From wire reports

Higher mortgage rates don't deter refinancing

WASHINGTON - Rates on benchmark 30-year mortgages climbed this week to the highest level in a year, slowing - but not stopping - refinancing activity.

The average rate on 30-year mortgages rose to 6.32 percent for the week ending Aug. 29, up from 6.28 percent last week, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey of mortgage rates.

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said its index of refinancing activity fell last week by 21.3 percent, the eighth straight week of decline. Still, refinancing activity accounted for 48.9 percent of all mortgage applications filed last week.

Ex-WorldCom chief to appear in court

OKLAHOMA CITY - Former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard Ebbers is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on criminal charges filed by the Oklahoma attorney general.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson has charged Ebbers, five other former executives of WorldCom - now known as MCI - and the company itself with defrauding Oklahoma investors before the company's $11 billion accounting scandal broke last year, plunging it into bankruptcy.

The charges carry up to 10 years in prison.

Edmondson spokesman Charlie Price said prosecutors and defense attorneys for Ebbers agreed to the court date.

Slumping Oneida might close plants

ONEIDA, N.Y. - Responding to slipping sales and a second consecutive quarterly loss, Oneida Ltd. has eliminated 100 jobs at its main manufacturing plant and is considering closing its plants in Buffalo and overseas.

Oneida shares were down 59 cents to close at $5.55 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Oneida, the world's largest maker and distributor of flatware and dinnerware, will decide on the plant closings by the end of its third fiscal quarter, chairman Peter Kallet told investors Thursday.

"We will take the necessary actions that are required to return our company to profitability, no matter how unpleasant they may be for the individuals and facilities involved," Kallet said.

Wednesday, Oneida reported it lost $3.7 million, or 23 cents per share, for the three months ended July 26. That compared with a second-quarter profit of $2.9 million, or 17 cents a share, last year. Sales for the quarter fell to $106 million from $114 million a year earlier.

Global Crossing to cut 100 Colo. jobs

WESTMINSTER, Colo. - Bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing Ltd. said Thursday it plans to shut down its Westminster office by the end of the year, eliminating 70 customer service jobs and sending 30 others elsewhere.

Workers were told of the changes Wednesday. Relocation will be offered to Phoenix or Montreal, said Global Crossing spokeswoman Tisha Kresler.

She said no other new layoffs were planned elsewhere in the company.

The company will have 200 workers remaining in Colorado. Most of those positions will be in the teleconferencing unit, acquired when Global Crossing bought Frontier Corp. in 1999.

IBM expands recall to 119,000 monitors

WASHINGTON - IBM is expanding to 119,000 an earlier recall of 15-inch computer monitors after 63,000 more were found to be at risk of overheating and smoking, posing a fire hazard.

The Armonk, N.Y.-based company has received seven reports of circuit boards overheating, including one case of minor property damage and another instance of minor smoke inhalation.

The recalled monitors are the G51 CRT and G51t Touch Screen CRT models bearing model numbers 6541-02N, 6541-02E, 6541-02S, 6541-Q0N, 6541-Q0E and 6541-Q0S. IBM, MicroTouch Systems and retail stores sold the product nationwide for about $370.

The government urges consumers to stop using the monitors immediately and contact the company at (866) 644-3155, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., for a free inspection and repair or replacement.