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Show r PAGE 4 WEDNESDAY, BUSINESS EDITOR A Ix)eal Industry : Grace Leong V Nasdaq S&P500 Final Final Final 12,548.35 68.72 2,481.24 36.57 1,385.35 9.42 Dow Jones News & notes Ay: I .' : MAY 28. 2008 gleongheraldextra.com 344-291- THE DOLLAR EXCHANGING Gold Silver Per ounce $907.70 -- S17.90 Per ounce $17,425 -- $0,816 Yen Euro Pound Canadian dollar Mexican peso Tuesday Monday 105.26 $1.5704 $1.9763 0.9944 10.3950 104.17 $1.5775 $1.9794 0.9886 10.3950 People on the Move lehi search engine firm names new exec SEO.com, a d search engine marketing firm, named Arne Lehi-base- its vice president of sales. "More companies and marketing managers are beginning to realize that search engine optimization dollars directly contribute to leads results and an ROI return on investment can be completely tracked," Jacobsen said. He was most recently vice president of sales at Mediaport Entertainment. Jacobsen has 25 years of experience in sales including serving as vice president of sales at Logistic Systems, Asphalt Zipper and Winder Farms. law office adds new medical malpractice attorney Douglas C Smith has joined the medical malpractice team of the Salt Lake City office of Strong & Hanni Smith specializes in medical malpractice defense and insurance defense. Smith became a member of the Utah State Bar and the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in 2005. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Utah in 2002 and his J.D. in 2005 from BYU, graduating cum laude. SLC NATIONAL BRIEFING resort developer dies Vail ski r Earl Eaton, the man credited with finding VAIL, Colo, the location for the Vail ski resort, died Sunday after a battle with cancer. He was 85. Eaton died at his home in Eagle near Vail, said his granddaughter, Pam Vigil. He was born in 1922 on a ranch in Eagle County, which surrounds Vail, and learned to ski on skis his father made him, according to the Colorado Ski Museum. After working for the Civilian Conservation Corps and construction projects, he served in Europe in World War II. After the war, he returned to Colorado and worked in ski shops and ski areas and dreamed of developing a ski resort. In 1957, he showed his longtime friend and partner Peter Seibert the mountain setting where they would later spearhead the development of the Vail resort. Green initiative pushes change New fuel standards advancing lighter cars, hybrids Don Hammonds Currently, overall gas mileage for each company's fleet must average 27.5 mOes per A brave new world of gallon (combined city and highsmaller and likely more expenway mileage). Trucks must electric cars, sive vehicles get an average of 22.5 miles per gallon. Last month, interim hybrids, and rules were approved that reis right around the corcars ner for U.S. consumers. quire that each company's fleet That's because auto manuaverage 31-- miles per gallon facturers must make dramatic after the 2011 model year has ended. By 2020, car and truck Changes in their product linemakers must meet CAFE reups to meet federal standards for fuel economy that will go quirements of an average of 35 miles per gallon. into effect on an interim basis "There are two basic ways in 2011, and as a final step in 2020. that manufacturers can reThe Corporate Average Fuel spond to the tightening CAFE Economy standards dictate the standards," said Tom Libby, number of miles per gallon that senior director of industry an automaker should get for analysis at the J.D. Power Information Network. "All the entire range of vehicles it sells. manufacturers will either take PITTSBURGH diesel-powere- d weight out of vehicles or use new technologies with their existing powertrains. They have to make vehicles that are much lighter and more fuel efficient," veBut more hicles aren't expected to come cheap. "That's what the manufacturers are complaining about," said Michael Qmotoso, senior manager of global powertrains at J.D. Power. "Even though they can achieve the standards, they say it may cost $4,000 to $6,000 more per vehicle. So manufacturers can either pass the entire cost onto the consumer, or they will have to eat some of the costs, and thus lower their profits or lose money on every vehicle they sell." The need to increase fuel ef ficiency is expected to drive further technological innovations. "We're going to see a dramatic change in the nature of the automobile, and we will have to plug our cars in much more often," said Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and a follower of the auto industry. "The idea of Chevy's Volt is great you can plug it in for a 40- - or commute and not use much gasoline." The changes will "offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs," he added. "There's nothing written in stone that Ford, GM and Chrysler have to be the manufacturers of electric cars." Where's The Bottom? Borders returns to Web retailing Borders Group Inc. is returning to online reDETROIT tailing after seven years paired with Amazon.com, but analysts say it will be a challenge for the nation's second-largebookseller to compete with established Web retailers. The move comes as Borders, which has said it may put itself up for sale, has lost market share both to online retail' Stores Inc. amid a ers and to discounters such as Wal-Madifficult economic climate in the United States. It's a long shot, analysts say, in an environment where people are spending less and Amazon.com rules. "Amazon just dominates," said Fred Crawford, managing director at turnaround consultant AlixPartners who has studied consumer attitudes toward major booksellers. st rt 1 - ' f , , I ' f I .. , ' 11 . . J W- - ' f.. '.r:. ,, j - if : - STEPHAN SAVOIAAssociated Press Gloria Hufhagle checks her list of groceries as she shops at Shaw's supermarket in Braintree, Mass., on Tuesday. a May consumer confidence at new low NEW YORK Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years. The New York-baseConference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 572, down from a revised 62.8 in ApriL Economists surveyed by Thomson FinancialIFR had expected a reading of 60. The May reading marks the fifth straight month of decline and is the lowest since the index registered 54.6 in October 1992 when the economy was coming out of a recessioa PAUL A SAKUMAAssociated Press "Reduced Price" sign is posted at a home for sale in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 30. d STOCKS OF LOCAL MEREST Home sales post gain but weakness lingers Martin Crutsinger Yesterday's performance of selected publicly tradetkompanies SYM COMPANY IAST SYM COMPANY AA AIC0AINC 40.38 0.13 MU MICRON ABSY ABS0LUTESKY ABX BARRICKaXDCP AEP AMER AIG AMER AMD ADV AMGN AMGEN BAC BK BAM BROOKFIELDAS 35.85 BU BALL CP BMY INC CHANCE THE LAST CHANGE 0.07 8.14 TECH 0.03 0.01 MYGN MYRIAD GENETICS 40.79 128 NATR NATURES 4253 0.70 NETM NETMANAGE 36.62 033 6.92 0.04 43.04 49.80 1.19 8.00 0.00 INC 7.10 0.02 N0VL NOVELL INC 6.44 0.12 NUS NU SKIN ENT INC 1722 0.62 0.66 NWN NORTHWEST 45.87 0.38 024 027 OMTR OMNITURE,INC 24.90 020 PCG PG&ECP 39.50 0.14 53.10 0.11 Q OWESTCOMM 4.54 0.05 BRISTOL MYERS 22.01 0.32 RZ RASER TECH INC C CTTIGROUPINC 21.66 0.54 SC0XQ CMCSK COMCASTCLASPa 21.59 0.19 COST COSTCO 72.59 127 CVX CHEVRONCORP 99 58 DAL DELTA AIR LINES MS DNEX ERIC LM ERICSSON ETR ENTERGY FC FRANKLIN COVEY CO GE ELEC INTIGRO MOO Of DEVICES AMERICA CP 34.17 - SUNSHINE 1022 0.39 SCO GRP INC (THE) 0.1050 0.0050 SHLD SEARS HLDGS CORP 87.09 S SMITH INU 78.47 0.74 1.15 SKYW SKYWESTINC 15.50 0.63 5.92 0.42 SNTO SENTOCORP 0.06 0.00 WALT DISNEY 33.64 0.41 STR QUEST AR CP 64.19 024 DIONEXCP 71.32 0.46 SY SYBASEINC 31.13 0.54 27.18 0.07 T AT&T INC 38.83 0.30 121.82 1.44 TGT TARGET CP 52.15 0.11 8.37 0.10 TRV THE TRAVELERS CO 4928 0 97 GEN ELECTRIC CO 30.40 0.03 UDR UDRINC 24.73 0.38 HRB H R BLOCK INC 22.73 0.10 UNH UNITEDHEALTH 35.02 HSC HENRY SCHEIN 55.50 0.78 USB US BANCORP 32.92 027 024 8M IBM 127 32 3.12 USEG US ENERGY CORP 2.62 0.04 INTC INTRCP 23.60 0.19 USNA USANA HEALTH 25.37 JBLU JETBLUE AIRWAYS 4.41 021 UTMD UTAH MEDICAL 27.89 095 049 40 50 0.57 VZ VERIZON COMMUN 37.38 0.30 33.42 025 WB WACHOVIA CP 24.77 0.00 7.01 0.32 WEN WENDYS INTl INC 29.55 0.71 0.36 WfC WELLS FARG 27.56 0.12 5761 0.39 WMT WAL MART STORES 4400 1678 1520 064 WW SCHf 5640 598 0.00 X U S. STEEL 027 XEl XCEL ENERGY INC 2099 28 44 0.39 BON OONS8ANC0RP 43.50 065 004 318 001 069 WHOLE ADR CP JC INC, JCP PENNEY JWN NORDSTROM CO LEE LEE ENTERPRISES LUV SOUTHWEST Ma MCKESSON MER MICOCMNSTK INC AiRUNES CORP MER PJ MERRILL LYNCH MMSI MR(T MFWCAl CP SYS 12 62 F INC NUTRIT INTL 169 05 - 0.86 ASSOCIATED PRESS ales of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months although the unex pected increase still left activ ity near the lowest level in 17 years. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new homes rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units. But the government revised March activity lower to show an even bigger drop of 11 percent to an annual rate of 509,000, which was the weakest pace for sales since April 1991. Economists believe that new home sales will remain weak for some time as the housing industry struggles with falling prices and rising mortgage foreclosures, which are dumping even more homes on an already glutted market. The Commerce report showed that the median price of a new home sold in April rose to $246,100, up 1.5 percent from April 2007. Analysts were not impressed with the small price increase, noting that the numbers tend to be volatile. Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, said that the price changes in the Commerce report do not take into account the various incentives major builders are offering to move their glut of unsold homes. Q A separate report showed home prices falling during the first three months of this year at the sharpest rate in two decades. The Standard & Poor'sCase-Shille- r index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the biggest decline since the index began in year-over-ye- 1988. The Commerce report on new home sales showed the April rebound was led by a huge 41.7 percent surge in sales in the Northeast. Sales were up 8.3 percent in the West and 5.8 percent in the Midwest. The only region which saw a decline in sales in April was the South, where sales fell by 2.4 percent. The inventory of unsold new homes edged down slightly to 10.6 months' supply at the April sales pace, compared with 11.1 months in March. However, the April level was still about double the inventory level that houswas normal during the five-yeing boom. That boom ended in 2005 and since that time the housing industry has been struggling in a tough environment with falling sales and prices and rising mortgage defaults. Fxonomists believe that home prices will remain under pressure until the sizable level of inventories is worked down to more manageable levcLs. Many analysts don't expect to see a rebound in prices until sometime next year. U.S. home prices tumble to new lows J.W. Elphinstone THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - NEW YORK U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed Tuesday, a somber indication that the housing slump continues to deepen. Standard & Popr'sCase-Shille- r said its ' national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the largest drop since its inception in 1988. The quarterly index covers all nine U.S. Census divisions. Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2004, according to S&P vice president Maureen Maitland. However, the index is still up 60 percent versus 2000. Two narrower indices set record declines in March versus the previous index tumbled 14.4 peryear. The y cent, the largest drop since that index was started in 2001. The index plunged 15.3 percent, a record in its history. "There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee. Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them pasting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent. Las Vegas had the worst performance in March, falling 25.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Miami and Phoenix. Only Charlotte, N.C., stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year. 20-cit- 20-ye-ar |