30-year home rates rise to 4.15%
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages edged up slightly this week, remaining near historically low levels.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the nationwide average rate for a 30-year loan rose to 4.15 percent from 4.12 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage increased to 3.24 percent from 3.22 percent.
Mortgage rates are slightly lower than they were at the same time last year, having fallen recently after climbing last summer. That's when the Federal Reserve began talking about reducing the monthly bond purchases it has been using to keep long-term interest rates low.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week.
-- Bloomberg News
FTC sues Amazon over kids' app buys
SEATTLE -- The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon on Thursday for allowing children to make purchases within mobile applications, alleging the company knew that children were doing so without parental permission.
The suit, filed in federal court in Seattle, alleges Amazon knowingly allowed children to run up "millions of dollars" of charges buying virtual items within gaming apps.
"Companies need to get consumers' consent before placing charges on their bills," Jessica Rich, director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a conference call with journalists.
Amazon declined to comment on the suit, except to reiterate comments that its lawyer, Andrew C. DeVore, made in a letter to FTC Chairman Edith Ramirez last week. Then, DeVore disputed the claims and described litigation as "an unfortunate misallocation of the Commission's resources."
The dispute stems from gaming apps that Amazon sells from its App Store to consumers, who then play them on cellphones and tablets. The apps aren't created by Amazon, but Amazon receives 30 percent of all revenue from in-app purchases.
-- The Seattle Times
Mexico's Movil breakup seen as lucrative
MEXICO CITY -- Carlos Slim's plan to break up his telecommunications empire will give a boost to Mexico's financial firms by generating as much as $20 billion in deals, one of the billionaire's bankers said.
Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico Chief Executive Officer Marcos Martinez, 60, said the dismantling of America Movil will fuel mergers and acquisitions, underwriting and advising work for financial institutions. He called Slim's company "a very important client."
"We're excited," Martinez said in an interview in the Mexico City headquarters of the nation's fourth-largest bank by outstanding loans. "This announcement for America Movil is a huge opportunity for the banks, including us, because of the investment that they're going to do."
Slim, the world's second-richest person, will divest America Movil assets, the company announced this week. The largest Latin American telecommunications company, with a market value of about $79 billion, America Movil is shrinking to appease regulators and avoid fines for having more than 50 percent market share in Mexican landlines and mobile phones.
-- Bloomberg News
Franchisees: McDonald's broke FTC rule
McDonald's Corp. franchisees in Puerto Rico say the company broke a Federal Trade Commission rule by selling its restaurants there to Latin American restaurant operator Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc.
McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain by sales, is in violation of the FTC's Franchise Rule, which requires disclosure of material information to franchisees, according to a complaint filed with the FTC on Wednesday on behalf of seven franchisees in Puerto Rico. When the company sold its Puerto Rican stores and the franchising rights to that market in 2007, it breached its franchise agreement, according to the complaint.
The granting of McDonald's restaurants to nonlocal individuals in Puerto Rico runs contrary to the original franchise agreement signed with the operators, according to the complaint. The company also isn't conducting sufficient sales analyses before new McDonald's restaurants open, leading to locations becoming overcrowded, the group alleges.
Arcos Dorados, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is both the franchiser and a competitor to other store owners in Puerto Rico, hurting their sales by putting new locations near existing sites and selling different menu items, according to the complaint.
"McDonald's did a bait and switch" by changing the franchise system in Puerto Rico so that Arcos Dorados is in control, said Pedro Jimenez, a lawyer representing the seven franchisees in Puerto Rico.
Lisa McComb, a McDonald's spokesman, and Daniel Schleiniger, an Arcos Dorados representative, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
-- Bloomberg News
IndiGo said to plan 200-jet Airbus buy
TOULOSE, France -- IndiGo is talking to Airbus Group about an order for 200 additional A320neo jets valued at $20.6 billion, as India's biggest domestic airline taps rising travel demand, people familiar with the plans said.
The purchase may be announced as early as next week's Farnborough International Airshow in England, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. While IndiGo has talked with Boeing, the airline's preference is to stick with Airbus, the people said.
Adding more neojets, which come with fuel-efficient engines, would expand IndiGo's all-Airbus lineup of 78 aircraft and increase a backlog of 186 undelivered jets from the plane-maker's A320 family. IndiGo uses so-called sale-leasebacks, in which it sells jets to lessors, flies them for six years and then hands them in so the fleet remains fresh.
"India is a huge market, and it's a very under-penetrated market," said Harsh Vardhan, chairman of New Delhi-based Starair Consulting. "There is a need for a lead carrier in India."
Unveiled in 2010, the A320neo features new engines and has become the fastest-selling jetliner in history.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/11/2014