Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama's coolness cuts both ways.
Before Obama's March 18 race-relations speech, top adviser David Axelrod went to sleep unsure what the candidate would say the next morning. When a restless Axelrod awoke at 2 a.m., the entire speech, written by Obama, was waiting on his Blackberry.
``I thought, how could a guy operating under this kind of pressure, three hours of sleep a night, produce that kind of speech?'' Axelrod says.
That's one side of cool. There's another, one that can verge on cold.
Last August, the Democratic presidential candidate got a surprise endorsement from Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter, boosting Obama's foreign-policy credentials. The next month, the campaign enlisted Brzezinski to introduce him at an event in Iowa.
Then, before the March 4 Ohio primary, Obama spoke privately with a group of Jewish leaders in Cleveland and dismissed any formal association with Brzezinski, who's seen by some as too critical of Israel. ``He's not one of my advisers,'' Obama said. ``I've had lunch with him once.''
For the Illinois senator, cool can be complicated. It helps him maintain composure as he bursts through the barriers of race and politics; it also creates about him an aura of detachment. It fuels his boldness as well as his caution, the inspiration and the calculation, the intelligence and the ambition that will make him this week the first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. party.
Taking Risks
While Obama, 47, has profited from no small measure of luck, it is his willingness to take risks -- seizing opportunities for advancement as soon as they have presented themselves -- that made his triumph possible. The man who titled his best-selling memoir ``The Audacity of Hope'' has benefited far more from audacity.
The soaring quality of his message of ``hope'' and ``change'' propelled him to the nomination, its vagueness both a strength and weakness. The challenge of the Democratic convention and the campaign might well be how he fills in the canvass.
Obama has shown an ``enormous ability to arouse the intense admiration and affection of his base,'' says Sean Wilentz, a history professor at Princeton University. ``Exactly what he means by change, hope and transformation -- all the sort of big-payoff words that appear in his speeches -- he has yet to clearly define.''
A Global Celebrity
One reason may be his limited time in the public arena. There's no modern American precedent for the rapid trajectory of his career, which has made him that rare politician who's also a global celebrity.
Obama is the first nominee of a major party in more than a half-century whose life wasn't shaped by World War II, Vietnam or the struggles for racial and gender equality of the 1960s. He is the first to have such an exotic biography, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya who grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia and has relatives on four continents.
His barrier-breaking candidacy also came at a price: It ended the hopes of those who wanted to see Senator Hillary Clinton of New York become the first woman to lead a major- party ticket. Though polls suggest Obama has captured some of her supporters, others remained unconvinced.
Bridging Generations
On the other hand, his candidacy has bridged some generational divisions. Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, initially supported Senator Clinton, while his son, Jamie, raised money for Obama. The father is now backing Obama too.
He also bridged a generational divide with his choice of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, 65, as his vice-presidential running mate. The campaign hopes Biden will help inoculate Obama from criticism of his lack of foreign-policy experience, while helping him reach out to working-class voters who favored Clinton in the primary.
Obama needs no such help among younger voters: His pull among them has earned him credentials as a digital-age candidate, harnessing the power of the Internet to greater effect than any rival to build a network of 2 million donors and raise a record $390 million as of July 31.
What kind of president he would be and how he'd make decisions are among the questions Obama will begin to answer with the convention, which begins today in Denver. Already, his policy shifts on issues from federal wiretapping legislation to Social Security taxes to election financing have led even some Democrats to question the firmness of his convictions.
The Bottom Line
Obama so far has picked his battles carefully, choosing most often to focus on winning converts. ``One of the dangers here is that in the effort to constantly adjust his position, people then begin to wonder where his bottom line is,'' says Leon Panetta, President Clinton's former chief of staff. ``He's got to show that he's got a bottom line and that he's willing to fight for it.''
His visits last month to Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, testing the world's embrace of him as a potential president, drew crowds that peaked at 200,000 in Berlin. The positive reviews weren't limited to non-Americans.
`He Was Superior'
``I've been in meetings with at least three different presidents,'' says Dennis Ross, the former Middle East envoy for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Clinton. ``He wasn't just up to the level, he was superior.''
When ``Obama met with the Palestinians, some came up afterwards and were saying that they were so impressed because here was Obama, who had the same facility, the same grasp of the issues as Clinton did,'' says Ross, who accompanied the candidate. ``And Clinton had been president for a few years by the time he met with them.''
Still, if Obama isn't easy to define for many Americans, that may be attributable to his unconventional life story. After his years in Hawaii and Indonesia, he attended Occidental College in Los Angeles before transferring to Columbia University in New York. He spent time in Chicago as a community organizer before heading off to Harvard Law School. He returned to Chicago to teach constitutional law and work as a civil- rights lawyer.
His varied experiences have given him a capacity to deal with many different types of people. He rose to be the first black president of the Harvard Law Review by winning over conservative classmates, then ran the journal in a way that appeased them and liberals alike.
No Demonizing
There was ``no question that he was a liberal, as were most editors of the Review and most students at Harvard Law at that time,'' says Brad Berenson, an associate White House counsel under President George W. Bush and a conservative lawyer in Washington who was an editor during Obama's tenure at the journal. ``But he wasn't the kind who demonized conservatives or personalized politics.''
That approach carried over later into his work in the Illinois legislature, where he ingratiated himself with Republican lawmakers. In Washington, Obama, who has one of the Senate's most liberal voting records, made alliances with Republicans such as Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, one of the chamber's most conservative members.
In the nation's capital, Obama became known as a good listener.
Even in gatherings with some of the country's top business leaders, he ``doesn't sit down to convince them how smart he is,'' says former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, a supporter who attended a July meeting Obama held with advisers, including Robert Rubin and Warren Buffett.
Making the Arguments
``I've heard him say, `I just don't agree with you, I think there's a different way to look at this,' and then make the intelligent arguments that he needs to make,'' Daley says.
For his part, Obama said in an interview last month that ``I'm a big believer in a management style that focuses on getting the job done and doesn't focus on personal ambitions or personal hang-ups.''
If something doesn't work, ``you cut your losses and move on,'' he said. ``Learn from your mistakes and then try something else.''
`No-Drama Obama'
His generally temperate demeanor has earned him the nickname ``No-Drama Obama.'' Says Berenson, ``He always projected a kind of cool and a kind of reserve that masked the ambition that clearly had to be inside.''
That ambition, though, has rarely been far from the surface.
In 1996, when Obama first sought public office as a state senator, he worked to disqualify the woman he sought to replace, Alice Palmer, by challenging her nominating petitions. Palmer endorsed Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination, making her an exception to Obama's tendency to cultivate onetime foes as allies.
Less than four years into his tenure in Springfield, Obama ran for Congress, challenging incumbent Representative Bobby Rush, a onetime Chicago alderman and, earlier, a member of the Black Panthers, a 1960s radical group that promoted black power and self-defense. Rush crushed him, and Obama was stung by the defeat.
He sought the counsel of Emil Jones, the Illinois state Senate president, whom Obama depicts in his first book as a tool of the Chicago political machine. Jones, who became his mentor, says the loss to Rush taught Obama a lesson in the need to build a solid coalition.
Beer and Cigarettes
Obama cultivated relationships in Springfield, sipping beer and smoking cigarettes -- hoping his wife, Michelle, wouldn't find out about the smoking. State Senator Terry Link, who hosted a weekly poker game, recalls Obama putting out his cigarette when his wife telephoned.
``We said, `What the hell is she going to do? See you smoking?''' Link says.
In 2004, Obama challenged both a multimillionaire and the son of a Cook County politician for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. Few thought initially that he had a chance. But the wealthy candidate, Blair Hull, who contributed $28 million from his personal funds toward his race, was undone by allegations of spousal abuse, and the other contender faltered. Obama won the nomination.
In the general election, his Republican opponent was to be Jack Ryan, a former investment banker who taught in the inner city and whose own celebrity looks were a match for Obama's. But Ryan's candidacy, too, was derailed by personal scandal; Illinois Republicans eventually had to import a candidate from out of state, one-time presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who moved from Maryland to make the race.
Electrifying the Convention
That summer, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential candidate, asked Obama to be the keynote speaker at the party's national convention in Boston. The speech electrified the crowd and helped Obama deliver a crushing defeat to Keyes that set him on the path to political stardom.
Crowds gravitated toward him. So did Senate colleagues: In the 2006 congressional elections, he was the No. 1 draw for Democratic candidates, often attracting thousands of people.
Then, just two years after he entered national office, Obama made his most audacious political leap: He announced his candidacy for president in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, challenging Clinton.
Formidable, Not Inevitable
``I think he always thought she was formidable; I don't believe he ever thought she was inevitable,'' says senior adviser Robert Gibbs. ``When he walked out on that stage in Springfield, he thought he would not just be nominated, but that he would be president.''
Symbolism has never been lost on Obama, from that announcement, where Abraham Lincoln gave his ``House Divided'' speech, to his Aug. 28 acceptance address -- which will come on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ``I Have a Dream'' speech.
Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, the first black person elected to that office, recalls telling his wife that Obama ``could be the Tiger Woods of politics because of his unique background, the way he was raised, the fact he is biracial. He represents the best of so much of what we have hoped for.''
Obama is ``doing more than winning the presidency,'' Kirk says. ``He's changing the political paradigm.''
At least that's what Obama is counting on. Even with a sour economy, an unpopular war and an even more unpopular Republican president, he remains deadlocked in polls with Republican candidate John McCain. Colleagues and opponents across the Senate aisle say they have little doubt he is both accustomed to the battle ahead -- and ready for it.
Even so, he knows there are times when it's wiser to back down. Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree recalls one such occasion: when Obama, in his last year at Harvard, organized a basketball game between black law students and prisoners.
Before the game, Obama went over to embrace the opposing team's center, and asked why he was incarcerated.
``The answer was double murder,'' Ogletree says, laughing. ``Although he tries to deny it, it was the worst game Obama ever played. He didn't shoot, and he let the prisoner have as many open shots as possible.''
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Zhang Guoqing says the air quality in Beijing is better since the government clamped down on tailpipes, smokestacks and construction cranes for the Olympics.
``The traffic condition became less crowded and the air quality also improved,'' Zhang, 58, said while watching ice skaters at the China World Trade Center. ``I don't want the government to stop those measures.''
Beijing officials say the city experienced its best air quality in 10 years this month after authorities implemented odd- even driving days and shut down factories and building sites before the Aug. 8-24 games. More than half of 2,000 Beijingers surveyed said traffic control measures should continue after the games, state-run China Daily reported.
Yet they won't get their wish. The world's most populous nation needs to create 10 million new jobs a year to maintain economic growth and social stability, so business will return closer to usual once the upcoming Paralympics end Sept. 17.
``These temporary measures are meant to address the issue temporarily,'' said Tao Dong, chief Asia economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Hong Kong. ``You can't prohibit people from driving their cars. You're going to have a riot.''
Slow Growth
China, the world's No. 4 economy, may have lost as much as 3 percent of its estimated 4 trillion-yuan ($585.3 billion) gross domestic product by shutting down factories in Beijing and surrounding areas for two months, Tao said. Some factories, including Beijing Shougang Co., the nation's fourth-biggest steelmaker, were evicted from the capital.
The affected regions generate about 26 percent of China's economic output, so the world's fastest-growing major economy will slow during the next two months, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in an Aug. 8 report.
GDP growth has slowed for four straight quarters, prompting President Hu Jintao to say Aug. 1 that his priorities were maintaining steady, fast growth and controlling inflation.
There was such concern about Beijing's air quality that International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said some outdoor events could be postponed if necessary. World-record holder Haile Gebrselassie, an asthmatic, pulled out of the marathon because of the pollution and heat.
The city spent about $70 billion to improve air quality and build subways, sports stadiums and an airport terminal for the games. Chinese officials say the measures worked.
`Itchy Palms'
The average daily pollution index this month was about 31 percent lower than August 2007, the city's environmental protection bureau said Saturday. Major air pollutants were an average 40 percent lower, with nitrogen oxide emissions from automobiles down 61 percent, the bureau said.
Even Gebrselassie said he noticed the change.
``I was here in February, I don't see no blue sky,'' he said. ``To keep such clear air, that's fantastic.''
Still, levels of particulates known as PM10 were up to double the World Health Organization's recommended levels on some days. China's pollution index doesn't measure smaller particles called PM2.5, which can penetrate deeper into lungs and create greater risk for developing asthma and bronchitis.
Several riders in the 245-kilometer (152.2-mile) bicycle road race on Aug. 9 said they were affected by poor air quality.
``First few days when we went out, I was coughing a lot after,'' said American George Hincapie, who finished 40th.
Even the archers suffered.
``I didn't like the pollution,'' bronze medalist Yun Ok-Hee of South Korea said. ``My palms and hands were itchy.''
More Emissions
China's release of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming is increasing more than previously forecast and will swamp pollution cuts planned by the U.K., Germany and other industrialized nations, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in May. It surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest emitter.
Air pollution-related illnesses and deaths may cost China an additional 3.8 percent of GDP, a World Bank report said. Beijing's 15 million residents face higher incidences of asthma, respiratory infections and lung cancer, said Hans Troedsson, WHO's representative in China.
``The government is taking measures in the right direction, but it needs to be scaled up,'' Troedsson said.
For the games, the government said cars with license plates ending in odd numbers could drive only on odd-numbered days, and vice versa for even numbers. Beijing has about 3.3 million cars and adds about 300,000 a year.
Controls Continue
City officials said Saturday that normal traffic patterns would return next month.
``They should at least try to continue some of these measures,'' said Ricardo Browne, 41, a Brazilian pilot working for Shenzhen Airlines Co. ``It's hard to see the sun.''
Steps are being taken. China will restrict factory discharges and may not let some polluters reopen, and last month it imposed cleaner fuel standards to reduce auto emissions. The government will double the tax on large vehicles to spur demand for more fuel-efficient cars.
``They are meaning business in terms of structural changes that will positively influence the climate and the environment,'' Rogge said yesterday.
Beijing editor Zhou Min, 27, said she, like Zhang, wanted the driving restrictions to continue, even though it meant more crowded buses and subways.
``I fully support the environment-friendly measures since the air quality has been improved, which puts me in a good mood,'' she said.
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. said former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin will give up the title of chairman of the board's executive committee, while keeping his role as senior counselor at the biggest U.S. bank by assets.
Rubin, who turns 70 this week, will remain a director, Citigroup said today in a statement on its Web site. The New York-based company eliminated the executive committee and shifted its responsibilities to the nominating and governance committee led by Richard Parsons, chairman of Time Warner Inc.
Former Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Sanford ``Sandy'' Weill hired Rubin as chairman of the executive committee in October 1999, three months after he left U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration. The seven-member committee acted on the board's behalf between meetings, and Rubin served as interim chairman for a month last year after former CEO Charles O. ``Chuck'' Prince resigned.
Rubin has been criticized by investors including Smith Asset Management's William Smith for collecting more than $150 million in pay in a decade while failing to steer Prince away from subprime mortgage securities that led to $17.4 billion of net losses in the past three quarters.
Citigroup's board acted to ``simplify its committee structure,'' according to the statement. ``By transferring this authority, a separate executive committee whose only function was to convene these meetings is no longer needed.''
Administrative
In an interview today, Rubin said the decision to eliminate the executive committee evolved from a conversation with Parsons about two months ago. Rubin's role running the interim meetings was ``administrative'' and can easily be handled by Parsons's nominating committee, he said.
``There's no change either to my roles or functions at Citigroup, other than this, which is a solely administrative change,'' Rubin said in the interview. ``Everything I've done I'll do.''
Such responsibilities include advising executives and clients on a ``wide range of strategic and managerial matters,'' a role that is reflected in his new title, said Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for the bank.
In an interview earlier this year, Rubin said he wasn't responsible for the bank's trading operations. ``You can't run a trading group where someone comes in from the outside and says, `Prices are high, go sell,''' Rubin said.
Stock Bonus
Citigroup shares have tumbled more than 60 percent in the past year, and today fell 53 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $17.61 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Rubin in January elected to forgo a stock bonus for 2007. Citigroup didn't disclose Rubin's compensation for 2007, and Bell declined to discuss his current pay.
Rubin said he has no plans to retire.
``The only plan I have right now is to do what I'm doing,'' he said. ``If you start talking about the indefinite future, at some point everybody's life changes, and at some point my life will change.''
Rubin, who's backing Democrat Barack Obama for president after initially supporting Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, said he plans to travel this week to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Obama economic adviser Jason Furman is a Rubin protege.
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell the most in a month as a Kansas bank's failure and speculation American International Group Inc. will post a loss heightened concern that credit writedowns will keep rattling the financial system.
AIG tumbled to a 13-year low after Credit Suisse Group said the insurer may lose $2.41 billion this quarter on mortgage- related writedowns. Washington Mutual Inc. and Huntington Bancshares Inc. each dropped more than 6 percent after Columbian Bank & Trust Co. became the ninth U.S. bank to collapse this year. Alcoa Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. led the Standard & Poor's 500 Materials Index to a 2.3 percent retreat as gold and aluminum prices decreased.
``The market's going to struggle until we get a clear indication that we know what the bottom is in the financials, and that may be a while,'' Peter Sorrentino, senior portfolio manager at Cincinnati-based Huntington Asset Advisors, which manages about $17 billion, told Bloomberg Television.
The S&P 500 dropped 25.36, or 2 percent, to 1,266.84, ending a three-day advance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 241.81, or 2.1 percent, to 11,386.25, with all 30 of its companies lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 49.12 to 2,365.59. About 865 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the slowest trading day of the year. Volume last week was 35 percent less than the year-to-date average.
Broad Retreat
Almost 10 stocks retreated for each that rose on the NYSE. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 dropped as the index extended its first weekly decline since July. The benchmark for American equities slipped 0.5 percent last week as energy prices climbed and concern grew that the government may need to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Stocks fell even after a report showed sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose in July from a 10-year low as declining prices helped stabilize demand, and investor appetite increased for Freddie Mac's weekly sale of short-term debt securities.
Morgan Stanley cut its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 on concern banks will report more credit-related writedowns and the global economic slowdown will curb profits at technology and industrial companies.
``Our biggest concern for 2009 earnings estimates is that a combination of global growth slowdown, declining operating leverage, a stronger U.S. dollar, less share count reduction and a long tail to dysfunctional credit markets will create powerful headwinds for what appear to be very optimistic consensus expectations,'' Abhijit Chakrabortti wrote in a note to clients dated yesterday.
AIG, Banks Retreat
AIG fell 5.5 percent to $18.78 for the biggest drop in the Dow average. Credit Suisse analyst Thomas Gallagher predicted AIG will lose 86 cents a share in the third quarter. Previously he forecast a 13-cent profit. ``Recent deterioration'' in debt holdings may cause losses in the firm's credit-default swaps, Gallagher wrote today in a research note. He rates New York-based AIG ``neutral.''
The KBW Bank Index tumbled 3.4 percent as all 24 of its companies decreased. Washington Mutual lost 23 cents to $3.60. Huntington Bancshares retreated 51 cents to $7. SunTrust Banks Inc., the largest bank based in Georgia, fell 6 percent to $40.15 after Citigroup Inc. began covering it with a ``sell'' rating.
Columbian Bank, with $752 million in assets and $622 million in total deposits, was shuttered by the Kansas state bank commissioner's office and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Aug. 22.
`Last Shoe'
The pace of bank closings is accelerating as global financial firms rack up more than $500 billion in writedowns and credit losses since 2007. The FDIC's ``problem'' bank list grew by 18 percent in the first quarter to 90 banks with combined assets of $26.3 billion. Prior to yesterday, the FDIC had closed 36 banks since October 2000, according to a list at fdic.gov. The U.S. shut 12 banks in 2002, the highest in the period, and 2005 and 2006 had no closures.
``Trying to guess when the last shoe has dropped is going to be a difficult way of making money,'' said Jeffrey Coons, co- director of research at Manning & Napier Advisors Inc., which manages $19 billion in Fairport, New York. Investors ``should focus on companies that aren't reliant on you picking a bottom in the financial crisis,'' he said.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. slipped 6.6 percent to $13.45 on concern that a Korean bank will abandon a potential investment in the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm. The shares rose 5 percent in New York trading on Aug. 22 after Korea Development Bank said it's ``considering'' an investment in the company.
Lehman Talks
The Korean bank ended talks on a possible investment after Lehman demanded a price 50 percent higher than its book value, the Maeil Business newspaper said, citing an unnamed official in the banking industry. South Korea's financial regulator said today that state-controlled banks including Korea Development Bank should consider the risks of buying overseas rivals amid the global credit crisis.
New York-based Lehman has dropped 79 percent this year, the worst performance in the 11-company Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index.
Fannie Mae rose 3.8 percent to $5.19, paring its drop over the past year to 92 percent. Freddie Mac climbed 17 percent to $3.29, still down 95 percent in the past year. Investors bid 3.95 times the amount of three-month securities on offer from Freddie today, compared with 2.19 times last week.
Financials Slump
Financial shares last week fell the most in six weeks for the biggest drop among 10 S&P 500 industries. The group has retreated 32 percent this year. One year into the financial crisis, central bankers and scholars at the Federal Reserve's annual retreat this weekend couldn't agree on how to prevent a repeat.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, former officials and economists meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, split over whether policy makers should be made responsible for financial stability and how closely to heed the concerns of Wall Street.
The yearlong credit crisis has yet to run its course, with continued turmoil likely in housing and banking, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said Aug. 23 at the Fed's symposium.
Alcoa, the world's third-largest aluminum producer, retreated 86 cents to $31.42. Freeport-McMoRan tumbled $2.79 to $87.81. Gold futures for December delivery fell $7.80, or 0.9 percent, to $825.70 an ounce in New York and November aluminum fell 1 percent in Shanghai. The London Metals Exchange was closed for a bank holiday.
Consumer Shares Decline
Shares of retailers, hotel operators and other S&P 500 companies that rely on consumers' disposable income dropped 2.4 percent as a group. Spreads on their bonds, the extra yield investors demand to own the industry's debt, rose to 2.5 percentage points over U.S. Treasuries last week. Every time spreads have widened that much this decade, the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index slumped 16 percent on average.
Coach Inc., the largest U.S. maker of luxury handbags, fell $1.93 to $26.40. Darden Restaurants Inc., the owner of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, retreated $1.31 to $32.26. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., the franchiser of Ramada and Super 8 hotels, lost 38 cents to $18.27.
The consumer index rose 7.6 percent in August through the end of last week, putting it on track for the biggest monthly rally in five years. The gain, helped by a 2.2 percent rally after earnings at Gap Inc. topped analyst forecast, was almost four times that of the S&P 500.
Ryder, AMR
Ryder System Inc. slid 6.4 percent to $64.72. Wachovia Corp. analyst Justin Yagerman lowered his rating on the trucking industry to ``market weight'' from ``overweight,'' citing ``lackluster'' freight volumes in August and the potential for continued weakness.
AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, lost 46 cents to $10.06. AMR may sell as much as $300 million worth of newly issued shares, diluting existing stockholders' stake, and use the proceeds to repay debt or help purchase aircraft, according to a regulatory filing.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed 2.1 percent to $5.93, the highest in two months. The world's second-largest maker of personal-computer processors agreed to sell a unit that produces semiconductors used in lower-priced digital TVs to Broadcom Corp. for $192.8 million. Broadcom declined 4.6 percent to $26.17.
Leggett & Platt Inc. gained 2 percent to $21.55. The maker of lumbar supports for car seats was raised to ``buy'' from ``hold'' by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., who said the company may get out of its less profitable businesses.
Dell Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and Big Lots Inc. are among the companies scheduled to report earnings this week. Second- quarter profits for S&P 500 companies slumped 22 percent on average, based on Bloomberg data. Fewer than 50 companies in the U.S. stock benchmark have yet to release results.
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