BRIEFCASE GUESS? GAINS LESS THAN ANTICIPATED.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Los Angeles-based Guess? Inc. reported Thursday that November retail sales totaled $46.6 million, an increase of 8 percent over the $43.2 million for the same period a year ago but weaker than the company anticipated.

Despite the strong performance of the company's more contemporary Marciano line, sales results of the women's business in November were disappointing, particularly in nondenim bottoms, company officials said.

Guess? now expects total fourth-quarter retail sales to increase in the high single digits on a percentage basis, with December's comparable store sales flat versus the year-ago period.

The company expects overall gross margins to be flat to 50 basis points lower in the fourth quarter, compared with the previous year.

Former Columbia Pictures site sold

HOLLYWOOD - A historic studio that was the former headquarters of Columbia Pictures has been sold.

The Menlo Park-based private equity firm GI Partners has bought the 17- acre property, recently known as Sunset-Gower Studios, from Pick-Vanoff Co. The sale price was estimated by real estate industry experts at $110 million.

The lot dates back to 1920 when movie tycoon Harry Cohn bought a tiny studio on Sunset Boulevard. It became home to Columbia Pictures in 1924 and some of the studio's best films, including ``It Happened One Night, ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,'' ``From Here to Eternity'' and ``Funny Girl,'' were shot there.

Intel gets boost from holiday rush

SAN JOSE - Semiconductor giant Intel Corp. dramatically raised the range of its fourth-quarter sales forecast Thursday as it benefited from strong holiday demand for microprocessors, the brains of personal computers.

The Santa Clara-based company now estimates its sales to be between $9.3 billion and $9.5 billion for the three months ending Dec. 31. In October, Intel predicted that sales would be between $8.6 billion and $9.2 billion. It does not provide earnings guidance.

Analysts were expecting the maker of Pentium chips to earn 28 cents per share on sales of about $8.97 billion, according to a Thomson First Call survey conducted before Thursday's update.

Freddie Mac sees new surge in rates

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages rose sharply this week as expanding economic activity raised inflation concerns among Wall Street investors.

Freddie Mac, in its weekly survey released Thursday, said rates on 30- year, fixed-rate mortgages climbed this week to 5.81 percent, up from 5.72 percent last week. This week's rate was the highest since early October.

Rates on 30-year mortgages hit a high this year of 6.34 percent the week of May 13. After that, rates had drifted lower as the economy hit a soft spot that eased concerns about an inflation flare-up.

Recently, there have been signs that the economy is moving ahead at a solid pace.

Retailers let down by sales numbers

NEW YORK - The outlook for the holiday season dimmed Thursday as the nation's retailers reported disappointing sales for November after an uninspiring Thanksgiving weekend.

As merchants released their first solid results for the start of holiday shopping, downbeat reports came from across the sector, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Limited Brands, Federated Department Stores Inc., and Gap Inc. Even upscale retailers Nordstrom Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group Inc., which have consistently surpassed Wall Street's projections, fell short of estimates, although they still had strong gains.

Among the exceptions were J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and Sears, Roebuck and Co., which beat Wall Street forecasts. Their businesses got a boost from strong sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, as these stores successfully wooed customers with bigger discounts than a year ago.

Dollar bounces back after decline

NEW YORK - The dollar rallied after dropping to a record low Thursday against the euro amid uncertainty about whether officials would intervene to curb the currency's slide.

The euro fell back to $1.3270 in high-volume trading late in New York after rising to $1.3383 in European trading. The previous record of $1.3335 was set Tuesday.

The dollar also hit its lowest point in nearly five years against the Japanese yen, falling briefly in Tokyo to 101.83 yen - the U.S. currency's lowest level since Jan. 8, 2000, when it was at 101.46 yen in Tokyo. It rebounded in late New York trading to 103.19 yen.

Traders attributed the dollar's rally to profit-taking, and to positioning ahead of today's release of U.S. employment data.

Kmart ex-execs face SEC charges

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Thursday filed civil fraud charges against three former Kmart Corp. executives and five current and former managers of big vendor companies, saying they engineered a $24 million accounting fraud by the retailing giant in 2000-01.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which has been investigating Kmart's decline into bankruptcy in 2002, said the discount retailer inflated earnings by improperly booking millions of dollars of payments from the vendors - Eastman Kodak Co., Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., and PepsiCo Inc. and its Frito-Lay division.

Five of the former Kmart and vendor company executives settled the SEC's charges Thursday by agreeing to pay civil fines totaling $160,000 and to refrain from future violations of securities laws. In one case, a former Kmart vice president was prohibited for five years from serving as an officer or director of a public company.