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Today’s headlines
Another tower plan unveiled
The new project joins two others in downtown Tampa, neither of which have broken ground in a glutted market.

Housing market builds steam
Sales of existing homes jumped 14 percent last month, lifted by improved consumer confidence.

Business Digest
IBM, AMERICAN EXPRESS REACH DEAL: IBM won a $4-billion, seven-year contract to supply American Express Co. with computer-processing power and related services on demand. About 2,000 jobs at the credit-card issuer will shift to IBM, the companies said. The agreement is IBM's biggest in financial services., It also is IBM's largest in a new business it calls e-sourcing, in which processing power, software and data storage are sold on a pay-as-you-use basis over high-speed networks. American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault is cutting costs, and the company said the IBM agreement will save hundreds of millions of dollars. Shares of American Express gained $1.39 to $35.04; IBM fell 15 cents to $98.30.