In brief: Illinois company buys SSP Inc.

An Illinois company has purchased Spokane-based SSP Inc., which makes and imports stainless steel commercial kitchen products, primarily for the food service industry.

The acquisition by ELKAY Manufacturing of Oak Brook, Ill., was effective Thursday, said Jack Krecek, an ELKAY vice president.

ELKAY is the top-selling stainless steel sink company in the U.S.

SSP has been in business in Spokane for 23 years, with operations and distribution facilities in the Northwest and Ohio. It has between 25 and 50 employees locally, and those jobs will remain here as needed, Krecek said.

Lovon Fausett, former owner of SSP, now is vice president of business development and operations for ELKAY SSP, LLC.

Staff reports

Loan losses rise at Bank of America

Charlotte, N.C. – Bank of America Corp. said Friday it lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.

The nation’s second-largest bank said it wrote down loans on its books by almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans, bringing its provision for credit losses to $11.7 billion. The bank’s total allowance for loan and lease losses now totals $35.83 billion.

Bank of America’s results were aided by profit from its wealth management business, which includes the bank’s Merrill Lynch division.

The bank’s earnings follow the pattern set earlier this week by Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., which also reported more loan losses during the third quarter as consumers struggled to keep up with their credit card and mortgage payments.

Associated Press

Book war trims new titles to $9

Bentonville, Ark. – Taking a page from its original playbook, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com Inc. and a nation of book retailers, lowering online prices on certain highly anticipated hardback titles to $9.

The volley of discounts, which began Thursday when the retailer listed prices for some upcoming hardcover releases such as Dean Koontz’s “Breathless” and Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” at $10, was answered with a similar price cut by Amazon, the largest online bookseller. Then the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9.

The price war is foreboding news to the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., which have been squeezed by Amazon.com’s discounting and a decline in their music business.

Associated Press