International Business News - Group http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Shares of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. advanced on Thursday after a Morgan Joseph analyst upgraded the stock to "Buy," saying the heavy construction and engineering firm is poised to benefit from more business in the lucrative oil and gas markets. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/jacobs-engineering-shares-rise-on-morgan-upgrade.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:17:23 EDT Property and casualty insurer EMC Insurance Group Inc. on Thursday slashed its 2008 operating earnings outlook because of expected losses tied to storms in the Midwest. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/emc-insurance-group-slashes-2008-outlook.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:42:44 EDT Among the earnings projection stories for Wednesday, July 2, from AP Financial News: MINNEAPOLIS (AP)--UnitedHealth Group Inc. cleared its decks of bad news on Wednesday, announcing a lower profit outlook, a restructuring that will trim 4,000 jobs and a $900 million payout to settle a class-action lawsuit over options backdating. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/outlook-roundup-unitedhealth-group-trans1.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:02:29 EDT Shares of CBRL Group Inc. continued their decline on Wednesday, a day after the operator of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants and gift shops cut its fiscal 2008 outlook. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/a-second-look-cbrl-group-continues-decline.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:34:54 EDT Analysts fine-tuned their second-quarter earnings estimates for CME Group Inc. Wednesday, a day after the exchange operator released trading volume statistics for June and affirmed its operating expense outlook. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/analysts-adjust-2q-estimates-for-cme-group.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:29:27 EDT Shares of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. lost more than half their value on Wednesday after analysts responded negatively to the car rental company's lowered 2008 outlook. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/dollar-thrifty-continues-decline-on-analyst-takes.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:19:59 EDT Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. rose Wednesday morning after the health insurer cut its profit forecast, a move Wall Street appeared to have expected. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/out-of-the-gate-unitedhealth-group-rises.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:26:53 EDT Shares of Apollo Group Inc., rose Wednesday after the University of Phoenix owner posted adjusted profit and sales that topped Wall Street expectations for the fiscal third quarter. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/out-of-the-gate-apollo-group-rallies.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:24:42 EDT Car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc. said Wednesday it expects its second-quarter and full-year earnings to fall below year-ago results, due to rising fuel costs and slowing U.S. commercial air travel. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/avis-budget-warns-of-declining-profit-in-2q-2008.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:58:26 EDT Morgans Hotel Group Co. said Tuesday its board of directors authorized a stock buyback program worth $30 million, or about 9 percent of its outstanding shares. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/morgans-hotel-group-board-approves-buyback-plan.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:26:44 EDT Apollo Group Inc., a for-profit education company that owns the University of Phoenix, said Tuesday its third quarter profit rose slightly as it expanded its enrollment and did a better job collecting tuition from wayward students. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/apollo-group-reports-139-1-million-3q-profit.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:06:10 EDT Fitch Ratings said Tuesday it views CIT Group Inc. announcement of the sale of certain assets as a positive for the company, but not worthy of prompting a ratings change. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/fitch-cit-home-lending-division-sale-a-positive.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:15:27 EDT Shares of CBRL Group Inc., which operates Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants and gift shops, declined to a multiyear low after the company cut its fiscal 2008 outlook. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/cbrl-group-declines-as-company-lowers-guidance.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:33:11 EDT Exchange operator CME Group Inc. said Tuesday trading volume on its exchanges rose 7 percent in the second quarter, despite a 4 percent decline in June. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/cme-group-2q-volume-rises-despite-slip-in-june.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:00:36 EDT Shares of CIT Group Inc. jumped sharply Tuesday after the company said it would sell its home-lending business to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion cash and $4.4 billion in assumed debt, news that an analyst said will help the balance sheet. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/out-of-the-gate-cit-group-shares-rally-after-deal.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:04:23 EDT Property and casualty insurer American Financial Group Inc. on Tuesday declared a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable July 25 to shareholders of record on July 15. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/american-financial-declares-dividend-of-12-5-cents.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:53:23 EDT Shares of Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc. declined on Tuesday after a Deutsche Bank analyst downgraded the marketing and advertising agency to "Hold" from "Buy," saying it is facing a slower advertising market. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/ahead-of-the-bell-deutsche-bank-cuts-interpublic.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:53:14 EDT CBRL Group Inc., which operates Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants and gift shops, on Tuesday lowered fiscal 2008 guidance and said June same-store sales fell below expectations. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/cbrl-group-lowers-fiscal-2008-outlook.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:33:51 EDT CIT Group Inc. said Tuesday it will sell its home lending business to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion in cash, plus $4.4 billion of assumed debt, in a move to exit the troubled mortgage arena and focus on its commercial finance operations. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/cit-group-exits-home-lending-businesses.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 EDT Electric and natural-gas company Constellation Energy Group Inc. said Monday one of its subsidiaries bought uranium trading firm Nufcor International Ltd. from gold-mining company AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and financial-services company FirstRand International Ltd. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080630/constellation-energy-buys-nufcor-international.htm Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:51:16 EDT