Diminishing Syria threat sends stocks higher
Investors decided the risk of a conflict with Syria is shrinking and sent stock prices higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 135.54 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,326.60 on Wednesday. A big decline in Apple and other technology companies held back the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite. The S&P 500 managed a small gain, its seventh in a row.
U.S. and Russian diplomats are working on a plan that would lead to Syria giving up chemical weapons that President Barack Obama says were used against civilians. Obama said the U.S. will explore a possible diplomatic solution, though the U.S. military remains ready to attack.
After a tough August, stocks have been rising in September. The S&P 500 is up 3.4 percent so far this month. Since September began, a U.S. strike on Syria has gone from seeming imminent to being something that may or may not ever happen.
Cargill president named company's next CEO
Cargill's board has named President and Chief Operating Officer David W. MacLennan as its next CEO as part of its succession plans.
MacLennan will take over the post from the 62-year-old Greg Page, who will serve as executive chairman of the agribusiness company. Page has been CEO and chairman since 2007.
The 54-year-old MacLennan will keep the title of president and continue as a board member. He has worked at Cargill since 1991 and served as president and COO since 2011. His CEO appointment is effective on Dec. 1.
Southeastern buys big stake in News Corp.
Southeastern Asset Management Inc., the investment firm that along with activist investor Carl Icahn opposed the proposed buyout of Dell Inc., disclosed that it has taken a nearly 12 percent stake in News Corp.
According to the Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Southeastern now owns 23.8 million News Corp. Class B shares for an 11.9 percent stake in the company, making it the largest institutional shareholder of the company, according to FactSet.
Earlier this week, Southeastern and Icahn dropped their opposition to Dell's plan to sell itself to its company founder Michael Dell in a $24.8 billion deal.
The investment firm and Icahn had vehemently opposed the deal, saying that it significantly undervalued the company but dropped their bid after realizing that they wouldn't be able to defeat a vote on the offer set for Thursday.
New York-based News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, along with Dow Jones Newswires and a book publishing arm. Last week, it announced a deal to sell off 33 smaller publications, including eight dailies. The publisher split off its movie studio and cable television business, now called 21st Century Fox, in June.
Newsweek, Daily Beast editor to step down
Tina Brown, the editor who oversaw the ill-fated merger of Newsweek and The Daily Beast website, is parting ways with the company.
That's according to a report by Buzzfeed business editor Peter Lauria, a former Daily Beast correspondent.
The website reported that Brown's contract expires in January and will not be renewed. Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, may take with her the Women in the World conference as part of her severance agreement.
A spokeswoman for IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns The Daily Beast, declined to comment.
The New York-based company bought Newsweek for $1 in 2010 and, a few months later, merged it with The Daily Beast, which Brown co-founded. The money-losing newsweekly magazine went online-only last year and was sold IBT Media last month.
Chevron to pay $5.2M in N.M. settlement
New Mexico officials say Chevron Corp. will pay $5.2 million to settle the state's claims that the energy company improperly applied for money from an environmental cleanup fund.
The state alleges Chevron falsely claimed it didn't have and didn't collect on insurance to pay for cleaning up petroleum contamination from the company's leaking underground storage tanks at gas stations around the state. The state says the company did get payments from insurers through secret settlements.
The state says it paid $4 million to Chevron after the company filed dozens of claims to tap into the cleanup fund. Some of the claims date back to the early 1990s.
The settlement was announced Wednesday by Attorney General Gary King and the state Environment Department.
A message seeking comment with Chevron officials wasn't immediately returned.
FYI
The TCC StartUp Cup's search for entrepreneurial excellence narrowed its scope to six finalists Tuesday.
John Chandler, chief financial officer of Magellan Midstream Partners LP, will leave the partnership at the end of March, the Tulsa-based company announced Tuesday.
