IN BRIEF
Las Vegas Hilton workers OK deal
Nearly 1,800 workers at the Las Vegas Hilton represented by the Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 approved a new five-year collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, union representatives said.
Vote totals were not available late Tuesday.
The agreement includes annual wage and benefit package increase of $3.47 per hour over the term of the contract, family health insurance plans with no employee premiums, increases in guaranteed gratuities for tipped employees, contributions to an IRS legal defense fund and a housing trust fund.
The agreement is the sixth this year between the unions and gaming operators.
Negotiations between unions and 13 properties and an industrial laundry continue.
WASHINGTON
Sallie Mae insists that investors honor deal
Sallie Mae insisted Tuesday that the investors reducing by 17 percent their cash offer for the nation’s largest student lender honor their original $25 billion deal.
The investor group, led by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. and including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, said the student-loan legislation signed into law by President Bush last week, and weaker economic conditions, made the $60-a-share price agreed upon in April unacceptable.
Under the new offer, worth about $21 billion in cash and good until Tuesday, Sallie Mae has the potential to receive an additional payment of more than $7 a share if the company performs on track with its own projections. It could receive an extra $10 a share if the company exceeds those expectations.
DETROIT
Auto industry suffers another tough month
Weakness in the housing market and flagging consumer confidence made September another tough month for the auto industry, although General Motors, Honda and Nissan bucked the trend with hot-selling new vehicles, U.S. sales figures released Tuesday show.
Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales fell 21 percent for the month, largely due to a 62 percent reduction in sales to rental car companies. Toyota Motor Corp. posted a 4 percent decline but still outpaced Ford for the month and for the January-September period.
Toyota had sold 28,654 more vehicles than Ford as of the end of September. Chrysler LLC also was down 5 percent for the month.
Overall U.S. sales were down 3 percent from last September, Autodata Corp. said.
General Motors Corp. said sales were flat compared with last September.
MILWAUKEE
Kohl’s expects to boost shop count 50 percent
Kohl’s Corp. expects to operate 1,400 stores by 2012, a 50 percent increase, Chairman Larry Montgomery told analysts at a conference in Indianapolis Tuesday.
The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based department store chain opened 80 stores across the country this week, and it will open another 15 in mid-November, giving the company 929 stores.
DETROIT
MGM Grand Detroit opens with fanfare
Casino officials and celebrity chefs showed off $800 million worth of Las Vegas glitz amid Motown grit Tuesday — as MGM Grand Detroit officials prepared for a flashy, fireworks-studded gala marking its public debut.
Billed as the first Las Vegas-style resort built in a major metropolitan area, MGM Grand includes 400 rooms and suites, a full-service resort spa and an 18-story hotel with electronic concierges in each room. It sits a block from the temporary casino it opened in 1999.
The MGM Grand Detroit was to open to the public before midnight with fireworks and lighting of the Grand Garden near the facility’s main entrance.
Nasdaq Stock Market to buy Boston board
Nasdaq Stock Market, the second-biggest U.S. equity market, plans to buy the money-losing Boston Stock Exchange for about $61 million to expand trading and enter the clearing business.
The acquisition doesn’t include the Boston Options Exchange, which has entered talks to sell a majority stake to Montreal Exchange, owner of Canada’s derivatives market.
The Montreal market, already the Boston Options Exchange’s largest shareholder, said in a statement it could boost its ownership to 53.2 percent from 31.4 percent.
With its purchase, Nasdaq will gain a second venue for trading, allowing brokerages to execute transactions more easily by posting quotes on both markets. The acquisition will also give Nasdaq control of the regulatory arm of Boston Options Exchange as it prepares to enter the faster-growing business of trading equity derivatives.
DALLAS
Milk prices prompt Dean to cut forecast
Dean Foods Co., the nation’s largest dairy producer, scaled back its profit forecast for the year, saying record-high milk prices are hurting sales and causing consumers to switch from name brands to cheaper private-label products.
The company also said Tuesday it plans to cut 600 to 700 jobs, more than 2 percent of its work force.
Dean lowered its profit expectations for the third quarter and all of 2007. The company expects to take a restructuring charge in the quarter for the job cuts, but it didn’t provide a dollar figure.
NEW YORK
Housing data push Treasury prices higher
Treasury prices closed higher Tuesday after new data pointed to further deterioration in the housing sector in coming months.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.16 points to 101.75 with a 4.53 percent yield, down from 4.56 percent at Monday’s close. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The 30-year long bond gained 0.13 points to 103.53 with a 4.78 percent yield, down from 4.80 percent late Monday.
