IN BRIEF
Environmental groups get OK to participate
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on Friday said it gave a group of environmental organizations “unprecedented participation” in review of agreements with three companies that want to build coal-fired power plants in Nevada.
Nevadans for Clean Affordable Energy, a group of environmental organizations, a week ago sent a letter to the state agency, complaining that the public was not being given an opportunity to comment on agreements over carbon dioxide capture at three proposed coal plants prior to the agreements being finalized.
The power plant developers are Sierra Pacific Resource and LS Power Group, which plan power projects near Ely, and Sithe Global Power, which proposes a plant near Mesquite.
The memorandums of understanding with the power plant developers would call for the plants to capture carbon dioxide emissions, a cause of global warming, when technology becomes available.
SAN RAMON, Calif.
Chevron earnings dip 26 percent in quarter
Chevron Corp. third-quarter profit slid 26 percent, the steepest decline in five years as the energy market’s unpredictable pendulum swung against the second-largest U.S. oil company and most of its peers.
The San Ramon-based company said Friday that it made $3.72 billion, or $1.75 per share, in the three months ended in September, down from net income of $5.02 billion, or $2.29 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts were bracing for a lower profit, but the erosion was far worse than their average earnings estimate of $2.07 per share, based on a survey by Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $55.2 billion.
Chevron shares fell 56 cents, or 0.63 percent, Friday to close at $88.48 on the New York Stock Exchange.
WASHINGTON
Bush officials say eyes are on mortgage mess
The Bush administration assured Congress on Friday that it is aggressively working to deal with a rising tide of mortgage foreclosures in the country.
Officials, however, said homeowners threatened with the loss of their homes must actively seek help to avert foreclosures.
Robert Steel, Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance, and Brian Montgomery, an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the administration has a comprehensive plan and is working with an industry group formed to deal with the looming foreclosure crisis.
Many Democrats have been highly critical of the administration’s efforts, contending that they are too dependent on the industry and offer too little in terms of government assistance to stem what could be an estimated 2 million home foreclosures in the coming two years.
NEW YORK
Group to speed Net names not in English
A key Internet oversight agency formed a working group Friday to work on speeding the assignment of addresses in languages other than English.
The decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers represents another step toward the approval of internationalized domain names, or IDNs, as early as next year.
The working group will focus on developing a “fast-track” mechanism for domains for specific countries, such as the Chinese-character equivalent of China’s “.cn” suffix.
NEW YORK
Payroll report helps send oil to record
The prospect of a stronger economy and word of possible new U.N. sanctions against Iran sent crude oil futures briefly above $96 a barrel.
The Labor Department reported that employers boosted payrolls by 166,000 jobs in October and October’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent.
The Commerce Department said factory orders rose 0.2 percent in September, better than the 0.4 percent decline analysts were expecting.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $2.44 to settle at a record $95.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $96.05 earlier, short of a trading record of $96.24 set Thursday.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices rally for second straight day
Treasury prices rallied for a second straight session Friday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.53 points to 103.63 with a 4.29 percent yield, down from 4.35 percent late Thursday. Earlier the benchmark yield slipped to 4.28 percent, its weakest level since September, 2005.
The 30-year long bond rose 1.03 to 106.5 with a yield of 4.60 percent yield, down from 4.64 percent late Thursday.
