QUOTE OF THE DAY “The economy is in a shutdown-related soft patch in the fourth quarter.There is a lot of
underlying strength in the U.S. economy;
it’s just that these episodes continue to undermine it.” Nariman Behravesh, IHS Inc. chief economist Article, 1D
Interest up on short-term Treasury bills
WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction from the previous week.
The Treasury Department auctioned $34 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.045 percent, up from 0.035 percent last week. Another $30 billion in six month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.080 percent, up from 0.070 percent last week.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.86 while a six-month bill sold for $9,995.96.
That would equal an annualized rate of 0.046 percent for the three-month bills and 0.081 percent for the six-month bills.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, edged down to 0.11 percent last week from 0.14 percent the previous week.
BMW backs German electric-auto goal
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG backed the German government’s goal to have 1 million electric cars by 2020 on the country’s roads, a week after Volkswagen AG said the target is achievable under broader terms for alternative drives.
Developing the European Union’s electric-vehicle market will need the backing of authorities, though official support in the bloc is lagging behind initiatives in the U.S.
and China, BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said Monday in a speech at an industry conference in Munich.
Carmakers are promoting electric-powered models to comply with tightening regulations that apply to their fleets’ emissions across the globe. Munich-based BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury vehicles, is putting the $48,200 all-electric i3 city car into showrooms in Germany next month.
Airports’ request supports merger plan
DALLAS - The airports dominated by American Airlines and US Airways say they’ll be hurt if the carriers can’t merge.
The airports want to file a friend-of-the-court statement supporting the merger, which is the subject of a trial scheduled to start Nov. 25 in U.S. district court in Washington.
The request was filed Monday by Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International and Philadelphia, which operates Philadelphia International Airport.
The U.S. Justice Department sued in August to block the merger, saying that the deal would limit competition and drive up consumer prices.
The airports said if they’re allowed to file a brief, they’ll show that blocking the merger would hurt domestic and international competition “to the detriment of the traveling public and labor, as well as to airports and their local communities.” - The Associated Press
Tribune Co. said to seek $4.1 billion loan
Tribune Co. is seeking $4.1 billion of loans to finance its acquisition of television stations and to refinance debt, a person with knowledge of the transaction said.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is arranging a $3.8 billion, seven-year term loan and a $300 million, five-year revolving credit line for the Chicago-based company, said the person, who asked not to be identified because terms aren’t set. The bank is hosting a meeting with lenders Thursday.
Tribune announced in July that it was buying Local TV Holdings LLC’s 19 television stations in 16 markets for $2.73 billion in cash. The deal turns Tribune into the country’s largest commercial TV station owner, with a total of 42 stations from New York to Los Angeles and Miami to Seattle, the company said in a July 1 statement.
Tribune said later that month that it would separate its broadcasting and publishing businesses into two companies, spinning off its newspaper assets, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Baltimore Sun.
Under a revolving credit line, money can be borrowed again once it’s repaid; in a term loan, it can’t.
- Bloomberg NewsMartha Stewart Living picks new CEO
NEW YORK - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has tapped the world of metals to find its next chief executive officer.
The New York-based media and merchandising company said it has named board member Daniel W. Dienst, who most recently served as CEO of Sims Metal Management, to take over the post. The role had been vacant since Lisa Gersh stepped down in December after less than a year on the job.
Dienst served as chairman and CEO of Metal Management Ltd. from 2003 to 2008, when it was sold to Sims.
He then took the helm at the newly combined company, helping to guide it through the recession. From 2002 until 2005, he also served as chairman and acting CEO of Metals USA Inc. until it was sold to a private equity firm in 2005.
- The Associated Press
Mosaic to buy CF Industries mine, plants
Mosaic Co., the world’s largest phosphate-fertilizer producer, agreed to acquire a mine and other assets from CF Industries Inc. for $1.2 billion to increase its output of the crop nutrient in Florida.
Mosaic will also pay $200 million to fund CF’s asset retirement obligation escrow, Plymouth, Minn.-based Mosaic said in a statement Monday. The deal will add about 30 cents a share to Mosaic’s 2015 earnings, excluding any debt-financing costs and increase in the number of the company’s shares, it said.
The transaction will give Mosaic the 22,000-acre South Pasture phosphate mine and beneficiation plant, a factory in Plant City, and an ammonia terminal and finished-product warehouse facilities in Tampa. Mosaic said it will save about $500 million because the deal means it will no longer have to build a processing plant for its new Ona mine, which like CF’s South Pasture mine is located in Florida’s Hardee County.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 24 on 10/29/2013