Fed leaves interest rate unchanged, but signals new cuts

Herald staff

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left a key interest rate unchanged Tuesday and signaled that it was prepared to cut interest rates if necessary to keep the country out of a recession.

The decision leaves the federal funds rate, the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans, at a nine-year high of 6.5 percent.

Fed-Ex buys modified freighters: Boeing has signed a contract with Federal Express to modify 19 MD-11 passenger airplanes to freighters. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

C-17 cargo model urged: The Air Force proposed Tuesday that Boeing Co. build a commercial version of the new C-17 cargo plane, with the stipulation that the planes could be commandeered by the Air Force in times of war. The idea is to fill part of what the Air Force calls a gap in the military’s long-range airlift capacity while meeting a Boeing objective to provide freighters that can deliver extra-large goods to areas of the world not serviced by major airports or roads.

Weyerhaeuser sued: Two defunct sawmill operators filed a $30 million lawsuit Tuesday against Weyerhaeuser, accusing the wood products company of predatory practices to monopolize the alder lumber industry. The Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, which ran an alder sawmill in Toledo, Ore., and Smokey Point Hardwoods, which operated two in Washington, claim Weyerhaeuser negotiated exclusive contracts with private landowners, intentionally drove up the price of logs and threatened customers, service providers and loggers to eventually win 75 percent of the $300 million industry.

Tuesday prices: Gold sold for $269.55 a troy ounce, silver sold for $4.61 and platinum sold for $603.