WASHINGTON — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Today we must confirm Greece’s new credibility.We choose whether we want to stay in the eurozone ... or return to the drachma.That is the choice.”
Antonis Samaras,
Greek prime minister Article, 1D
Fannie Mae posts $1.8 billion profit
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae earned $1.8 billion from July through September, helped by an improving housing market that has lifted home prices. The government-controlled company said Wednesday that it paid a dividend of $2.9 billion to the U.S. Treasury and sought no additional federal aid.
This was the third profitable quarter since Fannie Mae, officially the Federal National Mortgage Association, was taken over by the government during the 2008 financial crisis. The net income compares with a net loss of $5.1 billion in the same period last year.
“We are seeing signs of sustained improvement in housing,” Fannie Mae chief executive Timothy Mayopoulos said in a statement.
The government rescued Fannie Mae and smaller sibling Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., after both incurred big losses on mortgages. Taxpayers have spent about $116 billion to rescue Fannie Mae. So far, the company has repaid the government $23 billion.
Freddie Mac said Tuesday that it earned $2.9 billion in the July-September quarter and paid a dividend of $1.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury. Fannie and Freddie are required to pay 10 percent dividends on the government money they receive.
- The Associated Press
13 cities, counties get $2.4 million
Community Development Block Grants worth $2.4 million have been awarded to 13 cities and counties in Arkansas, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said Wednesday.
The grants come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Development Block Grant program.
To qualify for the grants, communities must have a population below 50,000 and a majority of households must be low to moderate income, according to a news release.
The cities that received grants are: De Queen, $178,090 for waste water lines; Elkins, $203,000 for a senior citizens center; Haynes, $142,200 for a youth entrepreneur center;
Monticello, $203,000 for a senior citizens center; Peach Orchard, $122,646 for a safe room; Plainview, $190,000 for a child-care center; Pleasant Plains, $300,000 for a childcare center; Siloam Springs, $203,000 for a senior citizens center; Stuttgart, $220,000 for a roof for the community center; and Trumann, $82,500 for an adult education center.
Counties receiving grants are: Boone County, $203,000 for a senior citizens center; Sevier County, $325,000 for a county health unit; and Woodruff County, $116,160 for a food pantry.
- Jessica Seaman
UA business team wins competition
A University of Arkansas team won the Bowersox Graduate Supply Chain Challenge held late last month at Michican State University.
The winning team was made up of master of business administration students from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at Fayetteville. The UA team won $5,000 and donated half of its winnings to the university’s Full Circle Campus Food Pantry.
Teams from nine of the 15 top-ranked schools in supply-chain management competed in the third annual contest, according to a news release. The Ohio State University team finished second and Michican State took third.
UA team members were Zack Hall of Springdale, Amberle Morgan of Farmington, Jason Schloss of West Plains, Mo., and XaioYan Zheng of Tianjin, China.
- John Magsam
UA business college boosts program
The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has established a Master of Business Administration Advisory Board to enhance the associated programs offered by the Graduate School of Business.
The group will focus on methods to improve the fulltime, executive and MBA in Panama programs offered by the college, according to a new release.
Board members will work to improve the Walton MBA brand, increase alumni involvement by acting as program ambassadors, and raise the profile of the business college at the state, regional and national level.
The board consists of Vikas Anand, business college MBA director, as chairman; Marion Dungan, the assistant dean of the Graduate School of Business; and 15 alumni from the program.
- John Magsam
Entergy Corp. names head of 2 units
NEW ORLEANS - Entergy Corp. said Phillip May Jr., 50, will be the next chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of two subsidiaries.
He will succeed William Mohl, 53, in those positions for both Entergy Louisiana LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana LLC, the utility company said Tuesday. On Feb.
1, Mohl is to become president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities.
May has worked for Entergy for 26 years, and has been vice president of regulatory services for Entergy’s utility business since 2002.
Entergy owns and runs power plants able to put out 30,000 megawatts of electricity, more than 10,000 megawatts of that from nuclear plants. It delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenue of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.
- The Associated Press
Iran’s inflation rate climbs to 24.9%
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s Central Bank said the country’s annual inflation rate hit 24.9 percent in October compared with 24 percent the previous month.
The figure, reported by the official IRNA news agency Wednesday, was one of the highest inflation rates since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office seven years ago.
Iran’s national currency, the rial, lost about 50 percent of its foreign-exchange value in less than a week in October, hitting an all-time low of 35,500 versus the dollar. It currently stands at about 32,000, and was close to 10,000 in early 2011.
The decline has been blamed on a combination of government mismanagement and sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program.
- The Associated Press
Business, Pages 34 on 11/08/2012