U.S. Retail Gas Rises to Record $3.99 a Gallon, Lundberg Says

Gasoline rose to $3.99 a gallon at the pump, threatening to further shake the confidence of consumers whose spending makes up two-thirds of the economy, an industry survey showed.
The price climbed 20 cents on June 6 from three weeks earlier, according to oil-industry analyst Trilby Lundberg's survey of 7,000 filling stations nationwide. Gasoline […]

Fisher Investments buys possible HQ site in Camas

A private California investment firm specializing in serving wealthy investors, has acquired a 120-acre property in Camas, fueling speculation it will bring its corporate headquarters and more than 1,000 jobs to Southwest Washington.
Woodside, Calif.-based Fisher Investments manages $43 billion in assets on behalf of 22,000 investors and employs more than 1,000 people […]

Lingle blasts senator for

Gov. Linda Lingle has criticized a Republican state senator for describing employees of the state economic development agency as "morons" and has asked him to apologize.
Sen. Sam Slom said he stood by his comments.
Lingle was referring to remarks made by Slom about a state Senate investigation of how the state […]

Sale of Aloha Airlines division OK

The sale of Aloha Airlines' contract services division was approved Thursday by a federal bankruptcy judge in Oakland, Calif.
Pacific Air Cargo, with offices in Honolulu and Los Angeles, successfully bid for the division, which handles ticketing, baggage, ground operations and other services at Hawaii airports.
The sale price was $2.05 million guaranteed […]

Ryland Homes to shutter Mason operations

California-based Ryland Homes, previously one of Greater Cincinnati’s largest home builders, will abandon its Mason operation by 2009, the builder said Friday.
Ryland has focused its construction efforts on northern Cincinnati communities like Liberty Township and Hamilton. The company said it built 183 homes in Cincinnati in 2007 and about 3,000 since entering […]

Profits fall at Crescent State Bank

Crescent Financial Corp. said earnings dropped 32 percent in the first quarter as it got hit by bad loans and a decline in net interest margin.
Crescent Financial (Nasdaq: CRFN), parent of Cary’s Crescent State Bank, said net income was $1 million in the quarter, or 10 cents per diluted share. A year earlier, […]

Business Pulse Results: Most cos. don

The majority of those taking part in a Memphis Business Journal online poll said their company offers no wellness-related benefits.
In a recent national analysis of 9,900 employee health screenings, Kronos Optimal Health Co. found that 65 percent of employees are overweight or obese. Various studies, including one by the U.S. Department of […]

Taiwan

Taiwan's economic growth probably slowed in the fourth quarter from the fastest pace in three years as consumer spending cooled and exports to the U.S. eased.
Gross domestic product rose 5.65 percent from a year earlier, moderating from the third quarter's 6.92 percent gain, according to the median estimate of 14 economist surveyed […]

Scorn for banking industry after SocGen scandal

Business leaders said they were aghast by the culture of banking and its excesses following revelations that a trader at French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) had lost $7 billion through possible fraud.
“It’s something that further damages the image of banking at a time when people are already very concerned about risks,” […]