COMMODITIES

COMMODITIES

CHI CAGO (AP) — Grain futures were lower Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for March delivery lost 2.25 cents to $4.6950 a bushel; March corn fell .75 cents to 3.6550 a bushel; March oats were 3.25 cents lower to 2.2175 a bushel; while March soybeans were off 4.75 cents at $8.8075 bushel.

Beef and pork were higher the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. February live cattle was up 2.87 cents to $1.3467 a pound; March feeder cattle gained 4.42 cents to $1.6307 a pound; while February lean hogs rose .92 cent at $.5777 a pound.

BRIEFLY

SolarCity to stop sales in

Nevada after rate change

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Rooftop solar installation company SolarCity says it will stop selling and installing panels in Nevada after energy regulators decided to change the rate structure for solar customers.

SolarCity issued a statement Wednesday saying the Nevada Public Utilities Commission 'effectively shut down' the rooftop solar industry with Tuesday's decision, which is expected to raise rates over a five-year period for so-called net metering customers. That includes about 17,000 Nevada customers with solar panels who sell excess energy from their systems back to NV Energy.

The commission says the change will reduce the cost-shift from rooftop solar customers to non-solar customers, and reflects the declining price of solar-generated power.

SolarCity says it's hired more than 2,000 people in Nevada over two years, although it's unclear whether those are full-time or temporary jobs.

Paid parental leave programs starting to expand in US cities

NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama this year signed an executive order directing agencies to allow federal workers to take six weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn child, and he urged states and cities to follow suit and expand benefits to new mothers and fathers.

Progress has been slow — but momentum is building.

This week, New York City became one of a handful of U.S. cities to move to grant six weeks of paid leave, following the lead of places like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Missouri, and Austin, Texas. Other cities have adopted smaller measures, while several financial firms and tech companies have begun to offer generous leave packages that, in the case of Netflix, could last a year.

But many other municipalities haven’t joined them, largely because of financial constraints. Washington state, for instance, approved a paid paternal leave program in 2007 but has been unable to fund it. And while the Department of Labor has started giving grants to cities studying how to implement paid parental leave, legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate to pay for federally mandated leave appears to have stalled.

Norfolk Southern again rejects Canadian Pacific’s buyout bid

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern still isn’t interested in Canadian Pacific’s sweetened offer of roughly $31 billion to buy the railroad.

Norfolk Southern’s board unanimously rejected the latest offer Wednesday, calling the bid “grossly inadequate” and unlikely to pass muster with regulators.

Norfolk Southern said if Canadian Pacific is serious about the offer, it should ask regulators for preliminary approval of the deal’s proposed structure. Canadian Pacific rejected that request last week, saying that it was unnecessary.

“You continue to publicly declare that we are not ‘engaging’ or ‘meeting’ with you. There is no basis to meet until you both make a compelling offer and address the regulatory issues,” Norfolk Southern’s board said in a written response.

Canadian Pacific said in a statement that it was disappointed with the rejection and that Norfolk Southern won’t negotiate, so it will evaluate its strategic alternatives.

Canadian Pacific said Norfolk Southern’s board isn’t acting in the best interests of that railroad’s shareholders.

Industry analysts expect Canadian Pacific’s takeover offer to morph into a proxy fight ahead of Norfolk Southern’s annual meeting, which is usually held in May.

Canadian Pacific has already reached out to shareholders of Norfolk Southern.