BUSINESS BRIEFS
Check-in troubles at United blamed on Leap Day glitch
Associated Press
CHICAGO — Passengers using United Airlines' "Easy Check-In" found it anything but that on Leap Day when the automated system failed, resulting in longer lines at its U.S. airport counters.
The Chicago-based carrier blamed the service interruption on software problems caused by the leap year.
Spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said customers couldn't get Easy Check-In kiosks to confirm they had been checked in or print out their boarding passes for several hours.
McCarthy said no flights were delayed because of the problem.
She said United didn't have any such problems with the software on Leap Day four years ago.
REPORTS: SPENDING, CONFIDENCE DOWN
WASHINGTON — Consumer spending is threatening to stall out while consumer confidence, battered by soaring energy costs and falling home prices, has taken a steep nosedive.
Analysts said the two new reports yesterday were just the latest danger signals that the country was edging perilously close to a recession.
The Commerce Department said spending rose 0.4 percent in January, better than economists had been expecting. However, all of that gain came from a surge in inflation during the month. Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending was flat in January.
GM COULD CLOSE 2 MORE FACTORIES
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. may close two additional factories next week as the impact of a strike at a key parts supplier widens.
The nation's largest automaker said it will temporarily shutter four plants that make full-sized pickup trucks, idling 12,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada.
Three of the closures, in Flint, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Oshawa, Ontario, were to take place last night, on top of the idling of a pickup truck factory in Pontiac on Thursday.
The plants are running out of parts supplied by Detroit-based American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.
PARAMOUNT SET TO RELEASE LAST DVDS
LOS ANGELES — In a further sign that Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray has won the high-definition format war, Paramount Pictures home entertainment unit said yesterday it will release its last HD DVD titles on Tuesday.
The company intends to switch to Blu-ray after it offers "Things We Lost in the Fire" and "Into the Wild" in HD DVD.
Universal Studios said last week it was shifting its focus to Sony's Blu-ray standard.
That announcement came after Toshiba Corp. said it would no longer develop, make or market players and recorders in HD DVD, the standard it invented.
BERKSHIRE PROFITS DOWN 18 PERCENT
OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. says its fourth-quarter profit fell almost 18 percent as its companies linked to construction were hurt by nationwide housing woes.
Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett also released his annual letter to shareholders yesterday.
Berkshire says it earned $2.95 billion, or $1,904 per share, in the quarter. That's down from $3.58 billion, or $2,323 per share, in the year-ago period.
On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial have been expecting fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1,606 and annual earnings per share of $6,321.
CIRCUIT CITY BOARD MAY FACE OUSTER
RICHMOND, Va. — A shareholder group wants to oust the entire corporate board at Circuit City Stores Inc., the electronics retailer that has struggled to maintain market share.
Wattles Capital Management yesterday proposed a clean sweep at the nation's No. 2 consumer-electronics retailer just days after the group nominated five members for Circuit City's 12-member board.
Investor Mark J. Wattles, the group's principal and founder of the Hollywood Entertainment video-rental chain, has criticized Circuit City's restructuring and turnaround attempts.
