Here is a look at some of Friday's top business stories:
Kmart reorganization plan could be filed Friday
DETROIT, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Kmart is expected to file a plan in bankruptcy court as early as Friday showing how it will divide equity among its creditors.
The Detroit Free Press says "lawyers and its lenders, vendors and investors were wrangling up to the last minute Thursday over who will own and control the discount retailer when it comes out of bankruptcy."
The newspaper says current shareholders would get little, if anything, under the plan. An individual involved with the talks told the newspaper that the broad outlines had been decided. An important participant was investor Edward Lampert of Greenwich, Conn., whose company, ESL Investments, owns about one-third of Kmart's debts.
The Free Press quotes Ron Hutchison, executive vice president and chief restructuring officer, as saying that the Troy, Mich.-based retailer would like its creditors committees to support the reorganization plan. But the company will file it in any case, he said. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by April 30.
Kmart declared bankruptcy a year ago, after losing $2.4 billion in 2001, the paper says. Its collapse will cost 59,000 workers their jobs when Kmart is finished closing one-third of its stores, or about 600.
Consumer optimism creeps up in Silicon Valley
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Optimism is returning to Silicon Valley, one of the areas hardest-hit by the tech downturn -- but it's rebounding very slowly.
The San Jose Mercury-News says that there's still far to go before the region recovers from "the punishing tech recession." The newspaper is reporting on the latest survey of consumer confidence by the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University.
The pollsters found that 43 percent of those surveyed expected Valley business conditions to improve during the next year -- a slight improvement from 42 percent in September. But in March, 64 percent expected an improvement over the coming year.
About 14 percent believe local business conditions will worsen over the next year -- slightly down from 18 percent in September. In March, only 3 percent expected worse conditions.
According to the survey, Silicon Valley consumers have become slightly more cautious in spending. The survey director tells the newspaper that "we are actually at a standstill."
The poll was conducted in early January among 1,000 households in Silicon Valley, largely Santa Clara County with parts of Santa Cruz, Alameda and San Mateo counties.
Modest rise seen in 2003 oil, gas drilling activity
HOUSTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- This year is likely to be slightly better than last for the oil-field services sector, with analysts expecting a modest rise in rigs drilling for oil and gas.
One industry forecast, by Simmons & Co. International, points to a 12-percent increase in the U.S. rig count for this year, the Houston Chronicle says Friday. But that follows a 28-percent fall in 2002, so drillers "will still be far short of where they were in 2001.
"And they'll have to wait a while for relief, with the best growth during the second half. The year 2004 looks better with a 20-percent increase, which would bring the rig count back to near the 2001 peak," the Chronicle notes.
Predictions of a slow revival "come at a time when gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange is exceeding $5 per thousand cubic feet," a number the Chronicle says is the prime determinant of U.S. drilling because there's more gas than oil in North America.
In Canada, drilling activity is expected to grow by 15 percent.
Fund transfers help buoy First Data
DENVER, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- First Data Corp. hit the upper range of its estimates for the fourth quarter and 2002, helped in part by international money transfers.
The company, Colorado's largest public company, had quarterly earnings of 48 cents per share vs. 41 cents a year earlier. Its revenues rose 18 percent, passing $2 billion for the first time, the Denver Post reports Friday.
For the full year, earnings rose 47 percent to $1.62 per share. Full-year revenues were up 15 percent to $7.6 billion.
About half the company's profits came from its payment services business, primarily Western Union, which is based in the Denver area. Money transfers to Mexico jumped 30 percent in the fourth quarter, and transactions involving prepaid services rose 54 percent. India and China also saw strong growth in Western Union agent locations, the Post says.
Venezuela crisis costs oil firms 'millions'
HOUSTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Venezuela's oil output has been severely curtailed, which is affecting the future of the national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
The disruptions are also costing major world oil companies millions of dollars daily, according to Oil and Gas Journal, citing analyst ratings.
One analysis, from Fitch Ratings, said that Venezuela's image as a reliable crude oil supplier "has been undermined. Even when a semblance of normalcy is restored, the systemic roots of the current political crisis will make it difficult to quickly recover lost market confidence."
Research firm Wood Mackenzie, in Scotland, said the general strike -- now eight weeks old -- was costing 10 oil majors about $6.7 million per day in combined lost revenue.
Daily oil output, formerly about 3.1 million barrels per day, might be as low as 400,000 to 600,000 bpd, analysts told OGJ.
Wall Street analysts issue more sell ratings
CHICAGO, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The volume of sell ratings on U.S. stocks has reached its highest point since the late 1980s: it's now 10 percent.
Wall Street analysts rate another 46 percent of shares a buy and 44 percent a hold, the Wall Street Journal reports Friday. The current percentage of sells is the highest since just after the 1987 market crash, the paper says, citing data from Zacks Investment Research.
What's behind the increased negativity? The market downturn and new regulations that require investment banks to detail the percentage of buys, sells and holds their analysts assign to stocks, the paper says. Within a week after the rule took effect in September, the percentage of sell ratings rose to 7.3 percent from 4.7 percent.
While 10 percent might not look high, in the late 1990s, less than 1 percent of stocks were rated sell, according to the WSJ.
Starbucks has first $1 billion sales quarter
NEW YORK, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Starbucks has reported a better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.
Earnings were about $80 million, or 20 cents per share vs. $68.4 million (17 cents per share). Sales jumped 25 percent to $1 billion -- the company's first $1 billion quarter and better than analysts' consensus of about $967 million, thestreet.com reports.
The financial Web site also notes that Starbucks has raised its 2003 EPS target to 67 cents to 68 cents, from 65 cents to 66 cents previously. It also said it planned to open 1,200 stores this year and increase sales by about 20 percent.
