Business Briefs

Investors dump stocks in flee to safe havens

NEW YORK -- Signs of a subdued economic recovery sent investors out of stocks Thursday and in search of safer assets such as the dollar.

Energy and material stocks logged the biggest losses as a jump in the dollar sent commodity prices tumbling. Meanwhile, an analyst's downgrade of the chip industry pulled technology shares sharply lower. Overseas markets also fell sharply. As stocks fell, investors flocked to the dollar and Treasurys.

The latest reports on the economy gave investors little incentive to hold on to stocks. A report from the Labor Department Thursday indicated that the economy still is shedding jobs, and the Mortgage Bankers Association reported a surge in foreclosures.

BAE contract might reach $233 million

Defense contractor BAE Systems' North Charleston office has received a contract of up to $233 million to provide information technology services for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Center Atlantic in Hanahan.

The work will include engineering, integration, testing, inspection and installation of various defense systems. The British-owned defense giant recently opened new offices on Core Road. It employs about 400 people and plans to add as many as 175 more by 2011.

Openings will be posted at www.baesystems.com/careers.

Mortgages remain low, less than 5%

McLEAN, Va. -- Rates on 30-year mortgages stayed below 5 percent this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.83 percent, down from 4.91 percent last week.

Low fixed rates in the third quarter led to about $1.1 trillion in refinancing activity, saving borrowers about $10 billion in monthly payments over the first 12 months of their new loan, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.32 percent from 4.36 percent.

AOL looks to pare 3rd of labor force

SAN FRANCISCO -- Struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs, more than a third of its work force, as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage.

AOL, which already has pared thousands of workers in recent years and now employs about 6,900, is asking for volunteers to accept buyouts. If it falls short of the 2,500 target, it plans layoffs to reach a payroll cut of up to 2,300 positions.

The cuts will leave AOL at less than a quarter the size it was at its peak in 2004, when it had more than 20,000 employees.

Slump in PC orders hurts Dell's profit

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dell Inc. says its latest quarterly profit dropped 54 percent as the company battles a slump and has caused it to lose its ranking as the world's No. 2 personal computer maker.

Rivals Hewlett-Packard and Acer Inc. have poached business from Dell as the company grapples with anemic technology spending by corporations and government agencies. Those customers make up 80 percent of Dell's business.

Dell said Thursday that its net income was $337 million in the three months ended Oct. 30. Revenue fell 15 percent to $12.9 billion.