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Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Rapper sneaker boosts Skechers

MANHATTAN BEACH - Skechers USA Inc. stock closed up Monday after Wedbush Morgan Securities issued a bullish research report saying Skechers is seeing strong initial sales of its sneaker called ``Hurricane,'' designed in collaboration with rap artist The Game.

Shares of the Manhattan Beach company closed up $1.01, or 6.3 percent, to $17.14 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In October, Skechers officials said they expect earnings of 2 cents to 7 cents a share for the fourth quarter, in line with the average estimate of analysts of 6 cents a share and year-earlier earnings of 5 cents a share.

Service disrupted for Sprint Nextel 

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless, long-distance and Internet customers along the West Coast were without service Monday afternoon after a fiber-optic cable was cut west of Phoenix.

The problem was compounded by network repairs near Reno, Nev., that had forced the company to route calls from that region through the Phoenix lines, spokesman John Taylor said.

The cut, between Phoenix and Palm Springs, happened at about 12:30 p.m., Taylor said. He said he couldn't yet estimate how many customers were affected or how long it will take to get service re-established.

``It affected (network) traffic going to and coming from the West Coast and other Western parts of the U.S.,'' Taylor said. ``Technicians have suspended emergency maintenance near Reno so we can restore service as quickly as possible.''

The outage affected customers of both Sprint PCS and Nextel cell phone services. Residential and business wire-line customers lost service in the affected areas as well.

Short-term T-bills draw mixed rates

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction, with the rate on three-month bills rising to the highest level in nearly five years while rates on six-month bills declined slightly.

The Treasury Department auctioned $18 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.150 percent, up from 4.070 percent last week. The department also auctioned $16 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 4.250 percent, down from 4.265 percent last week.

Separately on Monday, the Federal Reserve reported that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 4.37 percent last week from 4.36 percent the previous week.

Boston Scientific slows projections

BOSTON - Boston Scientific Corp. said Monday it would take a year longer than originally expected to see earnings gains from its proposed acquisition of Guidant Corp. because it is committed to taking costly steps to restore the rival medical device maker's business after recent product recalls.

But Boston Scientific, which is seeking to trump a smaller bid for Guidant from Johnson & Johnson, says it's sticking to its $25 billion offer price because it's confident it can restore trust in Guidant's lucrative pacemaker and defibrillator business.

Company officials say Guidant has suffered little staff turnover despite recent bad news, continues investing in new products and is repairing relations with doctors, patients and regulators.

3-way deal called good for Abbott

CHICAGO - Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s deal to buy part of Guidant Corp. for about $4 billion was applauded Monday by investors and analysts, who said it would give the manufacturer of drugs and diagnostic tests new clout in medical devices.

If it goes through, the three-way deal with Boston Scientific Corp. announced a day earlier would be Abbott's largest acquisition since 2001 and would quadruple its annual sales in the growing vascular products business.

Despite the steep price, the news prompted a 3.7 percent increase in Abbott's stock for its biggest single-day rise since 2004. Shares in the North Chicago, Ill.-based company, which had fallen 20 percent since July, rose $1.52 to close at $42.41 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Alcoa quarterly profit plummets

PITTSBURGH - Alcoa Inc. reported a 16 percent decline in its fourth-quarter profit on Monday, missing Wall Street projections as the huge aluminum producer was racked by setbacks from hurricane-related refinery slowdowns to restructuring costs.

The company reported profit of $224 million, or 26 cents per share, for the October-December period compared with $268 million, or 30 cents per share, a year-earlier. Earnings from continuing operations were $210 million, or 24 cents per share.

This broadly missed Wall Street projections for earnings of 37 cents per share during the period, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Superior may drop components biz

VAN NUYS - Superior Industries International Inc. announced Monday that it is exploring options for disposal of its suspension components business.

``Today's intense competition in the global automotive industry makes it imperative that Superior focuses all of its resources on its expanding aluminum wheel business,'' said Chief Executive Officer Steven Borick.

He said that all components orders would continue to be delivered as scheduled.

The company expects to record a charge in the fourth quarter of 2005 in connection with the disposal of assets. As of Dec. 31, the book value of the assets of the components business was about $44 million.

Superior supplies aluminum wheels and other aluminum automotive components to Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Audi, BMW, Isuzu, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, MG Rover, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.