Home builders' sentiment index falls again Concerns about the poor job market and a further wave of home foreclosures depressed the spirits of U.S. home builders in early January, an industry trade group reported Tuesday. The home builders' sentiment index declined to 15 in January from 16 in December, the National Association of Home Builders reported. The index, now at the lowest since June, has declined in three of the past four months.
Microsoft won't keep user addresses as long Microsoft Corp. said it would shorten the time it stores Internet users' addresses from Web search queries from 18 months to six months following a request from a European Union data privacy panel. It said the change would make its Bing search a better choice for privacy-conscious users than the world's leading search engine Google Inc. because Microsoft will delete the entire Internet protocol address -- the string of numbers that shows a computer's location -- from search queries.
Google postpones release of phones in China Google said Tuesday that it and a Chinese cell phone service company had postponed the release this week of two mobile phones that would use Google's Android software. Google did not give a reason for the delay, but a person briefed on the situation said the company did not feel that the phones should be released given the current uncertainty over its Chinese operations and its Chinese-language search engine. The company announced last week that it would negotiate with Chinese officials over the government's unwelcome requirement that Google censor searches on its Chinese search engine, Google.cn. The company, based in northern California, said it could shut down or curtail operations in China if the government did not relent.
U.S. ad revenue recovery forecast in 2010 A company that tracks advertising trends raised its outlook for the year Tuesday and said the two-year slump in U.S. ad revenue may be ending. Magna, a unit of the Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc., expects 2010 ad revenue of $161 billion, about the same as last year if political and Olympics ads are excluded. Previously, Magna had forecast a decline of 1.3 percent. The last time ad revenue increased was in 2007. The recession took hold in December of that year as ad revenue hit $204 billion.
OPEC sees oil demand growth holding steady OPEC on Tuesday held its world oil demand growth forecast steady for 2010, noting indications of improvements in the global economy but voicing concerns that oil's price rally remains on shaky ground. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of about 35 percent of the world's crude, said the world economy was projected to grow by 3.1 percent, up from the bloc's forecast of 2.9 percent the previous month.
Morris Publishing files for Chapter 11 Newspaper owner Morris Publishing Group filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday as part of a plan worked out with creditors to cut its debt by about $288.5 million. The privately held owner of 13 daily newspapers including the Augusta Chronicle and Savannah Morning News announced last week it would file a "prepackaged" plan, approved by a majority of its creditors, in federal bankruptcy court.
Weight Watchers sues Jenny Craig over ads Weight Watchers International is suing rival weight-loss company Jenny Craig over ads it says are misleading and deceptive. New York-based Weight Watchers says Jenny Craig is running ads that refer to a study comparing Weight Watchers' weight-loss program and Jenny Craig's packaged meals system. But Weight Watchers says no such study has been done.
NEWS SERVICES
