Mile High Capital Group placed into receivership
Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph on Monday placed Mile High Capital Group Ltd. into receivership and filed a civil complaint alleging violations of the Colorado Securities Act.
In a press release, Joseph’s office said the appointment of the receiver “will serve to protect the assets of Mile High for the benefit of the investors and customers while the investigation continues.”
The receiver appointed by the court is Hall Wells DiNardo LLC, a Denver consulting company.
Mile High, a privately held, Englewood-based real estate investment company, promotes investment in real estate at investment seminars. Denver District Court filings show the company raised at least $1 million from March 2002 to the present.
DENVER
Average gasoline price shows 15% drop
The average price for a gallon of gasoline has dropped more than 15 percent in Colorado since early September, according to figures posted Monday by AAA.
The statewide average price for a gallon of self-service regular was $2.60 on Monday, according to AAA’s daily fuel report. In September, the price reached a record $3.07 as U.S. refining was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
DENVER
NOAA pact could net Lockheed $30 million
Lockheed Martin Corp. said Monday that it has been awarded a $10 million, six-month contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the program definition and risk reduction phase of the nation’s next-generation environmental satellite system. The contract has two options valued at an additional $10 million each.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., a division of Lockheed based in Jefferson County, will handle the contract with the company’s integrated systems and solutions division.
HARRISBURG, Pa.
Comcast buys cable part of conglomerate
Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Co. is selling its radio and cable television businesses in separate deals for nearly $2 billion in the continuing breakup of a family- owned conglomerate that had no heirs willing to take over.
The York, Pa.-based company’s 33 radio stations will be sold for about $1.2 billion to a partnership of Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Inc., one of the nation’s biggest radio station operators, and several private equity firms.
Meanwhile, the nation’s biggest cable system operator, Comcast Corp., will buy Susquehanna’s cable TV and broadband businesses for $775 million.
DENVER
Fitch upgrades its rating on DIA bonds
Fitch upgraded its outlook and gave an A rating Monday for $92.2 million in Denver airport system revenue bonds, $87.7 million in other planned airport bonds and approximately $3.6billion in outstanding airport revenue bonds.
Fitch revised its rating outlook for all the bonds to positive from stable.
The rating reflects a strong demand for air service, growth in passenger service, sound financial operations, the increasing likelihood that United Airlines will successfully complete its reorganization and the shrinking of United’s market share as Frontier expands.
It also reflects management’s moves to constrain costs and improve Denver International Airport’s competitive position, credited with drawing Southwest Airlines. Concerns include United’s large presence, financial distress of the airline industry and high costs.
NEW YORK
Bankruptcy filings to hurt Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley expects fourth-quarter pretax cost to increase by as much as $250 million compared with the third quarter as bankruptcy filings spiked.
Its Discover Bank unit received a higher number of filings before a new federal bankruptcy law took effect on Oct. 17.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.
Motorola wins suit over Nortel CEO
Nortel Networks Corp. will pay Motorola Inc. $11.5 million to resolve a lawsuit over former Motorola president Mike Zafirovski’s decision to take the chief executive post at Nortel.
Zafirovski, now Nortel’s CEO, also agreed not to disclose trade secrets or recruit other Motorola employees to Nortel for an unspecified period. Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola, the world’s second-biggest mobile-phone maker, sued Zafirovski, claiming he broke an employment agreement.
SAN FRANCISCO
Feds’ appeal delays energy company trial
A federal judge delayed Reliant Energy Co.’s criminal trial on U.S. charges that it manipulated energy prices in California after the government said it would appeal a pretrial ruling that may jeopardize its case.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco put the trial, scheduled to start today, on hold for at least a week after the government said it will ask an appeals court to review a ruling that it says would prevent it from presenting evidence that Reliant took advantage of California power market rules to manipulate energy prices.
WASHINGTON
Report: Wal-Mart labor pact flawed
There were serious breakdowns in a government settlement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. over child labor law violations – including allowing attorneys for the world’s largest retailer to write key parts of the deal, according to a Labor Department inspector general report Monday. The inspector general attributed the problems to inadequate management controls and guidelines. As a result, Wal- Mart received “significant concessions” in the $135,540 settlement made public in February, the report said.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Kerr-McGee to sell onshore properties
Kerr-McGee Corp. said it has agreed with multiple parties to sell onshore oil and natural-gas properties for after-tax proceeds totaling $330 million.
The properties being sold contain about 48 million barrels of oil equivalent, 50 percent of which are undeveloped, the Oklahoma City-based company said Monday in a statement.
WASHINGTON
$35 billion in T-bills bring higher discount
The Treasury Department auctioned $19 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.890 percent, up from 3.850 percent last week. Another $17 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.125 percent, up from 4.065 percent last week.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the price for a three-month bill was $9,901.67, while a six-month bill sold for $9,791.46.
