Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008

The Buzz On Business

OIL, GOLD PRICES FALL AS MIDEAST FEARS EASE: Wall Street's fears about fighting in the Middle East eased Tuesday, sending oil and gold prices lower. Contracts for February delivery of the metal fell $1.70 to settle at $873.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold remains higher than mid-November's levels, when it was hit by heavy selling by hedge funds and other large investors trying to raise cash. The price of oil also declined Tuesday after Israeli officials said the nation was considering a 48-hour halt to its four-day air campaign on Hamas to see whether Palestinian militants would stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel. Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 99 cents to settle at $39.03 a barrel on the Nymex. In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose about a penny to settle at 87.45 cents a gallon, while heating oil gained less than a cent to settle at $1.2853 a gallon.

RUMORS SEND APPLE SHARES UP, DOWN: Shares of Apple Inc. were on their way to a gain Tuesday, with the rest of the stock market. Then came yet another report that Chief Executive Steve Jobs was in failing health. Apple stock sank from about $88 to $84.72 in a matter of minutes shortly before 10 a.m., then recouped about half of the loss to finish at $86.29, down 32 cents for the day. The new report on Jobs' status, on the Gizmodo Web site, cited a source saying he was in "rapidly declining" health. The Apple co-founder, who is 53, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 but has said he was cured with surgery. As the Los Angeles Times reported Dec. 17, however, "appearances over the summer, in which Jobs looked unusually thin and drawn, renewed questions about his health." Rumors flared again this month after Apple said Jobs would not deliver the keynote address at January's Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

GMAC LOOSENING LENDING STANDARDS: A $5 billion government bailout aimed at reviving General Motors Corp.'s ability to make car and truck loans has dealers hopeful that cash-strapped consumers will return to their showrooms. GMAC Financial Services, the automaker's troubled financing arm, on Tuesday loosened its tight lending standards, which in recent months have made it more difficult for would-be car buyers to get loans. GMAC's move marks the first time a financial institution has said it will use money from the $700 billion bank bailout to offer more affordable credit to consumers. Detroit-based GM said it was offering 0 percent or low-interest financing on some slower-selling 2008 and 2009 models over the next week -- a promotion made possible by the billions provided to GMAC.

CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES FALL AGAIN: The average annual interest rates charged on popular types of credit cards fell again last week, according to Bankrate.com. For low-interest cards, which have rates at less than the national average but are often offered only to customers with strong credit histories, the average APR declined to 11.33 percent, from 11.42 percent the week before. Overall, the average APR charged for all variable-rate cards tracked by Bankrate was 10.86 percent, down from 11.04 percent the previous week.

BEE NEWS SERVICES

Figuratively Speaking

75: Percentage of online consumers who have some worry that they will fall victim to identity theft, according to the findings from the "2008 PayPal Trust and Safety Study," conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs

10: Estimated percentage of online consumers in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States who have been victims of identity theft

5: Estimated percentage of online consumers in France, Germany and Spain who have been victims of identity theft

JOHN MacINTYRE, UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE