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Small business health insurance rate drops
By wire services
Published November 10, 2005
The proportion of small businesses that provide health insurance to their workers has fallen to 69 percent in Florida, down from 80 percent in 2002, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.
Meanwhile, 59 percent of small business owners surveyed said their health-insurance costs rose by 10 percent or more this year. One-third of the employers bore the increase themselves.
Quality COO to serve as president as well
Gary Enzor, chief operating officer of Tampa transportation company Quality Distribution Inc., added the title of president on Wednesday.
Bush nominates two for FCC posts
President Bush on Wednesday nominated Deborah Tate, a Tennessee regulator, to fill a vacant Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission. Also, Democrat Michael Copps, whose term expired June 30, was renominated for a five-year term. Both must be confirmed by the Senate.
Error forces GM to restate 2001 earnings
General Motors Corp. said Wednesday it plans to restate its earnings from 2001 because an accounting error led the company to overstate its earnings by up to 35 percent. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, GM said its 2001 earnings were overstated by about $300-million to $400-million.
Liberty hires former Oracle exec as CEO
Liberty Media Corp. said Wednesday it is focusing on the future of its interactive business, hiring former Oracle Corp. finance chief Gregory Maffei to head the company and creating a tracking stock for home shopping network QVC and related assets. Liberty's chairman and chief executive John Malone said the tracking stock would encompass as much as 85 percent of Liberty's equity assets and could lead to a spinoff.
Blackstone Group to buy La Quinta Corp.
Hotel chain La Quinta Corp., which operates or franchises 600 hotels under the La Quinta, Baymont and Woodfield brands, said Wednesday it agreed to be acquired by equity firm Blackstone Group for about $2.3-billion in cash. Blackstone will pay $11.25 in cash for each "paired" La Quinta share, a 37 percent premium over La Quinta's Tuesday closing price of $8.22.
Frito-Lay to cut jobs
PepsiCo Inc.'s Frito-Lay snack foods division plans to cut as many as 250 jobs as part of a broader cost-cutting restructuring by its parent company that will result in a $65-million to $85-million pretax charge against earnings. Frito-Lay said Wednesday the cuts will be made mostly in its Plano, Texas, headquarters and other offices throughout the United States.
Boeing going from Hong Kong to London - nonstop
A Boeing Co. jet took off Wednesday from Hong Kong, trying to break the record for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet - a trip that involves flying over the Pacific Ocean and North America before landing in London.
"We plan to smash the current record," said Capt. Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, one of the four pilots of the 777-200LR Worldliner, one of Boeing's newest planes. A Boeing 747-400 flew 10,500 miles from London to Sydney in 1989.
The flight was expected to take about 23 hours and cover 11,664 miles, Boeing said. Guinness World Records representatives will attend the landing at London's Heathrow Airport, expected between 8 and 8:30 a.m. EST today.
You can add "ATM denial fee' to bank's bottom line
Just when you think you've heard it all, here's a new one - a bank that charges you a fee for not giving you your money.
If you're a Bank of America customer and you try to take out money at another bank's automated teller machine, better not ask for the wrong amount.
If you request more than your daily limit or more than your available balance, though the transaction will be canceled, Bank of America will charge you $1.50.
That's right. You pay $1.50 if you ask for an amount that exceeds the maximum Bank of America will allow you to take out of the ATM.
The bank calls it an ATM denial fee, and Bank of America has charged it for several years, spokeswoman Tara Burke said. But it was unpublicized until a recent report on an MSNBC.com blog called "The Red Tape Chronicles" by journalist Bob Sullivan.
Reps for several banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wachovia, said they don't charge a similar fee.
Shaq makes shoe for the budget-minded
Shaquille O'Neal signed a five-year, $40-million deal with Reebok when he entered the league with the Orlando Magic in 1992.
But the combination of wanting to run his own shoe business and a dressing down from a woman in Orlando who cried to the center about the high cost of his shoes persuaded O'Neal to launch his own line.
"She was crying so much, I reached in my pocket and handed her some money," O'Neal said of the Orlando woman. But she didn't want money. Instead, she begged O'Neal: "When is somebody going to make some shoes affordable?"
That's how O'Neal formed his Shaq and Dunkman brand shoes, which will retail for less than $40 at Payless ShoeSource starting Dec. 1. Today's athlete signature shoes run $90 to $125.
Other chatter
KFC HAS BIRD FLU COMMERCIALS READY IF NEEDED: In coming days, KFC will have television commercials ready to reassure customers that its chicken is safe to eat if there is a bird flu outbreak. The chicken chain said it hopes the spots never have to air, but it's taking no chances in the face of a potential threat to business. "We'll keep them on the shelf and hope not to use them," said Jonathan Blum of KFC's parent.
NEW YORK TIMES GETS 135,000 ONLINE SUBSCRIBERS: The New York Times Co. said Wednesday it had signed up about 135,000 paying subscribers to its new online service that offers access to Op-Ed columns and other premium content. TimesSelect launched Sept. 19 and is free to home delivery subscribers. Nonsubscribers can get access to the service for $49.95 a year or $7.95 a month.
DID TOILET SEAT PLAINTIFF MAKE A SIMILAR CLAIM BEFORE? A man who sued Home Depot Inc. last month claiming a prank left him glued to a toilet seat made a similar allegation about another restroom more than a year ago, said Ron Trzepacz, former director of operations for the town of Nederland, where Bob Dougherty lives. Trzepacz told the Rocky Mountain News that Dougherty told him in the summer of 2004 he was glued to a toilet seat in the town's visitor center but pulled himself free. Dougherty's lawyer, Mark Cohen, denied his client made such a claim and said Dougherty, 57, is willing to take a polygraph test.
Information from the Associated Press, New York Daily News and South Florida Sun-Sentinel was used in this report.
EARNINGS
Federated Department Stores Inc.: The Cincinnati operator of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department store chains said profit climbed more than fivefold from last year, aided by a large gain from the sale of credit card accounts.
US Airways Group Inc.: The airline company that was bought by America West Holdings Corp. in September posted a sharply wider loss because of merger-related expenses and fuel costs. The quarterly report contained 88 days of operations at America West and four days of the combined results of the new company, which retains the US Airways name.
Cisco Systems Inc.: The San Jose, Calif., network equipment maker posted lower fiscal earnings in the first quarter but higher sales after it was required to take into account the expense of employee stock options for the first time.
Delphi Corp.: The Detroit auto parts supplier that filed for bankruptcy protection last month said its losses widened because of the high cost of labor and materials and production cuts at its former parent, General Motors Corp.
[Last modified November 10, 2005, 01:20:16]
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