On Friday December 10, 2010, 5:51 pm EST
AP Enterprise: FAA loses
track of 119,000 aircraft
NEW YORK (AP) -- The
Federal Aviation Administration is missing key information on who owns
one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in the U.S. -- a gap
the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers.
The records are in such
disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes
without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other
aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It
has ordered all aircraft owners to reregister their planes in an effort to
clean up its files.
About 119,000 of the
aircraft on the U.S. registry have "questionable registration"
because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other
paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who
owns a plane or even whether it is still flying or has been junked.
TJX to close A.J. Wright
brand, cut 4,400 jobs
NEW YORK (AP) -- TJX Cos'
move to shutter its A.J. Wright discount stores and convert them to other brands
such as T.J. Maxx will cost 4,400 workers -- many of them part-time -- their
jobs by mid-February.
Ninety-one stores will be
converted into T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods stores, and 71 will close
entirely, along with two distribution centers. About 3,400 staffers will remain
employed at the converted stores.
TJX said the move allows
the company, based in Framingham, Mass., to focus on its more profitable
businesses. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains have become better at attracting the
lower-income customers that A.J. Wright targeted.
Trade deficits narrows to
9-month low in October
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S.
trade deficit fell to its lowest level in nine months, as growing demand for
American goods overseas and a falling dollar pushed exports to their highest
level in more than two years.
The trade deficit narrowed
to $38.7 billion in October, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The
figure was 13.2 percent below September's deficit of $44.6 billion.
U.S. exports rose 3.2
percent to $158.7 billion, the highest level since August 2008. Sales of
American-made machinery, farm products and autos fueled the growth. Imports
dipped 0.5 percent to $197.4 billion, with lower demand for oil and
foreign-made cars.
Stocks edge higher on
encouraging economic signs
NEW YORK (AP) -- An
encouraging trade report and signs that a tax cut package would pass the Senate
sent stocks to their highest levels in two years Friday. Bond prices fell for
another day as investors expected the tax deal to lead to economic growth and
higher budget deficits.
The Commerce Department
reported that the U.S. trade deficit fell to its lowest level in nine months in
October. Growing demand for American goods overseas pushed exports to their
highest level in more than two years.
Separately, the Treasury
Department said the federal government's budget shortfall hit $150.4 billion in
November. Treasury prices dropped after the report was released, pushing their
yields higher. The yield for the 10-year note rose to 3.33 percent, up from
3.21 percent late Thursday.
Top GM exec says federal
pay limits hurt company
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top
executive at General Motors said Friday that the automaker's attempt to rebound
from its bankruptcy is being hindered by salary limits the government has clamped
on executives at companies that accepted federal bailouts.
GM CEO Dan Akerson said in
a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., that the company faces many
challenges, including the retention of top talent in its executive ranks. He
suggested relaxing the pay limits, and said he was meeting later in the day
with federal officials who oversee executive compensation for companies that
received bailouts.
Akerson said he recently
informed executives there would be no salary increases in 2011 for about 26,000
white-collar workers.
Occidental to increase
focus on US assets
NEW YORK (AP) -- Occidental
Petroleum Corp. said Friday it will sell its operation in Argentina while
focusing more on U.S.-based oil and gas fields in separate deals worth billions
of dollars.
The Los Angeles company
said it will buy several assets in the U.S. from Royal Dutch Shell and a
private owner for a combined $3.2 billion.
Shell's south Texas fields
are worth about $1.8 billion. They currently produce about 200 million cubic
feet per day of gas equivalent. Occidental also will buy from a private seller
about 180,000 acres in North Dakota for $1.4 billion. Those fields produce
about 5,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
NY trustee seeks nearly
$20B in latest action
NEW YORK (AP) -- The
trustee seeking to recover money for investors who lost billions of dollars in
jailed financier Bernard Madoff's fraud said Friday he has filed civil
racketeering charges against an Austrian banker and 55 other defendants,
demanding they give up nearly $20 billion as a penalty for their "criminal
relationship" with Madoff.
Court-appointed trustee
Irving Picard also announced Friday that he reached settlements with a number
of charities and nonprofit organizations to recover more than $80 million and
resolve civil claims against charities that withdrew more money than they
deposited in accounts with Madoff.
Stock sales help government
offset bailout losses
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stock
sales are helping the government offset projected losses from its $700 billion
rescue of the financial system.
The Treasury Department has
brought in $35 billion in revenue over two years, boosted by ongoing sales of
Citigroup stock, new data show. But the Congressional Budget Office projects
taxpayers will still lose $25 billion for bailing out the financial sector and
U.S. automakers.
The new total for revenue
generated by the Troubled Asset Relief Program is up from the nearly $30
billion in income shown in the previous report covering the program's finances
through October. Much of the additional income came from the sale of Citigroup
common stock. The Treasury sold off the last of its stake in the banking giant
Tuesday, ending up with receipts of $12 billion above the government's
investment of $45 billion.
Citing liver damage, Pfizer
withdraws Thelin
NEW YORK (AP) -- Pfizer
Inc. said Friday it is pulling its blood pressure drug Thelin off the market
and stopping all clinical trials because the drug can cause fatal liver damage.
Thelin is sold in the
European Union, Canada, and Australia as an oral treatment for severe pulmonary
arterial hypertension, or high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery.
Pfizer said two patients
who were taking Thelin died during a clinical trial, and a review of data from
clinical studies and post-marketing reports showed a new link to liver injury.
By The Associated Press
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 7.40, or 0.6 percent, to 1,240.40. It was the third straight day
that the S&P index closed at a new high for the year. The index has gained
11.2 percent this year and is now trading at the same price it did the week
before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 40.26, or 0.4 percent, to 11,410.32. The Nasdaq composite index rose
20.87, or 0.8 percent, to 2,637.54.
The Dow was the weakest of
the three main stock average for the week, gaining just 0.3 percent. The
S&P 500 added 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.8 percent.
Crude has climbed about 5
percent in the past 10 days, and on Tuesday it topped $90 for the first time in
over two years. On Friday, benchmark oil lost 58 cents to settle at $87.79 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other trading on the
Nymex, heating oil fell 0.93 cent to settle $2.4575 a gallon, gasoline gave up
3.12 cents to settle at $2.3093 a gallon and natural gas dropped 1.8 cents to
settle at $4.417 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude fell
51 cents to settle at $90.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.