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Business news from The International Herald Tribune, the world's daily newspaper online.

European automakers bearish on global outlook Daimler and Renault warned Thursday that the global slowdown would hit their results, sending their shares sharply lower, as Ford announced a loss of $8.7 billion. Ford posts $8.67 billion loss for quarter Ford said that it would take $8 billion in write-downs, including $5.3 billion for its North America assets. For Ford, the way ahead is full of small cars Ford is planning a huge shift in production to build more small cars, and fewer pickups and sport utility vehicles. Arctic may hold as much as a fifth of undiscovered oil and gas reserves The U.S. survey suggests that most of the potential resources are in regions that are not subject to territorial dispute. European data show broad drop in business confidence Europe's economy is taking a bigger hit than expected as the global credit crunch and rising costs erode corporate and consumer confidence, data showed on Thursday. U.S. jobless claims rise sharply as economy slows Initial jobless claims increased by 34,000 to 406,000 in the week ended July 19, from a revised 372,000 the prior week. EasyJet warns of 45% drop in profit on fuel costs Shares in the carrier slumped 6 percent after it said the increase in oil prices over the past few months have added around £185 million to its fuel bill this year. Société Générale trader insists he wasn't the only one Lawyers for Jérôme Kerviel, above, say other traders at the bank were involved in unauthorized deals and assert that the practices were tolerated as long as they were profitable. Robert Dudley, chief of TNK-BP, has left Russia But Dudley, a U.S. citizen, has no plans to step down as head of the venture and has a legal right to continue running TNK-BP from abroad. Gassing up with garbage After years of false starts, a new industry selling motor fuel made from waste is getting a big push in the U.S., with the first commercial sales possible within months. Gas Natural seeks control of a rival Spanish utility The natural gas distributor has confirmed that it is competing to buy a controlling stake in Unión Fenosa, its third attempt to acquire another Spanish energy company. Oil survey says Arctic has riches The Arctic Circle holds enough recoverable oil supplies to meet current world demand for nearly three years, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey forecast. SEC and Fed at odds over authority to oversee investment banks But the SEC chairman and a top Federal Reserve official agreed that the current patchwork of regulatory agencies deserved part of the blame for the current financial market turmoil. House passes housing bill after Bush says he will sign it Citing the need to restore confidence in U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said he would set aside his objections to the legislation. Sales of existing U.S. homes plunge The National Association of Realtors reported that sales dropped by 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million units. Paulson says bill will reassure investors in the U.S. Paulson said the bill had some "wasteful" provisions such as a $3.9 billion measure to provide federal help for homeowners facing foreclosure. ICE, a much-maligned commodities trader, learns to live with regulation But Jeffrey Sprecher, chief of the company, whose full name is IntercontinentalExchange, is also pioneering self-regulation as commodity prices soar. European bank stocks have tumbled 40 percent in past year but may well fall further Analysts say the shares may be six months away from hitting a bottom but are unlikely to sink to as big a discount to the broader market as they did in the last financial sector crisis in the 1990s. Credit Suisse posts smaller-than-expected fall in earnings The results reflected the bank's success in attracting more cash from the world's wealthy and a return to profit for its investment banking unit. U.S. accuses Dutch company of profiting by manipulating oil prices In audiotapes uncovered in their investigation, regulators said, one defendant described the scheme as an effort to "bully the market" by making a large number of trades at or near the end of the trading day to move closing prices. After rally, banks lead a slight retreat The economic news overwhelmed more stock-positive events that included Credit Suisse beating expectations with its second-quarter earnings report. 3M beats expectations with 3% rise 3M held its full-year earnings forecast steady, calling for an increase of at least 10 percent over last year's $4.98 per share before one-time items. U.S. stocks rise on oil price and earnings Stocks rose for a second day as oil retreated and earnings reports eased concern that the profit slump would worsen. Facebook tries to broaden its reach As part of a retooling, the company unveiled Facebook Connect, a way other Web sites can integrate parts of Facebook's service. Toyota ahead of GM in auto sales Based on sales for the first half of 2008, Toyota appears to be on its way to surpassing GM as the largest automaker. Results from European automakers confound gloomy expectations Volkswagen was among a number of European automakers that issued surprisingly strong results, while leaving their full-year performance targets unchanged. Bad news coming from Japanese carmakers Automakers in Japan are set to report one of the toughest quarters in recent memory, battered by a weaker dollar, a tough U.S. market and soaring materials costs. European automakers bearish on global outlook Daimler and Renault warned Thursday that the global slowdown would hit their results, sending their shares sharply lower, as Ford announced a loss of $8.7 billion. Ford posts $8.67 billion loss for quarter Ford said that it would take $8 billion in write-downs, including $5.3 billion for its North America assets. For Ford, the way ahead is full of small cars Ford is planning a huge shift in production to build more small cars, and fewer pickups and sport utility vehicles. Arctic may hold as much as a fifth of undiscovered oil and gas reserves The U.S. survey suggests that most of the potential resources are in regions that are not subject to territorial dispute. European data show broad drop in business confidence Europe's economy is taking a bigger hit than expected as the global credit crunch and rising costs erode corporate and consumer confidence, data showed on Thursday. U.S. jobless claims rise sharply as economy slows Initial jobless claims increased by 34,000 to 406,000 in the week ended July 19, from a revised 372,000 the prior week. EasyJet warns of 45% drop in profit on fuel costs Shares in the carrier slumped 6 percent after it said the increase in oil prices over the past few months have added around £185 million to its fuel bill this year. Société Générale trader insists he wasn't the only one Lawyers for Jérôme Kerviel, above, say other traders at the bank were involved in unauthorized deals and assert that the practices were tolerated as long as they were profitable. Robert Dudley, chief of TNK-BP, has left Russia But Dudley, a U.S. citizen, has no plans to step down as head of the venture and has a legal right to continue running TNK-BP from abroad. Gassing up with garbage After years of false starts, a new industry selling motor fuel made from waste is getting a big push in the U.S., with the first commercial sales possible within months. Gas Natural seeks control of a rival Spanish utility The natural gas distributor has confirmed that it is competing to buy a controlling stake in Unión Fenosa, its third attempt to acquire another Spanish energy company. Oil survey says Arctic has riches The Arctic Circle holds enough recoverable oil supplies to meet current world demand for nearly three years, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey forecast. SEC and Fed at odds over authority to oversee investment banks But the SEC chairman and a top Federal Reserve official agreed that the current patchwork of regulatory agencies deserved part of the blame for the current financial market turmoil. House passes housing bill after Bush says he will sign it Citing the need to restore confidence in U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said he would set aside his objections to the legislation. Sales of existing U.S. homes plunge The National Association of Realtors reported that sales dropped by 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million units. Paulson says bill will reassure investors in the U.S. Paulson said the bill had some "wasteful" provisions such as a $3.9 billion measure to provide federal help for homeowners facing foreclosure. ICE, a much-maligned commodities trader, learns to live with regulation But Jeffrey Sprecher, chief of the company, whose full name is IntercontinentalExchange, is also pioneering self-regulation as commodity prices soar. European bank stocks have tumbled 40 percent in past year but may well fall further Analysts say the shares may be six months away from hitting a bottom but are unlikely to sink to as big a discount to the broader market as they did in the last financial sector crisis in the 1990s. Credit Suisse posts smaller-than-expected fall in earnings The results reflected the bank's success in attracting more cash from the world's wealthy and a return to profit for its investment banking unit. U.S. accuses Dutch company of profiting by manipulating oil prices In audiotapes uncovered in their investigation, regulators said, one defendant described the scheme as an effort to "bully the market" by making a large number of trades at or near the end of the trading day to move closing prices. After rally, banks lead a slight retreat The economic news overwhelmed more stock-positive events that included Credit Suisse beating expectations with its second-quarter earnings report. 3M beats expectations with 3% rise 3M held its full-year earnings forecast steady, calling for an increase of at least 10 percent over last year's $4.98 per share before one-time items. U.S. stocks rise on oil price and earnings Stocks rose for a second day as oil retreated and earnings reports eased concern that the profit slump would worsen.