AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Thursday, March 22, 2007:

Stocks Head Toward Flat Opening

NEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. stock futures hinted at a flat opening on Wall Street Thursday, a day after comments from the Federal Reserve set off a big rally. Wall Street's perception that the Fed opened the way to a possible reduction in interest rates drove the Dow Jones industrials higher by about 159 points Wednesday and led the blue chip index to its best three-day performance since November 2004. Stocks in Asia and Europe followed suit Thursday, showing strong gains.

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Fed Concerned About Growth and Inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are still worried about inflation, even while hinting that an interest rate cut may be needed to help boost a weak economy. That suggestion of a change in thinking on interest rates was contained Wednesday in the Fed's latest statement on the economy. Although the Fed made just a slight change in wording from previous statements, it was enough to trigger celebrations on Wall Street.

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Congress to Press Regulators on Mortgages

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Congress will press federal regulators on whether they were lax as high-risk mortgages proliferated during the housing boom and even contributed to the spike in delinquent payments and foreclosures. Some of the biggest companies in the so-called subprime mortgage market also are being called to account by lawmakers as turbulence swirls in the subprime mortgage market, recently roiling Wall Street and helping push the Dow Jones average to its lowest levels in more than four years.

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Motorola Replaces CFO, Slashes Outlook

CHICAGO (AP) _ Hold the phone on that Motorola comeback story. The cell-phone maker's attempted recovery from a late 2006 setback was dealt a severe blow Wednesday when the company warned that sales and profits have weakened further and it will post a first-quarter loss. Acknowledging deeper problems than it had just a month ago when its cell-phone chief left under pressure, Motorola Inc. replaced its chief financial officer and named a new president and chief operating officer.

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High Gas Prices Not Slowing RV Industry

PERRY, Ga. (AP) _ With gas prices climbing, the turnout at a motor-home convention in the heart of Georgia this week is much better than most outsiders would expect. About 20,000 motor-home owners and industry representatives have gathered at the Family Motor Coach Association's 77th International Convention to kick the tires of more than 1,000 enticing new models _ some costing more than $1 million and getting only 6 miles per gallon.

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4 Former Livedoor Executives Convicted

TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese court convicted four former executives of disgraced dot-com company Livedoor of inflating earnings reports Thursday in a scandal that destroyed one of the country's highest-flying Internet startups. The rulings followed Livedoor founder and former CEO Takafumi Horie's conviction last week on similar charges of securities laws violations and his prison sentence of 2 1/2 years. Horie, who had pleaded not guilty, immediately appealed the decision.

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Hitachi to Close Mexico Plant, Shed Jobs

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese electronics maker Hitachi Ltd. said Thursday it will close a factory in Mexico and shed about 4,400 jobs as part of a global overhaul of its slumping hard disk drive business. The plant in Guadalajara will be shuttered by the middle of next year and its production of HDD components shifted to an existing plant in Laguna, Philippines, the company said in a news release.

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Oil Prices Rise Above $60 a Barrel

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices climbed above $60 a barrel in Asian trading Thursday after the U.S. government reported a greater-than-expected drop in gasoline stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 47 cents to $60.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore.

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Malaysia to Scrap Property Gains Tax

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ Malaysian will scrap capital gains tax on property deals from April 1, the prime minister said Thursday as he announced a slew of pro-investment programs and incentives in a bid to boost the economy. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he hoped the decision would "inject more excitement and dynamism in both the property and financial sectors."

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Schwab Trading Shift Faces Revenue Test

NEW YORK (AP) _ Charles Schwab Corp. executives like to stress their shift to depending less on volatile trading commissions as a source of revenue. Now, the recent stock-market swoon may give investors some insight into how well the strategy is faring. The San Francisco company is best known as a discount-brokerage pioneer that helped bring cheap trades to the masses, especially through its Web site. But in recent years, Schwab's reliance on trades has ebbed: Last year, trading revenue made up 18.2 percent of overall net revenue, down from 21.5 percent in 2005.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Thursday at a bid price of $665.00 a troy ounce, up from $658.50 late Wednesday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks rose for a third straight trading session Thursday, led by steelmakers and real estate issues, following Wall Street's overnight rally.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar was flat against the yen in Asia Thursday, as profit-taking by short-term investors offset Japanese importer buying of the U.S. unit.

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