Clearwater Paper plans stock buyback

Spokane-based Clearwater Paper Corp. will buy back $50 million worth of common stock, the company announced Friday.

Company officials said the plan is eventually to buy back $100 million in common stock.

Its stock traded at $48.39 on Friday, creeping back toward the company’s 12-month high point of $49.68.

Clearwater produces consumer paper products, including tissue, roll paper, bleached paperboard and pulp, at 15 manufacturing locations in the United States and Canada.

Money for the stock purchase will come, in part, from cash generated by the company’s new paper plant in Shelby, N.C.

Company spokesman …

Spokane-based Clearwater Paper Corp. will buy back $50 million worth of common stock, the company announced Friday.

Company officials said the plan is eventually to buy back $100 million in common stock.

Its stock traded at $48.39 on Friday, creeping back toward the company’s 12-month high point of $49.68.

Clearwater produces consumer paper products, including tissue, roll paper, bleached paperboard and pulp, at 15 manufacturing locations in the United States and Canada.

Money for the stock purchase will come, in part, from cash generated by the company’s new paper plant in Shelby, N.C.

Company spokesman Matt VanVleet said the purchase is seen as the best way to reward loyal longtime shareholders.

Oil falls as federal spending cuts loom

NEW YORK – Oil fell Friday to its lowest level of the year on worrisome economic developments in the world’s two largest oil-consuming nations.

The price of crude fell 1.5 percent and is down 6 percent in two weeks. That should allow drivers to catch their breath after a record rise in gas prices over the first two months of the year.

The average price for a gallon of gas rose 49 cents from Jan. 1 through the end of February, AAA said, eclipsing last year’s increase of 46 cents in the same period.

Oil dropped to about $90 a barrel Friday as the prospect of U.S. government spending cuts raised concerns about oil demand in the world’s leading economy. In addition ,China’s manufacturing grew at its weakest rate in five months in February.

Apple shareholder drops lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO – A disgruntled shareholder pressing Apple to create a new class of preferred stock has dropped a lawsuit that became a moot point after the iPhone and iPad maker changed the agenda at its annual meeting earlier this week.

Lawyers for hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital notified U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in a letter sent Thursday that they no longer plan to pursue the lawsuit . Sullivan closed the case, which began three weeks ago in New York.

Einhorn had already achieved his goal last week when Sullivan issued a preliminary ruling blocking an Apple Inc. proposal that would have required shareholder approval before preferred stock could be issued. Apple withdrew the proposal Wednesday.