U.S. markets mixed Thursday
NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. markets were mixed Thursday morning, following a downward slide Wednesday that reached from Asia to Europe to the United States.
Bank of America said Wednesday it lost $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 and $2.4 billion for the year. Investment bank Morgan Stanley said it earned $413 million in the fourth quarter and $1.15 billion for the year.
In late morning trading Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 195.74 points, 1.85 percent, to 10,407.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.50 percent, 17.09 points, to 1,120.95. The Nasdaq composite index decreased 0.92 percent, 21.19 points, to 2,270.06.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bill fell 4/32 to yield 3.669 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4101 from Wednesday's $1.4104. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 91.74 yen from Wednesday's 91.23 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.22 percent, 130.89, to 10,868.41.
Banned companies awarded stimulus funding
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Six companies deemed ineligible for U.S. stimulus funds were awarded $24.8 million targeted for disadvantaged companies, a private study showed.
USA Today reported Thursday that an analysis of federal records conducted by the newspaper revealed some funds designated for companies defined as firms owned by minorities or disabled veterans or based in low-income communities were given to companies banned from federal funding due to prior indiscretions.
A Maryland construction firm, Platinum One Contracting, for example, was banned in 2009 after the Government Accountability Office found it had improperly used an address in a poor neighborhood as the site of its headquarters. In April, the company was awarded a $2.2 million contract for construction work at Andrews Air Force Base, the newspaper said.
The company's attorney, Brian Stolarz said the firm, "believes it complied in good faith," with federal guidelines.
Of the $24.8 million in wayward stimulus finding, the Air Force and the Office of Veterans Affairs awarded $21.2 million and $2.8 million, respectively, the newspaper said.
House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said, "when impostors game these programs, they rob deserving small firms of contracting opportunities."
EU says OK to Oracle on Sun purchase
BRUSSELS, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The European Commission Thursday granted software firm Oracle permission to take over Sun Microsystems, concluding an anti-trust investigation.
Nine months after Oracle announced it had struck a deal with Sun, European Union antitrust commissioner Neelie Kroes embraced the concept, The New York Times reported Thursday.
"I am now satisfied that competition and innovation will be preserved on all the markets concerned. Oracle's acquisition of Sun has the potential to revitalize important assets and create new and innovative products," Kroes said.
In negotiating to prevent a prolonged legal dispute, Oracle said it would commit itself to supporting MySQL, an open-source database program that Sun purchased in 2008 for $1 billion.
It has been downloaded more than 100 million times since 2000, the Times said. Oracle agreed to continue with MySQL's current commercial licenses for five years and guarantee that it would not file copyright claims against companies or individuals, the Times said.
WB: Global growth forecast at 2.7 percent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The World Bank says global economic growth is expected to be 2.7 percent this year and 3.2 percent next year but warned of problems ahead.
"The acute phase of the financial crisis has passed and a global economic recovery is under way," the bank said in its Global Economic Prospects for 2010. However, the report said the recovery remains fragile and is "expected to slow in the second half of 2010 as the growth impact of fiscal and monetary measures wane and the current inventory cycle runs its course."
The global economy contracted 2.2 percent in 2009.
The report said as industrial production growth is already slowing, employment growth will remain weak and joblessness "is expected to remain high for many years."
The overall strength of the recovery and its durability will be governed by the extent to which household and business-sector demand strengthens over the next few quarters.
The bank said economic activity in most developing countries is recovering and overall growth is expected to pick up from 1.2 percent in 2009 to 5.2 percent this year and to 5.8 percent next year.
Prospects in rich countries, which declined by 3.3 percent in 2009, are expected to increase by 1.8 in 2010 and 2.3 percent in 2011. The United States will see a 2.5-percent growth this year and 2.7 percent next year.
