Chrysler is the latest automaker to announce plans to switch production away from light trucks and SUVs toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The US trade deficit shrank unexpectedly by over 4 percent in June, as a weak dollar boosted exports to an all-time high, according to official figures released Tuesday. ┬á US Commerce Department statistics show the June trade deficit at $56.8 billion, down from $59.2 billion in May. Exports of goods and services rose 4 percent to a record $164.4 billion, offsetting a 1.8 percent rise in imports. ┬á┬á Although the dollar has recently gained ground against the euro and other currencies, its earlier decline helped export orders by making US goods cheaper abroad.

AT&T announced today that it has been selected by Boeing as its primary telecommunications provider, with a five year contract valued at over $400 million.   ┬á The contract calls for AT&T to provide advanced network and wireless services to help Boeing enhance its business processes and increase productivity. ┬á┬á AT&T will consolidate BoeingÔÇÖs existing, disparate telecommunications networks into one Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled voice and data network.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), a multinational manufacturer of a diversified range of value-added industrial products and equipment, today announced a decision to divest its decorative surfaces segment including Wilsonart, and the industrial software business Click Commerce.  ┬á In 2007, the decorative surfaces segment had revenues of $1.2 billion and operating margins of 13 percent.

While automakers the world over are struggling in the current economic climate, and Ford and GM in particular have declared huge quarterly losses, Toyota has also seen profits fall, but it is still the most profitable automaker in the world.  ┬á ToyotaÔÇÖs net income in the three months to June 30 fell 28 percent to 353.7 billion yen ($3.2 billion), from a record 491.5 billion yen in the same period of last year. ┬á┬á Toyota said the trading environment had taken a sharp turn for the worse, creating a "very tough" quarter.

A cautious US Federal Reserve has left its key interest rate unchanged at two percent as it wrestles with the conflicting threats of a potential recession and rising inflation.   ┬á The Fed's rate setting committee explained that economic growth was likely to remain weak for some time while the outlook for inflation was "uncertain". Consumer prices rose at their fastest monthly rate in eleven years in June, but oil and other commodity prices are now falling.

Oil prices have continued to fall, dropping to a three-month low of $118 a barrel as traders react to news of rising supplies and relief that storms in the Gulf of Mexico may not damage US oil and gas facilities.  ┬á There had been fears that tropical storm Edouard could damage offshore drilling sites in the Gulf, which caused offshore operators such as Shell and Chevron to evacuate staff from some of their drilling platforms, but production now seems unlikely to be affected.

Instead of providing a firework display, the most talked about shareholder meeting of the year turned out to be a damp squib Friday, as Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang and his board of directors won the overwhelming backing of investors.   ┬á All of Yahoo!ÔÇÖs nominees were reelected (although former board member Robert Kotick did not stand for reelection). Yang himself was voted back in by over 85 percent, with chairman Roy Bostock receiving an almost 80 percent mandate.

Special items of $9.1 billion contributed to General MotorsÔÇÖ $15.5 billion second quarter loss, the third biggest quarterly loss in its history, as US sales continued to plunge.  ┬á GM took a $3.3 billion charge for buying out the contracts of 19,000 hourly workers who left at the end of June, and $2.8 billion for its exposure to bankrupt former parts unit Delphi Corp. It also wrote off $1.3 billion because the falling price of used vehicles cut the value of leased automobiles owned by its financing unit, GMAC.

Starbucks Corporation today reported its first quarterly net loss for over 15 years, as the cost of closing down under-performing company-owned stores begins to bite.  ┬á For the third quarter ended June 29, 2008, financial results for the Seattle-based coffee chain show a loss of $6.7 million, compared to a net income of $158.3 million a year earlier.