BRIEFCASE.

Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Poll: Pricey gas curbs spending

COSTA MESA -- About 65 percent of consumers with annual incomes of less than $40,000 say higher gas prices are causing them financial hardship, according to a survey released Wednesday by Costa Mesa-based Experian.

The Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey, conducted during the second quarter of 2006, also found that 54 percent of those earning between $40,000 and $75,000 annually answered the same way, as did 32 percent of those making $75,000 or more.

Three in four consumers surveyed believe the higher gas prices are more a permanent change than a temporary price fluctuation.

And nearly two in three said that as gas, electricity and other energy source prices have risen nationwide, they have felt the need to curb other types of discretionary spending.

2 top banks earn expanded profits

NEW YORK -- Two of the nation's largest banks -- Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. -- reported second-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations, with strength in investment banking and asset management offsetting interest rate pressures on their retail banking operations.

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. bank, said its earnings got a big boost from its acquisition of credit card company MBNA Corp., which contributed almost one-third of the bank's overall profit.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank posted a profit of $5.48 billion, or $1.19 per share, an 18 percent rise from $4.66 billion, or $1.14 per share, a year earlier. Stripping out some $194 million of merger and restructuring charges, second-quarter profit was $1.22 per share.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation's third-largest bank, said its profit grew strongly in the second quarter, although weaker mortgage servicing performance dampened results in its retail financial services division.

New York-based JPMorgan Chase said profit totaled $3.54 billion, or 99 cents a share, in the April-June period, compared with $994 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding special charges, second-quarter earnings were 94 cents a share.

Apple earnings over expectations

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday easily topped Wall Street's income forecast for the spring quarter with a nearly 48 percent profit increase driven largely by the continued popularity of its industry-leading iPod music player. Company shares rose more than 8 percent in late-session trading.

For its fiscal third quarter ended July 1, Apple's profit rose to $472 million, or 54 cents a share, up from $320 million, or 37 cents per share in the same period of 2005. That was 10 cents per share better than the mean forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Sales grew to $4.37 billion from $3.52 billion last year. That number was within the range of Apple's April forecast for quarterly sales of $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion, but fell shy of the mean estimate of $4.4 billion among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Profits steady for big airlines

DALLAS -- Two of the nation's largest airlines gave signs Wednesday that the industry is turning the corner after five years of heavy losses by packing planes and raising fares at the start of the summer travel season. Southwest Airlines Co. and the parent of American Airlines, the biggest U.S. carrier, met or beat Wall Street's profit forecasts for the second quarter despite flying into the head wind of higher fuel prices. Southwest shares rose 8.2 percent.