Blog: www.kgmb9.com/howard

Video Headline:

It's time for another agonizing edition of, Crisis at a Glance! in which I hurl headlines of bad mainland economic news in your general direction. Weekly mortgage applications nationwide are down 9% as loan rates inch up on the mainland and fewer people refinance their mortgages. Morgan Stanley posts a billion dollar quarterly profit, which sounds like good news until you hear that a year ago its profit was more than twice that much. But the big story is FedEx. It lost 241 million in the second quarter and predicts several more bad quarters. FedEx losing money is a big deal because investors and economists increasingly see FedEx as a microcosm for the whole economy. When the economy is sick, people don't ship as many packages. It also suffers from soaring fuel prices. Crude oil is not soaring any more at the moment, fortunately -- we're at 134 dollars a barrel. And so ends another breathtaking edition of, Crisis at a Glance! Please pay cashier before panicking.

Other Business Headlines:

The plan to auction off Aloha Airlines' lawsuit against Mesa Air Group has taken a REALLY interesting turn. The bankruptcy judge delayed the auction a week after learning that Aloha's main investor was the only bidder. The postponement gives others time to consider bidding. The most intriguing possibility is that Mesa Air Group itself might bid.

Northwest Airlines says it will cut its fall flight schedule by about 9%, maybe more, and pull 50 jets out of service. Northwest CEO Doug Steenland says it's essential to cut capacity because, in his words, "airfares, by necessity, must increase."

The Air Line Pilots Association says it is frustrated with slow progress in mediated contract negotiations with Hawaiian Airlines. It says Hawaiian is, quote, "repackaging the same unsatisfactory proposals over and over."

NCL cut Hawaii cruise capacity by two thirds, but other companies are sending more cruise ships here. Now the Cruise Lines International Association has released its annual survey of cruisers, and says 15% intend to sail to Hawaii next.

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