MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. managed to turn a profit in the most recent quarter -- despite fears that rising costs for ingredients and fuel would cut into The King Of Beers' bottom line.

But the St. Louis-based brewer, the nation's largest, said Wednesday that it has to raise prices to stay ahead of the higher costs. So drinkers of brews such as Budweiser and Bud Light will pay from 3 percent to 5 percent more beginning in September.

The hikes will affect about 85 percent of the company's U.S. beer sales, and average about 4 percent. It will be the first major price increase this year for Anheuser-Busch, which just last week agreed to sell itself to Belgian brewer InBev SA for $52 billion.

Even though consumers are grappling with rising prices for food and fuel, the company and analysts don't expect they'll cut back on the pricier beers.

"When you're in a recession, you cry in your beer anyway. It's the last thing you let go of," said Juli Niemann, an analyst for Smith Moore & Co. in St. Louis. "You don't turn out your lights. You don't let go of your beer."

She said the company will probably have to raise prices even more to maintain its margins.

Anheuser-Busch reported a 1.8 percent rise in second-quarter profit on higher sales of its main brands and the successful launch of Bud Light Lime. Net income rose to $689 million for the three months ending

NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. showed Wednesday that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer also raised its full-year revenue projections.

Sales were strong in several sections of Amazon's massive marketplace, and the company was helped substantially by a $53 million non-cash gain from the sale of European DVD rental assets.

For the quarter that ended June 30, Amazon earned $158 million, or 37 cents per share. Amazon earned $78 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The company's revenue climbed 41 percent to $4.06 billion, including a 35 percent leap in North American sales. The number of total active customer accounts also jumped, rising 18 percent to more than 81 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 26 cents per share on $3.96 billion in revenue in the quarter.

Amazon shares rose $5.87, or 8.3 percent, to $76.41 in after-hours trading, after finishing regular trading up $2.57, or 3.8 percent, at $70.54.

Sales of things like books, CDs and DVDs rose 31 percent to $2.41 billion in the second quarter, while

For retirees whose portfolios have been clobbered by the bear market for stocks, it's not going to be easy to make that money back.

But there are steps you can take to help get back on track, including some moves that can provide tax relief down the road.

With the latest downdraft in stock prices, the broad market indexes -- such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, hit the "official" definition of a bear market, dropping more than 20% from their peaks last October, before rallying to regain some ground. But there have been few places to hide.

Double Whammy

The problem for retirees is that the double whammy of stock-market losses and withdrawals of money to meet living expenses can put a serious dent in a nest egg.

It's generally not a good idea for investors to respond to short-term movements in the markets.

"You can't control investment returns -- sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not so good," says Kurt Brouwer, chairman of Brouwer & Janachowski, a San Francisco based financial advisory firm.

The first step should be to carefully weigh whether changes really need to be made. It may be that all that's required is a short-term pullback in spending and withdrawals, says Mr. Brouwer. That's especially