OCR Text |
Show PACE 6 K FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008 BUSINESS EDITOR A Local Indusdy News & notes Legal The Sandy auto dealer accused of sexual harassment U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed employment discrimination charges against Tim Dahle Imports Inc. in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. Tim Dahle Imports, doing business as Tim Dahle Nissan , of Sandy, Tim Dahle Infiniti of Murray and Tim Dahle Nissan of Murray, was accused of subjecting Kory Larsen and several other female employees to unwelcome sexual comments and conduct. The suit also alleged the company retaliated against Larsen by firing her because she complained ' about sexual discrimination, The suit was filed after unsuccessful attempts to reach settlement. "We are particularly concerned about the large number of charges of discrimination we receive concerning employers in the auto sales industry," said Chester V. Bailey, district director of the EEOCs Phoenix District Office, "We did an investigation and found that Tim Dahle Imports shirked its obligations on all counts in this case." The suit seeks to recover back pay with prejudgment interest, compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting future discriminatory practices by the company, i Technology Novell's second quarter earnings swing into the black software developer Novell Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-base- d with 1,200 workers in Provo, said on Thursday its earnings returned to the black in the second quarter, due to lower expenses and improved sales of its Linux business software. The company reported net income of $5.87 million, or 2 cents a share for the quarter ended April 30 from net losses of $2.89 million, or 1 cent loss per share a year ago; Total revenues jumped to $235.7 million from $232.4 million a year ago. "Our business continues to gain momentum, with strong product revenue growth in Linux, Identity and Systems and Resource Management," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell. Sales of Linux software and other programs in Novell's Open Platform division jumped 31 percent to $30 million, offsetting a 1 percent drop in revenue from its workgroup networking software division to $92 million. 2008 revenue guidThe company reaffirmed its full-yeance for $940 million and $970 million. In the year-ag- o period, Novell recorded restructuring and stock-base- d compensation review charges of $10.5 million. During the most recent quarter, the company absorbed $4.5 million in legal and research and development charges. People On Dow Jones Grace Leong A V S&P500 Gold Silver Per ounce $16,477 -- $0,903 v Nasdaq I 0 gleongheraldextra.com THE DOLLAR EXCHANGING Final Final Final Per ounce 12,646.22 52.19 2,508.32 21.62 1,398.26 $877.20 -- $23.30 7.42 344-29- 1 Yen Euro Pound Canadian dollar Mexican peso Thursday Wednesday 106.38 $1.5507 $1.9751 1.0495 10.3306 105.26 $1.5635 $1.9802 1.0381 1 0.3520 Crude falls, feds probe oil trading Federal regulators look into possible oil price fixing Dan Caterinicchia THE ASSOCIATED Crude prices tumble as gas demand drops JohnWilen Oil prices drop PRESS Federal reguWASHINGTON g lators are six months into a investigation of US, oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday said it started the probe in December and took the unusual step of publicizing it "because of today's unprecedented market conditions." Crude prices have risen more than 42 percent since early December, even after a decline of more than $4 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices are nearing a national average of $4 a gallon, up from about $3.20 a year ago. The commission said it is investigating potential abuses in the way crude oil is purchased, shipped, stored and traded nationwide, but did not reveal details. Also on Thursday the agency announced a handful of other initiatives designed to increase transparency of U.S. and international energy Crude prices for July delivery fell $4.41 Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at $126.62. wide-rangin- futures markets. For example, the CFTC said it will immediately require monthly THE ASSOCIATED PRESS oil Oil prices fell sharply ThursNEW YORK day after the Energy Department reported unexpected declines in crude oil and gasoline supplies last week, but said the drop in crude inventories was due to temporary delays in unloading oil tankers along the Gulf Coast. A stronger dollar and concerns about gas demand also weighed on prices. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, rose to a new record above $3.95 a gallon. Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell to $126.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, their lowest level since early last week. Wees were more than $2 lower in morning trading before the EI A report was issued, but shot up by more than $2 a barrel immediately after the report's release before turning sweet crude NYMEX light $135 per barrel J - 125- j'l M May 29 J $126 62 N 0 J 2007 F M M A 2008 SOURCE: Department of Energy lower again. The market's initial ambivalent reaction to Thursday's inventory report partly reflects a deeper battle between investors who believe prices have risen far beyond levels that can be justified by underlying supply and demand fundamentals, and those who believe speculative money will continue flowing into oil futures, sending prices higher regardless of the mar-Se- e AP reports from institutional investors who manage funds designed to mimic the price of crude oil and other energy futures. The goal, the agency said, is to identify the amount of such index trading and to "ensure that this type of trading activity is not adversely impacting See B5 CRUDE, FEDS, B5 Fast Food Goes Organic the Move V Marriott School adjunct faculty member honored The Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management's Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy honored Joan Dixon with the 2008 William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award. The Dyer Award is presented annually to an alumnus or alumna who makes a significant contribution in the field of organizational behavior. ' " Dixon is an adjunct faculty member at the Marriott School and serves as the practitioner network director for the B YU Economic Self Reliance Center. She has worked extensively with developing countries as a consultant on adult education and other projects to alleviate poverty. She earned her master's degree in organizational behavior at BYU and a doctorate in international development education at the University of Massachusetts. Three JCPenney managers honored Three JCPenney store managers received the Chairman's award for performance excellence: Mary Hall, store manager at Provo Towne Centre in Provo; Leslie Childs, store manager at 78 E. Main Street in Price and John Kirschman, store manager at the Valley Fair mall in Salt Lake City. Deseret First Credit Union named top SBA business lender in Utah The U.S. Small Business Administration in Utah recognized Deseret First Credit Union as the top medium-size- d business loans. lender for The credit union, which has 13 branches in Utah including one in Provo, led in the category of financial institutions in Utah with assets of between $100 million and $1 billion. Nationally, Deseret First is also one of the largest lenders of its size for business loans. ...... iWiii.mT w -- J i 1 I 1 SBA-backe- d Tt - 1 Stocks of local interest Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies SYM COMPANY LAST CHANGE SYM COMPANY AA ALCOA INC 40.34 123 MU MICRON TECHNOLOGY ABSY ABSOLUTESKY 0.03 0.00 MYGN MYRIAD GENETICS ABX BARRICKGOLDC? 39.17 1.67 NATR NATURES AEP AMER ELECTRIC 43.11 0.11 NETM NETMANAGE AIG AMER INU 3534 0.43 AMD ADV MICRO DEVICES 6.77 0.05 AMGN AMGEN 43.42 BAC BK OF AMERICA CP BAM BROOKFIELD BLL BALL BMY INC LAST CHANGE 8.09 0.18 48.72 0.67 8.00 0.40 INC 7.10 0.01 NOVl NOVELL INC 6.71 0.14 NUS NU SKIN ENT INC 1739 0.60 NWN NORTHWEST 45.77 022 028 34.60 0.73 OMTR OMNITURE. ,2427 0.35 36.88 034 PCG PG&ECP 39.46 0.07, 53.71 0.16 0 QWEST 4.75 0.09 BRISTOL MYERS SQI8B 22.48 0.39 RZ RASER TECH INC 10.06 0.11 C CmGROUPINC . 22.04 SCOXQ SCOGRPINCdHE) 0.11 0.01 CMCSK COMCAST SPCL 213 SHU) SEARS HLDGSCORP 86.14 322 COST COSTCO WHOLESALE 72.98 044 039 026 S SMITH INTLINC 7839 2.70 CVX CHEVRONCORP 98.86 1.56 SKYW SKYWESTINC 15.55 0.55 P0W GROUP ASSET CP CI A SUNSHINE NAT GAS INC. COMMWTL ' 0.49 SNTO SENTOCORP 0.05 STR QUESTARCP 72.45 1.50 SY SYBASEINC 3232 0.42 2725 AT&T INC 4020 0.69 12031 027 025 T TGT TARGET CP 53.75 1.43 8.18 0.12 TRV THE TRAVELERS CO 49.76 121 GEN ELECTRIC CO X.64 UDRINC 24.91 0.44 23.10 009 051 UDR H R BLOCK INC UNH UNITEDHEALTH 34.50 027 33.28 0.39 2.55 0.10 2570 0.14 DELTA AIRLINES DS WALT DNEX DIONEXCP ERIC LM ERICSSON ETR ENTERGY FC FRANKUN GE HRB MStC HENRY SCHE1N INC IBM INTl BUS MACH INK INTEL JBLU JETBLUE AIRWAYS CP JCP PENNEYJCCO JWN NORDSTROM LFi LEE ENTERPR5ES IUV SOUTHWEST ADR CP COVEY CO CP ' INC AIRLINES CORP MCK MCKESSON MCR MICOCMNSTK MfRPJ MfRRIU MMSI MfRIT MVTT MOOSOFTCP LYNCH MIDKAISYS 0.06 '0.00 6.14 33.81 NEW DAL ' 63.78 . 0.72 55.83 0.61 USB US BANCORP 129.71 0.17 USEG US ENERGY CORP 23.14 033 USNA USANA 4.15 0.04 UTMD UTAH MEDICAL PROD 27.98 0.00 41.51 024 VZ VERI20N 3837 0.60 COMMUN 35.71 1.44 WB WACHOVIA 6 8100 0 0100 WEN WENDYS INTL INC 13.18 0,43 WFC WELLS FARGO 57 56 0 06 WMT 4428 1700 1596 046 007 033 013 WW SCHIf X UNITED STATES STEEL XE1 210N 2831 24.15 035 29 78 0.16 27.98 0.51 WAL MART STORES 57.94 0.85 NUTRIT INTl 5.95 0 05 F CP i CO 17059 5.08 XCEL ENERGY INC 2125 015 SONS 43 1.05 BANCORP 76 RIC Michael Degan left and his son, Brennan, enjoy lunch on May 21, 2008, in Culver City, Calif., cows in its franks. beef in vogue for Grass-fe- d Jacob Adelman THE ASSOCIATED PRESS erate in San Francisco is among a small but thriving d world segment of the offering grass-fe- d and other naturally raised meats to the fast-foo- It's been LOS ANGELES said that hot dogs like laws are something you never want to see being made. But Steve Elzer is glad to know what goes into the wieners he buys from a new hot 100 dog stand near his office beef raised percent grass-fe- d in the sunny, wind-swepastures of California's Central pt Coast. "I love the feel, the taste, the pedigree that this meat is the movie publicist said between bites at the chrome and ketchup-re- d Let's Be Frank stand. The fledgling chain of hot two more op dog stands free-range- ," masses. Others include Chipotle ' Mexican Grill Inc., which operates more than 730 eateries in over 30 states, and Burgerville, which has 39 restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Those eateries and others are providing a new market for beef and pig ranchers around the country who eschew the widespread factory-farmodel and instead raise animals the way in pastures and outdoor pens. "They're a big part of our m business," said Brian Kenny, a manager at Hearst Ranch in at Let's Associated Press grass-fe- d consumers health-conscio- us San Simeon, Calif., where Let's Be Frank buys beef. "We've been growing with them." It's difficult to put a price tag on the market for naturally raised meat, since it's produced on thousands of small ranches across the country, said Jo Robinson, who runs the Eatwild.com Web site. But Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Chicago-base- d food industry consultancy Technomic Inc., said the market for fast food prepared with such meat is bound to keep expanding, as consumers grow increasingly disenchanted with the industrial model of meat production. A recent study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that intensive industrial FRANCISThe Be Frank, which uses livestock production has yielded antibiotic-resistabacteria, degraded the environment and devastated rural communities by replacing farm and ranch jobs with poorly paying feedlot positions. By contrast, operations such as Hearst Ranch raise their animals without g growth-promotin- hormones or antibiotics, and don't confine their livestock to teeming feed lots. "In the consumer's mind, there's a connection to better health and fo better for the environment and to good corporate citizenship," Goldin said. "It's just starting, but I think it's going to be a very powerful movement." See MEAT, B5 |