General Electric climbed and Citigroup fell after each announced first-quarter results this morning, and a key gauge of consumers’ mood registered its highest reading since September, with the net effect of pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up six points, or 0.07 percent, to 8,131. American...

Filed under: Company News When we hear of pharmaceutical companies’ ventures it’s usually either a straight merger & acquisition or a collaboration on a drug or two in their pipelines to share costs and, of course, potential profits. But Pfizer Inc. ( PFE ) and GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK...

Filed under: Company News On Thursday, Starwood Hotels and Resorts sued Hilton Hotels, including two former employees who now work for the massive chain. Starwood’s claim is that Hilton has stolen confidential information that it intended to use in the launch of its new Denizen “lifestyle...

Filed under: Company News There’s no doubt eBay Inc. ( EBAY ) has been refocusing itself on its core market of e-commerce. Only this past week, eBay announced its intention to unload Skype in an IPO, sell StumbleUpon back to its founders, change and tweak its marketplace Website and buy Korea’s...

Filed under: Columns , Economy Are people going to spend $20 for an issue of Worth ? I would suspect not. The publicity gimmick by Sandow Media Corp., which bought Worth from CurtCo. Media last year, says a mouthful about the precarious state of the print media. First quarter magazine advertising revenue...

Filed under: Company News Citigroup Inc. ( C ) ended a five-quarter losing streak by posting a $1.6 billion profit on gains from an accounting rule that helps companies in distress. But the bank posted a loss per share of 18 cents because of payment of preferred dividends, beating analyst estimates...

Filed under: Company News , People The Administration has had plenty of its appointees step aside, or withdrawing their name before being approved to their posts, due to indiscretions in their pasts such as dodging taxes or paying workers off the books. The latest problem with an administration official...

Filed under: Company News General Electric ( GE ) posted a net profit that’s down 35 percent from last year, but beat Wall Street expectations. Wall Street expected a 21 cents per share profit and GE posted a profit of 26 cents per share. Revenue for GE fell 9 percent to $38.4 billion. Analysts...

Filed under: Company News , Technology , Earnings Google ( GOOG ) beat analysts’ profit estimates after cutting jobs and costs, but the online ad giant saw its first quarter-to-quarter drop in sales since going public in 2004. “We’re still basically in uncharted territory,” Eric...

Filed under: Company News , Earnings What a quarter it has been for General Electric ( GE ). Manufacturer of everything from light bulbs to nuclear reactors, it has seen its stock fall 25 percent so far this year — and that’s including a six-week-long surge in which it has nearly doubled...