Feds open price-gouge probe vs. five airlines
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said yesterday the government has opened a price-gouging investigation involving five airlines that allegedly raised airfares in the Northeast after a deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia in May disrupted rail service.
The Transportation Department sent letters yesterday to Delta, American, United, Southwest and JetBlue airlines seeking information on their prices before and after the May 12 train crash.
The investigation was prompted in part by a May 19 letter from Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), who complained to the Obama administration that some airlines had increased fares to as high as $2,300 after the train crash.
AT&T closes $49B DirecTV buy
The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T’s $49 billion purchase of satellite television service DirecTV, a blockbuster deal that is expected to dramatically change the television landscape.
Yesterday, FCC commissioners granted AT&T’s request to transfer control of broadcast licenses previously held by DirecTV. That bureaucratic step was the final hurdle for AT&T to clear in its 14-month quest to acquire the satellite TV provider.
After closing the merger transaction yesterday afternoon, AT&T becomes the nation’s largest pay-TV operator with 26 million customers.
FDA OKs Novartis cancer drug
A new drug for advanced basal cell carcinoma, an increasingly common cancer in the skin’s top layer, has won Food and Drug Administration approval.
Odomzo was approved for patients whose cancer hasn’t spread to other body parts, but recurred after surgery or radiation therapy or can’t be cured by those treatments.
The drug, known chemically as Sonidegib, is a daily pill developed by Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, which has a large U.S. presence in Cambridge.
Ringo’s ‘Help’ jacket sells for $46,500
The black wool double-breasted suit jacket that Ringo Starr wore in the 1965 Beatles movie “Help!” has sold at auction for more than $46,500.
Boston-based RR Auction announced yesterday that the jacket had soft gray vertical pinstripes, six black buttons and the name “Ringo” sewn inside.
RR said the buyer is “a top rock ‘n’ roll collector in Rhode Island,” but did not disclose a name.
Other items sold in the auction included a Hamer guitar custom-made in Connecticut for Johnny Ramone for almost $50,000; a signed Jimi Hendrix Experience album cover for almost $31,000; a signed Janis Joplin photograph for almost $ 19,000; and a contract signed by Jim Morrison to appear on American Bandstand for nearly $12,000.
Single-family home sales down 7 percent
New home sales unexpectedly declined in the U.S. in June, bucking a trend of recent positive news in the housing sector.
The Commerce Department said yesterday that sales of new single-family homes fell 6.8 percent from May, to 482,000 units. Wall Street had expected sales to rise to 548,500 units, according to FactSet.