Daily Herald | Posted: Thursday, January 8, 2009 11:00 pm
NEW YORK -- Department-store operator Macy's Inc. said Thursday it will close 11 underperforming stores in nine states -- affecting 960 employees -- and lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter after one of the weakest holiday seasons in years. None of the affected stores are in Utah. Stores slated to close include locations in Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis, among others. Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. says the closures will cost about $65 million, most of which will be booked in the 2008 fourth quarter.
NEW YORK -- A deal to help head off more mortgage foreclosures pulled Wall Street out of a slump Thursday, giving stocks a mostly higher close. Democratic lawmakers reached an agreement with Citigroup Inc. on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter loans in an effort to prevent homes from going into foreclosure. Other lenders are expected to follow suit.
Wall Street was down for much of the session after a profit warning from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. intensified fears that consumers are even worse off than thought. Their reluctance to spend -- evident in Thursday's retail sales reports from many of the nation's biggest merchants -- could make it harder for the country to recover from the recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a modest decline while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose more than 1 percent. Tech stocks gained on the belief that the industry will lead the market's recovery. The number of advancing stocks outpaced decliners by about 2-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange.
"Instead of people selling into the rallies they're starting to buy into the dips," said Bill Groenveld, head trader for vFinance Investments, referring to the market's shift away from the panic that dominated trading in the fall. The intense anxiety on the Street from September into November had investors quickly selling after big gains and continuing to sell after big declines.
The agreement between Citigroup and Sens. Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer and Christopher Dodd raised hopes that the steep downturn in the housing market that has badly hurt consumer spending and the overall economy could be halted. The lending industry until now had fought the concept, saying it would force lenders to raise mortgage rates. Housing stocks rose on the news.
LG Electronics Demonstrates New Products for ATSC Mobile Digital TV
LAS VEGAS -- The co-developer of the ATSC Mobile Digital Television (DTV) Candidate Standard, LG Electronics, today announced handheld and mobile receiver products to support broadcasters' mobile DTV deployments in 2009. Demonstrated at the 2009 International CES(R), the prototype LG products include:
The first ATSC Mobile DTV MP3 player with a 3-inch touch-screen display
A portable DVD player with a wide 7-inch LCD swivel screen and integrated ATSC Mobile DTV tuner
A mobile phone with a large 3-inch touch-screen display with Electronic
Service Guide (ESG) functions, including TV Guide(R) program guide
A mobile phone with a 2.8-inch dual-touch screen with QWERTY keyboard
A USB "dongle" receiver for laptop PCs
LG Electronics also has collaborated with leading automotive electronics suppliers, including Kenwood, Visteon Corporation, Delphi and Hyundai-Kia, providing technical support for in-car ATSC Mobile DTV receivers.
"The timely introduction of a wide variety of ATSC Mobile DTV-compatible devices will be crucial to the creation of a robust mobile digital TV market," said Brandon Burgess, chairman of the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), an alliance of more than 800 broadcasters promoting the new standard. "Broadcasters applaud LG's leadership, both in the development of the standard and in deploying mobile DTV receivers to support our launch plans in 2009 and beyond."
Dr. Woo Paik, president and chief technology officer, LG Electronics, said, "Digital TV broadcasts to mobile and handheld devices will represent significant new opportunities for consumer electronics manufacturers as digital TV stations deliver a wide range of exciting programming using the new standard." He said LG Electronics will offer a Reference Design Kit intended to help other receiver manufacturers develop and rapidly deploy ATSC Mobile devices.