Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, February 27, 1997
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, February 27, 1997
WASHINGTON -- Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.65 percent this week, up from 7.56 percent last week, according to a national survey released today by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. 30-year mortgages rise
to 7.65 percentOn one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.49 percent, up from 5.45 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.15 percent this week, up from 7.06 percent a week earlier.
A half-day seminar March 12 will bring retailers and other businesses up to date on what Japanese shoppers want. Isle seminar to focus
on Japanese shoppersArranged by the Honolulu office of accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, the Oahu Economic Development Board and local consulting firm Retail Strategies, the seminar will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the Dole Ballroom in Iwilei and costs $100 a person. It will feature three speakers from Japan on the Japanese economy, Japanese consumer profiles and shopping by mail order, the Internet and television. Four Honolulu speakers will deal with changes in Hawaii retailing. Call 521-3611 for information.
WASHINGTON -- The House voted decisively to renew the 10 percent tax on airline tickets, a move supporters say is crucial to protecting important aviation safety programs such as repaving runways and improving navigational equipment. House votes to renew
federal aviation taxBy a 347-73 vote, the House approved a bill yesterday to restore a package of taxes that expired last year. It would raise an estimated $2.7 billion through fiscal 1998.
Without its passage, the Federal Aviation Administration would be forced to begin canceling a variety of projects next month at some 850 airports in every state, as well as Guam and Puerto, said House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas.
It remained unclear when the Senate would act, since two Senate Democrats had placed holds on the bill, preventing action until their objections are resolved. Senators don't have to disclose their reasons for placing holds on bills, and their identities are kept secret. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the bill could move to the Senate floor as early as this week if the holds are removed.
NEW YORK -- Financier Carl Icahn has sold his entire stake in RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., saying a recent runup in tobacco stock prices had diminished chances that he could defeat management in a contest for control of the company. Icahn dumps shares
in RJR NabiscoIcahn sought control of RJR's board of directors to force an immediate and total separation of the company's food and tobacco operations.
Icahn confirmed that he sold 19.9 million shares after the close of regular trading hours yesterday for $36.75 a share, less commissions, through the investment firm Goldman Sachs & Co. At that price, the stake was worth about $731 million.
