Island homeowners to get insurance rate cut

Island Insurance will drop its homeowners insurance rates between 7 percent and 25 percent, the company announced yesterday.

The rate reduction goes into effect Sunday.

The average rate decrease is expected to be around 19 percent, depending upon the policy amount and type of coverage, the company says. Reductions will automatically be reflected as policies renew.

This is the second rate reduction for Island Insurance and its sister company, Tradewind Insurance, in the past year.

Tesoro earnings fall short of expectations

San Antonio >> Tesoro Petroleum Corp., which owns oil refineries in the western U.S., said second-quarter profit may be as much as 19 percent below analysts' estimates because of falling gas prices.

Per-share profit will be 65 cents to 75 cents, Tesoro said in a statement, compared with the average estimate of 80 cents from six analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Estimates ranged from 75 cents to 91 cents. The company earned 35 cents a year earlier.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. Northwest fell more than 30 percent in June, causing refining margins to narrow, Tesoro spokesman David Chacon said. San Antonio-based Tesoro has refineries in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

Japan consumer prices continue to fall

TOKYO >> Japan's core consumer prices fell a record 0.7 percent in May from a year earlier, while Tokyo prices fell 0.6 percent in June, down for a record 22nd straight month, the government said today.

The nationwide price data and the preliminary figure for Tokyo's 23 wards, a leading indicator, underscore the government's assessment that consumer prices are weakening.

But Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, said the latest reading does not mean the Japanese economy has entered a deflationary spiral.