Kentucky.com: Business
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• Retailers look for post-holiday bump
  Retailers opened earlier than ever on the day after Christmas on Wednesday and slashed prices with hopes of salvaging a holiday season that is falling short of already modest expectations.Merchants are trying to lure post-Christmas bargain hunters and gift-card splurgers that could provide a much needed boost during this crucial period. Gift card sales, which have been increasingly popular in recent years, are not recorded until shoppers redeem them."My son gave me gift cards for clothes, and I get up with the birds, so I figured I'd get the most with my money," said Susan Depetris, who was loading pants and sweaters into her cart at Kohl's in Medford, Mass. She didn't plan on looking for gifts for anyone else. She had just one person on her mind while she shopped - herself."I was the first one in the door, so it was nice," said Shirley Vilhauer, of Bismarck, N.D., who was shopping at a local Kohl's and spent less than $25 on ski pants for her grandson and a baby gift for her niece's young son.The International Council of Shopping Centers said Wednesday that same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year during the November-December period, appear to be coming in just below slim projections for a 2.5 percent gain, though it said that a post-Christmas buying could help restore the shortfall. That contrasts to a more upbeat assessment from its chief economist Michael P. Niemira, following the weekend's spending surge, who predicted that holiday sales could at least meet forecasts.
• October home prices post record decline
  U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest monthly drop since early 1991, a widely watched index showed on Wednesday.The record 6.7 percent drop in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index also marked the 23rd consecutive month prices either grew more slowly or declined."No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim," said Robert Shiller, who helped create the index, in a statement.The previous record decline was 6.3 percent, recorded in April 1991. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index tracks prices of existing single-family homes in 10 metropolitan areas compared to a year earlier.A broader index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 6.1 percent. Among the 20 metropolitan areas used in the broader index, 11 posted record monthly declines and all 20 declined in October compared to September.
• Oil rises on Turkey strikes, supply view
  Oil prices jumped Wednesday on supply concerns stoked by a new round of Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq and a growing belief that domestic oil inventories fell last week.Turkey's military said its warplanes bombed eight suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq on Wednesday. It was the third Turkish strike inside Iraq in less than two weeks. Oil traders worry that the rebels could cut oil supplies from Iraq in retaliation.The new attacks came as oil investors awaited inventory data from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration that is expected to show crude supplies fell by 1.2 million barrels last week, the sixth straight weekly decline.The inventory numbers will be released on Thursday this week, a day late due to the Christmas holiday.Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $2.17 to $96.30 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising to $96.54, a one-month high.
• Stocks slip on weak holiday sales
  Stocks pulled back moderately Wednesday as investors returned from the Christmas holiday to news of weaker-than-expected retail sales.The International Council of Shopping Centers said its index of retail chain store sales rose 2.8 percent last week, rounding out a sluggish December performance that puts retailers on track for a smaller sales gain than the trade group originally expected. Still, there is some hope sales will rebound as shoppers start spending with holiday gift cards.Other reports released alongside Christmas proved disappointing. Target Corp. indicated its sales may have fallen in December, while MasterCard Inc. said holiday spending - including credit, cash and checks - climbed a modest 2.4 percent between Thanksgiving and Christmas, weighed by a slowdown in sales of women's apparel. That compares with a rise of 6.6 percent over the same period last year.The news could raise concerns about the strength of consumer spending and, in turn, the economy. However, it has been widely expected that holiday sales would be slower than in years past.A report that U.S. home prices fell for the 10th consecutive month in October also appeared to weigh on investors.
• Treasurys drop; stocks rebound continues
  Treasury prices fell Monday as investors concentrated on opportunities in the stock market, with many players absent ahead of the Christmas holiday.Shaky credit markets, a deteriorating housing sector and uncertainty about the economy and the value of stocks in the fourth quarter have created unusually heavy demand for Treasurys, which are perceived as being among the safest assets.But Monday, investors focused on stocks for a second straight session, as some wondered if it is still possible that there will be a traditional late-year rally for Wall Street."There is a bit of selling today, but it most likely is just squaring positions," said Shubha Jayaram, a Treasury analyst at IDEAGlobal.com. "There is no data today and only a very light news flow. And volume is light."The bond market closed an hour early at 2 p.m. Eastern time after a light-volume session.
• Oil prices rise on supply concerns
  Oil futures drifted higher in light holiday trading Monday after predictions of a drop in crude inventories raised new supply concerns.With little other news to motivate buying or selling, investors focused on forecasts by analysts including Addison Armstrong, director of exchange traded markets at TFS Energy Futures LLC, who predicted crude supplies fell by 1.5 million barrels last week. Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., predicted that crude supplies fell by 2 million to 3 million barrels.The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports oil inventories on Thursday this week, a day late due to Christmas.Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 82 cents to settle at $94.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling as low as $92.50 earlier. Prices rose more than $2 on Friday after the government reported consumer spending jumped more than expected in November, raising hopes that the economy will weather the crisis roiling credit markets and that demand for oil and gasoline will strengthen.Rising stocks also sent oil prices higher Monday; energy investors often view the stock market as a barometer of economic sentiment. But analysts cautioned against reading too much into price moves on light trading days around the holidays, noting that prices can be distorted when volume is low. The Nymex was closing an hour earlier, at 1:30 EST, and markets in the U.S. and many other countries will be closed Tuesday for Christmas.
• Pound hits all-time low against euro
  LONDON - The British pound hit record lows against the euro on Monday for the second straight day, weighed down by falling home prices and expectations that the Bank of England will keep cutting interest rates.The euro rose to 72.710 British pence, compared with the earlier record of 72.350 pence from May 27, 2003, according to the daily reference rate of the European Central Bank. That was the lowest since the euro began trading on financial markets in 1999.Traders seized on data showing that house prices fell 0.3 percent in December from the month before, with the average property staying on the market for more than eight weeks, the longest since the Hometrack survey began in 2001.The Bank of England cut its key interest rate a quarter-point to 5.5 percent earlier this month amid fears the fallout from the U.S. subprime crisis would hurt economic growth by making it harder for companies and consumers to borrow money. Lower interest rates mean lower yields on some pound-denominated investments and can weigh on its exchange rate.The pound also drifted lower against the dollar, to $1.9760 from $1.9828.
• Merrill Lynch selling unit to GE Capital
  GE Capital, the financial unit of General Electric Co., said Monday it will acquire the bulk of the Merrill Lynch Capital commercial finance operations, allowing Merrill to redeploy about $1.3 billion into other parts of its business.GE said the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will also add $5 billion in commitments to GE Capital Commercial Finance's base of $260 billion."These strong units fit perfectly with existing and very successful GE Capital businesses," Mike Neal, vice chairman of GE said.GE Capital will buy Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate finance, equipment finance, franchise, energy and health care finance units. Merrill Lynch Capital's commercial real estate finance unit is not part of t