Business Today

WHOLESALE PRICES DIP: Wholesale prices dipped by 0.2 percent in July, providing more good news on the inflation front and giving Fed policymakers leeway to keep interest rates at 40-year lows to help the limping recovery. The reading on the Producer Price Index, which measures prices of goods before they reach store shelves, was better than the 0.1 percent increase many analysts had forecast. Falling prices for cars, trucks, fruits, chickens, communications equipment and computers outweighed rising prices for gasoline and heating oil, the Labor Department said. Prices had nudged up by 0.1 percent in June.

JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP: New claims for unemployment insurance fell last week, suggesting that the pace of layoffs is stabilizing. The Labor Department said claims dropped by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 to 376,000, a lower level than many analysts expected. The more stable four-week moving average of claims went down to 379,000 last week, the lowest level in 17 months.

FLORIDA TRADE MISSION PRODUCTIVE: Last month's Florida trade mission to the United Kingdom generated $56-million in sales for the participating companies, with an additional $50-million expected, said Manny Mencia of Enterprise Florida. Gov. Jeb Bush led the delegates, who met with European business leaders on 57 projects with the potential to bring another $216-million in investments to the state, Mencia said. One British company that he declined to identify expressed interest in expanding its operations in the Tampa Bay area, he said.

LAWMAKER CALLS FOR STEWART SUBPOENA: member of a congressional panel says home fashion executive Martha Stewart should be subpoenaed to answer questions about her sale of ImClone shares a day before they plummeted. "Bring her in and if she wants to take the fifth (Fifth Amendment), that's her right," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich, said on NBC's Today show. Stupak, a member of a House panel looking into the transaction, said if Stewart hasn't responded to a request for information by Aug. 20, she should be forced to appear. Shares in Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, closed at $6.78, down 72 cents, or 9.6 percent.

AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE TO TRADE NASDAQ STOCKS: The American Stock Exchange said it plans to begin trading in Nasdaq Stock Market stocks Monday. The Amex said it will initially trade just nine Nasdaq stocks, but that by the end of September it would like to be trading 120 of the largest Nasdaq stocks. The nine initial Nasdaq stocks include Huntington Bancshares, Lincare Holdings and Staples.

ANCHOR TO REORGANIZE BY MONTH-END: Anchor Glass Container Corp. of Tampa said it is poised to complete its bankruptcy reorganization by the end of August. Anchor, the country's third-largest manufacturer of glass beverage containers, said its pre-negotiated plan of reorganization was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge C. Timothy Corcoran III in Tampa. Cerberus Capital Management LP, a New York investment management firm, in March agreed to infuse Anchor with $100-million in new capital. Anchor employs 2,900 people at 12 U.S. locations and for a time was run by Tampa Bay Devil Rays managing general partner Vince Naimoli. The company previously filed for bankruptcy court protection in 1996.

GE SETTLES SAFETY CHARGES: General Electric Co. has agreed to pay the government $1-million to settle charges it failed to report serious safety defects with certain dishwashers that could catch fire. Beginning in 1992, GE became aware of incidents of fire, smoking and melting related to the energy-saver slide switches on six models of dishwashers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The government claimed GE violated federal law by waiting too long to report the defects.

DIET VANILLA COKE COMING: Coca-Cola Co. confirmed it will introduce a sugar-free version of its new Vanilla Coke, buoyed by sales of the brand's regular version since its May debut. Diet Vanilla Coke will become available by mid-October, the company said. Analysts and industry observers had speculated for weeks that Coke would add a diet version.

CLARITIN PATENT RULED INVALID: Schering-Plough Corp. lost a legal battle with generic drugmakers when a judge ruled that a patent on its top-selling Claritin allergy drug was invalid. Unless overturned on appeal, the ruling would clear the way for generic drugmakers to start selling versions of Claritin in December. The drug had almost $3.16-billion in worldwide sales last year, almost a third of the company's total. Schering-Plough said it would appeal.

Earnings

Z-Tel Technologies Inc.

Although it's still unprofitable, the Tampa telephone services company's reported positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first time. Its EBITDA of $7.4-million for the period ended June 30 compares with a negative $101.4-million in the year-ago quarter. A partnership with long-distance provider MCI, cost savings from layoffs and a rate settlement case in New York involving Verizon helped results.

Qwest Communications International Inc.

The telecommunications company blamed investment losses and WorldCom's bankruptcy for its quarterly loss and further lowered its financial forecast for the year. In the second quarters of both years, Qwest took hefty writedowns on the value of its stake in bankrupt Dutch telecommunications services company KPNQwest. Qwest also said it's talking with banks about borrowing another $500-million to stave off a cash crunch after posting nine straight quarterly net losses.

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