Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, October 21, 1997
Isle company to open private club in Belize
Honolulu-based Wall Street Financial Corp. says it will open a members-only club and resort in December in the Central American nation of Belize.The company, a former community banking business which went into development work in Belize in 1995, said its Salt Creek Estate Club will consist of a clubhouse, restaurant, nightclub, movie theater, swimming pools and exercise facilities.
Ninety two- and three-bedroom condominium units in a gated community will come later in the development by Mayan Resorts Development Co., a Wall Street Financial unit. Wall Street Financial, which trades on the over-the-counter bulletin board, was at a 52-week high of $1.19 at noon today, according to Bloomberg News.
Citicorp to cut costs by laying off 7,500
NEW YORK -- Citicorp, the nation's second-largest banking company, is eliminating 8.3 percent of its worldwide work force by April 1999 to cut the costs of processing customer transactions, the company said today.The restructuring, which affects 7,500 of a global work force of about 90,000, initially will cost $889 million. That resulted in a 45 percent drop in earnings reported today for the third quarter. Without that charge, profit would have increased 14 percent.
The company expects to recover the restructuring costs within two years after the cuts are completed. The future savings will be used for further expansion and for promoting its services, Citicorp said.
The cuts are required to stay competitive, said John S. Reed, chairman of the New York-based banking company. The parent of Citibank, which is second only to Chase Manhattan Corp. in U.S. banking, said the cuts are not directed at bank branches.
U.S. trade gap widens to worst level in months
WASHINGTON -- America's trade deficit widened to $10.4 billion in August, the worst showing in seven months, as a flood of imported toys and Christmas decorations pushed the deficit with China to an all-time high.The Commerce Department said the worse-than-expected showing represented a 3.4 percent increase from a revised July deficit of $10 billion.
Exports edged up a tiny 0.2 percent, led by the first gain in sales of U.S. farm products this year. But imports were up 0.6 percent to a record high as Americans' appetite for foreign products continued.
So far this year, the gap between what America sells abroad and what it imports is running at an annual rate of $114 billion, even worse than the eight-year high of $111 billion set last year.
The widening trade gap is coming at a bad time for President Clinton, who is trying to round up enough votes in Congress to give him the authority to negotiate new free-trade agreements. But analysts said a rising trade gap could help keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates to cool off the economy and ward off inflation.