IN BRIEF
Deal extension allows Oasis to keep operating
The Oasis in Mesquite can continue to run at reduced operations until Feb. 2 through an update to an existing bank agreement, a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.
Black Gaming closed the Oasis' table game operations, company-owned restaurants and nightclub Dec. 19 because of financial requirements of a bank agreement that expired Jan. 15.
The company also reduced its slots from 750 machines to 144, and closed most of its 900-room hotel.
The move reduced the casino's staff by 340 workers.
The gaming company, which also owns the Virgin River and CasaBlanca in the rural town 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, will have to seek another update by Feb. 2 to continue to run the Oasis at reduced operations.
RENO
Safari Club meeting expected to lure 23,000
As many as 23,000 hunting enthusiasts are expected in Reno this week for the 37th annual Safari Club International Hunters' Convention.
It marks the seventh year in a row the group has held its annual convention in Reno and the 18th time overall.
The Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority estimates the event beginning today will have a $20 million impact on the local economy.
SAN FRANCISCO
Displaying bullishness, IBM projects profit rise
IBM Corp. forecast significantly higher profits for 2009 than Wall Street expected, a surprisingly bullish sign that reflects IBM's belief it can outmaneuver the financial crisis by focusing on landing high-margin services and software contracts.
The Armonk, N.Y.-based company predicted at least $9.20 per share in profit in 2009. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting $8.75 a share.
IBM also said Tuesday that its net income in the fourth quarter of 2008 was $4.4 billion, or $3.28 per share. That amounted to a 12 percent profit increase from $3.95 billion, or $2.80 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 6 percent to $27 billion, short of the $28.1 billion analysts were expecting.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
Saudi investors lose $8 billion in quarter
The Saudi investment company that bet big on now-ailing Citigroup and other major global companies said Tuesday it lost more than $8 billion in the last three months of 2008.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. said the loss stems from the company's investments in capital markets, according to a statement posted on the Saudi Tadawul exchange's Web site.
Kingdom Holding said it lost 30.98 billion riyals ($8.26 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2008. That compares with a gain of 255.6 million riyals ($68.2 million) in the same period a year earlier.
TRENTON, N.J.
Johnson & Johnson profits rise 14 percent
Health care products maker Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday posted a 14 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, topping Wall Street forecasts, as big one-time gains offset slumping sales.
New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J earned $2.71 billion, or 97 cents per share, up from $2.37 billion, or 82 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue fell 4.9 percent to $15.18 billion from $15.96 billion -- the first drop since the end of 2004.
Excluding charges and gains, J&J earned 94 cents a share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 92 cents per share on revenue of $15.93 billion.
Clear Channel parent plans to cut 1,850 jobs
The parent of Clear Channel Communications Inc. told workers on Tuesday that it is cutting 1,850 jobs as the nation's largest owner of radio stations grapples with the economic meltdown.
The cuts represent about 9 percent of the company's total work force and affect staff throughout the company, in radio, outdoor advertising and corporate offices.
In the third quarter, the company lost $86.1 million before discontinued operations reversing a profit of $253.4 million.
Revenue fell 4 percent to $1.7 billion.
WASHINGTON
Interest rates higher in Treasury auction
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Tuesday's auction to the highest levels in two weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $27 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.14 percent, up from 0.12 percent last week; and $27 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 0.325 percent, up from 0.29 percent last week.
NEW YORK
Treasurys decline after bank forecasts loss
Treasury prices fell Tuesday after the Royal Bank of Scotland on Monday predicted a loss of $41.3 billion in 2008.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.34 points to 111.94 and yielded 2.34 percent, up from 2.30 percent Friday. U.S. financial markets were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
