Stocks pull back from high point
By TIMES STAFF and TIMES WIRES
Published October 18, 2006
Wall Street retreated Tuesday from attempts to push the Dow Jones industrial average to 12,000. Stocks snapped a three-session rally that had propelled the Dow to within three points of reaching the psychologically important milestone for the first time. Investor confidence also was dealt a setback by the Labor Department inflation report.
Gas price free fall throttles inflation
Wholesale inflation, helped by a record plunge in gasoline prices, dropped by the largest amount in more than three years in September. Industrial production was down sharply, too. The reports Tuesday were viewed as evidence that the slowing economy is lowering inflation pressures. Wholesale prices fell by 1.3 percent, nearly double the expected decline, as the cost of gasoline sank by 22.2 percent, the biggest drop on record, the Labor Department reported. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities fell by 0.6 percent, the worst showing since Hurricane Katrina.
T-bill rates rise
The U.S. Treasury sold $16-billion in three-month bills at a high discount rate of 4.94 percent. The Treasury also sold $15-billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 4.935 percent. At last week's auction, the three-month bills' rate was 4.85 percent and the six-month bills drew a rate of 4.89 percent.
JetBlue selling bargain fares
For the next two days, JetBlue Airways will offer one-way nonrefundable fares as low as $59 between Florida and Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. The nontransferable fares are valid only for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and tickets must be purchased by midnight Thursday. Also, travel must be completed by Dec. 15 and the fares require up to a 14-day advance purchase. JetBlue flies to seven cities in Florida, including Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota/Bradenton and Fort Myers.
Workers' comp rate rise denied
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty rejected a request for higher workers' compensation rates Tuesday, calling instead for a decrease in rates. The National Council on Compensation Insurance had proposed a decrease in workers' comp premiums, citing a drop in the frequency of injured workers' claims and a reduction in the cost of those claims since a 2003 change in state law that aimed to cut fraud and abuse in the system.
FedEx pilots approve contract
Pilots for FedEx have approved a new, four-year work contract, the company and the pilots' union announced Tuesday. Almost 95 percent of the pilots voting on the work agreement approved it, the announcement from the Air Line Pilots Association.