NEW YORK (AP) — A slump in energy stocks stymied a rebound in U.S. indexes today as the price of oil plunged the most in two years. The decline in oil prices followed forecasts for weaker global demand this year and next, a sign of slowing economic growth. By the end of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average h ad lost 5.88 points. The S&P 500 index rose 2.96 and the Nasdaq gained 13.52 points.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A lawyer for billionaire Carl Icahn has bluntly told a bankruptcy court judge that Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort will have to close if the judge doesn’t cancel its union contract. Alan Brilliant tells U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross that Trump Entertainment Resorts needs the financial relief that breaking the union contract would provide. As the judge appeared to be making up his mind whether to rule on the question, Brilliant says that if the decision went against Trump Entertainment, the business will not survive.
MILAN (AP) — Italian and Chinese companies have signed deals worth 8 billion euros ($10 billion), including an order for 50 helicopters from Italian defense giant Finmeccanica and a Chinese line of credit to Italian energy company Enel. A Chinese official says the deals were the result of intensifying economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as the U.S. job market has finally strengthened, the Federal Reserve now confronts a new worry: A sputtering global economy that’s spooked investors across the world. The economic slump could spill into the United States, potentially weakening job growth and keeping inflation well below the Fed’s target rate. Such fear has led some analysts to suggest that the Fed might wait until deep into next year to start raising interest rates — and then raise them more gradually than expected.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A trial has begun in Florida for a former top executive at Swiss banking giant UBS AG on charges of conspiring with other bankers and thousands of wealthy Americans to conceal $20 billion in assets from the IRS. Raoul Weil, who once ran the global wealth management operations for UBS, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Prosecutors say he oversaw a lucrative, illegal business in the U.S. that recruited the wealthy to hide money behind opaque Swiss bank secrecy laws and use phony companies, foundations and other entities.
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