UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets lower Thursday

NEW YORK, July 24 (UPI) -- Major U.S. stock indexes edged lower Thursday on losses at Ford Motor Co. and a jump in first-time unemployment claims.

Ford's second-quarter report showed losses of $8.67 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. On the labor front, 34,000 additional unemployment claims were filed on the week, the U.S. Labor Department said.

In late-morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 125.63 points to 11,506.75, down 1.08 percent. The Nasdaq composite index was at 2,303.27, down 22.61 points or 0.97 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 14.24 points, or 1.11 percent, to 1,267.95.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 5/32 to yield 4.099 percent.

Internationally, the euro traded at $1.5675 Thursday, compared to $1.569 at close Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was at 107.67 from 107.86 Wednesday.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index closed 2.18 percent higher at 13,603.31, up 290.38 points.

Hedging fuel has lifted Southwest Airlines

DALLAS, July 24 (UPI) -- Southwest Airline's fuel-price hedging program has put it in a rare position as a profitable U.S. airline in a period of industry decline, analysts said.

By contracting for fuel prices well in advance, the carrier often beats the spot price for jet fuel, USA Today reported Thursday.

Since 1998, Southwest has saved $3.5 billion compared with the average price other airlines paid for fuel, the newspaper said.

The savings equal 83 percent of the company's profits going back more than 9 years, the USA Today reported.

Hedging "is about having an insurance policy against prices rising," said Ben Brockwell of the Oil Price Information Service.

As fuel costs have skyrocketed in the past six months, other air carriers have quickly dropped routes and added fees to ensure adequate revenue. But, Southwest has managed to buy itself time to find a strategy for the rising fuel costs, analysts said.

Southwest's hedging program "means that they'll still be there in a couple of years when you want to fly, even though some other carriers may not be," said Paul Stebbins, chief executive officer of World Fuel Services.

Canada's TD Bank drops U.S. name battle

TORONTO, July 24 (UPI) -- Canada's Toronto Dominion Bank has abandoned its legal fight over its U.S. name with a 12-outlet Massachusetts bank.

TD acquired Commerce Bancorp Inc., of New Jersey for $8.5 billion last October and adopted the name TD Commerce Bank. That was met with a legal challenge by the Boston-area Commerce Bank & Trust Co., which claimed its customers could be confused by the name, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

Bharat Masrani, TD's chief executive officer of U.S. operations, told the Globe and Mail the 1,100 branches would be rebranded without the commerce reference.

"After several weeks of looking at options and looking at what makes sense here, we decided to move forward and rename our entity into TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank," Masrani said in an interview.

"Rather than spend countless time as well as valuable resources fighting this legal challenge in court, we have decided to remain focused on our customers and employees and move forward under our new brand name of TD Bank," he said.

Cost of living shifts on global scale

NEW YORK, July 24 (UPI) -- Shifting currency values make the United States a better bargain for foreigners living in U.S. cities this year, a private research group said.

The 2008 Mercer Cost of Living survey, comparing 143 cities on six continents, found that Moscow is the most expensive city in the world, with prices there propped up by the strengthening ruble, CNNMoney reported.

Tokyo is the second most expensive city in the world, trading places with London, which ranks third on the list.

A cup of coffee serves as a dramatic case in point. A cup of coffee that costs $3.75 in New York City goes for $6.75 in Paris, $6.32 in Dublin and $5.15 in Berlin, CNNMoney reported.

The declining dollar shifted the ranking of 19 U.S. cities, Mitch Barnes, a principal at Mercer said. In the past year, New York dropped seven spots to No. 22. Los Angeles moved from No. 42 to No. 55 and Washington slid from No. 85 to No. 107, the report said.

Cities with stronger currencies are more expensive for U.S. expatriates. Perth, Australia, is more expensive than Los Angeles, jumping 31 spots to No. 53.