Ryanair commits to order 100 737 MAX 200 aircraft

NEW YORK — European airline Ryanair has committed to order 100 of Boeing's 737 MAX 200 airplanes, valued at $11 billion at current list prices.

Buyers often get steep discounts off list prices for passenger jets.

Ryanair has options to buy another 100 of the 737 MAX 200s as well.

The 737 MAX 200 is considered more fuel-efficient than most other current single-aisle airplanes and can accommodate up to 200 seats.

Ryanair runs more than 1,600 flights daily. CEO Michael O'Leary said in a statement on Monday that the 737 MAX 200 order will allow Ryanair to reduce its costs and airfares. It will also expand Ryanair's fleet to 520 airplanes by 2024 and create another 3,000 new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers in Europe, he added.

O'Leary anticipates the order helping Ryanair increase its traffic to more than 150 million annually by 2024. Its 2013 traffic totaled 82 million.

Stephen Levenson of Stifel Nicolaus said in a client note that since most of Ryanair's flights are less than 2.5 hours, the high density seating plan of the 737 MAX 200 is ideal for its operations.

The analyst also believes that any backlog growth concerns investors have for Boeing should be wiped away by the announcement of the Ryanair order. Levenson anticipates that even if Boeing's 2015 orders don't keep pace with the previous year, its outlook is still strong for earnings and cash flow growth in 2015, 2016 and the future.

Levenson maintained a "Buy" rating for Boeing Co.

The company's stock added $3.01, or 2.4 percent, to $127.70 in midday trading.

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S&P 500 edges back from a record high close

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are edging lower in midday trading as a slump in the price of oil drags down the energy sector.

The Standard & Poor's 500 fell four points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,003 as of noon Eastern time Monday. The index closed at an all-time high on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13 points to 17,123. The Nasdaq rose 12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,595.

Energy stocks fell more than the rest of the market as the price of crude oil continued to fall. Eight out of the ten biggest decliners in the S&P 500 were energy companies.

Campbell Soup fell 2 percent after reporting revenue that fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.45 percent.

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Walgreen adds activist hedge fund founder to board

Walgreen has named Jana Partners founder Barry Rosenstein to its board, and the activist investor will get a say in choosing at least one additional director for the nation's largest drugstore chain.

Walgreen Co. is feeling shareholder pressure after lowering its forecast for the earnings it expects after combining with health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots, which runs the United Kingdom's largest drugstore chain. The Deerfield, Illinois, company's shares have dropped since it cut its forecast last month and said it will no longer consider an overseas reorganization that would have trimmed its U.S. taxes.

Walgreen said Monday that Jana Partners will recommend an additional independent director who has no ties to either the drugstore chain or the hedge fund. If another board vacancy opens and Walgreen decides to fill it, then Jana and the nation's largest drugstore chain must agree on the replacement.

Jana Funds holds about a 1.3 percent stake in Walgreen, or 12.5 million shares. Rosenstein will resign from Walgreen's board if that falls below about 6.3 million shares, according to the agreement between the hedge fund and the drugstore chain.

Jana also has agreed to cap its Walgreen stake at 4.9 percent while Rosenstein serves on the drugstore chain's board.

Jana Partners has influenced corporate strategy recently with its investments in companies such as pet food retailer PetSmart Inc. and Redbox parent Outerwall Inc. PetSmart said last month that it would consider selling itself, while Outerwall in December outlined plans to cut jobs and costs and shut down some businesses.

Rosenstein, 55, will join the finance committee of Walgreen's board. He said in a statement from the drugstore chain that he was eager to "work constructively" with the company's management.

Walgreen shares rose 68 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $64.63 Monday morning while broader trading indexes were mixed.

The company's shares lost 12 percent last month, hurt by the cut forecast. But the stock was still up 11 percent in 2014 through Friday's close. That topped the 8.6 percent gain from the Standard & Poor's 500 index over the same span.

Walgreen, which runs nearly 8,200 drugstores, will report its fiscal fourth quarter earnings Sept. 30.

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Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy has died

ATLANTA — Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy died early Monday at 93. The billionaire rose from poverty by building a privately held restaurant chain that famously closes every Sunday but drew unwanted attention for the Cathy family's opposition to gay marriage.

Chick-fil-A spokesman Mark Baldwin told The Associated Press that Cathy died at home surrounded by members of his family. The company said in a statement that preliminary plans are for a public funeral service at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Jonesboro in Jonesboro, Georgia.

Cathy opened his first postwar diner in an Atlanta suburb in 1946 and by 1967 he had founded and opened his first Chick-fil-A Inc. restaurant in Atlanta. Over ensuing decades, the chain's boneless chicken sandwich he is credited with inventing would propel Chick-fil-A expansion to more than 1,800 outlets in 39 states and the nation's capital. By early 2013, the company says on its website, annual sales topped $5 billion as the chain offered up a taste of the South that went beyond chicken to such offerings as sweet tea, biscuits and gravy.

Under the religiously conservative founder, the chain gained prominence for its Bible Belt observance of Sunday — none of its hundreds of restaurants are open on that day, to allow employees a day of rest. Its executives often said the chain made as much money in six days as its competitors do in seven.

Those religious views helped win Cathy and his family a loyal following from conservative customers, but also invited protests when Cathy's son defended the company's donations to groups campaigning against gay marriage.

Cathy's son, Dan, who is currently chairman and president of the chain, had told the Baptist Press in 2012 that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." Gay rights groups and others called for boycotts and kiss-ins at Cathy's restaurants. The Jim Henson Co. pulled its Muppet toys from kids' meals, while politicians in Boston and Chicago told the chain it is not welcome there.

The controversy later subsided.

The family-owned company has said it has had 46 consecutive years of positive sales growth. Cathy's $6 billion fortune as the founder of Chick-fil-A puts him on the yearly Forbes magazine list of the wealthiest Americans in the country. The company has listed him on its website as its chairman emeritus after he left day-to-day operations to younger generations.

Truett Cathy began his career in the restaurant business by opening with his brother in 1946 an Atlanta diner called The Dwarf Grill, which was named for the short and stout shape of the restaurant.

He has attributed his hardworking nature — even as a little boy he made money by selling six bottles of Coca-Cola for a quarter — to growing up poor.

"I've experienced poverty and plenty and there's a lesson to be learned when you're brought up in poverty," he said in 2007. "I had to create some good work habits and attitude."

Even well into his 80s, Cathy was actively involved in the chain's operations, including setting up a contract with his children that said they may sell the privately-owned chain in the future but the company must never go public.

"Why would I retire from something I enjoy doing?" Cathy said in a 2007 interview. "I can hardly wait to get here."

An opportunity in 1961 led to the development of the restaurant chain's trademark chicken sandwich when a company that cooked boneless, skinless chicken for airline meals wanted to sell him pieces that were too big for the airline customer's needs. Cathy took those pieces and cooked them in a pressure cooker and served them in buttered buns.

The sandwich was sold at independent restaurants for a few years before he opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant at an Atlanta shopping mall in 1967.

Cathy also was known for his efforts to help youth. In 1984 he created the WinShape Foundation to help "shape winners" through youth support programs and scholarships. He also created a long-term program for foster children that has foster care homes in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Brazil.

His sympathy for children was demonstrated in August 2008 when he worked out a deal with the parents of two girls who were accused of causing $30,000 in damage to a home he owned in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The girls were banned from watching TV and playing video games. They also had to write "I will not vandalize other people's property" 1,000 times.

He told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that he didn't want to have them prosecuted and left with a criminal record.

As the author of several books, his 2007 book "How Did You Do It, Truett?" outlined his strategy for success that included setting priorities, being courteous, cautiously expanding a business and not being burdened with debt.

"There's really no secret for success," he said then. "I hope it will open eyes for people. They don't have to follow my recipe but this is what works for me."

Cathy is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jeannette McNeil Cathy; sons Dan T. and Don "Bubba" Cathy; daughter Trudy Cathy White; 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, according to a company statement.

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Gambling board to Wynn: Change your look

The state Gaming Commission, which today begins its marathon deliberations over the coveted Boston-area casino license, is recommending Wynn Resorts redesign the exterior of its $1.6 billion casino proposal as a condition of a license if the company's Everett project is selected over Mohegan Sun's.

The details offer the first glimpse of the commission's long-awaited appraisal of the two rival bidders vying for what's considered the state's most lucrative gaming permit.

Commissioner James McHugh said Wynn's Everett design "doesn't capture the energy that this company is capable of," calling Wynn's Las Vegas design "spectacular" and "compelling" by comparison.
"(T)he Commission strongly urges Wynn to reconsider the exterior design of the buildings and present a revised design to the Commission and, in any event, Wynn shall submit exterior material and finish selection and samples for review and approval by the Commission ...," reads a document the commission will be considering today in its review of building and site design.

The commission, however, is not asking the same of Mohegan, which is proposing a $1.3 billion plan to build a gambling palace in Revere. Instead, it's asking the developer to "submit exterior material and finish selection and samples for review and approval by the Commission."

The state chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently told the commission in a letter that Mohegan's plan is "markedly superior in every design aspect" to Wynn's.
Wynn declined comment, saying it will withhold remarks until the end of the process.

Meanwhile, a commission working group also released its conclusions today on Mohegn and Wynn's financing plans, deeming Mohegan's plan "Sufficient" and giving Wynn's plan an edge with a rating of "Very Good/Outstanding."

The finance group, headed by commissioner Enrique Zuniga, which will report soon, zeroed in on 60 percent of Mohegan's venture being financed by a private equity firm, Brigade Capital, and that a separate partner would operate retail components at the casino. It also says the plan doesn't recognize the full market opportunity of a Boston-area casino.

"While the Applicant has demonstrated the necessary financial capability to develop and operate their proposed complex, its funding plan is complex (i.e. multiple parties with investment in and operational responsibilities for various project components) and by some measures highly leveraged," a summary reads. "This complexity will likely reduce the degree of flexibility the the Applicant requires to efficiently (including timing) and effectively respond to marketplace changes that will likely occur over the term of the license, including immediately after opening."

The commission said Wynn has demonstrated more solid, stable financial footing and isn't as vulnerable to changes in market conditions.

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CBS names James Corden to replace Craig Ferguson

NEW YORK — British actor James Corden will replace Craig Ferguson as host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS next year, part of a complete overhaul of the network's late-night talk show lineup put in motion by the impending retirement of David Letterman.

The network said Monday it had picked Corden, who won a Tony Award in 2012 for his role in the play "One Man, Two Guvnors" and appears in the movie "Begin Again" with Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. Corden is also in the upcoming film "Into the Woods" with Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp. He hosts a sports-oriented game show in Britain, and also acts in and writes the BBC series "The Wrong Mans."

Nina Tassler, chairman of CBS entertainment, called Corden "a rare entertainment force who combines irresistible charm, warmth and originality with a diverse range of creative instincts and performance talent."

Ferguson has hosted "The Late Late Show," which airs at 12:35 a.m. ET, for 10 years. He said he would be leaving shortly after Letterman announced his retirement and he was passed over to be his successor, with Stephen Colbert getting that job sometime next year. Ferguson will leave the show in December, CBS said.

Corden's hiring recalls that of the Scottish-born Ferguson, who was relatively unknown in the United States before CBS gave him the job. Corden is also another white male in a late-night talk world dominated by them. CBS said it was considering several different options for a show when Ferguson said he was leaving; it offered no details on the type of program Corden will do, and also did not say where it will be based.

"I can't wait to get started, and will do my very best to make a show America will enjoy," Corden said.

CBS didn't say when his show will start. The timing all seems dependent on when Letterman exits "The Late Show" next year and when Colbert begins.

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US seeks prison in New York insider trading case

NEW YORK — The federal government is recommending that a former portfolio manager serve up to about 20 years in prison. His lawyers call that "outrageous" and "irrational."

Mathew Martoma will be sentenced Monday afternoon.

His lawyers said in a recent court filing that to mete out such a stiff punishment, the judge would have to conclude Martoma teamed up with his billionaire boss. They say the government never proved Martoma provided Steven A. Cohen with inside information.

Cohen has not been criminally charged. But the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused him in a civil action of failing to prevent insider trading at his company, SAC Capital Advisors. He has disputed the allegations.

The Probation Department has recommended Martoma receive roughly 15 to 20 years in prison for his securities fraud and conspiracy conviction.

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Fox News, Fox Business launch new mobile-viewing tools

As news networks start to prepare for coverage of the 2014 mid-term elections, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network are launching mobile-viewing functions that allow viewers to watch the networks on mobile tablets and phones, as well as desktops.

The two platforms, dubbed FoxNewsGo and FoxBusiness, launch Monday.

The tools will be basic for now, allowing people who can authenticate a subscription to a video provider such as a cable or satellite system to see what is airing on either of the 21st Century Fox-owned networks at the time they connect. Video-on-demand and second-screen functionality are likely to come in time, said Tim Carry, executive vice president of distribution for the networks, in an interview.

"We just wanted to get a product on portable devices and desktops that really created an experience much like the linear service," Carry said.

A beta version of the FoxNewsGo mobile platform went live a year ago, which brought more than a million impressions to the Fox News website, according to statistics released by the network. Average viewership was 45 minutes, Carry said, which mimics what executives see for traditional linear-viewing patterns.

Fox News expects the new mobile tools to be available to approximately 70 million of its subscribers, Carry said. About 220 partners have signed on to offer the service, including major cable carriers lie Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV. "The only significant distributor we haven't fully come to terms with and hope to see us on is Dish," Carry said.

Executives also hope the mobile platform will drive additional advertising revenue, as the networks can us the emerging practice called "dynamic ad insertion or the placement of unique commercials in the live stream that would not necessarily appear at the same time on the cable networks.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Dubai pushes ahead on world's biggest airport plan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai's ruler has endorsed a $32 billion expansion plan for the city's second airport that aims to make it the world's biggest, the emirate's airport operator said Monday in the latest sign that the Middle East's brash commercial hub is determined to move on from its 2009 financial crisis.

The approval sets in motion a vast building project that will boost capacity exponentially at the airport known as Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central. Backers envision it will eventually handle more than 200 million passengers per year.

The first phase of the expansion alone aims to build enough runway and terminal space to handle 120 million passengers a year and 100 mammoth Airbus A380 double-decker jets at any given time.

The world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, handled 94.4 million people last year.

Paul Griffiths, chief executive of state-backed airport operator Dubai Airports, said he aims to have the first phase of the expansion complete in six to eight years. That part of the project includes adding two new runways and two large concourses housing dozens of aircraft gates each.

"It's a very aggressive time scale ... but I think that we have a track record here of doing remarkable things in a remarkably challenging time frame," Griffiths said in his office at the city's main airport, Dubai International.

As later phases are completed, the new airport will eventually boast five parallel runways spaced far enough apart so they can all be used at the same time, and have enough gates for hundreds of wide-body planes.

Dubai World Central opened for cargo flights in 2010 with a single runway in the desert south of central Dubai. It received its first passengers in October at a single terminal that is mainly used by smaller airlines and low-cost carriers.

The currently larger Dubai International ranked as the world's seventh busiest airport last year, handling 66.4 million passengers. It too is being expanded, with a new concourse expected to open next year.

Griffiths says Dubai needs to expand to keep pace with the rapid growth of airline traffic into the emirate. Much of the increase comes from hometown airline Emirates, the region's largest carrier and the world's biggest user of both the A380 and Boeing 777 long-haul jets.

Emirates is expected to move its hub to the new airport shortly after the first expansion phase is complete, freeing up space in the older airport for the well over 100 other airlines that already operate from it.

Griffiths is confident Dubai will be able to generate the funding needed to complete the project given the importance of aviation to Dubai's economy. Officials say the industry contributes $22 billion annually to the local economy and supports some 250,000 jobs.

"The aviation sector has demonstrated that there is a very compelling economic case to suggest creation of further capacity is a very sensible thing to do," Griffiths said. "I'm sure that the government will come up with the appropriate funding to make the project a reality."

Dubai is still recovering from the effects of its financial crisis, which sent property prices plunging and forced it to accept a multibillion-dollar bailout from neighboring Abu Dhabi.

The local economy has bounced back strongly since, though Dubai and its state-linked companies still carry tens of billions of dollars in debt. The International Monetary Fund has warned of the possibility of another property bubble forming, and analysts question how Dubai can make good on the debt it still owes.

"There are still plenty of reasons to think that the emirate's debt problems are far from over," Jason Tuvey, an analyst at London-based Capital Economics, wrote in a research note last week.

That has not stopped officials from announcing plans for headline-grabbing projects reminiscent of the pre-crisis boom.

On Sunday, a property development company controlled by Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum laid out plans for a $2.7 billion theme park and resort complex near the new airport and the site of the World Expo that Dubai is due to host in 2020.

The expansion of the new airport is unlikely to be ready by the time the Expo kicks off, Griffiths said.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at www.twitter.com/adamschreck

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Amazon slashes price of its Fire smartphone

NEW YORK — Amazon slashed the price of its Fire smartphone Monday, a day before Apple is expected to unveil its latest version of the iPhone.

The online retailer said the Fire with 32 gigabytes of memory will now cost 99 cents when customers sign a two-year contract with AT&T. That's down from $199.

The phone with 64 gigabytes of memory will now cost $99 with a two-year contract, down from $299.

Amazon said the phones will still come with unlimited cloud storage for photos and a free 12 months of Amazon Prime, the company's free shipping and video-streaming plan, which normally costs $99 a year.

The Seattle-based company began selling the phone in June through a preorder. Besides a possible new iPhone, the Fire is expected to face increasing competition this fall. Samsung unveiled two new phones last week that are set to go on sale in October.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. fell $4.88, or 1.41 percent, to $341.50.

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