Click here to subscribe today or Login.
W-B group to meet
The Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association will meet on Friday, at 8:30 a.m. in the Foundation Room of the Genetti Hotel & Convention Center, 77 W. Market St. A slate of officers for election will be presented. Current and prospective members are welcome.
There will be a presentation on the King’s College Cash Card Program and breakfast will be available. Reservations can be made by calling Gretchen Sevison at 823-2191, ext. 127.
Unisys shares rally
Unisys Corp. reported a 35 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday as revenue fell 1 percent – the result of de-emphasizing low-margin areas of the business.
But the Blue Bell computer-services company said its multiyear effort to reinvent itself by slashing costs and entering new businesses has begun to pay off.
On that news, shares were up 15 percent, or 52 cents, to $3.97 Tuesday.
After eliminating retirement-related expenses and cost-reduction charges, Unisys’ operating income was up $30 million or 29 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to the same period in 2006, the company said.
Countrywide deal still on
The $422 million loss Countrywide Financial Corp. reported Tuesday didn’t appear to scare off Bank of America.
“At this point, everything is a go to complete this transaction,” Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Ken Lewis said at an investor conference in New York.
Countrywide’s fourth-quarter earnings fell far short of Wall Street estimates, with a loss more than double what analysts predicted. But investors didn’t run away from the nation’s mortgage lender; instead, they sent Countrywide shares up 6.5 percent, to close at $6.31.
Microsoft gets WSJ search
Microsoft Corp. will become the new provider of paid search and contextual advertising links on sites run by The Wall Street Journal, the companies announced Tuesday.
Contextual ads appear as text links at the bottom of stories viewed on the Journal’s Web site, WSJ.com, inside a box labeled “Advertisers Links.” Advertisers are charged when viewers click through on the links.
The deal affects several other sites owned by Dow Jones & Co., including Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com, AllThingsD.com.
CEO bids for Landry’s
Landry’s Restaurants Inc. boss Tilman Fertitta has proposed to buy the remaining 61 percent stake in the national restaurant, hotel and casino company and make it a private business.
Fertitta already owns 39 percent of the company he runs as chairman, president and chief executive. He wants to buy the rest at $23.50 a share, a 41 percent premium over Friday’s closing share price, the company said Monday.