Disney CEO offers resignation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael Eisner, who successfully fought off a shareholder attempt to oust him, unexpectedly offered his resignation from the entertainment company he’s led for two decades — but he will go in his own time.

In a letter to Disney’s board dated Thursday, Eisner, who helped transform the company into a media powerhouse whose performance has lagged in recent years, said he intends to step down when his contract expires Sept. 30, 2006.

The timing of the announcement came as a surprise to investors and many of the company’s top executives. It set off a guessing game about possible successors and raised questions about whether the move will silence his most vocal critics.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy got a double dose of encouraging news Friday as wholesale prices went down and moderating energy costs helped improve the country’s trade deficit.

The latest batch of economic reports suggested inflation, for the most part, is under control, and the economy has emerged from a late spring lull and, in the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, “regained some traction.”