Markets

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Donaldson Co. said late Monday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose to $51.2 million, or 65 cents a share, from $23.6 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $515.2 million from $421.3 million a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research forecast 64 cents [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to pay the U.S. government $55 million as part of a settlement of claims that the technology giant defrauded the General Services Administration, the Justice Department said Monday. The DOJ had alleged that the Palo Alto, Calif.-based H-P “knowingly paid kickbacks, or ‘influencer fees,’ to systems integrator [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks fell steeply on Monday, with a triple-digit point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding to August’s losses so far, as the latest economic data on personal income and spending fueled ongoing concerns about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.92 points, or 1.4%, to 10,009.73, [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s said Monday that it raised its ratings outlook on Brown-Forman Corp. to stable from negative. S&P has an A long-term corporate credit rating on the wine and spirits maker. “The outlook revision to stable reflects our belief that despite lingering weak macroeconomic conditions, we believe that Brown-Forman will [...]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Congress should act quickly to pass a jobs bill as “too many” Americans are continuing to look for work, President Barack Obama said Monday. “Holding this bill hostage is directly detrimental to our economic growth,” Obama said at the White House about the bill, which expands credit to businesses and cuts certain [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google and the Associated Press reached a new agreement that will allow Google to continue using the news agency’s content, the AP said Monday. The AP also said it will work with Google “to improve discovery and distribution of news.” The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read the [...]

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Mexican stocks were among those in major Latin American markets that fell Monday, in line with U.S. stocks on continued worries about economic slowing, with the latest U.S. release showing personal income rose less than expected in July. Mexico’s IPC fell 0.6% and Brazil’s Bovespa dropped 1.6%, with heavily weighted materials [...]

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Greek bank EFG Eurobank Ergasias on Monday said its first-half net profit fell 44% to 95.1 million euros ($121 million) from 168.6 million euros earned in the year-earlier period. Net interest income rose 1.7% to 1.15 billion euros. In the second quarter net income declined 66% to 34 million euros, the bank [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York purchased $360 million in inflation-indexed Treasury debt on Monday, part of officials’ pledge to reinvest cash from maturing mortgage-backed securities and housing agency debt back into the bond market to support the economic recovery. Analysts expected TIPS would make up a small portion of [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Fossil Inc. rose 5.5% to $48.53 on Monday morning after the maker of watches and jewelry said it set plans to buy back up to $750 million in stock. The authorization expires on Dec. 31, 2013 and repurchases may be made on the open market, in block trades or otherwise. Read [...]