Ford posted an 8.1 percent increase in sales compared with the period a year earlier.

The magazine posted a 4 percent increase in advertising pages.

Sears posted a 1.1 percent increase in overall sales, to $1.71 billion.

Chrysler posted a 14.1 percent increase in sales, to 52,340 vehicles.

Vidrala is expected to post a 40 percent increase in profits this year.

The company said it posted increases in life and property insurance premiums.

In the first four months that year, the index posted increases averaging just over 2 percent.

The rate has been declining since the quarter that ended in April 2004, when it posted a 21 percent increase.

Prices of secondary Treasury note issues posted similar small increases.

The nation's 100 largest black-owned companies posted a 10.4 percent increase in sales last year, a survey shows.