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NEW JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP: The Labor Department reported Thursday that claims for unemployment insurance declined by a seasonally adjusted 29,000 to 386,000 for the work week ending July 19. It marked the second week in a row that claims went down and the first time since the week ending Feb. 8 that claims dipped below the 400,000 level associated with a weak job market. Although claims tend to swing widely in July, other figures in the report also suggested that the pace of layoffs is stabilizing, economists said. The more stable, four-week moving average of jobless claims, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, fell by 5,500 last week to 419,250.
CABLE EX-OFFICERS CHARGED: Four former top executives of Charter Communications, the nation's third-largest cable television company, were charged Thursday with scheming to defraud investors by inflating the company's revenue and cash flow, authorities said. Former COO David Barford and former CFO Kent Kalkwarf were charged with 14 federal counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Former senior vice presidents David McCall was indicted on one count of conspiracy and James Smith was indicted on eight counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.
ITFLORIDA PRESENTS IDEAS: ITFlorida, a non-profit group that represents the state's information technology community, presented Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday with proposals for 33 initiatives for retaining and attracting new IT businesses to the state. Among the suggestions: increasing funding for technology centers of excellence, offering tax credits for research and development and extending industrial revenue bonds for tech businesses. Bush received the group's proposals at an ITFlorida meeting in Orlando.
DELTA STOPS DIVIDEND: Delta Air Lines Inc., which said last week that it doesn't expect a "substantial profit" before 2005, scrapped the quarterly dividend on its common stock to conserve $12-million a year. Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline, has paid 2.5 cents a share and has had a quarterly dividend since 1949.
COAST, HOUGH FORM ALLIANCE: Coast Trust Co. of Tampa and William R. Hough & Co. of St. Petersburg have agreed to a strategic alliance, the companies said Thursday. W. Frank Clewis, president and chief executive of Coast Trust, said his firm would provide personal trust services to Hough clients who previously went out-of-state. In turn, clients of Coast, one of the few trust companies not affiliated with a financial institution, would turn to Hough for capital management advice and municipal securities.
BANK SPLITS STOCK: First Community Bank Corp. of America declared a five-for-four stock split on its common stock Thursday. Shareholders will receive one additional share of stock for every four shares that they own as of July 1. Following the split, the company will have about 2-million shares of common stock outstanding. First Community, based in Pinellas Park, also has branches in St. Petersburg and Port Charlotte.
ALBERTSON'S CANS COO: Albertson's Inc., the second-largest U.S. supermarket chain, said president and chief operating officer Peter Lynch resigned after his position was eliminated. Chief executive Larry Johnston will assume the additional role and title of president and handle what had been Lynch's responsibilities, the Boise, Idaho, company said in a statement.
HEALTHSOUTH CASE WIDENS: U.S. prosecutors consider "dozens" of individuals and corporations to be suspects in a $2.5-billion accounting fraud at HealthSouth Corp. that has already led to criminal charges against 12 people, court papers show. Prosecutors are weighing new charges of money laundering, obstruction of justice, witness intimidation and public corruption, according to court filings in Birmingham, Ala., headquarters for HealthSouth, the largest U.S. operator of rehabilitation hospitals.
"CRITICAL' FLAW IN DIRECTX: Microsoft Corp. said a "critical" security flaw in one of its programs may allow a hacker to take control of a computer after sending the user an e-mail. The flaw, which the company gave its most severe rating for a security failure, involves DirectX, a program that helps developers build games that run on Microsoft's Windows operating system, Microsoft said on its Web site. The site lists instructions on how to fix the problem.
GE CAPITAL GETS CHAIRS: A bankruptcy court judge Thursday approved a deal that ensures there will still be chairs to sit on at Enron Corp.'s Houston headquarters. Enron agreed to turn over half of the building's furniture, which isn't used by its reduced staff, to GE Capital Corp., which financed the furnishings. GE Capital had wanted all the furniture to be sold or turned over to it.
MICROSOFT BOOSTS R&D: Microsoft Corp. will spend $6.9-billion in the coming year on research and development and add up to 5,000 positions - perhaps 3,500 in the United States alone - as part of its plan to spread its software to wireless phones, video-game consoles and other devices, chairman Bill Gates said. The company's research and development spending, up from last year's $5-billion, will also go toward improving the security of its software and simplifying the task of updating multiple computers in a network.
MORTGAGE RATES CLIMB: Rates on benchmark 30-year mortgages climbed for the fifth week in a row, rising this week to the highest level since the middle of January, a trend that is slowing - but not stopping - refinancing activity. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for the week ending July 25 was 5.94 percent, up sharply from last week's rate of 5.67 percent, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey.
EarningsDaimlerChrysler AG: The world's fifth-largest carmaker said profit in the second quarter dropped 90 percent as its U.S.-based Chrysler unit had a $1.1-billion operating loss because of incentives and lower vehicle sales. The decline was smaller than forecast by analysts, and the stock rose as much as 5.5 percent. Figures are in euros.
MarineMax Inc.: Same-store sales at the Clearwater boat retailer rose 8 percent during the quarter ended June 30 because of new product lines; improvement in MarineMax's parts, service, finance and insurance lines; and the timing of some yacht sales. The company forecast earnings per share of $1.12 to $1.17 in fiscal year 2003 and $1.15 to $1.25 in fiscal year 2004, minus any future acquisitions.
Superior Uniform Group Inc.: The Seminole uniform manufacturer said sales dropped 11 percent for the quarter ended June 30 as a result of the sluggish economy.
Franklin Resources Inc.: The parent company of Franklin-Templeton Investments said net income rose 5 percent for the quarter ended June 30. Assets under management increased to $287-billion as a result of market appreciation and stronger sales. The company, which has a large office in St. Petersburg, has its headquarters in San Mateo, Calif.
Technology Research Corp.: The Clearwater manufacturer of electrical safety products said sales increased 47 percent for the quarter ended June 30 in part due to an order from a sprayer/washer manufacturer. Also, the copany is now selling its power surge strips in about Wal-Mart stores.
AutoNation Inc.: The nation's largest retailer of new and used cars reported slightly higher second-quarter earnings Thursday, as sales creeped up despite a slow economy.
Sony Corp.: The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant reported a 98 percent decline in profit on sales of 1.6-trillion yen ($13.5-billion) for the April-June quarter as sales faltered in key businesses such as electronics, video games, movies and music.
Raytheon Corp.: Stronger defense sales helped Raytheon Corp. swing to a profit in the second quarter. The company's operating earnings slipped but still beat Wall Street expectations.
eBay Inc.: eBay Inc. reported record quarterly profit and revenue Thursday, and the online auction giant announced a two-for-one stock split and boosted its already bullish outlook for the rest of the year.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.: The operators of hotels under brands like Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, and W Hotels said second-quarter profits gained 61 percent, driven in part by regional recoveries. However, revenue declined 2 percent because of the Iraq war, SARS and the global economic slowdown.