MID-DAY UPDATE: Detroit sees auto-sales resurgence, Number of homes with TVs down
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Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
For the first time in nearly seven years all of Detroit’s car companies are making money. And we’re expected to hear today that those companies saw a 19 percent boost in sales last month. You can read Marketplace’s coverage here.
Down — for the first time in 20 years — is the number of homes with television sets. The percentage has dropped from 98.9 percent to 96.7 percent. The New York Times says poverty is one reason for the decline.
Honda’s recalling more than 800,000 cars — including 2001 to 2003 Civics and CRVs for faulty airbags.
Beazer Homes reported a bigger-than-expected loss Tuesday as the absence of tax incentives for first-time buyers drove revenue down.
Clorox posted disappointing quarterly results and narrowed its full-year outlook Tuesday, and to alleviate pressure on its margins, the company said it raised prices on its Glad trash bags by 9.5 percent, effective May 2.
Sears is warning weak demand for its appliance and clothing lines will likely lead to a first-quarter loss.
Food processor Archer Daniels Midland reported higher third-quarter earnings on Tuesday on strong results from its corn and oilseed processing segments. But volatile commodities prices, instability in the Middle East and Africa, and challenges resulting from a severe earthquake and tsunami in Japan weighed on the company’s agricultural services business.
Drug maker Pfizer said this morning it made more than $2 billion last quarter — though sales of its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor are slumping. They’re down 13 percent and Lipitor will lose its U.S. patent protection later this year.
Molson Coors net income fell 21 percent in the first quarter on rising costs for beer ingredients and fuel.
Sirius XM Radio reported higher first-quarter revenue as more people who bought new cars signed up for its satellite radio service.
To Spain — which has an unemployment rate of more than 21 percent right now. And a lot of businesses are doing everything they can to attract customers. And I mean everything. A fitness center in the Basque region of Spain is trying to win new patrons by allowing customers to exercise in the nude. Easy Gym says working out without clothes on is natural — and much more comfy.
Liposuction is the world’s most popular plastic surgery. But a new study published in the medical journal Obesity says that liposuction isn’t a cure-all. Researchers at the University of Colorado found once fat is removed by the surgery, fat just moves on and regenerates in other parts of the body. The good news is that new fat takes a year to find its new home. So there’s time to sneak in a milkshake.
You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
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