Dow closes flat Monday
NEW YORK, N.M., April 11 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones industrial average closed flat Monday as tensions related to a potential government shutdown shifted to concerns about first quarter earnings.
News a federal government shutdown was averted late Friday meant the mood on markets Monday was dominated by wait-and-see, as well as corporate reports on first quarter performances, set to begin after markets close with a report from Alcoa.
By close of trading, the DJIA added 1.06 points or 0.01 percent to 12,381.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.71 or 0.28 percent to 1,324.46. The Nasdaq composite index was off 8.91 or 0.32 percent to 2,771.51.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 911 shares advanced and 2,089 declined on a volume of 3.4 billion shares traded.
The 10-year treasury note fell 1/32 to yield 3.587 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4433 from Friday's $1.4457. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 84.62 yen from Friday's 84.85 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.5 percent, 48.38, to 9,719.70.
In London, the FTSE 100 index was flat, losing 0.04 percent, 2.31, to 6,053.44.
Renault flips on corporate espionage case
PARIS, April 11 (UPI) -- French automaker Renault SA said it had reached tentative settlements with three improperly fired executives, but others could lose jobs due to the scandal.
The scandal began in January, when the company said it had evidence three executives in its electric car division had been paid to leak information. The company has since said it had been scammed and paid for fraudulent information that implicated the executives, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
After a director's meeting Monday in which Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn was reported to have apologized to board members, Renault said second in command, Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata, would be reassigned and three officials in the firm's internal security office would now be subjected to disciplinary action.
Chief legal counsel Christian Husson, corporate secretary Laurence Dors and senior executive Jean-Yves Coudriou were all suspended, the firm said.
Renault said it had reached preliminary settlements with Michel Balthazard, Matthieu Tenenbaum and Bertrand Rochette, the three who were fired in January, and with Philippe Clogenson, an executive wrongfully dismissed in 2009.
French authorities are investigating the fraud concerning the purchase of false information, the newspaper said.
Who gets Google? A regulatory dilemma
WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- It is a coin toss to see which U.S. regulator takes the lead in a broad probe of Internet giant Google for possible antitrust practices, observers said.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice both have jurisdiction over antitrust laws and both have considerable expertise and some experience taking on technology firms, a relatively new frontier the legal landscape, Politico reported Monday.
In the Justice Department's favor is a recent case that forced Google to accept conditions as it bought travel software firm ITA, the department's experience taking on Microsoft in 1993, its successful 2008 challenge to an advertising deal between Google and Yahoo!, and its challenge of Google's settlement with publishers and authors that was meant to give it control over a massive digital library, the Washington publication said.
In the FTC's favor is a victory that forced Google to subject its privacy practices to regulatory review for 20 years, a recently beefed up staff for tackling technology firms and its ability to employ Section 5 of the FTC act that allows it to "a much lower standard of proof," said antitrust attorney Makan Delrahim, formerly with the Justice Department.
"If I were Google, I'd be more concerned about FTC," Delrahim told Politico.
There are various guesses, but no definitive answer yet to the question posed by Rebecca Arbogast, managing director of research firm Stifel Nicolaus: "Who is going to be the cop on the Google beat?"
NYSE Euronext goes with German bid for now
NEW YORK, April 11 (UPI) -- NYSE Euronext said it preferred a bid from Germany's Deutsche Borse over one led by U.S. company Nasdaq OMX Group as it feared antitrust regulations.
NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Neiderauer said the Nasdaq bid made in conjunction with IntercontinentalExchange was a "loosely worded proposal (that) didn't address the rather obvious execution risks," The New York Times reported Monday.
The proposal from Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange, known as ICE, had outlined a plan for Nasdaq to take over the New York Stock Exchange, an icon of New York capitalism, while ICE took control of NYSE Euronext's derivatives business.
The bid from Nasdaq and ICE had more capital behind it. That bid valued NYSE Euronext at $11.3 billion, while the bid from Deutsche Borse is an all-stock deal worth $9.7 billion.
Nasdaq and ICE tried to sweeten the deal politically by keeping New York in the name of the new company, but also said it would save $740 million in three years with reduced operating costs. Generally, that means job losses, which does not soften the blow economically or politically.
