U.S. stocks start week lower
NEW YORK, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes began the week lower Monday after strong Pfizer earnings and reports Sun Microsystems and Intel were near a technology deal.
The Dow Jones industrials plunged 98.72 or 0.78 percent to 12,466.91 while Nasdaq fell 24.07 or 0.98 percent to 2,427.24 and Standard & Poors dropped 7.97 or 0.56 percent to 1,422.53.
Pfizer said Monday its fourth-quarter net income more than tripled to $9.45 billion, or $1.32 a share, from $2.73 billion, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier. This was largely due to the sale of its consumer healthcare business to Johnson & Johnson, it said.
Pfizer shares fell 22 cents or 0.81 percent to $27.
Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. was set to announce plans Monday to buy microprocessors from No. 1 chip maker Intel Corp. in a blow to Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Sun shares fell 7 cents or 1.21 percent to $5.70 a share ahead of the announcement. Intel shares dropped 5 cents or 0.24 percent to $20.77. AMD shares fell 29 cents or 1.64 percent to $17.44.
Japan's Nikkei Index finished the day 0.7 percent higher at 17,424.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note added 4/32, or $1.25 per $1,000 invested, to yield 4.75 percent Monday. The 30-year bond was up 6/32, yielding 4.857 percent.
The U.S. dollar was at 121.52 yen from 121.23 yen at Friday's close. The euro was at $1.2962 from $1.2963 Friday.
British seeks to avert three-day strike
LONDON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- British Airways, Europe's third-largest airline, called for outside mediation Monday to avert a three-day strike by cabin crew over pay, pensions and staffing.
Thousands of the airline's cabin crewmembers said Sunday they would walk out Jan. 29-31, threatening travel chaos for airline customers.
The Transport and General Workers Union warned of two other stoppages Feb. 5-7 and Feb. 12-14 unless the dispute is resolved, the airline's Web site said Monday.
Airline Chief Executive Willie Walsh said a strike was "unjustified." He blamed excessive union demands for the failure of the talks.
The cabin crew complained rules introduced 18 months ago forced members to work when they were ill, The Independent reported. BA insisted it simply sought to reduce high levels of absences.
Customers who booked flights for Jan. 29 through Feb. 16 can change their flight dates without penalty, with certain restrictions, the airline said.
A strike next week would be the first by cabin crews since July 1997. That three-day strike cost the airline $250 million.
Russia to supply India with nuclear power
KUDANKULAM, India, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Russia will provide nuclear fuel to an Indian nuclear power plant it is helping to build, Russia's top nuclear official said Monday.
The Russian Atomstroyexport nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly will provide the fuel to the Kudankulam plant in India's southern province of Tamil Nadu by June and is prepared to provide it with nuclear fuel throughout its entire operational life, the Russian news agency Novosti reported.
Russia has been working with the Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. to build the 2,000 megawatt plant since 2002. The plant is scheduled to begin operations this year.
India, one of the world's eight confirmed nuclear powers, has not signed or ratified the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. It has been under U.S., Japanese and European sanctions since 1998, when it successfully tested nuclear weapons.
Howard Johnson's restaurants down to three
WATERBURY, Conn., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The owner of ailing Howard Johnson's restaurants plans to revive the chain next year even as it has cut the iconic U.S. chain's size to three restaurants.
The company plans to introduce a new Howard Johnson's ice cream in New York and Puerto Rico in April, then start selling it elsewhere, La Mancha Group in New York, which owns the Howard Johnson's restaurant and food brand, told The Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn.
Once the ice cream is established, the company will open restaurants again, probably in mid-2008, La Mancha President David Kushner said.
La Mancha, which bought the brand from the Wyndham Hotel Group last year, told the Waterbury HoJo restaurant owners to stop using the brand within 30 days after franchise-renewal talks failed, Kushner told the Republican-American.
This leaves three HoJo restaurants -- in Bangor, Maine; and Lake Placid and Lake George, N.Y.
Howard Johnson motor lodges and hotels are separate from the restaurants.
Howard Johnson's was founded in 1925 and grew to more than 1,000 restaurants by the late 1970s.
