The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 51

Sf)c Charlotte Observer JUDGE RULES AGAINST US AIRWAYS I 3D Airline use more optimistic calculation for pension value FRONT DOOR COMMUNICATIONS SALE? I 3D Founder says he still wants to buy it back despite missed deadline wwwcharlottecom WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31 2SS3 SECTION DEVELOPMENT Doug Smith Purchase quashes rivalry owner buys Palace to shut it down STAFF AND WIRE PHOTOS Powerful shifts often start with subtle changes One of oldest theater chains is neutralizing a competitor by buying it and shutting it down Eastern Federal Corp which owns the Mov-iesBirkdale recently purchased Palace Stadium 12 for the sole purpose of taking it dark and redeveloping the building at Catawba Avenue and Sam Furr Road in Cornelius Company officials said they saw a chance to eliminate confusion reduce an oversupply of screens in the north Mecklenburg market and make a good real estate investment The Palace opened in spring 2000 and the MoviesBirk-dale opened a year later in Birkdale Village within a mile on Sam Furr Road 1 Eastern Federal paid New Millennium about $28 million for the building and 52 acres of land including an undeveloped parcel according to Mecklenburg deed transaction records The owners also sold the furniture and equipment to Eastern Federal for an undisclosed price Buying a competing theater with an intent to close it is rare in the industry said Bill Wilson Eastern vice president of real estate this been such a good redevelopment opportunity it would have been hard for us to he said The Palace is in the Kenton Place mixed-use development in the heart of one of the Lake SEE SMITH I 3D Year in Review Movers shakers and mergers of Staff Reports From big bank mergers to Pillowtex collapse to a new chief executive at Duke Energy Corp 2003 was another eventful year for the Charlotte-area business scene Here is a look at some of the milestones: Jan 7: US Airways and United Airlines begin code-share agreement on 192 flights Jan 8: US Airways Express Flight 5481 operated by Air Midwest crashes in Charlotte killing all 21 aboard Jan 14: Bill Coley president of utility Duke Power announces his retirement Duke parent Duke Energy Corp names Ruth Shaw as his successor Jan 29: Freightliner LLC affirms that a majority of its 3100 workers at two plants in Gaston and Rowan counties favor representation by the United Auto Workers Feb 11: Fabled investor Warren Buffett announces plans to buy Burlington Industries SEE REVIEW I 2D Top Trends (Photos from top left to right) 1 US productivity gains (BMW plant in Greer C) 2 Outsourcing white-collar jobs (Impelsys India Pty Ltd in Bangalore India) 3 India becomes an economic power 4 Threats to the Internet (SurfControl maps spots" of international Web sites hosting spam) 5 Hostile powers soften to avoid US hit list Moammar Gadhafi) 6 Japan on the rise (Tokyo brokerage shows decline against the yen) 7 Europe in decline (Workers strike in Rome) 8 Republicans on a roll (President Bush signs Medicare bill) 9 Mutual funds fell from grace (New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer) 10 Life expectancy on the rise By Marshall Loeb CBS MarketWatch The biggest stories of the year always command the boldest headlines Often the developments that shape our lifestyles and our pocketbooks are the result of myriad subtle changes that over time produce broad trends -trends in science and medicine politics the arts and society at large Most of hotshots are quickly forgotten But countless little-known people create the real changes As the economist John Maynard Keynes said we are all prisoners of some long-dead economist Laboring away today in some lab or library some business office or production line some farm or service center are the people who are creating the most important trends of our time Here are 10 of the most important trends of 2003 not the 10 most important trends (nobody knows that) but 10 of the most important trends that may well carry on in 2004 and through the years ahead THE UNITED STATES MADE AWESOME GAINS IN PRODUCTIVITY Almost all of us are producing more (and better) goods and services than ever before and more than workers elsewhere in the world This means we are more valuable as workers a fact that soon should be showing up in our paychecks Meanwhile the United States is becoming more competitive in global markets US productivity has been rising smartly for four years the result of superior technology workplace rules that encourage initiative and flexible rewards based on the quality and quantity of production In the third quarter of 2003 productivity hit a 20-year high annual growth rate of 94 percent This should lead to not only higher wages over the long term but also to less inflation lower interest rates and higher profits all of which lead to rising stock prices 2 THE UNITED STATES BEGAN TO MASSIVELY EXPORT WHITE-COLLAR JOBS Despite the high productivity of SEE 2003 I 20 ECONOMIC REPORTS Confidence level shows dip in Dec The Markets Dow stumbles over consumer confidence news VD0W -24 96 to 10425 04 Home sales slowed in Nov but numbers could set new record 016 to 1109 64 The Dow fell for the first day in three after a decline in consumer confidence and slower-than-expected growth in Chi-cago-area manufacturing dented the optimism lifted the benchmark to its first annual gain in four years The Nasdaq rose finishing at the highest in almost two years for a second straight day -BLOOMBERG NEWS NASDAQ 340 to 2009 88 10-YEAR NOTE 005 to 4 28 JOHN FREIUCH BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO A FedEx driver brings packages to a store Tuesday in Frisco Texas The shipping giant Is acquiring the copy chain for $24 billion FedEx buying to boost retail presence The Carotinas percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 606 million homes Both reports are closely watched because of the insight they provide into the mood of consumers Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy and a confident consumer is more likely to spend Housing sales have held up overall despite the downturn because low interest rates made mortgages more affordable Analysts said the reports do not mean the economic recovery is losing momentum They noted that a year ago the consumer confidence index stood at 807 and that the newest data showed consumers were still feeling upbeat about the future They also pointed out that housing sales had been expected to decrease and that even with the decline sales of previously owned homes still registered their fifth best month on record and are poised to set a record for all of 2003 is all part of a softening trend that had to occur because we got such robust growth in the third quarter growth that SEE ECONOMY I 3D No word yet on when new services will come to stores in Charlotte Human resources firms consolidating CONSULTING Right Management Consultants Inc a Philadelphia outplacement firm with Charlotte offices has agreed to buy Manchester Inc a Florida-based career transition unit of MPS Group Also Right Management itself is being purchased by temporary-staffing giant Manpower Inc so the merged operations of Right and Manchester will soon become a standalone subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Manpower AMBER VEVERKA ByLisaSinghania Associated Press NEW YORK Anxiety about the job market is causing consumer confidence levels to dip while housing sales also are slowing But economists worried they say the outlook for improvement remains rosy and the pullbacks are a normal kink in the path to recovery The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to 913 in December following a surge in November to a revised figure of 925 its highest level in more than'a year A retreat had been expected although the latest number was below expectations analysts had forecast the index would come in at 92 2 Also Tuesday the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes declined by 46 midsize businesses The purchase change operations at FedEx locations but it will at outlets Eventually all of the copy shops will have full FedEx service with both ground and air shipping and will be staffed by a FedEx employee a FedEx spokesman said FedEx and combination will substantially increase our retail presence worldwide and will enable both companies to take advantage of growth opportunities in the fast-moving digital economy" said Frederick Smith chairman president and SEE I 2D By Woody Baird Associated Press MEMPHIS Tain Shipping giant FedEx Corp agreed to buy copy shop chain for $24 billion in cash Tuesday in a deal the companies said would vastly expand retail presence and make one-stop back for small and A.