IN BRIEF
Home prices decline 6.3 percent in January
U.S. home prices fell 6.3 percent in January from a year earlier, the smallest decline in five months, as lower mortgage rates began to spur demand.
The decline was led by a 21 percent drop in the region that includes California, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said Tuesday. The monthly house price index is down 9.6 percent from its peak in April 2007.
The pace of home-price declines is slowing as cheaper financing is luring buyers and helping offset foreclosure sales. A wave of refinancing is likely to boost home-loan originations by $800 billion to $2.78 trillion, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Refinancing will total $1.96 trillion in 2009 and purchase originations will increase to $821 billion, the group said, as the Federal Reserve buys mortgage-backed securities.
DETROIT
General Motors starts white-collar job cuts
Dreaded white-collar job cuts at General Motors Corp. started Tuesday as the wounded automaker began to deliver on promises to the government to shrink its work force so it can be profitable at lower sales levels.
On Tuesday morning, GM told 160 people at its manufacturing engineering operations in Warren, Mich., that they would be laid off as of April 1, spokesman Tom Wilkinson said.
It's the beginning of 3,400 salaried layoffs in the U.S. and part of the 47,000 job cuts that GM wants to accomplish worldwide by the end of the year, Wilkinson said.
Lake Las Vegas hotel gets new owner
Village Hospitality LLC on Tuesday said it acquired the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, a 349-room resort and spa 17 miles from the Strip, for an undisclosed price.
In a statement, Village Hospitality said the transaction closed in late February.
The resort's prior owner sought reorganization in April. The acquisition by Village Hospitality concludes a 10-month bankruptcy period.
In the statement, Michelle Russo of hotelAVE, the asset manager for Village Hospitality LLC, said no services were interrupted during the hotel's ownership reorganization period.
"The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas is an extraordinary acquisition for Village Hospitality, and the new relationship with the hotel's management team is extremely positive," Russo said.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.
As dollar strengthens, oil prices head higher
Oil prices staged a late rally Tuesday, rising to near $54 a barrel after slipping earlier in the day as the dollar strengthened.
Benchmark crude for May delivery gained 18 cents to settle at $53.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. said a strong bond auction, buying promises from the U.S. Treasury and a relatively flat stock market seem to have spurred the late-session rally.
NEW YORK
Investors push to stop bank chief's re-election
A group that owns Bank of America stock is waging a battle to get shareholders to vote against re-electing chief executive officer Ken Lewis and two others to the bank's board of directors.
Finger Interests Number One Ltd., which owns about one-fifth of one percent of Bank of America stock, said in a regulatory filing that the board disregarded protecting the interests of shareholders during its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.
The investment group is asking shareholders to vote against re-electing Lewis as well as lead director O. Temple Sloan and Jackie Ward.
The election of board members is scheduled to take place at Bank of America's shareholders meeting on April 29.
DALLAS
Stanford Group officer helping investigators
The chief financial officer of the troubled companies owned by Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford has promised full cooperation with federal investigators looking into an alleged $8 billion investment fraud, the man's attorney said Tuesday.
Finance chief James Davis' decision to work with investigators comes nearly two weeks after a court filing indicated he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Court documents said Davis would not "testify, provide an accounting or produce any documents" related to the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil case, which accuses him and Stanford of running a Ponzi scheme.
GENEVA
Group predicts fliers will lose $4.7 billion
World airlines will lose $4.7 billion this year due to the economic crisis, while revenues will drop by more than after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, an industry association predicted Tuesday.
The revised loss estimate, nearly double the previous forecast issued in December, reflects "the rapid deterioration of the global economic conditions," said the International Air Transport Association.
Revenues are expected to fall by $62 billion, or 12 percent, to $467 billion, the association said.
Berkshire Hathaway may lose AAA rating
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. may lose its AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's because values have fallen in its equity portfolio and capital has shrunk at the insurance operations.
The rating could be cut in the next 12 months, S&P said in a statement Tuesday about the insurance and investing firm.
An S&P downgrade would be the second for Berkshire after Fitch Ratings stripped its AAA rating on March 12. S&P said any downgrade probably would be a one-notch cut.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices mixed after notes auction
Treasurys ended mixed Tuesday after a strong auction of $40 billion in two-year notes.
The 10-year Treasury note fell 0.47 points to 100.34. Its yield was unchanged at 2.65 percent.
The 30-year bond rose 0.75 points to 97.31, and its yield fell to 3.65 percent from 3.71 percent.
