IN BRIEF

Housing prices slide in state, city, studies show

Two separate reports released Monday showed slides in housing prices across Las Vegas and Nevada.

The first-quarter edition of House Prices in America, a study from financial-analysis firm Global Insight and banking company National City Corp., revealed an 18.7 percent drop in local single-family home prices, to a median of $232,600, when compared with $286,100 in the first quarter of 2007. The nation posted an overall decline of 6.7 percent.

Las Vegas has plenty of company on the list of markets with falling prices. Out of 330 markets in the study, 262 saw declines. Those markets make up 84 percent of all the nation's housing units and 89 percent of all real estate value, the study said.

California, Florida and Michigan contained 45 of the 50 worst-performing cities in the quarter. Nevada had two: Las Vegas and Reno.

A second analysis, this one by New York real estate data business Radar Logic, pegged Las Vegas as the third-worst U.S. housing market in March, with median prices plummeting to $134 a square foot.

That's down 26 percent when compared with March 2007. Sacramento, Calif., with a 31 percent decline to $160 per square foot, and San Diego, which experienced a 27 percent drop to $251 a square foot, were the two markets faring worse than Las Vegas.

DES MOINES, Iowa

Winnebago Industries closes plant, cuts jobs

Motor home manufacturer Winnebago Industries is closing a factory and eliminating 270 employees.

The Charles City plant that makes class C motor homes -- smaller units built on a van chassis -- is expected to close in August.

Winnebago will continue to employ 190 workers in Charles City in other plants.

Motor homes sales industrywide are expected to be 42 percent lower this year than in 2004, when the plant opened.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

FedEx will stop using Kinko's name on stores

FedEx said Monday it plans to stop using the Kinko's name on its copy and office service stores and book an $891 million charge for the quarter that ended Saturday.

The charge relates to a decision about the use of the Kinko's name and a write-down of the value of its acquisition of the brand. The charge, which works out to $2.22 a share, was not part of FedEx's earnings forecast. The company reports its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter June 18.

FedEx Corp. said it will change the name of its FedEx Kinko's stores to FedEx Office over the next several years.

Exec calls Countrywide buyout deal compelling

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said his planned purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. is "compelling" because it will provide gains even if U.S. home prices drop by 25 percent in the next two years, as the bank expects.

Taking over Countrywide, the home-lender that all but collapsed under the subprime crisis, will give Bank of America about a quarter of the mortgage market in the world's biggest economy, Lewis said Monday on a call with investors. It will profit from fees tied to Countrywide's $1.5 trillion business handling mortgage billing and collections, he said.

Some analysts are skeptical about the purchase, saying Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America may have to write down Countrywide's loans because of sliding home prices.

Such writedowns could total $30 billion, analyst Paul Miller of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. said last month.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates mixed in Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills dropping and rates on six-month bills rising to the highest level in more than three months.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.82 percent, down from 1.87 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.95 percent, up from 1.92 percent last week.

DALLAS

American Airlines will start flights to Moscow

American Airlines, which has added flights to India and China in recent years, was set Monday to launch its first service from the United States to Moscow, opening a new front in its competition with Delta Air Lines.

American, the largest U.S. carrier, sees in Moscow the chance to benefit indirectly from high oil prices -- the energy-price spiral has spurred economic growth in Russia and raised the spending power of Russians.

American will offer one flight six days a week each way between Chicago and Moscow, and daily beginning next May, to compete with Delta's service from New York and Atlanta. No other U.S. carriers fly directly between the two countries, although foreign carriers such as Russia's Aeroflot do.

NEW YORK

Gasoline holds steady, but oil prices climb

Gasoline held steady near an average $3.98 a gallon at the pump Monday as a recent slide in oil futures stalled gas' advance to the $4 mark. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose modestly on concerns about heating oil supplies and after an OPEC official said there's no need for the cartel to pump more oil.

At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas was unchanged at $3.975, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, matching a record set Sunday.

In Las Vegas, the price of a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $3.979 on Monday, AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge report. That's up 10 percent from the month-ago price of $3.618 and up 13.2 percent from the year-ago price of $3.195, AAA said.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose 41 cents to settle at $127.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier Monday, oil futures fell nearly $10 below a trading record of $135.09 reached May 22.

Although while gasoline prices didn't rise overnight, they are up 1.3 cents a gallon since Friday, and may continue rising regardless of what oil futures do.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices rise on manufacturing data

Treasury prices advanced Monday after new data on housing and manufacturing indicated that the economy is still showing signs of contraction.

The benchmark 10-year note rose 0.78 to 99.25 and yielded 3.97 percent, down from 4.06 percent late Friday.

The 30-year long bond rose 0.72 points to 95.19 and yielded 4.68 percent, down from 4.73 percent late Friday.