BUSINESS BRIEFS
Still no contract at GM, but stock up on optimism
Associated Press
DETROIT — As General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers returned to the bargaining table yesterday, auto shares rose on optimism the two sides were closer to a critical agreement that could take billions in retiree health costs off GM's books. At the plants, workers were less certain as they spent a third day without a new contract.
Negotiations resumed around 11 a.m., GM spokesman Tom Wickham said. Bargainers were making progress but still had a lot of work to do, according to a person who was briefed on the talks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
GM shares rose $1.01, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $35.23. Ford Motor Co. shares rose 25 cents, or 3 percent, to close at $8.28.
OIL FUTURES SET ANOTHER RECORD
NEW YORK — Oil futures rose to new records and other energy futures also advanced yesterday on expectations the Federal Reserve will cut the benchmark federal funds rate, a move the market expects will support the economy and ensure its thirst for oil and gasoline. Oil futures rose as high as $80.70, a trading record.
ADOBE QUARTERLY PROFIT A RECORD
SAN FRANCISCO — Adobe Systems Inc. reported yesterday that its third-quarter profit more than doubled from last year, setting a revenue record and easily exceeding Wall Street's expectations as the software company comes off its biggest-ever product launch.
Net income for three months ending Aug. 31 was $205.2 million, or 34 cents a share, surging 117 percent from $94.4 million, or 16 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
Third-quarter sales were a record $851.7 million, up 41 percent from $602.2 million in the third quarter of 2006.
Excluding costs for expenses, such as stock-based compensation and restructuring charges related to the December 2005 acquisition of Macromedia Inc., profit was $269.4 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with $171.5 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
SEARCH ENGINE TO OUTSMART GOOGLE
SAN FRANCISCO — One startup, Powerset, is aiming to outshine the Internet's brightest star with a new search engine built to outsmart Google.
After nearly two years of hushed development, Powerset is finally providing a peek at a "natural-language" technology — supposed to make it easier to communicate with search engines — before dozens of entrepreneurs gathered for a high-tech conference here yesterday.
Powerset's algorithms are programmed to understand search requests submitted in plain English, a change from the "keyword" system used by Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and the owners of the other leading engines.
