UNION PACIFIC RECORDS RECORD PROFITS: GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Union Pacific says it was more profitable in 2011 than ever before due in part to coal shipments from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
The Gillette News Record reported Tuesday that the Omaha-based railroad signed a contract to ship coal from the basin to unnamed utilities in Wisconsin.
Union Pacific says coal tonnage shipped from the basin last year increased 7 percent mostly because of the new business.
The company exported 5.2 million short tons of coal to foreign markets in 2011, up 1.4 million from last year. That coal came from the Powder River Basin, Utah and Colorado.
The company has warned investors that it doesn't expect to ship as much coal from Wyoming this year. It says higher-energy coal from Colorado and Utah is more in demand.
BAILOUT WILL SWING TO $23B LOSS THIS YEAR: REPORT: WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report says the government's financial bailout program will see a $23 billion loss in the year that ended Sept. 30, compared with a $37 billion gain on taxpayers' investment the year before.
The Congressional Budget Office made the prediction in its report issued Tuesday on the federal budget. The expected loss is mainly due to the drop in the stock prices of General Motors and insurer American International Group, in which the government still holds big stakes.
AIG shares fell from around $40 to about $25 over the past year; GM shares fell from around $35 to $24.
Amid the 2008 financial crisis, Congress authorized spending $700 billion on the bailout. About $413 billion was lent. So far, the government has recovered around $318 billion.
CHARGE HURTS UPS PROFIT, BUT US BUSINESS SURGES: NEW YORK (AP) — The tide has turned in UPS' global business. Earnings at the world's largest package delivery company are now being powered by an economic "uplift" in the U.S., while growth in the formerly red-hot international division has slowed.
While net income was lower due to an accounting charge, adjusted profit rose 21 percent and topped Wall Street's expectations.
UPS expects to see faster growth this year in the U.S. economy than in 2011. That will be in contrast to other parts of the world, where UPS predicts the pace of growth will slow.
The Atlanta company said results in the U.S. — a 30 percent rise in operating profit and 7 percent increase in revenue — improved twice as fast as other segments in the last three months of the year..
FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT TO DIP TO $1.1T, CBO SAYS: WASHINGTON (AP) — The government will run a $1.1 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in September, a slight dip from last year but still very high by any measure, according to a budget report released Tuesday.
The Congressional Budget Office report also says that annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years if Bush-era tax cuts slated to expire in December are extended, as commonly assumed — and if Congress is unable to live within the tight "caps" the lawmakers themselves placed on agency budgets last year.
