South Korea’s Jeju Air has ordered five narrowbody 737 passenger planes to accommodate future growth, the Boeing Co. said Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chicago-based Boeing, which assembles its 737s south of Seattle, said the new 737-800s are worth $370 million at list prices, though customers typically negotiate steep discounts. The single-aisle plane can seat between 162 and 189 passengers and fly about 3,500 miles. To date, Boeing has won more than 4,400 orders for so-called “Next-Generation” 737s, which include several models from the 737-600 to the 737-900ER. The company has unfilled orders for more than 1,900 planes valued at more than $140 billion at list prices.
Home sales rise slightly
Sales of previously owned homes nudged up in November, but that didn’t improve the broader picture of a feeble housing market racked by record-high foreclosures and harder-to-get credit. The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses rose 0.4 percent in November from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units. Even with the small increase, the pace of sales was still the second-lowest on record going back to 1999.
Identity theft hits new record
The loss or theft of personal data such as credit-card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend isn’t expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information. And while companies, government agencies, schools and other institutions are spending more to protect ever-increasing volumes of data with firewalls and encryption, the investment often is too little too late.
Oil prices end year up 57 percent
Oil prices ended the year near $96 a barrel, or 57 percent higher than where they began, and analysts expect rising demand and geopolitical instability to keep upward pressure on energy costs early in 2008. A record-breaking year for energy futures ended quietly on Monday, with oil futures declining 2 cents to settle at $95.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
T-bill rates mixed in Monday auction
The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.31 percent, up from 3.28 percent last week. Six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 3.39 percent, down from 3.49 percent last week. The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 3.390 percent on Nov. 19. The six-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 3.28 percent on Dec. 17. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,916.33 while the six-month price was $9,828.62. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 3.42 percent last week, from 3.28 percent.
From Herald news services
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