Mortgage firm posts $151m loss

Freddie Mac, the second-largest US mortgage-finance company, posted a $151 million first-quarter loss as tumbling home prices and record foreclosures drove up credit costs. The company will raise $5.5 billion in capital.

Deere harvests quarterly profit

Deere & Co, the world's largest maker of tractors and combines, said second-quarter profit rose 22 percent, as demand for farm machinery outpaced sales of excavators and backhoes.

Steel giants report earnings boost

ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, and ThyssenKrupp AG said profit rose after prices for the metal outpaced raw-material costs.

Biz people

Greenspan: Oil will keep rising

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Business International

Hewlett-Packard buys EDS for $13.9b

Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's biggest personal-computer maker, agreed to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp for $13.9 billion to more than double its sales from computer services. The company raised its full-year profit and sales forecasts for the year.

Ghosn expects huge drop in net income

Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third- largest automaker, forecast the biggest drop in net income in nine years because of a stronger yen and weaker demand in the United States, its most profitable market.

Trio of lenders report slump in Q1 earnings

Societe Generale SA, Fortis and Credit Agricole SA, three of Europe's biggest banks, said first-quarter earnings declined after losses in the credit markets.

Oil little changed on demand forecast

Crude oil was little changed in New York after the International Energy Agency lowered its demand forecast because higher prices are curbing consumption.

Buffett's healthcare investment proves to be bad bet

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has increasingly invested in healthcare stocks since last year, and the strategy has been a bad bet so far. It won't take long to find out whether the company is doubling down.

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