BIZWATCH : MARKETS.EARNINGS RISE: American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the , up 1-3/4 at 95-7/8. British Airways American depositary shares American Depositary Share (ADS) Foreign stock issued in the US and registered in the ADR system. , up 2-7/8 at 84-1/2. The carriers are discussing an alliance, according to The Wall Street Journal. Morrison Knudsen, halted at 1-1/2. Washington Construction, up 1-5/8 at 10. The troubled engineering company said Thursday it will merge with Washington Construction Group in a deal that would erase its $350 million debt. MEMO TRADE TROUBLE:The U.S. trade deficit soared to $8.92 billion in March as imports hit an all-time high even though the two biggest items on America's overseas shopping list - crude oil and autos - declined. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the deficit in goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. was 26.8 percent higher in March than in February, while the politically sensitive trade gap with Japan widened by 5.5 percent. WAGE WAR:The AFL-CIO AFL-CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. is stepping up pressure for a minimum wage increase with a series of ads targeted for 27 House Republican districts. The ads, which contrast rising corporate profits and a congressional pay hike with a $4.25 minimum wage that has remained unchanged since 1991, begin running Monday in anticipation of a floor vote on the issue. Republicans, who obtained copies of the script, are urging broadcasters not to run the spots, which they labeled ``patently false and misleading.'' FLYING FLORIDA: Virgin Atlantic Airways, hoping to capture a bigger share of the lucrative Florida market, began flying between Manchester and Orlando on Friday. Virgin and British Airways already operate nonstop flights out of London to Orlando. Virgin will cut back from six to three days a week during the slow winter season. SHEEP SLIP-UPA foul-up in voting means sheep producers, importers and others in the lamb and wool business won't have an industry-funded program to boost sales after all, the Agriculture Department said Friday. Though fraud was not alleged, the department's Agricultural Marketing Service The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, and has programs in six commodity areas: cotton, dairy, fruit and vegetable, livestock and seed, poultry, and tobacco. said there were enough problems with how an industrywide referendum was conducted to nullify nul·li·fy tr.v. nul·li·fied, nul·li·fy·ing, nul·li·fies 1. To make null; invalidate. 2. To counteract the force or effectiveness of. the results and schedule a new vote. It could be a year before a new referendum is held. The $15 million-a-year program, paid for by fees, was to have begun in July to replace the controversial, government-funded wool and mohair mohair, hair of the Angora goat or a large group of fabrics made from it, either wholly or in combination with wool, silk, or cotton. The Angora goat, native of Asia Minor for 2,000 years, is bred in other lands, e.g., the SW United States and South Africa. program that Congress voted in 1993 to eliminate. NEW PRODUCT DRUG DUEL:The first drug to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but the maker of a competing medicine plans to ask a court to block its introduction. The FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. announced Friday that it will permit marketing of Avonex for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Avonex is made by Biogen Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.Berlex Laboratories Inc., which makes a slightly different drug, said it will seek an injunction that stops sales of Avonex. CAPTION(S): 2 Charts Chart: (1) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2) BIZ FACTS Petroleum's ups and downs ups and downs pl.n. Alternating periods of good and bad fortune or spirits. ups and downs Noun, pl alternating periods of good and bad luck or high and low spirits |
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