News - Business

Thursday, Sep. 11, 2008

Business In Brief - September 11, 2008

Free event to celebrate National Gymnastic Day

Thomas Gymnastics Training Center will celebrate National Gymnastic Day with a free family event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the facility in Cherry Park Centre at 1807 Cherry Road in Rock Hill.

The event will feature open gym time, activities, games, demonstrations by the 2008-2009 competitive gymnastics team, free hot dogs and drinks.

For more information, call 327-4332.

Barbecue lunch buffet temporarily closed

The lunch buffet at Slo' Smokin' Barbecue on S.C. 161 in Newport has temporarily closed.

Owner Dennis Partlow will reopen the restaurant after the Wal-Mart project is completed.

Partlow will continue his catering and fund-raising services and will make the 150-year-old house that houses the restaurant available for parties and meetings.

For more information, call Partlow at 322-7202.

Lehman tries to soothe fears with asset sale

NEW YORK -- Lehman Brothers, in a desperate bid to survive, announced plans Wednesday to sell a majority stake in its prized investment management business and said a sale of the entire company was possible.

Lehman said it would spin off a troubled real estate unit and slash its dividend. Those moves come as the nation's fourth largest investment bank reported an almost $4 billion third-quarter loss, boosting its losses so far this year to about $6.5 billion.

The plan was aimed at raising capital and regaining investor confidence in the 158-year-old firm.

Berkshire tightens bank deposit insurance

CHARLOTTE -- A Kansas company that is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has stopped selling private bank deposit insurance above the amount guaranteed by the federal government, signaling that billionaire investor Buffett may be worried about future bank failures.

Kansas Bankers Surety confirmed Wednesday that it has ceased soliciting new clients for their "bank deposit guaranty bonds," a product that backs deposits above the $100,000 limit that is guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for many bank accounts.

It also plans to cancel existing policies in coming months.

Pentagon delays $35B Air Force tanker decision

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department has again delayed plans to award a $35 billion contract for Air Force refueling planes, handing a victory to defense contractor Boeing and leaving the politically charged decision for the next president.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers Wednesday that he ended the current round of bidding on the tankers because the Pentagon's plan to pick a winner by the end of the year no longer seemed possible given the complexity of the project and the rancor between Boeing and rival Northrop Grumman.

Oil prices slip even after U.S. inventories shrink

NEW YORK -- Oil prices closed slightly lower in jittery trading Wednesday, as the strengthening dollar and signs of a slowing economy outweighed inventory drops and word that OPEC would cut production.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said that crude inventories fell by 5.9 million barrels last week compared to the previous week, and that gasoline inventories fell by 6.5 million barrels.

The EIA also reported, however, that inventories of distillates -- which include heating oil and diesel fuel -- fell by a lower-than-anticipated 1.2 million barrels.