Mid-Day Minute - August 3

SEC charges BofA over false statements in Merrill buy

Bank of America Corp was charged by the SEC on Monday with making materially false and misleading statements in the Merrill Lynch acquisition, court documents said. Read Full Article here.

Eric Schmidt leaves Apple board on 'potential conflicts'

Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, announced his resignation from Apple's Board of Directors due to potential conflicts as the two tech giants compete in similar markets. Schmidt has served as a member of Apple's board since August 2009. Read Full Article here.

Ford reports a 2.3 percent increase in monthly sales, the first since 2007
Ford Motor Co. on Monday reported an increase of 2.3 percent to 165,279 vehicles in July monthly sales, its first monthly gain since 2007. The automaker said that it benefitted from the federal Cash for Clunkers new-car incentive program.

Benmosche named AIG's new CEO
Robert Benmosche, the former chairman and chief executive of MetLife Inc., has been selected to be the new CEO of American International Group Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the report, the selection was approved on Monday morning and Benmosche would succeed outgoing CEO Edward Liddy.

About 6,000 GM hourly workers leave automaker
More than 6,000 U.S. hourly workers have left General Motors Co on August 1 under the automaker's latest buyout program in a bid to trim costs. The departing workers will receive cash payments of $20,000 to $115,000 as well as $25,000 vehicle vouchers.

Microsoft's Bing gains another 1 percent of U.S. search

Microsoft increased its share of the U.S. Internet search market by another 1 percentage point in July, taking its combined share with new search partner Yahoo to 20.36 percent, according to data released on Monday. Read Full Article here.

Yahoo to focus on display ad, content businesses: report

Yahoo Inc , which last week announced a Web search deal with Microsoft Corp , will invest money from reduced marketing and infrastructure costs into its display ad, content and mobile services technology, its chief executive Carol Bartz told the New York Times in an interview. Read Full Article here.