IN BRIEF

Hard Rock Hotel gets extension for securities' maturity dates

The Hard Rock Hotel announced Monday it has been granted an extension until 2014 on maturity dates for $1.1 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

New York-based hotelier Morgans Hotel Group, the property's minority owner and manager, announced the extension as the resort opened a new tower and expanded casino.

The loan, which is secured by the hotel-casino, was scheduled to mature Feb. 9 with two one-year extensions.

The loan included $620 million in construction loans that helped pay for the $750 million expansion.

The 374-room HRH tower anchors new amenities that include the 25,000-square-foot Reliquary Spa, a new parking garage with a porte cochere and 40,000 square feet of new casino space.

A new nightclub, the 14,000-square-foot Vanity, opens New Year's Eve.

The 450-room Paradise Tower, convention space and a new, expanded concert venue, The Joint, opened earlier this year. A pool expansion is scheduled to open this summer.

A second loan secured by 11 acres of unused land next to the Hard Rock Hotel was also extended to February 2014. The $50 million loan matured Aug. 9 and was in default before the new agreement.

NEW YORK

Oil prices near $79 a barrel as cold snap triggers rally

Oil prices rose above $79 barrel Monday for the first time in four weeks as an extended cold snap triggered an end-of-year rally in energy futures.

Benchmark crude for February delivery added 72 cents to settle at $78.77 a barrel in light, holiday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as $79.12 earlier in the day, the highest since Nov. 18.

Futures contracts for oil, natural gas and heating oil have all become more expensive this month as snow storms blanketed parts of the country and a sharp drop in supplies of crude and other fuels surprised traders.

More frigid temperatures are expected, with up to 4 inches of snow forecast for New England, and up to seven inches of snow along the eastern shores of the Lower Great Lakes.

Spot prices are starting to perk up as a result.

According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration, natural-gas prices jumped earlier in December to the highest levels since January, and heating oil prices climbed during the middle of this month.

Zions Bancorporation won't pay cash bonuses in 2009

Zions Bancorporation, the Salt Lake City-based holding company for Nevada State Bank, won't pay cash bonuses for 2009 because of government curbs on banks that accepted bailout funds.

"The new arrangements are designed to ensure that Zions' executive compensation practices comply" with rules governing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Zions said Monday in a federal filing. The bank plans to offer executives "salary stock" instead.

Zions shares fell 14 cents, or 1.09 percent, Monday to close at $12.76 on the Nasdaq National Market.

NEW YORK

AT&T temporarily halts Web sales of iPhones to New Yorkers

AT&T Inc. suspended online sales of iPhones to New Yorkers over the weekend for unknown reasons, then abruptly started selling them again just as mysteriously on Monday.

Spokesman Fletcher Cook said only that the phone company periodically "modifies" its distribution channels. He had no further comment on the resumption in sales, and officials with phone maker Apple Inc. did not immediately return messages for comment.

Bloggers speculated that the sales suspension was a means of managing data traffic, since AT&T has acknowledged that its network is overburdened with iPhone users in New York and San Francisco.

It was not clear whether the iPhone suspension had applied to all New York ZIP codes or just certain ones, nor was it known why New York was targeted.

WASHINGTON

Federal Reserve proposes setup of new investments

The Federal Reserve on Monday proposed allowing banks to set up the equivalent of certificates of deposit at the central bank, a move that would help the Fed mop up money pumped into the economy and prevent inflation from taking off later.

Under the proposal, the Fed would offer so-called "term deposits" that would pay interest. Doing so would provide banks with another incentive to park their money at the Fed, rather than having it flow back into the economy.

The proposal comes as no surprise. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other Fed officials have repeatedly said the creation of so-called "term deposits" -- essentially the equivalent of CDs for banks -- would be one of several tools the Fed could use to drain money from the economy when the time is right.

FRANKFURT

Audi to spend $10.51 billion for research, plant upgrades

Audi AG said Monday it plans to spend 7.3 billion euros ($10.51 billion) on plant upgrades, new products and technology research as it moves to expand its number of customers worldwide and increase market share.

Audi, based in Ingolstadt, and a unit of Volkswagen AG, said it plans to spend that amount from 2009 to 2012 and will increase the number of models from its current 34 to a planned 42 by 2015.

Of the investment, about 5.9 billion euros will go toward new products and future technologies, or about 80 percent of its planned spending.

"With our planned investments in new products and mobility concepts -- for example, electric propulsion -- we are creating a basis for our company's future growth," said Axel Strotbek, who oversees finance and organization at the company.

Investors agreed, pushing Audi shares up nearly 4.2 percent to 500 euros in Frankfurt trading.

The company also wants to expand its model line, adding the A1, A7, A8 and R8 Spyder to its production portfolio in 2010, along with the Q5 Hybrid.

TOKYO

Factory output in Japan grows during November

Japan's factory output grew the most in six months in November as a recovery in export demand from Asia boosted production of cars, flat-screen televisions and other goods in the world's second-biggest economy.

Factory output -- a key barometer of Japan's economic health -- was up 2.6 percent from October and logged its ninth consecutive month of growth, the government said Monday.

Japan's exports to Asia totaled 2.7 trillion yen ($30 billion) in November -- more than those to North America (920 billion yen) and Western Europe (624 billion yen) combined, the finance ministry said last week. Exports to China alone in November rose 7.8 percent, the first increase in 14 months.

Consumer groups lobby against Google-AdMob deal

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should block Google Inc.'s planned acquisition of AdMob Inc. because the deal would diminish competition in the mobile- advertising market, two consumer groups said.

The takeover would give Google dominance in mobile advertising and hurt consumers, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog said in a statement. The groups said they sent a joint letter to the FTC.

Google agreed last month to pay $750 million in stock for AdMob. The company aims to boost its sales of ads that appear in applications on mobile phones such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Google and AdMob combined will form the largest mobile-advertising company, with 30 percent to 40 percent of the market, estimated Karsten Weide, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo, Calif.