U.S. reviewing GM brake vacuum pumps
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government is investigating more than 100 complaints of poor brake performance on 2.7 million General Motors big pickups and SUVs.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a brake vacuum pump can deteriorate, causing increased braking effort and longer stopping distances.
The agency has 111 consumer complaints including nine crashes and two injuries.
The investigation covers 2014 through 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. Also involved are Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade SUVs.
The agency will determine how often the problem happens and whether a recall is necessary.
GM is monitoring complaints and warranty claims about the brakes and is working with the traffic-safety agency to evaluate them, spokesman Tom Wilkinson said Friday.
Any owner who has a problem with brake performance should have them examined by a GM dealer or independent repair shop, Wilkinson said.
They should keep receipts because they could be reimbursed for repairs if there is a recall, he added.
-- The Associated Press
Glut worries send oil futures down 12%
LONDON -- Oil notched its biggest weekly loss since the depths of the last price crash, as record Saudi output, pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and a global stock sell-off intensified crude's freefall.
Futures slid below $60 in London on Friday and ended the week down about 12 percent, the biggest drop since January 2016. Traders focused on the growing risks of a new glut of crude after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Thursday that production from the world's largest exporter had climbed further this month.
Oil joined a fall in equity markets nervous about international trade and a weakening economy. The S&P 500 Index fell to its lowest mark since May, while European markets lost ground after a report showing a slowdown in Germany. Energy companies led declines, with shale drillers Concho Resources and Devon Energy each down more than 5 percent.
In the U.S., West Texas Intermediate oil prices to just above $50 a barrel, the baseline at which many large shale explorers set their budget this year, RBC Capital Markets analyst Scott Hanold said in a note to clients. Smaller producers planned on even more, predicating budgets on prices 10 to 15 percent higher, he wrote. Brent for January settlement fell 6.1 percent to $58.80 a barrel at the close of trading on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.
-- Bloomberg News
Black vultures targeting live U.S. calves
ST. LOUIS -- Farmers and ranchers in parts of the Midwest are fending off a new menace: the federally protected black vultures, which swoop down and peck newborn calves and other small animals to death.
Some cattle producers have lost multiple calves to vulture attacks that have become increasingly common over the past decade or so. Lambs, goats, foals and other animals also have been victimized.
Missouri has long been home to turkey vultures, a large but relatively harmless bird that feeds off the carcasses of dead animals. The black vulture does, too, but it also attacks live animals.
The black vulture, more common in South America, gradually made its way north, first into the southeastern U.S. In recent years, the range extended into Arkansas, and is now in the southern parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Tom Cooper, an expert on migratory birds for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said colder winters are part of the reason black vultures have ventured farther north.
Agricultural and wildlife experts say the number of calves or other livestock killed by black vultures is unknown. The problem seems worse in the Midwest because farmers and ranchers are still learning how to deal with the attacks, Cooper said.
Defending against them is even more difficult because the vultures are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Farmers and ranchers can shoot them, but only with a permit. Proof of damage is required to get the permit.
-- The Associated Press
China OKs United Technologies merger
BEIJING -- United Technologies Corp. secured approval in China for its $23 billion purchase of aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins Inc., a significant hurdle for a deal that was first announced more than a year ago.
The decision was posted on China's State Administration for Market Regulation's website.
The deal is one of the biggest in aviation history. It marries United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney jet engines with Rockwell's cockpit technology and interiors. The acquisition will give United Technologies the scale and negotiating power to counter pressure from plane-makers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE for discounts.
United Technologies is weighing a possible breakup after closing the Rockwell Collins deal, Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes said last month. The Farmington, Conn.-based company is considering whether it will form stand-alone aerospace, climate-controls and elevator businesses.
-- Bloomberg News
Riverboat casino owner plans land move
BATON ROUGE -- The owner of two Louisiana riverboat casinos says it may move one near Texas onto land, but probably will leave its Baton Rouge boat afloat.
Eldorado Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Carano said in a conference call this month that the company is considering moving the Isle of Capri in Lake Charles, The Advocate reported. He said work could begin in the second half of 2019, with a land-based operation opening in 2020.
Such projects are likely to cost $75 million to $100 million and Eldorado was anticipating at least a 15 percent return on the investment, Carano said.
But he said it's highly unlikely that Eldorado, based in Reno, Nev., will move the Belle of Baton Rouge's casino into the 80,000-square-foot atrium next to the riverboat.
A law passed this year lets riverboat casinos move onshore.
The Belle's former owners, Tropicana Entertainment, had talked about moving the casino into the atrium. When Eldorado's plans to buy Tropicana were announced in April, Carano expressed interest in continuing plans to move the casino. The company has owned the Isle of Capri casinos since 2016.
The Baton Rouge market has been slumping since July 2017, while gamblers from Texas have helped boost the three Lake Charles riverboat casinos.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 11/24/2018