On Friday, Ford Motor Co reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit because of higher commodity costs and losses in its automotive operations in Europe and Asia.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker’s operating profit, excluding one-time items, fell to $1.1 billion, or 20 cents per share, from nearly $1.3 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, analysts, on average, expected an adjusted profit of 25 cents per share.

The company reported a net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 per share, buoyed by a one-time tax-related gain of $12.4 billion.

Tags: commodity costs, Ford Motor, Thomson Reuters

On Monday, Brent crude rose towards $111 on worries over supply disruptions after Iran warned Gulf Arab neighbors of consequences if they raised output of oil for replacing Iranian barrels facing international sanctions.

Brent crude gained 29 cents to $110.73 a barrel by 0529 GMT.

“The United States is trying to persuade buyers to stop importing oil from Iran, while each country is studying its options, its situation,” said Ken Hasegawa, a derivatives manager with brokerage Newedge in Tokyo. “This situation will continue with high tension.”

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said a bearish target at $108.91 per barrel has been lowered to $108.75 for Brent, while U.S. oil is expected to clear a support at $97.52 per barrel.

Tags: Brent crude, derivatives manager, international sanctions

Suggesting a further strengthening of the economic recovery, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a 3-1/2-year low last week and factory activity in parts of the Northeast gained speed in December.

“It looks like we have just hit a clear patch on the road to recovery, where things are going to speed up a little bit,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Labor Department said that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 19,000 to 366,000, the lowest since May 2008. Firming tone of the economy was also emphasized by data showing acceleration in factory activity in New York State and the Mid-Atlantic region this month.

Tags: economic recovery, jobless benefits, unemployment benefits

Apple failed to convince a U.S. judge to block Samsung Electronics from selling some Galaxy smartphones and tablets in the United States market. The rejection will deprive the iPhone and iPad maker of crucial leverage in a global patent battle between the two companies.

Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung was rejected by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose in a ruling released late Friday.

Apple sued Samsung in the United States in April remarketing the Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets of the South Korean company “slavishly” copies the iPhone and iPad.

“It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed,” Koh wrote.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.

Tags: Apple, Galaxy smartphones, iPad, iPhone, Samsung Electronics

On Wednesday, Asian stock markets fell as improved economic data out of the U.S. failed to overcome worries about Europe’s festering debt crisis.

Nikkei 225 index of Japan lost 0.1 percent to 8,529.98 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.7 percent to 19,025.92; Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and mainland China also fell.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Stocks in Asia didn’t follow through on the momentum from Wall Street, where a session of big swings ended with modest gains. The Dow rose 0.1 percent to 12,096.16. The S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 1,257.81, and the Nasdaq added 1.1 percent to 2,686.20.

Data on retail sales showed Americans spending more on autos, electronics and building supplies in October — the fifth straight month of increases.

Sales increased 0.5 percent from the previous month, a faster rate than economists expected and the latest indication that the U.S. economy is likely to avoid another recession.

Europe could head back into recession over the coming months, according to many economists.

Tags: debt crisis, recession, retail sales, S&P 500, stock markets

Nokia said sales of the Lumia 800, its first Windows Phone model, were off to an excellent start in Britain, dismissing analyst comments of weak sales start.

“Lumia 800 sales in the U.K. are off to an excellent start,” Nokia said in a statement.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Nokia unveiled a strategy shift to use Microsoft software on its smartphones in February in a bid to create a rival to Apple and Google’s Android, and started to sell its first model last week in Britain, France and Germany.

“By our measures, we have gained significant smartphone sell-out share in the channels in which we are operating in the U.K.,” Nokia said.

“Based on earliest data the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smartphone sales in the U.K. in recent history,” Nokia added.

Tags: Lumia 800, Microsoft software, Nokia, Nokia smartphone, smartphones

Apple Inc stunned Wall Street by reporting results that missed expectations for the first time in years. The company blamed rumors of the new iPhone for hurting demand in the September quarter.

Shares of Apple fell 7 percent in extended trading on Tuesday to wipe some $27 billion off the value of the world’s largest technology company.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

It was Apple’s first quarterly earnings under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over from Steve Jobs in August at a critical juncture for the company. Apple is battling Google Inc in the mobile arena, as well as other challengers such as Samsung and Amazon.com Inc.

“Investors are going to start to speculate that there is change under way now that Jobs is gone, and that there’s trouble ahead. We don’t share that point,” said Channing Smith, co-manager at Capital Advisors Growth Fund, which holds Apple shares.

“The iPhone is where the weakness was and it’s an explainable one. The strong demand for the iPhone 4S set up strong demand for the holiday season,” Smith added.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, technology company, Wall Street

On Friday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded nine Portuguese banks because of increased asset risk as a result of the banks’ holdings of Portuguese government debt and the sovereign downgrade of Portugal in July to Ba2 with a negative outlook.

“The key driver for the downgrades of most banks’ debt and deposit ratings is Moody’s assessment of the deterioration of their unsupported financial strength,” said the ratings agency.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Moody’s said it had downgraded by one or two notches the senior debt and deposit ratings of nine banks and downgraded by one or two notches the standalone ratings of six of these banks.

All of the banks’ ratings carry a negative outlook with the exception of Banco Portugues de Negocios, which has a developing outlook on all of its ratings. it said.

The six banks which experienced downgrades of standalone ratings and debt and deposit ratings are: Caixa Geral de Depositos, Banco Comercial Portugues, Banco Espirito Santo, Banco BPI, Banco Santander Totta and Caixa Economica Montepio Geral.

“However, Moody’s believes that these plans face significant implementation risks,” Moody’s said.

Tags: deposit ratings, government debt, ratings agency

Full-service airlines of India that have been buffeted by high fuel costs and intense competition are facing new headwinds on their lucrative international routes as budget carriers launch services with rock-bottom fares.

These airlines are being forced to respond with similar no-frills offerings on popular and profitable routes as low-cost carriers are introducing routes using narrow-body aircraft to overseas destinations within five hours flying time of India.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Budget airline IndiGo, which in June firmed up a $16.2 billion order for 180 single-aisle Airbus aircraft, has received government approval to fly to Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai and Muscat, and is luring passengers with round-trip fares as low as 9,999 rupees ($220).

By comparison, full service carriers charge between 17,000 and 22,000 rupees for economy class Mumbai-Singapore routes booked a month in advance.

“The entry of IndiGo will help in growing the market. Low cost carriers are creating a new market with a new breed of customers who did not fly international earlier,” said Kapil Kaul, chief executive for the Indian subcontinent and Middle East at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

“Low cost carriers are much better poised to take advantage of the growth, because India is a very price-sensitive market,” SpiceJet CEO Neil Mills told Reuters.

Tags: airlines of India, budget carriers

According to sources, the $9.5 billion pool of U.S. commercial real estate loan sold by failed lender Anglo Irish Bank Corp has been won by Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Lone Star Funds.

The sale attracted more than two dozen buyers and it is believed that the total price paid for all the loans was between $7 billion and $8 billion.

From Reuters.com:

To attract a large pool of potential buyers, the portfolio was broken into eight separate pools according to the performance of the loans and the length to maturity.

The first three pools contained performing loans. JPMorgan was the winner of the first tranche comprising loans with a balance of about $1 billion to $1.5 billion, the source said.

Wells Fargo won the second and third tranches valued at about $3 billion to $3.5 billion, the source said. Wells Fargo recently bought a $1.4 billion performing loan portfolio from the failed Bank of Ireland for about par, another source said.

Global distressed debt and equity investor Lone Star won the remaining five pools of sub-performing and non-performing loans. The five pools have a face value of about $5 billion.

According to an information sheet obtained by Reuters, the pools have also been split along the lines of real estate types — hotels, apartments, condominiums, offices, and warehouse.

Tags: Anglo Irish Bank, JPMorgan Chase, performing loans, real estate