LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The WTO has now ruled in the U.S. case against European government subsidies to Airbus and the findings will be made public shortly.”
Charlie Miller,
Boeing spokesman Article, 1D
Treasury bill interest rates escalate
WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction to the highest levels in several weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.160 percent, up from 0.115 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.215 percent, up from 0.170 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the highest since three month bills averaged 0.165 percent on May 24. The six month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.220 percent on June 1.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,995.95 while a six-month bill sold for $9,989.13. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.162 percent for the three-month bills and 0.218 percent for the six-month bills.
Federal Reserve policymakers met last week and repeated their pledge to hold interest rates at record lows for an “extended period” to fuel economic growth.
Pennsylvania lists drilling chemicals
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has compiled a list of 80 chemicals used in the drilling of natural gas wells in the state, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The list is believed to be the first comprehensive compilation for that state. The chemicals are used in the fluid that fracture shale formations and release natural gas. The chemicals include some that are associated with neurological problems, cancer and other serious health effects, The Associated Press reported. Many of the compounds are also present in consumer products, but Pennsylvania environmental officials say they don’t know of any incidences of drinking water being contaminated by the fluid.
The chemicals are probably similar to those used to drill gas wells in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale formation, though the exact chemicals are not the same for every well, said Larry Bengal, the director of the state Oil and Gas Commission. Chemicals from these fluids have not been found in Arkansas drinking water, he said.
A of list 13 categories of chemicals used in fracturing fluid is available on the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission website at http://www.aogc.state.ar.us/Fay_Shale_ Data.htm.
FDA urges limit on meat antibiotics
WASHINGTON- The Food and Drug Administration is urging meat producers to limit the amount of antibiotics they give animals in response to public health concerns about the drugs.
The FDA said the use of antibiotics in meat poses a “serious public health threat” because they create antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans who eat the meat. The agency is recommending that producers use the drugs judiciously, limiting their use unless they are medically necessary and only using them with the oversight of a veterinarian.
The agency said misuse and overuse of the drugs has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Of greater concern, the agency said, is when producers use antibiotics on healthy animals to speed growth and reduce feed costs. The agency is also concerned about antibiotics that are given continuously through feed or water to entire herds or flocks of animals.
Noble to acquire Frontier Drilling
NEW YORK - Offshore drilling services company Noble Corp. is bulking up its operations while signaling that business as usual won’t return to the Gulf of Mexico for some time.
The Swiss company said Monday it will buy privately held Frontier Drilling for $2.16 billion in cash and also struck $4 billion worth of new contracts with Royal Dutch Shell.
Noble is also giving Shell the right to suspend any contracts the two have for rigs operating in the Gulf because of the proposed U.S. moratorium on drilling in deep water.
The agreements with Shell cover two ultra deepwater projects and are subject to closing the deal with Frontier.
Shell will pay reduced fees for leasing Noble’s rigs in the Gulf. The Obama administration in May ordered a six-month halt on exploratory drilling in waters more than 500 feet deep. The ban is being disputed in the courts.
Noble shares added 72 cents, or 2.46 percent, to close at $30.
3-day iPhone 4 sales top 1.7 million
NEW YORK - Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 1.7 million units of its new iPhone model in the first three days, making it the most successful product launch in the company’s history from the standpoint of sales.
The iPhone 4 went on sale Thursday in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Japan.
“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”
Some stores sold out within hours. Analysts have said Apple is having a hard time procuring enough parts for the phone, such as its new higher-resolution screen.
Shares of the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple rose $1.60, or 0.6 percent, to close at $268.30.
Fiji squeezes paper over ownership
SUVA, Fiji - Fiji’s leading newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., has three months to change its ownership structure so 90 percent of its shareholders are Fijian citizens or it will be forced to close, the military-led regime said Monday.
Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama started a media crackdown after seizing power in a December 2006 coup. Foreign reporters and media managers have been expelled, and dozens of local journalists arrested and interrogated. Military censors operate in newsrooms on a daily basis.
Announcing the latest measures Monday, Fiji Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum warned any news organization that fails to comply with ownership requirements “shall cease to operate as a media organization.”
He mentioned by name the Fiji Times, the country’s oldest and largest newspaper owned for the past 23 years by News Ltd. - the Australian branch of Murdoch’s New York-based News Corp.
Business, Pages 24 on 06/29/2010