Business News Roundup, May 19

The unusually frank bulletin was delivered in the official account of the Fed’s April meeting, which said explicitly that most officials thought “it likely would be appropriate” to raise rates in June if the economy had rebounded from a weak winter.

The available economic data does not appear to show the strength that the Fed wants to see, and some officials said in April that there might not be time to gain the necessary confidence before the June meeting.

“The markets are certainly more pessimistic than I am,” Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and a bellwether for the Fed’s policymaking committee, said Tuesday in Washington.

“Some participants were concerned that market participants may not have properly assessed the likelihood of an increase in the target range at the June meeting, and they emphasized the importance of communicating clearly,” it said.

Salesforce forecast revenue that topped analysts’ estimates on strong spending from large corporate customers for its business productivity software.

Revenue in the first fiscal quarter that ended April 30 was up 27 percent to $1.92 billion, topping the average estimate from analysts of $1.89 billion.

CEO Marc Benioff is benefiting from the growing interest in software delivered over the Internet, or the cloud, that is attracting a growing piece of corporate budgets.

Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of equipment that forms the backbone of the Internet, forecast fourth-quarter sales and earnings that will top analysts’ estimates, bolstered by acquisitions and a push into newer software businesses.

Profit before certain costs in the period that ends in July will be 59 to 61 cents per share, and revenue will rise as much as 3 percent, the company said Wednesday, forecasting sales as high as $13.2 billion.

CEO Chuck Robbins is trying to restore growth by shifting the company’s offerings toward software for networking, security and management products, which customers increasingly prefer because they’re less expensive and more adaptable.

Recent acquisitions such as Jasper Technologies, whose software allows companies to connect all sorts of electronic devices, are helping to make Cisco less dependent on its expensive, purpose-built hardware.

Industry regulators have fined Raymond James $17 million, accusing the financial services firm of widespread failures in its controls against money laundering.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday that it was the biggest fine it has imposed related to deficiencies in programs designed to detect money laundering.

The authority said that Raymond James failed over several years to detect suspicious activity in client investment accounts and to report it to government authorities.