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U.S. markets mixed as oil prices surge

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Oil prices rebounded Thursday, causing a ripple effect across U.S. stock indexes, hurting oil-dependent stocks, such as airlines and automobiles.

In groups, airlines fell 2.21 percent, automobiles 2.97 percent and tires 2.98 percent. Commodities, however, gained, with platinum and precious metals rising 6.36 percent and coal rising 5.59 percent Thursday.

Major indexes were mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 12.78 points at 11,430.21, up 0.11 percent. The Nasdaq index fell 8.70 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,380.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 3.18 points to 1,277.72, up 0.25 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,363 stocks advanced and 1,752 declined on a volume of 912 million shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 8/32 to yield 3.835 percent.

Against the euro, the U.S. dollar was at $1.4894 from Wednesday's $1.4744. The dollar against the yen fell to 108.44, compared with Wednesday's 109.78.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average shed 99.48 points to 12,752.21, off 0.77 percent.

The FTSE 100 index in London fell marginally, down 1.20 points, off 0.02 percent, to 5,370.60.

Utility rate regulators' hands are tied

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Utility regulators said there is little they can do to stand between utility companies and a recent wave of requests for electric rate hikes.

Utility companies "have to prove what they're saying," when requesting rate hikes, Rob Thormeyer, spokesman for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions told Stateline.org.

On the other hand, "If it's a cost of fuel, it's documented, and they're buying it, they have a right to request for a rate increase," he said.

The Federal Information Association said electric rates could jump 5 percent in 2008 and twice that in 2009, Stateline.org reported.

Behind the rate hikes is an upward march in commodity prices. While prices have fallen recently, the cost of natural gas was 25 percent higher than a year ago recently. Oil prices, also down recently, surged this year, setting a record of more than $147 a barrel on July 11.

IAC breaks down to five new companies

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- InterActiveCorp said Thursday it had completed spin offs that would create five separate companies out of its 60 mostly U.S. brands.

The firm, which includes Ticketmaster, LendingTree, Ask.com, and HSN, formerly the Home Shopping Network, will begin trading Thursday in its new configuration, the company said.

"Armed with outstanding management teams, appropriate capital structures and their own currencies, HSNi, Ticketmaster, Interval and Tree.com are now ready for independent futures," IAC Chief Executive Officer Barry Diller said in a statement.

In the new setup, Diller will lead Ticketmaster and run IAC, where he controls 60 percent of the voting shares, USA Today reported.

Diller is known for his push for combined company synergies. But, the new style is a move that would make better sense to investors, analysts said.

"No one could make heads or tails of it. You needed a playbook to figure out whether IAC was making or losing money," Vogel Capital Management CEO Harold Vogel said.

Oil deal sends real estate soaring

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A multibillion-dollar oil deal in Canada's eastern province of Newfoundland this week has resulted in a real estate boom, real estate agents said.

The deal signed Wednesday between Chevron and the province could be worth as much as $28 billion, Premier Danny Williams said, depending on royalties from the Hebron project and the price of oil.

St. John's real estate agent Maureen Baker told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., housing prices in the northeast Avalon peninsula went up in a matter of hours after the deal was announced.

Baker said for-sale listings jumped as high as $40,000 in anticipation of the project that's projected to create 3,000 local jobs before construction of the rig begins in 2012, the report said.

ReMax Realtor Steve Winters told the CBC the rising real estate began in the spring amid speculation of the oil deal.

"We're starting to see the prices jump and what $150,000 could get you last year is not going to get you near this year," Winters said.