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TRADE DEFICIT HITS $54-BILLION: The trade deficit jumped to the second-highest level in history as surging demand for foreign oil swamped a small gain in U.S. exports, the government reported Thursday. America's trade gap with China hit an all-time high as retailers stocked up on cell phones, toys and televisions in preparation for Christmas sales. The worse-than-expected trade performance in August - a deficit of $54-billion - represented a 6.9 percent widening from July's trade gap of $50.5-billion. The record monthly deficit was set in June at $55-billion.
15,000 FILE JOBLESS CLAIMS: The Labor Department said Thursday the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted level of 352,000. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out weekly changes, rose by 4,000 to a seven-month high of 352,000. The report reflects a labor market that is continuing to disappoint economists' expectations. The country added a lower-than-expected 96,000 jobs in September as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent.
SEC PROBES SUNTRUST: The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry into circumstances surrounding SunTrust Banks' recent announcement that it is restating earnings and disciplining some top financial employees, the Atlanta bank said Thursday. A SunTrust spokesman declined to discuss details. On Monday, SunTrust said it expects to restate earnings higher for the first and second quarters of 2004 because of an error in entering the data used to calculate loan loss allowances.
NABJ COMING TO TAMPA IN 2009: The National Association of Black Journalists, the nation's largest organization of journalists of color, will stage its national convention and career fair at the Tampa Convention Center in 2009. The meeting is expected to draw 3,500 media professionals and fill 4,700 room nights in local hotels. Tampa was a finalist in the bidding against Chicago and San Diego.
AT&T TO OFFER NEW LOCAL CALLING PLAN: AT&T Corp., the biggest U.S. long- distance telephone carrier, said it will sell a $19.99-a-month Internet-based local calling plan to attract residential customers who make few long-distance calls. The plan will offer unlimited local calls and 4-cent-a- minute long-distance calls in the United States and Canada, AT&T said. It will be offered in 170 major markets, representing 62 percent of U.S. households, starting Sunday.
FORMER RITE AID EXEC SENTENCED: Former Rite Aid Corp. vice chairman Franklin Brown was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for playing a leading role in an accounting-fraud scandal that drove the pharmacy retailer to lower previously reported earnings by $1.6-billion more than four years ago. U.S. Middle District Judge Sylvia Rambo said she would recommend that Brown be placed in a federal medical facility, sentenced him to two years on probation after his release and fined him $21,000.
STARBUCKS TO TRIPLE NUMBER OF STORES: Starbucks Corp. plans to more than triple the number of its worldwide outlets to 30,000, with half of those in the United States. That's up from a previous goal of 25,000 stores worldwide, including 10,000 U.S. locations. A big focus of that growth will be in America's suburbs and small towns, chief executive Orin Smith said. Many of the new outlets will be drive-throughs. Starbucks has about 8,500 stores, including about 6,100 in the United States.
NORTHWEST PILOTS HAVE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT: Pilots for Northwest Airlines Corp. said Thursday negotiators have agreed to $265-million in annual concessions. As part of the tentative agreement, Northwest managers agreed to $35-million in concessions of their own. Union leaders still must vote on whether to recommend the two-year proposal to pilots.
US AIRWAYS GETS FINANCING EXTENSION: US Airways Group Inc., the No. 7 U.S. airline, won an extension of a financing agreement allowing it to use $745-million pledged as collateral to the federal government and other lenders. The Air Transportation Stabilization Board and lenders including the Retirement Systems of Alabama and Bank of America agreed on Oct. 11 to extend a plan giving US Airways access to the cash to help fund daily operations. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell approved an extension until Jan. 15 at a hearing Thursday. The original agreement would have expired today.
NETFLIX TO CUT PRICE: Netflix Inc., the largest mail-order video-rental service, said it will cut its monthly subscription price on Nov. 1 to $17.99 a month from $21.99 a month in preparation for Amazon.com Inc. offering a competing service.
EARNINGSCheckers Drive-In Restaurants Inc.: Checkers said same-store sales at company-owned locations rose 15.3 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 6 versus the prior year, while same-store franchise sales grew 8.4 percent.
Net income at the Tampa burger chain, however, fell to $1.6-million, or 13 cents per share, from $2.5-million, or 20 cents per share, in 2003. Nearly three-quarters of Checkers and Rally's restaurants, the company's two brands, are franchised.
"We have remained keenly focused on containing costs to lessen the continuing impact of high food commodity prices on our operating margins," said Keith Sirois, chief executive officer and president. "Thankfully, we experienced limited damage from the recent hurricanes."
UnitedHealth Group: The nation's largest health insurer reported a nearly 47 percent surge in third-quarter earnings on Thursday, helped by widespread gains across its businesses. The company also raised its outlook for the full year. It now expects full-year earnings of $3.92 per share, up a nickel from its previous prediction.
Knight Ridder Inc.: The second-largest newspaper publisher in the country, whose newspapers include the Miami Herald, reported an 11 percent increase in third-quarter earnings Thursday mainly because of a one-time tax gain. All of the company's large-market papers did well in the period with the exception of Miami, which was hurt by the effect of hurricanes in September.
Southwest Airlines Co.: The discount airline reported a 12 percent jump in third-quarter profits on Thursday, as its decision to buy fuel in advance helped insulate the low-cost carrier from rising oil prices. But executives warned competitive pressures could hurt revenues in the current quarter.