in brief

Loan from Goldman Sachs puts casino project back on track

Construction of an American Indian casino near Grand Rapids, Mich., is back on track.

The Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi Indians said it has obtained a $165 million loan arranged by Goldman Sachs, which will have a five-year term at 12 percent interest.

Work on the 83,000-square-foot project slowed after financing dried up.

Gun Lake will have 1,400 slot machines and 28 table games and is now expected to open in early 2011.

The loan is expected to be used to pay off existing debt, fund ongoing construction, pay fees and create a reserve.

Station Casinos, the tribe's casino management company, had advanced more than $53 million for the development of the casino as of the end of 2009, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show.

Gun Lake is one of several Indian gaming management and development contracts controlled by Station Casinos. The contracts will be included within the group of assets that are scheduled to be auctioned next month at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno as part of the bankrupt company's planned reorganization.

Communications companies roll out 4G network in Pahrump

KeyOn Communications Holdings, a provider of wireless broadband, satellite video and voice over Internet protocol services, and Alvarion Ltd., a provider of 4G broadband wireless networks, on Wednesday said they deployed a next-generation 4G wireless data network in Pahrump.

In a statement, the companies said the network uses Alvarion's Breezemax Extreme WiMax gear in the 3.65 gigahertz spectrum band where KeyOn holds a nationwide, nonexclusive license. The network will provide wireless coverage to more than 15,000 Pahrump households, the companies said.

Costs of deploying the network weren't disclosed.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

Governor says state should
take over Atlantic City services

Gov. Chris Christie proposed a state takeover of services in Atlantic City's casino district, citing the city government's long history of corruption, its decades-long failure to deal with blight and a steady decline in casino revenues and jobs amid growing competition.

The governor on Wednesday also called for the state to get out of the horse racing business, all part of a push to overhaul the state's gaming, sports and entertainment industries.

Christie backed the recommendations of a special panel he appointed, pitching his plan in news conferences in the billion-dollar New Meadowlands Stadium and later in Atlantic City, the primary focus of his proposals.

Christie also called for closing or selling the state-owned -- and financially struggling -- Meadowlands Racetrack, selling the underused Izod Center, which has lost its main tenants, the National Basketball Association's Nets and National Hockey League's Devils, and giving state financial aid to finish the stalled Xanadu shopping-entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.

NEW YORK

Improved sales of soda, juices boost earnings for Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Co. sold more soft drinks and juices in North America for the first time in four years during the second quarter as soft drink sales stopped years of decline. Shoppers snapped up smaller packages and new bottles, wooed by discounts, but analysts said the market will likely remain stagnant and the company will keep pushing sales overseas.

The company earned $2.37 billion, or $1.02 per share, in the quarter, up from $2.04 billion, or 88 cents, last year.

Excluding a charge for restructuring, Coca-Cola earned $1.06 per share.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $8.7 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $8.67 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO

Netflix tops earnings forecasts, but investors aren't impressed

Netflix Inc.'s second-quarter performance got panned by investors Wednesday for bringing in less revenue than expected, even though the movie subscription service added a million more customers to produce another earnings extravaganza.

While Netflix easily cleared the second-quarter earnings bar set by stock market analysts, its revenue was about $4 million below projections.

Netflix ended June with 15 million subscribers, up from 14 million in March and 10.6 million a year ago. It marks the third straight quarter that Netflix has lured in at least 1 million more subscribers, and management expects to do it again in each of the next two quarters.

The company earned $43.5 million, or 80 cents per share, in the second quarter, a 34 percent increase from $32.4 million, or 54 cents per share, a year ago.

The performance easily exceeded the average earnings estimate of 70 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 27 percent to $520 million, about $4 million below analyst projections. It was $408.5 million in the same period last year.

Netflix shares fell 74 cents, or 0.61 percent, Wednesday to close at $119.65 on the Nasdaq National Market.

BOSTON

Regulators vote to revamp fees charged by mutual funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday voted to revamp fees that most mutual funds charge to cover sales and distribution costs, and that have become a source of confusion for investors and industry insiders alike.

Revenue from so-called "12b-1" fees can be used for a wide range of fund services beyond upfront sales costs, and an investor can pay the fees for years after they've gotten into a fund, eroding returns. Even industry pros find 12b-1s confusing, because funds can use the fee revenue in so many different ways beyond compensating brokers selling funds.

The commission voted unanimously in Washington to adopt changes proposed by the SEC staff to limit investor costs and improve fee disclosure. The rules are subject to a 90-day public comment period.

WASHINGTON

Bernanke says Fed has no plans to jolt economic recovery

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that even though the economic recovery has weakened, the Fed plans no new steps for now to try to bolster it.

Bernanke said the Fed would consider action if matters worsened.

His comments to the Senate Banking Committee sent stocks tumbling. The Dow Jones industrial average had been up 20 points before he spoke. It fell as much as 160 points during his testimony, but recovered some losses to close down 109 points. Investors shifted money into the safety of Treasury bonds; the yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 2.86 percent.

"The markets are more paranoid than the Fed is about the economy's health," said David Resler, chief U.S. economist at Nomura Securities.

ROCHESTER, N.Y.

Corning to invest $800 million to build LCD factory in Beijing

Corning Inc. says it will invest $800 million to build a factory to make liquid crystal display glass in Beijing.

The world's largest maker of LCD glass for televisions and computers cited strong market demand in its decision to ramp up investment in China. It plans to break ground on the project in September and begin production in the first half of 2012.

As LCD-TV market penetration reaches 90 percent in the United States, China will become the global leader in total TV sales -- about 70 percent of them LCD models. Corning has projected that the Chinese market could rise 32 percent this year to 37 million LCD-TVs.