BOSTON (Reuters) – Attorneys for accused crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger pleaded for more time on Monday to prepare a defense against charges that he committed or ordered 19 murders in the 1970s and 1980s as the leader of Boston’s Winter Hill gang.

Defense attorney J.W. Carney told a magistrate court judge in Boston that he planned to file a motion this week requesting additional time to review the evidence that the federal government has amassed against his 83-year-old client.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted an 8.3 percent rise in quarterly profit, as solid demand in the United States and Asia for its electric turbines and railroad locomotives helped to offset the effects of Europe’s woes.

GE, The largest U.S. conglomerate, said on Friday that third-quarter net income increased to $3.49 billion, or 33 cents per share, from $3.22 billion, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – General Electric Co posted an 8.3 percent rise in quarterly profit, as solid demand in the United States and Asia for its electric turbines and railroad locomotives helped to offset the effects of Europe’s woes.

GE, The largest U.S. conglomerate, said on Friday that third-quarter net income increased to $3.49 billion, or 33 cents per share, from $3.22 billion, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Oct 19 (Reuters) – General Electric Co posted an 8.3
percent rise in quarterly profit, as solid demand in the United
States and Asia for its electric turbines and railroad
locomotives helped to offset the effects of Europe’s woes.

GE, The largest U.S. conglomerate, said on Friday that
third-quarter net income increased to $3.49 billion, or 33 cents
per share, from $3.22 billion, or 22 cents per share, a year
earlier.

Oct 18 (Reuters) – Union Pacific Corp posted a
slightly better-than-expected 15 percent rise in profit, helped
by higher prices and growing shipments of chemicals and autos.

But the largest publicly traded U.S. railroad, which like
its peers is facing a slump in coal shipments, sounded a note of
caution on the fourth quarter on Thursday, saying the uncertain
economic environment could hit demand for its hauling services.

BOSTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – A slowing world economy took a
toll on sales of products ranging from soft drinks to corporate
jets in the third quarter, leading top U.S. companies, including
PepsiCo Inc, IBM and Textron Inc, to
miss Wall Street’s sales targets.

Those misses sparked concerns among investors that corporate
America’s year-long streak of profit growth could be nearing an
end as CEOs run out of costs to cut and customers are
increasingly wary about spending.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – Textron Inc (TXT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a weaker-than-expected 6.3 percent rise in third-quarter profit, citing weak demand for corporate jets and declines in sales to the military, and the diversified U.S. manufacturer’s shares fell more than 5 percent.

The world’s largest maker of business aircraft faced “very quiet” ordering activity at its Cessna jet unit in July and August and was unable to make money in the quarter on a new contract to provide drones to the U.S. military, Chief Executive Officer Scott Donnelly told investors on a conference call on Wednesday.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – Diversified U.S. manufacturer Textron Inc (TXT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a weaker-than-expected 6.3 percent rise in third-quarter profit on weak demand for corporate jets and declines in sales to the military.

The world’s largest maker of corporate jets also raised its full-year earnings-per-share target on Wednesday, but the revised range of $1.95 to $2.05 was below analysts’ expectation of $2.10, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company’s previous forecast ranged from $1.80 to $2.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – Diversified U.S. manufacturer Textron Inc (TXT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a weaker-than-expected 6.3 percent rise in profit on weak demand for corporate jets and declines in sales to the military.

The world’s largest maker of corporate jets raised its full-year earnings per share target, but the revised range of $1.95 to $2.05 was below analysts’ expectation of $2.10, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Its previous forecast ranged from $1.80 to $2.

BOSTON (Reuters) – How far can cost-cutting get you in a slowing economy?

That’s the question the U.S. manufacturing sector will answer over the coming weeks. Through the first half of the year, big industrial companies including General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) notched impressive profit growth despite shaky demand, largely thanks to their success in boosting productivity.

But that bit of management magic may have run its course – Wall Street expects manufacturers to report a sharp slowdown in earnings growth in the just-ended third quarter, as Europe’s deteriorating economy, slowing growth in Asia and the risk of the United States going over a self-imposed fiscal cliff cause customers to throttle back spending even further.