BRIEFCASE NBC LAUNCHES MARKETING DRIVE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

BURBANK - NBC Enterprises is launching a licensing program to push ``Will & Grace,'' ``Providence'' and ``Weakest Link,'' among others. The marketing for the project will be handled by Joy Tashijian Marketing Group and Charles D. Mamiye, who will take the brands into both NBC's retail outlets and external sales areas.

Mexican I.D. OK with Wells Fargo 

Wells Fargo Bank will start accepting identification cards issued by the Mexican government, joining a growing number of financial institutions that provide services to nonresident immigrants.

With more than 3,000 branches in 23 states, the San Francisco-based bank is the largest institution to allow the foreign identification.

Customers must still show a second form of identification - such as a passport or credit card to open accounts - along with either a Social Security number or a federal taxpayer-identification number. If customers can't provide any of those documents, they can sign an Internal Revenue Service form for nonresident immigrants.

Mortgage rates dip to 30-year low

WASHINGTON - Mortgage rates dipped this week to the lowest level in 30 years of record keeping, helping to spur a further boom in mortgage refinancing.

Rates for 30-year mortgages dropped to 6.45 percent, down from 6.56 percent the previous week, according to a nationwide survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

The mortgage company said the latest decline pushed 30-year mortgages to their lowest level since it began conducting its nationwide survey in 1971. It marked the 13th consecutive week that 30-year mortgages have been under 7 percent.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's, said the 30-year rate could edge even lower in the next two months as further weak economic statistics raise the certainty that the country is in a recession.

Federated suffers tough October

CINCINNATI - October was a tough month for Federated Department Stores Inc., as the retail chain operator announced that sales had fallen 8.7 percent over the same four-week period last year. For the entire month, revenue dropped from $1.29 billion in 2000 to $1.117 billion this year. The company is hoping for strong holiday sales at its stores, including Bloomingdale's and Macy's.

Wireless firms get space on airwaves

WASHINGTON - The government on Thursday moved to eliminate a cap on how much space on the airwaves a wireless company can own in a market. The decision opens the way for mergers between major carriers and allows them to provide more mobile services such as high-speed Internet access.

The Federal Communications Commission had previously limited the amount of airwaves space an operator could own in a particular geographic area, an effort to prevent a single giant company from squelching competition in that market.

In a 3-1 vote, the agency decided to immediately raise the amount of airwaves space a company can own from 45 MHz to 55 MHz - an increase of more than 20 percent - and eliminate the limit in January 2003.

Barnes & Noble sales hit slump

Shares of Barnes & Noble Inc. plunged nearly 36 percent Thursday after the nation's largest bookseller warned of slumping book sales since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On Halloween Day, for example, sales for company bookstores were down between 2 percent and 20 percent, depending on their proximity to malls, because of renewed warnings about terrorist threats, it said.

The New York-based company said that if current sales trends continue, it will only earn $1.08 to $1.12 per share for the year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had been expecting $1.60.