Best Buy bid advances

NEW YORK >> Best Buy Co. and its founder and ex-chairman Richard Schulze say they have an agreement that will allow Schulze to pursue his plan to try to buy the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain. Best Buy said the agreement will give Schulze access to confidential financial data and allow him to form an investment group.

Analysis: Hawaii bond buyers shortchanged

Investors who buy bonds issued by the state of Hawaii are not being compensated adequately given the risk presented by the state’s high unfunded pension liability and debt load, according to analysis by Barron’s, a weekly financial newspaper.

Hawaii’s unfunded pension liability combined with government debt add up to 16.1 percent of the state’s gross domestic product, the 48th-highest ratio of all states, according to the report. The Barron’s analysis was based on the newspaper’s own data and information from Eaton Vance, a municipal bond fund manager. The top-rated state, South Dakota, has a pension liability and debt ratio equal to just 1 percent of GDP.

Normally, bonds issued by states with weaker fiscal positions carry higher yields to compensate investors for the additional risk. In this case, however, the opposite is true. Hawaii 10-year bonds are yielding 20 basis points above the comparable Treasury securities, while the yield on South Dakota bonds is 28 basis points higher. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

"For municipal bond investors, it all boils down to this: The risk of investing in the debt of some of the country’s least financially sound states, compared with the most sound, is not always reflected in the price of their bonds," according to the Barron’s report.

Lou Chan firm to design trade zone expansion

Honolulu-based architectural and engineering firm Lou Chan & Associates has been selected to do the design phase of the Foreign Trade Zone No. 9 expansion scheduled to begin construction in January.

The $7.5 million project will nearly double the size of the Foreign Trade Zone facility, which currently occupies 32,000 square feet at Hono­lulu Harbor’s Pier 2. The project is being paid for with a $3 million federal grant and $7.5 million in state funding.

Construction will not affect the operations of the Foreign Trade Zone, said administrator David Sikkink.

Foreign Trade Zone No. 9 is one of 500 such zones and subzones designated by the U.S. government around the country. The designation allows imported products to enter a zone warehouse without paying U.S. Customs duties if they are eventually shipped to another country.

Japan lowers its economic assessment

@Body text1:Japan’s government downgraded its assessment of the world’s third-biggest economy for the first time in 10 months as some analysts forecast that gross domestic product will shrink this quarter.

Risks include a "further slowing down of overseas economies and sharp fluctuations in the financial and capital markets," the Cabinet Office said in a monthly report released Monday in Tokyo.

The government cut its view on personal consumption, home-building, exports, imports and industrial production while raising its assessment of the labor market. It lowered its evaluation of the U.S., Europe, China, the rest of Asia except India, and the global economy, saying Japan’s overseas shipments are "growing weaker."

FAA to study use of electronics on planes

It’s going to be a while before airline passengers can use iPads and other electronic devices during an entire flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it is starting a process to study the issue, with a timeline that means it will take at least until March for a recommendation — and maybe longer for action.

In March the FAA raised hopes that it might loosen rules for electronic devices by saying it would "explore ways to bring together all of the key stakeholders involved."

Smartphones and tablet computers are common in the passenger cabin, and pilots are using iPads in the cockpit. But passengers have to shut off electronic devices when the plane is below 10,000 feet because of worries that signals emitted by the devices might interfere with electronics in the cockpit.

The FAA doesn’t actually ban the devices. But it says airlines can only allow devices that have been tested and proven not to interfere with the plane’s electronics. With thousands of devices on the market and new ones coming out each day, airlines simply ban them all during takeoff and landing.

IBM buys Kenexa for $1.3B in software deal

ARMONK, N.Y. » IBM is buying human resources management company Kenexa Corp. for about $1.3 billion, adding to its stable of cloud-based software.

Kenexa’s HR software is designed to help companies recruit workers and manage employees with the help of networking tools similar to those that connect people on Facebook and LinkedIn. The Wayne, Pa., company says it has more than 8,900 customers and employs about 2,800 workers.

IBM plans to continue to support Kenexa’s clients while also giving them access to IBM’s offerings.

On the Move

Central Pacific Bank has promoted: 

>> Garett Cosner to senior vice president and Leeward/Windward region manager.

>> Rachel Cunningham to vice president and Central Oahu region manager.

>> Amery Lam to vice president and East Hono­lulu region manager.

>> Bob Yee to metro region manager of East Oahu region.

>> Alvin Imada will remain as a neighbor island regional manager.