Wall Street Journal unveils first redesign in 60 years

The Wall Street Journal put on a new face Tuesday, unveiling its first major redesign since World War II.

The new look features more color, more graphics, and more guides to articles inside the paper to make it easier for readers to find what they want. Its previous six-column design made its debut in 1942.

The revamp took more than a year to design and was made possible by a four-year, $225 million upgrade to the Journal’s printing facilities that expanded its ability to use color.

Paul Steiger, the newspaper’s managing editor, and Peter Kann, chairman and CEO of Dow Jones & Co., publishers of the Wall Street Journal look at the Personal Journal section of the paper’s redesign Tuesday during a photo session on New York’s Wall Street.

Tampa, Fla.-based Garcia Media, led by newspaper design guru Mario Garcia, partnered with the Journal in the redesign. Garcia also has assisted the Journal-World in its newspaper design.

World Market: Oil prices move downward

Signs of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories restored calm to world oil markets Tuesday, a day after a cutoff in Iraq’s crude exports sent crude prices soaring.

Energy analysts expected prices to drift somewhat lower, unless any new developments exacerbated fears about oil supplies from the Middle East.

The price for May contracts of Brent crude futures slipped by 94 cents a barrel to $26.08 in trading Tuesday in London.

Prices spiked by as much as 6 percent on Monday, after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced that he was suspending oil exports for 30 days or until Israel withdrew from Palestinian territories.

Agriculture: Russia, U.S. agree on poultry

Russia is expected to sign an agreement Wednesday to end a month-old ban on poultry imports from the United States, a State Department official said.

A signing ceremony involving U.S. and Russian officials is planned in Moscow. Russia agreed to lift the ban after the United States promised to impose tougher controls on veterinary documents and measures against companies that exported salmonella-tainted chicken.

Wall Street: Tech stocks drop on fears of warning from Cisco

Investors sold technology shares sharply lower Tuesday amid rumors that Cisco Systems will be the next company to warn of weaker profits. Blue chips also fell, compounding losses they ran up Monday after IBM reduced its outlook.

It was the second time in a week that investors were worried about a possible earnings warning. On Friday, tech shares fell on rumors of an IBM warning  which the computer company made Monday, forecasting weaker-than-expected first-quarter profits and revenue.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended Tuesday down 40.41, or 0.4 percent, at 10,208.67.

Cisco fell $1.36 to $14.82, first declining after RBC Capital Markets lowered its third-quarter estimates on the networking stock due to a continued slump in capital spending on information technology. Later in the session, rumors spread that Cisco would warn about profits.