30-year mortgage rates rise to 4.14%
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose slightly this week, reversing a five-week downward trend.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., said the average rate for a 30-year loan edged up to 4.14 percent from 4.12 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage climbed to 3.23 percent from 3.21 percent.
Housing began to recover in 2012, but higher mortgage rates, tight credit and a limited supply of available homes have slowed momentum recently. Mortgage rates are about a quarter of a percentage point higher than they were at the same time last year.
-- The Associated Press
Comcast seeks OK on Charter transfers
Comcast Corp. asked regulators to approve transactions that will leave Charter Communications Inc. with 3.9 million more customers and may ease the approval process for its purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc.
Comcast and Charter in a filing Thursday told the Federal Communications Commission the transfers will benefit the public.
The arrangement could help Philadelphia-based Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, appease critics of its proposed $45 billion takeover of No. 2 Time Warner Cable by reducing the combined company's market share to less than 30 percent.
Comcast has touted the deal with Charter as a concession to regulators who will vet its Time Warner Cable acquisition. Critics, including U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., have said that Comcast will be too large, have too much power and try to raise prices for consumers.
The deals need approval from the FCC and Justice Department.
-- Bloomberg News
Japan's misery index highest since '81
Mieko Tatsunami finds Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to reflate Japan's economy hard to digest.
"The price of everything we eat on a daily basis is going up," Tatsunami, 70, a retired kimono dresser, said while shopping in Tokyo's Sugamo area. "I'm making do by halving the amount of meat I serve and adding more vegetables."
Tatsunami's concerns stem from the price of food soaring at the fastest pace in 23 years after April's sales-tax increase. Rising prices helped push the nation's misery index to the highest level since 1981, while wages adjusted for inflation fell the most in more than four years.
With food accounting for one quarter of the consumer price index and the central bank looking to drive inflation higher, a squeeze on household budgets threatens consumption as Abe weighs a further tax increase. The prime minister may be forced to ease the pain with economic stimulus, cash handouts or tax exemptions championed by his coalition partner.
"Price hikes without confidence that wages are going to rise will hurt appetite for spending," said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo. "Abe has to raise people's belief that the economy will improve."
Food prices rose 5 percent in April from a year earlier, with fresh food climbing 10 percent. Onions soared 37 percent, and salmon -- a staple of the nation's lunch boxes -- jumped 30 percent. Abe lifted the sales tax by 3 percentage points on April 1.
-- Bloomberg News
American Airlines plans new Texas hub
FORT WORTH -- The parent of American Airlines plans to build a new operations center in North Texas to oversee flight planning, dispatch and monitoring.
American Airlines Group Inc., formed by the carrier's 2013 merger with US Airways, made the announcement Wednesday in a letter to affected employees.
The Dallas Morning News reports the company did not disclose a location for the new facility, other than saying it won't be far from headquarters in Fort Worth. Officials cited the need for more space and upgraded technology for replacing a nearby operations center.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports American hopes to break ground within 30 days.
American Airlines and US Airways merged in December, resulting in two flight centers.
American in January announced plans to close an operations center near Pittsburgh.
-- The Associated Press
Big EU wheat crop to further cut prices
LONDON -- Wheat farmers in the European Union, who produce about 20 percent of world supply, will begin harvesting the largest crop in six years in the next few weeks, compounding a global surplus as prices slump.
The 28-nation EU may produce 160.82 million tons in the season that starts July 1, according to the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That's bigger than the European Commission's forecast of 159.81 million tons and the largest since the 2008, when the world's farmers expanded output to take advantage of record prices.
More wheat from Romania to Britain is adding to global inventories that rose for the first time in three years after record crops in 2013. Demand is slowing and output is rising from importers including China and Brazil. By year-end, wheat futures in Paris may drop 15 percent to about $220 a ton, the survey showed. Prices fell 9.1 percent from a four-month high in April, when violent conflicts between Russia and Ukraine sparked concern Black Sea exports would be disrupted.
"I struggle to be anything but bearish," said Chris Gadd, an analyst at Macquarie Group in London. "In Europe, the crops look absolutely fantastic, and in Eastern Europe as well as the Black Sea region, there are no real issues as yet."
-- The Associated Press
Coach to offer discounts at U.S. stores
Coach Inc., the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, will begin discounting purses at its North American full-price stores, breaking from tradition to combat sluggish sales and mounting competition.
Coach will offer goods on sale twice a year -- in June and January -- said Andrea Resnick, a company spokesman. New York-based Coach had been one of the few fashion and luxury industry companies that refused to discount goods in its domestic stores.
"As part of our brand transformation, we are evolving our North American promotional model to be more in keeping with other fashion, lifestyle and luxury brands," Resnick said. The move is consistent with what Coach already does overseas.
In the new sales, Coach will cut prices for some end-of-season and discontinued merchandise by 30 percent to 50 percent, Liz Dunn, an analyst at Macquarie Group in New York, said in a note to clients Thursday. A presale will be available by invitation today through Thursday, after which the event will be open to everyone, she said.
Resnick didn't elaborate on the details of the sales.
"We have never seen an outright sale on handbags in Coach stores and we are not entirely sure what the customer reaction will be," Dunn said in her note. "The first sale will likely be met with criticism from the investment community and confusion from customers."
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 06/06/2014