OPEC is considering an output cut of between 700,000 and 1 million barrels of oil a day, the group’s secretary general told Venezuelan state news agency Venpres on Thursday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s proposal to reduce production to stem a slide in oil prices, Ali Rodriguez told Venpres news agency by phone from Vienna. Chavez, who is on a tour of Europe, is trying to build consensus within OPEC to defend oil prices, which have been sliding since last month’s terrorist attacks. In a meeting last month, OPEC decided to leave production intact, saying it did not want to aggravate a fragile world economy after the Sept. 11 attacks. The group is scheduled to meet Nov. 14 in Vienna to re-evaluate the market.
Rapidly dropping interest rates pushed down Lynnwood-based City Bank’s third-quarter earnings, the banking company said Thursday. Earnings for the quarter totaled $5.025 million, which works out to 50 cents a share. That’s down from $5.045 million, or 51 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2000. The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates a full percentage point since the Sept. 11 attacks, which lowered City Bank’s interest income faster than it lowered its interest expenses. For the first nine months of the year, net income was $15 million, up 7.5 percent from last year’s total of $13.9 million for the same period.
NBC announced in New York Thursday that it is buying Telemundo Communications Group Inc., the No. 2 Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, for about $2 billion in cash and stock. The deal would give NBC a strong foothold in the burgeoning arena of Hispanic media, which has attracted the attention of major media conglomerates due to the rapidly growing Hispanic population. Hispanic media has been expanding even as other media businesses have slumped due to the poor advertising climate, which was worsened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ford Motor Co. has settled lawsuits with the families of 26 people injured and five people killed in 11 rollover accidents in the Southwest involving Explorers equipped with Bridgestone/Firestone tires, one of the attorneys representing the families said. Phoenix attorney Robert Boatman said Ford has been “aggressive” in settling their cases, and had apologized. Terms of the latest settlements were not disclosed. Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the automaker stands by the safety of the Explorer, which she said is one of the safest vehicles on the road, according to real-world data. Ford now has settled more than 100 Firestone tire-related lawsuits. It plans to continue to pursue settlements even after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled last week that it had no evidence the design of the Explorer contributed to accidents involving tire tread separations and rollover accidents that killed 271 people and caused injuries to more than 800 people.
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