Business
Mortgage Activity Slides With Rates Down
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) — The Mortgage Bankers Association said U.S. mortgage activity fell in the week ended Friday with long-term mortgage interest rates also dropping. Interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate conforming mortgages fell from 4.12 percent to 4.08 percent with points rising from 0.45 to 0.49, the trade group said. Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate […]
Willie Gault Charged With Fraud
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) — U.S. finance regulators charged former professional football star Willie Gault with scheming to defraud investors of $8 million. There are other suspects in the case, including former Hollywood producer J. Rowland Perkins and California attorney Mitchell Stein, USA Today reported Wednesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the trio with […]
Justice Files Suit To Block Exelon Merger
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) — Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy Group Inc. need to shed three electricity plants to go forward with a merger, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday. The Justice Department said it filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in Washington to block the $7.9 billion merger on antitrust grounds, stating in […]
Housing Starts And Permits Issued Rise
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) — New home construction in the United States rose 9.3 percent in November compared with October, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Housing starts climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, compared with a downwardly revised figure for October of 627,000. The rate of privately owned housing starts in the […]
The Retail Week Was Brisk, ICSC Says
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) — Retail sales receipts at U.S. chain stores soared 3.4 percent in the week ending Saturday, a retail trade group said Tuesday. The International Council of Shopping Centers said sales rose “despite a bout of unseasonably warm weather.” Sales rose, the group said, “in part because of consumers who were still […]
Oakland To Review Anti-Demonstration Bill
OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 20 (UPI) — The city council of Oakland, Calif., is expected to consider a measure allowing authorities to take stronger action against demonstrators at the city’s port. A measure allowing authorities to use “lawful tools” to prevent protesters from blocking the port passed in a Rules and Legislation Committee meeting last week. […]
Airlines Expect Fewer Holiday Passengers
NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (UPI) — U.S. airlines are expecting 1 percent fewer passengers this holiday season compared with 2010, a trade group said. Airlines for America forecast 43.3 million passengers will board planes in a 21-day stretch defined as holiday traveling, CNN reported Tuesday. The drop from 2010 to 2011 is about 20,000 passengers, […]
Spending On Gasoline Hits A Record
NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (UPI) — The average U.S. household is expected to spend a record 8.4 percent of its income on income on gasoline in 2011, the Oil Price Information Service said. Although the price of crude oil spiked at a record $147 per barrel in July 2008, the price fell sharply to less […]
Franchises To Grow In 2012
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) — Jobs at U.S. franchise stores and restaurants are expected to grow by 2.1 percent in 2012, a trade group said. The Intentional Franchise Association projected franchise firms would have a collective 8.1 million on their payrolls next year, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Revenue at franchise businesses is expected […]
Holiday Party, Slip-Sliding Away
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) — The typical U.S. office party has gone from an open-bar, brass-band blowout to a meek, cost-effective, employees-only seasonal fete, surveys indicate. The annual survey done by executive search firm Amprop Battalia Winston found 74 percent of companies indicated they would throw a holiday party for their staff. That was […]
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