Treasury in ’07 to double auctions for 30-year bond
Washington – The Treasury Department, which brought back the 30-year bond this year to help handle a soaring federal debt burden, announced Wednesday it will double the number of auctions for the popular security next year.
Treasury officials said they will auction the 30-year bond on a quarterly basis next year, with the first auction scheduled for February.
Treasury also announced it would sell $10 billion of the 30-year bonds Aug. 10. That auction follows the initial auction in February, when $14 billion of the 30-year bonds were sold.
The 30-year bond was discontinued in 2001, when the government was running large budget surpluses and did not need to borrow as much as it had in previous years of high deficits.
However, 2001 was the last year of surplus. The deficit hit a record $413 billion in 2004 before declining last year to $319 billion. The administration forecasts that the deficit will decline to $296 billion this year.
The new deficit estimate represented a marked improvement from the administration’s earlier forecast in February that the deficit this year would climb to an all-time high of $423 billion.
A big jump in corporate tax revenues, fueled by corporate profits, and larger tax payments by wealthy individuals were credited for lowering the deficit estimate.
DENVER
Frontier gets nod to fly to Guadalajara
Frontier Airlines said Wednesday it has received permission from the Transportation Department to start flying from Denver to Guadalajara, Mexico.
The discount carrier plans to offer flights four times a week beginning Dec. 22, making Guadalajara the eighth Mexican destination on its Denver schedule. It also is establishing more than 30 connections to link Guadalajara to other U.S. cities.
NEW YORK
Morgan Stanley buying oil shipper
Morgan Stanley, the world’s biggest securities firm by market value, said it will buy closely held oil-shipping company Heidmar Group to extend its push into energy distribution. Terms weren’t disclosed.
The deal to buy Heidmar follows Morgan Stanley’s June 20 victory in a bidding war to buy Denver-based fuel distributor TransMontaigne Inc. for $568 million.
DENVER
Mont. mine fix pairs Apollo Gold, Elkhorn
Apollo Gold Corp. announced Wednesday it has entered into a joint venture with Elkhorn Tunnels LLC, an affiliate of Calim Private Equity LLC, to make improvements on the Montana Tunnels Mine near Helena.
The agreement calls for Elkhorn to earn up to a 50 percent interest in the mine by contributing $13 million over a five-month period to remediate instability problems in a wall that shut the mine last year.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Space Systems seals $8 million AF deal
Lockheed Martin’s Jefferson County-based Space Systems Co. announced Wednesday it received an $8 million Air Force contract to provide engineering and development support for the Autonomous Nanosatellite Guardian Evaluating Local Space satellite program.
OSLO, Norway
Apple defends right to iPod-iTunes link
Apple Computer Inc. has struck a defiant stance with Scandinavian regulators, staunchly defending its right to make its iPod the only portable music player compatible with songs purchased from the company’s iTunes music store.
Norway’s consumer agency on Wednesday released non-confidential portions of Apple’s 50-page response to its claims that the company is violating contract and copyright laws in its country.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands
Deal news jump-starts Royal Philips stock
Shares in Royal Philips Electronics NV jumped Wednesday following reports that the company is close to a deal to sell its semiconductor division to a U.S. private-equity consortium for more than $10 billion.
The company’s stock rose 4.1 percent to close at 26.20 euros ($33.44) in Amsterdam trading, after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake Partners were near agreement on a price of about 8 billion euros ($10.2 billion).
OSLO, Norway
Microsoft says Gates interview fabricated
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday a Norwegian journalist fabricated an interview with Bill Gates.
The interview, printed in the Norwegian magazine Mann and the Swedish tabloid daily Aftonbladet, was “totally fake,” said Eirik Lae Solberg, spokesman for Microsoft Norway.
In the four-page interview titled “Big Bill,” author Bjoern Benkow claimed he spoke to Gates during a two-hour commercial flight in Europe. Gates was quoted as saying in the article that he never carries more than a “dime” in his pocket and that he makes $1 bets with his wife.
DETROIT
GM moves up launch of redesigned pickups
General Motors Corp. on Wednesday unveiled two redesigned pickups, which the automaker plans to speed to showrooms ahead of their scheduled debuts as it rushes to generate cash and show investors its turnaround plan is working.
The new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra initially were scheduled to go on sale in 2007. But GM, which is fighting to rebound from a $10.6 billion loss last year, moved the launch up by 13 weeks – a change that should boost 2006 results.
DETROIT
Ford hires new strategic adviser
Ford Motor Co., which has had losses in three of the past four quarters, hired former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Kenneth Leet as a strategic adviser.
Leet will report directly to chief executive William Clay Ford Jr. and work with senior managers.
OMAHA
Study praises Cabela’s website as interactive
Many businesses looking to sell products online could learn a few things from Cabela’s, a new study says, because the hunting and fishing outfitter’s website has interactive features that several top retail sites lack.
The study, done by management consultants with Cisco Systems Internet Business Solutions Group, evaluated 20 websites, including the top 10 online retailers.
Cisco said Cabela’s, based in Sidney, Neb., outclassed well- known sites such as Amazon .com, Dell.com and Wal-Mart .com.
