UPS is reporting widespread, scattered technical problems affecting tracking and processing of packages.
United Parcel Service Inc. spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said Wednesday that the outages are not affecting the movement of trucks or any other part of the operation. The problem is with some shipping applications that customers use to input and track shipments. Some are reporting problems getting into the system.
Rosenberg says a disruption like this is rare because of the number of overlaps in the system designed to prevent them.
UPS expects the disruption to be cleared up soon.
Citigroup fraud suit costs it $158 million
Citigroup has agreed to pay $158.3 million to settle claims that its mortgage unit duped the U.S. government into insuring risky mortgage loans for more than six years.
The government said Wednesday that Citi Mortgage certified 30,000 mortgages for insurance provided by the Federal Housing Agency and submitted many certifications that were “knowingly or recklessly false.”
More than a third of those mortgage loans went into default, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for the government because of the insurance claims.
Homebuilder outlook rises for a 5th month
U.S. homebuilders are gradually growing more optimistic about the depressed housing market and believe home sales could pick up sharply when the spring buying season begins.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo said Wednesday that its builder sentiment index rose for a fifth straight month in February to 29, up from 25 in January. The index has climbed 15 points since September and is now at its highest level since May 2007.
Builders have generally become more hopeful during that stretch about current sales, sales six months out and foot traffic, the report shows.
Comcast slowing subscriber defection
It has become the routine in the cable industry that subscribers stream out the door every quarter, hanging up on cable in favor of service from satellite or phone companies. But in the October-to-December quarter, Comcast Corp. slowed that flow.
The country’s largest cable company said Wednesday it lost 17,000 TV customers in the fourth quarter, the smallest number of defections in five years. It compares with a loss of 135,000 subscribers in the same quarter a year earlier.
Comcast credits more video programming available on more screens, like tablets and phones, and better customer service.
Defiance grain hub lures 10-15 new jobs
CGB Enterprises plans to invest in a new grain terminal in Defiance, Ohio, creating 10 full-time and five seasonal positions.
The operation will have storage space for 2.4 million bushels. Construction on the complex, announced this week, is to begin this spring and be completed in June 2013. Neither the cost of the project nor the salaries for employees were disclosed. Mandeville, La.-based CGB will build a terminal utilizing shuttle loading capabilities with the CSX railroad.
“We have had our eye on that area for two to three years,” Greg Beck, vice president of the company’s grain division, said Wednesday. CGB owns and operates more than 70 grain facilities across the Midwest.
