AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Monday, July 16, 2007:

EADS Taps Gallois As New President

TOULOUSE, France (AP) _ EADS, the parent of troubled planemaker Airbus, is abandoning its twin-chief executive structure, co-CEO Tom Enders said Monday, with France's Louis Gallois taking the company's reins. "We need to be a normal company," Enders said, speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Enders said he become CEO of Airbus, which is struggling with losses amid production delays for its superjumbo A380.

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Ford Denies It's in Talks to Sell Volvo

DETROIT (AP) _ Ford Motor Co., responding to reports that it's putting its Volvo unit up for sale, said it is not negotiating with anyone to sell the Swedish automaker. The Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources in London, said the decision to sell Volvo, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, was made in the past two weeks, but that the timing of the sale had yet to be decided.

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Earnings Bombard Wall Street This Week

NEW YORK (AP) _ With Wall Street coming off a record week that saw the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Dow Jones industrials barrel to record highs, investors will be waiting to see if earnings and economic reports justify the market's huge advance. Eleven of the 30 companies that make up the Dow release their quarterly results this week, while the government will come out with key readings on inflation. The data will help investors determine if the solid corporate growth amid moderating price pressures they're looking for is indeed in store for the second half of 2007.

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China: U.S. Media Exaggerating Food Woes

BEIJING (AP) _ China's top quality control official accused foreign media of raising unnecessary alarm about the safety of the country's food and drug exports, complaining in particular about U.S. reports. The U.S. and other countries have cracked down on Chinese products since the Food and Drug Administration found in April that North American dogs and cats had been poisoned by tainted Chinese pet food ingredients. Since then, a growing number of Chinese products have been found to contain potentially toxic chemicals and other adulterants.

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Regulators Eye Whole Foods CEO Postings

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Federal regulators have undertaken an informal investigation in the anonymous online postings of John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc., some of which denigrated a smaller rival grocery chain and that raise novel questions for securities watchdogs. Mackey's postings over seven years on Internet financial forums, cloaked under the name "rahodeb," at times attacked Wild Oats Markets Inc., calling its stock overpriced and predicting it would fall into bankruptcy and then be sold after its shares dipped below $5. Whole Foods announced in February that it would buy Wild Oats for around $565 million, or $18.50 a share.

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Conrad Black Prosecution Enron Byproduct

CHICAGO (AP) _ Attorneys for Conrad Black assured jurors as his corporate fraud trial opened in March that the case involving the former media tycoon and British lord was not another Enron. It wasn't. But Enron turned out to be inextricably linked to his downfall.

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Oil Prices Rise Above $74 a Barrel

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices advanced Monday, adding to gains made in the previous session amid concerns over production in the North Sea. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 26 cents to $74.19 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mid-afternoon in Singapore.

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Few Residents Covered by Flood Insurance

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) _ While his flooded neighbors faced an uncertain future, homeowner Bob Foust was already well under way this week repairing the water damage to his house upstream of the refinery's oil spill. Not only did his house escape the oily gunk carried by floodwaters, but Foust had a very rare commodity in this southeast Kansas city _ flood insurance.

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AirTran to Make Case for Midwest Buyout

MILWAUKEE (AP) _ The winds may be changing at Midwest Air Group Inc. The company that steadfastly rejected escalating offers from AirTran Holdings Inc. is opening its board room doors to its rival. The low-cost carrier will make its case Monday for its hostile buyout of Midwest to the company's board of directors, who have continually pledged that Midwest Airlines is more profitable alone. AirTran Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Leonard said the Orlando-based operator of AirTran Airways will dispel rumors about its buyout offer _ AirTran does not, for instance, plan job cuts at Midwest's Milwaukee headquarters. He and other executives will make a presentation and take questions over a three-hour period, when tensions could run high, he said.

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Sale of Economist's Estate Brings $2.35M

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ A court-ordered sale of the estate of a former university economist and professor accused of fraud has brought in $2.35 million for the estimated 600 people who the government says gave him money to invest. Court delegates auctioned the last of Al Parish's estate Saturday, but some items, including guitars owned by former Beatle George Harrison and Rolling Stone Keith Richards, didn't receive minimum bids.

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Gold Prices

Hong Kong (AP) _ Gold closed at $667.45 an ounce on Monday in Hong Kong, down 20 U.S. cents an ounce from Friday's close of $667.65.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese financial markets were closed Monday for Marine Day, a national holiday. Markets reopen on Tuesday, July 17.

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