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Hampton Roads and nation [Virginian - Pilot](Virginian - Pilot Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) container traffic at port surged in may The port of Hampton Roads' container traffic in May was the most of any month so far this year, the Virginia Port Authority reported Thursday. The port handled the equivalent of 191,368 20-foot containers in May, the authority said, up 7.2 percent from 178,584 in the previous May. Last month's total was the fourth-highest for any month in the port's history, the state agency said. For the first five months of 2013, container volume is up 6.3 percent from the year-earlier period, the agency said. The authority said a continuing surge in containers moved by rail helped drive the cargo gains. It said 35.3 percent of all containers that moved through the port were delivered or shipped out by rail - a record-high percentage. - Dave Mayfield, The PilotMicrosoft to open stores in best buy Microsoft has unveiled plans for "store-within-a-store" sections in Best Buys, becoming the latest major consumer electronics maker to acknowledge advantages of the brick-and-mortar format. The sections will begin opening this month and offer Windows- based PCs, tablets, Xboxes and accessories, as well as trained staff to explain Windows 8 to customers. All of the Microsoft mini-stores are expected to be set up in about 600 Best Buy locations in the U.S. and Canada by early September. Microsoft is counting on its stores within Best Buys to provide more opportunities for hands-on demonstrations with Windows- powered devices. Best Buy has similar store-within-stores for Samsung, Apple and Magnolia products. Airlines' on-time performance falls The nation's airlines struggled to stay on schedule in April, with nearly 1 in 4 flights arriving late, according to new government figures . The airlines blamed furloughs of federal air traffic controllers and bad weather. A nationwide computer outage at American Airlines added to the slowdown. The Transportation Department said Thursday that among the 16 airlines that report such information, only 77.3 percent of flights arrived on time in April. That was down sharply from 86.3 percent in the same month last year. The airlines said that 34.3 percent of April's delays were caused by bad weather, up from 28.5 percent in April 2012. The rate of damaged, lost or delayed luggage rose slightly, to just more than three bags for every 1,000 passengers. Revlon to pay $850K to settle sec charges Cosmetics company Revlon Inc. has agreed to pay an $850,000 fine to settle federal charges that it withheld key information from shareholders about a "going-private" transaction. Going-private transactions typically happen when a company seeks to cash out shareholders so it or a private equity firm can acquire all outstanding shares. The Securities and Exchange Commission found that during such a voluntary exchange offer to satisfy a $107 million debt to a controlling shareholder, Revlon misled investors by not telling them that an outside adviser had found the terms of the deal inadequate. Revlon neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing but agreed to refrain from future securities violations. quick hits Caterpillar Inc. said it will no longer give money to the Boy Scouts of America because the organization decided last week to continue to ban gays as adult leaders. Last month, it did drop a ban on gay Scouts. Fixed U.S. mortgage rates rose for the sixth straight week, with the rate on the 30-year loan increasing to 3.98 percent. The rate on the 15-year loan advanced to 3.10 percent. Security software giant Symantec confirmed Thursday that it will be cutting jobs. The number of layoffs wasn't available. The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales increased 0.6 percent in May from April. That's the fastest pace since February. - From Pilot and wire reports (c) 2013 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |