Few companies decided that their stocks were too expensive for average investors last year despite double-digit gains in the major indexes. The number of stock splits, which increase outstanding shares and therefore cuts the price of each one, remained flat among the companies that make up the Standard &Poor’s 500 index, S&P said Tuesday. The 37 stock splits seen in 2005 and again in 2006 were less than the average of 58 per year seen in the past 25 years.
Report criticizes BP refineries
British oil company BP failed to emphasize safety at its U.S. refineries before the 2005 Texas City explosion that killed 15 people, according to a report released Tuesday by an independent panel led by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III. The panel, in a statement summarizing its 300-plus page report on BP PLC’s operations, said the company had made strides in personal accident prevention but came up short on the bigger picture.
Crude oil slides to 19-month low
Oil prices dropped below $52 a barrel to new 19-month lows Tuesday on a report that OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia said further production cuts aren’t necessary right now. Crude oil has fallen more than 16 percent this year in a sell-off triggered by a historically warm winter in the northern United States.
Exxon appeals oil spill damages
Exxon Mobil Corp. is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider its December decision demanding the oil giant pay $2.5 billion to compensate thousands of fishermen and other Alaskans for the 1989 Valdez tanker oil spill. The disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history, soiled 1,500 miles of Alaskan coastline. An Anchorage jury had ordered the company to pay $5 billion in punitive damages, which are meant to punish a company for misconduct. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in the third time it heard one of the nation’s longest running cases, cut the award in half, saying $2.5 billion was enough punishment.
T-bill rates rise in Tuesday auction
The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.975 percent, up from 4.94 percent last week. Six-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 4.95 percent, up from 4.92 percent last week. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,874.24 while a six-month bill sold for $9,749.75. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 5.03 percent last week, up from 4.98 percent the previous week.
From Herald news services
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