Domestic cigarette sales have been falling for decades, sharply since 46 states entered a Master Settlement Agreement with major tobacco companies in 1998. That makes it official state policy to help snuff out smoking -- sensible from a public health standpoint but bound to cause economic consequences like those announced this week. Cheap imports broke the first two, but many hands are choking the air out of the state's tobacco industry. The company says its future prospects can be...

told investors there's little value left in its two failed hedge funds and Intel corp. and Yahoo! inc. said competition is reducing earnings. Demand for memory chips used in mobile phones missed estimates and prices for personal-computer chips fell, dragging down profit margins, the Santa Clara, California-based company said yesterday. Pfizer inc. shares slipped after the company reported earnings that missed analysts' estimates. A government report today will probably show consumer prices...

Altria, which will probably report an 8 percent increase in second-quarter profit tomorrow, now may be better off taking on debt and buying back stock, some analysts and investors said. Altria's share price was as low as 4.6 times earnings in April 2003, when Philip Morris USA said it might seek bankruptcy protection if forced to post a $12 billion cash bond in the Illinois suit. Plaintiffs accused the company of deceiving smokers by advertising ''light'' cigarettes as less harmful....

Imperial said the Altadis board of directors would recommend that shareholders approve the bid, worth 50 euros a share, in the absence of a higher, competing offer. The offer accepted by Altadis management on Wednesday amounts to a 32-percent premium on Altadis's closing price on March 12, just ahead of a surge in the share value that followed the first offer. The headquarters of the cigar division and logistics business would be in Madrid, while the combined company would also maintain a...

S stock index futures pointed to steep declines at the start of trading Wednesday, as disappointing results from two tech heavyweights after the bell Tuesday and more concerns about the subprime lending market hurt stocks in Europe and Asia. Futures Sharply Lower on Tech Earnings, Subprime Woes Topics:Economy (U. But on a day that includes another wave of big-name earnings and the latest retail inflation and housing activity before the bell, more deal activity and the appearance of Federal...