AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Wednesday, April 11, 2007:

U.S. Stocks Seen Opening Higher

NEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. stocks headed toward a slightly higher opening Wednesday as investors waited for details about a major restructuring at Citigroup Inc. and minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting. Citigroup, the nation's largest financial institution, is expected to announce thousands of job cuts in a bid to lower the company's expenses. There have been reports that some 15,000 jobs might be on the line, which represents about 5 percent of the company's payroll.

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ConocoPhillips Joins Climate Group

HOUSTON (AP) _ ConocoPhillips has joined several other major corporations urging Congress to require limits on greenhouse gases tied to global warming, the first major U.S. oil company to take such a stance. The company said Wednesday it has joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and environmental groups that in January sent a letter to President Bush stating that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

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Alcoa's 1st-Quarter Profit Rises 9 Pct.

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Record aerospace industry demand and higher metal prices helped lift Alcoa Inc.'s first-quarter profits nearly 9 percent, as the aluminum maker kicked off earnings season and gave Wall Street its first taste of how companies have fared so far this year. Alcoa, the first of the Dow Jones Industrials to report earnings this quarter, said net income grew to $662 million, or 75 cents per share, during the January-March period compared with $608 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

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Lawyers: E-Mails Will Back Katrina Case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ State Farm Insurance Cos. had threatened to fire a firm hired to inspect storm-damaged homes after Hurricane Katrina, and firm leaders suggested in e-mails that the insurer was dissatisfied with how it was reporting damage. Attorneys for homeowners suing State Farm claim the e-mails support their argument that the insurer pressured its engineers to alter their reports on storm-damaged homes so that policyholders' claims could be denied.

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Oil Prices Up in Europe

VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ Benchmark crude prices inched upward Wednesday as traders awaited the weekly U.S. inventory report, which was expected to show a decline in gasoline stocks and an increase in crude oil supplies. Renewed concern about Iran _ the world's fourth-largest crude producer _ also put a relatively high floor under oil prices.

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DOD Proposal Limits High-Interest Loans

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Servicemembers and their dependents could pay no more than 36 percent annual interest on payday loans, vehicle title loans and refund anticipation loans under a preliminary draft of a law intended to stop high-interest loans to the military. The U.S. Department of Defense's draft proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, was a blessing for banking and consumer lending groups that had feared the law would be interpreted so broadly that it would include many common practices such as credit cards, overdraft protection on checking accounts and direct bill payment.

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Staples CEO Gets About $10M Compensation

BOSTON (AP) _ Staples Inc. Chairman and CEO Ronald Sargent received compensation that the company valued at $9.92 million in 2006, a year when the nation's largest office products supplier moved into new North American markets and began to turn around lagging results in Europe, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing Tuesday. Sargent was paid a $1,070,192 salary, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Report: Nasdaq May Buy Philly Exchange

NEW YORK (AP) _ Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. is in talks to acquire the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, according to a published report. The two exchanges have been in talks for months, and the discussions have intensified in recent weeks after Nasdaq's failed bid to buy London Stock Exchange PLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Tuesday night, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

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Venezuela to Take Full Control of CANTV

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) _ Venezuela will take full control ofthe country's largest phone company, CANTV, by June 4, and delist it fromthe New York Stock Exchange, the country's top telecom official saidTuesday. The government on Monday launched an offer ending May 8 to purchaseoutstanding shares in CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, through which itplans to obtain at least a 70 percent stake in the company. ___

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Cozy arrangements between colleges and the companies that lend their students billions of dollars are far more widespread than anticipated, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told The Associated Press Tuesday, just as two more college financial aid officers were suspended amid a probe into the $85 billion industry. Cuomo would not divulge where the burgeoning investigation is headed next, including whether more subpoenas are on the way. But he said the investigation could lead to criminal charges against high-ranking officials at both lending companies and universities.

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Gold Prices

HONG KONG (AP) _ Gold closed at $678.35 an ounce Wednesday in Hong Kong, up $1.80 an ounce from Tuesday's close of $676.55.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks edged higher Wednesday, led by selected electronics and pharmaceutical issues.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar rose in Asia Wednesday as the yen got sold following surprisingly weak data on Japanese machinery orders.

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