Canadian low-fare carrier WestJet has exercised its options on two additional 737-700 jets from the Boeing Co. Terms were not disclosed. The planes have a list price of $47 million to $55 million each, although discounts are common. The order is a follow-on to a deal Boeing and the airline reached in 2000, under which WestJet bought 26 of the planes with the option to take another 48. So far, WestJet has exercised six of those options.
The federal government is investigating a possible steering defect that could affect 714,000 General Motors Corp. vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it has received 357 complaints that the steering in the vehicles locked up or lost power. The vehicles involved are: the 1996-98 Buick Regal; the 1997-98 Buick Century; the 1996-98 Chevrolet Lumina and Monte Carlo; the 1996-97 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme; and the 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue.
Just days after a favorable court ruling, American Express Co. said Monday it is working toward agreements to get its cards issued by American banks by the middle of next year. A federal appeals court last Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling requiring Visa USA and MasterCard International to drop rules that prohibit their member banks from also issuing cards by American Express, Discover and other rivals.
The Treasury Department sold three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.935 percent, up from 0.930 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 1.01 percent, up from 0.995 percent. The new discount rates understate the return to investors – 0.953 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,976.10 and 1.033 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,948.90. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, edged down to 1.21 percent last week from 1.22 percent.
Verizon Communications, which serves Snohomish County and Camano Island, announced an agreement Monday that will enable its customers to turn the telephone number on a home or office line into a wireless number. The arrangement, essentially required by federal rules set to take effect Nov. 24, is designed to help stem the potential loss of customers to rival cell phone companies.
From Herald staff and wire services
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