FCC cancels vote to revamp set-top box
A plan to give consumers alternatives to renting a set-top box from their cable TV providers faltered as the Federal Communications Commission canceled a scheduled vote.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler removed the proposal from the agency's monthly meeting agenda on Thursday, saying technical and legal details were still being worked out.
The plan backed by the White House aimed to clear the way for cheaper devices to serve as in-home gateways to video programming. It drew opposition from the pay-TV industry and skepticism from a fellow Democrat on the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel.
Rosenworcel had said she thought the agency lacked authority to adopt his proposal. Wheeler needed her vote, as well as the support of the third Democrat on the five-member agency, as both Republicans oppose the measure.
Wheeler, Rosenworcel and the commission's third Democrat, Mignon Clyburn, issued a statement Thursday saying that they are still "working to resolve the remaining technical and legal issues and we are committed to unlocking the set-top box for consumers across this country."
-- Bloomberg News
Chesapeake assets under U.S. scrutiny
Chesapeake Energy Corp. said it's facing U.S. Justice Department scrutiny of how the natural gas explorer accounted for its assets.
In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the second-largest U.S. gas supplier said a subpoena sought "information on our accounting methodology for the acquisition and classification of oil and gas properties and related matters." Chesapeake shares fell 9.3 percent to close Thursday at $6.12.
Chesapeake has been at the center of antitrust investigation of gas-lease auctions and government investigations into how it pays royalties to landowners. In Thursday's filing, the Oklahoma City-based company said it's been in discussion with federal and state agencies and continues to respond to demands for documents.
In early March, Chesapeake shares soared after it was disclosed the company was cooperating in the federal prosecution of former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon for alleged bid rigging. Chesapeake received immunity under a Justice Department leniency program that shields companies from criminal charges if they are first to report antitrust violations. McClendon died in an Oklahoma City car crash on March 2.
-- Bloomberg News
Pending home sales decrease in August
WASHINGTON -- Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy houses in August, as a shortage of properties for sale is weighing on the market.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index fell 2.4 percent last month to 108.5, its lowest reading since January. The number of signed contracts slumped sharply in the South, the nation's largest housing market. But pending sales improved in the Northeast, Midwest and West.
Home purchases and prices have risen much of this year but a slowdown surfaced in August as a lack of inventory has hurt the market. Would-be buyers are confronting increasingly limited choices and rising prices, offsetting the benefits of low mortgage rates.
Pending sales contracts are a barometer of future purchases -- a sign that sales levels might fall in the coming months. A sale is typically completed a month or two after a contract is signed.
-- The Associated Press
30-year mortgage rate falls to 3.42%
WASHINGTON -- Long-term U.S. mortgage rates slipped this week to the lowest level since mid-July.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., said the average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.42 percent, lowest since mid-July and down from 3.48 percent last week. The benchmark rate is down from 3.85 percent a year ago and is close to its all-time low of 3.31 percent in November 2012.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, popular with homeowners who are refinancing, slipped to 2.72 percent from 2.76 percent.
The rates tumbled after the Federal Reserve decided against raising short-term rates at its meeting last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable mortgages, though, ticked up to 2.81 percent from 2.80 percent.
-- The Associated Press
Proposal would reunite CBS, Viacom
NEW YORK -- A company that controls CBS and Viacom wants the two New York media companies to combine again, more than a decade after they went their separate ways.
National Amusements, which owns most of the voting shares of the two companies, sent a letter to CBS and Viacom board members Thursday saying that a tie-up would help it better compete in a rapidly changing media industry. Nation Amusements is a movie theater operator run by Viacom's founder Sumner Redstone, who oversaw the split of CBS and Viacom in 2006.
Much has changed in that decade. More people are choosing to stream TV shows or movies online on Netflix, Hulu and other services.
CBS Corp. produces TV shows and owns its namesake network. Viacom Inc. owns cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1.
-- The Associated Press
Initial jobless claims pegged at 254,000
Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to 254,000 in the week ended Sept. 24 from a five-month low in the previous period, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.
The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 260,000. The number of Americans already on benefit rolls declined to the lowest level since 2000.
Dismissals have been hovering just above the lowest level since the 1970s as employers compete for experienced workers amid a record number of job openings. The data are consistent with the Federal Reserve's view that the job market "has continued to strengthen" and employment gains have been "solid."
Applications filed with state employment agencies have been below 300,000 for 82 straight weeks -- the longest streak since 1970 and a level economists say is typical for a vibrant labor market.
No states were estimated last week and there was nothing unusual in the data, according to the Labor Department.
The less-volatile four-week average of claims dropped to 256,000, the lowest since April, from 258,250 in the prior week.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by 46,000 to 2.06 million in the week ended Sept. 17, the fewest since July 2000.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 09/30/2016