Windstream expanding network in West
Windstream Holdings Inc. is expanding its long-haul, express fiber transport network to states on the West Coast, the Little Rock telecom company said Tuesday.
The project is part of Windstream's capital investment initiative to expand its fiber network, according the news release.
The first part of the project will install the fiber network to Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., and the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area. It will be completed by the end of the year, according to the news release.
Next, Windstream will have its network reach from the Bay Area to Los Angeles; Los Angeles to Phoenix; and Phoenix to El Paso, Texas, according to the news release. This phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
The new routes will add about 4,800 miles to Windstream's 125,000-mile fiber network, the company said.
-- Jessica Seaman
Ford closing plants as demand wanes
DETROIT -- Ford is temporarily idling four North American plants in response to slowing demand for new vehicles.
The company has scheduled one-week closures this month for its plants in Kansas City, Mo., and Hermosillo and Cuatitlan, Mexico. Those plants make the F-150 pickup, the Fusion sedan and the Fiesta subcompact.
Ford Motor Co. will close its Louisville, Ky., plant for two weeks. That plant makes the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC small SUVs.
After six years of growth, U.S. demand for new vehicles is slowing. So far this year, overall industry sales are flat compared to 2015.
Ford says the cuts won't affect its financial guidance, and still expects a pretax profit of $10.2 billion this year.
-- The Associated Press
Homebuilders less confident in October
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders cooled in October from an 11-month high, reflecting a pause in the market for single-family houses, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.
The builder sentiment gauge dropped to 63 from the prior month's 65. Readings greater than 50 mean more respondents reported good market conditions than not.
Developers' sentiment may have been restrained by factors including the limited availability of ready-for-building lots and skilled workers. At the same time, mortgage rates still close to historically low levels and a healthy job market will help keep the housing rebound on track.
The report "represents a mild pullback from a jump in September," the association's chief economist, Robert Dietz, said in a statement. "The housing market continues to make slow and steady gains."
-- Bloomberg News
Airlines' booking system glitch fixed
FORT WORTH, Texas -- A technology company said Tuesday that it fixed a problem that had prevented travelers from booking trips with some U.S. airlines this week.
For a time on Monday night, customers of Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Virgin America were unable to buy new tickets or change existing reservations. The airlines tweeted Tuesday that their systems were running again.
The airlines use technology from Sabre Corp., an American Airlines spinoff based in Southlake, Texas.
A Sabre spokesman said Tuesday that the problem occurred within a system that helps airlines determine seat availability and pricing.
-- The Associated Press
Higher prices prop Philip Morris profits
Philip Morris International, the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company, posted third-quarter profit Tuesday that beat analysts' estimates as higher cigarette prices increased revenue.
Earnings were $1.25 a share, excluding some items, the New York-based company said in a statement. That beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.23. Sales excluding excise taxes rose to $6.98 billion, matching analysts' average projection.
The maker of Marlboros benefited from selling more expensive cigarettes, outweighing the effect of global volume declines. The company also saw increased sales of its so-called reduced-risk products. Philip Morris on Tuesday also reaffirmed its forecast that adjusted earnings this year would rise to a range of $4.53 to $4.58 a share.
"Cost controls and higher pricing led the way on earnings growth in the third quarter," Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones, said in an email.
The shares rose $1.05, or 1.1 percent, to close Tuesday at $96.56. The stock had gained 8.6 percent this year through Monday.
-- Bloomberg News
Saudis, Kuwaitis favor $50-$60 for oil
Officials from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, key protagonists in shaping OPEC policy, said oil at $50 to $60 a barrel would ensure adequate global supply, setting out a potential price band for the producer club before its meeting in Vienna next month.
"A $50, $60 oil price -- absent a supply accident -- is sufficient to develop the low-cost resources to provide increases that will be necessary over the next three to four years," Andrew Gould, board director at state-owned giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Tuesday in London.
His comments, at the annual Oil & Money conference in London, suggest Saudi Arabia sees relatively little upside to prices in the short term. While benchmark Brent crude is up about 13 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a deal Sept. 28 to manage supply, it's still trading at half its level of mid-2014, at around $52 a barrel.
Projections for $50 to $60 oil over the next 15 months are "logical" and "acceptable," Kuwait's acting Oil Minister Anas Al-Saleh said in a report from the state-run Kuwait News Agency." Unless there are new developments in the major oil-producing countries, this scenario will be most likely," he said.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were among oil producers to hold output at or near all-time highs in September as OPEC continued to defend market share against rival suppliers, including the U.S. While many high-cost shale wells were shut after oil's collapse, some North American drillers are starting to bring back rigs.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 10/19/2016