Frontier Financial Corp., which trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol FTBK, will buy back up to 5 percent of its outstanding shares over the next two years, board members have agreed. Frontier has 19.7 million shares outstanding and had previously repurchased 864,100 shares. Frontier Financial Corp., headquartered in Everett, is the parent company of Frontier Bank, which operates thirty-eight banking offices in Western Washington.
Production should be delayed for a next-generation fighter jet that is the subject of the largest Pentagon contract ever because the jet’s technology isn’t at a high enough standard, congressional investigators said Friday. The finding by the General Accounting Office, Congress’ investigative arm, comes a week before the Pentagon is to award the Joint Strike Fighter’s $225 billion production contract. The GAO said in a report that the jet will cost more, take longer to produce and have lower performance. Boeing Co. is competing with Lockheed Martin Corp. for the contract and has said it would add 3,000 workers if it wins the job.
A temporary jump in gasoline costs pushed consumer prices higher in September, but lower energy costs since then, along with the slumping economy, should keep inflation subdued. The Consumer Price Index, a closely watched inflation gauge, climbed 0.4 percent last month after a tiny 0.1 percent advance in August, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The U.S. trade deficit shrank to $27.1 billion in August, the smallest imbalance in nearly two years, as the weak economy depressed Americans’ demand for computers, televisions and other foreign goods. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the August deficit was 7 percent lower than the revised July deficit of $29.2 billion as imports fell for a fifth consecutive month.
WestCoast Hospitality has signed a letter of intent to purchase the Red Lion hotel chain, essentially doubling the size of the Spokane company. Under the deal announced Thursday, WestCoast is buying 42 Red Lion hotels and five DoubleTree hotels from Hilton Hotels, which acquired Red Lion in November 1999 with the purchase of Promus Hotel Corp. With the deal, which is subject to negotiation of final terms, WestCoast would grow from 8,600 rooms to more than 16,000 rooms in 93 hotels in 15 states.
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