Australia Probably Will Leave Key Rate at 12-Year High of 7.25%

Australia's central bank probably will keep interest rates unchanged to gauge fallout from the global credit squeeze, the worst quarterly slump on the nation's stock market since 1987 and waning consumer confidence.
Governor Glenn Stevens will leave the overnight cash rate target at 7.25 percent tomorrow in Melbourne after quarter-point increases this month and […]

New unemployment claims fall

New filings for unemployment claims fell last week, according to a report released Thursday by the Labor Department.
According to the report, 366,000 people filed for unemployment for the first time in the week ended March 22, down 9,000 from a revised 375,000 reported in the previous week.
A consensus of economists polled by Briefing.com had […]

Beshear creates BRAC task force

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has created a Task Force on Military Base Realignment to augment state preparations resulting from the 2005 Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure recommendations.
"The 2005 BRAC Task Force did a good job outlining the needs to be addressed in order to take advantage of this great opportunity," […]

JBC proposes $18.4B state budget

The Joint Budget Committee (JBC) on Monday presented to legislators a $18.4 billion state budget bill that recommends increases for health care and education funding.
Under the proposed budget, public schools would get an additional $150 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year. Colleges and universities would receive $64 million more.
The state’s […]

Spending Probably Slowed, Home Sales Fell: U.S. Economy Preview

Spending by American consumers slowed in February and home sales continued to drop, signaling the biggest housing slump in a generation has brought the U.S. expansion to a halt, economists said before reports this week.
Spending was up 0.1 percent last month, the smallest gain in more than a year, according to the median […]

Hawaii hotel occupancy down nearly 4%

Hotel occupancy is down on all Hawaii islands except Kauai, while room rates are up everywhere but the Big Island.
For the week ending March 15, statewide occupancy declined 3.9 percentage points to 71.6 percent as compared to the same week last year.
Oahu hotels saw a 2.6 percentage point dip in […]

BOE Panel Defeated Gieve, Blanchflower Rate-Cut Votes

Bank of England policy makers voted 7-2 to keep the benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent this month, defeating calls by John Gieve and David Blanchflower for a quarter-point cut to shore up economic growth.
The Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mervyn King, said that a reduction so soon after lowering the rate […]

Microsoft hit by antitrust lawsuit

The Supreme Court on Monday handed Microsoft Corp. a defeat by refusing to rule on the software giant’s request to halt an antitrust suit against it.
The suit was brought in 2004 by Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc (NOVL)., which said in court papers that Microsoft "deliberately targeted and destroyed" its WordPerfect and QuattroPro programs in […]

Court orders new Daimler hearing

A German federal court on Friday ordered a new hearing of a claim for damages by DaimlerChrysler AG shareholders who maintain the company did not announce in proper time that former CEO Juergen Schrempp planned to step down.
A Stuttgart court rejected the claim in February 2007. It ruled that the July 2005 announcement had […]

Owner of Denny’s property files suit against landmark ruling

Developer Larry Benaroya is fighting back against a recent ruling that his company must preserve an abandoned Denny’s Restaurant in Seattle’s Ballard district as a historic landmark.
A development entity associated with Benaroya Co. — BCC Mikie Ballard LLC — today filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court challenging last month’s ruling […]