CBO: Recession likely due to impasse

CBO: Recession likely due to impasse

WASHINGTON

A stalemate between Democrats and Republicans that ends up boosting taxes and slashing federal spending in January likely would thrust the nation into a 2013 recession and cost 2 million jobs by the end of that year, Congress’ top nonpartisan budget analyst warned Wednesday.

The cautionary report by the Congressional Budget Office, drearier than a similar alarm it issued in May, immediately raised the political stakes in one of this election year’s signature conflicts between the two parties.

Without an agreement between President Barack Obama and Congress by January, tax reductions on virtually all taxpayers are scheduled to expire and spending cuts will be imposed on hundreds of popular domestic and defense programs. That would plunge the nation off a so-called “fiscal cliff,” which each side is eager to blame on the other.

HP has $8.9B loss tied to EDS flop

SAN FRANCISCO

Hewlett-Packard says it suffered an $8.9 billion loss during its most recent quarter as the technology company accounted for an acquisition that hasn’t panned out the way management envisioned.

The setback isn’t a surprise. Hewlett-Packard Co. had telegraphed the news earlier when it disclosed plans to take an $8 billion charge to reflect the shrinking value of Electronic Data Systems, a technology consulting service that it bought for $13 billion in 2008.

The fiscal third-quarter loss announced Wednesday translates to $4.49 per share. It’s by far the biggest quarterly setback in HP’s 73-year history. The company earned $1.9 billion, or 93 cents per share, at the same time last year.

HP’s revenue sank 5 percent from last year to $29.7 billion. That was about $500 million below analyst projections.

Facebook co-founder sells 450,000 shares

NEW YORK

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz shed 450,000 shares of Facebook in the past few days for proceeds of about $9 million — a tiny chunk of his total stake.

Moskovitz was Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard roommate when they founded Facebook in 2004. He disclosed in a regulatory filing late Tuesday that he sold the shares Friday, Monday and Tuesday in blocks of 150,000.

Moskovitz, 28, left Facebook in 2008 and started Asana, whose software helps manage projects.

T-Mobile restores unlimited-data plan

NEW YORK

Unlimited wireless data is back. After sliding off the menu of cellphone plans, data plans with no caps are making a comeback at smaller wireless companies trying to compete with AT&T and Verizon.

T-Mobile USA, the nation’s fourth-largest cellphone company, said Wednesday that it will start selling an unlimited-data plan again Sept. 5, after stopping sales of such plans early last year.

Associated Press