Carnival in rough seas

NEW YORK » Carnival Corp. cut its profit forecast nearly in half Friday, another sign of the challenges the company and cruise industry face after the capsizing of the Costa Concordia in January.

Cruise line operators entered 2012 thinking they could start charging passengers more again after offering widespread discounts following the 2007-2009 recession. But just two weeks into the year, 32 people died when Carnival’s Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy.

The incident happened during a critical period for the cruise industry referred to as "wave season." It’s a time when a large number of travelers book cruises for the year.

Execs at mortgage giants will get pay cut

WASHINGTON » The government says it will cap pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chief executives at $500,000 per year and eliminate annual bonuses for all employees. The changes come after Congress pressured the government to stop big payouts at the bailed-out mortgage giants.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government agency that oversees Fannie and Freddie, also said Friday that it will cut pay for roughly 50 other executives at the two companies. Those employees are still eligible to earn salaries above the cap.

The pay and bonus structure of the government-controlled mortgage giants came under fire this fall after it was revealed that 12 executives got $35.4 million in salary and bonuses in 2009 and 2010. Fannie Chief Executive Michael J. Williams got about $9.3 million for the two years. Freddie Chief Executive Edward Haldeman Jr. was paid $7.8 million.

Freddie Mac improves but still needs aid

WAshINGTON » Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac has requested $146 million in additional aid after posting a smaller loss in the fourth quarter of last year.

That’s far less than in the third quarter, when Freddie received $6 billion from the government. It got $7.6 billion for all of 2011 and $13 billion for all of 2010.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that it lost $1 billion, or 32 cents per share, in the October-December quarter. That compares with a loss of $1.72 billion, or 53 cents a share, in the same quarter of 2010.

Freddie’s losses are dwindling because of a drop in the number of homeowners refinancing at lower mortgage rates and paying less interest. Fewer homeowners are refinancing because many have already done so or can’t qualify for the current record-low rates. Edward Haldeman Jr., Freddie’s chief executive, also said the company’s portfolio of home loans is improving.

Google’s search engine tops survey

SAN FRANCISCO » Google is almost everyone’s favorite search engine, despite misgivings about data-collection and advertising practices that are widely seen as intrusive.

A survey released Friday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found 83 percent of U.S. search engine users rated Google as their preferred search engine. That was up from 47 percent in 2004, the last time that Pew gauged people’s attitudes about Internet search engines.

Yahoo’s search engine ranked a distant second at 6 percent, according to the latest numbers, down from 26 percent in 2004.

Apple to boost presence in Texas capital

AUSTIN, Texas » Apple Inc. is investing $304 million in a new campus and more than doubling its workforce in Austin, Texas, boosted by a $21 million incentive from a state fund designed to attract high-tech companies, Gov. Rick Perry said Friday.

The investment from the Texas Enterprise Fund comes in exchange for a promise that Apple will add more than 3,600 employees at its new facility in the state capital over the next decade, including customer support, sales and accounting staff, Perry said.

Bank of America offers mortgage relief

NEW YORK » Bank of America is providing mortgage relief to about 200,000 homeowners.

Homeowners whose home values have fallen below what they owe on their mortgages will qualify. Bank of America will reduce the amount owed by as much as $100,000 in some cases. Only mortgages that are currently owned by Bank of America are included. Those owned by government entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or backed by the Federal Housing Administration, will not be eligible.

The move will help the bank reduce the amount of penalties it owes to the government’s Housing and Urban Development agency by $850 million.

Greece and creditors agree on debt deal

ATHENS, Greece » Greece’s private creditors agreed Friday to take cents on the euro in the biggest debt write-down in history, paving the way for an enormous second bailout of the country to keep Europe’s economy from being dragged into further chaos.

Greece risked defaulting on its debts in two weeks without the agreement, sparking turmoil in the financial markets and sending shock waves through the other 16 countries that use the euro.

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Lucas Papa­de­mos called the deal — which shaves some 105 billion euros ($138 billion) off Greece’s 368 billion-euro ($487 billion) debt load — an important historic success. "For the first time, Greece is not adding, but taking debt off the backs of its citizens."

On the Move

» Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel has hired the following associates:

— James E. Abraham practices in the area of public utility law. He interned for the Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section in Washington, D.C.

— Jordan M. Odo practices in the area of labor and employment law. He externed for the National Labor Relations Board in Hono­lulu.

»  The Plaza Club has announced that Chelsea Mori­moto is its new dining room and service manager. Before the Plaza Club she held leadership and various culinary roles at restaurants that include 3660 on the Rise, Pacific Place Tea Garden Cafe and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant as well as restaurants in Seattle and Washington.