Stocks open lower after rise in jobless claims

NEW YORK (AP) _ An unexpected rise in jobless claims is causing investors to sell again. A day after the Federal Reserve expressed confidence in the economy, the government said new jobless claims rose by 15,000 to 627,000 last week. The market had been expecting a decline.

Economy dips at slightly lower pace in 1Q

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The economy tumbled at a 5.5 percent pace in the first quarter, but appears to be doing better now, even though heavy layoffs persist. The revised reading on gross domestic product, released Thursday by the Commerce Department, showed the economy from January through March didn't fall as deeply as the 5.7 percent annualized decline reported a month ago. Economists expected the government would stick with its previous estimate.

BofA raises more than the $33.9B required by gov't

NEW YORK (AP) _ Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that upon the completion of a debt exchange later this week, it will have raised more than the $33.9 billion required by the government. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank said it has preliminarily agreed to exchange $3.9 billion in depository shares for common stock as part of a debt exchange offer. Settlement of the exchange, which was oversubscribed, is expected to be completed Friday.

Indicted billionaire Stanford taken to courthouse

HOUSTON (AP) _ Billionaire R. Allen Stanford is wearing handcuffs and leg chains as he arrived at a federal courthouse in Houston to face fraud and conspiracy charges. The 59-year-old financier has denied allegations he swindled investors out of $7 billion in an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

Kimberly-Clark to cut 1,600 jobs

DALLAS (AP) _ Kimberly-Clark Corp. said Thursday it will cut 1,600 jobs, or 3 percent of its global work force, as it slims down in the tough economy. The maker of Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers and other products employs 53,000 people around the world. It plans to make the cuts primarily among salaried and non-production workers. It does not plan to close any plants.

Lennar posts slightly larger 2nd-quarter loss

MIAMI (AP) _ Lennar Corp. reported a slightly larger second-quarter loss than a year ago Thursday as the homebuilder took some writeoffs to adjust land and inventory values and dealt with fewer home deliveries and a drop in new orders. While consumers did buy more new homes than in the first quarter, President and CEO Stuart Miller said in a statement that increased unemployment, rising foreclosures and stricter credit standards still weighed on the sector.

AIG moves to spin off 2 units, reduce gov't debt

NEW YORK (AP) _ American International Group Inc. said Thursday it will reduce outstanding federal loans by $25 billion by giving the government a preferred stake in two units that will be spun off from the insurance giant. Embattled insurer AIG is placing two life insurance subsidiaries _ American International Assurance Co. and American Life Insurance Co. _ into special purpose vehicles ahead of planned initial public offerings.

Oil hovers near $69 amid mixed crude demand signs

Oil prices hovered near $69 a barrel Thursday amid mixed signals about crude demand from a weekly U.S. inventory report and a slight rise of the U.S. dollar against the euro. By mid-afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was up 21 cents to $68.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It peaked at $69.50 earlier in the session, before the dollar began recovering against the euro. On Wednesday, it lost 57 cents to settle at $68.67.

Toyota president says product lineup under review

TOKYO (AP) _ Akio Toyoda promised a nimbler Toyota that will be more responsive to regional needs in his first public appearance as head of the Japanese automaker his grandfather founded. Toyoda, the automaker's first president from the founding family in 14 years, said Thursday the company's entire product lineup will be reviewed to better focus its offerings to each global region.

China accuses Google of spreading pornography

BEIJING (AP) _ China accused Google Inc. on Thursday of spreading pornography after Chinese users were unable to connect to the search giant's Web site, while Washington called on Beijing to scrap its order for personal computers to be equipped with Internet-filtering software. "We have found that the English version of google.com has spread lots of pornographic, lewd and vulgar content, which is in serious violation of Chinese laws and regulations," said foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a news briefing. He said authorities summoned Google representatives and told them to "remove the material immediately."