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Google Inc’s (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Web browser Chrome has had a “very strong” reception since its launch this week, with several million downloads, Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told Reuters on Friday.

Chrome is the U.S. Internet search engine’s head-on challenge to market leader Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Internet Explorer. Google says Chrome lets users run many applications that once worked only when installed on a local personal computer.

“The initial reaction has been very strong (with) many, many millions of downloads, (a) very favorable response so far,” Schmidt said on the sidelines of an economic conference at Lake Como in northern Italy.

He said it was too early to say what share Google might get in the browser market, now three quarters held by Internet Explorer.

“We did not build it with a market share goal. We built it to try to move the industry forward with some new concepts around browsers and security and powerful platforms,” Schmidt said americashadvance. “So we hope that it will influence the design of other browsers to make them more modern.”

Chrome has been designed to download software and Web pages faster than existing browsers and even lets users keep working when one of its windows crashes. ID:nNQ2434441

Schmidt also said he was optimistic about the outcome of a U.S. Justice Department antitrust inquiry into a search-advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The deal has raised concerns that it will give Google too much power in the $65 billion online advertising market. The deal was announced in June but the implementation is delayed until the “end of September (or) early October”, Schmidt said. 

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Bank of America Corp, said it is ready to settle federal and state probes into the marketing of auction-rate securities, joining eight other companies that reached agreements.

The bank said it has been in talks for nearly a month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and regulators in New York and Massachusetts on a resolution that would provide “liquidity relief” to customers hurt when the $330 billion market seized up in February.

“We are ready and willing to enter into an agreement that follows the same basic terms of previously announced settlements,” bank spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in a statement Thursday. “We understood that we had reached such an agreement in principle nearly two weeks ago.”

A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that no deal was set yet. “Our investigation into Bank of America is ongoing,” said the spokesman, Alex Detrick.

“We are still seeking answers to certain questions that have arisen as a result of our initial inquiries cash advance loans. Hopefully, a settlement will be in reach once we have obtained all the relevant information.”

Cuomo was expected to send subpoenas to several Bank of America officials this week, a person familiar with his investigation said earlier this week.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin threatened on Wednesday to sue Bank of America, saying his office had been unable to settle with the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank.

Auction-rate debt has rates that reset in periodic auctions. Regulators say brokerages misled investors into believing the debt was safe and the equivalent of cash. 

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The price of gold fell Tuesday amid a broad retreat in commodities led by oil, as the damage caused by Hurricane Gustav appeared less severe than expected.

Gold for October delivery was down $24.60, or nearly 3%, to settle at $806.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal hit a session low of $797.40, down 23% from its mid-July peak of $983.90.

"The massive commodities sell-off that resumed on the heels of a weakening Gustav on Labor Day accelerated overnight," Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers, wrote in a note to clients.

The price of oil, meanwhile, tumbled nearly $10 a barrel Tuesday morning. By midday, crude had recovered some ground but remained near a 5-month low.

Lower oil prices put less of a strain on the U.S payday loan. economy, which has been burdened by high energy prices.

Signs of a stronger economy helped the U.S. dollar gain ground against other major currencies. Economic weakness in Europe and Japan also helped buoy the greenback.

A stronger dollar undercuts the appeal of gold for investors looking to hedge against inflation. And a more robust greenback makes commodities priced in dollars more expensive for overseas buyers.

On Wall Street, stocks rose in early trade as investors cheered oil’s retreat, the stronger dollar and a bright spot in the financial services sector. But the broader market went south as technology and commodity-related shares tumbled.  

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Texas remains a bright spot while more job losses and weak growth continues in the western United States, according to an economic report.

According to the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecasts, Texas recorded the second highest percentage change with 2.4 percent more jobs created in July compared to a year ago. That increase translates to the highest number of actual jobs added in any state at 250,900.

Among Western states, only Wyoming topped that number with a 2.5 percent increase.

Meanwhile, other Western states are at the bottom of the job list, recording year-over-year declines, including California (No. 43 on the list), Idaho (45), Nevada (46) and Arizona (49).

“Although there are scattered signs the economy may be close to bottoming out, there is little optimism about an actual upturn in Arizona or nationally during the second half of this year,” said Lee McPheters, senior associate dean of the W.P payday loan. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. “The first stirrings of recovery are not expected until the housing market stabilizes and begins its turnaround.”

The Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast publishes the consensus forecasts of economists at leading firms, universities and state agencies in 12 Western states.

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General Motors does not expect U.S. sales to revive this year as the credit crunch pressures consumers, with a senior official saying the top priority was to turn around the North American business.

GM, which has lost $51 billion over the past three years, will continue to invest in emerging markets such India and China and was on track for full-year profit growth in Asia, officials said.

“The most important thing we can do is to turn around the North American business,” Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson told reporters after inaugurating the leading U.S. carmaker’s second plant in India. The factory in the western Maharashtra state has an annual capacity of 140,000 units.

“We do not have a huge amount of optimism for the rest of the year as the pressure on consumer continues,” Henderson said.

The troubled carmaker has been under increasing pressure to cut costs and raise capital because of the slump in U.S payday loans. auto sales that pushed its first-half sales down 16 percent.

GM last week said it was offering early retirement incentives to about 28 percent of its U.S. salaried work force as part of its effort to reduce payroll expenses and conserve cash.

GM’s U.S. operation employs 32,000 salaried staff. GM has said it would cut white-collar costs by 20 percent as part of its effort to reduce overall costs by $10 billion and shore up cash.

Henderson said he was fairly confident of raising the required capital through secured borrowings and asset sales. 

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Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), armed with a fresh contract with The Rolling Stones and its new Activision Blizzard gaming venture, kept its 2008 profit goal as it posted a rise in second-quarter underlying earnings.

The owner of Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest record company, and France’s second biggest mobile operator, SFR, said it could fund recent deals without a rights issue and no acquisitions were pending.

Those deals include buying SFR buying fixed-line operator Neuf Cegetel and the formation of video games giant Activision Blizzard ATVID.O, which brought together its World of Warcraft online role-playing game with partner Activision Inc’s best-selling “Guitar Hero” franchise.

“We used less cash than expected to make our acquisitions. We can continue Vivendi’s expansion with the current balance sheet structure without tapping the market,” Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy told a conference call quick payday loan.

Levy had said in a newspaper interview in April that the group might need between 1 billion and 2 billion euros.

He told analysts on Monday that Vivendi was not eyeing any major acquisitions “in the next months”.

The company, whose best-selling artists include British soul singer Amy Winehouse, said it still expected 2008 profit growth similar to the 8 percent of 2007 on a like-for-like basis.

It said second-quarter group earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) rose 3.2 percent to 1.36 billion euros ($2 billion), slightly short of an average forecast of 1.39 billion from a Reuters poll of seven analysts. 

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