Finance and Economic

Big Oil continued to make big money in the second quarter.

Industry giants Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported a surge in earnings, helped by higher prices for oil, gasoline and other fuels. Even BP, still paying for the Gulf oil spill, made more than $5 billion in the quarter.

The windfall drew jeers from environmental groups that oppose tax subsidies for the industry. They said it shows the industry doesn’t need extra help from the government, especially at a time when lawmakers need to chop billions of dollars from the budget.

“Why should those who are posting record profits be exempt from sharing the sacrifices we all will be making?” said Jacqueline Savitz, senior campaign director for Oceana, an environmental advocacy group.

President Obama said in April that he wanted to cut roughly $4 billion in government subsidies for oil companies. The industry argues that doing so will discourage oil companies from developing fields in the U.S.

Argus Research analyst Phil Weiss noted that oil profits appear huge in comparison to almost any other industry, but they’re relatively tame when considering how expensive it is to extract oil from the ground no credit check payday loans. Exxon, for example, earned $10.7 billion after taking in a whopping $125.5 billion from April to June. That’s a profit margin of less than 10 percent, much lower than margins for pharmaceutical, technology or service companies, Weiss said.

“Those businesses have much richer bottom lines,” he said.

As they announced their quarterly profits, oil executives said they’ll devote billions of dollars more to finding new deposits that will eventually bring more supply to the market. Much of that attention will be focused on the U.S.

In the April-June period, Exxon’s profits jumped 41 percent. Shell’s net income nearly doubled to $8.7 billion and BP earned $5.6 billion compared with a loss of $17.2 billion last year. All three missed Wall Street expectations, however, as they reported weaker oil production from fields outside the U.S. Foreign entitlement contracts force them to take less oil as prices rise, analysts said.

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Nissan’s quarterly profit dropped 20 percent as Japanese automakers took a battering from the quake and tsunami disaster that disrupted car production and destroyed dealerships.

A soaring yen and rising material costs also helped drag net profit for the fiscal first quarter down to 85 billion yen ($1 billion) from 106.6 billion yen in the April-June quarter last year, Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday.

But Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the numbers show the maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models is holding up despite the huge odds.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11 in northeastern Japan destroyed key suppliers of components, disrupting production for all Japanese automakers.

But Nissan’s production has been recovering faster than its rivals _ and Nissan officials acknowledge faster than they had expected themselves.

The result also outdid forecasts. A FactSet survey of analysts forecast a profit of 55 billion yen ($705 million).

Nissan sold 1.056 million vehicles in the quarter, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier. Quarterly sales edged up 1.6 percent to 2.08 trillion yen ($26.7 billion).

“Our rapid recovery from the natural disasters in March once again shows the power of Nissan in responding effectively and decisively to crisis,” Ghosn said.

Last month, Ghosn disclosed a six-year growth plan, his most ambitious since the revival plan for Nissan that he set in motion in 1999. At that time, Nissan was on the verge of collapse, and Ghosn was sent in by alliance partner Renault SA to turn it around.

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The nameplate outside George Paz’s windlowless office, no bigger than any other at Express Scripts, carries his name, but no title.

The mustachioed chairman and chief executive eats in the company cafeteria, and parks his Audi sedan in an unreserved, lower-level spot. He knows a surprising number of his employees on a first-name basis, stopping occasionally to chat them up.

Even with Thursday’s announcement that Express Scripts plans to buy a leading rival, Medco Health Solutions, Paz eschews the spotlight

Italian markets are buoyant on expectations that the Senate will approve a package of austerity measures that is key to shoring up confidence in the country’s financial future.

The benchmark FTSE MIB was up 0.5 percent, the only European index to trade higher Thursday morning.

Italy’s finance minister has vowed that the austerity measures, which aim to balance the budget by 2014, will get final approval by the lower house of parliament on Friday.

The government fast-tracked the approval _ from an original deadline of August _ to soothe jittery markets.

Italy will also hold its second bond sale this week, seeking to raise euro5 billion ($7 billion) in 5- to 15-year bonds from the markets. Italy easily raised euro6.75 billion in 12-month debt on Tuesday, though at higher rates.

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The South Grand Del Taco may have more than 12,000 fans on Facebook, but one powerful priest across the street is decidedly not among them.

St. Louis University President Father Lawrence Biondi last week sent a letter to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay voicing his support for plans to demolish the saucer-shaped taco stand and replace it with new buildings.

In his letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Biondi said “the site has attracted unwanted criminal activity and has generated numerous traffic issues over the years.”

“With so many Saint Louis University students living so close to this property, this property’s land use is cause for concern for parents, students, faculty and staff,” he wrote. “I also can tell you that student leaders support Mr. Yackey’s redevelopment efforts.”

Biondi has no official say in the matter - it’s in the hands of the Board of Aldermen and then, likely, the city’s Preservation Board - but he’s clearly a heavyweight in Midtown development business cards design. His university has bought up lots of land in the neighborhood and launched several large-scale projects. And, he says, Yackey’s project is the kind of thing Midtown needs more of.

“It is our belief that we should not stand in the way of this progress,” he wrote.

The Del Taco itself, which had been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since late 2009, closed last week. The building itself still stands, with St. Louis Aldermen set to make a final vote Friday on a blighting and redevelopment plan for the site.

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NATO said Saturday it has begun ramping up its airstrikes on military targets in the western part of Libya, where rebel forces claim a string of advances through territory still largely under Moammar Gadhafi’s control.

In a boost for Gadhafi, meanwhile, the African Union called on member states to disregard an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against the Libyan leader. That could enable Gadhafi to travel freely on the continent. The warrant was issued for his alleged role in a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters earlier this year.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim praised the AU’s decision, saying “we salute their courage.” He said Gadhafi had no immediate plans to leave the country, however.

“We are at war with the mightiest armies in the world, and the safety of the leader is a must for us. So we need to keep him safe to lead us through this difficult time,” he said.

Libya welcomed a road map for dialogue drafted by the AU that outlines plans for negotiations between the government and rebels, Moussa said.

He confirmed that Gadhafi would not be involved in the proposed talks, and expressed hope that a cease-fire could be reached “in the next few days, or weeks at most.”

Gadhafi’s regime is determined to stand firm against opposition fighters moving from southern and eastern fronts toward the capital, Tripoli. The rebels have largely solidified control over the eastern third of Libya but have struggled to push out of pockets they hold in the west.

NATO’s comments about its latest airstrikes suggest the alliance is hoping to tip the balance further in the rebels’ favor despite threats by Gadhafi to carry out attacks in Europe unless the airstrikes stop.

The coalition said it has destroyed more than 50 military targets in the west this week. It says it is targeting government forces in cities and along “major lines of communication.”

“We are engaging all military assets that are being used to indiscriminately target the civilian population throughout Libya,” Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO’s Libya mission, said in the statement sent Saturday but dated the previous day.

NATO said more than 1.8 million civilians are at risk from a buildup of forces loyal to Gadhafi in western cities along the coast and in the Nafusa mountain range southwest of the capital.

Rebels control several Nafusa mountain towns and the vital port city of Misrata. The rest of western Libya, including the heavily protected capital Tripoli, remain under Gadhafi’s control payday loans.

Col. Ahmed Bani, a rebel spokesman, said Saturday that rebel fighters have pulled back in some parts of the west, in what he described as a “strategic retreat,” but said they would go on the offensive again in the coming days. Asked about the NATO attacks in the area, he said they have been helpful to the rebels, but did not elaborate.

Bani told a news conference in the rebel-controlled eastern city of Benghazi that the rebels are not sending reinforcements to the west and that the fighters there don’t need more weapons.

A coalition including France, Britain and the United States began striking Gadhafi’s forces under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians on March 19, giving the rebels air support. NATO assumed control of the air campaign over Libya on March 31. It is joined by a number of Arab allies.

In recent days, NATO said it has repeatedly hit Tripoli and Gharyan, a city at the eastern gateway to the Nafusa mountains and on a major road to capital. Gharyan sits about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tripoli.

It also claims to have struck a network of tunnels storing military equipment about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of the capital.

NATO said in a separate statement it struck two armed vehicles Friday near Bir al-Ghanam, a town rebels from the mountains have been trying to take along a road leading toward the capital.

Gadhafi threatened Friday to target European “homes, offices, families” unless NATO halts its bombing campaign. His defiant audio address was played to thousands of supporters packed into Tripoli’s main square during on of the biggest pro-government rallies since the airstrikes began.

It’s not clear whether Gadhafi can make good on the threats.

In the past, the Libyan leader supported various militant groups, including the IRA and several Palestinian factions, while Libyan agents were blamed for attacks in Europe, including a Berlin disco bombing in 1986 and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, mostly Americans. Libya later acknowledged responsibility for Lockerbie.

In recent years, however, Gadhafi was believed to have severed his ties with extremist groups when he moved to reconcile with Europe and the United States.

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French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected to be chosen as early as Tuesday to be the new leader of the International Monetary Fund.

Lagarde would be the first woman to lead the lending organization. She would replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last month after being charged with sexually assaulting a New York City hotel housekeeper. Lagarde was opposed by Agustin Carstens, a Mexican central banker whose candidacy never caught fire, even among developing countries.

Lagarde has broad support in Europe payday loans guaranteed no fax. And a high-ranking Chinese official said Monday that Beijing supports Lagarde, according to several reports.

U.S. officials haven’t publicly backed any candidate. But most analysts expect the Obama administration to support Lagarde. Combined, the United States, Europe and China hold a majority of votes on the IMF’s board.

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Ladue-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. topped out a new 134-bed, 359,000-square-foot replacement hospital and broke ground on a 141,000-square-foot medical office building for Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mount Vernon, Ill.

The $140 million hospital project doubles the size of the existing facility and is about 30 percent complete. It also includes eight observation beds, and all rooms are private. The medical office building is connected to the hospital and includes a surgery center and outpatient diagnostic services instant credit report. Both buildings are scheduled to be ready for use late next year.

McCarthy and Jefferson County-based partner Shores Builders and Lipps Construction broke ground on the hospital project in April 2010. McCarthy broke ground on the medical office building March 15.

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Days before Canadian superstar Georges St-Pierre won his bout at UFC 129 at the Rogers Centre last April, a unanimous decision was already in among Toronto business owners like Carlos Gavilanes about the true victor of the bloody cage match: the cash register.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship went the distance for Toronto tourism and for local businesses, which took in an estimated $40 million from the most successful fight night in UFC history.

The ash cloud from a Chilean volcano that has been erupting for nearly two weeks has circled the globe and come home again.

The returning cloud _ which has disrupted flights in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand on its around-the-world trip _ on Friday forced Chilean officials to cancel domestic flights for the first time since the Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting June 4.

LAN airlines suspended flights to the cities of Puerto Montt, Coyhaique and Punta Arenas in the far south of the South American country. While ash from Cordon Caulle has wreaked havoc with air travel abroad, it had left Chile’s internal flights largely untouched until Friday.

“The tip of the cloud that has traveled around the world is more or less in front of Coyhaique,” said Civil Aviation Office chief Pablo Ortega. Coyhaique is 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of the volcano.

Chilean authorities evacuated 3,500 people living near the volcano after it began erupting but some have since returned.

The governor of Ranco province, Eduardo Holck, said the volcano is emitting a fine ash that is scattering over the Nilahue river valley.

The government, however, maintained a red alert for communities near Cordon Caulle. Chile’s National Geology and Mines Service warned that volcanic activity could begin again “with episodes similar or greater in intensity that was has occurred.”

On Thursday, the government of the Argentine province of Neuquen declared an economic emergency to aid towns where falling ash from Chile’s volcano is endangering livestock and keeping tourists away.

The decree by Gov. Jorge Sapag will mean that those affected can receive tax benefits, among other measures.

The ash has blanketed towns across the border in Argentina.

In the area of Villa La Angostura up to one foot (30 centimeters) of ash has accumulated on the ground. The eruption came just as resorts in the mountain towns were preparing for ski season.

Argentina’s regional airports in Patagonia have also been shut down for more than a week due to the cloud of fine grit, which can damage airplane engines.

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