Herald staff
REDMOND — Microsoft Corp. plans to build a huge office park in the suburban foothills of the Cascade Range that, if fully built, would rival in size the software company’s Redmond headquarters.
Company executives Tuesday showed plans for an initial, 800,000-square-foot office complex, which would accommodate 2,000 to 4,000 workers, to Issaquah’s Urban Village Development Commission.
Factory orders rebound: Stronger demand for airplanes and electronics helped orders to American factories bounce back in August after a record plunge. Economists said the report is further evidence the economy is growing at a slower but still healthy pace. Factory orders rose a surprising 2 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted $382.5 billion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. August’s increase came on top of a record 8.1 percent drop in factory orders in July, a greater drop than originally reported.
Wednesday’s prices: Gold sold for $271.35 a troy ounce, silver for $4.92 and platinum for $582.00.
Dell expects earnings drop: Dell Computer Corp. warned Wednesday that sluggish sales in Europe and among small-business customers worldwide will drag the company’s third-quarter revenues down about 3 percent below expectations. The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker said it remains on track to meet profit expectations for the third quarter but that fourth-quarter per-share earnings could be 1 to 2 cents below company targets if the soft sales continue into the fourth quarter.
