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General Electric reported quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and said its finance arm, GE Capital, continues to show signs of stabilization.

The Fairfield, Conn.-based company said net income jumped 16% to $3.1 billion. Earnings from continuing operations rose 14% to $3.3 billion, pushing earnings per share to 30 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a profit of 27 cents per share for the quarter.

Sales fell 4% to $37.4 billion in the quarter, missing the $38.4 billion in revenue expected by analysts.

"GE’s economic environment continues to improve," said GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt in a statement, adding that the company is "on track for solid earnings growth."

The company said "losses have peaked" at its closely watched GE Capital division, which accounts for more than a third of overall revenue. The lending unit saw sales slip 3% to $12.3 billion, but profit surged 93% from a year earlier to $830 million.

The commercial real estate business remained "the one tough area in GE Capital," losing another $524 million in the second quarter, which GE said was in line with expectations.

But based on the unit’s overall recovery in the quarter, GE Capital won’t need contributions from the industrial side of the business, the Immelt said druing a post-earnings call with investors.

NBC Universal’s revenue rose 5% to $3.75 billion, while profit jumped 13% to $607 million in the quarter. At its home and business division, sales climbed 4% to $2.25 billion as profit rose 59% to $143 million.

Orders on the rise: The company cited growth in orders as another bright spot in the quarter, with total orders up 8% to $19.2 billion, boosted by improved demand for oil and gas, and health care equipment. Equipment orders jumped 17%, with a 20% increase in orders at the energy infrastructure division and a 14% rise in technology infrastructure orders.

The company saw its first growth in commercial orders since the third quarter of 2008, and GE expects there will be single-digit orders growth in the second half of the year, Immelt said.

Dividend hike on the way: GE reiterated its expectations to grow earnings and dividends "in 2011 and beyond." In February of 2009, the company cut its dividend by 68% to 10 cents per share, and investors have been looking for clues about when it will be raised.

Immelt said on the conference call that GE expects to pay a "normal" dividend of 45% of earnings in 2012 but he didn’t give a specifc per-share figure.

"We’re trying to be thoughtful about it and cautious about it," he said. "We do believe we’ll have the capital flexibility in the years to come."

Cash on hand: The company continued to build up its cash reserves, putting aside another $74 billion during the quarter.

"The cash story and the balance sheet shrinking story is a very positive story for GE and our investors," said Immelt.

By the end of the year, GE expects to have $25 billion in cash at the parent level. But on the company’s earnings call, UBS analyst Jason Feldman asked how much of a "backstop" GE really needs.

"Clearly we are going to have more cash in the future than we did in the crisis," Immelt answered. "We are going to have the flexibility to do what we want with the company."

GE brought in $3.8 billion in cash from industrial operations and said it is on track to generate $13 billion to $15 billion this year. But at the same time, industrial sales fell 6% to $24.4 billion in the quarter.

Shares of GE (GE, Fortune 500) slid 3.3% after the market open. The stock had jumped 3.5% immediately after the company released its results.  

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Charles Schwab's second-quarter profit was flat year over year, but beat analysts' estimates.

The San Francisco brokerage said Friday that it had net income of $205 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter compared with $205 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, a year ago.

Schwab’s (NASDAQ: SCHW) second-quarter revenue was $1.08 billion, compared with $1 payday loan online.085 billion a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 15 cents per share on $1.06 billion in revenue.

The company's shares closed up 4.05 percent at $15.14 in trading Friday.

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Former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon has dropped back and thrown a deep pass into the world of sports and entertainment marketing.

Moon has opened a new company, Sports 1 Marketing, in Irvine, Calif., and has hired Dave Meltzer, formerly with high profile sports agent Leigh Steinberg to serve as chief executive officer. Moon is president of the firm.

Sports 1 Marketing will offer services for corporate or event clients with athletes and coaches to formulate advertising and sponsorship campaigns.

“Starting this business is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for quite some time, and I am confident that both the timing and the sports business environment are properly aligned,” said Moon.

Moon chose the name Sports 1 to mirror the uniform number he wore as a college football player with the University of Washington and as a professional. He played six seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos before joining the National Football League’s Houston Oilers, where he played from 1984-1993 online payday loans. He retired in 2000 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Added Meltzer, “I am delighted to be joining forces with one of the greatest players, community activists and businessmen in recent NFL annals,” said Meltzer.

Moon, who had worked as a broadcaster for Seattle Seahawks games last season, signed a deal in April to promote a California energy drink, FITT Energy with Reservatrol, which is featured on the new Sports 1 Marketing Web site.

FITT Energy is made by Who’s Your Daddy Inc. (OTCBB: WYDI), of Mission Viejo, Calif.

Moon can be seen here promoting the product, wearing his Oilers football team uniform.

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The British government is partnering with Facebook Inc. to solicit ideas from the public on ways to cut the budget deficit and make government spending more efficient.

“The Spending Challenge,” announced jointly by Facebook and British Prime Minster David Cameron, will give the 26 million British Facebook users access through the Democracy UK page to "microsites" specially tailored to focus on key issues, as well as to official government websites.

More than a million people used the Democracy UK Page during the 2010 General Election campaign no fax payday advance.

“There's enormous civic spirit in this country where people want to take control and do things in a different way. We are giving people an opportunity with Facebook and I am sure that they will take it," Cameron said in a statement.

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General Electric Co. backed away Thursday from comments reportedly made by its CEO critical of President Obama and China.

The company said Jeffrey Immelt’s remarks to Italian executives in Rome were taken out of context and didn’t reflect GE policy.

The company responded to an article in the Financial Times in which Immelt is said to have told the audience that Obama doesn’t like business and business doesn’t like Obama.

"People are in a really bad mood (in the U.S.)," the paper quoted Immelt as saying. "We (the U.S.) are a pathetic exporter … we have to become an industrial powerhouse again but you don’t do this when government and entrepreneurs are not in synch."

Immelt also said China is becoming increasingly protectionist and doesn’t want any non-Chinese businesses "to win," according to the newspaper payday loans.

"The comments attributed to GE CEO Jeff Immelt by the FT were taken out of context and, in some instances, inaccurately reported," GE spokeswoman Anne Eisele said in a statement. "Mr. Immelt’s comments at a private dinner focused on the relationship between business and government in general and did not single out President Obama."

Eisele also said the "reporting of Jeff’s comments don’t reflect GE policy."

A Financial Times spokeswoman said "we stand by the accuracy of the report." 

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A professor at the University of North Florida has been awarded a National Institute of Health grant for $145,000 to study knee pain.

Michelle Boling, an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences at the UNF, will study the structural and biomechanical as well as demographic and psychosocial risk factors associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome. The syndrome is one of the most common causes of knee pain.

She is collaborating with researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, College of Charleston, Uniformed Services University and the United States Military Academy.

“We hope that the findings from this investigation may be used to develop injury prevention programs to decrease the risk of developing PFP,” said Boling cash advance in one hour.

She hopes to learn if risk factors for the condition are gender-specific. It affects approximately 25 percent of the physically-active population, with females being 2 to 3 times more likely to develop it than their male counterparts.

Boling has been a faculty member at UNF since 2008 and has previously received a Transformational Learning Opportunity Grant from UNF, a University of North Carolina Future Faculty Fellowship and an Outstanding Alumni award by the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are hoping Edwin Jackson’s no-hitter Friday will boost merchandise and jersey sales.

Jackson threw the second no-hitter in D-backs history against the Tampa Bay Rays even though it took him 149 pitches, a highlight in an otherwise disappointing season thus far for the D-backs. This is Jackson’s first year with the Diamondbacks. He was with the Detroit Tigers last year and the Rays in 2008.

“We have ordered a number T-shirts through Majestic with his name and No lowest fee payday loans. 36 on the back,” said said team spokeswoman Tina Manzo. “MLB.com has also been promoting customized authentic jerseys with Jackson’s name and number on dbacks.com. It’s been too soon to realize the demand but we will have merchandise available when the team returns from the road for a 10-game home stand starting on Friday against the Dodgers.”

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The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that it obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief against the estate of a Jacksonville fund manager who authorities say stole $34 million from investors.

The SEC alleges Kenneth Wayne McLeod defrauded active and retired government employees and law enforcement agents with a Ponzi scheme to bilk investors of at least $34 million since 1988 through his benefits consulting firm, Federal Employee Benefits Group, Inc. (FEBG), and his registered investment adviser, F&S Asset Management Group, Inc.

McLeod was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound June 22 in a Mandarin park, according to published reports.

Instead of purchasing bonds for an estimated 260 investors, McLeod is accused by the SEC of using the retirement savings to pay himself and to splurge on lavish entertainment, including annual trips to the Super Bowl for himself and 40 friends. The SEC alleges that McLeod offered investors guaranteed returns of 8 to 10 percent through a purported tax-free “FEBG Bond Fund” or “FEBG Special Fund.”

He told investors that their principal would be 100 percent invested and secured by government bonds, the commission alleges. McLeod told investors that the fund invested in government securities provided a 13 percent return and falsely claimed that the 3 percent to 5 percent would be used to expand FEBG and other businesses.

The SEC alleges he told investors that the principal would be locked up for various periods of up to 8 years due. He also issued some investors false FEBG Bond Fund account statements, which showed fake interest earnings and gave investors options to reinvest their quarterly earnings instead of receiving distributions, which many investor did.

The expectation of return spurred some investors to retire from law enforcement or public service. Some investors rolled over their retirement and savings accounts into the bond fund or invested their inheritances and their children’s tuition savings.

A hearing is set for July 6 in Miami to determine whether the emergency asset freeze and other relief should stay in effect.

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KBR Inc. has been awarded a contract by Tierra Del Fuego Power & Chemical Co. Ltd.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Houston engineering construction and services company will provide licensing and process design for a grassroots ammonia plant in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina.

The plant will use natural gas to produce high-yield fertilizer. KBR (NYSE: KBR) plans to begin work on the project in July.

Tierra Del Fuego Power & Chemical is the largest Chinese investment in Argentina, made up of a joint venture between Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co. Ltd., Shaanxi Xinyida Investment Ltd. and Jinduicheng Molybdenum Group Co. Ltd.

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DETROIT — Toyota said on Thursday that it would resume construction of a Mississippi plant that had been suspended 18 months ago because of the recession.

And in another sign that auto sales have improved considerably, General Motors said it would skip the annual summer shutdown at all but two of its United States plants to keep up with demand.

Toyota said its $1.3 billion plant in Blue Spring, Miss., was scheduled to begin building Corolla compact cars, not sport utility vehicles or hybrid cars as previously planned, in the fall of 2011.

Toyota said it would hire 2,000 people, the same number of jobs it originally planned to create at the plant, which is 90 miles southeast of Memphis.

Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi was scheduled to meet company executives on Thursday at the plant, which was 90 percent finished in December 2008 when Toyota halted the project amid plunging sales nationwide.

"Toyota appreciates the patience of Governor Barbour and all Mississippians, but we first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed," Yoshimi Inaba, the president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement.

"Now it’s time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi," the statement said. "Toyota remains committed to making vehicles where we sell them and to maintaining a substantial manufacturing presence in North America."

GM said that operating nine of its 11 United States assembly plants for two extra weeks would allow it to build 56,000 additional vehicles. Some temporary workers might be hired.

The only plants that GM does not plan to keep running are in Lordstown, Ohio, which will soon start building the new Chevrolet Cruze compact car, and in Shreveport, La., which builds midsize pickup trucks and is scheduled to close by 2012.

The Detroit automakers have traditionally shut their plants in early July to prepare for building the next year’s models.

"This move will help buyers waiting for high-demand products such as the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia," Mark Reuss, the president of GM North America, said in a statement. "Our manufacturing teams are taking creative approaches to increase production and reduce the wait times for our dealers and customers."

Toyota said the Mississippi plant’s opening would mean "nearly all" Corollas sold in North America would be built in the United States and Canada. Some production of the Corolla, one of Toyota’s top-selling models, was moved to Japan in April, when Toyota closed a plant in Fremont, Calif., where it was assembled.

The California plant had been a joint venture of Toyota and General Motors, but GM withdrew after its bankruptcy filing last year, and Toyota said it could not operate the plant without a partner. Toyota now plans to build electric cars there in partnership with another automaker, Tesla.

Toyota initially planned to build sport utility vehicles at the Mississippi plant, then in mid-2008 said it would build Prius hybrid cars there after a surge in gas prices and demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Toyota on Thursday did not address whether it would eventually build the Prius, which is imported from Japan, in North America.

Toyota said the building was "essentially complete" and that most of the remaining work involves equipment installation. About 60 people already work at the plant’s administration office.

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