OCR Text |
Show TTvw 1 PAGES SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 11. MX BUSINESS EDITOR l Grace Leong A Local Industry NEWS & NOTES' V A Nasdaq S&P500 Gold Silver Final Final 1,894.31 24.66 Final 1.123.92 5.54 Per ounce 401.90 3.40 Per ounce 6.133 -- 0.021 10,313.07 23.97 . gteongObefaldextn.com 344-291- 0 EXCHANGING Dow Jones 2004 THE DOLLAR . Friday 109.50 $1.2271 $1.7963 I. 2895 II. 6220 Yen Euro British pound Canadian doBar Mexican peso 109.77-$1.219- $1.7848 I. 2868 II. 5890 Real Estate Utah Realtors, Fannie Mae to launch Realtors' education program The Utah Association of Realtors and Fannie Mae will launch Monday the first of a statewide initiative to educate Utah Realtors, called Borrow with Confidence. Fueling the initiative is the high level of mortgage fraud, foreclosure rates and predatory lending in Utah, said Deanna Devey, spokeswoman for the Utah Association of Realtors. "We can prevent home foreclosures if borrowers understand the myriad of options they have to obtain quality financing," said Chris Kyler, chief executive of the Utah Association of Realtors. "Some" families are paying too much in interest and penalties. We need to let people know that there are low-coquality mortgage packages they qualify for." Some problems home buyers typically encounter include qualifying for a loan, making a down payment, combating high interest rates and overcoming language barriers. The first workshop will start at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13 at the Salt , Lake Board of Realtors office. st Retail Qwest settles fraud case for $250M the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said he did not have specifics. , "I would rather have the money for use internally, but I'm very much relieved it's over, Thompson said. . Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said he could not comment, saying only that the company was cooperating with the SEC and the Justice Department. SEC off icials in Denver did not immediately return a call Sandy Shore THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER Qwest Communications International Inc. has agreed to settle fraud allegations from federal regulators for $250 million, a union official said Friday. John Thompson, a Communications Workers of America v vice president, said he was notified by a company official of the tentative settlement with seeking comment. Justice Department spokesman Jeff Dorachner said he had not heard of a settlement with Qwest. "If there were to be a settlement, it would no way impact the Justice Department investigation," he said Qwest was launched in 1988 by billionaire investor Philip netAnschutz as a fiber-opti- c work company. In 2000, it got into the local phone business with the $38 billion takeover of U S West, the main carrier in 14 Western and Midwestern states since the 1984 breakup of AT&T. As the telecom industry faltered, analysts questioned Qwest's financial performance. Soon regulators and lawmakers were investigating whether Qwest artificially boosted its performance through question-Se- e D5 FRAUD, Footwear reports 69.5 percent jump in net sales Footwear, which has two dealers in Inc., doing business as Provo and Salt Lake City, said its net sales jumped 69.5 percent to $ 10.8 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, from $6.4 million a year ago. maker of The Albuquerque, Footwear, which is designed to relieve foot, leg and back pain, said its net income dipped to $1.03 million from $1.21 million a year ago. The company attributed its strong sales to several initiatives including strengthening its existing dealer network, expanding resources and hiring more workers to help support its dealer network. N.M.-base- d dealer-tra- ining i Appointments ShopKo ShopKo hires new signage and graphics director d Stores Inc., a Green Bay, department store chain with three locations in Utah County, named James Hilyard its director of signage and graphics. He will be responsible for graphic propresentations. grams, ad signage and Hilyard joined ShopKo in 2002 as senior manager of visual merchandising and signage. Wis.-base- , re "4.. National briefing U.S. trade deficit falls to $50.15 Billion WASHINGTON The U.S. trade deficit fell to $50.15 billion (euro41.71 billion) in July as American exports of cars, airplanes and computers rose while imports declined for the first time in nearly a year, reflecting a drop in the country's foreign oil bill. The high. politically sensitive deficit with China hit an e The Commerce Department reported Friday that the 8.9 percent improvement in the deficit in July followed a 16.9 percent surge in June which had pushed the trade gap to a record $55.02 billion (euro45.53 billion). J u fl GENE J. PUSKARAssociated Qwest chief says line leases are dwindling DENVER Qwest Communications has seen significant drop in the number of lines it leases to competitors since AT&T Corp. decided to leave the residential phone market business. New line leases were 50 percent lower in August than June, chief executive officer Richard Notebaert said. He declined to provide specific members but attributed the loss to decisions by competitors to pull back on aggressive marketing campaigns. Wholesale prices fall, easing inflation concerns WASHINGTON Wholesale prices dipped 0. 1 percent in August as a retreat in food costs helped to blunt a rise in the price of some energy products, a fresh sign that inflation isn't currently a problem for the economy. The decline in the Producer Price Index, which measures costs of goods before they reach store shelves, came after wholesale costs edged up by 0. 1 percent in July, the Labor Department reported Friday The inflation picture painted by the report was better than economists were expecting. They were forecasting a 0.2 percent rise in overall wholesale prices and a 0.1 percent increase in core prices. Stocks of local Interest Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies . SYM COMPANY AA Alcoa he Albertson's, ABX BamdcGokJ AEP Amer Electric AJG Amer brd AMGN Amgenhc AWA AmencaWMHoUngs'B' AT&T Wireless Svcs Pwr Group COMPANY SYM 30.75 2.54 MYGN 24.93 LAST CHANGE 1657 4036 15.44 4005 Myriad Genetics Nature's Sunshine Prod 0.06 NATR 19J7 0.12 NETM 32.94 40.14 NOVL NetManage Novell Inc 71.91 0.09 NUS Nu SI EntaprisesA' Northwest Natural Gas 2680 002 3128 40.10 PGM Corp Pfizer, Inc 2931 40.15 31.86 0.58 49.05 40i1 3.03 40.15 51.68 0.12 40.63 1.03 1.76 5730 665 40.52 14.65 40.03 NWN PCG PFE Inc BAC Bank of America 44.60 0i3 PTZ Pulitzer BLL BALI CORP 3634 0.56 Q (ComnwrcatjonslrTd BLS BeHSoutriCorp 27.11 0.05 R0 Royal DutdiPettol BN BantaCorp. S SeaaRoebudt SBC SK Communications SC0X SCO Sll C Gtjgrouplnc CBAG CRESTED CORP 3935 40.25 47.24 029 ' 027 0.00 CMCSA Comcast CTA' 28.00 CVX ChevraiTexacoCorp DAI Dete Air DtS Disney DNEX ERICY ETR PC Entergy Corp ; Franklin Covey GDW Golden West GE HCA HRB Block (H4RJ HSK Schein IBM lrrdBus.Madms 1.03 SK0 3.82 0.10 SKYW 23.16 0.30 SNTO DnnexCorp 48.54 40.03 EricssonOM)Tel'B'ADS 27.60 (Wart) Co ': . 40.64 61.72 4022 Inc ADR ; Group Smith Wi 5.46 40.41 6.42 40.50 2657 4027' - Shopko Stores SitWest Inc 3.71 0.00 58.15 0.83 18.00 40.15 14.15 SPI SentoCorp Scottish Power 29.50 023 038 037 STA St Paul TravetersCos 33.69 0.01 STR 40.59 0.01 SWFT QuestarCorp Swrft Transportation 18.26 40.14 1420 40.59 6.83 . ADS 1.93 40.14 107.88 1.06 SY Sybase Inc GenlSectric 33.88 0.02 T AT&T HCAInc 3938 40.13 4829 40.12 6338 0.02 86.76 032 TGT Target Corp 45.82 4065 UCL UnoalCorp 39.15 05 UDR United Dominion HtyTr UntedHeatti Group 20.57 0.40 USB 37.99 036 USEG U.S. 39.67 1.01 USNA 1.04 UTMD O00 VZ USAIMHeattiSdenos uoh Medal Products VtrtanConwuricatais Finl (Henry) ' INTC Intel Corp Penney (J.C) JWN Nordstrom, KRON Kranos.lnc LFB LuV longviewFbi UMntTedrofagies SouthwestAHng kKX MCXESSONCORP 4530 1328 330 1433 2729 MER MerriLyndi 52.95 MTfY 16.10-O3- MMSI MTTYEmaprte Merit Metal MSFT MKTONRCorp m 40.04 100.05 Lines JCP LU - hx ASS AWE ' LAST CHANGE - Inc MkwnTtchnotogy, ' Energy Corp WEN O40 0X9 039 VWC Wendy's W W Fargo WMT WaMart Stores VVM VyektoNuWdonWA' X : UASInI XE Xcd Energy 007 021 1226 076 Bom Bancorp 7J0N ' ' U5. Bancorp . ' Several U.S. airlines facing banloiiptcy hit by fu?()sts ' BradFoss THE ASSOCIATED " ' 20.05 011 6837 '028 29.41 0X8 118 0.03 30.49 0.11 1927 O01 4034 40J5 3628 008 59.13 014 53.45 088 326 008 38.68 128 1739 004' 61.96 023 , PRESS Several airlines appear to have readied a breaking point, with fuel prices unrelentingly high, cash reserves dwindling and customers addicted to cheap fares. US Airways may file for bankruptcy court protection a second time and could be forced to liquidate, Delta is on the precipice of bankruptcy and United is battling an employee revolt as it aims to scrap its pension plans. The frantic restructuring under way at these carriers and others means more anguish for workers and shareholders, although fliers in most markets should continue to see an abundance of low fares. While not every carrier is guaranteed to survive, analysts say the iinminent upheaval could augur a brighter long-terfuture for the industry. "This is the beginning of the recognition that surgery is necessary for the legacy carriers," said Michael E. Levine, a former airline executive who teaches law at Yale University. "And while it's painful, and not all of the surgery will be successful, it's the only way they're going to get healthy." WASHINGTON long-sufferi- What ails carriers such as Delta Air Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. more than anything else is the disproportionately high cost of their operations. This makes it nearly impossible for them to compete with efficient, and carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp., whose cheap fares have become the standard by which budget-consciofliers comparison shop. In fact, their larger competitors whose costs per available seat mile in some cases are more than 30 percent higher than those of Southwest have slashed ticket prices to unprofitable levels on many routes just to keep their customer bases from shrinking further. ' "Pricing power has moved from the airlines to the consumer," said Phil Roberts, managing partner of the transportation consultancy Unisys R2A in Oakland, Calif. "And so what it comes . down to, in the end, js the large carriers needing to create a cost base where they can be profitable at these price levels." With cash reserves shrinking rapidly ' and earlier efforts to slash expenses proving inadequate, some of the nation's largest airlines are now moving ahead ; with dramatic transformation plans. . lines well-finance- d g . ' I Delta sketched plans this week to eliminate up to 7,000 jobs, cut employee wages and shed its Dallas hub as part of a $5 billion program. The Atlanta-based airline has warned that it could be forced into bankruptcy soon if it cannot stem a recent surge in early re-- ; tirements among older pilots, who are for fear tfiat their retirement accounts could be wiped out as part of the airline's makeover. . I US Airways made a offer to its divided pilots' union Friday for a new labor contract. It says it needs $800 million in labor concessions in order to avoid its second Chapter 11 filing in less than two years, and possibly a hquida-rJoThe day of reckoning for the Ar- Kngto'n, Va., carrier could come as early as this weekend. Among other strategic ' changes, US Airoaysplaro to smplify its fare structure and tweak it's route network to more closely em--, ulate the networks that ' have been successful for low-farcarriers. .; ; r I United parent UAL Corp., which has ' been operating under Chapter 11 since De-Scost-savin- g last-ditc- h n. . point-t&poi- ' ee AIRLINES, D5 Delta Air Lines fails in efforts to buy back debt 15.130.09 , O07 27x49 17X6 Syrm UNH Corp Press a breaking point with fuel prices unrelentingly high, cash reserves dwindling and customers addicted to cheap fares. Delta is on the precipice of bankruptcy and United is scrapping it's pension obligations. The airline industry appears to have reached THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORI-Sh- ares of Delta Air lines Inc. slipped Friday after the company said it failed in its effort to remove limitations on certain debt, which would have allowed the company to buy back that debt as part of its restructuring efforts, Thefaihireof the consent solicitation was expected by both equity and debt analysts but makes Delta's restructuring ef forts more difficult and likely lengthier. The airline was seeking the approval of the holders of some debt certificates to remove restrictions on its ability to buy or hold the securities. The debt is backed by physical assets, ' such as airplanes, In August, the Atlanta-base- d company with a hub in Salt Lake Cjry said such approval would give it additional fkxibil-- ; ity to keep its financial turing out of court, and warned that failure to get the approval would "seriously limit its ability to include that debt in future restructuring steps. Shortly after the solicitation was made, however, a group of 34 financial institutions told the company that it wouldn't support it, because it was troubled by the airline's response : to the panel's request for infor-- . solicitation makes Delta's restructuring efforts more difficult. "I don't think it derails what Delta is trying to do but it shows that it may be longer and more difficult than they had initially hoped," he said. Baggaley expects that Delta will have to provide debt holders with mere information, in: : marJon. cluding details of its entire debt . Philip Baggaley, managing V - restructuring proposal, before director at standard & Poor's, 1 bondholders are willing o resnif tha faflim ftf th mnunf) .' move the buyback restrictions. ' ....... v. I t , |