AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, June 1, 2007:

Bancroft Family to Meet With Murdoch

NEW YORK (AP) _ After initially rebuffing an offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the Bancroft family says it is ready to meet with the media mogul to discuss his interest in buying Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. The Bancrofts, who control the shareholder vote of Dow Jones, said in a statement late Thursday that after reviewing Dow Jones and the rapidly changing arena of business news and information in which it operates, "the mission of Dow Jones may be better accomplished in combination or collaboration with another organization, which may include News Corporation."

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628 Sickened by Recalled Peanut Butter

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ The number of people sickened since August by peanut butter tainted with salmonella has grown by more than 200, according to a new federal report. The outbreak, first reported in February, now includes 628 cases in 47 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. It is the first update on the number of cases linked to the outbreak since early March, when officials said 425 cases had been confirmed in 44 states.

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Chinese Stocks Close Down 2.7 Percent

BEIJING (AP) _ Chinese stocks dropped Friday for a second time in three days following government efforts to cool a sizzling market that economists worry may be creating a price bubble. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended down 2.7 percent at 4000.74 after briefly rising in heavy trading. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second market fell for a third straight day, ending down 5 percent at 1128.57.

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Dell Lays Off 8,000; 1Q Earnings Sag

DALLAS (AP) _ Dell Inc. beat Wall Street predictions in its first-quarter earnings report but said it would eliminate 10 percent of its work force over the next year as part of a broad plan to trim costs and become more competitive with rivals. The computer maker said it earned $759 million, or 34 cents per share, in the three months ended May 4, down slightly from $762 million, or 33 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose nearly 1 percent to $14.6 billion.

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Oil Prices Climb on U.S. Fuel Report

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices rose Friday after a U.S. government weekly fuel supply report showed an unexpected decline in crude stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for July delivery added 17 cents to $64.18 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore.

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Moratorium on Commercial Whaling Upheld

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ The International Whaling Commission passed a resolution Thursday that upholds a 21-year moratorium on commercial whaling. The move on the final day of the commission's annual meeting essentially snubbed a symbolic resolution passed by a one-vote majority last year that said the ban was meant to be temporary and was no longer needed.

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New WellPoint CEO Must Win Over Wall St.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Until his abrupt resignation Wednesday night, WellPoint Chief Financial Officer David Colby was the company's trusted face on Wall Street. Now the task of maintaining investor confidence in the nation's largest health insurer falls to its new CEO, a relatively unknown executive whose legacy largely will hinge on how she handles the aftermath of the shake-up. Angela F. Braly was poised to replace WellPoint President and CEO Larry Glasscock on Friday, a day after the company announced Colby's resignation for violating policies on employee conduct.

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Hovnanian Posts 3rd Straight Loss

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) _ After three consecutive quarters of losses, homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. says better management of its land inventory should allow the company to post a profit in the fourth quarter and for 2008. The company will reevaluate and renegotiate land options, and slow down expenditures on land development to manage inventory levels and generate positive cash flow, Chief Financial Officer J. Larry Sorsby said Thursday after Hovnanian reported it swung to a loss in the second quarter.

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Argentina Cold Snap Causes Energy Woes

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) _ A cold snap in Argentina led to electricity and natural gas shortages this week, idling factories and taxis and causing sporadic blackouts in the capital. Beset by the coldest May since 1962, millions of residents fired up space heaters, straining Buenos Aires' electrical grid for three nights and forcing authorities to slash power supply nationwide and briefly cut domestic natural gas provisions and exports to Chile.

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California Expects Record Almond Crop

LIVINGSTON, Calif. (AP) _ They may have started as a few trees planted by Spanish missionaries, but almonds are now a big crop in California, where ideal climate and irrigation have let the nuts bloom into a $2 billion-a-year business. On Scott Hunter's farm in the hot, fertile San Joaquin Valley, limbs on some of the younger trees are having a hard time holding up what he predicts will be part of "a once-in-a-lifetime type of crop" when the harvest begins in mid-August.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $663.50 a troy ounce, up from $660.90 late Thursday.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar rose in Asia Friday as investors stepped up yen-carry trades to take advantage of low Japanese interest rates to buy other currency with the yen.

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