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Show PAGE 4 J SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29. BUSINESS EDITOR Locallndustiy NEWS&NOTES Grace Leong A V A Dow Jones A A Nasdaq S&P500 Gold Silver Final Final 2674.46 --2.33 Per ounce $839.60 511.00 Per ounce 13,365.87 6.26 Final 1478.49 2.12 344-291- 0 gleongheraldextra.com EXCHANGING THE DOLLAR Yen Euro Pound $14,770 $0,092 2007 Canadian dollar Mexican peso Friday Thursday 112.78 $1.4714 $1.9922 0.9814 10.8976 113.69 $1.4627 $1.9958 0.9806 10.8809 Real Estate Macy's Inc., based in Macy's to close Riverdale store Cincinnati and New York, said Friday it will close nine underperforming store? nationwide including one at River-dalMacy'sfras a total erf eight stores in Utah including one e. inOrem. V "We looked at a number, of factors including profitability and opportufiit tes to improve the situation. But the bottom-lin- e was the Riverdale store just wasn't generating enough sales," said Jim Sluzewski, spokesman for Macy's. Located at the Family Center, the 140,000 square-foo- t Riverdale store opened in 2003 and has 95 workers. Final clearance sales at the Riverdale store will start Jan. 17. "The clearance sale will range from 30 to 90 days, depending on how fast the merchandise sells, and the store will close after that," Sluzewski said. The other eight underperforming stores are in Indianapolis, Ind.; Lake Charles, La.; Akron, Ohio; Canton, Ohio; North Randall, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas. Final clearance sales at these stores will begin on varying schedules within the next several .weeks. The restructuring move will result in 899 layoffs nationwide. The affected workers will be offered positions in nearby stores wherever possible, or given severance benefits and outplacement assistance. "While the decision to close stores is difficult, it is necessary that we do so selectively in locations with declining sales and where we have been unable to identify sufficient growth opportunities,," said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy's chairman, president and chief executive. "At the same time, we continue to open new Macy's store locations in communities where we believe we can operate, successfuDy." This year, the company opened 10 new stores and one furniture gallery. In 2008, Macy's expects to open five stores, with an additional six to eight new locations planned for 2009. Formerly known as Federated. Department Stores, the company operates more than 850 department stores nationwide under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands. Delta to cut some SLC flights As international flights become more popular, domestic flights are reduced ... THE "While ve'je seeing some domestic reductions, we're continuing to see an increase in international flights," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said Friday. Delta will start a daily flight between Salt Lake City and Paris starting June 2, the first direct flight between Utah and Europe. Atlanta-base- d Delta and its ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY Delta Air Lines is dropping nonstop flights between Salt Lake City and cities in South Dakota and Arkansas, including the hometown of Stores Inc. The cuts are part of a reduction in domestic flights as Delta seeks to contain losses from higher fuel costs that are ex pected to wipe out the airline's operating profits for the final three months of the year. Wal-Ma- rt 335 partners operate flights from Salt Lstke City. Daily flights between Salt Bentonville, Ark., the home of on Jan. 8. Black said Salt Lake City passengers still can get to Bentonville on Delta flights via Cincinnati and Los Angeles. The trips, however, will be Lake City and Sioux Falls, S.D., started in June 2006 and, while they were initially popular, were only about 60 percent full this year. Summer occupancy was better at 77 percent. "That doesn't make money for an airline," Sioux Falls Regional Airport Executive Director Mike Marnach said. "It's Wal-Mar- longer. At an investor's conference earlier this month, Delta Presimore of a leisure market." dent and Chief Financial OfBut the loss of the route ficer Ed Bastian said he would be making several was a blow to the Sioux Falls airport, which was working to moves to deal with higher stem the loss of customers to y' fuel prices atid a weakening airports in Omaha, Neb., and .economy, i v He said his goal was to trim Minneapolis. Delta will end Salt Lake .' $40p million in operating costs ' City's flights to Sioux Falls and in 2008. cost-cuttin- g , ' i Housing Blues A Sportsman Warehouse gets $325M credit financing outdoor Sportsman's Warehouse, a Midvale-base- d t, sport- ing goods retailer withjfour stores in Utah including one in Provo, received a $325 million in credit financing from GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending. The funds will be used for working capital needs. i V GE Capital Markets, Which arranged the deal, also provides Sportsman's Warehouse with aircraft loan financing through GE Equipment Financial Services. NATIOEJALRIEFING Netscape days are numbered Ci :.V! Netscape Navigator, the world's first commercial Web browser andtthe launch pad of the Internet boom, will be pulled $ff life support Feb. 1 after a NEW YpRK .run. w f-- 3': k , Its current caretakers, Time Warner Inc's AOL, decided to kill further development and technical support to focus on growing the company as an advertising business. Netscape's usage dwindled with Microsoft Corp.'s entry into the browser business, and Netscape all but faded away following the e birth of its cousin, Firefox. open-sourc- Anaylsts predict weaker auto sales 2008 - DETROIT Industry analysts are predicting a lackluster end to an already dismal year for automakers, likely the worst in nearly a decade. Holiday discounts failed to bring consumers out of their 'funk, and December sales are expected to fall around 4 pertotal for U.S. auto sales cent; which would bring the to 16.1 million vehicles, the lowest volume since 1998. Sales havebeen hurt by consumer anxiety over gas prices, the housing crunch and the overall weakening economy. Industry watchers warn that the 2008 auto sales performance could be even weaker, v Bear Stearns analyst Peter Nesvold said in a recent note to investors that he's even more concerned about 2008 sales than he was ayear ago, since consumer sentiment and employment levels are continuing to deteriorate. Nesvold said seen a meaningful downturn in auto sales the counby-hasn- t in 15 years and is long overdue for one. . , ' PAUL BEATYAssociated Press hangs on a fence outside a home for sale in Chicago on Dec. 1 6. The upside to a housing slump is cheaper homes. But with housing prices just beginning to slide, many prospective buyers don't see bargains yet, especially as stricter lending standards qualify only the cream of the credit crop. A for sale sign full-ye- "w iit' New home sales dive to Jeannine Aversa THE ASSOCIATED The WASHINGTON housing market plunged deeper into despair last month, with sales of new homes plummeting to their lowest level iri v more than STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST performance of selected publicly traded companies Yesterday's .' PRESS 12 at Argus Research. "It is the one sector of the economy that doesn't show any signs of life. It doesn't look like there is my resuscitation in store fojf housing over the next yegr," he said. The housing picture turned out to be more grim than most anticipated. Many economists years. The slump worsened even were predicting sales to demore than most analysts excline by 1.8 percent to a pace fears that pected, heightening of 715,000. the country might be thrust into a recessioa By region, sales fell in all e sales tumbled 9 parts of the country, except percent in November from Oc- f&rtheWest. e In the Midwest, tober to a seasonally adjusted sales plunged 27.6 percent annual sales pace of 647,000, in November from October. the Commerce Department reported Friday. That was the Sales dropped 19.3 percent in the Northeast and fell 6.4 perworst sales pace since April cent in the South. In the West, 1995. "It was ugly," declared however, sales rose 4 percent. Richard Yamarone, economist V Over the last 12 months, New-hom- SYM MSTCHN C0IPN SYM COMPANY LAST CHANCE new-hom- AA ABSY ALC0AINC ABSOLUTESKY INC ABX BARRICKGOLDCP AEP AMER ELECTRIC AKj AMER INTL GROUP AMD ADV MICRO DEVICES AMGN Amgenlnc BAC BK OF AMERICA POW 36.86 0.13 MYGN Myriad 0.07 0.00 NATR NATURES 42.88 2.60 NETM NetManage, 46.88 NOVl Novel 6.95 0.06 NUS NU SKIN ENT INC 16.46 0.14 7.32 027 4.07 0J1 NWN NORTHWEST 49.75 0.00 47.06 0.30 OMTR Omniture, Inc 41.10 0.36 PCG PG&E 57.94 INC CP Genetics, Inc. SUNSHINE Ire 47.09 0.20 9.20 0.31 6.00 0.0999 he NAT GAS 3426 0.16 CP 43.41 0.01 22.90 0.02 7.11 0.00 15.75 0.45 102.10 0.94 BAM BROOKFIELD 35.69 0.17 PFE PFIZERWC BLL BALLCP 45.48 0.19 Q QWEST C CITIGROUPINC 2929 027 RZ RASER TECHNOLOGIES 0.18 SHLD Sears COST 18.18 Comcast Corporation Costco Wholesale Corp. 70.22 0.36 Sll SMITH INTLINC 7534 1.79 CVX CHEVRON 1.11 SKYW SkyWestht 27.00 0.16 14.60 0.18 SNTO SENTO CORP 0.11 0.02 32.42 0.01 STR QUESTARCP 54.46 0.03 83.81 0.68 SY SYBASE INC 2351 0J4 T AT&T INC 120.74 1.83 TGT TARGET CP XCMCSK ASSET 94.86 CORP DAL DELTA AIR UNES NEW DrS WALT DNEX Dionex Corporation ERIC LM ETR ENTERGY C Ericsson Telephone CP C0MM INTl Corp. Holdings 26.02080.1408 42.44 0.42 50.968403284 7.95 031 TRV THE TRAVELERS 3734 0.15 UDR UDRINC. 18.09 0.16 UNH UNITEDHEALTH 62.05 Henry Scheia Inc. INTl BUSINESS MACH 110.09 0.02 USB USBANCORP 0.49 USEG U.S. Energy 0.07 USNA USANA 6.00 0.09 UTMD Utah 43.77 0.51 VZ 36.93 0.88 WB WACHOVIA 14.6965 0.0635 WEN WENDYS 1223 0.14 WFC WELLS FARGO 65.94 0.80 WMT WAL MART STORES MLCOCMNSTK 52.97 023 WNI SCHIFF NUTRIT MER-- J MERRILL LYNCH 18.64 0.54 X UNITED STATES STEEL MMSI 1426 0.04 Xa XCEL ENERGY INC 22.72 0.08 MSFT Merit MerJcal Systems Miaosofl Corporation 36.12 0.15 DON Sons Bancorporation 46.14 0.18 MU MICRON TECHNOLOGY 727 0.09 COVEY CO FC FRANKLIN GE GEN ELECTRIC CO HRB H R BLOCK INC HSK 26.76 IBM . JBLU Intel Corporation JetBlue Airways Corp. JCP PENNEY JWN NORDSTROM INTC JC CO INC LEE LEE ENTERPRISES IUV SOUTHWEST MCK MCKESSON MER HOLCHN AIRLINES CORP , 54.14 0.05 19.93 0.38 GROUP 58.28 3151 4.17 Corp. Health Sciences 36.96 ProducB Medical VERIZON CO COMMUN CP CO INTl 1 0.02 0.46 30.00 0.01 44.62 0.24 023 38.05 INTl INC 0.08 021 26.01 0.41 30.09 021 48.08 0.31 5.65 0.07 9.77 2.60 low 12-ye- ar e Sales nationwide have tumbled by 34.4 percent, the biggest annual slide since early 1991, and stark evidence of the painful collapse in the g once housing marnew-hom- high-flyin- ket.; "I think you can classify what we are seeing in the housing market as a crash," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy, com. "Sales and home prices are in a free fall. The downturn is intensifying." The median sales price of a new home dipped to $239, 100 in November. That is 0.4 percent lower than a year ago. ; The median price is where half sell for more and half for less. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials, after an . erratic session, managed to squeeze out a small gain even as the grim home sales report added to some investors' angst. The Dow closed up 6.26 points at 13,365.87. Would-b- e home buyers have found it more difficult to secure financing, especially for those "jumbo" mortgages exceeding $417,000. The tighter credit situation is deepening the housing slump. Unsold homes have piled up, which will force builders to cut back even more on construction and look for ways to sweeten the pot to lure prospective buyers. "A lot of borrowers are being disqualified for loans. If you can't qualify for a mortgage the game is over. For those who do qualify, it takes See HOUSING, B3 More Chapter 11 filings on tap for 2008 Laura Mandaro oriented firms all areas that contributed to a 40 percent jump in bankruptcy filings in Market 2007 and are expected to play SAN FRANCISCO a role in 2008's misery. analysts warn that more U.S. Next year, industries at businesses are likely to hang "going bankrupt" signs on their risk for the biggest increases doors next year as the twinned in Chapter 1 1 filings include electronics makers, energy blows of slower economic growth and pricey commodities miners like coal companies and force the weakest companies to agriculture firms, according to Global Insight. seek refuge from creditors. ' Makers of durable goods like In a twist from this year's machinery are also more at risk trends, the pain is likely to spread from mortgage lenders, and will likely contribute to a 13 homebuilders and consumer- percent rise in bankruptcies in MARKETWATCH . says the private research firm, which bases its estimates on issuers' credit quality and operating conditions. Some of the reasons? "Slowing growth, particularly in the United States, increasing supply pressures, increasing production in China," lists Global Insight managing director 2008, MarkKillion. The bond market has been placing its own bets on which companies are more in danger of squelching on their debt. These run the gamut from brokerages singed by the subprime crisis; paper and chemical companies struggling with industry downcycles; and a motley assortment of media and entertainment companies. Online broker and bank Financial Corp., PVC Georgia Gulf Corp. and newsprint maker Bowater Inc. (now part of AbitibiBowa-te- r Inc. these are some of the companies Standard & Poor's says carry debt that qualifies as pipe-mak- er See a BANKRUPTCY, - i B3 |