Tulsa World: FYI: Business

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FYI: Business

By Staff and Wire Reports
Published: 11/6/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 11/6/2009 5:44 AM

College town Tulsa No. 6 in affordability

Tulsa ranks No. 6 on a list of the most affordable college towns.

The College Home Price Comparison Index, released by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, examined the home markets of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, ranking the top 10 most affordable and most expensive college towns in the nation.

The annual index compares similarly sized 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom homes in markets that are home to the 120 schools.

Companies within the Coldwell Banker system submitted data based on the average sales price of real estate listings in 2009 or a comparative market analysis of homes previously sold.

According to the study, Tulsa had a 2009 average home price of $154,800.

Akron, Ohio, ranked most affordable, with a typical four-bedroom home costing $121,885, and Palo Alto, Calif., topped the list as the most expensive, at $1.49 million for the same size home.

The study found that home buyers could find the average-size home for less than $250,000 in 74 of the 120 college markets surveyed.

Airlines show profit in third quarter

U.S. airlines and their international counterparts have posted earnings of $400 million in the third quarter but are projected to report $11 billion in losses for all of 2009, the International Air Transport Association says.

Airlines reported an upturn in travel in September for the first time in the past year. The growth in revenue passenger

miles was accompanied by a small growth in capacity, mainly in international markets, IATA said.

"The key question is whether capacity restraint will continue," IATA said in its Airlines Financial Monitor. "Many airlines have announced further cuts for the winter season, but so far the published schedules suggest some increase."

IATA said the airlines have tapped the capital markets by raising nearly $8 billion in new funding.

"The industry has now raised $4.5 billion in equity and over $20 billion of new debt so far this year," the report said. "The larger airlines now have a good cash cushion and the ability to finance much needed restructuring if regulators allow."

Jet fuel prices rose to $85 a barrel in October, IATA said, nearly returning to year-earlier levels and squeezing cash flows.

Hyatt, Ancestry.com jump in market debuts

Two well-known companies shined in their market debuts Thursday despite what has recently been a difficult market for initial public offerings.

Shares of Hyatt Hotels Corp. jumped 12 percent in their first day on the New York Stock Exchange as markets appeared to dismiss concerns about infighting among its founder's heirs and tepid hotel reservations around the world.

Meanwhile, investors impressed by Ancestry.com's large subscriber base and growth story pushed the genealogy Web site's stock up as much as 21 percent on the Nasdaq market.

DirecTV shows gain in subscribers

Satellite TV operator DirecTV Group Inc. was one of the few pay-TV companies to gain subscribers in the third quarter, though earnings stayed steady because of the higher costs it incurred attracting and serving those new customers.

DirecTV said Thursday that a marketing partnership with AT&T Inc. that began in February accounted for most of the increase in U.S. subscribers, but it likely also retained subscribers and gained new ones because of a perennial favorite, the NFL Sunday Ticket package that airs out-of-market games to football fans.

El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV, which is controlled by media mogul John Malone's Liberty Media Corp., has focused on attracting consumers who don't mind paying more for quality TV as long as they get football and other packages they want.

DirecTV said that after factoring in cancellations, it added 136,000 net U.S. subscribers during the quarter, ending with 18.4 million. That's lower than the 156,000 net gain in the same period last year.

The company is the nation's largest satellite-TV provider and second-largest behind cable TV operator Comcast Corp. in the pay-TV industry.

Dish Network Corp. reports its third-quarter results Monday. By Staff and Wire Reports

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