MLP up 37% in 3 days
Maui Land & Pineapple Co.’s shares climbed nearly 20 percent Monday to $6.57 on volume that was more than six times the three-month average. The New York Stock Exchange asked the company about the unusual trading, but the company said only that it generally doesn’t comment on market rumors or speculation.
Gap in health care act affects 5 million
About 5 million people will be without health care next year that they would have gotten simply if they lived somewhere else in America. They make up a coverage gap in President Barack Obama’s signature health care law created by the domino effects of last year’s Supreme Court ruling and states’ subsequent policy decisions.
The court effectively left it up to states to decide whether to open Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled, to more people, primarily poor working adults without children. Twenty-five states declined. That leaves 4.8 million people in those states without the health care coverage that their peers elsewhere are getting through the expansion of Medicaid, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation estimate. More than one-fifth of them live in Texas alone, Kaiser’s analysis found.
Congress lets popular tax breaks lapse
In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty — once again — for millions of individuals and businesses.
Lawmakers let these tax breaks lapse almost every year, even though they save businesses and individuals billions of dollars. And almost every year, Congress eventually renews them, retroactively, so taxpayers can claim them by the time they file their tax returns.
Not so far. Trade groups and tax experts complain that Congress is making it impossible for businesses and individuals to plan for the future. What if lawmakers don’t renew the tax break you depend on? Or what if they change it and you’re no longer eligible?
Some of the tax breaks are big, including billions in credits for companies that invest in research and development, generous exemptions for financial institutions doing business overseas, and several breaks that let businesses write off capital investments faster. Others are more obscure, the benefits targeted to film producers, race track owners, makers of electric motorcycles, and teachers who buy classroom supplies with their own money.
Number of pending home sales stabilizes
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy existing homes in November was essentially unchanged from October, suggesting sales are stabilizing after several months of declines.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index ticked up to 101.7 from 101.5 in October. The October figure was revised lower from an initial reading of 102.1.
Higher mortgage rates and strong price gains over the past two years have slowed sales. The pending home sales index had fallen for five straight months before November. And completed sales of existing homes fell for three straight months, the Realtors said earlier this month.
Ford’s North American sales top 2.4 million
Ford says 2013 North American sales of cars and trucks bearing its namesake brand will top 2.4 million, making Ford again the top-selling U.S. brand over Toyota.
The automaker says it will sell more than 600,000 passenger cars this year, the most since 2000, with the strongest demand coming from the West and Southeast.
Ford says it has seen double-digit sales growth across all segments — cars, trucks and utility vehicles. Growth has been led by demand for the Ford Fiesta small car, Ford Fusion midsize sedan, C-Max hybrid and the Ford Escape SUV.
Cooper Tire cancels sale to Indian company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is calling off its sale to India’s Apollo Tyres, unraveling a $2.2 billion deal announced just over six months ago.
Cooper said financing is no longer available and it continues to claim, as it has for months, that Apollo breached the terms of the agreement. Apollo said after the announcement Monday, which it called disappointing, that it may pursue legal remedies.
On the Move
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Realtor associates Robert Branco and Teri Kadokawa for its New Agent Training Office program. Branco was a sales consultant for Cutter Automotive Galleries; Kadokawa currently is a customer service representative for United Airlines. The training program provides agents with hands-on experience and mentoring from experienced sales agents and sales managers.
Kiewit Building Group has hired Lea Jorgenson and Brenton VanAllen as engineers. Jorgenson was previously a project engineer with West Coast Construction in Honolulu for three years. VanAllen was previously a project engineer with Sealaska Constructors in Auburn, Wash., and served as an engineering intern at Pierce County Road Operations in Washington and Iwamoto & Associates in Aiea.
