For the seventh straight month, Ford Motor Company's sales dropped in May, largely because of a 24 percent decline in sales to rental car companies and a 12 percent slide in sales of F-series pickup trucks. The F-series, the nation's best-selling vehicle, has also shown a seven-month decline in sales.
Speculation that Rupert Murdoch may increase his takeover bid for Dow Jones in an attempt to sway members of the Bancroft family, who control 64 percent of the voting shares in the company, caused the stock to rise above his initial $60 per share offer price. Some family members are concerned about retaining the independence of Dow Jones' publications, which include the Wall Street Journal and Barron's.
Despite an increase in sales in the first quarter, Dell announced that it will cut 10 percent of its workforce as part of an internal overhaul of everything from executive ranks to customer service to combat its recent slow growth. Dell's recent deal with Wal-Mart puts added pressure on the company to reduce operating expenses, since Dell will have to maintain a much larger inventory of computers to stock stores.
Incomes in the United States fell in April for the first time since August 2005, after an unusually high number of bonuses and exercised options boosted income in the first quarter. Adjusted for taxes and inflation, personal disposable income declined .4 percent. Core consumer prices, a key indicator of inflation, rose .1 percent. If this trend continues, it may justify the Federal Reserve's concerns earlier this month, that inflation was "uncomfortably high."