The top story
The news of lost contracts and delays of its new 787 didn’t seem so bad after the Boeing Co. reported a 38-percent jump in earnings for the first quarter. “Our businesses are progressing well,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing’s chief executive. Boeing stock jumped by 4.5 percent on the news.
The deal
Seattle’s Safeco Corp. was purchased by Liberty Mutual Group Inc. of Boston, which will pay $6.2 billion in cash. The deal will give shareholders a nearly 50-percent premium over the existing share price. Liberty Mutual will take Safeco private. Safeco is an 85-year institution in Seattle. It will continue to sell under its own name and has no plans to change the name of Safeco Field, home of the Mariners.
The loan cushion
Frontier, Cascade and City banks in Snohomish County all saw earnings affected by potential losses in loans to developers and home builders. The companies all made a profit, but they announced that the profits had shrunk a bit and that they would be setting aside additional money to cover bad loans.
The quote
“Some are accurate, certified and verifiable, while others are just plain fibbing to sell products.”
Scott McDougall of TerraChoice, discussing claims made by so-called green products.
The stat
$271.2 billion
The value Boeing places on the 3,600 jets that customers have ordered and not yet received.
The chart
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