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APPOINTMENTS
WMC Mortgage slashed 771 jobs and closed three centers; it has cut more than half its workforce this year. Six hundred to 700 workers at GMAC's ResCap will lose their jobs by midyear, and at least 300 vacant positions won't be filled.
AUTOMOTIVE
Delphi Bidder May Drop Out
Delphi said it expects Cerberus Capital Management to drop out as lead bidder in a $3.4 billion investment, delaying the auto-parts maker's exit from bankruptcy protection. Negotiations with Cerberus's four partners in the offer will continue, Delphi said.
BANKRUPTCY
Fund May Bid for Loan Unit
New Century Financial won court permission to sell its loan-servicing business at a bankruptcy auction at which a hedge fund it created has the lead spot in bidding.
ECONOMY
Unemployment Claims Down
The number of applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 last week, from 339,000 the week ending April 7. The four-week moving average for claims rose slightly, to 328,750, last week.
Separately, the U.S. economy should expand only slightly in coming months, a gauge of future growth showed. The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators climbed 0.1 percent to 137.4 in March.
EARNINGS
Merrill Lynch said first-quarter profit more than quadrupled, rising to $2.16 billion from $475 million in the comparable period a year earlier, led by the fastest trading gains on Wall Street and higher fees from underwriting stocks and arranging takeovers. Year-earlier earnings were $1.65 million excluding costs from a change in accounting and retirement polices. The surge in equity and fixed-income trading more than compensated for a decline in mortgage revenue.
Revenue rose 24 percent, to $9.85 billion.
D.R. Horton, the second-largest U.S. home builder by revenue, said second-quarter profit plunged 85 percent, to $51.7 million from $352.8 million, as the weak housing market cut sales and spurred the company to walk away from options to buy land. Revenue slid 26 percent to $2.6 billion. Orders dropped 37 percent and closings fell 22 percent, the company said.
Merck said its first-quarter profit rose 12 percent, to $1.7 billion, as it posted sharply higher sales of its asthma and cholesterol drugs. Revenue rose 7 percent, to $5.77 billion.
Bank of America said its first-quarter profit rose 5 percent, to $5.26 billion, helped by growth in fee income. Revenue increased 3 percent, to $18.42 billion.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
