Business News

Puma to sell gasoline-ethanol mix in Puerto Rico

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:57:47 -0400

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Swiss oil company says it will start selling regular gasoline mixed with ethanol as part of a pilot program in Puerto Rico.

Puma Energy Caribe LLC says 56 gas stations across the island will participate in the program starting Wednesday. Puma says that if the program is successful, it will extend it to all its gas stations in the U.S. territory.

Ethanol is routinely mixed with gasoline on the U.S. mainland as part of a 2007 federal renewable fuels law.

Puma last year bought all of Chevron's gasoline stations and underground storage tank facilities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agreement included 185 Texaco-brand gas stations in Puerto Rico and seven stations in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Stock indexes close higher on hopes for Fed

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:33:11 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street as investors bank on continued support from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52 points to close at 15,387 Tuesday, an increase of 0.3 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points to 1,669, or 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite rise five to 3,502, or 0.2 percent.

Stock indexes wobbled between gains and losses in early trading, then took a turn higher after James Bullard, head of the Fed's St. Louis branch, said the Fed should keep buying bonds to energize the economic recovery.

Home Depot rose 2.5 percent after reporting an 18 percent increase in income.

More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.

Japanese executives face prison for price fixing

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:32:11 -0400

DETROIT (AP) — Two executives at Japanese auto supplier Denso Corp. are facing more than a year in U.S. federal prison for fixing prices on auto parts.

Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe have pleaded guilty to charges that they fixed prices and allocated bids for electronic control units and heater control panels that were sold to Toyota Motor Corp. in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Suzuki will serve 16 months in a U.S. prison, while Watanabe will serve 15 months. Both men will pay $20,000 fines and cooperate with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation.

Denso pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to pay a $78 million fine in March 2012.

Denso is one of nine companies and 14 executives involved in the ongoing investigation into price fixing in the auto industry.

NY art dealer accused of tax fraud, selling fakes

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:31:30 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — A Long Island based art dealer has been charged with tax fraud in connection with the sale of fake works attributed to famous artists, officials said Tuesday.

Glafira Rosales was to appear in federal court in Manhattan later Tuesday.

Prosecutors accused the 56-year-old Rosales of failing to report $12.5 million in income from the sale of purported paintings by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and other artists.

Authorities say experts have concluded several of the works were fakes.

The name of Rosales' attorney wasn't immediately available.

The new consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:29:28 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is the last of the three big video game console makers to unveil its latest gaming system. Tuesday's unveiling comes nearly eight years after the Xbox 360 went on sale. It follows last fall's debut of Nintendo's Wii U and a preview in February of the upcoming PlayStation 4 from Sony.

Each machine has a set of features designed to draw gamers away from rival consoles. There's one thing all three have in common, though: They are about more than gaming and include entertainment services such as television, movies and music.

Here's a closer look at the three systems. More details are expected at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles next month.

— Wii U (Nintendo)

The Japanese gaming company launched the Wii U, the follow-up to its popular Wii, in November, making it the only new console out for last year's holiday season. The console features a tablet-like controller with a touch screen, called the GamePad, which can be used to control games on the TV set or to play games separately, as you would on a regular tablet computer. It also allows someone with a GamePad to have a different experience with a game than someone playing it at the same time with a regular Wii controller.

The GamePad also serves as a fancy remote controller to navigate a TV-watching feature called TVii. The service groups your favorite shows and sports teams together, whether it's on live TV or an Internet video service such as Hulu Plus. And it offers water-cooler moments you can chat about on social media.

Unlike the Wii, the Wii U features high-definition graphics. In doing so, Nintendo's system catches up to the years-old Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony.

Sales of the Wii U have been disappointing, with 3.5 million sold as of March 31, the end of Nintendo's fiscal year. Nintendo Co. had originally expected to sell 5.5 million units and later lowered the forecast to 4 million, but it still fell short.

Price: Starts at $300 but some retailers have offered it at lower prices.

— PlayStation 4 (Sony)

Sony shared some details about the PlayStation 4 in February, but it didn't show what the console would look like. The company said the PS4 would essentially be a "supercharged PC," much like the Xbox. That's a big departure from the old and idiosyncratic PlayStation design and should make it easier for developers to create games.

But the adoption of PC chips also means that the new console won't be able to play games created for any of the three previous PlayStations. Players will have to stream older games over the Internet.

Other new features revolve around social networking and remote access. With one button, you can broadcast video of your game play so friends elsewhere can watch. You can also run a game on the PS4 to stream over the Internet to Sony's mobile gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, which debuted last year.

The PlayStation online network will have access to Sony's video and music services, as well as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon — as long as you have subscriptions to those services. You'll also be able to access Facebook.

The PS4 will have a Blu-ray disc drive for movies, just like the PS3. The console will go on sale this holiday season, though Sony Corp. has not disclosed an exact date.

Price: Not yet announced.

— Xbox One (Microsoft)

Microsoft's new console seeks to deliver the Holy Grail of home entertainment — an all-in-one device that lets you watch television, play movies, listen to music and browse the Internet as well as play video games.

The Xbox One lets you use voice commands to switch between watching TV and playing "Call of Duty," or ask "What's on HBO?" to view a TV channel guide. A new version of Microsoft's camera-based Kinect controller offers better motion and voice detection than the one currently available.

Microsoft also reached a multiyear deal with the National Football League to develop new interactive viewing experiences, such as the ability to watch games, chat with other fans, view statistics, access highlights in real time and gather fantasy information about players and teams — all on a single screen.

Microsoft did not immediately say whether Xbox One will always have to be connected to the Internet to work.

Although Nintendo's Wii was the most popular of the three at first, the Xbox 360 has outsold its rivals in recent years largely because of its robust online service, Xbox Live, which allows people to play games with others online. Activision's "Call of Duty," has been a driving force behind Xbox Live, and Microsoft said players will be able to download new content for upcoming titles in the series on the Xbox One before any other system.

The new console will also add the ability to play Blu-ray discs, matching what Sony has in its older PlayStation 3.

Microsoft said the system will launch this year, but it did not give a date.

Price: Not yet announced.

Ex-Ford execs charged in Argentine torture cases

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:53:15 -0400

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Three former Ford Motor Co. executives have been charged with crimes against humanity in Argentina, for allegedly targeting union workers for kidnapping and torture after the country's 1976 military coup.

All three men are in their 80s now, and their case is part of a new wave of prosecutions focusing on corporate support for the dictators who ran Argentina from 1976-1983.

Factory director Pedro Muller, human resources chief Guillermo Galarraga and security manager Hector Francisco Jesus Sibilla are accused of giving names, ID numbers, pictures and home addresses to security forces who hauled two-dozen union workers off the factory floor to be tortured and interrogated and then sent to military prisons.

Judge Alicia Vence said Tuesday that eliminating union resistance inside Ford's Argentina subsidiary was their goal.

Protesters demonstrate against IRS targeting

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:32:00 -0400

CINCINNATI (AP) — Federal buildings across the country became scenes of rallies on Tuesday by tea party activists, protesting the extra scrutiny given to conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service.

A crowd packed the sidewalks in front of and across the street from a Cincinnati federal building housing the IRS offices that handled applications for tax-exempt status.

There were also rallies outside IRS offices in Atlanta, Louisville, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City and other cities.

In Washington, a few dozen people gathered outside IRS headquarters, carrying signs reading "Audit the IRS" and "Don't audit me, Bro." The demonstrators included a George Washington University student who said she's a registered Republican -- but that she'd also be demonstrating if liberal groups had been targeted.

Among the protesters in Kansas City was Vicki Watkins, a substitute teacher who said she thinks the IRS was trying to "get conservative groups to throw in the towel."

Stocks edge higher as traders await Fed's next moves

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:42:16 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are edging higher in midday trading on Wall Street as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve's next moves.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 32 points at 15,367 at noon Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday, a gain of 0.2 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up a point at 1,667, or 0.08 percent. The Nasdaq composite was up two points at 3,498, or 0.05 percent.

Home Depot rose 2 percent, or $1.64, to $78.40 after the home improvement retailer reported an 18 percent increase in income for its first quarter as the housing market continued to recover.

Phoenix restaurant reeling after bad reality TV experience

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:30:45 -0400

PHOENIX (AP) — The owners of a suburban Phoenix restaurant planned to reopen Tuesday night after it temporarily shut its doors following an embarrassing reality TV experience.

Wife and husband Amy and Samy Bouzaglo recently invited the popular makeover show "Kitchen Nightmares" to their Scottsdale restaurant after years of bad online reviews from unhappy customers.

They say they were the victims of online bullying, but host and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay actually agreed with the bad reviews. He said the food was undercooked or it just tasted bad.

The Bouzaglos became angry with Ramsay, and he left the restaurant before making it over -- a first for his show.

Amy's Baking Company temporarily closed after the episode was filmed.

A press conference that had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the restaurant was canceled after legal threats from the show.

ESPN slashing workforce to 'smartly manage costs'

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:27:51 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN says that it is cutting its workforce.

The sports media giant said in a statement Tuesday: "We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs." The company would not say how many jobs are being eliminated, but they include unfilled positions.

ESPN has about 7,000 employees worldwide, with about 4,000 at its headquarters in Bristol, Conn. The vast majority work behind the scenes.

This is the latest in a series of recent job cuts at several Disney divisions. ESPN specifically has seen costs increase with skyrocketing prices for the broadcasting rights to live sports.