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Show PAGE 6 S' I FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9. BUSINESS EDITOR V" V Local Industry News & notes I Grace Leong A Nasdaq S&P500 Gold Silver Final Final 2488.67 Final 1448.31 Per ounce $658.00 $5.70 Per ounce $13,732 $0,065 12,637.63 -2- 9.24 -1- .83 -- 1.71 gieongheraldextra.com 344-291- 0 THE DOLLAR EXCHANGING Dow Jones 2007 Yen Euro Pound Canadian dollar Mexican peso Thursday Wednesday 121.05 $1.3038 J 1.9580 1.1824 10.9479 120.66 $1.3006 $1.9692 1.1852 10.9677 Aviation Retailers: Better than expected SkyWest to issue cash dividend SkyWest Inc., a St. d carrier, will issue a quarterly cash dividend of 3 cents a share for shareholders of record on March 30, payable April 6. George-base- Communications Channel 2 CBS Corp. has sold KUTV Chan-ri- d 2, .ind its satellite station in St. George, KUSG, to Cerberus Capital Management LP in a deal valued at $185 million, according ;o a KUTV officer. The deal includes five other stations in Austin, Texas; Providence, R.I.; and West Palm Beach, Fla. "Out Utah viewers will see virtually no change in KUTV's news, programming or personnel as a result of this owner" ship transfer, said David W. Phillips, KUTV general manager. "KUTV will transition from being one of the smallest operations in the owned station group, to being the flagship station of a entrepreneurial group." Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a private investment firm managing about $22 billion. The CBS Television Stations group currently consists of 39 stations, including 21 CBS, 11 The CW, three MyNetworkTV and four stations not affiliated with major networks. CBS sells KUTV well-funde- d Winter wear gives January sales numbers a boost Anne D'lnnocenzio THE ASSOCIATED Judge PRESS The nation's retailers finally got their sales boost in January, as shoppers redeeming holiday gift cards and enticed by the belated arrival of frigid clearing out its piles of winter leftovers, which became attractive when the weather turned cold. The stragglers included Abercrombie & Fitch Co., AnnTaylor Stores Corp. and Chico's FAS Inc. "Across the board, the numbers are decent," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMet-ric- s LLC, a research company As retailers reported sales Thursday, winners crossed all segments including Limited Brands Inc., Nordstrom Inc., and Federated Department Stores Inc. Wal-MaStores Inc. beat Wall Street estimates, though its monthly gain was modest. Even Gap Inc., which has long struggled with disappointing sales, beat analysts' expectations. The merchant benefited in part from its success in rt See RETAIL, D5 The Melting pot National Briefing in Nacchio weather splurged on winter leftovers. Now stores are pondering how spring merchandise from baby doll dresses to lightweight cashmere tops will fare. "With December generally weak, that left more (winter) goods to clear," said John Morris, a managing director at Wachovia Securities. "But that's tempering the outlook. Stores are not getting a clear read" on spring selling. ii case: Get on with it DENVER A federal judge sharply rebuked prosecutors and Joe Nacchio's attorney's Thursday, calling them "petulant children" as he issued several orders in the insider trading case against the former Qwest chief executive. "This just seems to be petulant children in a sandbox kicking sand at each other," U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said, referring to a series of motions exchanged between the two sides this week as the March 19 trial approaches. "I think what you need to do is stop whining and get on with the business of preparing for this trial," he told the attorneys. Nottingham had stern words for both sides as he worked his way through the motions with attorneys sitting quietly in the courtroom or listening via telephone. He set a series of deadlines ahead of the next status conference on Feb. 23. Prosecutors and defense lawyers have been arguing over the evidence exchange process, which includes witness interviews, documents and classified government information. K " - - s v K J 1 il' Li " few I - :yAr--' Top Cisco executive leaves SAN JOSE, Calif. Just days after Cisco Systems won Wall Street's praise for financial results, the networking giant surprised industry watchers Thursday by announcing that one of its top executives and a possible heir apparent to CEO John Chambers has resigned, effective immediately. Michelangelo "Mike" Volpi, 40, cited personal reasons for leaving the San Jose company after 13 years, wanting the chance to build or be part of an organization where he has "a more direct role" in the firm's strategic future, said Cisco Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo. Volpi was not available for comment. - GLENN Mortgage lenders face fresh trouble There's more trouble in the mortgage lending market and that could mean problems for higher risk borrowers who want to refinance their home loans. An independent Orange County, Calif., lender and Europe's largest bank combined to spook Wall Street on Thursday by mortgages to borrowers reporting huge losses ori with bad credit, high debt loads or other risk factors. The unexpectedly bad news from Irvine, Calif.'s New Century Financial Corp. and London's HSBC Holdings sent shares e of lenders tumbling by double digits, with New Century down 36 percent. The disclosures shaved smaller amounts off the stock price of HSBC and other lenders with broader operations. e The shakeout in the industry began last year as housing prices leveled off and interest rates rose higher, curbing demand for loans. At first, some companies loosened a tactic that has lending standards to keep loan volume high produced a wave of early loan defaults. More recently, companies such as New Century have tightened their loan policies to reduce their exposure to mortgages that could go sour. "sub-prim- Reversing the flow of flavors Food from foreign lands comes to America Evelyn Iritani sub-prim- sub-prim- Stocks of Local Interest performance of selected publicly traded companies Yesterday's US! SYM COMPANY AA ALCOAINC ABSY ABSfHUTEStCY INC NEV CHANGE SYM COMPANY 049 000 NAIR NAHIRLS NETM rMManagp.kx 79 i048 0 NOYT Nov NUS NUSKIN BARROGOUXP 30 AEP AMER ELECTRIC POW CO 4S AIG AMER INTl GROUP 69S9 00S NWN AMD ADV MICRO DEVICES IS 13 037 OMTR AMGN Amqenhc. 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This just proved to us that if it is a great toy, provides a wow and introduces new functions, consumers are willing to spend the money," said Harold Chizkk, vice president of global promotional marketing for the Toronto-based toy maker. "We just decided to step It up." For years, the increasing power of discounters like Wal-MaStores Inc. kept the toy industry locked in fierce price wars. But the toy makers are encouraged by parents who last holiday were willing to spend $300 on Hasbro Inc's robotic Butterscotch pony and $249 for a Mindstorms NXT robotics kit from Lego Systems Inc. As the annual American International Toy Fair starts Sunday, the toy makers are getting bolder when it comes to pushing pricier, higher-qualittoys. rt 601 tt 014 4 CO 1 When Spin Master Ltd. started peddling its Air Hogs Zero Gravity vehicle two years ago, retailers doubted whether parents would be willing to pay $59.99 for a radio-cotrolled toy "V O08 4003 IAAG0 , 7 -- climbed walls. iatId priss O01 3795 5723 3307 MART STORES rwisoc OS4 O07 Mri Prorlurlv he 14.39 COMMON Anne D'lnnocenzio 38 40.22 62J6 UTM0 55B in Hollywood. It was a hit from the start, with security guards having to be called in to control waiting crowds and sales reaching 5,000 cream puffs a day during peak holiday times. home-grow- Toy makers encouraged by splurging parents 01 S316 4044 QUISTARCP 8239 404S Swfl troisportation Co. ht 3068 003 ft WN I THE NEXT YEAR, Lee, 47, and his partner, Joe Lung, 41, both immigrants from Hong Kong, opened their own Beard Papa Sweets Cafe at Hollywood & Highland Center O03 O07 60 46 40 GEN ELECTRIC CO WLU : 10 40 30 FRANKLIN COVEY CO JCP crowded kiosk in Hong Kongs Mongkok subway station in 2004. One bite of Beard Papa's crunchy choux pastry shell and creamy vanilla filling, and the Southern California businessman was smitten. 010 007 715 40 02 779 Oil NORTHWEST NAT GAS 41i9 4006 1747 Omnium, he 022 PG&ECP 4B17 4049 PflZERINC 2644 008 QWEST COMM INTl MC 816 009 RASER TECHNOLOGIES INC 5 ft 000 SCO 101 003 Otay, bit (Thr) 18081 40 69 Swr, foUrep Cap K MACH It was an irresistible aroma that drew Ed Lee to a INT INC GE V2iS 40.22 9962 4OO8 Angeles Times Inc. S STR Los such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken have spread around the globe. Their success has transformed diets and dining habits, sparking an occasional backlash in some countries over the loss of n tastes and eateries. That flow of flavors is starting to reverse. Recently, there has been an uptick in foreign companies exporting popular foods to the United States, tapping into a "nostalgia factor" among this country's exploding immigrant populations, said Marcel Portmann, director of international development for the International Franchise LAST CHANCE i2M 02! ABX Angeles Times KOEM8L0S Cream puffs are filled to order at Beard Papa Sweets Cafe in Los Angeles. The franchise of a Japanese chain was an instant success when it opened in 2005. The U.S. stores offer half a dozen fillings to cater to American tastes. 0.1? 0 015 0J2 421 677 O02 8763 4069 2411 01J 1512 OJ0 y See i TOYS, D5 |