NATIONAL

Washington Mutual tightens loan rules

Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest U.S. savings and loan, raised requirements for accepting so-called low-documentation mortgages, and UBS AG stopped taking loans that don't have some proof of a borrower's income and assets.

Washington Mutual on Aug. 3 told brokers it will no longer accept mortgages unaccompanied by traditional documentation of income or assets if the loan exceeds 65 percent of the home's value and the borrower's credit score is below 680. On Monday, the firm told brokers a credit score of 660 or higher is needed for loan-to-value ratios below 65 percent.

SATELLITE RADIO Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday he is "pleased" with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s plan to offer "a la carte" programming if they are allowed to merge.

Martin also repeated that the merger plan faces a "high hurdle." Sirius and XM, the only two satellite radio companies in the U.S., said last month they will offer a choice of programming packages at lower prices than their regular services. The companies expect to combine by the end of the year.

PAYMENT MACHINES USA Technologies Inc. and MasterCard Inc. said Tuesday they will install 7,500 cashless payment terminals in Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. vending machines.

The terminals allow vending machine customers to use traditional magnetic-stripe credit cards or MasterCard's PayPass contactless payment technology.

XBOX PRICE DROPS Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game console will be $50 cheaper starting today. The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, will cost $349.

A basic console without a hard drive or wireless controllers will retail for $279, $20 less than its current price, while the Xbox 360 Elite, with a 120-gigabyte hard drive, will drop $50 to $449.

ROAMING ACCORD The Federal Communications Commission voted to require large mobile-phone companies to enter roaming agreements with rivals, a move that regional operators say will allow them to offer more reliable service.

Roaming agreements allow customers of one company to use another network when they travel outside the range of their carriers' cell towers.

Today's 5-0 decision ensures that subscribers of smaller mobile companies will have service beyond the reach of their local network.

CISCO PROFIT Cisco Systems Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 25 percent for the period ended July 28 to $1.93 billion, or 31 cents a share, vs. $1.54 billion, or 25 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time charges, Cisco earned 36 cents a share, a penny above the estimate of analysts. Revenue was $9.43 billion, up 18 percent from $7.98 billion last year. The revenue also beat Wall Street's estimate, which was for $9.29 billion in sales.

LOCAL

Frontier adds service to Puerto Vallarta

Since it started flying international routes, Frontier Airlines has expanded service to seven Mexican resorts with flights from 13 U.S. cities.

On Tuesday, it announced service to Puerto Vallarta from the California cities of Sacramento and San Jose.

CONFERENCE The 2007 Rocky Mountain Area Conference for Finance & Accounting Professionals offers a low-cost way to get continuing-education credit in accounting. The conference is Sept. 28-29 at the Arvada Center. It offers 16 hours of CPE credit for a registration fee of $320. Keynote speakers will address the business of immigration. Details: accountingconference.org

ECONOMY

Signs point to robust July for retail sales

July sales at U.S. retailers may have risen 3.1 percent, the biggest advance in four months, as consumers got shorts and bathing suits at clearance prices and began back-to-school shopping, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The ICSC had predicted July sales at stores open at least a year would gain 3 percent. Same-store sales increased 3.9 percent in July 2006.

Department stores and apparel chains such as Macy's Inc. and Gap Inc. cleared out lightweight summer merchandise at discounts.

Shoppers started to buy school clothing at retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters Inc., spurred on by sales-tax waivers in states such as North Carolina and Tennessee.

• The productivity of American workers rebounded in the spring as wage pressures eased, a combination that should be welcome news at the Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that worker efficiency rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the April-June quarter, more than double the 0.7 percent pace of the first three months of the year. Unit labor costs rose at a 2.1 percent rate.

THIS JUST IN...

• The Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect named Jesse Wolff as its president and CEO.

• Pierre Stone joined the Broadmoor sales team, in charge of the northeast region.

• Starz Entertainment promoted Steve Waldo Belgard to senior director of entertainment publicity.

• Golden Star Resources Ltd. announced that President and CEO Peter Bradford will step down as a director and officer at the end of 2007.

• Pure Cycle Corp. of Thornton appointed Arthur "Bart" Epker to its board of directors.

• The American Cheese Society gave awards to three cheeses made by Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy at its annual conference last weekend in Burlington, Vt.

• Denver-based Headwaters Merchant Bank announced that Grant Garbers and Brian Mulvaney, founding partners of ISI Capital Partners, have joined as managing directors and will lead a new Headwaters office in Southern California.

• IP Commerce Inc., a Denver software company that enables open payments services between businesses, appointed Frank Knuettel II as chief financial officer.

• Global Water Technologies, a Denver technology-driven water purification and services provider, hired Rob Lock-yer as a project engineer and project manager for GWT's Watergy Produced Water Solutions subsidiary; and Roger Arrowsmith as sales manager for its Electric H2O subsidiary.

• Holland & Hart announced that Geoff Barry has joined the firm's Denver office. Barry is of counsel in the business department, focusing on technology transfer

• The Denver Scholarship Foundation board promoted Cynthia Abramson, the foundation's director of development and communication, to executive director, replacing Dr. Janet Gullickson, who resigned.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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