Hawaii Medical Center files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The Hawaii Medical Center has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, blaming skyrocketing health-care costs and a slower-than-expected implementation of its turnaround plan because of a cash shortfall.
Hospital officials filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware Friday on behalf of its two subsidiaries, HMC East and HMC West, which were the previous St. Francis hospitals […]

Japan Plans to Spend 2 Trillion Yen on Stimulus Plan

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, facing elections within a year, plans to spend about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) to revive the world's second-largest economy.
Included will be 400 billion yen earmarked for a small and midsize company credit-guarantee program that would back about 9 trillion yen of loans, bringing the package's size to […]

Southwest Airlines cutting 190 flights

Southwest Airlines Co. said Tuesday it will be cutting 190 flights from its winter schedule, beginning in January, to ensure the carrier is optimizing its flight routes and streamlining expenses.
A spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest (LUV) says the changes are part of a routine schedule check that's completed every few months to ensure the […]

Japan Not Planning to Sell New Debt to Fund Package, Ibuki Says

Japan's government isn't considering selling new bonds to fund an economic stimulus package that will be unveiled next week, Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki said.
“I'm not making the assumption that the government will issue bonds'' to finance the relief measures, Ibuki said at a press conference in Tokyo today. He said the package may […]

Hawaii 401(k)s worth more than $10.6B

There are approximately 2,095 company 401(k) plans in the state of Hawaii with assets greater than $10,000.
Combined, the assets in these plans total more than $10.6 billion, according to a recent study by Kobo Wealth Conservancy and Family Office LLC, a Honolulu investment firm.
The study — one of the only comprehensive reports of its kind […]

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac fall on Barron

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares reached the lowest levels in almost two decades Monday after a Barron’s report said it is increasingly likely the government will have to bail out the mortgage giants.
“It may be curtains soon for the management and shareholders of beleaguered housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” wrote Barron’s Jonathan […]

Japan Wages Revised to 0.4% Rise, Helping Consumers

Japan's wages rose for a sixth month in June, revised figures showed today, as companies paid workers more bonuses than initially estimated.
Monthly wages, including overtime and bonuses, climbed 0.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6 percent drop reported last month, the Labor Ministry said in Tokyo today.
The gains may […]

Battellino Says Reserve Bank in Position to Cut Rates

Australia's central bank is in a position to cut interest rates from a 12-year high because consumers have trimmed spending enough to cool the economy and inflation, said Deputy Governor Ric Battellino.
“We cannot wait to see a fall in inflation before we start cutting rates because by then it would be too late,'' […]

US Airways to introduce ‘cashless cabin’

Now that US Airways Group Inc. has put a price on everything from sodas to snacks, the airline is giving passengers a new way to pay.
Starting early next year, flight attendants for the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier will be outfitted with hand-held, remote control-size credit-card machines. US Airways last week began charging $1 for coffee and […]

Economic Slump in U.S. to Worsen as Consumers Get `Squeezed

The U.S. economic slump will extend into 2009 as the longest expansion in consumer spending on record comes to an end, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
The world's largest economy will grow at an average 0.7 percent annual pace from July through December, half the gain in the first six months of the […]