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Show PAGE 6 THURSDAY, JULY 17, BUSINESS EDITOR I Grace Leong 344-291- 0 EXCHANGING National Briefing Dow Jones Final Geothermal power plant coming to Iron Co. 11,244.17 276.74 PAROW AN, Utah A geothermal power plant is coming to Iron County. The Iron County Commission has unanimously approved an ordinance to allow for the first plant of its kind in the county. Raser Technologies is planning for the plant to supply power to California by the end of 2009. County officials estimate that the plant will bring $13 million to the county over 20 years. Stocks soar on oil drop, Wells Fargo report NEW YORK Wall Street at least temporarily shrugged off some of its many concerns Wednesday and bounded higher thanks to a drop in oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 276 points, or 2.5 percent, posting its best daily gain in three months. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also gained 2.5 percent, while the technology-dominate- d Nasdaq composite index surged 3.1 percent. Investors exited government bonds and back into stocks as it appeared that the slowing economy will curtail demand for fuel and, in turn, energy costs. In addition to sinking oil prices, investors found relief in a decision by Wells Fargo & Co. to boost its dividend that helped counter some of the market's concerns about the health of banks. The bank's move to raise its payout, along with its profit decline, was seen as a bullish sign for the troubled sector. tamer-than-expect- FBI looking into IndyMac Bancorp Delta, AMR post combined $2.5 billion loss ATLANTA There are signs that overall demand for flying within the U.S. is softening, but industry observers insisted that will not stop rising fares, more fees and fewer domestic flights. Delta Air That point was underscored as Atlanta-base- d Lines Inc. reported a $1.04 billion loss in the April-Jun- e AMR Corp., the parquarter and Fort Worth, Texas-baseent of American, posted a $1.45 billion loss for the quarter. e charges and unprecedented fuel costs impacted both airlines, which saw their shares soar as their results beat Wall Street expectations and oil prices dropped. The two carriers have posted combined net losses of $9.2 billion since the start of the year. d One-tim- profit rises 22 percent EBay Inc. said Wednesday that its -quarter profit jumped 22 percent, as the online auction sites and company enjoyed strong growth in its its PayPal payments service. But eBay's outlook for the current quarter was softer than analysts had been forecasting, and the auction compatrading. The stock ny's shares fell 6 percent in after-houhad gained 4.5 percent in regular trading to close at $28.10. San Jose, Calif eBay earned $460 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $376 million, or 27 cents quarter. Excluding certain items, per share, in the year-ag- o eBay earned 43 cents per share. That beat Wall Street's forecast for 41 cents per share. second- rs nets record lease sale $41 million in Silver Final 2284.85 69.14 Final 1245.36 30.45 Aer ounce $961.80 -- $15.90 Per ounce $18,735 -- $0,206 As the price at the gasoline ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. pump continues to rise, so does the value of federal land in the West that oil and gas developers are looking to lease for exploration and possible production. Officials with the Bureau of Land Management said the quarterly oil and gas lease sale for New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas netted a record $41.4 million Wednesday. Lease sales for the four states usually bring in roughly a third of the revenue of the latest sale, the agency said. The previous record was $34 million in April 2004. "It's really the price of oil. It's going up and it's making the value of the leases go up," said Tony Herrell, BLM's deputy director for minerals in New Mexico. "It really is economically driven." Herrell said drilling activity also has increased over the last few years and almost every available oil and gas rig in the country is working and new ones are being built. He said he expects the pace to continue as the nation's leaders develop a long-terenergy policy that can meet the coun- try's needs. AA ALCOA 34.78 077 ABSY ABSOLUTESKY INC 0.0350 0.0000 ABX BARRICKGOLDCP 48.40 AEP AMER ELECTRIC AIG AMER INTL GROUP AMD ADV AMGN AMGEN 8AC BK BAM BROOKFIELD BLL BAUCP INC P0W IN MOO DEVICES COMPANY MU MICRON MYGN MYRIAD GENETICS 127 NATR NATURES 38.91 0.84 NOVL NOVELL INC 2328 2.64 NUS NU SKIN ENT INC 5.06 0.34 NWN NORTHWEST 023 OMTR OMNITURE, OF AMERICA CP 22.67 4.15 PCG PG&E ASSET M BMY BRISTOL C CITIGROUP MYERS SQIBB CMCSK COMCAST COST COSTCO CVX CHEVRON DAL DELTA AIR LINES NEW DIS WALT DNEX DIONEXCP ERIC LM ERICSSON ETR ENTERGY INC CL A SPCL WHOLESALE CORP ADR TECHNOLOGY SUNSHINE NAT GAS INC CP DAILY Record gas and higher food prices fueled inflation along the Wasatch Front, driving consumer prices up 1 percent in June from the previous month, according to a Wells Fargo & 1 Co. report Wednesday. Locally, the gain in consumer prices was just a whisker below the jump in national prices of 1. 1 percent, which the Labor Department reports as being worse than expected and is the second-biggemonthly gain in 26 years, thanks to surging energy prices. "Gas prices are up 8 percent in June from May. Clearly, gas prices are an important thing to watch to see if the impact will spill over into other parts of the economy. Right now, most of the job losses in Utah are contained to the housing market. We're watching to see if job losses in the future are caused by high energy prices," said Kelly Matthews, executive vice president and senior economist with Wells Fargo. "We need to see if gas prices become a bigger burden on consumers' budgets, causing them to cut back on vacations, driving. That's "why it's so important for gas prices to stop going up and actually start dropping so we don't have secondary losses in the economy," three to four weeks, and for a second day in a row, crude tumbled down to the $130s range. If crude oil prices continue to edge lower, that will reduce the pace of acceleration in gas prices," he said. Fueling the drop in crude prices is sharply reduced U.S. gasoline demand and an accompanying rise in U.S. gasoline inventories. "Even with global demand still increasing, recent talk of oil drilling and expansion in the U.S. is spooking commodity traders. There's a good possibility that politicians re hearing that crude oil supplies need to be increased in the U.S., and if that message continues to NATI 0.70 0.15 0.01 18.91 0.65 SHLD SEARS HLDGS CORP 74.96 4.51 72.58 3.01 Sll SMITH INTL INC 7831 0.59 8639 3.03 SKYW SKYWESTINC 12.80 1.35 5.91 124 SNTO SENTOCORP 0.05 0.00 30.43 1.00 STR QUESTARCP 63.95 65.13 033 SY SYBASE INC 3029 0.63 21 0.47 T AT&T 31.92 0.03 115.61 2.67 TGT TARGET 46.18 2.50 43.70 221 INC CP 23.55 1.07 UNH UNITEDHEALTH HSIC HENRY 51.88 0.38 USB US BANCORP 125.94 2.74 USEG US ENERGY CORP 20.91 020 USNA USANA PENNEYJCCOHOLDI JWN NORDSTROM AIRWAYS CP INC LEE LEE ENTERPRISES LUV SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO GROU 3.86 0.68 UTMD UTAH MEDICAL 1.55 VZ VERIZON 28.58 1.86 WB WACHOVIA 3.3700 0.1400 WEN WENDYS 14.62 0.87 WFC WELLS FARGO PROD COMMUN CP INTL INC & 1.40 22.53 020 26.74 4.04 CON 24.43 0.03 - 3.52 28.40 022 35.38 0.34 10.54 1.46 2429 2723 0.55 56.96 0.72 be evident, traders will start to sell and push prices lower," he said. "But we still need for the dollar to strengthen, and that probably won't happen until interest rates start to go up," Matthews said. Locally, transportation costs, which account for nearly 20 percent of a typical Utahn's budget, skyrocketed 4.3 percent in June, driven 5.42 0.03 MCK MCKESSON 53.59 022 WMT MER MLCOCMNSTK 28.00 331 WNI SCHIFF NUTRIT LYNCH 11.00 0.40 X UNITED STATES STEEL 154.01 19.04 0.09 XEL XCEL ENERGY 2726 1.11 ZION ZlpN&8ANCORP MERRILL ,MMSI MSFT MERIT CORP MEDICAL MICROSOFTCP SYS INTL INC by higher gasoline prices. On Wednesday, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Utah jumped 18 cents to $4.21 from a month ago and is up $1.14 from a year ago, according to AAA Utah. Food costs, which account for nearly 9 percent of a typical Utahn's budget, jumped 1.3 percent in June. Prices of shelf items and produce rose, but prices of meat, poultry, fish and eggs dropped. Housing costs, which account for nearly 36 percent of a typical Utahn's budget, edged up 0.6 percent in June, due mainly to an increase in rental rates. Medical care costs and education and communication costs remained stable in June, while clothing costs plunged 4.7 percent, driven by seasonal fluctuations in apparel prices. Bernanke tries to settle nerves 3 r Jeannine Aversa THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON When Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver asked Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday when the nation's financial woes would end, he was expressing the yearning of many on Main Street and Wall Street that the yearlong pain would soon be over. "Is there a bottom? And, if so, how long before we hear a splash?" Cleaver these financial storms," Bernanke said. Bernanke focused on one of those maelstroms Wednesday, when he said troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae dnd Freddie Mac are in "no danger of failing." Trying to stem eroding investor confidence in the two companies, the Trea- sury Department and the Fed on Sunday offered to throw them a financial lifeline if they needed it to stay afloat. The two companies hold or guarantee more than $5 trillion in mortgages asked during Bernanke's testimony almost half of the nation's total before the House Financial Services and are major sources of financing for the Committee on the problems plaguing the economy. mortgage market. k The Bush administration is asking In appearances before Congress to temporarily increase lines Congress, Bernanke sought to soothe of credit to Fannie and Freddie and to nerves frazzled by rising prices for food and oil, slumping home values and let the government buy their stock. faltering banks. See BERNANKE, C5 "We will work our way through back-to-bac- SUSAN WALSHAssociated Press 6.72 Crude oil prices tumble for second day in a row Adam Schreck THE at $ 134.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier sinking as low as $132. The drop follows a $6.44 ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK -- Oil prices settled sharply lower for the second time in a row Wednesday, leaving crude more than $10 cheaper in just two days of frenzied trading and promptg ing speculation that the market may be running out of steam. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $4.14 to settle sell-of- 1.04 19.79 026 23.54 4.27 JuflWJiEBAJJiKTRAiCaM f Tuesday, crude's big- gest since the Gulf War. slide of $10.58 The two-da- y per barrel marks a dramatic turnaround in crude prices, which as recently as Friday traded at record highs above $147 a barrel. But even with , this week's prices re hard-chargin- WAL MART STORES Press 222 23.55 2.91 HEALTH SCIEN 29.95 - HARNIKAssociated Kelly Mayes shops for vegetables in Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday. testifies before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. 10.12 II I Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke SCO GRP INC (THE) i A And the drop in crude oil prices in recent days is a silver lining, Matthews said. "Crude oil prices didn't break through $150 in the last 0.05 RASER TECH INC HR JETBLUE 'f I 0.68 SCOXQ HRB JCP A. s. 3.59 RZ UDRINC JBLU t J4i 18.26 1.91 THE TRAVELERS MACH . m 1.34 0.72 UDR CP - JB 0.57 16.47 INTL IN TRV INTEL Jr- ..V I 38.12 22.38 COMM 1.03 INTL BUSINESS 0.75 PFIZER INC .0.08 IBM 105.07 $1.5878 $2.0020 1.0026 10.2987 HERALD 2132 QWEST 7.93 INK 0.28 44.70 PFE 27.68 INC 0.17 15.34 Q FRANKLIN SCHEIN 2.15 5.65 1.55 GEN ELECTRIC CO INC 0.00 8.75 0.57 FC BLOCK 0.23 3038 GE COVEY CO 5.51 59.05 45.85 11 CP - Tuesday 104.93 $1.5810 $1.9992 1.0019 10.2564 Grace Leong LAST CHANGE SYM 52.43 Pound Canadian dollar Mexican peso Wedncfday Consumer prices along Wasatch Front up 1 percent in June Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies COMPANY Yen Euro M inflation High gas prices Stocks of local interest SYM THE DOLLAR he said. NEW YORK BLM Gold gleongheraldextra.com st The FBI is investigating failed bank WASHINGTON IndyMac Bancorp Inc. for possible fraud, an official said Wednesday of the government's latest target following the collapse of the nation's subprime mortgage market. It was not immediately clear how long the FBI's probe of the bank has been ongoing or whether it was opened before last Friday's takeover of IndyMac by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. EBay 2Q Nasdaq S&P500 2008 sell-off- - .SAIL 375-518- 3 18 5UBSBUBE. main about 80 percent above where they were a year ago and up about 40 percent from the start of the year. Analysts are unsure whether the drop represents a long-tershift in sentiment or simply a brief correction to crude's monthslong bull run. But the dizzying decline is prompting market veterans to ask how much support remains for such high prices. m "It's a sign that maybe the bull market is losing strength," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. Perhaps just as significant as the declines was the sudden increase in volatility. Prices whipsawed by more than $ 10 Tuesday and $7 Wednesday ahead of the expiration of See OIL, C5 |