AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Wednesday, January 24, 2007:

Bush Seeks Cutback in Gas Consumption

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush on Tuesday asked Congress to help the nation reduce its gasoline consumption during the next ten years, outlining an energy plan that would seek increased fuel economy standards from the auto industry. "It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply _ and the way forward is through technology," Bush said in his State of the Union address before Congress.

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Yahoo's 4Q Profit Tops Analyst Forecasts

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ After beating analysts' earnings expectations for the first time in more than a year, Yahoo Inc. is hoping to make it a more regular habit with an improved advertising system designed to make the Internet icon more competitive with the Web's top moneymaking machine, Google Inc. The Sunnyvale-based company plans to unveil the long-awaited upgrade in the United States on Feb. 5, nearly two months ahead of a timetable that management outlined in October. That announcement, made late Tuesday, lifted Yahoo's stock price nearly 6 percent and overshadowed the Sunnyvale-based company's fourth-quarter profit report.

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Sun Returns to Black After Years in Red

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Wall Street has welcomed Sun Microsystems Inc. back in the black, but investors are questioning whether the notoriously boom-and-bust company can remain profitable for the long term. For the three months ended Dec. 31, the server and software maker earned $126 million, or 3 cents per share, up from a net loss of $223 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

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AMD Reports 4Q Loss on Acquisition Costs

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has scored some of its most dramatic victories against archrival Intel Corp. over the past year with soaring sales of the high-margin server chips that help power corporate networks. But AMD's stock price tumbled more than 4 percent Tuesday after the company said sales of those profitable processors flattened in the fourth quarter and suffered from "significantly" lower selling prices because of a brutal price war with Intel.

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Philadelphia Newspapers Being Revamped

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ The Philadelphia Inquirer plans to unveil a news "express" section in early February to attract busy readers, one of several strategies to boost readership that also include a sponsored TV guide and new Web sites for local car and real estate listings. "We have a plan to turn this business around," Brian Tierney, publisher of the Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't want to say it's going to be easy, and certainly we're not going to solve the problems of the media industry ... but we're going to fix Philadelphia."

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Oil Prices Drop 42 Cents

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices fell back on Wednesday amid expectations that U.S. petroleum inventories rose in the most recent week. After jumping the previous day, light, sweet crude for March delivery dropped 42 cents to $54.62 in afternoon Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Japan Summit Aims to Save Tuna Stocks

TOKYO (AP) _ Nothing highlights Japan's insatiable hunger for tuna like the fish aisle at a supermarket _ brick-size chucks of savory red meat, trays of delicately sliced sashimi and shelf-loads of sushi rolls. Prized bluefin specimens the size of grown men, hooked as far away as the Mediterranean, are packed in ice and flown for next-day delivery to Tokyo, where they can fetch hundreds of dollars per pound at auction.

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Efforts to Lower Hawaii Gas Prices Snarl

HONOLULU (AP) _ More than eight months after Hawaii suspended its first-in-the-nation cap on gas prices, the latest attempt to lower motorists' bills is stuck in neutral. Under the law passed in the waning hours of the 2006 legislative session, Hawaii's two oil refiners are required to periodically disclose the number of gallons sold, the wholesale fuel prices they charge, their operating expenses and their profit margins.

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Wall Street Advances on Oil Spike

NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street rebounded Tuesday, rising moderately as crude oil surged more than $2 a barrel and triggered a rally among energy producers. Investors regained their optimism about corporate profits after a series of positive earnings reports. Energy prices spiked after the Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the U.S. will double the size of the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Prices were already rising as a cold snap in the northeast United States was seen increasing demand for heating fuel in the region.

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Bank of America, Wachovia Profits Rise

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Fourth-quarter earnings rose strongly at Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp., driven by acquisitions last year that helped the banks avoid the interest-rate squeeze that has hampered some of the nation's other leading banks. Bank of America, the nation's No. 2 bank, said Tuesday that fourth-quarter net income jumped 47 percent, aided by its takeover of credit card issuer MBNA Corp. It's local rival, No. 4 Wachovia, said its 35 percent gain in fourth-quarter earnings was driven by its purchase of Golden West Financial Corp., which was completed in October.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Wednesday at a bid price of $642.75 a troy ounce, down from $645.12 late Tuesday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks advanced to a fresh nine-month high Wednesday, helped by Wall Street's rebound overnight, as investors bought laggards such as shipping and utilities stocks.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ Bearish sentiments toward the yen sent the euro to a record high against the Japanese currency Wednesday in Asia, although the dollar dipped slightly against the yen.

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