WASHINGTON
Credit cards fuel jump in borrowing
Consumer borrowing posted a hefty increase in May, reflecting the biggest jump in credit card debt in six months.
The Federal Reserve reported Monday that consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in May, far above the small 1.1 percent gain of April.
The increase was propelled by a surge in the category that includes credit cards, which rose at a rate of 9.8 percent in May after having a tiny increase of 0.2 percent in April.
The jump in credit card debt was the largest since a 14.5 percent rate of increase in November.
NEW YORK
Gulf gasoline futures trading at a premium
U.S. Gulf Coast conventional gasoline traded at a premium to futures for the first time since June 1, and the fuel’s premiums widened in the midcontinent and Chicago markets as refinery disruptions reduced supplies.
The biggest gain was in Chicago after BP Plc shut the largest of three crude units at its Whiting, Ind., refinery for unplanned maintenance. Chicago conventional gasoline for immediate delivery gained 17 cents to trade at a 34 cent premium to New York Mercantile Exchange futures, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The price rose 20.29 cents to $2.6825 a gallon.
PARKER
BrightStar acquires golf club in Parker
California-based BrightStar Golf Group LLC has acquired The Club at Pradera from homebuilder DR Horton.
It’s BrightStar’s second portfolio acquisition in the Denver area and its third in Colorado after buying The Pinery Country Club in Parker in 2004 and The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in May.
DENVER
Braddock to liquidate Galena Street Fund
Braddock Financial, a Denver-based investment advisor, announced last week that it has decided to liquidate its Galena Street Fund.
Braddock officials decided to liquidate the fund after receiving withdrawal requests from some investors. The $300 million fund was hurt by declines in the asset-backed securities market, which includes sub-prime mortgages.
DENVER
Panel’s proposals aim to fight foreclosures
A Denver City Council task force released its recommendations Monday for the city to help combat its high rate of home foreclosure. Among the recommendations: an ad campaign, including TV, radio and billboard spots, aimed at helping homeowners guard against risky mortgage products, mortgage fraud and predatory lending practices.
The task force also recommended requiring home ownership and borrower counseling for all city-sponsored programs, counseling for buyers and new owners, and simplification of consumer materials given out by lenders.
The task force was formed last year by council members Michael Hancock and Rick Garcia and met six times this year.
DENVER
Metro Taxi will add five hybrid vehicles
Metro Taxi, the metro area’s largest taxi service, announced on Monday that it will add five hybrid vehicles to its fleet, bringing the total number of hybrids the company uses to 10.
Metro officials said the company decided to add the hybrids after receiving positive feedback from customers regarding its initial hybrids.
The company announced in May that it would begin using Toyota Prius taxis and, depending on customer reaction, intended to replace all of its fleet of 500 vehicles with hybrids by 2010.
GREELEY
Swift shelves sale of $600 million in notes
Swift & Co., the third-largest U.S. beef and pork producer, withdrew plans to sell $600 million of notes to finance its buyout by Brazil’s J&F Participacoes SA, KDP Investment Advisors Inc. said.
Swift instead chose alternative, unspecified financing, KDP analyst Justin Monteith said in a telephone interview.
Greeley-based Swift had planned to sell $200 million each of senior notes due in 2015, pay-in-kind “toggle” notes due in 2015 and senior floating-rate notes due in 2014.
Swift joins at least 12 other borrowers that have canceled or delayed high-yield, high-risk, or junk-rated, bond offerings in the past three weeks amid investor pushback against the riskiest debt.
GOLDEN
School gains funds for energy project
The Colorado School of Mines has received $400,000 from the National Science Foundation, enough to complete its financing for a high-performance computing facility that will focus on developing new methods to meet world energy needs.
The new funding is in addition to $750,000 from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and $1 million from the Golden-based school, providing for the $2.15 million project to be completed by late fall.
