The financial services company said it decided to make the public offering of debt and equity securities after consulting with its primary regulator, the federal Office of Thrift Supervision.

Hartford Financial said it will offer $1.45 billion in common stock, $500 million in convertible preferred stock, and $1.1 billion in bonds.

At the height of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, the government committed $700 billion of taxpayer funds to aid banks with the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Hundreds of U.S. banks participated and received a cash investment from the Treasury Department in exchange for preferred stock. Many financial institutions have been raising money in the capital markets to repay their shares.

The program officially ends in October.

After its repayment, Hartford Financial said the Treasury will continue to hold warrants to buy about 52 million shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $9.79 a share. The company said it doesn’t intend to repurchase the warrants. Hartford Financial shares finished at $27.26 in trading Tuesday, up 44 cents, or 1.6 percent, from Monday.

"We appreciate the critical role the government and the American taxpayers have played in stabilizing the financial markets and we are pleased to announce a plan to repurchase Treasury’s investment in fewer than 10 months," Liam McGee, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "The Hartford always viewed this investment as temporary capital and intended to return it as soon as it was prudent."

Goldman Sachs & Co., JPMorgan Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC will be managers for the securities offering.

In January 2009 the Office of Thrift Supervision, a Treasury Department agency, approved applications from Hartford Financial and other insurers and financial services firms to acquire existing savings and loans and thereby become thrift holding companies. That made them eligible to apply for a piece of the $700 billion in federal rescue funds.

The moves came at a time when insurers, hit hard by the financial meltdown, saw their shares plunge and feared that growing investment losses could cripple the industry further.

NYSE:

General Electric Co., up 78 cents at $18.07

GE says it will boost its dividend in 2011, two years after reducing it to save money as its financial arm struggled in the recession.

DSW Inc., down $3.10 at $26.33

The shoe retailer reported a fourth-quarter profit in contrast to a loss a year ago as sales rose 16 percent.

Limited Brands Inc., up $1 at $24.71

The company declared a special dividend of $1 per share and authorized a share repurchase program of $200 million.

NASDAQ:

Starbucks Corp., up 87 cents at $25.29

An analyst lifted his rating and price target for the world’s biggest coffee chain due to acceleration of its sales and earnings.

Sonic Corp., up 59 cents at $11.08

An analyst boosted the drive-in restaurant’s rating and wrote that improved margins and sales should help earnings growth.

Intel Corp., up 84 cents at $22.01

The company launched a new processor amid anticipation that the chip market’s recovery could be more robust than anticipated.

Sequenom Inc., down $1.68 at $6.08

The diagnostic test maker posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss amid continued analyst caution over the company’s pipeline.

Benihana Inc., up 52 cents at $6.40

A newspaper reported that the Miami-based restaurant chain received a buyout offer as it struggled with rising costs and falling sales.

In the company’s fiscal first quarter ended in December, TD Ameritrade’s profit was down 26 percent at $136.2 million, or 23 cents per share. The brokerage attributed the decline to lower interest rates and higher expenses.

Earnings for the current quarter "are shaping up much like the December quarter," Bill Gerber, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement. "That said, we remain pleased with the progress of our growth strategy and continue to see strong organic growth."

Analysts expect profit of 28 cents per share from TD Ameritrade in its fiscal second quarter.

Omaha-based TD Ameritrade also reported an average 347,000 daily trades by customers in February, up 13 percent from February 2009 but down 18 percent from January 2010. Total customer assets were about $324 billion as of Feb. 28, up 54 percent from February 2009 and a 3 percent increase from January.

TD Ameritrade shares finished regular trading unchanged at $18.80.

That’s down more than 8 percent from the $649,000 the group spent in the same quarter a year earlier and about 9 percent less than the $658,000 it spent in the third quarter of 2009.

The Washington-based trade group lobbied on numerous pieces of legislation affecting mortgage lending, taxes, housing policy, foreclosure relief and regulation of government-controlled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a Jan. 20 filing with the House clerk’s office.

Besides Congress, the trade group lobbied the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, the White House and the FBI in the October-December period.

BONUS: The big change was his $4.5 million bonus, granted after Dow’s board dropped its financial targets for determining cash bonus payouts.

A GOOD YEAR: 2009 was good to Dow shareholders, too, with their stock up 83 percent from the end of 2008.

The two people familiar with a letter sent by Simon this week to General Growth say Simon anticipates boosting its offer above that of a deal put forth by a group of investors that includes two of General Growth’s biggest creditors.

That means a new Simon offer would have to value General Growth above $15 a share.

Chicago-based General Growth, the nation’s second-largest shopping mall operator, sought shelter from creditors last April. It was the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history.

His base salary was nearly flat at $1.7 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of the company’s proxy statement. He also received stock and option awards worth $9.3 million on the days they were granted, down 15.6 percent from 2008. Some of those awards, Liveris will receive only if the company meets profit targets through Sept. 30, 2011.

The $4.5 million bonus accounted for most of the increase in Liveris’ pay. He received no bonus in 2008, as Liveris recommended none be given to him and other top executives as Dow struggled amid the economic crisis.

He received his 2009 bonus after Dow disconnected its cash bonus program from financial targets last February. Dow said it made that change because of economic uncertainty, as well as its inability to predict when it would finish its $16.5 billion purchase of chemical maker Rohm & Haas. That deal closed in April.

Liveris’ other compensation in 2009 included $138,296 for personal use of the company jet, which Dow requires for security reasons, and $62,345 for financial planning. He received perks of $138,681 in 2008, contributing to his total pay package of $12.8 million that year.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s compensation during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.

Liveris, 54, has been CEO of the Midland, Mich., company since 2004. He also serves as president.

Since the Rohm & Haas acquisition last year, Dow has been selling assets to pay down the debt. Earlier this month it sold its Styron plastics division to Bain Capital for $1.63 billion.

For 2009, Dow shares rose 83 percent to finish the year at $27.63.

HIG, -1.8%

FMCN, +6.7%

DFS, -1%

FNFG, -0.2%

MIPI, -3.3%

TOO, -5.2%

CIEN, +0.3%

TIXC, +7.8%

COV, +1.9%

FUQI, -26%

MEE, -1.8%

KONG, +7.2%

UPSIDE MOVERS:

FMCN: 16.98 to 16.99

DOWNSIDE MOVERS:

MEE: 49.82 to 49.51

HIG: 26.93 to 26.87

DFS: 15.49 to 15.28

Patrick Gage, a former president of Wyeth’s research division, will take over as chairman for Cytokinetics effective immediately. Gage joined the Cytokinetics board in 2009.

Sabry is a co-founder and former CEO of Cytokinetics, and he will continue to consult with the company. Cytokinetics said details about Sabry’s new position will be announced soon.

Massey said Cumberland’s assets and operations will fit with its strategy in Central Appalachia, among others benefits. The deal for Abingdon, Va.-based Cumberland will consist of $640 million in cash and $320 million in shares of Massey’s common stock. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter.

Price: 49.01, Change: -1.21, Percent Change: -2.4

FUQI: -26%; guides for Q4 below prior guidance, Street view.

FMCN: +6.4%; beats with Q4 results.

MIPI: -24.6%; issues results, notes going concern determination.

DFS: -0.6%; Q1 loss narrows vs year-ago quarter.

Price: 8.16, Change: +0.37, Percent Change: +4.7

AFTER HOURS REGULAR SESSION

MCHP: +1.8% +1.8%

MOV: flat -19%

SQNM: -14.7% -21.7%

ATHN: +5.6% +6.5%

The codesharing deal is scheduled to begin March 28.

Continental, based in Houston, said U.S. travelers would be able to access ANA’s network via Continental flights. And Continental flights to major U.S. cities, including hubs such as Houston and Newark, N.J., will provide connections with ANA flights to Japan.

Continental’s shares rose 6 cents to $23.26 in after-hours trading Tuesday after closing the regular session down 6 cents.

HIG, -1.8%

FMCN, +7.3%

DFS, -0.6%

FNFG, -0.2%

MIPI, -3.3%

TOO, -5.2%

CIEN, +0.3%

TIXC, +7.8%

COV, +1.9%

FUQI, -26%

Price: 14, Change: -5.00, Percent Change: -26.3

The shopping center owner said the underwritten public offering of 7.5 percent senior unsecured notes due April 2017 is set to close on March 19.

The company intends to use proceeds of about $296.8 million to repay shorter-term debt and reduce balances on its revolving credit facilities.

Shares rose 47 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $12.41.

SPY, +0.02%

QQQQ, -0.02%

IWM, -0.03%

XLF, +0.07%

FAZ, -0.1%

C, flat

INTC, +0.2%

MSFT, -0.03%

CSCO, flat

QCOM, -0.03%

If the National Mediation Board agrees, it would start a 30-day clock ticking. After that the union might be allowed to strike. That’s often when negotiators make a deal.

"We’re hopeful there won’t be a strike," said Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, after making the request to the mediation board on Tuesday. "I’m feeling 90 percent sure that we can’t get to a deal without more pressure being put on the company."

In a written statement, American said the request is premature. It said negotiators have agreed on 71 percent of contract items and identified the areas they need to talk about more. The airline said it expects a decision from the mediation board in mid-April.

Last week the airline’s mechanics also asked the mediation board to declare their talks at an impasse.

American’s unions took big pay cuts in 2003 to keep the airline out of bankruptcy. The flight attendants want at least some of that compensation back. American is offering raises, but the union says the airline wants to keep overall costs flat.

Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. fell 18 cents to close at $9.66 on Tuesday.

Disney-owned Pixar Animation received the ShoWest Big Ten Award on Tuesday in honor of the company’s perfect track record – 10 films, 10 blockbuster hits, including "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles."

John Lasseter, Pixar’s creative mastermind and director of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," accepted the award just before screening the franchise’s sequel, "Toy Story 3," for the audience at ShoWest, an annual convention of theater owners.

Lasseter thanked theater owners for supporting Pixar from the start and promised that "we will keep delivering great movies. We’re not stopping at 10."

"Toy Story 3" opens in theaters June 18.

Price: 26.75, Change: -0.51, Percent Change: -1.8

Price: 18, Change: +1.23, Percent Change: +7.3

The additional sales occurred under an overallotment agreement. The total share sale, including 5.8 million shares previously sold, netted about $210.3 million.

The company did not specify how it plans to use the proceeds.

Wintrust shares rose 31 cents to close at $35.99

Price: 15.20, Change: -0.10, Percent Change: -0.6

Meanwhile, fears about budget deficits in Greece subsided as ratings agency Standard & Poor’s took the country off a watch list for a possible downgrade. S&P said Greece’s austerity measures were "appropriate" for the country’s budget-reduction targets.

The 16-nation euro climbed as high as $1.3778 after the Fed’s announcement from $1.3672 late Monday. In late trading in New York, the euro bought $1.3756.

The British pound jumped to $1.5230 from $1.5048, while the dollar edged down to 90.29 Japanese yen from 90.49 yen.

The dollar also fell against most emerging-market currencies in Latin America and Asia, as well as the New Zealand, Australian and Canadian dollars.

The Fed said the job market is stabilizing and that business spending on equipment and software has risen significantly. The Fed said it would keep its benchmark rate near zero for an "extended period."

While the Fed wasn’t expected to change its key lending rate, markets were listening closely to its language for a signal that it might lift rates sooner than anticipated.

"Once that event risk was out of the way, (dollar) selling resumed on higher risk appetite," Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., wrote in a note to investors.

Also Tuesday, the government said housing construction fell as winter blizzards held down activity in the Northeast and South.

In Europe, finance ministers have said they will help the debt-laden country with loans if necessary, though details on the size and type of aid and when it could be available were not disclosed.

The country’s financial troubles have undermined the shared euro currency and raised fears that other indebted governments may face similar difficulties borrowing money.

"There’s no real explicit support measure in place for Greece, which is significant," said David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Connecticut. "Still, markets appear to be satisfied for the time being. There seems to be no second-guessing regarding their fiscal outlook."

Price: 14.41, Change: -0.03, Percent Change: -0.2

Price: 1.61, Change: -0.06, Percent Change: -3.3

The deal between the cable channel, owned by Crown Media Holdings Inc., and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. will be used to build a seven-hour block of home and lifestyle programming that will air on the basic cable channel each weekday beginning March 29.

Shows include reruns of "From Martha’s Home" and "From Martha’s Garden" and "From Martha’s Kitchen" among others.

In September, Hallmark will become the home of new episodes of "The Martha Stewart Show," which now airs in syndication around the country.

Crown Media shares rose 7 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $1.88 Tuesday, while shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia rose 2 cents to $5.47.

The Scott Depot-based mine operator said Tuesday it has sold more than 22 million shares of common stock for just over $100 million. In a separate offering, ICG says it sold $115 million worth of 4 percent notes due in 2017.

While the underwriters exercised an option for an extra $15 million in notes, ICG says they haven’t exercised a similar option for more than 3.3 million shares of stock.

ICG plans to use the money to buy back up to $139.5 million of 9 percent notes due 2012 and up to $175 million of 10.25 percent notes due 2014.

ICG has operations in Appalachia and Illinois.

The offerings announced today will consist of $1.45 billion of common stock and $500 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock, represented by depositary shares. The debt offering related to the repurchase of the government’s preferred stock will consist of $425 million of senior notes. In addition, the company will pre-fund the repurchase of its senior debt maturing in 2010 and 2011 through the issuance of an additional $675 million of senior notes.

Price: 26.26, Change: -1.00, Percent Change: -3.6

Price: 62.39, Change: -0.10, Percent Change: -0.1

Net revenues for LCD display networks, in-store networks and poster frame networks are expected to be in the range of $78-80 million, the mid-point o which would represent year-on-year growth of 23%. Net revenues for the movie theatre and traditional outdoor billboard and internet advertising services are expected to be in the range of $37-39 million. Company non-GAAP net income is expected to be in the range of $20-23 million. The Street sees total revenue at $119 mln.

Price: 17.70, Change: +0.93, Percent Change: +5.5

Price: 1.67, Change: 0, Percent Change: 0

Price: 19.26, Change: -1.24, Percent Change: -6

Price: 15.97, Change: +0.01, Percent Change: +0.1

Price: 1.02, Change: -0.13, Percent Change: -11.3

-NYSE up 75.68 (1%) to 7,426.64.

-DJIA up 43.8 (0.4%) to 10,686.

-S&P 500 up 8.9 (0.8%) to 1,159.

-Nasdaq up 15.8 (0.7%) to 2,378.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng down 0.27%

Nikkei down 0.28%

FTSE up 0.65%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) SONC upgraded.

(+) SBUX upgraded.

(+) ICGN reports positive study results.

(+) ATHN continues evening gain that followed in-line meetings.

(+) NLP sells Kentucky outlet mall.

(+) CGEN announces discovery platform to predict cell penetrating peptides for drug delivery.

(+) ESLR reports on panels power Italy plant.

(+) BNHN reportedly gets buyout offer.

(+) ABK turns up; delays financial results, in talks with Wisconsin counterparties.

(+) BSX turns higher despite Goldman downgrade to Conviction Sell after defibrillator announcement Monday.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) SQNM continues sharp evening decline that followed report of wider loss.

(-) LXRX prices offering.

(-) CAKE gets downgrade.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks end in the upper end of the day’s range, getting a lift from sizeable advances for blue chips like GE and Intel (INTC). Financial shares extended their gains after the Fed’s announcement hit.

The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low level Tuesday and made no changes to the key "extended period" policy pledge, a signal that it believes the economy still needs support to get to a sustainable path, MarketWatch reported.

The Fed’s policy statement, released after a closed-door meeting, said the economic situation is "likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period."

Stocks gained early on the back of largely as-expected housing data, though the upside was limited ahead of the Federal Reserve’s afternoon meeting conclusion.

U.S. housing starts fell about 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 in February as several massive snow storms hit the East and South, according to data released Tuesday by the Commerce Department. Starts were down in the Northeast and South, but up in the Midwest and West, MarketWatch reports.

Building permits – which aren’t as affected by weather events as starts are – dropped 1.6% to 612,000 in February. Permits for single-family homes fell 0.2% to a 503,000 rate. Many economists consider the single-family permits figure to be the most reliable and important number in the report.

Starts of single-family homes fell 0.6% to a 499,000 pace, while starts of large condos and apartment building plunged 43%.

Price: 15.05, Change: -0.25, Percent Change: -1.6

Exxon said in a regulatory filing that the waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 expired Monday without action by the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department.

XTO shareholders still have to sign off on the deal.

Last week, Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson told analysts during a meeting in New York that the deal should close by June 30.

Exxon is making a bet that natural gas will become a more crucial energy source for the U.S. to generate electricity as the country looks for way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Natural gas burns much more cleanly that oil and coal.

XTO claims about 45 trillion cubic feet of gas, much of it trapped in tight shale formations. Technology developed over the past decade has made it much cheaper to pull natural gas from those formations.

As part of the deal, Exxon also will assume $10 billion in XTO debt.

Exxon shares rose 8 cents to $21.64 in trading Tuesday afternoon. XTO shares climbed 16 cents to $46.87.

Based on the company’s current projections of cash flow, unless it is able to raise sufficient additional capital, the company will be in breach of the minimum liquidity requirements under the Indenture governing the company’s Senior Secured Bonds in the second half of 2010.

The company’s difficulties in meeting its Bond Indenture covenants and its recurring losses from operations raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern in the second half of 2010. Therefore, the report of the company’s independent registered public accounting firm on the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 includes an emphasis paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The inclusion of such a going concern emphasis paragraph in the auditor’s report would result in a default under the terms of the Indenture that may give rise to an acceleration of the company’s debt obligations under the Indenture, unless waived by the Bond holders.

The company said it is engaged in conversations with its bond holders.

Price: 1.67, Change: 0, Percent Change: 0

Price: 31.42, Change: 0, Percent Change: 0

Price: 50.37, Change: 0, Percent Change: 0

Top Energy Stocks

XOM: +0.48%

CVX: +0.64%

COP: +0.89%

SLB: +1.94%

OXY: +1.39%

Energy stocks finished the day higher across the board as crude oil futures kept early gains to close above $80 a barrel.

Crude oil received a boost from the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates stable. Crude futures for April delivery rose $1.95, or 2.4%, to $81.75 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Several key events in petroleum trading are on tap over the next few days, including a report from the American Petroleum Institute, that will report its estimate of U.S. petroleum inventories in the latest week. The Energy Information Administration will report the government’s estimates on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase of 1.9 million barrels for the week ending March 12.

Also, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets Wednesday in Vienna to discuss output quotas.

In energy stocks, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) received clearance from U.S. and Dutch regulators for its $27 billion acquisition of U.S. oil and gas company XTO Energy Inc (XTO), Reuters reported citing a regulatory filing.

Exxon Mobil shares were up 0.08%, or $0.05, to $66.35. XTO Energy shares were up 0.39%, or $0.18, to $46.89.

ConocoPhillips (COP) has recently submitted proposals to the Norwegian Oil Ministry for further development of the North Sea Ekofisk South and Eldfisk offshore fields. ConocoPhillips shares were up 0.76%, or $0.39, to $52.04 in Tuesday trading.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA) said it will spend over $100 billion by 2014 to bolster production. Russia’s OAO Rosneft (ROSN) has called on the government to extend oil tax breaks for Siberian crude to support output.

In other energy futures, natural gas for April was down slightly at 1.02% to $4.34 per million British thermal units. Heating oil for the same month was up $2.86 to $211.65 a gallon.

WMT: +1.26%

MCD: +0.23%

DIS: -0.27%

CVS: +0.73%

TWX: +2.00%

Consumer shares were broadly higher Tuesday after the Federal Reserve announced it would keep its key federal funds rate the same, indicating a desire to allow the economic expansion to continue.

In consumer shares, Limited Brands (LTD) was higher Tuesday as it approved a $1 special dividend payment to shareholders. In addition, the clothing retailer said it will buy back $200 million shares. Limited shares were up 0.96, or 4.05%, to $24.67.

Limited, which owns several well-known mall brand names including Victoria’s Secret and Bath & BodyWorks, beat market expectations on Q4 earnings after the company controlled its inventory and reduced costs.

Also Tuesday, PepsiCo (PEP) turned negative after opening up $0.10 at $66.25, after the company announced this morning that it would remove sugar-laced drinks from schools globally to fight childhood obesity.

The move follows the success of programs in the United States. The company said it will remove full-calorie, sweetened drinks from schools in more than 200 countries by 2012, marking the first such move by a major soft drink producer.

PepsiCo shares were down $0.10, or 0.15%, to $66.05.

Also Tuesday, the Commerce Department said U.S. housing starts fell about 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 in February.

Home improvement retail outlets Home Depot (HD) and Lowes (LOW) were both lower Tuesday. Home Depot traded down $0.19, or 0.55%, to $32.51. Lowes traded down $0.01, or 0.04%, to $25.05.

Benihana (BNHN) is surging Tuesday morning after the head of RDG Capital offered to buy the Japanese steakhouse group for $7 a share, which would value the company at $20.1 million.

According to media reports, with the New York Post first breaking the news, investor Russell Glass made the offer to Benihana’s CEO Richard Stockinger and Chairman Darwin Dornbush last Thursday, and said he would buy the group with backing from other private equity partners.

Benihana shares were up 7.65%, or $0.45, to $6.33.

Shares of Intel’s main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which is also soon launching its own new line of server chips, also rose.

Intel shares rose 70 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $21.87. AMD shares gained 44 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $9.36.

Intel said Tuesday that its new server chip, part of the Xeon line, is the most secure processor it has made for corporate computing centers. Intel says the chips are faster at handling encryption, which is the process of scrambling data so outsiders can’t crack it. Encryption is used to hide credit card numbers and other sensitive data from attackers.

The new server chips are Intel’s first based on the company’s 32-nanometer manufacturing technology, which refers to the ever-shrinking size of the chips’ components.

AMD also plans a major rollout of new server chips that target parts of the server market where Intel is strong. AMD says its new Opteron chips will make it less expensive for customers to buy higher-end processors.

New numbers show that the chip market is rebounding strongly from a downturn caused the recession. Servers in particular were hard hit because many companies put off buying new computer hardware, choosing instead to hang on to older hardware longer. The trend helps Intel and AMD with the launch of their new server chips, as corporations start spending more again on their computing infrastructure.

Market research firm IDC said last month that worldwide server shipments ticked up 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The server market has notched two consecutive quarters of sequential revenue growth, according to the firm.

Top Financial Stocks

JPM: +0.02%

BAC: +0.89%

WFC: +1.10%

C: +3.73%

USB: +0.58%

Financial shares extended their gains in late Tuesday trading after the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates unchanged.

The Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index was up 2.95, or 1.03%, to 288.92.

Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark interest rate at a record low level and made no significant changes, indicating an intent to keep interest rates low for an "extended period."

Shares of Citigroup (C) were up 3.92%, or $0.15, to $4.04 in afternoon trading on Tuesday as the bank is said to be forming a unit that trades stocks with the lender’s own money after a proposed government ban of proprietary trading helped spur eight of its 22 employees to defect, Bloomberg reported, citing "people with direct knowledge of the matter."

American International Group Inc. (AIG) traded lower after two sessions of gains, falling $0.64, or 1.87%, to $33.68.

Also affecting the sector was news about U.S. housing starts, which fell about 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 in February as several massive snow storms hit the East and South, according to data released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.

The 42-year-old pitcher says he isn’t sure whether he will play again.

Smoltz has 213 wins and 154 saves in 21 seasons, most of them with the Atlanta Braves. He played for Boston and St. Louis last season.

Smoltz will work on national telecasts on TBS and Atlanta Braves’ games on Peachtree TV in Atlanta.

He was a guest analyst for TBS during the 2007 playoffs and broadcast games for Peachtree TV and TBS following shoulder surgery in 2008.

Ernie Johnson Jr., a TNT NBA and golf broadcaster, also will call baseball for Peachtree TV. He broadcast Braves games with his father, Ernie Johnson Sr., on SportSouth from 1993-96 and has done occasional Braves telecasts in recent years.

___

TBS and TNT are units of Time Warner Inc.

The S&P 500 is up 7 points, or 0.6%, at 1,158, after ranging between 1,150 and 1,159.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 31 points, or 0.3%, at 10,673, after ranging between 10,622 and 10,682.

The Nasdaq Composite is up 12 points, or 0.5%, at 2,374, after ranging between 2,361 and 2,378.

Financial shares extended their gains after the Fed’s announcement hit.

The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low level Tuesday and made no changes to the key "extended period" policy pledge, a signal that it believes the economy still needs support to get to a sustainable path, MarketWatch reported.

The Fed’s policy statement, released after a closed-door meeting, said the economic situation is "likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period."

Top Technology Stocks

MSFT: 0.00%

AAPL: +0.09%

IBM: +0.50%

CSCO: +0.29%

GOOG: +0.15%

Technology issues kept gains in Tuesday’s trading session after a decision by the Federal Reserve to keep the federal funds rate steady.

The Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index was up 3.93, or 0.66%, to 599.83.

Google’s (GOOG) spat with China topped technology news Tuesday. Google Co. (GOOG) has been cautioned publicly by the Chinese government to obey rules even if it decides to retreat from the country on concerns about hacking and censorship. Google may be out of China by the end of March as its Web licenses come up for renewal.

Later in the day, a group of Google’s partners in China sent "an impassioned plea to the Internet giant, saying their businesses are in jeopardy if Google closes its Chinese search engine and demanding to know how they will be compensated," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Google shares were up $1.21 or 1.21%, to 564.39 in Tuesday trading.

Also Tuesday, Intel Corp. (INTC), the world’s largest semiconductor maker, said it already has shipped more than 100,000 units of its Xeon 5600, its new server chip that has six processing cores built onto one piece of silicon.

Analyst Matthew Borsch dropped Universal to "sell" from "neutral" based on its high percentage of Medicare Advantage business. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) was dropped from Goldman’s "Americas Conviction Buy" list, but its "buy" rating remains, and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) was raised to "neutral" from "sell."

Borsch said Conventry’s valuation "is now more closely in-line with peers," while the move on UnitedHealth was also related to its Medicare Advantaged exposure, "which we believe is manageable but could nonetheless be a drag on performance, particularly in the event the current version of health reform is passed into law," Borsch wrote.

The analyst said health care reform now has more than a 50% chance of passing.

Here’s where the affected stocks stand in late trading.

UAM, -3.38

CVH, +2.95%

UNH, +1.51%

Price: 14.86, Change: -0.52, Percent Change: -3.38

Top Health Care Stocks

JNJ: -0.36%

PFE: -0.46%

ABT: -0.58%

MRK: +0.13%

AMGN: +0.69%

Health care shares were mixed in late trading on Tuesday after investors digested a spate of company news and the overall effect of the Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index was up slightly 0.02%, or 0.06, to 331.60.

Affecting all stocks, the Fed issued a decision to keep the federal funds rate even, which kept the broader market in limbo.

In company news, biopharmaceutical company Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. said Tuesday it entered into a research collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (PFE), to evaluate its stable nucleic acid-lipid particle technology that will be used to deliver therapeutic molecules provided by Pfizer.

Pfizer shares were down 0.41%, or $0.07, to $17.19 in late Tuesday trading.

Also Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswire reported that AstraZeneca (AZN) plans to become a bigger player in emerging markets. Sales in those those countries, according to Dow Jones, will double to account for about a quarter of the British company’s total revenue by 2014.

AstraZeneca shares were u[ 0.05%, or $0.02, to $44.33.

Meanwhile, Eli Lilly & Co. (ELY) purchased exclusive rights from Australia’s Acrux Ltd. to a lotion Axiron for men with limited sex drive due to low levels of the hormone.

Eli Lilly shares were up $0.13, or 1.42%, to $9.31.

The stock hit a low of 38.77 in the pre-market session. A buy there, as measured to the day high of 41, is 5.8% in the black.

Price: 39.05, Change: +1.76, Percent Change: 4.7

The shares fell $2.48, or 17.6 percent, to $11.62 during midday trading. The stock has traded between $6.13 and $15.56 during the past year.

Late Monday, the company said it expects to report a steeper loss than analysts expected for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Jan. 31. It also said it expects to report a loss for both fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011.

Luxury goods makers have suffered since consumers pulled back on spending amid the economic downturn. CEO Efraim Grinberg said in a statement he expects to boost marketing and advertising spending in the next fiscal year.

Sterne Agee analyst Jennifer Milan kept her "Neutral" rating on the stock.

"The company cited the macro environment, pressure from liquidation sales and proactive management of the business with respect to credit risk of wholesale partners," she wrote. "It was noted that the promotional environment seems to have stabilized with retail closures and that wholesale inventory levels are at historic lows."

The company reports its fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2010 results April 1.

Both gold and crude oil futures received a boost from the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates stable.

Gold for April delivery finished up $17.10, or 1.5%, at $1,122.50 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil for April delivery rose $1.95, or 2.4%, to $81.75 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Several key events in petroleum trading are on tap over the next few days, including a report from the American Petroleum Institute, that will report its estimate of U.S. petroleum inventories in the latest week. The Energy Information Administration will report the government’s estimates on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase of 1.9 million barrels for the week ending March 12.

Also, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets Wednesday in Vienna to discuss output quotas.

May silver futures rose $0.29, or 1.7%, to $17.40 an ounce. Copper for May rose $0.05, or 1.5%, to $3.36 a pound.

In energy stocks, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) received clearance from U.S. and Dutch regulators for its $27 billion acquisition of U.S. oil and gas company XTO Energy Inc (XTO), Reuters reported citing a regulatory filing.

Exxon Mobil shares were up 0.08%, or $0.05, to $66.35. XTO Energy shares were up 0.39%, or $0.18, to $46.89.

ConocoPhillips (COP) has recently submitted proposals to the Norwegian Oil Ministry for further development of the North Sea Ekofisk South and Eldfisk offshore fields. ConocoPhillips shares were up 0.76%, or $0.39, to $52.04 in Tuesday trading.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA) said it will spend over $100 billion by 2014 to bolster production. Russia’s OAO Rosneft (ROSN) has called on the government to extend oil tax breaks for Siberian crude to support output.

In other energy futures, natural gas for April was down slightly at 1.02% to $4.34 per million British thermal units. Heating oil for the same month was up $2.86 to $211.65 a gallon.

Early Tuesday, the stock hit a high of 6.54. A sell there, as measured to the day low of 6.02, is 8.6% in the black.

Price: 6.04, Change: -1.72, Percent Change: -22.2

The company’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) slipped 22 cents at the bell and hit a low of $35.75 around 2 pm, before finding support and picking up 12 cents to trade down 1.46%.

The vehicles have braking system problems that could make it tougher to stop the vehicle if not repaired. Over time, brake pedals can feel "soft." Without a fix, the problem could cause loss of braking power and possibly a crash, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said.

Price: 35.87 , Change: -0.53, Percent Change: -1.46

After meeting with Ford’s management, UBS analyst Colin Langan lifted his price target to $15 from $13, and maintained his "buy" rating on the stock. Langan sees Ford taking market share from rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Corp. rather than Toyota Motor Corp.(TM).

Price: 13.42, Change: +0.02, Percent Change: +0.15

JetBlue reported traffic of 1.91 billion passenger miles in February, compared with 1.86 billion in February of 2009. A revenue passenger mile is an industry metric measuring one paying passenger flown one mile.

The airline’s capacity, or number of available seats, rose 2.7 percent to 2.56 billion available seat miles, from nearly 2.5 billion a year earlier.

The percentage of seats filled remained flat at 74.5 percent.

JetBlue Airways Corp. is based in Forest Hills, N.Y. Shares fell 7 cents to $5.38 in afternoon trading.

But the Fed’s assessment of the economy at its meeting Tuesday was a bit more upbeat. It said the job market is stabilizing. That was an improvement from its January statement, when it said the deterioration in the labor market was abating.

It also said business spending on equipment and software has risen significantly, also an upgrade from its last assessment. Still, the Fed cautioned that spending by consumers could be dampened by high unemployment, sluggish wage growth, lower wealth and tight credit. And it noted weakness in the commercial real-estate and home-building markets.

"The Fed painted the economy in a slightly brighter shade," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. "It’s been painted black for so long. Now, it is a lighter shade of gray."

The Fed held its target range for its bank lending rate at zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008. In response, commercial banks’ prime lending rate, used to peg rates on certain credit cards and consumer loans, has remained about 3.25 percent – its lowest in decades.

Super-low rates benefit borrowers who qualify for loans and are willing to take on more debt. But they hurt savers. Low rates are especially hard on people living on fixed incomes who are earning scant returns on their savings.

The Fed’s pledge to keep record-low rates for an "extended period" relieved investors. The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day up nearly 44 points. Before the announcement, it had posted a gain in the single digits.

Prices for Treasurys rose slightly. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 3.66 percent from 3.68 percent just before the announcement.

The Fed made no changes to a program to drive down mortgage rates and bolster the housing market, even as a government report Tuesday showed housing construction tumbling in February.

Under that program, the Fed is scheduled to end purchases of $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the end of this month. Some analysts fear that once the program ends, mortgage rates could rise. That could weaken the recovery in housing and the overall economy. The Fed has left the door open to extending the program if the economy weakens.

"The Fed is keeping its powder dry in the event that mortgage markets are unable to pick up the slack left by the Fed’s absence," said Brian Bethune, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

Hoffman thinks 30-year fixed mortgage rates, hovering around 5 percent, could rise to around 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent after the Fed program ends. That increase also would reflect stronger demand for mortgages as people rush to take advantage of a homebuyer tax credit that expires at the end of April.

The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages dipped to 4.95 percent last week, from 4.97 percent a week earlier, according to mortgage finance company Freddie Mac.

The Fed’s decision to keep record-low rates for an "extended period" – thought to mean six more months – again drew one dissent. Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, for a second straight meeting opposed keeping the pledge.

This time, he expressed concern that low rates could cause a buildup of "financial imbalances" and put the economy’s stability at risk. Some analysts took that to mean Hoenig worries that holding rates too low for too long could feed some new speculative bubble in assets such as stocks or commodities.

Hoenig’s dissent illustrates the Fed’s challenge in deciding when to signal that higher rates are coming. Hoenig thinks the economy is strong enough for the Fed to telegraph that rates will rise soon to prevent inflation or asset bubbles. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other colleagues think the low rates will continue to be needed to feed the economic recovery.

Tuesday’s meeting was the Fed’s first one-day session in two years. All the regularly scheduled meetings last year took two days because the Fed needed time to devise unconventional programs to fight the financial crisis.

Traditionally, one-day meetings are more common. Half the eight meetings scheduled for this year are for one day, half for two days.

In its statement, the Fed said the pace of the recovery will likely remain moderate. That means inflation is expected to stay in check, giving the Fed leeway to maintain record-low rates without triggering higher prices. The Fed wants to see job growth and lower unemployment before it considers a rate increase, analysts said.

The recession wiped out 8.4 million jobs. With companies still wary of ramping up hiring, the unemployment rate – now at 9.7 percent – is likely to stay high. Even though the jobless rate hasn’t budged for two months and companies aren’t cutting as many jobs as they did a year ago, hiring is tepid.

"The Fed is holding out for clearer signs of improvements in the labor market," said Anthony Chan, chief economist at JP Morgan’s Private Wealth Management. "Until then, the Fed feels it needs the insurance policy of keeping rates low."

Once the recovery is more entrenched, the Fed will need to signal that higher rates will be coming.

To do that, the Fed could drop its commitment to keep rates at record lows for an "extended period." Or it could pledge to keep rates low only for "some time" or vow to keep "policy accommodative." Or it could change its language in some other way to stress that credit will be tightened when the time is right.

Any such step would signal that the days of easy money are fading.

Hoenig has been pushing to change the signal. At the Fed’s last meeting in late January, Hoenig favored saying rates would stay low for "some time." He thought that would give the Fed more flexibility to start raising rates.

Hoffman and some other analysts say they don’t think the Fed will signal a change toward higher rates until early summer, with a rate increase to follow in the fall. Chan thinks the Fed won’t boost rates until next year.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York, said the Fed will need to see the jobs crisis ease before it increases rates.

"The earliest that they will raise rates will be six months from now, and they could hold off for another year," Wyss said.

___

AP Business Writer Martin Crutsinger in Washington contributed to this report.

Price: 109.90, Change: +1.54, Percent Change: +1.42

Robert J. Witterschein was named executive vice president of commercial banking. He was formerly head of commercial banking at Southwest Bank.

Andrew S. Baur will serve as executive vice president of personal banking in St. Louis, overseeing personal banking and mortgage functions. He was previously president of retail banking at Southwest Bank.

Enterprise Financial operates commercial banking and wealth management businesses in metropolitan St. Louis, Kansas City and Phoenix.

Enterprise shares advanced 28 cents, or 3 percent, to $9.65 in afternoon trading.

ShengdaTech shares rose 4 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $6.94.

The company said Tuesday that its net income was $6.7 million, or 12 cents per share, versus $9.6 million, or 12 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company reported a $5.5 million gain in the fourth quarter of 2008 from repurchasing convertible notes. There are now fewer outstanding shares because of the way the shares associated with the convertible debt were counted.

Revenue rose 23 percent to $30.1 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, on better demand for the company’s nano-precipitated calcium carbonate, which is used in tires.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 9 cents per share and revenue of $28.4 million.

For the full year, net income fell 36 percent to $23.1 million, while revenue jumped 24 percent to $102.1 million.

Policymakers are almost certain to keep the Fed’s benchmark rate at a historic low of near zero, so investors will be focused on the Fed’s statement on the economy. The central bank is expected to make its announcement at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT).

The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 17 points in early afternoon trading. Broader indexes also advanced.

Stocks also got a lift after the Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency signed off on Greece’s plan to slash its budget deficit. That eased concerns that the debt-strapped country will default on debt. The 16 countries that share the euro agreed to help Greece with loans if necessary.

The focus remained on the Fed, however. As the economy improves the Fed will need to start increasing interest rates to fend off inflation. Investors will pore over the Fed’s statement for clues about when rates might change. The Fed has repeatedly said inflation is not an immediate problem, and it plans to keep rates low for an "extended period."

Any change in the language that indicates the Fed will raise rates sooner rather than later could touch off selling in the stock market. Higher rates could raise borrowing costs and be a drag on the economy.

"I think rates will stay lower longer than people expect," said Dan Dolan, director of Wealth Management Strategies at Select Sector SPDRs in Garden City, New York.

The stock market has been carving modest gains for more than a month. Major stock indexes stand at or near their best levels in more than a year. Investors are looking for signs that the recovery is strong enough to justify the steep rebound in stocks in the past 12 months.

The Dow rose 16.93, or 0.2 percent, to 10,659.08. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.73, or 0.4 percent, to 1,155.24, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 9.82, or 0.4 percent, to 2,372.03.

Major stock indexes ended narrowly mixed Monday after investors took a cautious approach ahead of the Fed’s meeting.

Bond prices were mixed Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.69 percent from 3.70 percent late Monday.

The dollar fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Crude oil rose $1.82 to $81.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the dollar fell. A weaker dollar makes commodities less expensive to foreign buyers.

The Commerce Department said construction of homes fell 5.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 units. That was slightly better than the rate of 570,000 units economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted.

January activity was revised higher to a pace of 622,000 units,the best showing in 14 months.

Applications for new permits fell to an annual rate of 612,000. Economists had forecast a drop to 610,000. Applications are considered a good sign of future housing activity.

Among stocks, energy shares rose as oil climbed. Oil services company Halliburton Co. rose 41 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $31.44 while Baker Hughes Inc. rose 50 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.37.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 454.6 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.82, or 0.3 percent, to 676.23.

Citron Research reported this morning that American is facing uncertainty in China, where it derives the lion’s share of its revenue through sales to Sinovel, one of China’s largest wind turbine companies.

The report called attention to a Bloomberg story that notes China has idled 40% of its wind turbine factories due to over-capacity; wind turbine prices have reportedly fallen more than 30% from 2004 levels. AMSC "is vulnerable to the perfect storm of converging concerns, not even considering an escalating trade conflict with China," the analyst wrote.

Price: 26.10, Change: -2.04 , Percent Change: -7.25

Brazi’s Bovespa, up 1.1% at 69,753.82, rose for the first time in four days, led by commodities-linked shares.

Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, is up 1.6% after a gauge of metals prices rose the most in more than a week, Bloomberg reported. PDG gained 1.9%, leading a rally in homebuilders. Petroleo Brasileiro rose after Brazil’s state-controlled energy producer found more evidence of oil in the Piranema field.

Mexico’s IPC is up 0.1%. Argentina’s MerVal is up 0.6%.

Shares of Pharmasset were up 8.68%, or $2.08, to $26.05.

In February, Pharmasset reported a smaller fiscal first-quarter loss, as its spending decreased after it stopped development of a potential hepatitis B drug.

For the first quarter Pharmasset said it lost $13.9 million, or $0.49 cents per share. That’s down from $18.3 million, or $0.78 per share, a year earlier. Its revenue fell 42%, to $269,000 from $464,000.

Analysts were expecting a loss of $0.43 cents per share and revenue of $1.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Price: 26.05, Change: +2.08, Percent Change: +8.68

Budd Bugatch of Raymond James said in a client note that the sector is still under pressure as the economy continues to recover, but "signs are beginning to emerge that suggest there may be some light at the end of the tunnel." This includes moderating job losses and better corporate profits driven mostly by cost cuts.

Bugatch upgraded Knoll Inc. to "Strong Buy" from "Outperform," Steelcase Inc. to "Strong Buy" from "Market Perform" and HNI Corp. to "Outperform" from "Market Perform."

Knoll’s stock added 39 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $12.77 in afternoon trading. It reached a 52-week high of $13.08 earlier in the session.

Shares of Steelcase gained 37 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $7.42, while HNI’s stock added $1.18, or 4.6 percent, to $26.65.

Bugatch also downgraded Herman Miller Inc. to "Market Perform" from "Outperform," as its stock has performed better than its peers recently and likely has little room for upside. Still, the analyst said he likes Herman Miller because of its "excellent management, innovative design and lean manufacturing."

The company’s stock fell 60 cents, or 3 percent, to $19.49.

"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect," Woods said in a statement. "After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta."

The Masters begins April 8.

The Associated Press first reported his plans to return at Augusta National last Thursday.

Woods has not competed since Nov. 15 when he won the Australian Masters for his 82nd victory worldwide. Twelve days later, he crashed his car into a tree outside his Florida home, setting off shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife.

"The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been a while since I last played," Woods said.

"I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment," he said. "Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life."

There had been reports he would play the Tavistock Cup exhibition next week in Orlando, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he is the defending champion and a six-time winner.

"When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play," Woods said.

Already the major with the highest TV ratings, this Masters could be the biggest yet. The first two rounds are televised on ESPN, with CBS Sports broadcasting weekend play.

"Obviously, the ratings will be off the chart," Heath Slocum said. "It will be interesting to watch – not only the reaction from him, but from the fans, the media, the players. I would venture to say he might be nervous."

Woods twice has come into a major after a long layoff without playing, with mixed results – he missed the cut at Winged Foot for the 2006 U.S. Open after his father died, and he won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines while playing on a shattered left knee.

Woods is a four-time Masters champion, although he has not won at Augusta National since 2005, his longest drought there.

In some respects, the Masters makes sense for golf’s No. 1 player to return. Media credentials are limited regardless of who’s playing or what’s in the news, and Augusta National has more control of its tickets than any other golf tournament.

Those with season badges risk losing them if they violate policies, or are caught selling them.

Woods has been the biggest draw at the Masters ever since he became its youngest champion at 21 in 1997, when he broke the tournament scoring record with a 12-shot victory.

That likely won’t compare to this year.

Woods’ world came crashing down on Nov. 27 when he fled his house in the middle of the night and ran his Cadillac SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree. About that time, allegations of womanizing began to emerge, and Woods’ silence was replaced by rumors of what happened that night and how, as the world’s most famous athlete, he could keep so many affairs a secret.

He eventually confessed to infidelity and said Dec. 11 he would take an "indefinite break" from golf. Woods spoke publicly for the first time on Feb. 19 at TPC Sawgrass, where he confessed to cheating on his wife, Elin.

"I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did," Woods said that day.

He was in a Mississippi clinic from Dec. 31 until Feb. 11, then went to an Arizona clinic for a week of family counseling. He returned to practice when he got home to Isleworth, and swing coach Hank Haney joined him last week.

This will be the first time Woods won’t play Bay Hill, the only regular PGA Tour event he has never missed as a professional.

Meantime, the governing body of golf outside the United States said it hoped Woods would play at the British Open in July.

"We’re pleased to hear that Tiger is to return to golf. … Golf needs the world No. 1 to be playing," Royal & Ancient spokesman Malcolm Booth said.

Woods has not yet entered to play at the British Open at St. Andrews, but has until May 27 to send in his entry form. Booth says it’s "normal that he hasn’t" entered yet.

___

ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), +0.54%

PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ), +0.57%

Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), +0.71%

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM), +0.61%

iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), +0.40%

Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), -1.83%

Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH), +2.61%

United States Natural Gas (UNG), -1.38%

Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS), +1.93%

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), +1.64%

Winners and Losers

Major market ETFs such as SPY, IWM and EEM are all higher in the Tuesday session as traders awaited word on interest rates from the Federal Open Market Committee. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.17%. The PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ), which tracks the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite, was up 0.53%.

The Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH) traded higher, up 2.72%, as investors have cheered chipmakers in recent weeks.

Also moving to the upside were financial ETFs, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) moving up 0.71%, and the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) moving up 1.93%. In kind, the bearish Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) moved down 1.83%. Financial issues received some renewed attention from investors, who had pushed shares in the sector lower in Monday’s session.

In other ETFs, investors showed renewed interest in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM), sending it up 0.61% in Tuesday’s session.

Commodities -

Oil futures were higher in mid-day trading, as crude for April delivery rose $1.63, or 2.04%. United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 1.91%. United States Natural Gas (UNG) is down 1.38%.

Gold turned lower also, last traded at $1,125 an ounce, down $1. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) rose 2.38%. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose 1.67%.

ETF Power Play -

SPDR Biotech ETF (XBI), PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (PBE) and IShares

NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) have all risen in mid-day trading Tuesday.

Sequenom (SQNM) was down 19.85% at last check, continuing a sharp evening drop that followed its earnings report. The company reported Q4 revenue of $10.8 mln, down from $12.2 mln last year but above the Street view of $9 mln. Loss for the quarter was $0.30 per share, vs. a loss of $0.25 per share last year. The Street was at a loss of $0.25 per share.

The settlement with Learjet Inc., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and other companies involved in the ownership and making of the jet will pay for college for Chris Baker’s 3-year-old son and give him more than $17 million over his lifetime.

It also will pay Baker’s widow more than $7.6 million. Otilia Baker and her son attended a brief hearing Tuesday before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel.

Baker was killed in a plane crash in Columbia, S.C., in September 2008. The crash killed four people and left Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM seriously injured. DJ AM later died of a drug overdose.

The cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

The recall includes 344,000 Odysseys and 68,000 Elements from the 2007 and 2008 model years.

Honda said in a statement that over time, brake pedals can feel "soft" and must be pressed closer to the floor to stop the vehicles. Left unrepaired, the problem could cause loss of braking power and possibly a crash, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said.

"It’s definitely not operating the way it should, and it’s safety systems, so it brings it to the recall status," he said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported three crashes due to the problem with minor injuries and no deaths, Martin said. Honda notified NHTSA of the recall on Monday, he said.

Honda has traced the problem to the device that powers the electronic stability control system, which selectively brakes each of the wheels to keep the vehicles upright during an emergency situation.

When the device, called a "vehicle stability assist modulator," tests itself when the vehicles are started, it allows a small amount of air into the hydraulic brake lines. Over time, an air bubble in the lines can cause a loss of braking power and require that the pedal be pushed farther toward the floor than normal to stop the vehicles, Martin said.

"Although not all vehicles being recalled are affected by this issue, we are recalling all possible units to assure all customers that their vehicles will perform correctly," Honda said in a statement.

Under the recall, which Honda said it volunteered to do, Honda said that owners should wait to get a letter from the company before scheduling a repair because the parts are not yet available. Letters should go out toward the end of April.

Drivers who fear that they’ve lost braking power should have their dealer check the brakes sooner, Martin said. The dealer can "bleed" air bubbles out of the hydraulic lines, which should fix the problem until the parts arrive for the final repair, he said.

Honda technicians will put plastic caps and sealant over two small holes in the device to stop the air from getting in, Martin said.

The automaker is still preparing a list of affected vehicles. After April 19, owners can determine if their vehicles are being recalled by going to www.recalls.honda.com or by calling (800) 999-1009, and selecting option number four.

The safety recall is Honda’s second in the past two months. In February it recalled 952,118 vehicles globally due to air bag problems.

It comes on the heels of Toyota Motor Corp.’s spate of safety recalls that include more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for braking and sudden acceleration problems.

One of the Toyota recalls is a braking software problem that causes the pedal of the Prius gas-electric hybrid to momentarily drop toward the floor.

Ford Motor Co. had a similar software problem with its Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids. The company told owners of 17,600 cars to bring them in for a software update because a glitch can give drivers the impression that the brakes have failed when they haven’t.

The automaker called the repairs a "customer satisfaction program" and said it was not a full-fledged recall.

Technicians from Toyota will join government investigators in Harrison, N.Y., on Wednesday to inspect the car. Toyota plans to examine an internal data recorder that documents the moments before and after a crash.

The company will use equipment to determine how many times the driver hit the brakes and gas. It used the same tools earlier this week to cast doubt on a California driver who claimed his Prius sped to 94 mph before a patrol officer helped him stop it.

In the Harrison case, authorities have said there is no indication of driver error. A housekeeper told police the car sped up on its own as she eased forward down her employer’s driveway on March 9 and hit a wall across the street. She was not hurt.

Toyota recalled more than 8 million cars because their gas pedals could become stuck or be snagged by floor mats. In addition, the government is looking into complaints from at least 60 Toyota drivers who say they got their cars fixed and still had problems. Toyota is checking into those complaints as well.

The investigations reflect challenges faced by the company and government. Dealers and experts have had trouble recreating episodes of sudden acceleration, and Toyota says tests have failed to find other problems beyond the sticking gas pedals and floor mats.

Some safety experts have said electronics, not simpler mechanical flaws, could be causing the problems. Toyota has said it has found no evidence of problems with its electronics but is studying the issue.

"It’s not the old garden-variety defect investigation, where you have a broken part and the vehicle is disabled. It’s an intermittent problem," said Allan J. Kam, a former senior enforcement attorney for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who now directs a private consulting firm.

Toyota officials said they did not know how long the New York investigation would take. The company plans to release the results to Harrison police but not to the media because the police are also investigating.

The Prius is not on Toyota’s recall list for sticky accelerators. However, the 2005 hybrid had been serviced for the floor mat problem.

On Monday, Toyota held a press conference in San Diego to challenge the story of James Sikes, who claimed his Prius sped out of control on the freeway last week. The company said its own tests had found almost nothing wrong with the car, and said Sikes had apparently pressed the brakes and gas at least 250 times.

Jason Vines, who was Ford Motor Co.’s top public relations executive when the company faced scrutiny over massive Firestone tire recalls on its cars in 2000, said the San Diego case would prompt similar interest in the New York investigation.

"They’ve gotten themselves into another box because of doing it one time in San Diego and now not doing it (in Harrison)," Vines said. "It’s just going to create more confusion."

___

Thomas reported from Washington. AP Writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Jim Fitzgerald in White Plains, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Greece’s austerity measures got the stamp of approval Tuesday from a top ratings agency, with Standard & Poor’s affirming the nation’s BBB+ long-term credit rating and removing it from CreditWatch.

Late on Monday, ministers from the 16-country euro zone said they had agreed on the "technical modalities" that would allow aid to flow to the debt-strapped nation.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 5,628.81. Germany’s DAX was up 1.1% at 5,970.99. France’s CAC-40 rose 1.2% at 3,938.95.

Banks were solid contributors to the broader market’s advance. BNP Paribas added 2.5%. Credit Suisse was up 2.7%. Energy stocks also gained, including Royal Dutch Shell up 1.5% and Total, up 0.7%.

Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin told analysts at a conference Tuesday that the Fairfield, Connecticut, company is "not putting a number on it, but we do expect to grow the dividend in 2011."

The company also sees potential for retiring its preferred stock and opportunities for stock buybacks.

GE, one of the original members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, cut its quarterly dividend in 2009 to 10 cents per share from 31 cents. It has remained at 10 cents per share since then.

The dividend cut, GE’s first since the Great Depression, was intended to save $9 billion a year. GE’s finance arm, GE Capital, had been the largest profit driver at the company but as the financial crisis intensified, it posted mounting losses on growing loan defaults.

Analysts last year questioned GE’s ability to pay a generous dividend while it hunted for money to shore up GE Capital, which makes a wide range of loans for overseas home mortgages and big energy projects and was stung badly when credit markets seized up in 2008.

On Tuesday, analyst C. Stephen Tusa Jr. of JPMorgan said he believes losses at GE Capital are peaking and should begin to decline in the middle of this year.

"We believe that, for the first time in over 10 years, the pieces are in place for earnings upside," he wrote in a note to investors.

Tusa said he sees rising profit at GE’s finance unit, a strong services backlog for GE’s industrial business and improvements at its energy, health care and transportation units.

GE said it expects earnings per share for 2010 to be flat compared with the $1.03 per share it earned in 2009. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect GE to earn 99 cents per share this year.

GE, which does not give quarterly earnings guidance, also said it expects tough comparisons in the first quarter due to losses of about $250 million related to coverage of the Olympics by its NBC unit and previous-year gains and tax items.

However, GE said it expects comparisons to "significantly improve" after the first quarter.

"We feel really good about the outlook," Sherin said. "It’s the best outlook I’ve seen for the company in many years."

Shares of GE rose 54 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $17.83 in afternoon trading. The stock earlier traded at a new year high of $17.84, eclipsing a prior peak of $17.52 set in September.

Top Energy Stocks

XOM: +0.21%

CVX: +0.60%

COP: +0.79%

SLB: +1.26%

OXY: +0.67%

Energy shares were higher in Tuesday trading as oil rose back above $80 a barrel and stocks bounced back from a tough Monday session.

Crude oil for April delivery was up $2.05, or 2.57%, to $81.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors are awaiting the results from the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting, which takes place in Vienna on Wednesday. OPEC is expected to keep production quotas at current levels, with Saudi’s oil minister declaring that he was content with current prices.

In energy stocks, ConocoPhillips (COP) has recently submitted proposals to the Norwegian Oil Ministry for further development of the North Sea Ekofisk South and Eldfisk offshore fields. ConocoPhillips shares were up 0.70%, or $0.35, to $52.00 in Tuesday trading.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA) said it will spend over $100 billion by 2014 to bolster production. Russia’s OAO Rosneft (ROSN)has called on the government to extend oil tax breaks for Siberian crude to support output.

In other energy futures, natural gas for April was down slightly at 1.37% to $4.33 per million British thermal units. Heating oil for the same month was up $2.80 to $211.53 a gallon.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies lost 0.3% to 10721.71.

The mild decline in Japan came after strong gains over the past few days, which were fueled by hopes of further BOJ policy easing and were prompted by mild gains for the yen against the U.S. dollar. Exporters fell as the yen improved, among them: Canon, down 1.3%; Honda Motor, down 1.5%.

Shipping stocks were also leading decliners. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines dropped 1% and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha slipped 0.6%.

Around the region, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.1%, New Zealand’s NZX 50 slid 0.7% and Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.8%.

China’s Shanghai Composite rebounded 0.5% after declining in the previous two sessions, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.3%.

China Coal Energy fell 0.7%. Yanzhou Coal Mining dropped 1.6%.

Kenneth Chenault, 58, got cash and other compensation worth $16.8 million in 2009, compared with $42.9 million in 2008. Lower stock and option awards account for much of the drop.

Chenault’s base salary of $1.2 million fell slightly from $1.25 million in 2008, and his performance-based cash bonus of $5.3 million was lower than the $6.1 million he got in 2008.

But his stock and option awards fell about 88 percent. He received stock and options in 2009 that were worth $4 million at the time they were granted, compared with $34.2 million worth in 2008.

American Express, which is based in New York, has said it will raise Chenault’s base salary for 2010 to $2 million so that more of his compensation comes from his base pay and less from incentive awards.

For 2009, Chenault also got a $5.1 million bonus, after declining one in 2008. His other compensation of $980,079 included $401,500 for personal use of a company jet, $138,600 for other travel costs, $117,400 in retirement plan contributions, $199,105 in dividends and dividend equivalents and $54,200 for a home security system.

Chenault, who has been chairman and CEO since 2001, also got above-market deferred compensation of $178,500, compared with $188,480 in 2008, according to Tuesday’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

American Express caters to a more affluent clientele, but that hasn’t made it immune from soaring loan losses during the downturn. Before the fourth quarter of last year, it had eight quarters of falling profits.

The company’s shares were up 19 cents to $40.89 in afternoon trading Tuesday.

The AP’s total pay calculations include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Retail Opportunity purchased the The Market at Lake Stevens, a fully occupied 74,130 square foot shopping center in Lake Stevens, Wash.

The company said it has acquired five shopping centers for a total of about $66 million in cash since late October and has more than $330 million in cash left to buy more facilities.

Shares of Retail Opportunity Investments added 2 cents to $10.23 in midday trading.

Obama asked the companies, gathered at a meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers Association on Tuesday, to "step it up" and put less fat, salt and sugar in foods.

"We need you not to just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering," she said.

The first lady has talked to schools and nutrition groups across the country in her effort to reduce childhood obesity. This is the first time she has confronted the food companies that make the snacks and junk food that stuff grocery aisles and school vending machines.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association – which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members – invited her to speak at its science forum this week and attendees gave her a standing ovation.

Welcoming the first lady and embracing her campaign for healthier kids, launched earlier this year, could have advantages. The industry is positioned to take some blows in the coming year, including a child nutrition bill about to move through Congress that could eliminate junk food in schools, digging into some companies’ profits.

The Food and Drug Administration is also beginning to crack down on misleading labeling on food packages, saying some items labeled "healthy" are not, and the Senate last year mulled a tax on soda and other sweetened drinks to help pay for overhauling health care.

That tax did not make it into the health care bill, but it could be seen as an opening shot in a quietly growing effort to target food companies, especially as local, state and federal governments scrounge for revenue in a tight fiscal environment.

Obama said she would like to see less confusing food labels and portion sizes and increased marketing for healthy foods. She urged companies not just to find creative ways to market products as healthy but actually increase nutrients and reduce bad ingredients.

"While decreasing fat is good, don’t replace with sugar," she urged. "This needs to be a serious industry wide commitment to provide healthier foods."

Obama’s campaign is largely focused on school lunches and vending machines, along with making healthy food more available and encouraging children to exercise more.

Scott Faber, a lobbyist for the grocery association, said the industry is open to working with the government on finding ways to produce healthier foods.

"Consumers are demanding more and more healthy choices," he said. "Our industry will do our part by changing the way we make and market our foods, but government has a big role to play as well."

While introducing Michelle Obama Tuesday, Rick Wolford, chairman and CEO of Del Monte Foods Co. and chairman of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said it is "a watershed moment in the fight against obesity."

"We are willing to do more and we are willing to go the extra mile," he said.

This approach is a far cry from the fights consumer groups had with food companies a decade ago, said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"When I first started working on junk food in schools, it was a very contentious issue where we regularly did battle with junk and snack food companies," she said. "Now it’s a whole new world, and many of them are supporting updating standards."

Wootan said she believes that embarrassment is in part fueling the companies’ push, as more attention has been placed on foods’ nutritional values or lack thereof. More uniform federal standards could also be helpful to food companies, she said, as some states and localities are creating their own standards for marketing and making foods.

"When you see the handwriting on the wall, it’s time to get on the right side of the issue," Wootan said.

Consumer advocates say they are cautiously optimistic about the industry’s involvement, but will wait to see how amenable they are to real change.

"They want to be riding that crest rather than fighting it," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, a Washington-based public health research organization. "There is a long ways between saying the right things and doing the right thing."

Top Financial Stocks

JPM: -0.12%

BAC: +1.19%

WFC: +0.67%

C: +2.83%

USB: +0.39%

Financial shares moved higher in Tuesday trading as the sector recovered from a dismal Monday session.

The Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index was up 2.02, or 0.71, to 287.99.

Investors are awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee’s rate announcement later this afternoon.

Housing data were also affecting the sector.

U.S. housing starts fell about 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 in February as several massive snow storms hit the East and South, according to data released Tuesday by the Commerce Department. Starts were down in the Northeast and South, but up in the Midwest and West, MarketWatch reports.

Also Tuesday, Citigroup (C) is said to be forming a unit that trades stocks after a proposed government ban of proprietary trading helped spur eight of its 22 employees to defect, Bloomberg reported, citing "people with direct knowledge of the matter."

Citigroup shares were up 3.08%, or $0.12 to $4.01.

WMT: +1.06%

MCD: +0.26%

DIS: +0.18%

CVS: +0.80%

TWX: +1.31%

Consumer shares are up across the board as investors await word on interest rates from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting currently underway.

The market’s move Tuesday marks some anticipation that the Fed will keep its earlier vow to keep rates low for a sustained period of time.

Among consumer companies, PepsiCo (PEP) has turned negative after opening up $0.10 at $66.25, on a company announcement this morning that it would remove sugar-laced drinks from schools globally to fight childhood obesity.

The move follows the success of programs in the United States. The company said will remove full-calorie, sweetened drinks from schools in more than 200 countries by 2012, marking the first such move by a major soft drink producer.

PepsiCo shares were down $0.09, or 0.14%, to $66.06.

Also Tuesday, Benihana (BNHN) is surging Tuesday morning after the head of RDG Capital offered to buy the Japanese steakhouse group for $7 a share, which would value the company at $20.1 million.

According to media reports, with the New York Post first breaking the news, investor Russell Glass made the offer to Benihana’s CEO Richard Stockinger and Chairman Darwin Dornbush last Thursday, and said he would buy the group with backing from other private equity partners.

Benihana shares were up 7.82%, or $0.46, to $6.34.

Top Technology Stocks

MSFT: -0.55%

AAPL: +0.12%

IBM: +0.15%

CSCO: +0.73%

GOOG: +0.73%

Technology shares are up across the board Tuesday as the drama between China and Google (GOOG) continues to overshadow tech stocks.

The Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index was up 4.54, or 0.78%, to 600.54.

Google Co. (GOOG) has been cautioned publicly by the Chinese government to obey rules even if it decides to retreat from the country on concerns about hacking and censorship. Google may be out of China by the end of March when its Web licenses come up for renewal.

Google shares were up $4.40, or 0.78%, to 567.58 in Tuesday trading.

Also Tuesday, Intel Corp. (INTC), the world’s largest semiconductor maker, said it already has shipped more than 100,000 units of its Xeon 5600, its new server chip that has six processing cores built onto one piece of silicon.

Intel shares were up 3.49%, or $0.74, to $21.91.