Temperatures will peak in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees across Western New York on Monday, according to the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service.

Buffalo itself is expected to hit 87 degrees, while Niagara Falls and Dunkirk have predicted highs of 88.

And temperatures are likely to be even higher the following three days. Buffalo and Niagara Falls are expected to reach the 90s on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday business cards.

The upswing in temperatures is credited to a high pressure system extending from the mid-Atlantic region through the Great Lakes region. The system is predicted to shift offshore by Friday, dropping Western New York back to the low 80s.

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The average interest rate on existing cards jumped to 14.7% last quarter, up from 13.1% a year earlier, Synovate said. Synovate is the market research arm of Aegis Group plc.

The jump created a dramatic spread of 11.45 percentage points between the average credit card interest rate and the prime rate — the largest margin in 22 years, according to Synovate.

Synovate study director Lauren Guenveur said the increase in interest rates was driven primarily by the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. She said the so-called CARD Act gave credit card companies a limited amount of time to raise rates, "before they could no longer do so freely." This put pressure on issuers to aggressively raise rates, she said.

Guenveur added that the recession and nation’s high unemployment were also driving the increase, because it was causing the default rate to go up.

"This is largely due to consumers still charging on their credit cards, but being unable to pay," she said. "Default rates should remain high as long as unemployment remains high."

Synovate spokeswoman Jennifer Chhatlani also attributed the rate increase to "returning confidence" in the credit card sector instant personal loans guaranteed. The second quarter of 2010 saw the second-highest level of credit card spending ever, Synovate said.

Synovate reported that credit spending has increased, on average, by 6% in the first half of 2010 to $1,559. But plastic swipes still fall short of third quarter 2008 numbers, which Synovate describes as "the quarter prior to the financial meltdown."

The credit card industry has taken notice of the increase in activity. Offers for new cards reached a fever pitch last quarter. U.S. households received 640.3 million credit card offers in the second quarter, a surge of 83% from 349.1 million offers during the same period last year.

"Issuers are desperate to lock-in customers with good credit, so they will mail many offers to these households in order to gain their attention," Guenveur said.

She said direct mailing is the most expensive way to advertise, and has decreased in the last couple years. But now direct mailing is pulling out of its slump.

"As the economy recovers, issuers have released the pause button and started to spend money on direct-mail marketing again," she said. 

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Trigild, based in San Diego, announced Friday that it had received permission from the Maricopa County Superior Court to sell the Bethany Group Phoenix portfolio for $123 million. The Irving, Calif.-based Bethany Group had been an active buyer of large apartment communities throughout the West during the time the real estate was heating up.

But after a year or so of market declines, Bethany group walked away from from many properties including seven in Arizona. Those sold to a company named Standard Portfolio include the 460-unit Laguna Village, the 320 Alante at the Islands and the 374-unit Santana Crossing, all in Chandler; the 432-unit Whispering Meadows and the 582-unit Tuscany Palm both in Mesa; the 395-unit Sienna Springs in Phoenix and the 196-unit Verrado Park in Glendale

The Business Journal was unable to determine where Standard Portfolio is based cash till payday. That company name is not registered in STARPAS, a research tool of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

In another deal, the Phoenix office of Colliers International announced that it had overseen the sale of a 1,566-unit portfolio in Tucson.

Hamilton Zanze & Co. of San Francisco, which was self-represented, paid $46.5 million for the seven Class B apartment properties. This acquisition increases Hamilton Zanze’s portfolio to 14,000 units in 14 markets and eight Western states and is the company’s ninth acquisition in 2010.

Colliers represented the seller in the deal but did not disclose its name.

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A month ago, a gallon of regular cost $2.615 in the Charlotte area.

The average across North Carolina is $2.661 per gallon, down from $2.686 a week ago but up from $2.604 a month ago.

In South Carolina, the average price for regular gasoline is $2.531 per gallon. That’s down from $2.562 a week ago but up from $2.473 a month ago.

The national average is $2.750. That’s down from $2.774 the previous week but up from $2.725 a month ago.

The highest recorded average price for a gallon of regular gas in North Carolina is $4.085 on Sept. 15, 2008.

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Minneapolis-based Target (NYSE: TGT) is in negotiations with the Human Rights Campaign, according to Politico.com, which cited sources close to the talks. The company is being urged to donate $150,000 to pro-gay-rights candidates and groups in Minnesota, the political news website reported. Read the full Politico.com story here.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel on Thursday apologized to the retailer’s employees for the donation to MN Forward, a new business-advocacy group that is supporting state Rep No teletrak payday loan. Tom Emmer, a GOP gubernatorial candidate who opposes gay marriage.

But the move didn’t appease the outrage of advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org and the Human Rights Campaign, which held a protest outside of Target headquarters the next day.

Business Journal calls to Target and the Human Rights Campaign weren’t immediately returned on Tuesday.

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Mark Hurd, who was chairman, president and CEO of the California technology giant, is being replaced on an interim basis by Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak, 51. Lesjak will retain her CFO duties while a search is done, HP said in a news release.

Hurd quit following the harassment claim by an unnamed former contractor to HP. A probe by outside legal counsel and the company's general counsel office determined that HP's sexual harassment policy wasn't violated, but that its standards of business conduct were, the news release said.

The release quoted Hurd as saying that he "realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career."

HP in 2008 acquired Plano's Electronic Data Systems for $13.9 billion. HP later changed the name of the former EDS operation to Enterprise Services.

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The Sunrise-based company (NYSE: MD), which provides neonatal, maternal-fetal, pediatric and anesthesia physician services, earned $49.4 million, or $1.04 a share, on $349.1 million in revenue in the second quarter. That’s up from net income of $43.2 million, or 93 cents a share, on revenue of $319.8 million in the same quarter last year.

Its earnings in the recent quarter came in better than the $1.04 a share expected by the Thomson Reuters consensus of stock analysts.

Mednax bought seven physician groups in the first half of the year, including three in the second quarter. One acquisition was in Fort Lauderdale.

The company’s existing locations had 2.3 percent revenue growth due to better reimbursements for patient care. Patient volume at existing neonatal intensive care units was essentially unchanged.

For the third quarter, Mednax projects net income between $1.03 and $1.07 a share.

Mednax shares closed Monday at $47.20. The 52-week high was $61.60 on Jan. 4. The 52-week low was $44.83 on Friday.

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Coppa Consulting Inc. will specialize in business development, strategy and general management.

“I believe this is an exciting time as Hawaii’s economy starts to show signs of a slow recovery and an outstanding opportunity for Coppa Consulting to showcase our services …,” Coppa said of his new venture. “The key to developing a successful pipeline of business for any business firm is found in relationships.”

Coppa was chief operating officer at Communications Pacific for five years and before that was executive director of the Pacific Resource Partnership. He also was vice president of operations for construction company E.E. Black Ltd. for 20 years.

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Shares of the nation's largest automotive retailer closed up 60 cents, or 2.66 percent, to $23.14, after trading near $20 on Monday. The 52-week low is $16.68.

Second quarter net income from continuing operations rose to $47.2 million, or 29 cents a share, from $36.7 million, or 21 cents a share, in the prior-year period.

After consolidation efforts last year, Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation reported a loss from discontinued operations of $2.7 million in the second quarter, improved from an $17.3 million loss in the second quarter of 2009.

AutoNation said its 2010 second quarter revenue totaled $3.1 billion, up 20 percent from $2 no fax cash advance.6 billion in the year-ago period, driven primarily by stronger new and used retail vehicle revenue, which increased 25 percent.

Chairman and CEO Mike Jackson said he expected third quarter new vehicle industry sales to equal or surpass third quarter 2009 figures, even though year-ago sales included the "cash for clunkers" program.

President Mike Maroone said the company is encouraged by reports that manufacturers will step up production to match growing sales in the third and fourth quarters.

AutoNation ranked fifth on the South Florida Business Journal's April list of largest public companies and had ranked first before the recession slammed automotive sales.

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Goldman (GS, Fortune 500) shares jumped almost 8% in after-hours trading on the announcement, as many predicted the company would be forced to pay $1 billion to settle the case.

The settlement amount represents roughly 4% of the $13.4 billion in profits Goldman earned last year. In its first quarter of this year, the bank logged $3.5 billion in profits.

Still, the $550 million was the largest penalty a Wall Street company has ever paid to the SEC. Regulators said $250 million would be returned to affected investors and $300 million would be paid to the U.S. Treasury.

The settlement is subject to approval by a judge. Within 30 days, Goldman must wire money to three parties: $150 million to Deutsche Bank, $100 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland and $300 million to the SEC.

In a statement, the SEC called the settlement "a stark lesson to Wall Street firms that no product is too complex … to avoid a heavy price if a firm violates the fundamental principles of honest treatment and fair dealing."

Charges filed in April: The SEC filed the fraud charges in April against New York-based Goldman and one of its vice presidents, Fabrice Tourre, for failing to disclose conflicts in a 2007 sale of a so-called collateralized debt obligation dubbed Abacus.

The SEC said Goldman acknowledged it gave investors "incomplete information," though the company neither admitted nor denied the allegations. Goldman will also "reform its business practices" as part of the settlement.

Investors in Abacus lost $1 billion, the SEC said when filing the fraud charges. The commission’s complaint alleged that Goldman allowed hedge fund Paulson & Co. to help choose the securities included in the CDO, which is a financial instrument backed by a pool of assets such as loans or bonds.

But Goldman didn’t tell investors that Paulson was shorting the CDO, or betting its value would fall.

Goldman shot back in April, saying the charges were "completely unfounded in law and fact" and that the company lost $90 million on the deal.

What Goldman has to change: As part of the settlement, the SEC required Goldman to comply with certain business practices for three years. The company will be required to certify in writing, each year, that it has followed all of the rules.

Goldman must expand the role of its firmwide capital committee in approving the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

In addition, the company’s legal or compliance departments must review all written marketing materials. Goldman will have to keep a list of all materials reviewed, including the person who approved them and the date of review. The firm will have to conduct an internal audit of this process at least once a year.

If Goldman is the lead underwriter of a sale of mortgage-backed securities and hires an outside firm to advise, that adviser also will have to review marketing materials.

Within 60 days of hiring an employee who will be involved in mortgage-backed securities sales, that worker will have to take a training class about the laws involved. All employees involved in mortgage securities will be required to take a class each year, and Goldman will need to keep records of that training.

Goldman under fire: Despite Goldman’s protests, the charges brought scrutiny and criticism to the company and its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, who still managed to hold onto his job as chairman in May.

Blankfein and other Goldman executives faced a blistering ten-hour cross-examination from members of a Senate panel in April following the SEC’s allegations. Lawmakers skewered current and former executives about Goldman’s role in the downturn of the housing market, which started to unravel in 2007.

The SEC lawsuit also publicized e-mails sent by Tourre, the vice president named in the charges, to a girlfriend. The messages, sent in late 2007, revealed both Tourre’s cavalier attitude and his doubts about the CDO business.

Tourre, then a 28-year-old trader, referred to himself in one e-mail as "fabulous Fab." He also described himself as "the only potential survivor" of the collapsing subprime-mortgage-backed securities business.

In a press conference later Thursday, an SEC rep said there was "no settlement with Mr. Tourre and we are still pursuing that case." 

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