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Show PAGE6 SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2008 BUSINESS EDITOR Ijocal Industry News & notes i Grace leong A V V Dow Jones V Nasdaq S&P 500 Gold Silver Final Final Final Per ounce 11,951.09 -- 194.65 2,212.49 -- 51.12 1,288.14 -- 27.34 Per ounce $998.10 $5.80 0 344-29- EXCHANGING $20,574 $0,235 gleongSherjIdextra com THE DOLLAR Yen Euro Pound Canadian dollar Mexican peso Friday Thursday 99.21 $1.5669 $2.0218 1.0137 10.7759 102:04 $1.5587 $2.0292 1.0141 10.7643 Legal Gold prices hit record high Three payroll firm execs plead guilty to tax fraud Three execut ives of a now defunct payroll servicing company with operations in Provo, American Fork and Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty on Thursday to diverting millions of dollars collected for payment of payroll taxes to their own business expenses and personal investments. Douglas Morby, 50, of Ogden and two Mesa, Ariz., men, Scott M. Boley, 48, and Robert Langford, 55, were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, and wilful failure to pay tax indict- money to the Internal Revenue Service in a ment returned last June by a federal grand jury. All three men reached plea agreements with federal prosecutors in Prices rise above $1,000 after liquidity crisis thepast week. Langford, chief operating officer of Provident Management Group Inc., a Utah County-basecompany that operated from September 2000 until spring 2003, said in his plea agreement his clients lost between $2.5 million and $7 million. Langford, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June lfi before U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, faces up to five years for conspiracy, 20 years for mail fraud, and up to five years for wilful failure to pay taxes. Boley, Provident's president, and Morby, its chief executive, pleaded guilty on March 4 to one count of conspiracy. Bot h men, who are scheduled to be sentenced on June 17 before Judge Kimball, face up to five years in federal prison THE ASSOCIATED ; PRESS Gold prices NEW YORK bolted above $1,000 again on Friday, hitting a new record after a liquidity crisis at Bear Stearns Cos. rattled Wall Street and fed buying of d each. with the $1,000 mark, gold finally breached the milestone Thursday after the dollar plunged against rival currencies. The dollar hit a record low Friday against the euro, which bought as much as $1.5687. The greenback's fall has been a major driver of gold because investors consider the metal a safe investment in times of economic turmoil and rising inflation. Investors pushed gold higher Friday in reaction to a plan by Stevenson Jacobs ". the New York Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to provide secured funding to Bear Stearns in a bid to keep the troubled investment firm from collapsing amid a global safe-have- n investments. Other commodities traded mostly lower, with crude oil, copper and agriculture futures falling. Following weeks of flirting ,'. Gold for April delivery gained $5.70 to settle at $999.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier risa new ing as high as $1,009 trading record. The metal rose above $1,001 in aftermarket trading. Gold has gained nearly 20 percent this year amid the turn? crude bling dollar, record-higprices and nervousness about the 'altering U.S. economy. Analysts say the metal could go even higher if the Federal credit crisis. "The fact that gold was able to power back over $1,000 was very much due to the bad credit related news that continues to sweep Wall Street," said James Steel, analyst with HSBC in New York. "The credit crisis keeps morphing and the buying keeps getting reinforced." h safe-have- n See GOLD, B4 , Federal prosecutors say the men duped more than 50 business clients into thinking that monies they had given to Provident for taxes, workers' compensation premiums and health insurance premiums were paid to local, state and federal tax authorities including the IRS. The men gave their clients falsified invoices and tax forms that purportedly showed taxes were paid when, in fact, the money was diverted to buying real estate, unrelated businesses and other personal investments, the indictment said. Provident also had IRS delinquency notices mailed to the company address and never forwarded them to its clients. Trouble in Paradise iti Real Estate Construction underway for BYU Information Technology building Brigham Young University is building an building for the Office of Information Technology Services. Located between University Avenue and Canyon Road, the building is adjacent to the newly completed LDS Philanthropies Building. Designed by MHTN Architects, it will be home to the university's IT services and personnel. Additional amenities include a screened delivery dock, bike racks, an outdoor eating space, volleyball and basketball 80,000-square-fo- ml mini-court- s. 405- i National briefing fx up W-- t - I. Am v. Delta will revise business plan Delta Air Lines's chief executive says the ATLANTA company will be overhauling its business plan to deal with soaring fuel prices. CEO Richard Anderson did not provide any details in a recorded message to employees Friday, including whether the "comprehensive" plan to be announced next week includes DlJ HUGH E. GENTRYAssociated Press Janet Carone talks about living with high gas prices on March 1 1 in Kahului, Hawaii. High gas prices have hurt many families, like the Carones. They're coping by driving less, carpooling or working more. , job cuts. Atlanta-baseDelta has already cut domestic flights, eliminated some routes and tried to conserve fuel as the price of a barrel of oil has soared over the last year from $60 to $111 this week. d ' Gas may hit $4 a gallon in Hawaii Inflation posts best reading in 6 months JaymesSong WASHINGTON Consumer inflation, after pushing relentlessly higher, posted its mildest reading in six months in February thanks to energy and food costs moderating. The relief, however, was expected to be short-livegiven that energy prices have resumed their upward climb. The Labor Department reported Friday that consumer prices were unchanged last month, a better performance than the expected 0.3 percent gain. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, also held steady in February after a worrisome 0.3 percent jump in January. The February inflation reading probably will be reversed in coming months because of the recent spike in energy prices, Crude oil hit a record high this week above $110 per barrel. Stocks of Local Interest Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies SYM AA COMPANY LAST CHANGE SYM COMPANY LAST CHANGE MU MICRON MYGN Myriad Genetics, 3839 0.08 0.04 0.002 GOLD CF 53.31 0.26 NATR NATURES AMER ELECTRIC POW 4023 0.39 NETM NetManage, AMER INTL GROUP 41.18 1.30 NOW Novell. INC ALCOA ABSY ABSOLUTESKY, ABX BARRICK AEP AlG AMD ADV MICRO AMGN Amgenlnc BAC BK BAM 6.14 0.35 35.71 0.67 8.41 0.14 TECHNOLOGY Inc. SUNSHINE 3.92 0.Q5 6.07 0.09 18.35 0.12 42.18 0.68 21.92 0.66 37.14 0.19 Inc. Inc. 6.38 0.35 NUS NU SKIN ENT INC 44.46 2.72 NWN NORTHWEST 35.69 1.45 OMTR Omniture. BROOKFIELD 27.85 0.17 PCG PGM CP BLL BALLCP 4325 0.97 Q QWEST 4.62 0.14 BMY BRISTOL MYERS 20.64 0.77 RZ RASER 8.00 0.91 C CITIGROUPINC 19.7799 12901 SC0XQ SCO GROUP 0.10 0.01 CMCSK Comcast 18.55 0.55 SHLD Sears Holdings 95.07 0.70 COST Costco 60.86 131 Sll SMITH INTL INC 63.10 0.29 CVX CHEVRON CORP 85.34 1.70 SKYW SkyWestlnc 2069 0.48 DAL DELTA AIR UNE5 9.60 0.92 SNTO SENTOCORP 0.09 0.00 CHS WALT DISNEY 30.78 0.55 STR OUESTARCP 55.69 1.46 DNEX Dionex Corporation LM Ericsson 71.00 1.52 SY SYBASE INC 25.77 ERIC 19.70 0.42 T AT&T 35.03 4.49 0.47 ETR ENTERGY 107.30 1.63 TGT TARGET 49.83 0.73 Of DEVICES AMERICA CP CP K FRANKLIN GE GEN ELECTRIC CO HRB H HSIC Henry Scheh, Inc. INTIBUSMACHS IBM R INTC Intel Corporation JetBlue PENNEY JWN NORDSTROM LEE LEE ENTERPRISES IUV SOUTHWEST MCK MCKESSON MER MLCOCMN MER-- J MERRILL MMSI Merit Medical MSFT Microsoft f INC CP 0.01 TRV THE TRAVELERS CO 44.92 1.91 0.43 UDR UDRINC. 23.99 0.01 17.47 0.23 UNH UNITEDHEALTH 37,19 1.09 56.20 1.32 USB USBANCORP 31.57 1.10 115J2301 0 6799 USEG U.S. 3.65 0.07 J C CO JCP INC 7.15 INC JBLU Inc. 33.82 COVEY CO 8L0CK NAT INC Energy Coip. 20 66 0.62 USNA USANA. 27,16 1.45 4 67 O10 UTMD Utah Medical Products 30.00 0.01 38.70 0.98 VZ VERIZON COMMUN 33.02 0.47 WB WACHOVIA 9.90 0.13 WEN WENDYS CP INTl 33.82 0.85 26.5426 0.6974 23.50 0.57 INC 11.64 0.06 WFC WELLS FARGO 28.45 1.03 CORP 52.89 0.07 WMT WAL MART STORES 49.82 0.78 STK 43.51 2.75 WNI SCHIFFNUTRITINTt 5.99 0.01 16 65 0.30 X UNITED STATES STEEL 1 7.65 0.32 XEL XCEl Bore Bancorporation 1988 4702 0.04 Z10N AIRLINES LYNCH Sys. he 1500 0.44 27,96 0.658 ENERGY INC -- ,..,. 1.74 THE ; ASSOCIATED PRESS "Maui WAILUKU, Hawaii a popular Hawaiian saying that means Maui is the best. Mike Sweeney recently moved to this idyllic island from Denver and was hit with the other side of living in paradise with his first visit to the gas pump: Maui is also No. 1 in gas prices. "After seeing the total, I won't be smiling," Sweeney said as he watched the numbers on the Chevron pump spin faster than a slot machine. The pump finally stopped at $97.20, which put 24.5 gallons in his Chevrolet Avalanche. He was elated about living on Maui and being reunited with his black, super-siz- e pickup truck, which just arrived from Colorado, but he wasn't so thrilled about paying nearly $4 for a gallon of regular. While the price of oil climbs above $110 a barrel, most Americans dread the day they will have to pay $4. On this tropical island and at a few sta No Kai Oi" is HUD unveils new morlgage-termfor- m ASSOCIATED PRESS - WASHINGTON Prospective home buyers would get d information on mortgage terms and save an estimated average of $700 in closing costs under a proposal unveiled Friday by President Bush. See HUD, B4 tato 3' in Wailuku reached $3,934 on Thursday, the highest price in AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. At several stations, it was a penny shy of $4. In the remote coastal town of Hana, it was around $4.40 a gallon. "Outrageous. Completely outrageous," said Janet Carone, of Wailuku. The high price to get around has hurt many families, like the Carones. They're coping by driving less, carpooling or working more. "It has a big effect because our housing is high, our food is high, and the gas prices just make it worse," she said. Other than AAA, perhaps no one on Maui tracks local gas prices better than Deok Lee, owner of Airport TaxL He See MAUI, B4 i z HUGH E. Mike Sweeney fills up his GENTRYAssociated Press truck with gas on Tuesday. Bear Stearns bailed out by Fed, JPMorgan Stephen Bernard and Joe Bel Bruno Marcy Gordon THE tions in California, $4 gas has already arrived, straining the pocketbooks of residents and businesses. . Maui is on the verge of becoming the first area in the nation to average $4 for a gallon of regular. The average price The rescue came from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and, in an extraordinary step, the THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Federal Reserve, both rushNEW YORK -- On the ing to pump new money into verge of a collapse that could the venerable Wall Street fLTTi after its financial state have shaken the very foundations of the U.S. financial deteriorated so much in a system, investment bank period that it threatBear Stearns Cos. was bailed ened to fail. Bear Stearns stock lost out Friday by a rival and the federal government, The nearly half its market value, near-mis- s raised new alarm about $5.7 billion, in a matabout the credit crisis and ter of minutes, and pulled the broader market down whether other big firms with It. The Dow Jones indus- might be in jeopardy. trial average fell nearly 200 points. If Bear Stearns were to go under, "it has the potential of bringing down the whole market," said Richard Bove, an analyst at Punk, Ziegel & Co. "This is the crescendo of ' the crisis." and the central JPMorgan bank agreed to extend loans for 28 days to Bear Stearns, the nation's investment bank and the one fifth-large- st See BEAR STEARNS, B4 |