Gasoline in isles is ‘by far’ nation’s priciest
Hawaii has the most expensive gasoline in the nation, according to a review by financial news site 24/7 Wall St.
"Hawaii is by far the most expensive state in which to buy gas," the site reports, with an average price of $4.34 a gallon. The price has increased by 14 cents over the past year, which is the seventh smallest increase. However, per-gallon taxes totaling 69 cents are the second-highest in the U.S., the site’s analysts found.
Analysts reviewed average fuel prices as of July 16.
Alaska, at $4.06 per gallon and California, at $4.02 per gallon, have the next most expensive gasoline.
2 local restaurants boast top scenic views
Online restaurant reservations site OpenTable.com has named two Hawaii restaurants as having among the top 100 scenic views in the U.S.
Sarento’s Top of the I atop the Ilikai Hotel & Suites and ‘Ulu Ocean Grill and Sushi Lounge at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaii island are on the list, presented not in ranked order but in alphabetical order by OpenTable.com.
The list of 2013 Diners’ Choice Award winners was compiled from more than 5 million reviews of more than 15,000 restaurants submitted by OpenTable users.
The reviews were collected from July 1, 2012, through June 30.
Hawaiian Electric parent declares dividend
The regular quarterly cash dividend of 31 cents per share will be paid to shareholders Sept. 11, according to the Hawaiian Electric Industries board of directors.
Shareholders of record as of the close of business Aug. 21 will receive the dividend, which is equivalent to an annual rate of $1.24 per share.
Freddie Mac maintains profitable streak
WASHINGTON » Freddie Mac earned $5 billion from April through June, the seventh straight profitable quarter for the mortgage giant. The second-quarter gain reported Wednesday compares with net income of $3 billion in the same period of 2012.
Freddie says its earnings were due largely to increased profits from investments made to hedge against rising interest rates. That helped offset losses on mortgages.
Freddie, based in McLean, Va., will pay a dividend of $4.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month and is requesting no additional aid. The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae during the financial crisis in 2008. Together, they received loans of about $187 billion.
A housing recovery that began last year has made both profitable again. Combined, they have paid back roughly $136 billion of their government loans. Once the second-quarter dividend is paid, Freddie will have repaid $41.4 billion of the roughly $71.3 billion it received from taxpayers.
Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, worth about $5 trillion. Along with other federal agencies, they back roughly 90 percent of new mortgages.
Fannie and Freddie don’t directly make loans to borrowers. They buy mortgages from lenders, package them as bonds, guarantee them against default and sell them to investors. That helps make loans available and exert influence over the housing market.
Consumer borrowing rose $13.8B in June
WASHINGTON » Americans borrowed more in June to buy cars and attend schools. But they were frugal again with their credit cards, indicating many are still wary of taking on high-interest debt.
The Federal Reserve says borrowing rose $13.8 billion in June from May to a seasonally adjusted $2.85 trillion, the highest ever. The gain followed a $17.5 billion gain in May.
The category that includes credit card use dropped $2.7 billion in June.
In contrast, May’s gain of $6.4 billion was the largest in a year. Still, overall credit card debt has fallen 16.5 percent from its July 2008 peak.
Borrowing for autos and student loans rose $16.5 billion in June, driven by loans to pay for college.
Groupon co-founder becomes sole CEO
NEW YORK » Groupon named co-founder Eric Lefkofsky as CEO, replacing Andrew Mason, who was fired from the online deals site in February amid growing concerns about its financial performance.
Lefkofsky had served as Groupon’s chairman and half of the CEO office, along with Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis, since Mason’s ousting. Leonsis will now serve as the company’s chairman.
ON THE MOVE
Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Bryan Kapeckas to director of revenue analytics. He has 13 years of airline revenue management, alliance and partnership experience. Kapeckas’ work experience includes serving as a manager of alliance and airline partnerships at JetBlue Airways and manager of revenue management at JetBlue.
The Nature Conservancy has announced Kathy M. Matsui as a new member of its board of trustees. She is co-head of economics, commodities and strategy research in Asia, chief Japan
equity strategist and co-head of Asia investment research at Goldman Sachs Tokyo. Matsui was previously a chief Japan strategist for Barclays de Zoete Wedd Securities and served at the Export-Import Bank of Japan’s Washington, D.C., office.
Prudential Locations has promoted Nancy O’Grady Cook to sales manager and broker in charge from transaction manager. Her responsibilities include reviewing and approving purchase contracts as well as assisting agents with risk management and contract strategy.