UPI NewsTrack Business

Markets hold steady on Tuesday

NEW YORK, March 25 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were mixed on a relatively calm business news day Tuesday.

The Conference Board announced the Consumer Confidence Index remained at a five-year low in March, hitting 64.5 on the month, but the news did not significantly rattle investor activity.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.04 points by close Tuesday, down 0.13 percent to 12,532.60.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 3.11 points to 1,352.99, up 0.23 percent.

The Nasdaq composite index of tech-dominated stocks rose 14.30 points to 2,341.05, up 0.61 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,063 stocks advanced and 1,096 declined on a volume of 1.478 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 13/32 to yield 3.511 percent.

The dollar weakened. The euro traded at $1.5616 Tuesday from Monday's $1.5422, while the dollar traded at 100.12 yen from Monday's 100.80 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 265.13 points to 12,745.22, up 2.12 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 188.10 points to 5,683.30, up 3.42 percent.

Xcel and contractor cited for deadly fire

MINNEAPOLIS, March 25 (UPI) -- U.S. work safety regulators cited Xcel Energy and RPI Coating Inc. with 60 violations stemming from an October fire that killed five in Georgetown, Colo.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Monday said RPI Coating "willfully" violated numerous safety codes by using a flammable solvent in the proximity of electrical equipment, including hot burning halogen lamps and heaters.

There was no escape plan and no fire extinguishers nearby, the report said.

"This catastrophe could have been avoided if the companies had followed their critical safety procedures," said assistant U.S. Labor Secretary Edwin Foulke Jr. in a statement.

OSHA cited RPI Coating with 40 violations and announced a fine of $845,100. Xcel was cited for 20 violations and fined $189,000.

The OSHA report did not name the cause of the fire, which trapped workers in a 1,400-foot deep tunnel, but cited many possibilities.

Xcel Chief Executive Dick Kelly said in a statement Xcel disagreed with the characterization "that implied we acted without regard to the safety of our employees and contracted workers."

Clear Creek County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert has been waiting for the OSHA report before proceeding with possible criminal charges based on the incident, The Denver Post reported.

TransCanada proposal criticized in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska, March 25 (UPI) -- TransCanada Corp.'s proposed gas pipeline from Alaska to Alberta, Canada, is under fire from critics who say high profits hurt Alaskan interests.

Critics also said the business plan implies TransCanada would have a monopoly on Alaska's gas supplies.

TransCanada, the only company under consideration for a state license and $500 million in start-up money offered by the state, has proposed a 1,715 mile, $26 billion pipeline that would run the route of the Alaska Highway to Alberta.

Steve Porter, the state's deputy revenue commissioner, said the proposed 14 percent return on investment for TransCanada could rise to 25 percent, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

That raises shipping costs, which cuts profits for suppliers. The result is billions less in tax revenues, Porter said.

"The state should not bind itself in advance to what I believe to be a very generous rate of return, possibly the largest ever granted in Canada," said Porter

Alliance Pipeline Ltd., which completed a pipeline in 2000, complained the deal would also create an exclusive for TransCanada.

TransCanada confirmed the exclusivity of the deal and claimed a study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute showed pumping gas to infrastructure in Alberta was "the best option."

Google proposes FCC open up 'white space'

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 25 (UPI) -- California's Google Inc. asked the Federal Communications Commission to open up television's "white space" to create a fast, new information delivery system.

In a six-page letter to the FCC, Google attorney Rick Whitt argued that white space -- the unused portion of the television broadcast spectrum -- was an untapped resource.

Whitt said allowing companies to use the spectrum is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless broadband access to all Americans," the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Whitt said using the space would be a "safe harbor" for wireless microphones and said new technology allowed the space to be used without disrupting television broadcasts.

But Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters disagreed. Mobile devices "continue to be a guaranteed recipe for producing interference," he said.

Whitt said use of the white space would encourage competition. "What works well for us, works well for consumers," he said.

Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel and others major technology companies have also expressed interest in the unused portion of the television broadcast spectrum, the report said.