Home foreclosures
up at record rate

Home foreclosures accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three decades during the second quarter of 2008 as interest rates increased and home values fell.

New foreclosures increased to 1.19 percent, rising above 1 percent for the first time in the survey's 29 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. The total inventory of homes in foreclosure reached 2.75 percent, almost tripling since the five-year housing boom ended in 2005. The share of loans with one or more payments overdue rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.41 percent of all mortgages, an all-time high, from 6.35 percent in the first quarter.

New foreclosures rose from the first quarter in 35 states and Washington, D.C. The biggest increases were in Ohio, Nevada, Florida, California, Arizona, Michigan, Rhode Island and Indiana.

In Ohio, 18.3 percent of the state's 207,612 subprime loans were past due in the April-June period and 13.9 percent were in foreclosure. Among prime loan mortgages offered to buyers with the best credit, 4 percent of 1.1 million loans were past-due and 2 percent were in foreclosure.

Toyota makes plans
for hybrid batteries

Toyota, preparing to build Prius hybrids in the U.S. by 2010, will eventually make advanced batteries within North America to power the gasoline-electric cars, Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto said.

The date of production, now done only in Japan, depends on oil prices, which Toyota expects to continue rising, he said, without elaborating.

Toyota said on July 10 it would assemble the Prius at a plant under construction in Mississippi, scrapping plans to make Highlander sport-utility vehicles there.

The company, which already makes gasoline-electric Camrys in the U.S., lacks local suppliers of unique parts such as nickel-metal batteries and electric motors for Prius and other hybrids.
Microsoft to send
its reps to retailers

Microsoft Corp. said it plans to deploy its own customer-service representatives at retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City to help people with their PC purchases.

Ford to cut shift
at Chicago plant

Ford is cutting a Chicago vehicle-assembly plant to one shift from two as sales of cars made there continue to slide. The change takes effect Nov. 3.

The company hasn't determined how many jobs will be eliminated. The first to be affected will be about 600 temporary workers who are part of the plant's production work force of 2,100.
GM factories plan
to recycle, reuse

General Motors said more than half of its factories will stop sending garbage to landfills by the end of 2010.

So far, 43 of Detroit-based GM's plants recycle or reuse byproducts, and the number will rise to more than 80 in the next 28 months.

Separately, GM said it introduced a Web site today to counter ''myths'' about the company.

GM uses the site, http://www.gmfactsandfiction.com, to present its case for a federally backed loan, rejecting the notion of a ''government bailout,'' and to cite U.S. statistics showing its vehicles match imported models' fuel efficiency.
Critics oppose PUCO
phone bill proposal

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel filed its objection with proposed rules that would make it easier for telephone companies to disconnect services for customers who are unable to pay their bill for bundled services.

The proposal by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's (PUCO) staff would eliminate a safety net for telephone customers with bundled services who are not able to pay their entire bill. Bundled services are extras, such as call waiting or caller ID. Currently, local phone companies must maintain a customer's basic dial tone, as long as a portion of the bill is paid.