Posted on Wed, Jan. 04, 2006
Atlanta tops Chicago for busiest airport in 2005
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has topped Chicago O'Hare International Airport as the nation's busiest in terms of takeoffs and landings, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. Hartsfield-Jackson finished 2005 with 980,197 takeoffs and landings, while O'Hare was second with 972,246. O'Hare had the most takeoffs and landings in the U.S. in 2004 with 992,471, compared with 964,793 at Hartsfield-Jackson, the FAA said. A possible explanation for the surge at the Atlanta airport is fleet and operational changes at Delta Air Lines Inc., which has its hub in Atlanta. Dallas-Fort Worth was third in the U.S. in takeoffs and landings in 2005 with 718,291, while Los Angeles International Airport was fourth with 650,539, according to the FAA.
Pilgrim's Pride cuts 1Q earnings forecast
Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the second-largest poultry producer in the United States and Mexico, said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings will fall more than 50 percent short of its prior expectations. The company's stock plunged to a new 52-week low after the news. The Pittsburg, Texas-based poultry producer also said it was withdrawing its earnings outlook for the full fiscal 2006 and will cut about 300 jobs at a Pennsylvania plant. Shares of the company fell $7.80, or 24 percent, to $25.36 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Analyst: Google shares will hit $600 in '06
Google Inc.'s new year is picking up right where 2005 left off — with ever-loftier expectations for the company's soaring stock and a feverish guessing game about the online search engine leader's next big move. Confident Google will double in size during the next two years, Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy on Tuesday issued a research report predicting that the company's shares will hit $600 before 2006 is over. The forecast makes Rashtchy the first prominent securities analyst to set a $600 target for Google's shares. The optimistic outlook helped lift Google's shares $20.37, or 4.9 percent, to close at $435.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
BRIEFLY
Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, named chief operating officer Richard Zannino on Tuesday to become its new CEO, replacing Peter Kann, who will remain as chairman until 2007. The company's shares rose sharply on the news. The company also announced that Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House, who is Kann's wife, will retire from the company by mutual agreement. … The blue and red jets of Southwest Airlines lifted off from Denver International Airport on Tuesday, marking the return of the low-fare carrier after a 20-year absence. A decline in the airport's fees lured the airline back. … Federal authorities have approved the buyout of Linens N Things Inc. by private-equity fund Apollo Management LP. The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that it approved the purchase, valued at $1.3 billion when it was announced in November.
Atlanta tops Chicago for busiest airport in 2005
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has topped Chicago O'Hare International Airport as the nation's busiest in terms of takeoffs and landings, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. Hartsfield-Jackson finished 2005 with 980,197 takeoffs and landings, while O'Hare was second with 972,246. O'Hare had the most takeoffs and landings in the U.S. in 2004 with 992,471, compared with 964,793 at Hartsfield-Jackson, the FAA said. A possible explanation for the surge at the Atlanta airport is fleet and operational changes at Delta Air Lines Inc., which has its hub in Atlanta. Dallas-Fort Worth was third in the U.S. in takeoffs and landings in 2005 with 718,291, while Los Angeles International Airport was fourth with 650,539, according to the FAA.
Pilgrim's Pride cuts 1Q earnings forecast
Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the second-largest poultry producer in the United States and Mexico, said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings will fall more than 50 percent short of its prior expectations. The company's stock plunged to a new 52-week low after the news. The Pittsburg, Texas-based poultry producer also said it was withdrawing its earnings outlook for the full fiscal 2006 and will cut about 300 jobs at a Pennsylvania plant. Shares of the company fell $7.80, or 24 percent, to $25.36 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Analyst: Google shares will hit $600 in '06
Google Inc.'s new year is picking up right where 2005 left off — with ever-loftier expectations for the company's soaring stock and a feverish guessing game about the online search engine leader's next big move. Confident Google will double in size during the next two years, Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy on Tuesday issued a research report predicting that the company's shares will hit $600 before 2006 is over. The forecast makes Rashtchy the first prominent securities analyst to set a $600 target for Google's shares. The optimistic outlook helped lift Google's shares $20.37, or 4.9 percent, to close at $435.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
BRIEFLY
Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, named chief operating officer Richard Zannino on Tuesday to become its new CEO, replacing Peter Kann, who will remain as chairman until 2007. The company's shares rose sharply on the news. The company also announced that Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House, who is Kann's wife, will retire from the company by mutual agreement. … The blue and red jets of Southwest Airlines lifted off from Denver International Airport on Tuesday, marking the return of the low-fare carrier after a 20-year absence. A decline in the airport's fees lured the airline back. … Federal authorities have approved the buyout of Linens N Things Inc. by private-equity fund Apollo Management LP. The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that it approved the purchase, valued at $1.3 billion when it was announced in November.