The Wall Street Journal-20080202-Business and Finance
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Business and Finance
Full Text (288 words)Microsoft made a $44.6 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo, placing a bold bet that a combination can transform both companies' efforts to catch Google. The deal would be the biggest financially in Microsoft's history and carry immense complexity. Yahoo said it would study the proposal "carefully and promptly."
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Alcoa and Aluminum Corp. of China teamed to buy a $14.5 billion minority stake in Rio Tinto. The deal may cloud BHP's bid.
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Exxon earned $40.61 billion in 2007 as soaring oil prices helped it report the largest annual profit in U.S. corporate history.
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UBS faces a criminal investigation over its accounting for mortgage bonds. Merrill was accused of fraud related to the firm's sale of debt securities.
Major banks are racing against a deadline as they work on a possible bailout of Ambac.
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Payrolls fell by an unexpected 17,000 jobs in January, the first drop in over four years. The jobless rate fell to 4.9% from 5%.
The Dow industrials rose 92.83 to 12743.19, up 4.4% for the week, as investors set aside concerns about the economy.
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Motorola CEO Brown assumed direct oversight of the handset division, a day after Motorola said it may sell or spin off the unit.
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Carl Icahn has amassed a large stake in J.C. Penney that is among his top five holdings.
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U.S. auto sales fell 4.3% last month as demand weakened. GM's rose 2.6%, while Ford, Toyota and Chrysler saw declines.
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OPEC kept oil output unchanged but struck a gloomy note as it pointed to signs of "economic crisis" in the U.S.
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IAC and Liberty Media's legal dispute is expected to go to trial next month. A judge kept IAC's current board in place.
