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ABI offices will be closed on Jan. 17 in observance of the
Martin Luther King holiday. Headlines will be posted on Tuesday,
Jan. 18.
January 14, 2005
Consumers Spent More in
December
Retail spending rebounded
sharply in December, the government reported yesterday, the New York
Times reported. The Commerce Department reported that retail
and food service sales picked up from a flat November and reached a 1.2
percent growth last month - pushing sales for 2004 to more than $4
trillion, 8 percent above their level in 2003. Economists predicted that
shoppers would keep on spending through 2005. 'Consumer spending is
quite firm,' said Jan Hatzius, senior
States
you go out several years, spending is going to slow a lot. But it is
unlikely that this is going to happen quickly,' he said, the newspaper
reported.
Trial
Lawyers Courting New Senate Allies for Tort Battles
Faced with a larger Republican majority and the departure of several
Democratic allies in Congress, the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America (ATLA) is working to raise its public profile as it fights
President Bush's push for class-action, asbestos and medical malpractice
legislation, CongressDaily reported. This week, ATLA
launched a weekly 'e-newsletter' that aims to counter arguments made by
proponents of Bush's legal agenda. Other ATLA sources said the group is
working to increase its core base of congressional support, which
suffered a blow with the departure of former Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle and Commerce ranking member Ernest (Fritz) Hollings (D-S.C.).
ATLA, along with a coalition of more than 90 consumer, environmental and
civil rights groups, is urging senators to reject a bipartisan
class-action bill that Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) plans to
move to the floor early next month. More than 60 senators have pledged
support for the legislation, which is expected to mirror last year's
compromise Senate bill, the newswire reported.
Subprime Lenders Discriminate, Study
Concludes
People who live in
predominantly minority neighborhoods are 35 percent more likely to be
charged prepayment penalties on their home mortgage loans than borrowers
who live in largely white neighborhoods, according to a study released
yesterday, the Washington Post reported. The Center for
Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research firm, based its findings on a
study of 1.8 million subprime home purchase loans made across the
States
The center said these prepayment penalties -- charged by lenders when a
borrower pays off a mortgage before its due date, usually to get a new
loan at a lower interest rate -- have resulted in 'severe financial
losses for families or, even worse, foreclosure.' Read the full
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8140-2005Jan13.html'>article.
Judge Backs
US Airways Financing Plan, New Jets
A federal judge yesterday
approved bankrupt US Airways' cash finance deal with a federal
government board and another arrangement, allowing the airline to take
delivery of nine regional jets, Reuters reported. The Air Transportation
Stabilization Board (ATSB) decision to let US Airways use cash from a
federal loan through June 30 is crucial to the carrier's plan to emerge
from bankruptcy this summer. Judge Stephen Mitchell of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia also allowed the
airline to take delivery of nine regional jets -- six from Brazilian
manufacturer Embraer SA and three
from
Bombardier Inc., the newswire reported.
Southwest,
ATA to Start Code-sharing in February
Southwest Airlines will start
its first code-share deal on Feb. 4 with its partner, bankrupt ATA
Airlines, Southwest said yesterday, Reuters reported. The code-share,
the first such arrangement for both airlines, allows Dallas-based
Southwest to book passengers on flights to popular destinations it
currently does not serve. Code sharing allows the two airlines to
cross-market their services and sell seats on each other's flights. The
code-share deal, already approved by
the
overseeing ATA's bankruptcy, is a cornerstone of a $117 million
agreement finalized last month to bail out ATA and strengthen Southwest,
the newswire reported.
name='6'>Owens
Asbestos Trial May Set Cost Precedent
Owens Corning, driven into
bankruptcy by personal injury lawsuits, is set to find out what it will
cost to settle hundreds of thousands of claims by people who say that
asbestos in the company's products made them sick, Bloomberg News
reported. U.S. District Judge John Fullam began hearings yesterday in
how much Owens Corning may owe to at least 200,000 people who have filed
claims. An estimated 650,000 people could become sick in the future, say
plaintiffs' lawyers who argue Owens Corning should pay at least $18.6
billion. Creditors of the bankrupt company, led by Credit Suisse First
Boston, contend Owens Corning's asbestos liability is as low as $1.4
billion, the newswire reported.