News money 2008-06-03 Andanh.com

U.S. rail network sees a crisis of congestion Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:44:00 EST
Railway executive Matthew Rose stood before fellow industry leaders, pointing to a map meant to tell the future of the U.S. rail freight network. It was drenched in red -- east to west, north to south.

PETA wins round with KFC Corp. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
Animal-rights group PETA scored a victory yesterday in its long-running campaign against KFC Corp. after the fast-food chain's biggest franchisee in Canada agreed to support new chicken-slaughtering methods.

Cummins planning summer layoffs Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
Diesel engine maker Cummins said yesterday it plans to temporarily trim 125 workers from its mid-range engine plant in Central Indiana because of decreased demand for Dodge Ram pickup trucks.

Stocks dip as declines persist Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:46:00 EST
Wall Street retreated yesterday on more signs of economic weakness and executive shake-ups at two major banks -- reminders of the ongoing fallout from the credit crisis.

Ford completes sale of 2 brands Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:58:00 EST
Ford Motor Co. officially unloaded its storied Jaguar and Land Rover businesses yesterday -- netting the cash-strapped automaker a $1.7 billion boost that's a mere third of what it paid for the two luxury brands.

Inflation is Spam's friend Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:58:00 EST
Sales of Spam -- the much maligned meat product -- are rising as consumers turn to lunch meats and other low-cost foods to extend their stretched food budgets.

Business People Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:56:00 EST
Financial services, real estate and health care announcements are in today's Business People. Submit new items at courier-journal.com/businesspeople Sign up for the daily Business People newsletter at courier-journal.com/newsletters.

Q: I don't see how I can keep up with my mortgage payments. What should I do? Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:47:00 EST
A: The Mortgage Bankers Association says lenders don't come out ahead on foreclosures.

Hosparus to upgrade with federal grant Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:48:00 EST
Hosparus -- the Community Hospices of Louisville, Southern Indiana and Central Kentucky -- said yesterday it is getting a federal grant of nearly $1 million to upgrade its communications and computer systems.

Wachovia's CEO out Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:48:00 EST
Less than a month after CEO Ken Thompson lost his chairman post, and more than two years after an ill-timed acquisition of California mortgage lender Golden West Financial, Wachovia said yesterday that board members have forced Thompson to retire from the nation's fourth-largest bank.

GM closing 4 truck and SUV plants in North America Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:07 EDT
General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, affecting 10,000 workers, as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.

CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker's annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be idled are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico. He also said the iconic Hummer brand will be reviewed and potentially sold or revamped.

Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and production of the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle in Detroit.

Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.

GM shares rose 43 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $17.87 in midday trading.

Blu-ray won, but can't cash in yet Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Blu-ray stomped HD DVD to become the standard format for high-definition movie discs, but years could pass before it can claim victory over the good old DVD.

Noemi Velazquez, 44, a warehouse worker, can explain why. She took one look at the $399 price tag of a Blu-ray player at a Best Buy store in Glendale, Calif., and kept going.

"I have to admit, Blu-ray is great," she said. "(But) I'm going to wait until they go to half-price."

Analysts, movie studios and the Blu-ray Disc Association, a manufacturing group, all say Blu-ray discs will eventually dominate video sales. The question is when.

Consumers are balking at the $300-plus cost of most Blu-ray players especially because only limited movie titles are available in the format.

Beshear picks PSC leaders Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Dave Armstrong, a former attorney general, Louisville mayor and Jefferson County judge-executive, is the new chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

Gov. Steve Beshear, who appointed him, also appointed James W. Gardner, a former Urban County Council member and Fayette County school board chairman from Lexington, as vice chairman.

"These gentlemen have extensive and diverse careers in the public and private sectors that will serve them well in administering an agency that works within the rapidly evolving regulatory environment," Beshear said in a release.

Armstrong replaces Mark David Goss, who resigned May 2. Armstrong will fill the remainder of Goss's term, which ends July 1, 2011. His appointment was effective Sunday.

Gardner's appointment begins June 16.

Oil slides below $124 on dollar, demand concerns Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:32 EDT
Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, dropping below $124 a barrel as demand concerns grew and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that more interest rate cuts are unlikely. Bernanke's comments sent the dollar higher and raised questions about oil's ability to reach new highs in the short term.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $3.45 to settle at $124.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dipped as low as $123.87 in after-hours electronic trading. It was oil's lowest trading and settlement levels since May 15.

Prices peaked at $135.09 on May 22; its settlement Tuesday was $10.78, or 8 percent, below that record.

Retail gas prices, meanwhile, rose slightly to a new record near $3.98 a gallon, but could fall if oil prices continue to decline.

The latest MasterCard SpendingPulse survey found that demand for gasoline fell by 4.7 percent last week - which included the long Memorial Day holiday weekend - compared to the same week last year. Averaged over the last four weeks, demand was down 6 percent last week compared to last year.

Stocks slide on more concerns about financials Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:28 EDT
Wall Street fell sharply for a second straight day Tuesday as investors grew more worried that the financial sector is still suffering badly from the credit crisis. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 100 points, bringing their two-day loss to 235.

The market was treading water for much of the session, then tumbled in early afternoon as concerns about financial companies intensified. Reports that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. planned to raise $4 billion in capital later expanded into a rumor on trading desks that the investment bank approached the Federal Reserve to borrow money.

Lehman Treasurer Paolo Tonucci quickly refuted the speculation, but the damage had already been done. Lehman dropped as much as 14.5 percent, and dragged down other banks and brokerages and ultimately the rest of the market along with it.

"This market's very jittery and nervous, and a lot of times you'll see wild moves, wild gyrations, when it's driven by rumors and innuendo," said Jim Herrick, manager of equity trading at Baird & Co., who added that the rumors reminded investors of Bear Stearns' near-collapse in March.

The Lehman rumors followed a spate of bad news about other financial companies on Monday, including a downgrade of the nation's four biggest investment banks by rating agency Standard & Poor's. Separately, anxiety about weak May auto sales figures and fresh concerns about inflation also cut into investor appetite for stocks.

BUSINESS NOTES Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
KENTUCKY

BESHEAR, OTHER OFFICIALS TO JAPAN

Gov. Steve Beshear and a delegation of state officials will travel to Japan on Sunday for a weeklong economic development trip, the governor's communications director confirmed. Beshear will be joined by Economic Development Secretary John Hindman and Secretary of the Executive Cabinet Larry Hayes, among others, said spokesman Dick Brown. The group will meet with business and government leaders, Brown said. This will be Beshear's first trip abroad as governor.

NATIONAL

NEW INDICATORS SHOW DOLDRUMS CONTINUE

RETURNS ON SAVINGS DOWN; SHOP AROUND Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
As interest rates have fallen, so have the yields on your savings. While it may be frustrating to see the returns on your savings dwindle, there are options available to get a higher return.

Long-term CDs: In exchange for the longer time period on three-, four- or five-year certificates of deposit, the bank pays a higher rate. But you might not want to lock your money up for that long. And chances are rates will go back up in the next year or two.

High-yield savings account. These accounts yield a higher rate than a typical bank account, while allowing you to access your money, unlike a CD. Pay attention to the intro rate and the rate after intro when doing your selecting. The rate after intro is usually considerably lower.

Reward checking. This type of account is a free checking account that pays high interest; usually rates of over 4 percent can be found. Sometimes it also comes with free ATM access. The only catch is you need to stick to the account requirements to get the perks. Requirements may include at least 10 debit card purchases and delivery of electronic statements.

RETURNS ON SAVINGS DOWN; SHOP AROUND

Ford, Toyota share top in quality index Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:03 EDT
Here's a news flash for the skeptics who still believe that U.S. automakers can't compete with the Japanese on quality: Ford has just as many vehicles as Toyota that rank at the top of their respective classes in the 2008 Strategic Vision Total Quality Index.

The two automakers' namesake brands tied for leading the most segments in the latest quality study, released this past week and covering the first three months of ownership of 2008 model vehicles.

Ford's winners were the Edge, in the medium crossover segment; the Mustang, among convertibles under $30,000; and the F-250/350 Super Duty, among heavy-duty pickups.

But that's not all. Two other vehicles from Ford-owned brands also led their respective classes for overall quality: the Mercury Sable, among large cars; and the Volvo C30 hatchback, among small specialty vehicles under $25,000.

In yet another category, Ford's Land Rover LR2 tied with Toyota's Lexus RX 350 in the near-luxury SUV class.

Kentucky Money Market Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:20 EDT

Inflation moves up on Bernanke's worry list Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:07 EDT
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has moved inflation up on his list of worries, suggesting more pointedly than ever that the time for cutting interest rates is over in view of soaring oil and commodity prices and a weakened dollar.

Although the country's economic growth - bruised by housing, credit and financial debacles - is still fragile, Bernanke on Tuesday expressed hope for some improvement in the second half of this year.

At the same time, he sounded a notably louder warning against inflation threats. To this end, he raised his biggest public concern to date about the slide in the U.S. dollar, saying it has contributed to an "unwelcome rise" in inflation.

The Fed chief's fresh assessment - delivered via satellite to an international monetary conference in Spain - appeared to mark a subtle shift in Bernanke's views about economic risks.

Despite the rising concerns about inflation, Bernanke signaled the Fed is inclined to leave rates where they are. Boosting them could further weaken the economy's delicate state.

SKorea asks US to alter beef trade pact Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:12 EDT
President Lee Myung-bak suggested Tuesday that South Korea will seek to ban imports of U.S. beef from older cattle amid a public backlash against his government over fears of mad cow disease.

Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said earlier Tuesday that Seoul had asked the U.S. to refrain from exporting any beef from cattle 30 months of age and older, considered at greater risk of the illness.

Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said the president told a weekly Cabinet meeting that "it is natural not to bring in meat from cattle 30 months of age and older as long as the people do not want it."

The spokesman also expressed hope that the United States would respect South Korea's position following large-scale anti-government protests over the weekend.

U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said Washington saw no need to renegotiate an April agreement for South Korea to resume beef imports.

Borders Group cutting nearly 275 corporate positions Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:32 EDT
Borders Group Inc. says it is cutting nearly 275 corporate positions as part of a plan announced last week by the nation's second-largest bookseller to reduce annual expenses by $120 million.

Borders said Tuesday the cuts represent about 20 percent of its corporate jobs, but less than 1 percent of its total work force.

Borders says it's eliminating 156 corporate positions spread across virtually all departments of its Ann Arbor headquarters. And it says it has eliminated 118 corporate posts based outside headquarters.

Borders announced in March that it may put itself up for sale, and rival Barnes & Noble Inc. said last month it had assembled a management team to study the feasibility of a combination with Borders.

Loose change Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:53 EDT

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