BUSINESS BRIEFS
Another record for crude as price hits $143 a barrel
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The price of crude oil hit yet another record on the last day of a tumultuous first half, spurting past $143 a barrel before closing lower.
Crude has shot up nearly 50 percent since the start of the year, in large part on the dollar's troubles, and analysts expect that trend to remain intact as the second half of 2008 begins.
A government report lowering oil and gasoline demand estimates and a dollar hanging tough nullified investor concerns over supply, a fragile global economy and continued tensions in the Middle East.
The Energy Information Administration reported that oil usage in April was lower than previously estimated, falling to 4.2 percent to 19.768 million barrels per day from 20.631 million. That was 3.9 percent lower than in April 2007 and the lowest level for the month in six years.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery lost 21 cents to settle at $140 a barrel. In early electronic trading, the contract hit a record $143.67.
CHRYSLER CLOSES MINIVAN PLANT
DETROIT — Chrysler LLC said yesterday it will indefinitely close one Missouri plant and cut production at another due to slumping demand for pickup trucks and minivans.
Officials with the Auburn Hills-based automaker said in a conference call that it will shutter the St. Louis South plant, which makes minivans, effective Oct. 31. The St. Louis North plant, which makes full-size pickups, will be cut from two shifts to one effective Sept. 2.
Chrysler said the moves would affect 2,400 jobs. That includes 1,500 at the minivan plant and another 900 at the pickup truck plant, which both are in Fenton, a St. Louis suburb.
Chrysler President and Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said the company has no plans to reopen the minivan plant.
He said there's only enough minivan demand for three shifts, which the company already has running at its factory in Windsor, Ontario.
FLOODS MAY NOT AFFECT FOOD PRICES
DES MOINES, Iowa — Midwest floods may not contribute as much to food inflation as was feared.
Corn prices fell yesterday after the government surprised traders, reporting farmers tried to cash in on soaring corn demand for ethanol by planting more acres of the crop than the market expected.
That could be good news for shoppers, although food prices still have to contend with rising costs for distribution and fuel.
Farmers will harvest nearly 9 percent fewer acres of corn this year than last year, in part because of Midwest flooding that has damaged a portion of the crop, the government reported.
But the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture figures also showed that farmers had planted more than a million additional acres of corn than they had expected to plant in March, which may remove some of the inflation potential out of the floods.
Corn futures prices fell in the wake of yesterday's report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said farmers expect to harvest 78.9 million acres of corn, down 8.7 percent from the 86.5 million harvested last year.
PROFITABLE QUARTER FOR H&R BLOCK
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — H&R Block Inc., the nation's largest tax preparer, said yesterday it swung to a fourth-quarter profit, helped by a record-setting tax season and the sale of its troubled mortgage arm.
The company offered earnings guidance for this year above what Wall Street is expecting, and shares rose nearly 3 percent.
The Kansas City-based company earned $543.6 million, or $1.66 per share, in the three months ended April 30 compared with a loss of $85.6 million, or 26 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.
Excluding discontinued operations, including its Option One Mortgage Corp. subsidiary, the company said it earned $691.1 million, or $2.11 per share, compared with $591.2 million, or $1.81 per share, from continuing operations a year ago.
