BUSINESS BRIEFS
Free downtown weekly to close
Advertiser News Services
The Downtown Planet, the free weekly publication serving Chinatown and the downtown area, will cease publication, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The owners of the newspaper, PacificBasin Communications Inc., gave notice to employees about the decision yesterday, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the company had not publicly announced the move.
The Downtown Planet was formed in 1979 and was acquired by PacificBasin in 2004.
GOOGLE DOUBLES QUARTERLY PROFIT
SAN FRANCISCO — Google's second-quarter profit more than doubled, maintaining the Internet search leader's penchant for topping analysts' high expectations and underscoring its industry leadership.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it earned $721.1 million, or $2.33 per share, during the three months ended in June, compared with net income of $342.8 million, or $1.19 per share, at the same time last year.
HOMEBUILDER'S EARNINGS DROP
Fort Worth, Texas — D.R. Horton Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder by market value, said fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 21 percent as higher mortgage rates led to the first quarterly drop in its 28-year history.
Net income in the quarter ended June 30 declined to $292.8 million from $371.7 million a year earlier, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said.
Earnings for fiscal 2006 will be at least $3.65 a share, down 21 percent from the prior year, the homebuilder said.
Shares of Horton fell 85 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $20 on the New York Stock Exchnge.
D.R. Horton operates in Hawai'i as Schuler Division of D.R. Horton Inc.
DATA FORECAST SLOWER GROWTH
WASHINGTON — Signs of a healthy labor market and rising consumer optimism in June were tempered by weakness in stock prices and real estate, a research group said yesterday, suggesting slow to moderate near-term economic growth.
The Conference Board, an industry-backed research group based in New York, said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators inched higher in June, the first increase since March. The index, which is designed to predict economic activity three to six months in the future, stands at 138.1, or 1 percent below January's level.
