July 6, 2004

U.S. Job Growth
Slows

U.S. job growth slowed sharply
in June as employers cut the pace of new hiring after several months of
robust gains, the government reported on Friday. The figures were
especially striking after three months of very strong payrolls growth.
The Labor Department said 112,000 jobs were created last month, less
than half the 250,000 that Wall Street analysts had forecast. Still, it
was the 10th straight month in which payrolls grew. In a separate report
on Friday that implied a leveling off in the economic pace, the Commerce
Department said new orders at U.S. factories slipped 0.3 percent in May
on top of a 1.1 percent decline in April, the newswire
reported.

Union Asks ATA Flight
Attendants to OK Givebacks     

A union representing ATA
Airlines flight attendants is asking its members to accept $8.9 million
in concessions to help the financially burdened Indianapolis-based
airline, Reuters reported. Shares of the carrier, a unit of ATA Holdings
Corp., on Friday fell to their lowest point since June 2003, to $5.17 in
afternoon trading. Cabin crews will begin voting July 9 on the
givebacks, which would add to $43 million in concessions over two years
that a majority of ATA's 1,000 pilots agreed to this week. Earlier this
year, the discount carrier narrowly averted bankruptcy when it closed a
deal with bondholders that allowed it to exchange $300 million of old
debt and pushed back the majority if its bond payments to 2009 and 2010,
the newswire reported.

Citigroup to Pay $15
Million to NYC Pensions

Citigroup Inc. has agreed to
repay New York City pensions at least $15 million related to the
collapse of National Century Financial Enterprises, the company and city
said on Friday, Reuters reported. The pensions lost $80 million due to
debt investments in National Century, which declared bankruptcy in
November 2002, a joint statement said. The agreement includes the
immediate payment of $15 million and potential future payments depending
on the city's ability to collect damages from other parties, the
newswire reported.

Adelphia Jury Completes Week
Without Verdict

A federal jury on Friday
finished its first week of deliberations without reaching a verdict in
the securities fraud trial of Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John
Rigas and three other former executives, Reuters reported. The jury,
after an 18-week trial, will resume deliberations next week over whether
John Rigas, his sons and another executive conspired to cheat investors
and looted the company to buy stock for themselves and fund extravagant
lifestyles. Prosecutors have charged the four former executives with
multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud and
conspiracy, Reuters reported.

Burger King CEO Blum Leaves
in Midst of Turnaround

Burger King Corp. on Friday
said its CEO, Brad Blum, has left the company after 18 months on the job
due to strategic differences with the company's board of directors,
Reuters reported. The departure of Blum, Burger King's ninth CEO in the
last 15 years, was seen by analysts as a blow to a chain that has just
recently begun to regain its footing in the competitive U.S. fast-food
market. Privately held Burger King in a statement said it hopes to make
a decision on Blum's replacement by Aug. 1. Burger King, which has about
7,700 restaurants in the United States, most of which are franchised, is
owned by a private equity group consisting of Texas Pacific Group, Bain
Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, the newswire
reported.

Maxim Crane Creditor Objects
To Final DIP Loan Deal

Maxim Crane Works LLC creditor
Ray Anthony objected to the company's request for final approval of a
$70 million debtor-in-possession loan and cash collateral agreement,
saying the deal would hurt other creditors. The crane sales and rental
company has interim approval to borrow up to $25.51 million from some of
its senior secured lenders led by Fleet National Bank and Goldman Sachs
Credit Partners L.P. The Fleet National group has claims of about $480
million. A hearing on final approval of the DIP loan, which had been
scheduled for Thursday, was postponed to July 13 at the request of the
official committee of unsecured creditors, a company spokeswoman
said.

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Court Approves Kaiser
Aluminum Future Silica Claims Representative

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. has taken
a step toward addressing some of the many personal injury claims filed
against the company through the chapter 11 process. The court overseeing
the aluminum maker's bankruptcy case recently appointed Houston attorney
Anne Ferazzi to serve during the bankruptcy process as the
representative for people who will make claims against Kaiser in the
future related to silica exposure and certain other personal injury
claims. Ferazzi said exposure to silica can cause silicosis, an upper
lung field disease, similar to asbestosis. It has also been linked to
lung cancer and could possibly cause autoimmune disorders.

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U.S. Board Frugal with Loan
Guarantees to Airlines

Airlines received less than
half the loan guarantees they sought from the U.S. government since the
2001 hijackings, with taxpayers backing just under 16 percent of $10
billion in available assistance, Reuters reported. Created by Congress
to help airlines get private loans when credit markets dried up after
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Air Transportation Stabilization Board
a week ago rejected the final and largest application to the program, a
$1.1 billion request from bankrupt United Airlines. Labor groups, some
airlines and lawmakers have criticized the three-member board for not
taking a 'longer view' of how denying bids would impact thousands of
workers, airports and the communities that carriers serve.

The board approved six of 16
applications, guaranteeing $1.56 billion to passenger and cargo airlines
to support $1.74 billion in private loans. The government agreed to back
between 80 and 90 percent of private financing for each airline with
guarantees maturing in five to seven years, the newswire
reported.

Parmalat Plan Approval Seen
In Days-Italy Minister

Italian Industry Minister
Antonio Marzano expects his ministry to give the go-ahead to insolvent
food group Parmalat's restructuring plan within days, Reuters reported.
Parmalat filed for insolvency in December after revealing a
multi-billion-euro hole in its accounts. Under its restructuring plan,
creditors will take shares in a new company in exchange for cancelling
much of Parmalat's 14 billion euro ($17 billion) debt.   'We
are examining the plan, we'll do it within days, once there's a
comprehensive indication from the oversight committee,' Marzano said on
the sidelines of a conference. Administrator Enrico Bondi handed a final
draft of the plan to the government a week ago, the newswire
reported.

Judge Approves Air Canada
Deal with Cerberus

An Ontario Superior Court judge
has approved Air Canada's C$250 million ($190 million) investment deal
with a unit of New York investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, the
airline said on Friday, Reuters reported. The insolvent airline plans to
emerge from bankruptcy protection on Sept 30. Its unsecured creditors
are scheduled to vote on its restructuring plan on Aug. 17.