AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, Feb. 1, 2008:

Motorola Mulls Breakup, Phone Unit Sale

CHICAGO (AP) — Less than two years past the most successful stretch in its 80-year history, Motorola Inc. is considering a sale or spinoff its now free-falling cell phone business. Even a breakup of the troubled company may not head off another proxy fight with billionaire financier Carl Icahn.

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Google's Earnings Miss Raises Worries

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google Inc.'s top executives say all is well at the Internet search leader despite a rare earnings disappointment, but investors are worried something is amiss. Concerns about how the feeble U.S. economy might affect Google contributed to a nearly 20 percent decline in the company's stock during January.

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Marketers Make Call on Super Bowl TV Ads

CINCINNATI (AP) — The nation's biggest advertiser is running some options for the nation's biggest football game. Procter & Gamble Co., with a nearly $8 billion global annual advertising budget, has already aimed some brand promotions, using celebrities, online sites and contests, at football fans and families as the Super Bowl approaches on Sunday. But Tide detergent is going for the big play.

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Nissan's Quarterly Profit Soars

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan reported a 26.6 percent jump in October-December profit Friday and kept its full year forecasts as strong sales appeared to quell looming worries about a U.S. slowdown and an unfavorably strong yen. Profit at Nissan Motor Co., which has an alliance with Renault SA of France, rose to 132.22 billion yen ($1.24 billion) for the fiscal third quarter from 104.46 billion yen the same period the previous year.

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Bush Lobbies for Economic Deal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — President Bush is relying on his bully pulpit to get an economic deal done, a strategy proving tough with a Senate that fumes at being bullied. Bush was pushing to boost the sagging economy with a plan of tax rebates for millions of people and tax breaks for companies. His latest try comes as the fragile partnership that led to an economic recovery deal in the House appears to be unraveling in the Senate.

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FBI Director: Mortgage Fraud Substantial

HONOLULU (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday that the agency is committed to investigating and prosecuting companies involved in mortgage fraud and other violations in connection with home loans made to risky borrowers. Mueller said probes were being conducted across the country, including in Hawaii, where he stopped on his way back from a trip through Asia.

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Economy, Credit Boom Transform Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Maria Nazare de Souza beams as she shows off her newfound wealth: a two-chair beauty salon with a tiny two-room apartment above it. After renting for years in the vast slum of Heliopolis, de Souza and her husband fulfilled an almost unthinkable dream, becoming homeowners with the help of their savings and a loan requiring monthly payments of just $59.

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Mitsubishi Motor Trial to Start in Fla.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors is being accused of neglecting a seatbelt defect that may have caused a death in a rollover accident in a product liability trial opening in the U.S. Monday. The lawsuit, filed in Circuit Court in Palm Beach County, Fla., says a seatbelt in a 2001 Montero sport utility vehicle, designed to introduce 10 inches of slack during an accident, led to the September 2004 death of Scott Laliberte, a 25 year-old college student.

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Farmers Use More Legal Guest Workers

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — In 2006, just 12 Washington state farmers sought to bring in foreign workers to pick fruits and vegetables and prune trees under a federal guest worker program. A year later, that figure more than doubled. And already in 2008, eight farmers have applied to bring in foreign workers this coming season.

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Financial Turmoil Likely to Continue

NEW YORK (AP) — As bad news about the financial system piles up, trust — the pillar of investing — is being buried. The most recent fears are tied to the potential failure of bond insurers, the companies that back the funding for hospitals, schools and other public works. A meltdown there could deliver another devastating blow to battered banks and force higher taxes on homeowners.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) — Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $926.65 a troy ounce, up from $922.95 late Thursday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese shares fell Friday after Japanese banks reported larger-than-expected losses due to the subprime mortgage crisis. A slump in China's Shanghai Stock Exchange also weighed on Tokyo trade. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 95.31 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 13,497.16 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The index rose 1.85 percent the previous day.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) — The dollar slipped against the yen Friday in Asia as Japanese exporters sold the currency, with many players staying on the sidelines ahead of major U.S. economic indicators due later in the day. The U.S. dollar was trading at 106.40 yen midafternoon Friday in Tokyo, down from 106.43 yen late Thursday in New York.

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