Newmont chief forecasts gold at $525 as demand rises
Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. president Pierre Lassonde said gold may rise to $525 an ounce by early next year, up 11 percent from today’s prices, as jewelry demand climbs and production from mines declines.
“We’re seeing the best supply-demand fundamentals in this industry in about 20 years,” he said.
“The jewelry market is on fire,” and “supply is falling, mostly because mine production is coming off again,” he added.
Gold prices in New York closed Wednesday at their highest level in 17 years as energy costs climbed, prompting investors to buy the precious metal as a hedge against inflation.
Gold futures for December delivery rose 1.5 percent Wednesday to $473.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Sept. 22, the metal reached $479, the highest intraday price since January 1988. Gold last climbed above $525 an ounce in February 1981.
DENVER
Lockheed logs two missile milestones
Lockheed Martin said Wednesday the first phase of qualification testing for the ORBUS 1A, a rocket motor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Boost Vehicle-Plus program, has been completed at Alliant Techsystems.
Separately, Lockheed Martin also said it has delivered a second payload for a missile warning system known as the Space- Based Infrared System program.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif., is the prime contractor. Ground segment operations for part of the program are performed at Air Force Space Command at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.
NEW YORK
Malone eyes cable in Poland, Hungary
John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc., the largest owner of cable- television systems outside the U.S., is considering acquisitions to expand in Poland and Hungary.
“We continue to be focused on Central and Eastern Europe,” Shane O’Neill, chief strategy officer, said at an investors meeting in New York on Wednesday. Douglas County-based Liberty Global will continue to make acquisitions in the next few years, Malone said at the meeting.
DENVER
Metretek downshifts subsidiary forecast
Metretek Technologies Inc. on Wednesday said it is revising guidance for 2005 because of the combined effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on its Southern Flow subsidiary.
W. Phillip Marcum, president and chief executive, expects to see 2005 net income at Southern Flow reduced by as much as $600,000 because of substantial damages to oil and gas production facilities in the Gulf Coast area.
NEW YORK
Denver’s new bonds win rating of AA+
Fitch Ratings has assigned a AA+ rating to Denver’s $77 million general obligation justice system facilities and zoo bonds, series 2005.
The bonds are scheduled to sell Oct. 5 with Piper Jaffray & Co. serving as the city’s financial adviser.
Fitch also affirmed the AA+ rating on the city’s outstanding $378.9 million general obligation bonds, with the rating outlook stable.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
Slower growth to dim some Kodak profits
Eastman Kodak Co. warned Wednesday that signs of slowing U.S. economic growth will crimp its digital-photography profits this year, forcing it to build fewer digital cameras and home printers for the end-of- year holiday season.
Even though its overall digital sales in 2005 are expected to grow by more than 36 percent, a target set in January, Kodak said operating profit will fall short of a projected range of $275 million to $325 million because of a sluggish economy and shortfalls in its health-imaging business.
DENVER
10 biotech companies finalists for award
Ten finalists have been chosen to make presentations at the Venture Showcase on Nov. 8 during the two-day BioWest Conference, a biotechnology and medical-devices trade show, at the Colorado Convention Center.
One of the finalists will be selected to receive the Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award.
The 10 companies are: Aktiv- Dry LLC and MBC Pharma Inc., both of Boulder; ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals Inc., Lohocla Research Corp. and Thinc Pharmaceuticals Inc., all of Aurora; BioCare Systems Inc. of Parker; CeraPedics LLC of Lakewood; and Brotica Inc., Cytologic Inc. and InViragen LLC, all of Fort Collins.
FRANKFURT, Germany
8,500 Mercedes jobs to be eliminated
Automaker DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday it will cut 8,500 jobs in Germany at its Mercedes Car Group in a bid to return the troubled brand to profitability.
The company said the cuts will come through voluntary termination agreements over the next year and result in charges of $1.11 billion.
NEW YORK
IPO-rigging lawsuit back on, court rules
Credit Suisse First Boston Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. are among 12 financial institutions that must defend a lawsuit claiming they participated in an industrywide scheme to rig initial public offerings, an appeals court said.
The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York on Wednesday reinstated a case that a lower-court judge dismissed in November 2003. The lower-court judge said the banks were immune from federal antitrust claims because the Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the IPO process.
NEW YORK
AIG won’t attempt to regain AAA rating
American International Group Inc., stripped of its AAA credit rating amid an accounting probe this year, won’t try to regain the rating, even as borrowing costs rise, chief financial officer Steven Bensinger told investors.
It has “become apparent that the cost of maintaining our previous AAA rating was not justified by the incremental benefit that it provided,” Bensinger said Wednesday at an investor presentation in New York.
DETROIT
Nissan’s 2007 plans tout new gas-sipper
Nissan Motor Co. will add a new small car to its lineup next year to combat low-priced models from Korean automakers and rising gasoline costs.
Prices for the 2007 Versa subcompact hatchback and sedan will start at about $12,000.
