Boeing adds 875 jobs this year
Published 9:51 pm Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Boeing has added 875 jobs to its work force in Washington since the end of January. At the end of April, Boeing had nearly 75,000 people in the state on its payroll. Boeing has a big backlog of jetliner orders, although airlines are facing the problem of higher fuel costs.
Good tests for Bothell biotech
Seattle Genetics Inc. said an early clinical trial of SGN-35, an antibody-drug conjugate being tested against Hodgkin lymphoma and related cancers, showed positive responses in nearly one-third of tested patients. The drug seemed to stabilize the disease in another 15 patients. The results were presented Tuesday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago.
“Live” search needs work
The executive in charge of Microsoft Corp.’s search efforts acknowledged Tuesday that the company’s “Live” brand for search and online services leaves much to be desired. Now that Microsoft has abandoned its $47.5 billion takeover bid for competitor Yahoo Inc., its marketing team is working on fixing Microsoft’s search image to make it more competitive with Google Inc., Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s platforms and services division said.
Classified site added by Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has launched an online classified advertising site, a move that opens a broader range of shopping to Wal-Mart’s Internet customers. The site is run through Oodle.com, a three-year-old San Mateo, Calif., firm, and links to Oodle’s online offerings.
Factory orders strong in April
Orders for manufactured goods posted a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose in a number of areas including heavy machinery, iron and steel. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that orders were up 1.1 percent in April following a 1.5 percent increase in March. Those gains followed big declines in January and March that raised concerns about how much pain manufacturing industries would feel from the severe economic slowdown hitting housing and the financial sector.
Oil prices drop sharply
Oil prices fell Tuesday, dropping below $124 a barrel as demand concerns grew and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that more interest rate cuts are unlikely. Bernanke’s comments sent the dollar higher and raised questions about oil’s ability to reach new highs in the short term. Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $3.45 to settle at $124.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dipped as low as $123.87 in after-hours electronic trading.
Luxury builder reports loss
Toll Bros. reported its third straight quarterly loss. Write-downs were the biggest problem. Toll reported a loss of $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share, for the period ended April 30.
From Herald staff
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