SMITHFIELD, Va. – Meat processor Smithfield Foods returned to a profit in the third quarter, partly due to strength in its packaged meats business and higher sales overseas.

Smithfield, like many meat companies, has been gradually recovering from a mix of high feed prices, low demand and industry consolidation.

Earnings were $37.3 million, or 22 cents per share, for the period ended Jan. 31. That compares with a loss of $105 business

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Celera Corp., a laboratory testing products and disease management services company, reported a fourth-quarter profit on lower costs and a tax benefit.

The company said it earned $7.8 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.1 million, or 8 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell 15 percent to $40 million from $47.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 3 cents per share on revenue of $39.6 million.

Celera was part of Applera Corp. until July 2008, but was separated from Applera after that company’s other component, Applied Biosystems, was sold to Invitrogen Corp. Those two companies combined into Life Technologies Corp.

Lab services revenue fell 25 percent to $22 million, while products revenue increased 1 percent to $11.3 million. Corporate revenue fell 3 percent to $6.7 million.

Meanwhile, selling and general expenses fell 17 percent to $22.4 million. The company had a tax benefit of $9 payday loans guaranteed no fax.1 million.

For the full year, the company lost $32.7 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a loss of $124.6 million, or $1.56 per share, in 2008. Revenue fell to $167.1 million from $175.2 million.

Looking ahead, the company expects a loss between 11 cents and 13 cents per share on revenue between $30 million and $32million in the first quarter. It expects a loss between 15 cents and 21 cents per share on revenue between $145 million and $155 million in 2010.

Analysts expect a loss of 1 cent per share on revenue of $40.5 million in the first quarter and profit of 4 cents per share on revenue of $173.5 million in 2010.

Shares of Celera rose 1 cent to $6.15 in after-hours trading after falling 1 cent to close at $6.14 during the regular trading session.

Celera sees 4Q profit on tax benefit, lower costs

Hot News: BJs Wholesale Club 4Q profit climbs, sales rise

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said Wednesday it would recall its flagship Sonata sedan in the United States and the domestic market due to a door lock problem.

The firm said in a statement that 1,300 Sonata sedans already sold in the United States and another 46,000 cars in South Korea would be recalled.

Hyundai said the move was in response to reported defective front-door locks on some of its modified Sonatas launched last September high quality business cards. It said it ordered its US dealers on Tuesday to stop selling the model.

The recall was announced on the same day that Toyota's top US executive admitted that global recalls by the Japanese giant had "not totally" fixed dangerous safety flaws.

Hyundai to recall Sonata sedan in US and S.Korea

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar advanced Thursday, while the euro fell to a seven-month low and the Japanese yen attracted some buyers, amid renewed fears about fiscal problems facing a handful of European countries and as a U.S. report showed an unexpected increased in jobless claims last week.

The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 79.950 from 79.369 late Wednesday.

ECB’s Trichet Sees Major Challenges Ahead

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters Thursday the euro zone still faces major challenges but is heading in the right direction. He was speaking shortly after the ECB kept interest rates steady.

For its part, the euro tumbled on renewed fears over debt problems in the 16-nation euro zone, and as the European Central Bank kept a key benchmark rate steady.

The single currency declined 1% to $1.3736, down from $1.3906 in North American trading late Wednesday.

The British pound also fell after the Bank of England kept rates steady, down 0.3% to $1.5851.

But the dollar lost ground to trade at 88.65 Japanese yen, down from 91.01 yen late Wednesday. The yen’s a frequent beneficiary of movements out of riskier assets to a more stable one.

The euro enjoyed a short-lived respite from pressure Wednesday after the European Commission cautiously endorsed Greece’s plans to slash its budget deficit over the next three years. But the selling pressure resurfaced as the focus turned to Portugal and Spain.

‘We’re short-term bearish on the euro.’

Ray Farris, Credit Suisse

The spread between government bonds issued by Greece and Portugal widened versus comparable German bunds, highlighting worries about the fiscal outlook for nations on the so-called periphery of the euro zone. Concerns over those countries also pushed the cost of insurance for sovereign debt above the cost for U.S. companies for the first time payday advance. Read about the euro zone’s persistent credit worries.

“Over the next several months, we’ll probably have a succession of negative news associated the fiscal stress coming, first with Greece but increasingly into other sovereigns,” said Ray Farris, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Credit Suisse. “We’re short-term bearish on the euro.”

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Those concerns also weighed down U.S. stocks, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropping nearly 2.5%. While less consistent in recent months, since the beginning of the credit crisis the dollar has tended to benefit when stocks fall, which traders take as a flight from risky assets to the relative safety of the U.S. currency.

That dynamic was overshadowing weak employment data in the U.S. during the session — one day before the government’s pivotal report on nonfarm payrolls for January, due out Friday.

The Labor Department said first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since mid-December, up 8,000 to 480,000. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists had been for claims to drop to 455,000. See more on U.S. jobless claims.

Also affecting trading in the British pound, Bank of England policy makers called a halt to its 200 billion pound ($319 billion) program of asset purchases but left the door open to resume purchases if it’s deemed necessary.

Currencies: Dollar up to 7-month high as risks seen in Europe

Hot News: Toyota posts $1.7B profit, raises annual forecast

I have a frequent and pleasant daydream in which the Virginia lottery board calls and says, "Congratulations! You've won the highest jackpot ever! Would you like to take that in a lump sum or divided up over 30 years?" This is truly the stuff of fantasy, though, particularly because I don't buy lottery tickets. Much more realistic for my family is what to do in the face of too many important financial goals and too little money to fund them all.

For example, we have:

Several children to send to college.A retirement to plan for.The desire for an extra-large emergency fund.

In addition, our 1994 Honda Civic and 2000 Dodge Caravan will someday go to the great junkyard in the sky, leaving us scrambling for replacements. And somewhere along the line, we'd like to take a trip to China when our youngest (who was adopted from Jiangsu province) is old enough to remember it.

How does the average American family meet these kinds of goals? And which should take precedence if you can't contribute to them all? If you have similar questions and concerns, here's how you can set about prioritizing your goals.

Goal 1: Emergency FundIf you can accomplish only one of your goals, this is it. Saving at least $200 to $300 a month in a high-yield savings account would be a good first step. Your emergency fund should include enough money to pay for three to six months' worth of basic living expenses (rent or mortgage, utilities, medical bills, groceries, and the like).

Don't let the large sum intimidate you into not saving; set a goal of having your emergency fund fully funded within three years. If your initial goal is to save $10,000, it'll take just $278 a month for 36 months to reach that milestone.

In a true emergency, you can rely on credit cards. But if you can't pay off that debt soon, you'll quickly find yourself going backward financially. Better to have the money squirreled away for a stormy day and to pretend it doesn't exist until disaster strikes.

Get creative: Make a deal with yourself that any "found" or windfall money will go to your emergency fund. Whether it's a tax refund check, cash back on a credit card, or a gift check from great-uncle Joe, deposit it immediately in your savings account. Hold a yearly yard sale with all proceeds to go to your retirement fund.

Goal 2: RetirementSecond (or even better, concurrently), fund your retirement, especially if your contributions to your work plan are matched by your employer (that's free money — plus tax breaks — that you shouldn't pass up). If you don't save for retirement, you won't be able to retire.

Get creative: Once a debt is paid off (for example, the $185 a month you pay on your college loans) continue taking out $185, but now designate it for retirement business cards. That's a painless way to bulk up your savings.

Goal 3: Save for CollegeIt may feel disloyal to many of you to put your children's higher education funds close to the bottom of the list. After all, we're used to putting our kids' needs first in most every other way. However, think about it this way: An emergency requires that you access money because you so desperately need it. Taking money out of a college account such as a 529 savings plan means that the earnings are taxed as ordinary income, plus you'll be slapped with a 10% penalty.

If you don't save for your kids' education, they aren't out of luck; there are scholarships and loans that can fund their higher education needs. No such resources are available if you didn't save for your retirement; you can't borrow your way into a retirement income, and there aren't Golden Years scholarships.

Get creative: If you'll be using a credit card anyway, why not sign up for a Upromise credit card that lets you save for your child's college education while you spend? When you use these cards at participating merchants, you'll get a small rebate deposited into a 529 savings account for your child. Grandparents can sign up too and link their cards to your child's account.

Goal 4: Vacation FundAs a mental-health therapist, it pains me to put this at the very bottom of the list. After all, a well-balanced life includes relaxation and fun, especially in today's fast-paced world. Time away can help you put things into perspective and help your cares melt away. But the hard truth is that a vacation is a luxury that someone without an emergency fund can't really afford to take. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for a cheaper version of R&R, however.

Get creative: Cut one of your household perks: Switch to a lower tier of cable, or cancel altogether, cut your lawn yourself, reduce your cell phone charges, or go out to eat less. A savings of just $5 a day adds up to a nifty $1,825 in one year.

In an ideal world, all of us would have enough money for all of the things we want to do. But if your real world involves making tough choices, start with establishing an emergency fund, and follow this roadmap all the way to financial security.

For more Foolishness:

And the Worst Stock for 2010 Is Why Are Homeowners Idiots?6 Companies You Can Buy Today

Juggling Your Financial Goals

BERLIN/ZURICH (Reuters) – German politicians were divided at the weekend over whether to buy the bank data of up to 1,500 possible tax evaders with accounts in Switzerland that media say an informant has offered to sell authorities.

The respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the whistleblower is asking for 2.5 million euros for the confidential data, which tax investigators believe could rake in 100 million euros for German state coffers.

The case risks prompting a fresh row over bank secrecy between Germany and Switzerland. Top Swiss politicians, including President Doris Leuthard, and bankers warned Germany against acquiring the data.

Without citing sources, Financial Times Deutschland reported in its online edition that the data belonged to German clients of HSBC (HSBA.L) and was among the information stolen from its private banking arm in Geneva by ex-employee Herve Falciani.

France already acquired some of that information last year by raiding the computer specialist's house, and used it to track down fraudsters, infuriating Switzerland.

A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry declined to comment on the report but said it would be the responsibility of individual German states to deal with such data.

A senior ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, said Germany would have to carefully check its legal right to purchase the alleged data cash advance.

"I have a problem with handing over money for something that has come into someone's possession in a legally questionable fashion," Guttenberg told Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

Members of the opposition Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) however encouraged the government to buy the data on behalf of "honest taxpayers."

Nicolette Kressl, SPD finance expert, told Die Welt am Sonntag the government should proceed as it did in 2008, when it purchased data on tax evaders from an informant about clients of a Liechtenstein bank.

The case snared former Deutsche Post chief Klaus Zumwinkel, who was given a suspended jail term for evading nearly a million euros in taxes using a Liechtenstein trust.

Former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck repeatedly accused Germany's neighbors Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg of serving as havens for German tax evaders, but the three countries have taken steps in the last year to improve transparency on taxes amid a global crackdown on tax havens.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin and Catherine Bosley in Zurich; writing by Sarah Marsh; editing by Andrew Roche)

Germany divided over buying secret Swiss bank data

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Stocks suffered the worst one-day decline of 2010 so far, led by the financial sector, which slid after J.P. Morgan Chase’s announcement of weaker-than-expected revenue and a glum outlook.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average , which hadn’t posted a daily decline of more than 37 points in January before Friday, ended down 100.75 points, or 0.9%, at 10,609.80.

The average racked up a triple-digit point loss in the first hour of trading and never quite recovered, hurt by selling across every sector.

Twenty-seven of the Dow’s 30 components were lower, with financial companies suffering the worst losses. Bank of America Corp. was off 3.3% and J.P. Morgan Chase fell 2.3% after it announced its results prior to the opening bell. The bank’s fourth-quarter earnings quadrupled, exceeding forecasts, but its revenue came in below analysts’ estimates.

Chief Executive James Dimon warned the banking giant is cautious about the future, noting “consumer-credit costs remain high, and weak employment and home prices persist.”

That message was the opposite of what traders have been hoping to hear since the start of the broader fourth-quarter reporting season on Monday.

While participants have welcomed improving corporate bottom lines in the last few quarters, improvements in revenue have been hard to come by.

Dow component Intel Corp. , which released its earnings report late Thursday, was off 3.2%. The chip maker’s fourth-quarter profit surged nearly 10-fold from the depressed year-earlier period, as revenue jumped 28% payday loans. However, analysts and investors are wondering whether there’s more room for the stock to climb after its most profitable quarter in history.

Some participants have similar concerns about the market as a whole, considering that major indexes entered trading Friday at 15-month highs despite lingering weakness in the U.S. economy.

Hot Stocks: Financials Weak After J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan Chase’s retreat sets bearish tone for the banking sector. Bank’s report of higher profit is overshadowed by CEO Jamie Dimon’s cautious remarks. Greg Morcroft reports.

“To have two marquee-name companies like J.P. Morgan and Intel put out their earnings and have the market react like this is a very bad sign,” suggesting that a broader correction may be in store, said strategist Bill King, of M. Ramsey King Securities. “The flow of institutional money into the market has really dried up; no one wants to be buying at these levels.”

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 1%. All its sectors fell, led by a 2% pullback in financials.

Economic data did little to offset investors’ earnings jitters. A new reading of consumer sentiment was worse than expected, though data on manufacturing in the New York region were surprisingly strong. Readings of consumer prices and industrial production were in line with Wall Street’s forecasts.

The dollar was higher against the euro but lower against the yen. Treasurys edged higher, with the 10-year note up 16/32 to yield 3.682%. Crude-oil futures slipped to $78 a barrel and gold futures also moved lower.

Market Snapshot: Stocks post worst one-day drop of 2010

Stocks markets have spent much of the new year trading within narrow ranges — without the dramatic moves that had become common. During their meanderings, the markets have managed to push higher for the year — most major exchangers are up at least 1.5 percent.

Thursday’s trading indicated another day of much of the same. Markets in Europe were mixed Thursday as the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged at its meeting.

European markets, which had been higher, turned down after the latest report out of Washington showed that retail sales declined 0.3 percent, much weaker than the 0.5 percent rise that economists had been expecting. In addition, the first-time jobless filings rose last week, but the increase did not disrupt the longer-term downward trend in claims.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 5.68 points, or 0.2 percent, while the DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC-40 in Paris were flat.

Wall Street also looked to open lower.

After the meeting, the European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, dismissed speculation that Greece may leave the euro, saying he would not comment on “absurd hypotheses.”

Mr. Trichet was asked about Greece’s troubles at a news conference after the bank kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a historic low of 1 percent at Thursday’s meeting.

Greece’s budget crisis, with a deficit of 12 percent of gross domestic product, has shocked markets and shaken the European Union.

He said Greece and other countries with outsize deficits had to “implement appropriate and bold measures” to get their deficits in line with rules intended to support the euro currency.

Earlier in Asia, stocks rallied amid receding worries about credit-tightening in China and Australia’s economic recovery showed new momentum business

IT may not feel that way right now, but the last 10 years may go down in world history as a big success. That idea may be hard to accept in the United States. After all, it was the decade of 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the financial crisis, all dramatic and painful events. But in economic terms, at least, the decade was a remarkably good one for many people around the globe.

The raging economic growth rates of China and India are well known, though their rise is part of a broader trend in the economic development of poorer countries. Ideals of prosperity, freedom and the rule of law have probably never been more resonant globally than they’ve been over the last 10 years, even if practice often falls short. And for all of the anticapitalistic rhetoric that has emerged from the financial crisis, national leaders around the world are embracing the commercialization of their economies.

Putting aside the United States, which ranks third, the four most populous countries are China, India, Indonesia and Brazil, accounting for more than 40 percent of the world’s people. And all four have made great strides. Indonesia had solid economic growth during the entire decade, mostly in the 5 to 6 percent annual range. That came after its very turbulent 1990s, marked by a disastrous financial crisis and plummeting standards of living.

Brazil also had a consistently good decade, with growth at times exceeding 5 percent a year. There is lots of talk that the country has finally turned the corner, and, within its borders, there is major worry that its currency is too strong — a problem that many other countries would envy.

Elsewhere in South America, Colombia and Peru have made enormous progress and Chile is on the verge of becoming a “developed” country; it will soon be joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

To be sure, in Africa, there is still enormous misery. Nonetheless, overall standards of living rose in a wide variety of countries there, with economic growth for the continent as a whole at more than 5 percent in most years. Many basic essentials, like water, sanitation, electricity and especially telephones, are more commonly available.

One lesson from all of this is that steady economic growth is an underreported news story — and to our own detriment. As human beings, we are prone to focus on very dramatic, visible events, such as confrontations with political enemies or the personal qualities of leaders, whether good or bad. We turn information about politics and economics into stories of good guys versus bad guys and identify progress with the triumph of the good guys. In the process, it’s easy to neglect the underlying forces that improve life in small, hard-to-observe ways, culminating in important changes.

In a given year, an extra percentage point of economic growth may not seem to matter much no fax pay day loan. But, over time, the difference between annual growth of 1 percent and 2 percent determines whether you can double your standard of living every 35 years or every 70 years. At 5 percent annual economic growth, living standards double about every 14 years.

Nonetheless, despite the positive news in much of the world, it’s questionable whether the decade as a whole has been good for Americans, economically speaking. Median wages have not risen much, if at all, and the costs of the financial crisis and irresponsible fiscal policies have become increasingly obvious. Those facts support a pessimistic interpretation.

Still, most economic models suggest that the fundamental source of growth is new ideas, which enable us to produce more from a given set of resources. To the extent that the rest of the world becomes wealthier, there’s more innovation, as my colleague and co-blogger Alex Tabarrok, professor of economics at George Mason University, argued recently. China, for instance, is moving toward the research frontier in areas such as solar power, scientific instruments, engineering and nanoscience, all of which can benefit the United States. Unlike the situation of just a few decades ago, a genius born in Mumbai now stands a good chance of becoming a notable scientist, whether at home or abroad.

It might be pleasant to boast that America is — or should be — a world leader in every area, but the practical reality is that if some other country solves the problem of green energy, so much the better for us.

The subtler point is that a wealthier China, India, Brazil and Indonesia will lead to more customers for new innovations, thereby producing greater rewards for successful entrepreneurs, no matter where they live. There are so many improvements in cellphones these days because there are so many cellphone customers in so many countries.

TO put it bluntly, if the United States takes one step back and the rest of the world takes two steps forward, even in purely selfish terms we should consider accepting the trade-off, if only for the longer run. Most of us gain from the wealth and creativity of other countries, even if we can’t always feel like the top dog.

When asked what he thought of the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai, the premier of China from 1949 until his death in 1976, reportedly replied, “It is too soon to tell.”

That is also a fair response to the last 10 years, and it will be for some time to come. The point remains that if we look beneath the surface just a bit, the picture is a good deal rosier than we might otherwise think.

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

Economic View: For Much of the World, a Fruitful Decade

Shares fluctuated Wednesday as good news on manufacturing helped offset a decline in commodities prices.

The market got support from an economic indicator that signaled growth in the Midwest manufacturing industry for a third month. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index rose to 60 in December from 56.1 in November. The report showed that production and new orders increased and employment improved.

But the market’s gains were held back by a drop in energy and material stocks. A stronger dollar pulled on commodities prices, making the shares of companies that produce commodities less attractive.

Some investors have been buying the dollar on the belief that the economy is improving and the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the next year. That buying interest comes after a months-long slide in the dollar. Rock-bottom interest rates have encouraged investors this year to move out of cash and into riskier assets like stocks and commodities that have the potential to earn bigger returns.

While a rise in interest rates would be a sign that the economy is on the right track, it could hurt the stock market’s advance. A stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive for foreign buyers and can hurt the profits of companies that do business overseas.

There were also plenty of reminders that corporate America is still hurting from the blows of the recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 18 points, or 0.17 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 3.39 points, or 0.3 percent, , while the Nasdaq dropped 6.74 points or 0.29 percent.

The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against other major currencies, rose 0.4 percent. Gold and other metals fell. Oil prices added 12 cents to $78.99 a barrel in New York trading.

Bond prices were steady ahead of an auction of seven-year notes, the last of the government’s issuances this week payday advance lenders. In total, the Treasury is auctioning off $118 billion of new debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, was unmoved at 3.80 percent. Interest rates on many consumer loans track the yield on the 10-year Treasury.

The pullback in stocks added to modest losses on Tuesday when the market ended a six-day winning streak as reports on home prices and consumer confidence failed to rally investors. While the reports showed improvement, they were largely in line with expectations and painted a picture of a slowly recovering economy.

After a 24.7 percent rise in the S.&P. this year, many investors have closed their books and are making few moves ahead of the start of 2010. With fewer traders in the market, price swings can be exaggerated.

In London, the FTSE 100 index held its last full session of the year, declining 0.5 percent, or 27 points, in afternoon trading. In Paris, the CAC 40 retreated from its 2009 high reached Tuesday, slipping 0.5 percent, or 18.53 points, while the DAX in Frankfurt slid 0.9 percent, or 54.12 points.

Earlier, Asian markets fluctuated, with Japan’s benchmark index down nearly 1 percent as shares of Japan Airlines plummeted amid fears the beleaguered carrier could end up in bankruptcy proceedings as part of a turnaround plan.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average fell 91.62 points, or 0.9 percent, to 10,546.44, with shares of JAL tumbling 32 percent at one point to a new low. Its stock closed down 24 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed, off 2.82 points to 21,496.62

Wall Street Shares Wander as Year Nears a Close