Boeing has taken yet another step in it’s effort to once again become the leader in the commercial aerospace industry, a status that had been claimed in recent years by Airbus, Boeing’s European rival.

After an announcement of a new order worth $6 billion from Air Canada, Boeing announced Tuesday that Air India had ordered up to 50 aircraft from the Chicago-based company.

Boeing is also expected to announce an order of eighteen 787s from Northwest Airlines. Northwest was previously Airbus’ third-largest customer.

One factor in Boeing’s new ascendancy over Airbus is that Airbus has not settled on a configuration for its new Airbus A350, and has not received formal approval to build it even though it is already taking orders for the new plane.

The Air India order, which is said to be worth almost $7 billion, includes eight 777-200LRs, fifteen 777-300ERs, and twenty-seven 787s.

With 217 total orders and commitments for the 787, shares in U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing advanced by nearly 3 percent to $59.50 in early trading on Monday.

This number of orders included a newly announced deal for Air Canada to purchase 14 787s and 18 777s from the Chicago-based Boeing, for a total of around $6 billion. Besides these firm purchases, Air Canada also took options for 46 additional 787s and 18 777s.

Air Canada’s chief executive said Monday that the 787 would be the more economical aircraft, saving about 30 percent in fuel efficiency and costs for maintenance compared to planes currently in use.

The airline recently announced plans for daily non-stop flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Air Canada has seen rapid expansion of its Asian and Latin American routes recently, as many passengers from those areas prefer to fly into Toronto and Vancouver when traveling between Asia and the Latin American since U.S. visa and security restrictions have tightened.

Boeing will begin deliveries next year for the 777s and the 787s will be delivered beginning in 2010.

This is seen as a significant win for Boeing over it’s European rival Airbus. Air Canada had previously replaced all its Boeing aircraft with Airbus and Bombadier CRJ regional jets.

Eastman Kodak will likely lay off 15,000 employees and close approximately a third of its factories by 2006 as it shifts from traditional photography to digital photography.

Already feeling the repercussions of the shift, and the high cost of restructuring involved in the shift, Kodak reported a net first quarter loss of $142 million in 2005 as opposed to $21 million in earnings for the same period last year.

This news sent Kodak’s shares down 8 percent in early trading on Friday. Even ignoring $152 million in exceptional costs, Kodak only posted $9 million in earnings in the quarter, below expectations.

Traditional film sales dropped 17 percent in the United States and 29 percent worldwide in the quarter, although sales of digital products were up by 23 percent. Kodak is in the process of shifting over from traditional photography operations to digital products, health imaging, and high-volume printing.

The tactic of offering gasoline sales at warehouse club stores does not seem to be paying off in the current climate of rising gas prices, as two such companies saw the value of their shares drop in early trading on Friday illustrated.

Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest warehouse club operation in the United States, saw shares drop 9 percent on a report that weak profits from gasoline sales will probably send its earnings for the rest of the fiscal year below Wall Street expectations. Another wholesale club operation, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., that offers gasoline sales at many of its stores, also lost ground, falling 6 percent early Friday.

Costco estimated that its current-quarter profits will be between 41 cents and 43 cents per share, below the Wall Street estimate of 46 cents per share. Costco’s estimate for next quarter’s earnings also will most likely fall below Wall Street’s estimate of 70 cents per share, at somewhere between 63 cents and 67 cents per share.

Viacom reported a 7 percent rise in its first-quarter operating profits in spite of poor performance by its radio and television divisions, as its cable networks showed strong growth.

This sent Viacom’s shares up 2.7 percent, or 94 cents, to $34.90 in mid-day trading in New York on Tuesday.

Viacom’s overall earnings in the first quarter of 2005 were $585 million, or 36 cents per share.

The operating income of its television division, which includes the broadcast networks CBS and UPN, dropped 8 percent to $304 million, and its radio division saw a 5 percent drop in its operating income, to $189 million.

However, Viacom’s cable group, which includes MTV and Nickelodeon, scored a 19 percent gain in revenues and a 20 percent rise in its operating income.

This report seems to justify Viacom’s previously announced intention to split into two separate groups, along cable/broadcast lines, a split that could happen as early as the first quarter of 2006.

Viacom’s first-quarter earnings for 2005 actually dropped 18 percent from the same period in 2004, but that quarter’s earnings were enhanced by a $111 million tax benefit.

Southwest Airlines, the Dallas-based U.S. budget air carrier and the only U.S. air carrier to show profits regularly since the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, reported Thursday that it had first-quarter net earnings of $76 million, up from $26 million in the same period last year.

It is the first company in the U.S. airline sector to report first-quarter earnings. Southwest is expected to be the only airline to report profits. The nine largest U.S. air carriers are expected to report losses totaling at least $2 billion.

The Thursday report indicated that Southwest’s profits were aided by the airline’s purchase of fuel at prefixed prices. This move saved the airline $155 million in the quarter.

The report warned, however, that second-quarter fuel prices are likely to be somewhat higher than in the first quarter and that second-quarter passenger numbers will probably be down from last year’s numbers because of an early Easter break this year. Southwest also said it had increased available seats by adding seven new airplanes to its fleet.

Harley-Davidson announced on Wednesday that earnings are lower than expected and that the company would be cutting production in 2005.

This news sent shares of the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer down 17 percent, and at midday its price per share sat at $48.84.

Second-quarter sales are estimated to be lower than last year based on flat first-quarter sales in the U.S.

Earnings are still expected to be up by 5 to 8 percent, which is under earlier estimates of a 15 percent gain for the year.

Most of the decrease in production, which might jeopardize Harley’s goal of producing 400,000 bikes in 2007, will occur in the second quarter.

Jim Ziemer, currently Harley-Davidson’s CFO and soon to be the company’s chief executive, insists that the company’s goal of 7 to 9 percent per-unit growth over the long term will not be affected by any of this news.

Harley-Davidson expects that it will ship 329,000 units in 2005, up 3.7 percent from 2004 but still 10,000 units fewer than predicted.

In the past few years several companies, such as Intellisync, Good Technology, and Visto, have entered the mobile e-mail market.

All are relatively small, however, and most analysts believe that they will have to consolidate into larger companies if they wish to challenge Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry, currently the largest mobile e-mail handler, or Microsoft, which is expected to enter the market.

The first of the consolidations has taken place with the acquisition by Seven, a U.S. mobile e-mail company, of Smartner, a Finnish company.

The chief executive at Seven has said that the merger makes sense for both companies, as their combined resources give the new entity more world-wide coverage than either had before.

Although the mobile e-mail market is still very young, estimates are that by the end of 2008, some 80 percent of e-mail users will access it by mobile phone.

In the fight between Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications to take over MCI, Verizon has taken what is probably a commanding advantage over Qwest by making a deal over the weekend to buy out MCI’s largest shareholder’s 13 percent share of the company.

Verizon, the largest U.S. telecommunications company, agreed to pay Carlos Slim $1.1 billion for his 43.4 million shares of MCI.

Despite Verizon’s move, Qwest has still not given up in its bid to buy MCI. Qwest executives met with bankers on Sunday to consider their next move. Qwest had worked out a deal to raise additional equity to support their bid from a group of MCI shareholders who oppose Verizon’s bid.

But with the Verizon acquisition of Mr. Slim’s shares, which makes Verizon MCI’s largest shareholder, it is doubtful whether Qwest can count on enough of MCI’s shareholders to overcome Verizon’s bid.

Mr. Slim was one of those who opposed Verizon’s bid. MCI’s board of directors has repeatedly turned down Qwest’s bids, saying that Verizon is a financially superior company and that the Verizon bid is favored by MCI’s customers.

The North American launch of Sony’s new PlayStation Portable (PSP), a handheld game console that will also play music, films, and Tivo recorded shows as well as allowing instant messaging capability, was declared a success by the company, with over 500,000 units sold in the first two days and $150 million in sales in its first week of availability.

Sony is focusing on U.S. marketing of the new device and has delayed its launch in Europe by up to a few months. Still, reports that there are still units available for sale in many stores have some analysts claiming that the launch did not meet all of Sony’s expectations.

Sony disputes this analysis, citing the fact that the PSP went on sale outside the traditional holiday gift-giving season and that many retailers were closed for Easter celebrations. In view of these circumstances, Sony claims that the launch of the PSP was very successful. Sony has already sold over one million PSPs in Japan, where it was first offered for sale.

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals agreed on Thursday to remove its drug Bextra from the U.S. market pending further discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, despite the fact that Pfizer had earlier declared that its drugs were safe.

The FDA asked the drug maker, the largest in the world, to remove its arthritis drug from the market because the risks of using it outweigh its benefits in relieving the pain of arthritis. The FDA also asked Pfizer to post a warning on another of its drugs, Celebrex.

In March, the FDA had allowed both drugs to remain on the market as long as they carried risk warnings, at least until further determination of their risks and benefits could be made.

Both drugs are members of the class of drugs called cox-inhibitors, which are suspected of posing a high risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who take them.

Also on Thursday, the FDA agreed to review a proposal from Merck to return their cox-inhibitor, Vioxx, to the market and asked all drug companies who make cox-2 drugs to include risk warnings on their labels.

All this news combined to take Pfizer shares down 1.6 percent in early trading on Thursday. Merck was also down early in the day.

The Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve testified before the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday that it is essential to strengthen the regulations governing the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage finance companies, the largest and second largest buyers of home mortgages in the U.S., in order to lessen the risks to the finance system of the country should one of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) fail.

In addition to stronger regulation, Greenspan also said that it is essential to limit the portfolios of assets of the two companies in order to lessen risks. Currently, the portfolios of the two companies total $1.5 trillion; Greenspan has said in the past that each company’s portfolio should be limited to $200 billion.

Greenspan said that limiting the portfolios of the companies in this way would not raise mortgage rates. If these two actions are not taken, Greenspan told Congress, failure of one of the companies could require a government bailout to avert financial crisis.

Greenspan admitted that taking these steps might strengthen the perception that such GSEs are merely arms of the government, but insisted that action is necessary.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to bring more money into the U.S. home-loan market.

With a number of its drug patents ready to expire and widespread general changes in how the industry operates, Pfizer, the largest drug company in the world, announced Tuesday that it was instituting $4 billion in cost cuts.

This was necessary, it was said, because the company’s earnings will fall this year. Other concerns include worries over pricing, regulation, safety issues, and increasing government regulation of how drug companies conduct their operations.

Cost-cutting measures will include increasing the efficiency of its research program, reorganization of sales operations to take into consideration the greater impact of drug sales to the government in the U.S. through the Medicare program for the elderly, and a reorganization and streamlining of its worldwide operations.

Not many layoffs are expected, with the downsizing of employment rolls to be taken care of through attrition. Pfizer also said it will put more emphasis on preventative health activities in cooperation with large employers and the Medicare program.

Hit Entertainment is entertaining bids from three entities looking to acquire control of their children’s entertainment holdings.

One bid, thought to be from a non-U.S. consortium, is anonymous for the present. Apax, a private equity firm, has made a bid that Hit seemed ready to accept.

Finally, Lions Gate Entertainment appears to be considering offering more than $1 billion in cash (£530 m) for Hit’s holdings, which include such lucrative shows as Bob the Builder and Barney the Dinosaur.

Additionally, Apax and Lions Gate met in March to discuss acquiring Hit, but could not reach agreement on a joint offer.

If Lions Gate does eventually acquire Hit, they would then control approximately 14 percent of the family entertainment market in the United States, including not only Bob and Barney but Barbie as well.

Some U.S. shareholders in major corporations are attempting to gain more power than they have ever had in the election of members to companies’ boards of directors.

These activists claim that this power is necessary in order to hold boards responsible for their actions in order to avoid scandals like the one that led to the downfall of Enron.

Business leaders were able to stop shareholders from effecting reform at the federal level, retaining most of the power for appointing board members to themselves, as present rules allow board members to be appointed after receiving even just one vote from a shareholder.

Holding out little hope that the Securities and Exchange Commission will act on the issue, shareholders are now attempting to change corporate rules at the state level.

Delaware, the state where over half of the large companies in the U.S. are incorporated, however, will wait for the American Bar Association to study the matter and make recommendations before they act.

Because the ABA will take at least a year to study the issue, action in Delaware is more than a year a way. Things will likely not progress any faster in the other states, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, joining business executives in opposing the proposed changes.

However, some entities, such as US state pensions funds are being asked to support the initiative and companies like Caterpillar and Rayethon are either planning on putting resolutions on the issue to a vote at their annual meetings or are pursuing compromise resolutions with the activist shareholders.

Best Buy is exploring two ways in which to increase sales and distinguish themselves from other stores in the retail consumer electronics and office supply categories.

By turning to a niche marketing strategy in some of its stores and expanding is computer repair services to include not only private consumers but some small businesses as well, it hopes to increase its sales.

The company has already remodeled 67 stores so that each one appeals to one or two specific types of shopper, and plans to have remodeled 250 to 300 stores to this new configuration by the end of next year.

Best Buy has been encouraged in this move by a reported 8.4 percent increase in sales in the new stores as opposed to an increase of 2.3 percent in its traditional stores.

The company also plans to add 5,000 new employees to its current 7,000 repair service employees, known as the “Geek Squad”.

This will enable Best Buy to offer computer repair services to small businesses in some markets in addition to repairing the computers of private consumers.

The good news that came out of the delayed report of Freddie Mac’s earnings in 2004 is that the fair value of it’s assets had increased by 13 percent last year.

The bad news was that net income of this second-largest mortgage-finance provider in the U.S. had declined by 42 percent.

Still, the federal office that supervises Freddie Mac confirmed that the company had adequate capital. The report was delayed because of an investigation into underreporting of its earnings in the years 2000 through 2002.

The results of the investigation led to restatements of earnings being issued, executives being dismissed, and major changes in Freddie Mac’s accounting and compliance procedures.

There was more good news for Freddie Mac on Thursday. The report of their decline in earnings last year didn’t scare off Wall Street investors. By midday on Thursday, Freddie Mac’s stock had risen by 75 cents a share.

News that Ted Koppel will leave his Nightline broadcast and ABC at the end of the year has added fuel to speculation that the era of television news may be drawing to a close.

ABC News said it would continue some form of the late-night, in-depth news broadcast, born in the days of the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, would continue in it’s usual time slot, but this determination may bow before the search for a younger audience and higher ratings.

Nightline’s ratings began to slip in 2002, but the show was saved then by complaints that profits were taking a more prominent role that the public interest in programming decisions.

Koppel’s departure in the wake of the recent retirements of Tom Brokaw at NBC and Dan Rather at CBS have put the future of traditional news broadcasts in doubt.