New silk screen shop opens

An East Lawrence industrial building now has a new owner and business tenant.

Larry Sinks, former owner of Midwest Graphics, recently bought the 16,000 -square-foot, formerly vacant industrial building at 721 E. Ninth St. to house his new silk screen and embroidery business, Victory Sportswear.

The company focuses on printing business logos and sports names on items such as sweatshirts, hats and T-shirts, like the one employee Eric Allam, above, worked on Monday.

The business employs three people and hopes to expand to six within the next year.

The company plans on occupying about half of the building. So far there are no tenants for the remaining 8,000 square feet.

Wall Street: Enron investigation widens

The government is investigating whether Enron Corp. committed fraud or manipulated markets through improper trading, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Monday.

Disclosure of the investigation comes as Enron’s longtime auditor, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, is negotiating with federal prosecutors about whether it can avoid criminal charges in the Enron case.

Andersen has acknowledged massive shredding by its employees of Enron-related documents. A Justice Department official indicated Friday that government lawyers were negotiating with representatives of Andersen.

Aviation: Military contractor strikes

Machinists at a Lockheed Martin aircraft assembly plant walked off the job early Monday, citing a lack of job security.

Members of the International Association of Machinists Local 709 turned down a three-year contract proposal on Sunday that would have raised wages 10 percent and provided workers with $1,000 signing bonuses. Workers began picketing at 12:01 a.m. at the plant’s gates in Marietta, Ga.

The Marietta plant produces F-22 Raptor fighters and C-130J transport planes. Officials with Lockheed-Martin, the country’s largest defense contractor, are also in separate talks to avoid a walkout of union workers at plants in Sunnyvale and Palmdale, Calif.

Securities: Treasury bill rates increase

Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday’s auction.

The Treasury Department sold $13 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.825 percent, up from 1.760 percent last week. An additional $13 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 2.020 percent, up from 1.890 percent.

The three-month rate was the highest since Nov. 26, when the bills sold for 1.920 percent. The six-month rate was the highest since Oct. 22, when the rate was 2.130 percent.

The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors  1.858 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,953.90, and 2.069 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,897.90.