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Business Today

Franks joins board of Bank of America

By TIMES WIRE
Published December 14, 2005

Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks was named Tuesday to Bank of America's board, effective at its January meeting.

Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis cited Franks' experience in managing "large, very complex operations and logistics" and his ability to develop strategy and lead. Franks, 60, was head of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, where he oversaw combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003.

DirecTV Inc. will pay $5.35-million to settle charges that its telemarketers called households listed on the national do-not-call registry to pitch satellite TV programming, Federal Trade Commission officials said Tuesday. The settlement, if approved by a federal judge, would be the FTC's largest civil penalty in a consumer protection case.

An Orlando circuit court levied a $54,750 fine against Sports Authority Florida Inc. for violating state telemarketing laws. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had sued the company after consumers complained of receiving automated, prerecorded sales calls. The judge will deal separately with Sports Authority's alleged violations of the state's do-not-call law, which lets consumers opt out of telemarketing pitches.

For the first time, the state of Florida has achieved a AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, the company's highest, a report Tuesday showed. The report also notes the state's benchmark debt ratio - the percentage of revenue needed to make bond payments - was down. The state spends $5.36 of every $100 it collects to pay its bond debt compared to $6.12 two years ago.

Gov. Jeb Bush's administration will spend $6-million to boost the state's construction work force by putting the money toward training programs that can quickly get carpenters, roofers, and other workers on to job sites. The money will go to a variety of training programs that will provide two- to eight-week training courses aimed at increasing the number of people trained for entry-level jobs in roofing, masonry, concrete work, carpentry, plumbing and other trades.

Retail sales posted a moderate increase in November as plunging gasoline prices left consumers with money to spend at the mall. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose by 0.3 percent last month, slightly weaker than the 0.4 percent increase that analysts had been forecasting.

The walking, childlike robot from Honda Motor Co. can serve tea, push a mail cart and gallop along at twice its previous pace - the latest in the Japanese automaker's quest to replicate human movement.

The 51-inch talk, bubble-headed robot named Asimo has shown it can jog, walk up stairs, wave, avoid obstacles and carry on simple conversations. But in a demonstration this week at Honda's Tokyo head office, a new version of the robot showed off new skills its maker hopes will make the robot more handy around the office.

Honda illustrated how Asimo might serve as a receptionist of the future. Equipped with a sensor that can read microchips in identification cards, the robot recognized a woman approaching from behind, and turned to greet her by name.

It then demonstrated further potential as a host by taking a tray of coffee cups from the woman with its own hands and carrying it to a nearby table where it set the tray down for imaginary guests. It also pushed a four-wheeled cart around on stage.

Honda began dabbling with humanoid robots in 1987 and now has 40 Asimos worldwide.

The brutal beer war between Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Miller Brewing Co. has a new participant - and he's Super Bowl bound.

Bud Light is launching a new ad campaign that focuses in part on an irreverent character named Ted Ferguson, the Bud Light daredevil, who puts on a helmet and safety goggles to perform goofy but "dangerous-sounding" feats around the office, at home and elsewhere.

Bud Light, made by Anheuser-Busch, also has a new tag line: "Always Worth It."

Busch refuses to disclose its Super Bowl plans until close to game time, but the line and Ferguson will likely see lots of action during the event, where Busch perennially is the biggest advertiser by a wide margin.

400-MILLION BOOK PLANE TICKETS ONLINE: About 400-million passengers around the world are booking their flights over the Internet each year, a decade after the technology was inaugurated, a technology firm owned by airlines said this week. The airline industry is saving an estimated $1.2-billion a year by not having to pay flight reservation fees for the tickets sold online, said SITA Information Networking Computing.

Best Buy Co. Inc.: The nation's biggest consumer electronics retailer said its profit declined 7 percent, as higher expenses outstripped an increase in revenue.

Information from the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune was used in this report.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:14:15]