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Jabil buys Texas panel repair facility

By wire services
Published December 8, 2005

Jabil Circuit Inc. said Wednesday it has acquired a facility in Round Rock, Texas, that repairs 20,000 to 25,000 LCD and plasma display panels a month.

The St. Petersburg manufacturer said it acquired the plant from Incline Global Technology Services Inc. but did not disclose terms. Jabil said it expects demand for the repair services to grow along with sharp growth in sales of LCD and plasma displays.

Consumer borrowing plunged at a record annual rate of $7.2-billion in October, reflecting a big drop in auto loans. The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that the decline was the biggest ever in dollar terms, and included a record drop of $5.6-billion rate of decline in the category that includes car loans. The dollar declines translated into a drop of 4 percent in overall borrowing, the biggest percentage setback in nearly 15 years, and a decline of 4.9 percent in the category that includes auto loans, the biggest percentage drop in 13 years.

Microsoft plans to nearly double its work force in India over the next four years, investing $1.7-billion and adding 3,000 jobs in a vote of confidence in one of the world's fastest-growing markets. The investment would be among the largest an information technology company has made in the country of 1-billion people that Microsoft Corp. has long viewed as having huge potential in human capital and for sales.

General Motors Corp. said Wednesday it is in talks with billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian about giving his company representation on GM's board of directors. GM said it had no further comment. Kerkorian's private equity company, Tracinda Corp., also had no comment. Tracinda owns nearly 10 percent of GM and had previously said it might approach the automaker about getting a seat on the board.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the country want to charter their own bank to capitalize on business generated by tens of millions of members who have or plan to open health savings accounts as they gain popularity. Thirty-one of the group's affiliates plan to form Blue Healthcare Bank, but Blue Cross and Blue Cross of Florida Inc. does not intend to participate, at least at first, a spokesman for the national association said.

Gold prices rose Wednesday on fund buying, hitting a 24-year high. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December gold futures, or spot gold, rose $4.10 to finish at $514.30. Spot gold has not traded at that level since 1981.

George Buckley, who shook up the marine industry when he ran boatmaker Brunswick Corp., was appointed chairman and CEO of the diversified manufacturer 3M Co. on Wednesday.

About one in four Internet users are hit with e-mail scams every month that try to lure sensitive personal information from unsuspecting consumers, a study says.

Of those receiving the phony e-mails, most thought they might be from legitimate companies - 70 percent were fooled by the e-mails, said the report.

The study released Wednesday by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance looked at Internet security and "phishing scams," which use official-looking e-mails to induce recipients into typing in personal details.

The study found nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, 74 percent, use their computers for sensitive transactions such as banking, stock trading or reviewing medical information. That leaves phishers with a good chunk of Internet users to target.

The researchers conducted in-home interviews with more than 350 Internet users nationwide. The researchers also reviewed the e-mails received by those households.

Florida space officials will ask airports around the state whether they eventually will be able to adapt their facilities for launching commercial vehicles into space, officials said Wednesday.

Using existing airport runways would help keep spaceport construction costs down for airplane-style horizontal launches, said Tracy Hegler, director of planning and spaceport transportation for the Florida Space Authority during a teleconference of the authority's Board of Supervisors.

Airports in Titusville and Cecil Field in Jacksonville have made inquiries about being the site of a future spaceport in Florida. Some developers envision space planes that would take off and land just like commercial airplanes.

"We would like to work with any airports that are interested," Hegler said.

FRIDA, THE TEQUILA: The heirs of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo have launched a line of high-end spirits using the name and likeness of the style icon, hoping to capitalize on the growing popularity of expensive liquor in fancy packaging. "Tequila was her favorite drink, and she drank a lot of it," said Mara Romeo Pinedo Kahlo, a grand-niece who was an infant when Kahlo died in 1954. Kahlo tequila starts at $50 for a 750-milliliter bottle of the standard blanco, a clear tequila that hasn't been aged, and rises to $90 for anejo tequila, which has been aged in American oak casks. The tequila is being introduced in Miami, Los Angeles and New York, though distribution may expand to Las Vegas.

KMART TO STOCK DIEHARDS: A day after Sears Holdings Corp. chairman Edward Lampert committed to putting more Sears products in Kmart stores, the retail company said Wednesday it is introducing DieHard batteries in nearly 1,400 Kmarts nationwide.

Information from the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:49:13]