AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Wednesday, February 14, 2007:

Chrysler to Announce Restructuring Plan

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AP) _ Analysts say 10,000 hourly workers probably will lose their jobs as part of DaimlerChrysler's effort to cut costs at its Chrysler Group by more than $2 billion, or $1,000 for every car sold in the United States. Thousands of Chrysler workers were waiting to learn whether they will remain part of a leaner, more competitive company Wednesday, when DaimlerChrysler AG planned to announce a major restructuring at the headquarters of its U.S. operations.

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Analysts: Alcoa Takeover Bid Unlikely

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Potential takeover bids of Alcoa Inc. by one of two Australian-based companies reportedly considering such a move were unlikely because of the U.S. aluminum producer's company dynamics, cost factors and increasing Chinese competition, analysts said Wednesday. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, and Rio Tinto PLC, the world's second-largest iron ore producer, declined to comment on the takeover talk, sparked Tuesday by an unsourced report in the Times newspaper in London.

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Goat Milk Ice Cream Scoops New Audience

PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) _ Got goat milk? Northern California ice cream maker Laura Howard does, and she's using it to turn out a product that's anything but plain vanilla. Howard's goat-milk frozen treats are winning shelf space in upscale grocery freezers across the country. And here's the kicker: They don't taste of goat.

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Fair-Trade Chocolate Arrives in D.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A chocolate company part-owned by a Ghanaian cocoa farmers' cooperative is offering Valentine's Day treats that it says are guilt-free _ calories notwithstanding. Divine Chocolate, a British company that has been operating since 1997, recently set up a sister company in Washington with the aim of bringing "fair-trade chocolate" to the mainstream U.S. consumer. The company pays farmers a guaranteed minimum price for their cocoa beans in an effort to protect them from market fluctuations and help lift them out of the poverty that plagues Africa's cocoa-producing regions.

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Pro-Whaling Nations Discuss Reform

TOKYO (AP) _ Delegates at a whaling conference discussed ways to reform the International Whaling Commission on Wednesday as a boycott by more than half the organization's members continued for a second day. Japan opened the conference Tuesday by issuing a stinging rebuke of the dozens of anti-whaling nations that stayed away, saying their absence would prevent much-needed improvements to the IWC.

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Judge Stalls CVS' Offer for Caremark

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Caremark shareholders will have to wait to vote on a proposed acquisition by CVS Corp. after a Delaware judge ruled in favor of a shareholding pension fund that asked for more time to consider the deal. CVS is competing with a hostile offer from pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. to buy Caremark Rx Inc., though the Caremark board favors the CVS bid.

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Oil Prices Fall Below $59 a Barrel

VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ Oil prices slipped Wednesday after a 2.2 percent jump the previous day as traders awaited the release of weekly U.S. petroleum inventory data. Profit taking appeared to account for much of the decline, which came after revised upward demand forecasts from the world energy watchdog drove prices higher Tuesday.

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Dow Ends Up 102 on Alcoa Bid Speculation

NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street stocks surged Tuesday, pushing up the Dow Jones industrials by more than 100 points as a report that two companies are trying to buy Alcoa Inc. stoked investors' hopes for a pickup in takeover activity. Australia-based mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC are each planning to offer $40 billion for the aluminum producer, according to the Times of London.

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KB Home Posts $49.6M 4Q Loss on Charges

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ KB Home reported a loss in its fourth quarter Tuesday as the homebuilder absorbed a series of charges related to inventory and land options and saw the number of net orders for homes decline sharply amid a tough housing market. But the company's financial results exceeded Wall Street's expectations, and its shares rose $1.49, or 2.9 percent, to close at $53.43 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Nasdaq Shares Plunge As LSE Bid Fails

NEW YORK (AP) _ Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. Chief Executive Robert Greifeld said Tuesday the No. 2 U.S. exchange held talks with top shareholders of the London Stock Exchange and refused to negotiate a higher-priced deal to create a trans-Atlantic powerhouse. The company's shares plunged $4, or 11.4 percent, to close at $31.10. Greifeld said he "chose not to win" when LSE shareholders agreed to tender their shares to the Nasdaq at a higher price than what was on the table. The $5.3 billion hostile takeover offer, one in which the LSE and Nasdaq's management teams failed to meet even once for discussions, lapsed on Saturday.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Wednesday at a bid price of $668.20 a troy ounce, up from $664.30 late Tuesday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks rose for a fourth day, climbing to their highest in more than six years Wednesday, led by technology and steel stocks and helped by Wall Street's advance overnight.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar climbed against the yen in Asian trading Wednesday in light trading ahead of the release of Japanese gross domestic product data.

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