UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets advance Friday

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. markets headed higher Friday after the government said the trade deficit shrank by $1.2 billion in August.

The $30.7 billion deficit beat expectations. Economists had forecast a deficit of $32.7 billion.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.8 percent, 78.07 points, to 9,864.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.56 percent, 6.01 points, to 1,071.49. The Nasdaq composite index added 15.35, 0.72 percent, to 2,139.28.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,804 stocks advanced and 1,188 declined on a volume of 3.7 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 1 5/32 to yield 3.39 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4728 from Thursday's $1.478. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 89.831 yen from Thursday's 8.48 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.87 percent, 183.92 points, to 10,016.39.

Citigroup to sell high salary unit

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Citigroup said Friday it would sell its commodity unit Phibro in a move that could sidestep a confrontation on executive pay with the U.S. Treasury.

Citigroup said Occidental Petroleum would buy the unit led by trader Andrew Hall who made $98 million in bonuses despite the Citigroup's $45 billion taxpayer funded bailout package, The New York Times reported Friday.

Citigroup, along with other firms that received extraordinary assistance, is required to submit its pay policies to a Treasury review. Hall's salary -- along with the top 25 salaries at Citigroup -- was submitted to a compensation review in August, the Times said.

In a statement, Citigroup said "certain executives" at Phibro had agreed to invest their 2009 compensation in the firm.

The terms of the sale were not disclosed other than a statement saying Occidental would buy Phibro for "approximately net asset value," and invest $250 million in the energy brokerage.

On the pay issue, Occidental said, "significant portions of current and future bonuses will be deferred and retained by Phibro and paid out in future years. These future payouts will be adjusted to reflect Phibro's results during that period."

U.S. traffic deaths drop sharply

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said U.S. traffic deaths were down 7 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with early 2008.

The federal agency said in a release Friday there were 16,626 motor vehicle traffic deaths nationwide during the first six months of this year, a drop from 17,871 traffic fatalities in the first half of 2008.

John B. Townsend II, manager of public and government affairs at the American Automobile Association, credited the decline in deaths to the economic downturn and its impact on the number of cars on U.S. roads.

"Who would have thought that a bad economy would save our lives?" Townsend said. "If this trends holds throughout the year, car traffic fatalities will have declined for the seventh year in a row."

The Washington Post reported the traffic death decline comes after the United States set its lowest annual traffic death tally since 1961 with 37,261 fatalities in 2008.

The Post said the fatality rate of 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for the first six months of 2009 also marked a drop from early 2008's rate of 1.23 deaths.

Massachusetts awaits foreclosure ruling

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts judge has cast a shadow over thousands of property transactions after invalidating two foreclosures, various attorneys say.

At issue is proof of who holds the mortgage. Lenders bundle up thousands of mortgages during boom times to resell to other banks in a process that eventually leaves a murky paperwork trail to which firm actually holds the mortgage, The Boston Globe reported Friday.

When it came time to act on a foreclosure, many firms believed it was permissible to prove they held the mortgage after the foreclosure was complete.

In March, Judge Keith Long of the Massachusetts Land Court ruled two Springfield foreclosures were invalid because lenders had yet to prove which one held the mortgage.

While the decision is under review, "there are thousands and thousands of titles that have gone through foreclosure with these late filed" ownership records," said attorney Lawrence Scofield.

"It has put some properties in the state of limbo," said Evelyn Friedman, director of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development.

A new ruling could put thousands of sold properties into legal disarray.

"If a property has one of those arguably defective foreclosures in its back title, right now you may not be able to refinance or sell it,'' said attorney Christopher Pitt.