HOUSING CONSTRUCTION SLOWS: The number of housing projects builders broke ground on in January declined by the largest amount in nearly a year as bad winter weather played havoc with construction activity. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the number of residential buildings under way dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.9-million units, representing a sharp 7.9 percent drop from December's stellar pace of 2.07-million units. That had been the best pace since February 1984. Although economists were predicting a slowdown, last month's performance was weaker than the pace of about 2-million units that analysts were forecasting.
CLEARWATER BEACH HOTEL RE-OPENS: The Marriott hotel brand made its debut on the Pinellas County beaches Wednesday when the 15-year-old Radisson Suites on Sand Key reopened as the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach. The 220-room property emerged from a more than $5-million renovation. The hotel remains the property of Cedarwood Companies of Akron, Ohio, and is managed by Winegardener & Hammonds of Cincinnati.
DREYER'S TAKES CONTROL OF HAAGEN-DAZS: General Mills sold the franchise rights for U.S. and Canadian Haagen-Dazs ice cream stores to Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. on Wednesday. The value of the cash transaction wasn't disclosed. Dreyer's said the financial effect would not be material. The acquisition means Dreyer's now handles all manufacturing and marketing of Haagen-Dazs ice cream in the United States. General Mills still owns the Haagen-Dazs brand and the rights to sell it elsewhere, spokeswoman Marybeth Thorsgaard said.
ISG DEALS FOR WEIRTON STEEL: International Steel Group Inc. struck a $255-million deal for bankrupt Weirton Steel Corp. on Wednesday, giving the 2-year-old company a chance to surpass U.S. Steel as the nation's largest steel producer. ISG, based in Cleveland and built from the remains of other struggling or bankrupt steelmakers, would acquire one of the nation's largest tin-plate mills if its offer for Weirton wins approval from a bankruptcy judge. Given the complexity of the sale and the need for an agreement with the Independent Steelworkers Union, Weirton chief executive D. Leonard Wise said ISG will likely prevail in the court-run auction required to complete the deal.
DISNEY HIRES TAKEOVER FIGHTER: Martin Lipton, the New York lawyer known for creating takeover defenses such as the "poison pill," was hired by Walt Disney Co. to help repel a $54.1-billion hostile takeover by Comcast Corp. Disney's board rejected Comcast's offer as inadequate Monday, saying it would consider higher offers. Hiring Lipton, 72, is a sign Disney CEO Michael Eisner may take more steps to thwart the bid, such as creating a poison pill, said James Cox, a Duke University law professor who teaches mergers and acquisition law.
SCHREMPP'S CONTRACT EXTENDED: German-U.S. automaker DaimlerChrysler said Wednesday it would extend CEO Juergen Schrempp's contract by three years to 2008, and named the head of the company's services division, Bodo Uebber, as its new chief financial officer. Also, Thomas LaSorda will move up to chief operating officer, putting a U.S. auto industry veteran in the No. 2 post at the Chrysler division. The current Chrysler No. 2, Wolfgang Bernhard, will return to Germany to take over the company's Mercedes Car Group on May 1.
4-WEEK T-BILLS HOLD EVEN: The U.S. Treasury sold $19-billion worth of four-week securities at a discount rate of 0.895 percent, the same as last week. The return to investors was 0.916 percent, with a $10,000 Treasury bill selling for $9,993.00.
NEW 4-BLADE RAZOR COMING: As Schick and Gillette wrestle in court over Schick's four-bladed Quattro nondisposable shaving system, Universal Group, which sells the Noxzema and Old Spice shaving cream and razor brands, and the Kai Group, Japan's leading disposable razormaker, planned to announce a partnership to sell the first four-blade disposable razors. The men's and women's products will hit shelves in May at prices ranging from $4 to $5 for a three-pack. Gillette debuted the first two-blade shaving system in 1971, but it was Kai that broke the three-blade barrier in 1998. That held until last year, when Schick-Wilkinson Sword introduced Quattro, the shaving system that is currently the subject of patent litigation.
PARMALAT FOUNDER IN HOSPITAL: Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, who is under arrest for his alleged role in the food giant's near-collapse, was hospitalized Wednesday after feeling ill in jail. His lawyer, Fabio Belloni, told Italian news agencies that Tanzi felt ill Wednesday morning. The condition did not "have serious consequences," Belloni told the ANSA news agency, but added that Tanzi has lost 26 pounds since his December arrest. Tanzi was arrested Dec. 27 and is in a prison in Parma near the headquarters of the company he once ran. He was the first of about a dozen people arrested in the fraud scandal that forced Parmalat into bankruptcy protection.
YAHOO DROPS GOOGLE ENGINE: Yahoo! Inc. has stopped using search software provided by competitor Google Inc. and is offering a new search engine based on technology acquired in its purchase of Inktomi Corp. 11 months ago. Yahoo is ending its partnership with Google as the two companies compete for advertisers and Google prepares for an initial public offering. Google's own Web site has surpassed Yahoo's as the most used for Web searches. Microsoft Corp. has said it will also develop its own search engine for its MSN Internet sites as it tries to attract more advertisers.
"HH' BONDS' END IN AUGUST: The Treasury Department, citing high administrative costs and relatively low demand, said that after Aug. 31 it will stop issuing new "HH" savings bonds, which pay interest to their owners semiannually. Existing HH bonds, which have a 20-year interest-bearing life, will continue to earn interest until they reach maturity. Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the department, said that there are $13.3-billion worth of Series HH bonds outstanding and they account for the smallest slice of the total $204-billion savings bonds program.
UNITED UPDATES COLOR SCHEME: A more image-conscious United Airlines, seeking to fill more seats with business travelers as it prepares to exit bankruptcy, began displaying a new color scheme on its planes Wednesday and kicked off its first new advertising campaign in four years. The moves come a week after United launched its discount carrier named Ted, which also was aimed at grabbing attention with a new image and flashier colors than United's traditional and understated blue-and-gray scheme. The nation's No. 2 airline unveiled two planes in San Francisco on Wednesday with the new look: a dark blue belly, a bright white top and a large "United" emblazoned on the front sides of the plane.
VIRUSES BATTLING FOR CONTROL: Computer virus authors are battling to replace one another's creations on infected personal computers at an accelerated pace that may damage users' data, security researchers say. Four new viruses have infected PCs in the past week, each trying to remove viruses previously planted on the machines, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering for Symantec Corp.'s Security Response division. Netsky.b, a worm that began spreading rapidly in e-mail Tuesday night, is programmed to remove the Mydoom and MyMail viruses that spread in January, he said. Another virus, Welchia.b, also attacks other viruses.
FRONTIER TO LAND IN PHILLY: Discount carrier Frontier Airlines plans to begin service to Philadelphia International Airport. The Denver airline has scheduled a news conference today to provide "details about the new destination, including schedules and introductory fares," Frontier said. Frontier was launched in 1994 from the ashes of a former airline by the same name and began with two planes and 180 employees. It now flies to 42 cities in 22 states and in Mexico. Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest discount airline, plans to begin flying out of Philadelphia in May. The discount carriers hope to lure business from struggling US Airways, which has a hub in Philadelphia.
SPAM COUNT DOUBLES IN JANUARY: Unsolicited e-mail, or spam, more than doubled to 700-billion messages in January as home personal computers were taken over by viruses, security researchers said. The amount of spam worldwide rose from 310-billion unwanted messages in December. As much as 15 percent came from home PCs infected with computer viruses such as the Mydoom worm, said D.K. Matai, chairman of Mi2g, a computer security firm based in London, citing reports from law enforcement authorities.
