Mortgage rates fall to 5 percent

Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level since March as investors stepped up buying the safest types of bonds, including Treasuries and debt tied to home loans.

Rates for 30-year fixed loans dropped to 5 percent in the week ended yesterday from 5.06 percent last week, Freddie Mac said. The average 15-year rate was 4.36 percent, the mortgage finance company said.

The fiscal crisis in Greece is pushing investors to buy U.S. Treasuries, whose yields serve as a benchmark for other debt. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 3.5407 percent compared with 3.7243 a week ago. The one-year adjustable loan averaged 4.07 percent this week, down from 4.78 percent a week ago.

Hawaiian Airlines' traffic declines

Hawaiian Airlines' passenger traffic in April slipped 2.8 percent from a year ago while it filled a slightly higher percentage of its seats.

The carrier said that it had 662,356 passengers compared with 681,751 in April 2009, while its load factor rose 1 percentage point to 85.4 percent from 84.4 percent.

Revenue passenger miles came in virtually flat at 667.7 million compared with 667.4 million a year ago. Available seat miles slipped 1.1 percent to 782 million from 790.4 million.

Shoppers hand retailers solid spring

NEW YORK » Americans gave retailers a respectable spring selling season, resulting in a slew of stores raising their earnings outlooks.

Though April shopping fell off from March's blistering pace, the full spring picture shows consumers more willing to buy higher-priced merchandise and pay full price. Those are encouraging signs for the economy, but the path to recovery is still expected to be rocky.

Overall revenue at stores open at least a year rose 0.8 percent in April compared with a 2.7 percent decline a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers Index of 30 retailers. That followed a 9 percent gain in March, the largest percentage rise since March 1999.

California sues ex-pension officials

SACRAMENTO, Calif. » California Attorney General Jerry Brown has sued two former officials of CalPERS, the nation's largest public pension fund, for fraud, alleging a system of kickbacks in exchange for outside firms winning a piece of the fund's lucrative investment portfolio.

The lawsuit, announced yesterday, is the product of an investigation into the role of so-called placement agents, the middlemen hired by money management firms to help them win business with investors.

HRPT Properties operation funds fall

HRPT Properties Trust, which owns most of Oahu's industrial and office space in Mapunapuna, reported that funds from operations dropped 3.2 percent to $60 million following the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $62 million at the same time last year.

“;In summary, this quarter produced results we expected in light of a challenging market environment and in line with results reported by other national property owners,”; said John Popeo, HRPT's chief financial officer.

HRPT posted $24.6 million in net income, down 19.1 percent from $30.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaii Health Systems Corp. has appointed Russell T. Higa as director of human resources. He was previously an independent arbitrator and mediator in labor disputes involving public-sector employers and unions, and has more than 35 years of labor and law experience.

Hawaiiana Management Co. has appointed the following new management executives:

» Charles “;Charlie”; Remington has 15 years' experience in the property management industry and was previously a division manager and senior property manager for Hawaii First.

» Bruce Thompson has more than 30 years' experience in the property management industry and was previously an owner and operator of the Honolulu firm Interim Management Services.

» Eddie Morales has five years' experience in real estate and property management, including working for Hawaii First.

» Patrick du Monceaux has 27 years' experience as a marketing executive and private business consultant, including working for Cicada Business & Strategic Planning Services.

» Angela Nazari has seven years' experience in the real estate and property management field and was previously with Condominium Management Services in Upland, Calif.