UPI NewsTrack Business

Market rally falls short Wednesday

NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded Wednesday afternoon but turned down again an hour from the closing bell.

Major markets failed to reach the break-even point. Still, one analysts saw some strength in the attempted rebound.

"There is a subtle shift in sentiment going on, with the market not getting out of control on days when we have bad news," Robert Weissenstein of Credit Suisse Securities told The Wall Street Journal.

At the close Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 109.51, or 0.94 percent, at 11,532.96 points. The Nasdaq composite index closed down 0.08 percent, off 1.99 points at 2,428.62. The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 3.76 or 0.08 percent at 1,285.83 points.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,353 stocks advanced and 1,777 declined on a volume of 1.207 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 11/32 to yield 3.93 percent.

The dollar strengthened. The euro traded at $1.4912 against Tuesday's close of $1.4928, while the dollar traded at 109.63 yen from Monday's 109.55 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 280.55 points to 13,023.05, down 2.11 percent.

The FTSE 100 index in London lost 85.90, or 1.55 percent, falling to 5,448.60.

Florida environmentalists balk midstream

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Environmental groups in Florida have asked a federal judge to delay a ruling that could threaten a larger environmental deal, sources said.

Thom Rumberger, an attorney for Audubon of Florida, said the $1.75 billion state buyout of U.S. Sugar in South Florida took precedent over a $700 million reservoir project environmentalists have been pushing for 20 years, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

Environmentalists fear the $700 million water project could undermine financing for the larger Everglades restoration deal, the newspaper reported.

"This is an opportunity to do some serious restoration. For that not to happen would really be a crime," Rumberger said.

Miccosukee Indian Tribe attorney Dexter Lehtinen called the reversal an "excuse" to delay the reservoir project, meant to clean up polluted areas of the salt marsh.

''Delay is the enemy of the Everglades," Lehtinen said.

Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno did not issue a order for the state to return to work on the reservoir and did not indicate when he would do so, the Herald reported.

From a legal standpoint, ''can you throw out the consent decree by yourself because something else better comes along?'' asked Moreno, who previously ruled the state was in violation of their clean up agreement.

U.S. Steel and union reach tentative deal

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Steel said it reached a tentative four-year agreement with the United Steel Workers that covers about 16,000 workers.

Details would not be released until next week, but U.S. Steel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Surma called the agreement "competitive" and "in the best interests of our company," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.

USW vice president Tom Conway said the agreement had "only improvements." "No step backs," Conway said.

If ratified, the agreement would take effect Sept. 1.

The agreement allows the union to turn its attention to negotiations with ArcelorMittal.

The union's contract with ArcelorMittal, covering 14,000 workers, also expires Sept. 1, but talks broke off last week. The union called the latest company offer "inferior to our needs and demands," the Post-Gazette reported.

Detroit home sells for $1, eventually

DETROIT, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A Detroit home advertised for $1 still took 19 days to find a buyer, real estate agents said Wednesday.

The home on Traverse Street near the Detroit City Airport sold for $65,000 in 2006, The Detroit News reported. But, the family was forced out when the bank foreclosed on the property last summer. Then, "the vultures closed in," a neighbor, Carl Upshaw, told the News.

The home was stripped bare. The copper plumbing, the kitchen sink, the furnace, some interior doors and even boards used to shutter the property were taken.

"It about doesn't make sense to put the family out. Once people are gone, you're gonna lose the house in this neighborhood," Upshaw said.

And, arguably, the sales price was less than a dollar. The bank that held the deed to the property agreed to pay the new owner's $2,500 sales commission, a $1,000 sales bonus, $500 in closing costs and back taxes and water bills amounting to around $10,000, the newspaper reported.