After months of negotiations, China is expected to sign a contract to buy Boeing Co. aircraft at a Commerce Department ceremony today, government and Boeing officials said. Boeing spokesman Bob Saling said the aerospace giant and Chinese officials planned to sign the paperwork, but cautioned, “There is still not a firm order.” Before the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, spokesmen for China’s carriers had said they were considering buying 36 Boeing jetliners worth as much as $2 billion. Any large order would give a much-needed boost to Boeing, which has said business will slow and that it is laying off up to 30,000 workers.
Three-month Treasury bills sold at a discount rate of 2.32 percent Monday. Six-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 2.325 percent. The three-month rate was down from 2.38 percent last week. The six-month rate was down from 2.36 percent last week. Both were at their lowest point since 1961. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors – 2.364 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,941.40 and 2.384 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,882.50. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 2.49 percent last week from 2.6 percent the previous week.
A new postage stamp reflecting the surge of patriotism in the wake of the terrorist attacks will be unveiled today by the Postal Service. Reportedly it will show a large American flag above the words “United We Stand.” While this stamp is planned for the standard first-class rate, some members of Congress have proposed a stamp with a surcharge to raise money for the families of those killed at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Reps. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Christopher Shays, R-Conn., have introduced a bill to create the new surcharged stamp at a rate of 40 cents, with the extra 6 cents designated for the victims’ families.
The Federal Reserve, faced with an America gripped by fears of more terrorist attacks, is expected today to push a key interest rate to its lowest level in four decades in an effort to get consumers spending again. In the wake of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, consumer confidence has plunged by the largest amount since the Persian Gulf War. Both of the major readings of consumer sentiment – done by the Conference Board in New York and the University of Michigan – show that confidence has been badly jolted by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
From Herald news services
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