IN BRIEF
Stock broker asks whether he is target
Peter John “PJ” Demarigny, stock broker for the former chairman of failed Southwest Exchange, on Thursday filed a motion asking for the government to disclose whether he is the target of a federal grand jury investigation.
Demarigny was stock broker for Donald McGhan, chairman of Southwest Exchange, which shut down in January while holding about $96 million for 150 clients.
In the motion, Demarigny’s attorney Stephen Lewis said his client believes a federal grand jury is investigating Southwest Exchange and believes he, Demarigny, is implicated in alleged criminal matters.
Separately, on Friday, Clark Count District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez continued a temporary restraining order preventing civil defendants Donald McGhan, his son James, wife, Shirley, and daughter Nikki Pomeroy from making any large unusual transfers of assets, including money. The judge said she would issue similar temporary restraining orders against Theodore Maloney, chief executive officer of Medicor, where Donald McGhan served as chairman, and Demarigny.
Gonzalez agreed to seal an agreement between the receiver and the McGhan family, which disclosed assets owned by the McGhans and granted the receiver control over assets.
Ameristar proposes expansion in Iowa
Ameristar Casinos, a Las Vegas casino operator, on Friday proposed an approximately $100 million expansion for its property in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The expansion will add 60,000 square feet to the existing building. It will double the current casino floor square footage by incorporating an additional 38,500 square feet of new gaming space with approximately 600 new slot machines and 20 additional table games.
The project also includes a central bar area and two additional bars, a deli restaurant, a new 1,000-space parking garage and a Star Club VIP lounge. Casino access will be improved with an additional garage entrance, an enhanced connector from the existing garage and better access from the existing streetscape.
Approximately 100 additional employees are expected to be hired for the expanded property.
MGM Mirage closes sale of Laughlin hotels
MGM Mirage, a Las Vegas casino operator, said Friday it completed the $200 million sale of the Colorado Belle and Edgewater hotel-casinos to a group led by Anthony Marnell III.
Marnell is chairman and chief executive of M Resorts. Marnell and his management team partnered with Sher Gaming on the transaction.
The Laughlin properties contain about 2,500 guest rooms. They properties have more than 100,000 square feet of casino space with 2,200 slot machines and 70 gaming tables.
MGM Mirage acquired the properties in April 2005 as part of its acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group.
Republic Services, union extend pact
Republic Services of Southern Nevada and Teamsters Local 631 have agreed to a 30-day extension of the collective bargaining agreement that covers about 1,200 workers at the garbage disposal company, a union official said Friday.
Local 631 Secretary-Treasurer Wayne King said he’s committed to meeting with his membership in an attempt to discuss every avenue possible to avoid economic action against the employer.
Last week, union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a new contract that would increase the workers’ wage and benefits package by 37 percent, or about $9 an hour, over the next five years.
The union has agreed to give Republic Services 15 days notice before cancellation of the contract.
Plant would emit tons of carbon dioxide
The $3 billion coal-fired plant that LS Power Group proposes to build near Ely would emit 20 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, said Eric Crawford, director or project development.
Crawford made the disclosure during a public meeting late Thursday at Bureau of Land Mangement offices in Las Vegas.
“Good grief,” one member of the Sierra Club said. “Gag me.”
Scientists say that carbon dioxide is causing global warming.
Crawford defended LS Power’s White Pine Energy Station as a key to supplying electricity to the rapidly growing Southwest.
“People need electricity now. Will there be better technology later? Probably,” Crawford said.
Lydia Ball, regional representative of the Sierra Club, said the environmental group believes energy needs can be solved through conservation and renewable energy, such as roof-top solar panels, rather than building polluting coal-fired power plants.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
Wal-Mart will trim growth of stores
Wal-Mart gave investors something on Friday they haven’t seen in some time: a reason to pour some money into its shares.
The world’s largest retailer, pressured by investors to improve its sales, is trimming its store growth as it balances its traditional focus on low prices with a push to be a force for change in such areas as health care and the environment. Its shares rose almost 4 percent on the news.
Wal-Mart said it would scale back the number of planned U.S. Supercenter store openings this year by more than 25 percent, a move that will drop its capital expenditures by $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year and help improve store sales.
NEW YORK
Gasoline, oil futures rise on supply concerns
Gasoline and oil futures jumped Friday on continued concerns that domestic refineries aren’t producing enough gas to meet peak summer driving demand.
Retail prices, on the other hand, retreated further from last week’s record highs. The national average price of a gallon of gas fell to $3.184 a gallon, down 0.7 cent overnight and off 4.3 cents since the May 24 record of $3.227.
But gasoline futures for July delivery rose 4.14 cents a gallon to settle at $2.2446 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while July light, sweet crude futures jumped $1.07 to settle at $65.08 a barrel.
The increase in gasoline futures prices came despite Thursday’s Energy Department inventory report, which showed that gas supplies grew by 1.3 million barrels in the week ended May 25. Many analysts said investors largely shrugged off the increase, unconvinced that inventories are growing fast enough to meet demand.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
PayPal inaccessible for three hours
Online payment service PayPal was inaccessible to users for three hours Friday due to technical problems, company officials said.
The Web site was not functioning properly from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT because of problems with its database, said Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for PayPal.
Pires said no private data was compromised and called such service interruption “very rare,” but the company was investigating.
PayPal, which is owned by San Jose-based online auction company eBay, allows users to electronically transfer money from bank and credit accounts using e-mail.
NEW YORK
Bonds hit fresh lows on jobs, inflation news
A raft of stronger economic data pushed U.S. Treasury prices to hit fresh lows Friday.
Trade on Friday knocked the 10-year note a high yield of 4.96 percent, a level last reached in August.
At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was down $5.00 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.5 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Thursday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.96 percent from 4.89 percent.
