Hotel movie firm LodgeNet set to file for bankruptcy LodgeNet Interactive Corp. said it will file for bankruptcy protection under an agreement with affiliates of Colony Capital, which will invest $60 million in the provider of on-demand movies to hotel rooms. The Colony affiliates will become the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company's controlling shareholder through an expedited bankruptcy process, LodgeNet said. Los Angeles-based Colony will receive new common stock representing full ownership. LodgeNet hasn't posted an annual profit since 2006. Last year, 95 percent of its revenue came from the hotel industry.
Amazon apologizes for Netflix service blackout Amazon.com apologized for a Dec. 24 disruption in its cloud-computing services that hindered Netflix customers from watching movies, and said it is taking steps to prevent a recurrence. Netflix said last week that many users in the Americas were unable to access online content on Christmas Eve because of an outage caused by Amazon's Web storage and computing system. Amazon didn't identify Netflix in its statement, which was posted online Saturday, according to Tera Randall, a spokeswoman for Amazon Web Services. "We want to apologize," Amazon said. "We know how critical our services are to our customers' businesses, and we know this disruption came at an inopportune time for some of our customers."
Gasoline prices reached another record in 2012 U.S. motorists paid record high prices for gasoline in 2012, as severe weather and political tensions drove up the cost of fuel. The national average price of gasoline in 2012 was $3.60 a gallon, nine cents more than the previous annual record set last year, said AAA, the nation's largest motoring group. Prices touched $3.94 a gallon on April 5 and 6 after crude oil rallied as the United States and European nations imposed an embargo on Iranian oil exports to pressure the Persian Gulf nation over its nuclear program. Prices sank as low as $3.22 a gallon on Dec. 20 amid lower demand and higher supply in winter, when motor fuel faces looser emissions regulations.
Group including Mosaic cuts price on potash Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., Plymouth-based Mosaic Co. and Agrium Inc. agreed to sell 1 million metric tons of the crop nutrient to China's Sinofert Holdings Ltd. at a price that's $70 a ton below a March agreement. The new price covers shipments to Sinofert in the first half of 2013, Canpotex Ltd., a company that represents the three potash producers in offshore markets, said. The reduction to about $400 a ton comes ahead of suppliers' expected price talks with India this month.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
