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DTCC ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has a contract to buy the former Intermedia Communications network operations center in New Tampa for its new operations center, building owner Highwoods Properties said Tuesday. The price was not disclosed. DTCC will employ about 500 workers earning an average salary of $72,000 at the center in Highwoods Preserve. The company won't start recruiting in Florida for several months, but people can send employment information to Human Resources, DTCC, 55 Water St., N.Y., N.Y. 10041, Attn: Florida Operations Center.
DEVIL RAYS SIGN AD DEAL: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays Television Network, the regional sports network that carries the team's games, has signed a deal with ABC Regional Sports Sales to handle its national advertising, team officials said Tuesday. ABC Regional Sports is a division of ABC National Television Sales, which has similar agreements with the YES Network (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network for the New York Yankees and the New Jersey Nets), the Orioles Television Network, Royals Television Network, and Diamondbacks Television Network.
BofA TO GIVE ACTIVISTS $500,000: Tampa activists will receive $500,000 in grants from Bank of America as part of a $15-million program by the Charlotte megabank's charitable arm to nurture and reward "neighborhood excellence." A group of community leaders in Tampa will decide which organizations and individuals will receive grants that recognize their work. Bank of America said it developed the Neighborhood Excellence Initiative after community leaders said they needed help to build non-profit organizations and to give opportunities for young people to serve in their neighborhoods. Tampa is one of 30 communities targeted.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE HOLDS: The Consumer Confidence Index barely budged in May, edging up to 93.2 from a revised 93.0 reading in April, as an improving outlook about jobs offset worries about rising gasoline prices and heightened political uncertainty overseas, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The latest reading was slightly below the 94 figure that analysts had expected. "Consumer confidence is at a level that is consistent with modest economic growth," said Mark Vitner of Wachovia Corp. He said what will keep the index in the mid 90s is the mixed job picture.
APRIL HOME RESALES NEAR RECORD: Buyers propelled sales of previously owned homes in April to the second-best month on record, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. Sales of existing homes clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.64-million last month, representing a 2.5 percent increase over March. In the South, they went up by 3.5 percent to a pace of 2.67-million. The national pace was second only to the 6.68-million rate in September 2003. Economists were expecting sales to dip in April to a rate of 6.45-million. The average price of a previously owned home in April was $176,000, a 7.3 percent increase from a year ago.
CRIST SUBPOENAS OIL COMPANIES: The price of gas has become "ridiculous," says Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist. Tuesday he subpoenaed eight oil companies for documentation on the cost, production, inventory and pricing of gasoline. The companies are BP Products North America Inc., Chevron-Texaco, Citgo, Conoco-Phillips, Exxon-Mobil, Marathon Ashland, Motiva Enterprises and Amerada Hess.
WCI BUYS NORTHEASTERN BUILDER: WCI Communities of Bonita Springs said Tuesday that it has acquired Spectrum Communities, a home builder and developer in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The sale price was not disclosed. Spectrum is the first acquisition outside Florida for WCI, whose developments include Sun City Center in south Hillsborough County.
SBC, UNION REACH AGREEMENT: SBC Communications Inc. reached a tentative contract guaranteeing jobs to its more than 100,000 union employees early Tuesday, hours after the workers' planned four-day strike came to an end, union and company officials said. Communications Workers of America leaders say the five-year deal, which is subject to member ratification, improves wages and strengthens job security for the employees it represents in 13 states. The tentative agreement guarantees no layoffs of employees currently on the payroll for the life of the agreement.
FORMER TYCO ANALYST FINED: A former Merrill Lynch analyst who once gave a $4,500 case of wine to the head of Tyco International has been fined $225,000 and suspended from the industry for a year for providing "misleading and skewed research," the National Association of Securities Dealers said Tuesday. Phua Young's coverage of Tyco International Ltd. and Honeywell International Inc. violated industry rules and hurt investors, the NASD said. Young, 48, covered Tyco and Honeywell from 1999 through April 2002, when Merrill fired him. The NASD filed a civil complaint against him a year later in May 2003. Young consented to the fine without admitting or denying guilt, the NASD said.
DEFAULT: HealthSouth Corp. said Tuesday bondholders had declared the rehabilitation giant in technical default because of its failure to file new financial statements as it tries to recover from a huge accounting scandal. The company said it was current on all payments. The notice could force the company to repay debt on an accelerated schedule, but new CEO Jay Grinney said he doubted the dispute would come to that. More than 250 people are working to reconstruct HealthSouth's books after years of fraudulent entries, and Grinney said the new, audited statements likely won't be ready before next year.
SCHWAB CHOPS COMMISSIONS: Charles Schwab Corp., the biggest discount brokerage, is cutting trading commissions by as much as 67 percent to win customers from lower-cost competitors. In the biggest change to Schwab's pricing since introducing $29.95 Internet trades in 1998, Schwab will drop commissions to $19.95 for most customers and to $9.95 for customers with at least $1-million at the firm. The price cuts may cut revenue by 2 percent to 3 percent in the next year, Schwab said.
4-WEEK T-BILLS RISE: The Treasury sold $21-billion in four-week securities at a discount rate of 0.91 percent, up from 0.9 percent the previous week and the highest since 0.91 percent on May 4. The return to investors was 0.926 percent for the bills, with a $10,000 Treasury bill selling for $9,992.90.
GRASSO SAYS HE'LL COUNTERSUE: Dick Grasso, former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, is mounting his defense by going on the offense. Grasso, who was sued Monday by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over his $139.5-million pay package, said in a Wall Street Journal column that he would countersue the exchange and chairman John Reed for the rest of his pay and seek damages for leaks that hurt his reputation. In the column, Grasso, 57, said the suit was politically motivated and that it "defies credibility" for Spitzer to say that the NYSE board that approved his pay was uninformed. The suit omitted the directors, including former New York Comptroller and NYSE compensation committee head H. Carl McCall.
EARNINGSKrispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.: Krispy Kreme reported its first quarterly loss since going public in 2000 after warning earlier this month that the low-carb diet craze was hurting its results. The chain also said the loss included charges for its planned divestiture of its Montana Mills Bread Co. chain and other restructuring charges. Earnings were in line with analysts' estimates.
H.J. Heinz Co.: The food maker reported sharply higher profits for its fourth fiscal quarter as a weak dollar aided sales internationally. Excluding one-time charges, earnings per share were 58 cents per share, matching the forecast of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.