In brief: Ambassadors Group hires financial officer

Spokane-based Ambassadors Group Inc. has named Anthony F. Dombrowik the company’s new chief financial officer.

Dombrowik comes to Ambassadors from Red Lion Hotels Corp., where he has been senior vice president and CFO since 2008.

Ambassadors provides educational travel programs for students and professional groups.

Dombrowik was with Red Lion since 2003, and before that with public accounting firm BDO Seidman, LLP.

He is a Spokane native and graduate of Gonzaga University.

Tom Sowa

Business purchases of equipment rise

WASHINGTON – U.S. companies invested last month in computers, communications equipment and machinery, boosting capital goods orders for the third time in four months.

The 4.1 percent increase to capital goods in August signaled a rebound in business spending after orders fell 5.3 percent in July. It also suggests manufacturing, which has helped drive economic growth since the recession ended in June 2009, is still a bright spot in a weak recovery.

The overall demand for durable goods fell 1.3 percent in August, the Commerce Department said Friday. But that was pulled down by a significant drop in orders for aircraft. When excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 2 percent – the best showing in five months.

Associated Press

Regulators seize financing companies

WASHINGTON – Regulators are taking over three companies that provide financing for U.S. credit unions, after the companies suffered massive losses on mortgage investments.

The takeovers are the latest evidence that the banking industry is still plagued by bad mortgage debt.

The government regulator said it will wind down the companies by reselling up to $50 billion worth of securities that lost value after the housing market crashed in 2007.

The debt will be repackaged and offered to private investors. It will be backed by the credit of the U.S. Treasury.

Associated Press

Settlement ends wage-fixing probe

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reached an agreement with six major Silicon Valley companies to settle allegations that they colluded to hold down payroll expenses by agreeing not to poach employees from each other.

The settlement, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia late Friday, names Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and Walt Disney Corp.’s Pixar Animation Studios.

Associated Press