Delta Air Lines says it has reached an agreement with Northwest Airlines for a takeover that will create the world’s biggest air carrier. The boards of both companies gave the deal the go-ahead Monday, officials said. Delta says the combined airline will have an enterprise value of $17.7 billion. It will be based in Atlanta, and Delta CEO Richard Anderson will head the combined company.
Shopper spending was slow in March
Consumers, beset by a credit crunch, rising energy and food costs, and a prolonged housing slump, stayed away from shopping centers in March. Retail sales posted only a small increase after a big drop in February. The Commerce Department reported Monday that retail sales edged up 0.2 percent in March after a 0.4 percent decline in February. The March gain primarily reflected higher costs for gasoline, which climbed to record highs. Excluding a big 1.1 percent rise in sales at gasoline service stations, retail sales would have been essentially flat last month.
Labor leaders blame bankers
The AFL-CIO on Monday said “outrageous” pay packages for banking industry executives were partly to blame for the credit crisis, encouraging risky investment strategies that ended up hurting shareholders and consumers. The labor federation, a major shareholder in public companies through union-sponsored pension funds, made the critique as it unveiled its 2008 Executive PayWatch Web site.
Qantas, Pacific Airlines join business forces
Australia’s Qantas Airways and Pacific Airlines of Vietnam announced plans Monday to develop the Asian carrier into a low-cost airline through massive expansion during the next six years. Under a strategic and commercial partnership agreement, the new airline will be renamed Jetstar Pacific and operate as part of the Qantas budget carrier’s brand, Qantas said in a statement.
Major oil find reported in Brazil
A deep-water exploration area could contain as much as 33 billion barrels of oil, an amount that would nearly triple Brazil’s reserves and make the offshore bloc the world’s third-largest known oil reserve, a top oil official said Monday. The state-run Petrobras oil company said in a statement that more studies are needed to determine the potential of what could be the planet’s largest oil find in decades.
T-bill rates drop to four-year low
The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.06 percent, down from 1.45 percent last week. Six-month rates were auctioned at a discount rate of 1.38 percent, down from 1.6 percent last week. The bills are discounted. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,973.21 while a six-month bill sold for $9,930.23. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes to adjustable-rate mortgages, was unchanged at 1.63 percent last week, the same as the previous week.
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