who have been in business for many years say attitudes have changed for the better, some gay entrepreneurs find themselves using strategies to overcome the bias they encounter. By Joyce M. Rosenberg. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RUSSIA'S ZUCKERBERG
MOSCOW — Users of Russia's leading social network, VKontakte, or "in contact," have a new nickname for the website: In Censorship. Network founder Pavel Durov, a wunderkind often described as Russia's Mark Zuckerberg, fled the country after posting online what he said were documents from Russian security services demanding personal details from 39 Ukraine-linked groups on VKontakte. Durov's ouster has long been in the making, as Kremlin-linked businessmen made inroads into the company ownership and the space for free speech has contracted. By Laura Mills. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
DIGITAL LIFE-TECH TIPS-DOUBLE-LAYER PASSWORDS
NEW YORK — If the Heartbleed security threat has taught us anything, it's that passwords don't offer total protection. That's why many security experts recommend a second layer of authentication — typically in the form of a numeric code sent as a text message. You enter that code on the website to verify that it's really you. I was afraid this second authentication would be a pain to use, but things have gone more smoothly than expected after the initial setup. By Anick Jesdanun. SENT: 900 words, photos.
EARNS-APPLE
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple plans to buy back an additional $30 billion of its stock, raise its quarterly dividend by 8 percent and split its stock for the first time in nine years. The commitment expands on the company's previous pledge to spend $60 billion on stock buybacks by the end of next year. The company is now earmarking $90 billion for buybacks during that time frame. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 400 words, photo. UPCOMING: 500 words by 6 p.m.
MARKETS & ECONOMY:
WALL STREET
NEW YORK — Stocks edge mostly lower, breaking a six-day winning streak, as investors are disappointed by the latest round of earnings from U.S. companies. A surprise drop in new home sales also weighs on the broader market. By Ken Sweet. SENT: 620 words, photos.
With:
— BUFFETT-STOCK MARKET — Investor Warren Buffett says stock market prices are currently at a reasonable range. SENT: 130 words.
NEW-HOME SALES
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans buying new homes plummeted in March to the slowest pace in eight months, a sign that real estate's spring buying season is off to a weak start. The Commerce Department says that sales of new homes declined 14.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000. That was the second straight monthly decline and the lowest rate since July 2013. By Josh Boak. SENT: 600 words.
— OIL PRICES — The price of oil slips as a government report showed U.S. oil supplies rose more than expected last week. U.S. crude for May delivery fell 31 cents to close at $101.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. SENT: 250 words.
EARNINGS:
EARNS-BOEING
In the first three months of this year, 161 new airplanes rolled off Boeing's assembly lines — more jets than the same period last year. That increased rate — in part — helped Chicago-based Boeing Co. post a $965 million profit in the first quarter. By Scott Mayerowitz. SENT: 430 words, photo.
EARNS-DELTA
DALLAS — Delta Air Lines is making more money by filling more seats on its planes and paying a bit less for fuel. Delta's first-quarter profit beat expectations and underscored how most big airlines are prospering with a combination of strong business travel, slightly higher fares and money from extra fees. By David Koenig. SENT: 660 words, photo.
EARNS-FACEBOOK
NEW YORK — Facebook's first-quarter earnings and revenue grew sharply, surpassing Wall Street's expectations thanks to an 82 percent increase in advertising revenue. SENT: 130 words, photo. UPCOMING: 400 words by 6 p.m.
— EARNS-REYNOLDS AMERICAN — Reynolds American Inc. says its first-quarter profit fell more than 28 percent as the company experienced lower cigarette sales and higher spending on its electronic cigarettes and legal costs. SENT: 420 words, photo.
— EARNS-PROCTER & GAMBLE — Procter & Gamble Co.'s fiscal third-quarter net income rose 2 percent as it cut costs to offset sluggish sales in categories like beauty and family products. SENT: 320 words, photo.
— EARNS-NORFOLK SOUTHERN — Norfolk Southern Corp.'s first-quarter profit falls 18 percent as severe winter weather slowed shipments and the railroad delivered 1 percent less freight overall. SENT: 390 words.
— SWEDEN-EARNS-ERICSSON — Wireless equipment maker Ericsson says first-quarter profit increased to 1.7 billion kronor ($260 million) mainly because of restructuring and licensing income even as revenue fell by 9 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. SENT: 130 words, photos.
— CHINA-EARNS-CHINA MOBILE — China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone carrier by number of subscribers, says its quarterly profit declined 9.4 percent from a year earlier despite a rise in customer numbers as spending per account declined. SENT: 270 words.
— EARNS-GANNETT — Gannett Co. says that its first-quarter net profit dropped 43 percent, pulled down by restructuring costs, but its adjusted profit managed to beat Wall Street predictions by a penny. SENT: 350 words.
— EARNS-SAFEWAY — Safeway posts a net loss for the first quarter due to higher costs and acquisition expenses. SENT: 130 words, photo. UPCOMING: 300 words by 6 p.m.
— EARNS-ZYNGA — Online game maker Zynga says company founder Mark Pincus is stepping down as chief product officer, less than a year after he was replaced as the company's CEO. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING 250 words by 6 p.m.
INDUSTRY:
JUSTICE-TOBACCO
WASHINGTON — The nation's tobacco companies and the Justice Department are including black media outlets in court-ordered advertisements that say the cigarette makers lied about the dangers of smoking. By Michael Felberbaum. SENT: 560 words.
JAPAN-TOYOTA
TOKYO — Toyota kept its position at the top in global vehicle sales for the first quarter of this year, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen. Toyota Motor Corp. says it sold a record 2.583 million vehicles in the January-March period, putting the Japanese automaker ahead of Detroit-based GM at 2.42 million and Volkswagen of Germany at 2.4 million. By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 470 words.
MEB'S SHOES
The Boston Marathon champion crossed the finish line wearing sneakers from Skechers, not exactly a brand associated with sports. The company signed Meb Keflezighi three years ago hoping he could help legitimize its foray into selling running shoes. While his historic victory Monday was significant enough to Skechers to get mentioned on its corporate earnings call, executives considered Keflezighi's endorsement a success long before he won Boston. By Rachel Cohen. SENT: 630 words, photos.
TRAIN SAFETY
WASHINGTON — An effort by government and industry to make the tank cars used to ship crude oil and ethanol safer, spurred by a series of fiery train crashes, is becoming mired in squabbling and finger-pointing. The oil industry says the railroad industry won't share the data behind its recommendations to make the cars safer. The Transportation Department says it's the oil industry that won't share its data on the characteristic of the oil being shipped. And the nation's top accident investigator says it's time for a referee. By Joan Lowy. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
GUITAR FACTORY CLOSURE
HARTFORD, Conn. — An Ovation guitar factory in the western Connecticut hills that produced instruments for music legends from Paul Simon to Cat Stevens to Glen Campbell will be closing in June after 47 years and production of the Ovation line in the United States will stop, the manufacturer's parent company told the shop's 46 workers this week. By Dave Collins. SENT: 450 words.
— COCA-COLA-BUFFETT — Buffett disapproves of Coca-Cola's pay plan but abstains from voting against it. SENT: 430 words.
— BEHIND THE WHEEL-BUICK REGAL — The television ads where neighbors, friends and family can't identify a new car as a Buick are true to life. Subtly restyled with new light-emitting diode headlights and infotainment display for 2014, the Regal can come with front- or all-wheel drive. SENT: 990 words, photo.
— AUSTRALIA-F-35 FIGHTERS — Australia increases its order for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 58 to 72 to be fully operational by 2023 in a declaration of confidence in the troubled stealth war plane. The government expects the additional 58 U.S. jets, developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., will cost 12.4 billion Australian dollars ($11.5 billion). SENT: 220 words.
— BLOOMBERG-EUROPE-CITY INNOVATION — Amsterdam, Schaerbeek and Belgium are among 21 finalists vying for millions of euros in a new government-innovation contest devised by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. SENT: 500 words.
— EXECUTIVE-FATAL CRASH — A New Hampshire grand jury has indicted a former Fortune 500 executive on second-degree murder charges in a crash that killed a Vermont couple in December. SENT: 160 words.
— MICHELLE OBAMA-VETERANS JOBS — Aiming to streamline employment resources for people leaving the military, the government is creating an integrated website that can help job-seekers create resumes, connect with employers and become part of a database of veterans and their spouses for companies to mine for skills and talents. SENT: 720 words.
— BRITAIN-NEW HEATHROW TERMINAL — The rundown, overcrowded Terminal 2 at London's sprawling Heathrow Airport is long gone, about to be replaced by a spacious new building built to handle 20 million passengers each year. SENT: 500 words.
— EU-CIGARETTE SUIT — A federal appeals court revives a lawsuit by the European Union alleging that U.S. tobacco company R.J. Reynolds sponsored cigarette smuggling in Europe. SENT: 140 words.
—TEXTRON-JOB CUTS — Just over a month after buying Beechcraft for $1.4 billion, Textron announced 750 job cuts at that company and at its Cessna division. SENT: 270 words.
— COAL DUST RULE — The Obama administration says it is cutting the amount of coal dust allowed in coal mines in an effort to help reduce black lung disease. SENT: 600 words.
TECHNOLOGY:
GOOGLE MAPS-TIME TRAVEL
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Trips down memory lane are now available on Google's digital maps. The new twist on time travel is debuting as part of the "Street View" feature in Google's maps, a navigational tool that attracts more than 1 billion visitors each month. Street View snapshots will now include an option to see what neighborhoods and landmarks looked like at different periods in the last seven years, as Google Inc. has been dispatching camera-toting cars to take street-level pictures for its maps. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 630 words, photos.
ARGENTINA-FOOD-COOKAPP
BUENO AIRES, Argentina — If the latest development in culinary social media catches on, the trendiest restaurants may no longer be restaurants. A growing number of apps and websites are taking the traditional chef-diner relationship out of established eateries and into private homes. Cookapp, for example, is just the latest to launch in the U.S., connecting adventurous diners with independent chefs — and even just ambitious amateur cooks — willing to host dinners at their homes and other offbeat locations. By Michael Warren. SENT: 990 words.
— MICROSOFT-BING IN CLASSROOMS — Microsoft is expanding a program that gives schools the ability to prevent ads from appearing in search results when they use its Bing search engine. The program, launched in a pilot program earlier this year, is now available to all U.S. schools, public or private, from kindergarten through the 12th grade. SENT: 300 words.
— AMAZON-HBO — Amazon is teaming up with HBO, the first streaming arrangement agreed to by the cable network, in a deal that will make available to Amazon prime members some classic TV like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire." SENT: 560 words.
— UNESCO-CELLPHONES — A study by the U.N. education agency says cellphones are getting more and more people to read in countries where books are rare and illiteracy is high. SENT: 140 words.
— BRAZIL-INTERNET GOVERNANCE — Brazil's Congress passed a bill guaranteeing Internet privacy and enshrining access to the Web on the eve of a major conference in Sao Paulo on the future of Internet governance that's expected to draw representatives from some 80 countries. SENT: 700 words.
— AOL-MIRAMAX — Web portal AOL Inc. says it will license full-length movies from Miramax for free viewing with advertisements by its U.S. visitors. SENT: 110 words.
— TV-NBC-OLYMPICS — Slightly more than half of the people who watched the Sochi Olympics on NBC also used a computer, tablet or smartphone to get information about the games while the TV was on. SENT: 500 words.
INTERNATIONAL:
EUROPE-FINANCIAL CRISIS
BRUSSELS — Greece reaches a major financial milestone that its creditors demanded as a precondition for being granted more debt relief, the European Commission says. Additional help from its bailout creditors would help the crisis-stricken country as it seeks to overcome a protracted recession and tackle rampant unemployment. By Juergen Baetz. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
With:
— EUROPE-ECONOMY — A closely-watched survey finds business activity across the 18-country eurozone running at a three-year high, in perhaps the clearest sign yet that the economic recovery is gaining momentum. SENT: 520 words.
And:
— PORTUGAL-FINANCIAL CRISIS — Portugal's chances of ending its three-year bailout program without requiring more help have increased after interest rates fell steeply in a 10-year bond auction. SENT: 290 words, photos.
CHINA-AUTO SHOW-LUXURY BATTLE
BEIJING — At age 32, Jason Jia already is the kind of customer luxury automakers are seeking as competition grows in China's lucrative but crowded market. The energy industry consultant has traded up from a Volkswagen Polo to a VW GTI. Now he wants a Mercedes Benz or a BMW. A few years ago, Jia's options might have been limited to cars designed for an older American or European. But now, luxury brands from Mercedes and Infiniti Audi to Lincoln are racing to create smaller, sportier models for younger Chinese buyers. By Didi Tang. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
VENEZUELA-SAD MALLS
CARACAS, Venezuela — Staring through a glass storefront at the Sambil shopping mall, Aleimar Sanchez sees more than a struggling business in the near-empty shelves of a Casio electronics store. She sees a country in sad decline. Since its inauguration in 1999, Caracas' biggest mall has been a hive of frenzied shopping, a glitzy counterpoint to the anti-capitalist tirades of the late Hugo Chavez. Today, a few die-hard shoppers stroll through dimly lit corridors, past stained walls in need of a paint job, and shuttered boutiques. By Fabiola Sanchez. SENT: 780 words.
— FRANCE-ECONOMY — The French government raises its public deficit forecasts amid slow growth, but is still pledging to meet the European Union deficit target of 3 percent next year. SENT: 120 words, photo.
— CHINA-MANUFACTURING — Factory activity in China shrinks for the fourth straight month in April, though the decline was slightly slower, a survey says, in a possible sign the slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy is stabilizing. SENT: 330 words.
— BRITAIN-NEW HEATHROW TERMINAL — The rundown, overcrowded Terminal 2 at London's sprawling Heathrow Airport is long gone, about to be replaced by a spacious new building built to handle 20 million passengers each year. SENT: 380 words.
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CENTERPIECE
Once-soaring tech stocks sink in sobering comedown
Investors have re-focused on safer sectors such as utilities, health care and consumer staples instead of companies that promise potential growth from online services that are building huge audiences. The change in sentiment is grounding stocks of recent stars such as Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. UPCOMING: 6 p.m.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
PepsiCo to bottle popular Taco Bell drink for first time
PepsiCo will begin selling Taco Bell's popular Mountain Dew Baja Blast drinks in bottles and cans for the first time next month. UPCOMING: 6 p.m.
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