Business in brief: Insurers raise charity funds

Spokane-area Safeco insurance agents and three affiliate companies raised $25,000 in donations to The Salvation Army and Second Harvest Inland Northwest.

The money, raised during a summer campaign involving more than 70 Safeco agents in the Spokane area, will help both charitable organizations continue to provide services.

Second Harvest Executive Director Jason Clark said the donation will provide more than 100,000 meals through the area’s main food bank.

Of the $25,000, $10,000 came directly from Safeco to the food bank.

North Town Insurance, a life, business and property-casualty agency, donated $5,000 to The Salvation Army. Fidelity Associates, a fifth-generation Spokane independent agency, also donated $5,000 to The Salvation Army.

Buck & Affiliates, a full-service agency, donated $5,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Mortgage rates are staying low

McLean, Va. – Average rates for 30-year home loans stayed below 5 percent for the second straight week, kick-starting refinancing activity, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.87 percent, down from 4.94 percent last week, Freddie Mac said.

Low rates make home buying or refinancing more attractive for consumers. Case in point: Refinance applications climbed 18 percent from last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.33 percent from 4.36 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Monsanto under antitrust probe

St. Louis – The Justice Department is investigating whether Monsanto Co. violated antitrust rules in trying to expand its dominance of the market for genetically engineered crops.

Monsanto has provided interviews and documents to the Justice Department, company spokesman Lee Quarles said. He said the department has questioned Monsanto about its marketing tactics in the biotech seed industry.

Quarles said Monsanto has done nothing illegal and is cooperating with the department.

At issue is how the world’s largest seed company sells and licenses its patented genes. Monsanto has licensing agreements with seed companies that let those companies insert Monsanto genes into about 96 percent of U.S. soybean crops and 80 percent of all corn crops.

Monsanto’s rivals allege that the company uses the licensing agreements to squeeze competitors and control smaller seed companies.