BRIEFCASE NORTHROP RATING A CHIEF CONCERN.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. Corp. Chairman Kent Kresa said he would work to maintain the company's investment grade bond rating after a proposed merger with TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc Inc., even if it means selling other parts of the company to reduce debt. Kresa, speaking to an industry conference in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of on Wednesday, also said the combined companies would save at least $80 million by consolidating the headquarters. Moody's Investor Service last week warned it might cut Northrop Grumman's bond rating to ``junk'' status as a result of the TRW acquisition. Century City-based Northrop has offered to buy TRW for $5.9 billion. It also would acquire about $5.5 billion of TRW debt. Kresa said much of the debt would be shifted to the automotive part of TRW's business, which would either be spun off into a separate company or sold outright after a merger. Northrop is still waiting for a response to its unsolicited bid for TRW. The company had given TRW until the end of business Wednesday to respond, but TRW has asked for more time to consider the offer. Citibank settles at $1.6 million MILWAUKEE - Citibank, the nation's largest credit-card issuer, has agreed to pay $1.6 million as part of a settlement with 27 states over the way telemarketing firms sell products and services to the banking company's customers. The agreement announced Wednesday settles a two-year investigation led by attorneys general in California, Illinois, New York and Vermont. The states were looking into customer complaints about the marketing practices of telemarketing firms contracted by Citibank. New York-based Citibank admitted no wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do in the settlement.
But as part of the settlement, Citibank said it will pay $1.6 million to the states for investigative costs or consumer education programs. Edwards area gets state funds LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley received $100,000 in a state grant program aimed at helping California keep its military bases. Kern County was awarded $50,000 for a community organization formed recently to support Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. , and Lancaster got $50,000 to help defray de·fray tr.v. de·frayed, de·fray·ing, de·frays To undertake the payment of (costs or expenses); pay. [French défrayer, from Old French desfrayer : des-, the cost of moving the remnants of the $1.2 billion X-33 rocket plane rocket plane n. 1. An aircraft powered by one or more rocket engines. 2. An aircraft designed to carry and launch rockets. to Edwards. The grants were announced Wednesday in Sacramento by Gov. Gray Davis. The money comes from the Defense Retention Grant program, authorized by state law starting in 2000-2001. The program has given out $700,000 so far. Intel to upgrade Pentium 4 chips SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. - Chip-making giant Intel Corp. plans to upgrade its flagship Pentium 4 processor for desktop computers next year and make another version available for laptops in coming weeks. The desktop Pentium 4, code-named Prescott, will incorporate a new technology called ``hyper threading'' that tricks the operating system into thinking it is running on two processors instead of one. The performance-boosting technology, first announced last year, made its debut this week in a line of Pentium 4 processors for servers. EU to scrutinize cruise line deal MIAMI Miami, cities, United States Miami (mīăm`ē, –ə). 1 City (1990 pop. 358,548), seat of Dade co., SE Fla., on Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River; inc. 1896. - Carnival Corp. placed its $5.4 billion takeover bid for P&O Princess Cruises PLC in the hands of European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community anti-trust regulators on Wednesday. A merger between Carnival, the No. 1 cruise operator, and Princess, the No. 3, would dwarf No. 2 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which had agreed to merge with Princess in November. Princess shareholders earlier this month postponed a vote on the Royal Caribbean deal, so they could consider the Carnival offer. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reviewing both bids for Princess, said Tim Gallagher, a Carnival spokesman. FDA's goodwill boosts ImClone NEW YORK - Shares of ImClone Systems Inc. surged Wednesday after the company said the Food and Drug Administration may allow it to use data from a European trial to support efforts to gain approval of its star drug. But the future of Erbitux, a highly touted cancer treatment, remains far from certain. ImClone shares catapulted 32 percent, or $5.01 a share, to $20.53 after the company said the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. told it Tuesday that it would consider accepting Erbitux data from an ongoing trial by Germany's Merck KGaA, which owns the drug's European rights. In December, the FDA rejected ImClone's application to review Erbitux as a treatment for colorectal cancer colorectal cancer Malignant tumour of the large intestine (colon) or rectum. Risk factors include age (after age 50), family history of colorectal cancer, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, benign polyps, physical inactivity, and a diet high in fat. , saying it lacked important data. Durable goods durable goods Goods, such as appliances and automobiles, that have a useful life over a number of periods. Firms that produce durable goods are often subject to wide fluctuations in sales and profits. Also called consumer durables. orders increase WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket goods rose a larger-than-expected 2.6 percent in January, suggesting the nation's battered manufacturing sector is edging toward a recovery. The solid advance in orders for durable goods - costly manufactured items expected to last at least three years - followed a 0.9 percent rise in December, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the third increase in the past four months. Many analysts had forecast a 1 percent rise in orders in January. Higher demand was reported for cars, computers, semiconductors, machinery and metals. Manufacturers have borne the brunt of the recession that began in March and has led factories to production and let workers go. |
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