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Moody's likes local commercial real estate

Honolulu is the best commercial real estate market in the country, according to Moody's Investors Service's quarterly study of U.S. markets.

The study looks out over the coming year and predicts what supply and demand will be. It is the second time this year that Honolulu's commercial real estate market has come in at No. 1.

Markets are scored on a scale of 0 (weak) to 100 (strong). Honolulu had a score of 80. It was followed by Los Angeles with 75 and Northern New Jersey which scored 73. Worst overall markets were Stamford, Conn., with 34; and Denver, Colo., with 35.

Moody's said multifamily housing and the retail shopping center sectors proved to be stronger than office building and industrial markets overall. Performance details by market were not available.

Hawaiian grows its connections

Hawaiian Airlines has expanded an existing partnership with America West Airlines. The change to their code-share deal gives Hawaiian Airlines customers simple connections to 53 cities nationwide. Hawaiian's customers can now receive boarding passes for both airlines upon checking in at any airport in Hawaii, resulting in seamless customer service to any of the destinations served by America West, such as Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, New York, Reno and Washington, D.C.

The connections are from Hawaiian's flights to Phoenix, Ariz., where America West has a major hub.

Hawaiian said the system will expand to flights from the West Coast to the East Coast later this month, when America West adds flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York and Boston.

Aloha, United reach e-ticket pact

Aloha Airlines said it can now issue electronic tickets for trips that include any flight on United Airlines. United can also e-ticket Aloha flights and travelers no longer need separate tickets for each airline.

Aloha and United can issue the e-tickets at their reservation centers, airports and ticket offices. E-tickets, usually paid for by credit card, allow paperless travel. Travelers need only identify themselves at the check-in counter.

Aloha also has e-ticketing arrangements with American Airlines and Continental Airlines.

Tyco employees testify

Three Tyco International Ltd. employees were the first witnesses yesterday in the trial of former executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, who are accused of looting the company of $600 million through theft and fraud.

The employees, Patricia Travis, Tracy Katigbak and Rosalyn Johnson, were asked to describe their duties as custodians of Tyco corporate records. They were also asked to read excerpts from some of those records. Opening statements by attorneys in the case were delivered yesterday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors also questioned the three women about their salaries and bonuses at Tyco, in an apparent effort to contrast the compensation of lower-level company employees with the high pay Kozlowski and Swartz got. From 1998 to 2002, Kozlowski earned more than $300 million as one of the highest-paid chief executives in the U.S.

McDonald's to test diet menus

McDonald's Corp. yesterday said it plans to launch a program to attract people following a low-fat, low-calorie, or low-carbohydrate diet.

The Oak Brook, Ill., fast-food chain said it plans to launch the Real Life Choices program in January at restaurants in the New York region.

Nutritionist and best-selling author Pamela Smith is working with the hamburger chain to create the program.

The move is the latest in a string of McDonald's initiatives aimed at reviving sales growth by offering meals more suited to an increasingly health-conscious public.

Government rests case in Quattrone trial

Prosecutors rested their case yesterday against star Silicon Valley banker Frank Quattrone, insisting to a judge there is "substantial" evidence he obstructed justice by urging employees to destroy files.

The government called its final witness after five days of testimony in the trial of Quattrone, who claims he was only following Credit Suisse First Boston policy that called for routine document destruction.

Prosecutors say Quattrone was well aware that investigators were probing CSFB's role in initial public stock offerings during the dot-com boom. The CSFB policy says no one who knows of subpoenas or litigation should destroy files.

But defense attorneys for Quattrone claim he knew only that investigators were examining how IPO shares were doled out -- not the investment bankers, controlled by Quattrone, who helped prepare them for the market.

In other news ...

>> Simon Property Group Inc. yesterday withdrew its hostile $1.7 billion takeover bid for rival shopping mall developer Taubman Centers Inc. after a year of trying to wrest control from its founding family.

>> Two unions representing 78,000 Verizon Communications workers from Maine to Virginia have ratified a five-year labor agreement.

>> Sears, Roebuck & Co., whose shares have more than doubled this year, plans to buy back as much as $3 billion in stock as the company sells its credit-card division.