Cascade Financial Corp. will pay shareholders a 7-cents-per-share dividend next month. Combined with a previously announced 5-for-4 stock split, the dividend effectively will be raised 75 percent from the payment the bank company made to shareholders during the same period last year, Cascade officials said. The dividend will be paid Jan. 22, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 7. Cascade raised its dividend from 5 cents to 7 cents in September. It announced the stock split on Dec. 1.
The Boeing Co. has completed its extended operations certification tests on the new 777-300ER. Boeing put two of the extended range planes through 267 hours of tests on 38 separate flights. One flight, on one engine, lasted 6 hours 29 minutes, the longest-ever single-engine test flight ever. The longest flight lasted 18 hours 25 minutes, between Sydney, Australia, and Recife, Brazil. Boeing expects the plane to get certified by U.S. and European regulators in March. The first 777-300ER will be delivered in April to Air France, which is leasing it from International Lease Finance Corp.
Labor unions in the Czech Republic demanded Monday that stores stop playing Christmas carols incessantly or pay compensation for causing emotional trauma to sales clerks. Some stores here play the same songs all day – and play them loudly. Employees say shifts have become unbearable.
The Bush administration is looking at making larger SUVs, such as the Hummer H2, Ford Excursion and GMC Suburban, and large pickup trucks comply with federal fuel economy standards for the first time. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration also said Monday it is seeking comments on whether to change the definitions of cars and light trucks.
The Treasury Department sold three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.87 percent, down from 0.885 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 0.97 percent, down from 0.98 percent. The new rates understate the actual return – 0.884 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,978.30 and 0.992 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,951.20. 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 1.27 percent last week from 1.31 percent the previous week.
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