Mortgage rates fall for fourth week
WASHINGTON -- Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week for a fourth-consecutive week amid persisting turmoil in stock markets and global economic worries.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.79 percent from 3.81 percent a week earlier. The rate has increased from its 3.66 percent average a year ago but remains well below its historic average of 6 percent.
The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages declined to 3.07 percent from 3.10 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, that 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 was unchanged from last week at 0.6 point. The fee for a 15-year loan remained at 0.5 point.
-- The Associated Press
Ex-Gazette leader Moon at Vegas paper
LAS VEGAS -- The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a new publisher recruited and hired by the family of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who secretly bought the newspaper last fall.
The owners said Thursday in a statement that Craig Moon has been appointed publisher of Nevada's largest newspaper, effective immediately.
Moon was the publisher of USA Today from 2003 to 2009. A career executive with Gannett publishing, he also led the Arkansas Gazette and newspapers in Tennessee and Florida.
No reason was given for the replacement of Jason Taylor, who was Review-Journal publisher for six months. Taylor works for Gatehouse Media LLC, which sold the newspaper at a markup to the Adelsons but was kept on a contract to manage the newspaper.
Moon was one of a string of publishers sent to Little Rock by Gannett. He was Gazette publisher from August 1989 to May 1991.
-- The Associated Press
Casino for Gulfport Harbor no sure bet
GULFPORT, Miss. -- The latest casino plan for the Biloxi's harbor is far from a done deal.
The Sun Herald reported Thursday that the developers -- Virginia attorney Robert Lubin and Kentucky casino-company owner Kevin Preston -- still have to raise the money to build the casino.
Lubin and Preston also must satisfy Mississippi Gaming Commission demands that any casino built in the state must have 300 hotel rooms with a three-diamond or higher rating; at least a 50,000-square-foot casino floor; a fine-dining restaurant; and a nongambling amenity meant to grow the casino market. Lubin and Preston say they can build a casino resort on about 10 acres in the harbor for $140 million. "Based on our experience," Lubin said in an email, "we believe it is realistic."
But the only casino built under current Gaming Commission requirements, the Scarlet Pearl in D'Iberville, cost $290 million. It has the minimum 300 hotel rooms, no parking garage, and a miniature golf course with a volcano as its amenity.
The Gulfport Harbor casino, Lubin said, would have a parking garage, a four-star hotel, a 50,000-square-foot casino, an entertainment venue and a nongambling amenity as yet to be determined.
"Again, we are very early in the process and are considering various options," he said.
-- The Associated Press
Durable-goods orders drop in December
WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods tumbled in December, with a key category that tracks business investment plans falling for a second-straight month.
Durable goods orders dropped 5.1 percent in December after a 0.5 percent decline in November, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The weakness was fueled in part by a 29.4 percent plunge in demand for commercial aircraft, a category that swings sharply from month to month.
Durable goods orders have fallen in four of the past five months, reflecting the pressures facing American manufacturers from a strong dollar and spreading global economic weakness. Both factors have hurt export sales of durables, which are items intended to last at least three years such as refrigerators, cars and computers.
The category that serves as a proxy for business investment plans dropped 4.3 percent in December after a 1.1 percent decline in November.
American industry has struggled in recent months, and economists do not expect a quick turnaround. They worry that export sales will continue to struggle as the dollar keeps rising. There is also concern about economic weakness in such key export markets as China, the world's second-largest economy, and other emerging markets.
-- The Associated Press
Baker Hughes: Global rigs to fall 30%
The worst crude market slump in 30 years is going to get worse before it gets better as oil explorers around the world make deeper cuts, according to the company that closely tracks drilling activity.
Baker Hughes Inc. forecast another 30 percent drop in the global rig count this year after oil and natural gas producers shut down nearly half of all rigs over the past two years to cope with a drop in prices that's decimated cash flows.
The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas around the world has fallen 47 percent to 1,969 from 3,736 in February 2014, according to Baker Hughes, the world's third-largest oil field services provider. At today's oil prices of under $35 a barrel, activity around the world will continue to fall throughout 2016, the company said Thursday in a statement.
"Our customers' challenges of maximizing production, lowering their overall costs, and protecting cash flows are now more acute," Chief Executive Martin Craighead said in the statement, which reported a $1 billion loss for the company in the fourth quarter.
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, has fallen by more than two-thirds since June 2014, forcing the industry to slash more than $100 billion in spending last year and dismiss more than 250,000 workers.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 01/29/2016