Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • B7

BUSINESS DIGEST FOOD REGULATION Pom juice bene cial? Maker proved it, FTC says Pom Wonderful, the pricey and popular pomegranate juice sold in the distinctly curvaceous bottle, is advertised as helping reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and impotence. According to the Federal Trade Commission, though, the evidence does not back up those claims. On Monday, the FTC charged Pom Wonderful, which markets the juice, and the owners, billionaire philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick of Los Angeles, with making false and unsubstantiated claims about the power of their pomegranate elixir. In a complaint that seeks to prevent the company from making any further medical claims unless they are substantiated by the Food and Drug Administration, the commission said the company ignored evidence that contradicted its claims. The Resnicks said Monday that they planned to contest the charges.

Pom Wonderful says it has spent $34 million on pomegranate research, including 19 clinical trials and multiple studies in peer-reviewed journals. The commission says that the advertising claims overstate the results. SMART DEVICES BlackBerry maker set to offer a tablet aimed at businesses The company that gave us the BlackBerry still the dominant phone in corporate circles thinks its business customers will have room in their briefcases for at least one more device: the PlayBook. Research in Motion Ltd. showed off the tablet Monday and is set to launch it early 2011, with a global rollout later in the year.

RIM is betting on a smaller, lighter device than Apple iPad, which kick-started the tablet market when it launched in April. The PlayBook will have a 7-inch screen, making it half the size of the iPad, and weigh about 0.9 pounds to the 1.5 pounds. And unlike the iPad, it will have two cameras, front and back. IMMIGRATION Despite economy, Americans take farm jobs, AP finds a question rekindled by the recession: Are immigrants taking jobs away from American citizens? In the heart of the biggest farming state, the answer is a resounding no. Government data analyzed by The Associated Press show that most Americans simply apply to harvest fruits and vegetables.

And the few who do usually stay in the fields. The AP analysis showed that, from January to June, California farmers posted ads for 1,160 farmworker positions open to U.S. citizens and legal residents. But only 233 people in those categories applied after learning of the jobs through unemployment of ces in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. One grower brought on 36.

No one else hired any. INVESTMENTS Huge demand pushes rate for 2-year T-bill to new low The appetite for U.S. government debt helped the Treasury sell two-year notes at the lowest interest rate on record. At Treasury auction, investors placed bids for 3.87 times the $36 billion up for sale. Such strong bidding for Treasurys allowed the government to nab a 0.44 percent interest rate for the new notes.

a record low rate for two-year debt, according to the investment rm Jefferies Co. Treasury prices climbed throughout the day. The two-year price edged up 3 cents from its price Friday to $99.87, with a yield of 0.43 percent. In other Treasury market trading Monday, the 10-year note rose 65.6 cents to $100.81. The higher price lowered the yield to 2.53 percent, down from 2.61 percent Friday afternoon.

The 30-year jumped $1.31 to $102.78. The yield dropped from 3.79 percent late Friday to 3.72 percent. The three-month T-bill paid 0.14 percent, the same as its discount. Compiled from wire reports MORE BUSINESS NEWS Southwest Airlines buys AirTran, expanding its network by 25 percent Page One ASSOCIATED PRESS 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.18 0.19 0.20 Treasury bills Percent 6-mont 3-month By Andreas Grosse Halbuer AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Austin entrepreneur Jeffrey Lorien is so pleased with the Car2Go rental system that he plans to sell his car. just Lorien said of the program, which allows customers to rent a Smart Fortwo two-seater car for one-way trips and short errands, and return the car anywhere within a large part of Central Austin.

takes you only 30 seconds to jump in and to start the said Lorien, 47. never had problems nding a Smart they are always one or two blocks At rst, Lorien, the CEO of Zhi Tea, an organic tea-distribution company in East Austin, signed up as a member just because he was curious. Then he compared costs and determined that cheaper to use a Smart Fortwo for short distances than to drive his Volkswagen Passat station wagon. Lorien is one of the 10,000 Austinites who have registered for automaker Car 2Go car-sharing system since last November, the company said. Since the program started, there have been 80,000 rentals, averaging 30 to 60 minutes.

About half of the customers are between 18 and 35, target market for the program. Austin was the first U.S. test city. 10,000 members so rapidly in Austin is just the beginning of success in North America. In 2011, we will continue to expand to other North American cities where there is a demand for innovative and forward- thinking transportation said Nicholas Cole, the Austin-based president and CEO of Car2Go North America.

Companies, organizations sign up The program began last November as a six- month pilot with the City of Austin, where employees can use the cars for city business. The city pilot was renewed for another six months. Car2Go registration has been open to the public since late May. About 20 Austin companies and organiza Pilot program for City of Austin counts companies, individuals among its registered users Car2Go membership reaches 10,000 mark in less than a year Mark Matson 2009 AMERICAN-STATESMAN Car2Go car-sharing program rolled out last year in Austin and two years ago in Ulm, Germany. 2011, we will continue to expand to other North American cities where there is a demand for innovative and forward-thinking transportation CEO Nick Cole says.

Car2Go basics Memberships cost $35, although registration is free through Oct. 31. Members get a microchipped card that allows them to rent a Smart Fortwo card on demand or by reservation for as long as they want. They do not have to designate a return time. A website shows where available cars are parked; members locate the car closest to them, swipe their card on the windshield to get access and punch in their PIN once inside.

Cars can be returned to nonmetered public parking spaces anywhere within an area bounded roughly by 51st Street, MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), Oltorf Street and Ed Bluestein Boulevard (U.S. 183). There also are designated downtown parking spaces for the cars. See SHARING 8 TRANSPORTATION CAR SHARING By Shonda Novak AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF The newest Walmart opening Oct. 27 in Northcross Center will feature the usual superstore offerings but also will be the rst high-ef ciency prototype for the largest retailer, its manager says.

And about 1.5 miles south of Northcross, the dominant grocer, is almost done with an expansion and remodeling of its store on Burnet Road, with plans to celebrate its makeover by early November. is expanding the 60-year-old store by about a third, to 68,000 square feet, and adding more than 5,300 new products, said Leslie Lockett Sweet, director of public affairs for the San Antonio-based grocer. The new Walmart will have 99,000 square feet. The store is projected to handle about the same volume of customers as some other local Walmarts that are twice its size, said Scott Gray, manager of the new store at 2525 W. Anderson Lane.

The store will have about 250 employees, with about 35 to 40 of those yet to be hired, Gray See COMPETE Ricardo B. Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN The Walmart at the Northcross Center is expected to open Oct. 27. It will have 99,000 square feet and about 250 employees, along with new techniques for saving energy and cutting costs. Expansion and remodeling of nearby expected to be completed around same time New Northcross Walmart to focus on ciency GROCERS COMPETITION By Eileen AJ Connelly ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK you been working to boost your credit score before trying to get a mortgage? It may not yield the payback you expect.

The mortgage loan interest rates offered to borrowers with stellar FICO scores much lower than the rates offered to those with a middle-of-the-road 720 score these days. That means that efforts to drive up a credit score to lofty heights likely to produce substantial savings over the life of the loan. The real savings comes from getting your score to that magic line of 720. An analysis of interest rate quotes made through real estate website Zillow.com during the rst half of September found that prospective borrowers with FICO scores of 620 or below likely to get any mortgage offers. lenders are really not looking at people under 620 at said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

That means well more than a quarter of U.S. adults have little or no access to mortgage loans right now, based on the most recent Raising credit score most bene ts those in middle of pack LENDING MORTGAGES See SCORE By Jennifer A. Dlouhy HEARST NEWSPAPERS WASHINGTON For two years, energy industry leaders and environmentalists have implored Congress and the Obama administration to deliver on promises to wean the U.S. off foreign oil. But plans to expand offshore drilling, cap greenhouse gas emissions and use federal dollars to spark a nuclear power renaissance have collapsed on Capitol Hill amid partisan bickering and entrenched regional disputes.

The window for passing any sweeping energy proposals now has closed, and those big ideas likely to go anywhere during first term in the White House. is going to tiptoe through this issue more than they have the last few said Jim DiPeso, policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, an advocacy group. will probably be more piecemeal attempts to deal with energy issues, rather than an all-encompassing magnum Major political obstacles will stand in the way. The House and Senate will inevitably be more evenly divided, with a narrower ratio of Democrats and Republicans on in uential Window closed for passing sweeping bills on drilling as well as greenhouse gases Congress out of gas on energy measures WASHINGTON LEGISLATION See DIVIDED Central Texas Briefs: Centex Homes Buda neighborhood models open soon; ActaCell pushes toward commercialization of new battery line B9 BUSINESS PERSONAL FINANCE NASDAQ DOW statesman.com austin360.com ST WC Tuesday, ep ember 28, 2010 7 10,812.04 2,369.77 1,142.16.