September 3 Biz Minute

New jobless claims fell slightly last week while the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose,
THEN today retailers posted sales declines for August as shoppers held back on back-to-school purchases and continued to focus on just necessities
AND THEN Natural gas prices tumbled again today, hitting new seven-year lows after the government reported more supplies were put into storage as the entire country pares down on energy usage.

European Union regulators launched an antitrust probe today into U.S. software maker Oracle's takeover of Sun Microsystems. EU approval is the main stumbling block for the $7.4 billion deal, which has already been approved by the U.S. Justice Department

World Trade Organization judges will rule tomorrow, for the first time, on whether the European Union handed out illegal subsidies to Airbus in a verdict that could affect planemakers worldwide.
The three-member panel is widely expected to agree with complainant Washington that the billions of euros in "launch aid" Airbus received to build the A380 and other top-selling planes was anti-competitive and violated trade laws.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• European Union
• EU
• Oracle
• Sun Microsystems
• World Trade
• Airbus
• Euros
• Unemployment
• back to school
• natural gas