Boeing renews seven per month rate for 777s
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Boeing Co. has returned to a rate of seven airplanes per month on the 777 production line in Everett, the company said Monday. The company announced in March 2010 that it would increase production on the 777 to seven jets monthly by mid-2011. Boeing has slowed production on the twin-aisle jet du
ring the recession. “This rate increase reflects the strong demand for the 777,” said Larry Loftis, 777 vice president and general manager, in press statement. Boeing recently rolled out the first 777 built at new rate, which reduces start-to-finish production of a 777 to 49 days from 52. The company plans to continue ramping up production on the 777 to a rate of 8.3 aircraft monthly by early 2013. The 777 had won 48 new orders this year through the end of April and has a backlog of 280 airplanes, Boeing said.
Credit card users control spending
The nation’s top six credit card companies provided further evidence Monday that card users are more in control of their spending and payments. All but one of the banks reported that late payments and defaults on card balances, which also back card-based securities, hit new multi-year lows for April. Only Bank of America said defaults rose, and its rate remained at a two-year low. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank said balances considered uncollectible, or charge offs, as they’re known in the industry, rose to 8.25 percent of balances on an annualized basis last month, up from 8.18 percent in March. Despite the increase, the rate is well below its August 2009 peak of 14.53 percent.
Bing relying heavily on Facebook results
Microsoft’s Bing search engine is leaning more heavily on Facebook to make its results more meaningful than Google’s. Starting Monday, Bing’s search results will vary depending on whether the person making a request is logged into Facebook’s online social network at the same time. This means that a link that Bing’s standard ranking formula would have buried on fourth or fifth page of results might appear on the first page if the information had been recommended by friends within the searcher’s Facebook circle. Bing also is adding several other search features and tools that draw upon the preferences shared among Facebook’s more than 500 million members.
Buffett ups stake in MasterCard Inc.
Warren Buffett’s company added a new stake in MasterCard Inc. during the first quarter, but made few other changes in its holdings. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. filed a quarterly update on its $53.6 billion U.S. stock portfolio with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The filing shows Berkshire’s holdings on March 31, and it revealed 216,000 shares of MasterCard. The filing also shows Berkshire sold 8,000 of its 29.1 million ConocoPhillips shares.
From Herald staff and news services
