Roundup: Oil surges to two-month high; Bonefish Grill to hire 200; more
Oil soars to 2-month high
Oil prices advanced to a two-month high and the dollar slipped against the euro as President Obama plans to leave for Washington to resume talks to avert spending cuts and tax gains that threaten the economy. Crude rose as much as 3 percent and the dollar approached an eight-month low against the euro before lawmakers return to discuss ways to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic measures that will take effect Jan. 1. “The dollar is getting hit, which is having an impact on all of the commodities, especially oil,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “The euro is back above $1.32, an important level. Oil is also getting a boost.” Crude oil for February delivery climbed $2.06, or 2.3 percent, to $90.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $91.30, the highest level in two months.
Bonefish Grill will hire 100for new South Hills location
Bonefish Grill is hiring about 100 people for its restaurant in South Hills that it plans to open Jan. 14. The seafood restaurant, the chain's first in Western Pennsylvania, is located at 1835 Washington Road in Upper St. Clair. The 4,200-square-foot restaurant will seat 218 patrons, including the bar area. Open positions include host, wait staff and kitchen staff. Job candidates should apply at the location or online at www.bonefishgrill.com/Locator/details/south-hills-pennsylvania or www.Bloominbrandscareers.com/Bonefish.
Home prices dip in Octoberas seasonal slowdown begins
Home prices in the nation's 20 biggest cities dipped 0.1 percent in October from the prior month but rose strongly from the same month last year, according to a closely watched index, indicating the start of the seasonal slowdown in home prices. It was the first month-over-month dip after six months of gains for the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large cities. The index was up 4.3 percent compared with October 2011. Five cities in the 20-city index turned negative, posting month-over-month declines in October after being in positive territory the month before. Those five cities were Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Minneapolis and Seattle. Pittsburgh is not included in the index.
Empire State Buildinggets nod to proceed in REIT
The company that controls the Empire State Building can go ahead with a vote to allow the iconic New York skyscraper to be included in a proposed real estate investment trust. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a “notice of effectiveness” for the plan to ask about 2,800 co-investors in the tower to approve the conversion of their interests into units of Empire State Realty Trust Inc., a REIT proposed by Peter Malkin and his son Anthony. Empire State Realty filed in February to raise as much as $1 billion in an initial public offering.
Wells Fargo wins reversalof ruling on overdraft fees
Wells Fargo & Co. won a bid to throw out a judge's order that it pay California customers $203 million for manipulating debit card transactions to boost overdraft fees. The decision, issued on Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, reverses a lower-court order requiring Wells Fargo to cease its practice of charging overdraft fees based on its posting in high-to-low order customers' debit card transactions. The bank's practice is a “federally authorized pricing decision,” the appeals court ruled. The lower court was directed to determine what damages, if any, Wells Fargo must pay.
Grainger agrees to pay $70Min case alleging false claims
W.W. Grainger Inc., a hardware supply distributor, agreed to pay $70 million to resolve government allegations that it submitted false claims under contracts with the General Services Administration and the U.S. Postal Service. The GSA discovered through an audit that Grainger had not given accurate or complete information to government purchasers, causing the government to pay higher prices, the Justice Department said. The settlement also resolves allegations under the False Claims Act that Lake Forest, Ill.-based Grainger did not offer as big discounts to the Postal Service as to commercial customers for sanitation and maintenance supplies, the department said. In agreeing to the settlement, the company did not admit to any wrongdoing.
— Staff and wire reports
