Business briefs, December 27

Rocky staff and wire reports

Published December 27, 2007 at 12:05 a.m.

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Eric T. Gross

Dave Bell

NATIONAL

FedEx will raise general shipping rates on Jan. 14

FedEx Corp., the second-largest U.S. package shipping company, will raise general shipping rates for its FedEx Freight and National LTL units in January.

The freight unit will boost rates by 5.5 percent, effective Jan. 14, Memphis-based FedEx said Wednesday.

The National LTL rate increase will be "commensurate," FedEx said, without giving specifics.

NASDAQ ACQUISITION Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. was cleared by U.S. antitrust enforcers to acquire the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for $652 million to enter the options business.

The approval was announced by the Federal Trade Commission, which publishes a list of concluded merger reviews.

The takeover would make Nasdaq the third-biggest exchange in the $1 trillion U.S. options industry.

HILTON DONATION Hilton Hotels Corp. co-Chairman Barron Hilton will give 97 percent of his estimated $2.3 billion fortune when he dies to a foundation established by his father.

He also announced an immediate donation of $1.2 billion to the Los Angeles-based Conrad H. Hilton Foundation, representing his share of the proceeds of the sale of the company and the pending sale of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., foundation Chief Executive Officer Steven Hilton said in a statement.

SETTLEMENT Futures and options broker MF Global Ltd. agreed Wednesday to pay more than $77 million to settle federal charges that it failed to watch over a hedge fund charged with fraud more than two years ago.

The government said the company did not adequately supervise accounts used by Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management Co., a hedge fund that regulators charged with fraud in summer 2005.

RESTATED FINANCIALS Leap Wireless International Inc. on Wednesday filed restated financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission for 2006 and the first and second quarters of 2007.

In an amended SEC filing, the company reported restated second-quarter earnings of 14 cents per share, compared with the 5 cents per share it originally reported.

The wireless provider reported restated revenue for the period ended June 30 of $398 million, compared with the $393 million it originally reported.

For the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, the company reported a restated loss of 40 cents per share, compared with the loss of 7 cents per share it originally reported.

BIGGER PHARMION STAKE SAC Capital Advisors LLC, the hedge fund company founded by billionaire Steven Cohen, boosted its stake in Boulder-based Pharmion Corp. to 7.1 percent from 5.1 percent.

Pharmion agreed last month to be bought by Celgene Corp. for $2.9 billion. The companies plan to complete the sale in the second quarter.

The stake was purchased for investment purposes only and not to change or influence Pharmion's management, according to the filing.

LOCAL

EchoStar reports 5.4 percent stake in CalAmp Corp.

EchoStar Communications Corp. on Wednesday reported the ownership of a 5.4 percent stake in CalAmp Corp. as a result of settlement of certain claims against the California provider of wireless products. EchoStar acquired 1.5 million Cal- Amp shares, including a warrant to purchase an additional 350,000 shares at $3.72 per share, according to a regulatory filing.

CURBELL FACILITY New York-based Curbell Plastics Inc. has opened a 16,000-square-foot sales and warehouse facility in Aurora to serve a 10-state region. The facility initially will employ seven people.

Curbell Plastics has been supplying plastic sheets, rods, tubes and other materials to industries nationwide for more than 65 years.

ECONOMY

Shopping season quells investor optimism

Investor optimism about U.S. stocks dropped for the first time in a month as the slowest holiday shopping season since 2002 bolstered concern that the economy is slowing, according to an Investors Intelligence survey.

The percentage of investment newsletter writers who were bullish fell to 54.9 percent in the week ended Dec. 21 from 56.5 percent the previous week, New Rochelle, N.Y.-based Investors Intelligence said.

The percentage of bearish writers rose to 23.1 percent from 22.2 percent. The proportion of those surveyed who said they expect a so-called correction, or 10 percent slide, in the stock market in the next year increased for the first time in a month, climbing to 22 percent.

THIS JUST IN

* Michael T. Rabb joined D.L. Adams Associates Inc. as a senior consultant and project manager.

* The Daniels Opportunity Scholarship program awarded the University of Colorado Denver two grants totaling $150,000 that will provide scholarships to nontraditional students attending the downtown campus and the School of Nursing on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

* Eric T. Gross joined the Urology Center of Colorado. He specializes in the radiation treatment of urologic cancers.

* Village Homes, a Colorado owned and operated private home builder, has introduced the final new-home sites available in the Castle Pines North community, the Crossings.

* Gary Frederick George of Appraisals By George in Lakewood achieved accredited member status with the American Society of Appraisers.

* The League of American Communications Professionals honored Centennial-based VolumePR with a 2007 Magellan Award for its work on behalf of client Infant Swimming Resource.

* Jacobs Chase in Denver added attorneys Michael H. Berger, Zachary D. Detra, Nicholas A. Langefels, Brooke E. Mallette, Andrew W. Myers, Elizabeth E. Pinckard and Marianna Moss.

* Eagle Resort Development purchased Prudential Becky Hamlin Realty Inc., a real estate firm in Crested Butte.

* Valley Bank & Trust added Dave Bell as community banker to its Keenesburg location.

* The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, inducted David L. Olds of the University of Colorado Denver as an honorary member for his work developing Nurse Family Partnership, a nationwide program in which nurses visit patients at their homes to offer prenatal and infancy information counseling.

* Allstate Insurance Co. opened an agency at 1777 W. 38th Ave., Suite 101, in Denver.

* The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded the Denver Public Library's Western History/Genealogy Department a $778,000 grant for its "Creating Communities: Digitizing Denver's Historic Neighborhoods" project.

* JE Dunn Construction, a commercial general contractor with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs, celebrated the groundbreaking for Monument Academy, a 74,000- square-foot replacement school that will include a gymnasium.

* Spavia, a neighborhood spa concept, opened its second location, in the Belleview Square Shopping Center.

* The Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County and McWhinney will break ground Jan. 3 on a new club at 2500 E. First St. in southwest Loveland. The public is invited to attend.

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