UPI NewsTrack Business

Major U.S. markets hit bear conditions

NEW YORK, July 2 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes fell Wednesday with two major boards falling more than 20 percent off their peaks, indicating bear market conditions.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,215.51, down 20.8 percent from its October record, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Nasdaq index also closed in bear territory, the Journal reported.

Markets began to fall midday when Merrill Lynch analysts warned "bankruptcy is not impossible" for General Motors Corp.

GM shares closed down 15.06 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average was off 1.46 percent or 166.75 points on the day. The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.32 percent or 53.51 points to 2,251.46. The Standard and Poor's 500 index also fell, down 23.39 or 1.82 percent to 1,261.52.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 824 stocks advanced and 2,341 declined on a volume of 1.518 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 11/32, to yield 3.965 percent.

The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.5875 from Tuesday's $1.588, while the dollar traded at 105.84 yen from Tuesday's 105.99 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 176.83 points to 13,286.37, off 1.31 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 53.60 points to 5,426.30, down 0.98 percent.

Truck drivers protest fuel costs in London

LONDON, July 2 (UPI) -- Truck drivers calling for a rebate on fuel taxes converged on London Wednesday for escorted, "go-slow" trips through the city, observers said.

Truck drivers gathered on a closed section of road, while police escorted groups of 20 at a time on protest drives through central London using a route that included crossing Westminster Bridge, The Times of London reported.

"The government have got to cut the fuel duty. All this is down to (Prime Minister) Gordon Brown, and he is pulling (Chancellor of the Exchequer) Alistair Darling's strings," truck driver Robin Edmunds told The Times.

After a series of slow-go protests, the action Wednesday is the first that was supported by the Road Haulage Association, the Transportation Association and TransAction 2007, the Times reported.

"If ever there was positive proof that ours is an industry in crisis then this surely must be it," said RHA National Chairman Andy Boyle.

Probe begun on Yahoo! and Google deal

WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice is looking at Google and Yahoo! Inc.'s joint advertising agreement for possible antitrust violations, sources said.

Officials at the Justice Department declined a Washington Post request for comment but legal analysts said they believe the inquiry has found cause for concern, the Post reported.

The Justice Department has asked for "civil investigative demands," which is usually not done "without having identified significant issues," M.J. Moltenbrey, a former director of civil non-merger enforcement at the Justice Department, told the newspaper.

Since the deal was struck in early June, Google and Yahoo! have said they would wait for a Department of Justice review before acting on it. The deal, which Yahoo! said is worth $800 million annually, allows the companies to share ad revenues.

In the deal, Google would supply ads for some Yahoo! Internet searches, the Post reported.

Schlitz beer returns home to big sales

MILWAUKEE, July 2 (UPI) -- Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous -- to borrow from an ad campaign -- is selling out in its hometown with its comeback formula, retailers said.

Pabst Brewing Co., which owns Schlitz beer, reintroduced the "Classic 1960s formula" in Tampa, Fla., and Minneapolis last year, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

In April, Pabst tested the Chicago market and last week sales began in Milwaukee, where the beer was first brewed before the U.S. Civil War.

The new Schlitz is brewed by MillerCoors LLC in Eden, N.C., and sold in bottles, but that didn't stop sales from taking off in Milwaukee, the newspaper reported.

Beer Capitol Distributing Inc., which distributes the beer in Milwaukee County, started with 30 sellers, many of whom quickly ran out, the newspaper said.

Ray's Liquor, in Wauwatosa, Wis., received 70 cases, which sold out in one day, manager Roy Mueller said.

"That's quite amazing," he said, expecting his next shipment will be rationed to about 40 customers he has on a waiting list.

"We'll probably allocate a six-pack apiece," he said.