Report: Toyota Plunking $1 Billion on Brazil Plant; India Housing Boom Ending; GDP Revised Up; Home Sales Rise, Values Fall; Anheuser Busch to Reject InBev Bid; Bank of America Sheds Jobs; Gold Shares Glow; Oshkosh Plunges on Lowered Outlook
- Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) plans to drop more than $1 billion on a new factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Valor Economico reported without citing a source. The new factory would be a bid to capture a share of the economic growth and rising incomes in South America.
- A pair of mortgage executives in India said the country's five-year property boom is coming to an end as the number of available homes increases along with interest rates. "Due to the state of the equity markets, many investors who would have bought a second or a third house are abstaining from doing so," Keki Mistry, vice chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp., India's largest provider of home loans, told Bloomberg News. "Genuine home buyers who are looking to buy a house for self occupation will continue to buy."
- The economy turned in a better, though still unimpressive, performance in the first quarter of 2008, edging up a full 1%, the Associated Press reported. The Commerce Department had originally estimated a growth rate of 0.9% for the January-to-March quarter.
- Existing home sales picked up in May, but home values continued their decline, according to a report from the Associated Press. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums rose by 2% to 4.99 million units last month. However, the median price of an existing home sold in May dropped to $208,600, down 6.3% from a year go.
- Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (BUD) is expected to reject InBev NV's unsolicited $46.3 billion offer, saying it undervalues the company, and announce its own restructuring plan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company will then outline its own restructuring, which includes the sale of nonessential assets such its theme parks in an effort to boost its stock price.
- Bank of America Corp. (BAC) announced it would cut approximately 7,500 jobs after its merger with Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), Reuters reported. The second largest U.S. bank will let go of 3% of the combined workforce after its acquisition of the largest U.S. mortgage lender.
- Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC) stock gained almost 12% yesterday (Thursday) on the back of a gold increase, which saw a 4% gain to $915 an ounce. The gold miner's shares gained $2.35 to close at $22.34. Canada-based Eldorado Gold Corp. (EGO) saw a similar gain, with shares climbing over 10% with a 77-cent increase to close at $8.02.
- Oshkosh Corp. (OSK) shares plunged over 33% yesterday (Thursday) after the aerial work platforms manufacturer forecast a loss of as much as $1.32 per share in the third quarter, Bloomberg News reported. Shares plunged $11.22 to close at $22.29.