BUSINESS BRIEFS
FCC OKs rules to ensure TV analog reception to 2012
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission approved rules yesterday that it says will ensure that millions of cable subscribers will still be able to watch broadcast programming after the digital television transition in 2009.
The FCC says approximately 40 million households are analog-only cable subscribers. Yesterday's ruling will require cable operators to guarantee analog cable customers will receive broadcast channels until February 2012.
Meanwhile, on the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, the commission also approved new rules that will allow police and firefighters to better locate cell phone callers who dial 911 in an emergency.
U.S. TRADE DEFICIT DECLINED IN JULY
WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit declined slightly in July, helped by record exports that offset the biggest foreign oil bill in nearly a year. But even a spate of recalls did not stop the deficit with China from climbing to the second-highest level on record.
The trade deficit edged down 0.3 percent in July to $59.2 billion, compared with $59.4 billion the month before, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. It was the lowest monthly imbalance since April.
So far this year, the deficit — which hit $758.5 billion last year — is running at an annual rate of $711 billion. Many private economists believe stronger economic growth overseas, a weaker dollar that makes American exports more competitive and slower growth at home will help lower the deficit after five consecutive years of record imbalances.
MORE CAN'T AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE
WASHINGTON — The increasing cost of health insurance is putting coverage out of reach for many small to midsize companies and their workers, even though the rise in premiums this year was the lowest increase in eight years, according to new report released yesterday
Since 2001, the cost of premiums has gone up 78 percent, far outpacing a 19 percent increase in wages and 17 percent jump in inflation, according to a survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a healthcare research group that annually tracks the cost of health insurance.
This year, the cost of premiums paid by workers and their employers was up 6.1 percent, while wages rose an average of 3.7 percent and inflation went up 2.6 percent, the survey said. Kaiser estimates that between 1 million and 2 million people join the ranks of the uninsured every year.
CHIPMAKER SEES BETTER 3RD QUARTER
DALLAS — Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. narrowed its third-quarter forecast yesterday, saying it expects earnings of 49 to 53 cents per share on revenue between $3.56 billion and $3.72 billion.
In July, the company said it expected fiscal third-quarter earnings between 46 cents per share and 52 cents per share on revenue between $3.49 billion and $3.79 billion.
The July sale of a semiconductor product line associated with DSL equipment boosted the per-share estimate by 2 cents, the company said.
MOODY'S EXPECTS HIGHER DEFAULT RATE
NEW YORK — Defaults among companies with speculative-grade credit are likely to triple over the next year, underscoring the recent weakness in the debt markets, Moody's Investors Service said yesterday.
The default rate is expected to climb from 1.4 percent in 2007 to 4.5 percent in 2008 and 5.6 percent in 2009, according to Moody's projections. Default rates would likely climb even higher if the economy were to go into recession, said Daniel Gates, Moody's chief credit officer for corporate finance.
A 4 percent default rate is in line with historical averages. During the most recent downturn in the cycle, default rates reached 11 percent in January 2002.
Investor appetite for speculative-grade debt has all but disappeared in the past two months. The troubles began as delinquencies and defaults among subprime mortgages — loans given to customers with poor credit history — rose rapidly.
MCDONALDS HAS A TERRIFIC AUGUST
OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald's Corp. reported impressive August sales yesterday, attributing a better-than-expected 8.1 percent increase in same-store results to strong demand for its breakfast items, drinks and new Chipotle chicken wrap as well as a continuing turnaround in Europe.
The monthly sales report sent shares in the world's largest restaurant company up more than 4 percent in morning trading and helped propel the Dow Jones industrial average higher.
The Oak Brook-based chain said its U.S. same-store sales grew 7.4 percent, which exceeded analysts' estimates. Besides the product popularity, some areas' later start to the school year also helped.
YAHOO ADDS ADS TO ONLINE NETWORK
SAN FRANCISCO — In a move to beef up its marketing muscle, Yahoo Inc. will sell most of the display advertising for England's leading online social network, Bebo.
The partnership extends Yahoo's efforts to boost advertising revenue from other Web sites besides its own and snap out of a financial funk that has sapped its stock and shaken up management.
