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Grant Program Gives Home Buyers Down Payment Money

January 25, 2004

 

WASHINGTON - The percentage of credit card payments that were past due shot up to a record in the final quarter of last year, but delinquency rates for some other types of consumer loans dropped, painting a mixed picture of how Americans are handling their debt.

The seasonally adjusted percentage of credit card accounts 30 or more days past due rose to 4.43 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, the American Bankers Association reported in a quarterly survey released Tuesday. That surpassed the previous quarterly high of 4.09 percent set in the third quarter of last year.

James Chessen, the association's chief economist, said that credit cards often are used as a "financial bridge" by those who lose their jobs.

The association's survey showed that the delinquency rate on a composite of other types of consumer loans, including auto loans and home-equity loans, fell to a seasonally adjusted 1.89 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003. That marked the lowest rate since the beginning of 1995 and was down from 2.14 percent in the third quarter.

Microsoft claims that EU erred in fine calculation

BRUSSELS, Belgium - In a preview of its promised appeal, Microsoft Corp. accused the European Union on Tuesday of overreaching by including its U.S. business in calculating a record fine of about $615 million for reported antitrust abuses.

With the EU decision on the software giant due today, trans-Atlantic tensions also began to sizzle as they did the last time the EU took on U.S. corporate giants and blocked General Electric Co.'s planned deal for Honeywell International Inc.

Microsoft's chief European lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, argued that the EU's reported fine appeared to be twice what it should have been under the European Commission's guidelines to account for the company's global operations. Microsoft does about 30 percent of its business in Europe.

Citibank, Morgan sued by 6 lenders over Enron

NEW YORK - Bayerische Landesbank, Germany's largest state-owned bank, and five other lenders sued Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for reputedly duping them into providing $201.9 million in credit facilities to Enron Corp.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York by BayernLB, Standard Chartered Bank, DZ Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG, Arab Banking Corp. and WestLB AG against Citigroup and J.P. Morgan, the two largest U.S. banks by assets. They seek compensation for the loans to the bankrupt energy company and unspecified punitive damages.

J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, both based in New York, already face separate investor suits over the financial institutions' involvement with Enron.


DIGEST


• Petco Animal Supplies Inc. said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire 20 former Kids "R" Us stores from Office Depot Inc. for about $45 million plus lease obligations. The acquired stores are concentrated in Florida and Ohio, with others in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina and New York.


• Jones Apparel Group Inc. said Monday that it has launched a $297 million tender offer for Maxwell Shoe Co. and seeks to replace the board that rejected Jones' hostile takeover offer. On March 12, Maxwell rejected Jones' bid because its directors considered the $20-a-share offer "financially inadequate."


• Gillette Co. said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Rembrandt teeth-whitening products from privately held Den-Mat Corp.