In Brief
Nationwide gasoline prices hit highest point since October '08
Drivers are paying the highest prices for gasoline since October 2008. Retail gasoline prices rose on Thursday on an expected increase in demand and as more expensive spring and summer blends of gasoline make their way to the pumps.
The nationwide average hit $2.799 per gallon, a penny higher than Wednesday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.
Prices have now jumped 18.9 cents in the past month and are 87.9 cents higher than year-ago levels. Back on Oct. 23, 2008 prices averaged $2.8215 per gallon.
The Energy Department and many industry experts expect prices to top $3 this spring.
McCarran slips in world ranking by flier volume
McCarran International Airport dropped two notches last year in a ranking of the world's busiest airports by passenger volume.
But the Las Vegas airport remained seventh on the list of U.S. airports ranked by passenger traffic in 2009.
Rankings released Wednesday by the Airports Council International in Geneva dropped McCarran from 15th to 17th in passenger traffic among world airports. McCarran's 40.5 million passengers in 2009 was 8.2 percent fewer than in 2008.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport remained the world's busiest passenger airport, handling almost 88 million fliers.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport dropped from second to fourth, behind London and Beijing.
The six other busiest passenger airports in the United States were in Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and New York.
Airports in Houston, Phoenix and San Francisco round out the top 10.
Perini Building confirms it's in dispute with MGM Mirage
Perini Building Co. acknowledged it is in dispute with MGM Mirage over nearly $492 million from the construction cost for the CityCenter development.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Perini said it filed a 15-day notice of intent to lien with MGM Mirage over a disputed nonpayment of $491.24 million from CityCenter, which had an overall construction budget of $8.5 billion.
In a filing with the SEC March 12, MGM Mirage and Dubai World, its 50-50 joint venture partner in CityCenter, said the amount owed is far less, primarily due to construction defects that halted building of the Harmon Hotel.
The Harmon tower was delayed and reduced in size because county officials said reinforcing steel wasn't spaced at intervals to support it as designed.
Perini said it has a contractual agreement with a subcontractor and sufficient insurance coverage available to cover any liability with the Harmon tower.
Perini said it would pursue collection of money owed by MGM Mirage.
A spokesman for the casino company said last week MGM Mirage wants to try and resolve the matter quickly because small contractors who worked on the project are waiting to be paid.
The 67-acre CityCenter development opened in December.
LOS ANGELES
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer prepares to be sold again
In Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.'s newest movie, "Hot Tub Time Machine," a main character looks around a leg-warmer-dotted ski slope and asks "Is there some kind of retro thing going on this weekend?"
There certainly is at the studio. MGM is dialing back to its past as it prepares to be sold yet again and is stressing the value of its film archive as a major asset.
Six companies made nonbinding bids in January for MGM, which owns the rights to 4,100 movies and TV shows and has a stake in future James Bond and "The Hobbit" films. Now MGM is preparing to receive binding acquisition offers today .
It is unclear how many suitors are still in the running, but Time Warner Inc., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries are expected to make bids.
None are expected to be more than $2 billion.
That would be bitter for about 140 lenders that financed the purchase of MGM for $5 billion in 2005 and now essentially control the company.
SAN FRANCISCO
Secrets uncovered as YouTube copyright lawsuit unfolds
YouTube co-founder Steve Chen once warned a fellow co-founder to stop posting pirated videos on their Web site, according to court documents unsealed Thursday as part of a 3-year-old copyright lawsuit against the online video leader.
That bit of intrigue was among the confidential information that had been kept under wraps since Viacom Inc. sued YouTube for alleged copyright infringement of "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show" and other shows in a federal court in New York.
The newly released evidence also revealed that Viacom wanted to buy YouTube before getting beat out by Google Inc., which acquired the site for $1.76 billion in 2006.
One Viacom executive even suggested a joint bid by Viacom and Google.
NEW YORK
Bankruptcy filing forces auction for Sex.com to be postponed
The suitors for Sex.com have been put off for now.
An auction for the much-sought-after domain name was canceled Wednesday after three creditors filed a petition forcing the owner into bankruptcy.
Mike Mann, an investor with all three creditors, said the petition was filed to stop the auction. According to the petition, the creditors have a combined $10.1 million claim.
Selling the domain name at an auction was not going to enhance its value, Mann said.
"It's gone way up in value," he said. "It's the most valuable domain in the world. They were throwing away the world's most valuable domain asset."
Escom LLC paid a reported $12 million to $14 million for the domain name in 2006, but the company was unable to repay the debt. The lender ordered the foreclosure sale.
The opening bid: $1 million.
