Daily business briefs for Feb. 4

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: February 04, 2011

VIRGINIA
Coolant-flow problem shuts Va. Power reactor

One of the two nuclear reactors at Dominion Virginia Power's power station in Surry County automatically shut down Wednesday because of a coolant-flow problem.
Dominion Virginia Power told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that its Surry Unit 2 reactor tripped at 5:33 a.m. Wednesday when a valve in the reactor coolant system closed inadvertently and reduced the flow in the cooling system.
"There were no radiation releases due to this event, nor were there any personnel injuries or contamination events," the utility's report to the NRC said.
Station operators were placing the 799-megawatt unit in a cold shutdown to inspect the valve and coolant system. The utility was uncertain how long repairs would take.
Unit 1 at Surry, on the James River about 50 miles southeast of Richmond, remained in full operation.
THE NATION
Manufacturing activity surging, report finds

Activity at manufacturing and service companies has reached a level not seen since before the recession, suggesting a stronger year for hiring.
Some economists are even hopeful that today's employment report may be better than first thought, based on new economic data reported Thursday.
The service sector, which employs nearly 90 percent of the work force, is expanding at the fastest pace in five years.
Factories are cranking out goods, retail sales are up, and many companies are nearing the point where they can no longer expand without more employees.
Smurfit-Stone merger offer challenged

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. shareholders may have a chance at getting a premium on the $3.5 billion that suitor Rock-Tenn Co. is offering after large investors and an analyst said the bid undervalues the company.
Third Point LLC, Royal Capital Management LLC and Monarch Alternative Capital LP, which collectively own about 9 percent of the company's common stock, sent a letter to directors Wednesday announcing their displeasure with the deal and intent to vote against the proposed merger. Also, a shareholder sued in Delaware court claiming the cash-stock buyout offer is less than the Chicago-based company is worth.
Rock-Tenn agreed last month to buy Smurfit-Stone for about $35 a share, half in cash and half in Rock-Tenn stock. Smurfit shares were trading above $38 Thursday.
Elsewhere

•Pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc. said Thursday that its parent company, Kinder Morgan Holdco LLC, plans to raise $2.2 billion in the biggest initial public offering by a U.S. energy company in 13 years. The IPO would be the biggest for a U.S. energy company since Conoco Inc.'s debut in 1998, which raised $4.4 billion, according to data provider Dealogic. Kinder Morgan, which was taken private in 2007, said the offering would sell 80 million shares at $26 to $29 each. The underwriters have the option to buy an additional 12 million shares if needed.
•The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage edged up this week as bond yields increased. Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate rose to 4.81 percent this week from 4.80 percent the previous week. The average rate on the 15-year loan slipped to 4.08 percent from 4.09 percent.
•Low-cost air carrier JetBlue Airways will begin using satellite-based technology key to modernizing the nation's air traffic control system beginning in 2012, federal and airline officials said Thursday. JetBlue has signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to equip as many as 35 Airbus A320 planes with the technology that allows air traffic controllers to see the planes at all times, officials said.
•Warehouse club operator BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said Thursday that it is considering selling itself after months of buyout speculation. The company said that it is evaluating its strategic options and has hired Morgan Stanley & Co. as its financial adviser.
• Bank of America Corp. says it has agreed to sell its Balboa Insurance Co. business to QBE Insurance Group for about $700 million in cash and unspecified additional future payments. The transaction is expected to be completed around midyear. Balboa was part of Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America acquired in 2008. QBE Insurance Group is based in Sydney, Australia.
•Delta Air Lines will keep raising fares and trim its growth plans if jet fuel prices stay high, an executive said Thursday. Jet fuel was Delta's biggest expense last year. The run-up in fuel costs that began in the fall prompted the big airlines to begin raising fares in December.
•AXA Rosenberg Group investment firm is paying $242 million to settle civil fraud charges that it hid an error in its computer code that resulted in losses for its clients, federal regulators said Thursday. The settlement announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission is among the largest for the agency and is the first of its kind.
• E-mails and other internal documents show that executives at JP Morgan Chase were complicit in Bernard Madoff's massive fraud, lawyers seeking to recover funds for his victims said Thursday. The lawyers work for a court-appointed trustee who filed a $6.4 billion complaint under seal late last year against JPMorgan, the disgraced financier's primary bank for two decades. The parties have since agreed to make portions of it public, the lawyers said. The material supports allegations that "the bank's top executives were warned in blunt terms about speculation that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme," attorney Deborah Renner said in a statement. In a statement Thursday, JPMorgan said the complaint is meritless.
From staff and wire reports