Briefcase

Bipartisan plan, profits rally stock market

NEW YORK – Strong profits and a bipartisan plan to lift the U.S. debt limit drove a stock market rebound Tuesday.

“It looks like there’s bipartisan support for a robust plan,” said Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial in Boston. “The stock market had been looking for a reason to have a relief rally. And it looks like they got the start of one today. “

Tuesday’s gains turned the three major indexes positive for the month. The Dow and Nasdaq are now up more than 1 percent in July. The S&P 500 is up 0.5 percent.

Associated Press

Coca-Cola earnings beat expectations

Coca-Cola Co.’s second-quarter profit rose 18 percent on strong growth overseas and the acquisition of a bottler. The results beat expectations and the company’s stock hit a 52-week high Tuesday.

The world’s largest beverage maker has shown consistent growth for years because of major gains in emerging markets such as Latin America, India and China, coupled with steady sales in established markets.

Coca-Cola reported Tuesday that its net income rose to $2.8 billion, or $1.20 per share, from $2.37 billion, or $1.02 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Associated Press

Harley-Davidson doubles its profit

NEW YORK – Harley-Davidson Inc.’s U.S. sales rose almost 8 percent and its profit more than doubled in the second quarter, the first time since the end of 2006 that domestic sales have increased for the motorcycle maker.

On top of that, the brand has the largest share of sales when it comes to new kinds of bikers such as women. Harley’s U.S. retail sales of new motorcycles grew 7.5 percent to 53,599 bikes, much faster than overseas, where sales rose just 2.4 percent to 29,797.

Associated Press

Worst quarterly loss for Bank of America

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As expected, Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday gave investors a historically bad quarterly earnings report.

The Charlotte-based bank said it lost $8.8 billion in the second quarter, as more than $20 billion in previously disclosed mortgage-related charges walloped its bottom line. The loss was the company’s worst ever, but in line with the estimate it gave last month of between $8.6 billion and $9.1 billion.

McClatchy

China search engine has deal with record labels

LOS ANGELES – Baidu Inc., China’s largest search engine, has struck a deal to license songs from three major record labels, giving music companies a rare victory against piracy in the world’s most populous country.

Terms of the multiyear deal, announced Tuesday, call for Baidu to pay Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment for each song that is downloaded or streamed through Baidu’s new ad-supported music social network, dubbed Ting.

McClatchy