Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

Retail rally falls short of expectations

By TIMES WIRES
Published December 28, 2006

Retail sales surged in the last days before Christmas, but not as much as expected, two reports confirmed Wednesday, putting more pressure on stores to get shoppers to open their wallets in the final days of December. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, same-store sales rose 2.0 percent for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week and 1.7 percent compared with the year-ago period. Same-store sales are sales at stores open at least a year. ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 45,000 retail outlets, reported sales for the week ended Saturday increased 5.2 percent over the year-ago period.

Report sends Apple shares on wild ride

Shares of Apple Computer Inc. went on a roller-coaster ride Wednesday, falling almost 5 percent before rebounding to close at $81.52, up a penny, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. That came on the heels of a report by the Recorder, a San Francisco publication owned by American Lawyer Media, that federal prosecutors are investigating whether former Apple Computer Inc. officials forged documents to maximize executives' profit from stock options. Steve Dowling of Apple said the company is providing the Securities and Exchange Commission with the results of its internal investigation into its stock options granting practices, but had no further comment Wednesday.

Virgin America hits federal turbulence

The government tossed a roadblock in the path of startup airline Virgin America on Wednesday, ruling the company must change its ownership and corporate structure before it can receive an operating certificate. The Department of Transportation said it was tentatively denying Virgin America's application because it doesn't meet the requirement that the president and two-thirds of the board of directors are U.S. citizens, and that at least 75 percent of the voting interest be owned or controlled by U.S. citizens. Virgin America had planned to begin flights in 2007.

Local, national gas prices keep rising

The price of regular-grade gasoline rose 2 cents last week to an average of $2.34 a gallon nationwide. Prices have climbed 14 cents since early November. According to AAA, the average price in Florida was $2.36 Wednesday, up from $2.26 a month earlier. In the Tampa Bay area, regular unleaded averaged $2.31, up 10 cents over a month earlier.

Aluminum workers agree to new deal

About 830 hourly workers at aluminum manufacturer Alcoa Inc.'s Cleveland Works narrowly approved a contract Wednesday to end a nearly eight-week strike and will be back at their jobs Tuesday. Salaried workers had been running the plant since employees belonging to the United Auto Workers Local 1050 struck on Nov. 6. Shirl Castro, a strike captain for the local, said key issues for workers were easing requirements for mandatory overtime and giving retirees more health care insurance coverage options.

[Last modified December 27, 2006, 23:09:38]