Markets close mixed Thursday
NEW YORK, June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed mixed Thursday with investors rattled by turmoil over Greek debt.
In Athens, Prime Minister George Papandreou is assembling a new Cabinet to work out severe austerity measures required to keep Greece on track to receive its next tranche from a $155 billion emergency loan program granted last year. European finance ministers are discussing a second round of aid while the first bailout package appears to be in jeopardy.
Investors digested mixed economic data Thursday. RealtyTrac said U.S. foreclosure auctions rose 3 percent in May, while default filings dropped 2 percent. The Commerce Department said home construction starts rose 3.5 percent April to May. First-time jobless claims dropped by 6,000 in the week, the Labor Department said.
By close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average added 64.25 points or 0.54 percent to 11,961.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.22 or 0.18 percent to 1,267.64. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 7.76 or 0.29 percent to 2,623.70.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,367 stocks advanced and 1,637 declined on a volume of 4 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 11/32 to yield 2.931 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4192 from Wednesday's $1.4181. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 80.61 from Wednesday's 80.95.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.01 percent, 163.04, to 9,411.28.
In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 0.76 percent, 43.74, to 5,698.81.
Ranches hit by drought take stock in Texas
GONAZALES, Texas, June 16 (UPI) -- Texas ranchers say they are using a variety of strategies to keep herds viable eight months into a historic drought.
"The last eight months have been the driest in the state of Texas since records were first kept in 1895," said Travis Miller, an official at the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
Agriculture extension agent Ryan Martin in Motley County said, "Ranchers are being forced to sell off cattle or invest in more acreage for grazing," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Thursday.
Wesley Welch, assistant manager at Spade Ranches said controlling more land, through buying or leasing, "allows us the ability to move cattle to where there is moisture."
However, "This time it's not the case. Most have no grass, and those that do have no water," he said.
Welch is only 29, but 80-year-old rancher Jim Selman from Gonzales, Texas, concurs.
"This is probably the driest spell we've had in history. Absolutely no rain in May, none in April," Selman said.
Some are moving cattle out of the state to Colorado in search of water or to New Mexico in search of better grazing.
Selman said he would apply for a federal emergency loan through the Livestock Forage Program, but he expects the response will be slow.
As a last resort, some ranchers "burn pear."
That refers to using a propane torch to burning thorns off of prickly pear cactus. Not many have taken that step yet, as the price of propane makes that prohibitive, the newspaper said.
Possible deal made in Air Canada strike
TORONTO, June 16 (UPI) -- The union representing 3,800 striking Air Canada workers said Thursday a tentative deal had been struck in Toronto.
Canadian Auto Workers spokeswoman Shannon Devine made the announcement as parliamentary debate was under way in Ottawa to craft back-to-work legislation, The National Post reported.
"We just reached an agreement with Air Canada," Devine said, adding more details would be released later.
Management and non-union staff have been filling in for the striking customer agents and call center workers since the strike began after midnight Monday.
Hours later, the Conservative government said it would begin work on forcing back-to-work legislation that could include arbitration.
The main point of contention is the money-losing carrier's bid to scale back future pension benefits for new employees.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper deflected criticism for taking action on the first day of the strike in Parliament Thursday, the Globe and Mail said.
"This strike will do significant damage to the Canadian economy," Harper said.
Oracle and HP clash over contract
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. technology companies Hewlett-Packard and Oracle are headed back to the courtroom with HP claiming Oracle has broken a contract, court papers say.
The escalating skirmish between the two companies began when Oracle purchased computer producer Sun Microsystems, The (San Jose, Calif.) Mercury News reported Thursday.
That purchase made longtime collaborators into competitors.
Last year, when HP fired executive Mark Hurd after a relationship scandal involving an HP contractor, Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison reached out and hired Hurd, who he considers a friend.
That provoked a lawsuit as HP contended Hurd would divulge company secrets at his new job.
The suit was later dropped when Hurd gave up his HP stock.
HP now claims Oracle has libeled the company and left 140,000 of its high-end customers high and dry when it decided to stop producing software for computers running Intel's Itanium processor that HP sells for $200,000.
In a statement, Oracle said HP's executives "know full well" that Intel was phasing out the Itanium chip.
