7-day maintenance to close Terry Lock
The David D. Terry Lock on the Arkansas River will close for seven days, starting next week, for maintenance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday.
The agency said the Terry Lock, which is east of Little Rock near Scott, will close at 6 a.m. Monday and reopen at 6 p.m. Sept. 4. No vessels will be allowed to go through during the period.
The Terry Lock is being closed so workers can “dewater” it and repair the downstream lock gates, the news release said.
The agency said a temporary dam will be installed outside the lock gates, and then the water in the lock is pumped out so workers can access areas normally under water to inspect and repair parts of the lock.
Berkshire buys more Phillips 66 shares
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s company now controls more than 15 percent of Phillips 66 stock after buying another 414,065 shares of the oil refiner this week.
Berkshire Hathaway disclosed the latest purchases in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Berkshire now owns about 79.5 million shares of Phillips 66, which represents 15.2 percent of the Houstonbased company’s stock.
Berkshire has been steadily buying Phillips 66 stock since 2012. After building up a sizable initial stake, Berkshire traded about $1.4 billion of its Phillips 66 stock for one of the refiner’s additive businesses in late 2013.
It has continued buying Phillips 66 shares since that deal to build its current stake.
Besides investments, Berkshire owns about 90 subsidiaries in a variety of industries, including insurance, utilities, railroads and manufacturing.
Shares of Phillips 66 rose $1.39, or 1.8 percent, to close Thursday at $79.07.
Iranian oil chief to join OPEC meeting
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will join an informal meeting of OPEC members next month in Algiers, Alegeria, a state news service reported, ending uncertainty about whether OPEC’s third-biggest producer would participate.
Producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet on the sidelines of an energy policy group in the Algerian capital next month to consider conditions in the oil market, OPEC’s president, Qatar’s minister Mohammed Al Sada, said on Aug. 8.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter, is working “to restore balance between supply and demand to support oil prices,” and OPEC and nonmembers will discuss potential steps in Algiers to stabilize markets, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Aug. 13.
“I will participate in this meeting,” Zanganeh was cited as saying by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.
Zanganeh had not previously committed to attending the meeting, and he didn’t comment on the position Iran will take at the talks. Zanganeh also said he will meet with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo “in the near future.”
The price of crude oil has gained about 11 percent since OPEC said it would meet informally to discuss prices and supply, on speculation that the group could agree to freeze output levels. Benchmark Brent crude was trading near $49 a barrel on Thursday in London.
30-year mortgage rate holds at 3.43%
WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates didn’t budge this week, remaining at historically low levels that continue to lure prospective homebuyers.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.43 percent, unchanged from last week.
The average rate is down from 3.84 percent a year ago and is close to its all-time low of 3.31 percent in November 2012.
The 15-year fixed mortgage rate stayed at 2.74 percent.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for a 30-year mortgage rose to 0.6 point this week from 0.5 point last week. The fee for a 15-year loan was unchanged from last week at 0.5 point.
— The Associated Press
Sears reports $395M loss in 2nd quarter
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears on Thursday posted a second-quarter loss, with perpetually weak sales overshadowing the retailer’s efforts to cut costs and slow its cash burn. Chief Executive Officer Edward Lampert’s hedge fund will forward the ailing chain $300 million in additional debt financing.
Shares of Sears Holdings Corp., the owner of Sears and Kmart stores, fell 63 cents, or 4.3 percent, to close Thursday at $14.07.
Sears is trying to reinvent itself as shoppers shift more of their purchases online, buy clothes at discounters and spend more on experiences.
But Sears has dealt with weak sales for years, unable to keep up with Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com.
Sears posted sales declines across the board including in home appliances and lawn and garden tools.
Competition is increasing, with J.C. Penney also bringing back major appliances more than 30 years after abandoning the sector.
For the period that ended July 30, Sears Holdings Corp. lost $395 million, or $3.70 per share.
A year ago, it earned $208 million, or $1.84 per share. Losses, adjusted for one-time costs, were $2.03 per share. Revenue for the Hoffman Estates-based company dropped to $5.66 billion from $6.21 billion.
— The Associated Press
Business on 08/26/2016