Stocks fall as doubts over Europe surface

Stocks fall as doubts over Europe surface

new york

Fear of European debt is once again playing havoc with Wall Street.

Stocks pitched down Wednesday in the United States as borrowing rates climbed for Spain and Italy, a sign that investors are losing confidence in those countries’ finances.

Spain’s 10-year borrowing rate leapt to 6.06 percent from 5.70 percent early Tuesday. Many fear that Spain, strangled by high unemployment and a real- estate collapse, could be the next nation to require financial rescue.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down as much as 184 points before recovering about half of the loss. Still, the average has fallen for six-consecutive days, its longest losing streak since last summer.

Greece, without a government since Sunday’s elections, appears increasingly likely to exit the euro currency union or be forced out. The resulting uncertainty could cause turmoil throughout global markets.

Chinese smartphone coming to America

NEW ORLEANS

Will Americans buy a Chinese smartphone? We’re about to find out, as Huawei, one of the world’s biggest phone makers, is planning a big push into U.S. cellphone stores.

All four nationwide U.S. phone companies will carry Huawei smartphones this year, says Francis Hopkins, a Huawei spokesman. That’s up from one right now: AT&T.

To market the phone, the company plans a big branding campaign, with the slogan “Release the smart in everyone,” Hopkins says.

That’s a new tack for Huawei, which has stayed under the radar so far, working almost exclusively with phone companies rather than speaking directly to the consumer. The Huawei smartphone sold by AT&T doesn’t even carry the Chinese company’s brand — just AT&T’s.

Fannie Mae earns $2.7B in 1st quarter

WASHINGTON

U.S. mortgage giant Fannie Mae reported its first net income gain since it was taken over by the government during the 2008 financial crisis.

Fannie said Wednesday that it earned net income attributable to common stockholders of $2.7 billion in the January-March quarter. Instead of seeking additional aid from taxpayers, the company will pay a dividend of $2.8 billion to the Treasury Department.

That compares with the same quarter one year ago when Fannie reported a net loss of $6.5 billion.

Honda wins appeal of small-claims case

LOS ANGELES

A judge overturned a nearly $10,000 small-claims judgment against American Honda Motor Co. that was won by a car owner who said the automaker misrepresented that her hybrid Civic could get 50 miles per gallon, according to a ruling released Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Dudley W. Gray II ruled Tuesday on Honda’s appeal of a court commissioner’s award of $9,867 to Heather Peters.

Peters had opted out of a class-action settlement giving some 200,000 owners between $100 and $200 each, plus a rebate if they buy a new Honda. She elected instead to sue the automaker on her own.

Peters, a lawyer, also urged Honda owners to take the small-claims route as she did, and her initial success led some 1,700 other hybrid owners to opt out of the class-action settlement. It wasn’t clear how many have filed similar small-claims actions, but Honda said Wednesday it had prevailed in 16 of 17 cases across the nation since January.

Associated Press