Steadfast Properties has received an $84.1 million loan package for its acquisition, renovation and operation of Everett Mall. Newman Financial Services of Denver, Colo., said Friday that the loans it provided include more than $14 million for the new Village Center retail building. It will be a 100,000-square-foot shopping addition on the site of a former strip mall west of the main mall. Californiabased Steadfast bought Everett Mall in June from Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States for $50.2 million.
Trade deficit hits another record
The U.S. trade deficit hit a record $55.82 billion in June as the country’s foreign oil bill surged to an all-time high, the government reported Friday. Soaring energy costs also showed up in wholesale prices for July, although a big drop in food costs helped keep the overall increase in the Labor Department’s Producer Price Index down to a modest 0.1 percent. While food costs fell by 1.6 percent in July, the biggest one-month decline in more than two years, energy prices shot up by 2.3 percent, the biggest gain in six months.
Google IPO avoids last-minute delay
Google Inc. forged ahead with its IPO auction on Friday, even as the online search engine leader acknowledged a newly published magazine interview with its founders contained misleading information. The admissions, made in a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, enabled Google to avoid a last-minute delay in its long-awaited initial public offering.
Crude oil futures keep going up
The threat of oil output disruptions in Iraq, Russia, Venezuela and beyond has thrust crude futures above $46 a barrel for the first time – the latest run-up coming even after Saudi Arabia offered the market all it had. If global demand continues to rise at current rates, don’t expect cheap fuel prices anytime soon, analysts said.
EBay buys chunk of online ad network
Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said Friday it had purchased a 25 percent stake in craigslist, a popular online network of classified ads and forums. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The stake was purchased from a former craigslist employee who first contacted eBay with the proposed sale, craigslist officials said. The auction giant in turn approached craigslist, which prides itself on being a profitable, community-driven, privately run business and maintains it is not looking for corporate buyers.
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