U.S. stocks mainly up ahead of Thursday's jobs data

Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:03:32 -0400
U.S. stocks mainly up ahead of Thursday's jobs data

NEW YORK
U.S. stocks tilt higher, with investors heartened by a pullback in the
price of crude and reports of a new bid for Yahoo Inc., but pressured by
a report showing larger-than-forecast job losses in the private-sector.

Economic Report: ADP report shows biggest job loss in nearly 6 years

Private-sector firms in the United States lost 79,000 jobs in June, the
biggest loss since November 2002, ADP says.

Blockbuster shares jump after dropping bid for Circuit City

Blockbuster withdraws its bid for the consumer-electronics retailer
Circuit City Stores, saying it still likes the idea of combining media
content and electronic devices in one business but plans to pursue the
strategy in its own stores.

Brokerage-firm failure has to be an option: Paulson

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will stress in a speech later Wednesday
that federal regulators must craft a system to allow brokerage firms to
fail without threatening the overall financial system.

Yahoo shares jump on report that Microsoft considering new bid

Shares of Yahoo Inc. jump 6% after a news report says Microsoft Corp.
has approached other media companies about a potential joint bid for the
Web portal.