Hewlett-Packard shares rose in after-hours trading after the company agreed to settle a lawsuit from the Justice Department, which claimed the company paid kickbacks to get recommendations for government work. The settlement will cost 2 cents per share.
Northrop Grumman depends on government contracts for more than 90% of revenue, making talk of cutting the budget deficit a prickly subject. Here's how the defense contractor plans to stay in the game and how it will affect earnings.
President Obama wants the power to cut pet projects and wasteful programs. "Now more than ever, it's critical that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on programs that are ineffective . . . or out-dated," Obama said in a letter to Congress.
While the federal budget gap got wider in March, the U.S. Treasury Department said revenue rose on a year-over-year basis for the second straight month.
President Obama has created a commission to tackle runaway federal deficits "brought on by years of bad habits." The bipartisan panel's goals are to figure out how to reduce spending for all federal programs by 2015, as well as address long-term budget shortfalls. Good luck.
