SEATTLE (Reuters) – Mortgage delinquencies rose to a new record in November and could remain high in December as Americans set aside more money for holiday expenses, Equifax Inc data show.

Among U.S. homeowners with mortgages, 7.91 percent were at least 30 days late on payments in November, up from 7.76 percent in October, according to the monthly data the credit bureau provided exclusively to Reuters on Wednesday.

Delinquencies are an indication of future consumer bankruptcy filings, according to Equifax.

“(Consumers) spend a lot more during November and December and they get behind and can’t get to their payments,” said Myra Hart, senior vice president of Analytical Services at Equifax.

No real improvement is possible until unemployment levels come down, she said in an interview.

“We are about at the peak in terms of delinquencies,” Hart said. “Things probably won’t improve dramatically until jobs begin to be added. Delinquencies will stay at this level and may improve by small levels but we won’t see any real improvement till 2011.”

Delinquencies are worse than in previous years. Equifax data showed that 5.83 percent of mortgages were at least 30 days past due in November 2008, and 3.93 percent were past due in November 2007.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – The slump in the housing market ended around March, and while there is improvement, it will be slow and fitful, U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc’s <TOL.N> Chief Executive Robert Toll said on Wednesday.

The housing market slump, “we now believe, ended approximately in March 2009,” Toll said in a conference call, following its preliminary fourth quarter results a day earlier. “Basically, we think we’re working our way out of it. It will come in fits and starts.”

Toll Brothers said late Tuesday it expected fourth-quarter revenue to drop 30 percent, but that was still higher than Wall Street’s expectations, and its shares rose nearly 6 percent after markets closed.

The largest U.S. builder of luxury homes and apartments also said fourth-quarter net contracts rose 42 percent to 765 units, or 62 percent to $430.8 million — yet another positive sign for the housing market, which has been showing signs of improvement.

Other homebuilders also rose after Toll Brothers’ results. Lennar Corp <LEN.N> rose 6.4 percent, Pulte Homes Inc <PHM.N> was up 9 percent, KB Home <KBH.N> rose 6.3 percent and DR Horton Inc <DHI.N> was up 6 percent.

The summer months in the Unites States saw the housing market, including both resale and new homes, get a boost from a $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers.

The extension of home buyer tax credit and broader eligibility should help attract hesitant consumers, Toll Brothers said.

SEATTLE, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Union Pacific Corp <UNP.N> executives said a move by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N><BRKb.N> to buy its rival Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp <BNI.N> was a “strong positive statement” for the industry.

Buffett’s move was a “positive statement … on what he thinks about rails, and in particular, what he thinks about western rails,” and underscored that “there is a great amount of upside opportunity in the rails,” company executives said during a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday, which was monitored via a Webcast.

Though Union Pacific does some business with a few Berkshire-owned companies, the deal would have “no material impact either way” on Union Pacific, they said.

Buffett’s deal to buy BNSF — the billionaire investor’s biggest acquisition — was unveiled a day earlier. The news has refreshed interest in the sector, and some analysts said it could bring fresh money into it. [ID:nN03483590]

Berkshire held a 1.9 percent stake in Union Pacific, according to Thomson Reuters data. The small size of the holding was not expected to attract regulatory scrutiny and Buffett has said he was not interested in buying Union Pacific.

Union Pacific struck a deal with logistics company Pacer International Inc <PACR.O> a day earlier, transferring wholesale intermodal business to the railroad, and resolving arbitration claims.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight said he was “pleased” with the deal.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – More U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the economy, but poor demand remains a top concern, according to a survey.

Forty-eight percent of U.S.-based industrial manufacturers surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the third quarter said they were optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next year, while only 43 percent had said so in the second quarter.

The largest number of manufacturers polled — 45 percent — did not expect their businesses to regain strength until the second half of 2010, the survey showed.

Twenty-three percent said they expected business to pick up in the first half of 2010 but 17 percent believed their companies were unlikely to recover until 2011.

U.S. manufacturers have varied in their individual outlooks. Companies such as Honeywell International Inc <HON.N> and Ingersoll-Rand Plc <IR.N> have said they expect better conditions in 2010 after a year of sharp declines in earnings and sales.

Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> forecast strong 2010 revenue growth, but United Technologies Corp <UTX.N> was uncertain about how its revenues would turn out.

In the survey, 57 percent expected positive revenue growth in the next year. That is an improvement from the prior quarter’s 43 percent, according to the survey.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Package delivery rivals FedEx Corp <FDX.N> and United Parcel Service <UPS.N> faced off for the first time over a bill pending in Congress that would change FedEx workers’ labor laws, setting out their positions in a debate on Tuesday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In question is a reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration passed in May by the U.S. House of Representatives, under which FedEx employees would be covered by the National Labor Relations Act instead of the Railway Labor Act. The bill is awaiting Senate approval.

“It is legislation written by UPS, for UPS and only benefits UPS,” said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane. “Everyone else suffers.”

The event, held at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, was the first time representatives from both companies talked face to face about the issue.

FedEx has maintained that as an airline, its staff should continue to be covered by the Railway Labor Act, which governs airlines and railroads. FedEx began as an express delivery airline about 36 years ago, before adding trucks.

FedEx has said switching its governing agency amounts to a bailout for UPS and would strip FedEx of its competitive edge.

FedEx has taken issue with a provision in the bill that would make it easier for its employees to unionize locally instead of having a nationwide vote.

SEATTLE/BANGALORE, Oct 27 (Reuters) – For-profit education provider Apollo Group Inc <APOL.O> said regulatory authorities have launched an informal inquiry over its revenue recognition practices, and its shares fell 20.5 percent.

Apollo, parent of the University of Phoenix, said on Tuesday that it intends to cooperate with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s inquiry, but did not give further details. The scope, duration or outcome of the inquiry could not be determined, Apollo said.

A spokeswoman for Apollo, Sara Jones, said the information in the statement was all it had at the moment.

Apollo executives said in a conference call that the company became aware of the inquiry last week, but Tuesday seemed “the appropriate time” to reveal it since it reported quarterly results and filed its annual report with the SEC.

Other education stocks like Corinthian Colleges Inc <COCO.O> and Career Education Corp <CECO.O> also fell after Apollo’s announcement.

“What is very disconcerting is that the SEC targeted Apollo which is a large, publicly-traded, for profit institution,” said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Ariel Sokol.

The inquiry could point to more than possible issues at Apollo itself, Signal Hill analyst Trace Urdan suggested.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – If you are waiting for your local Saks Inc store to serve up the same deep discounts as in the 2008 holiday season — don’t hold your breath.

Last year, Saks stunned consumers with drastic holiday discounts, up to 70 percent off at times, as it struggled to sell its luxury merchandise to frugal shoppers in the recession.

But the upscale retailer, which sells designer labels like Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs, has slashed its inventory by 20 percent in 2009. That puts markedly less pressure on it to discount merchandise in order to clear store shelves.

So, if consumers are waiting for last year’s low prices in coming weeks, they are likely in for disappointment, Saks Chief Executive Steve Sadove said in an interview.

“You are just not going to see what you saw last fall,” Sadove said.

“It’s just the math. You see the inventory levels, there is just that much less product around. If they decide they want to gamble and wait to see whether it’s there, they are playing roulette as to whether or not the product will be there.”

That could mean anything from running out of specific sizes to the entire product line.

SEATTLE, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Neiman Marcus [NMRCUS.UL], whose holiday gift catalog is a hallmark of opulence, unveiled a “lite” version for 2009 on Tuesday, offering an Icon sports plane for a mere $250,000, a $105,000 Jaguar car and a $25,000 cupcake-shaped car.

The relatively modest version of the Neiman catalog is the latest sign that the world’s most extravagant shoppers may not have as much cash to burn on gifts.

“That catalog is the equivalent of having their own temple of luxury — something that is above and beyond,” said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a research firm. “That extreme level now has been brought down to earth.”

A year ago, Neiman Marcus proffered a $1 million custom-designed golf course and $10 million horse farm within weeks of a global financial markets collapse. No takers emerged, but a $275,000 collection of vinyl records of top rock and pop music hits did find a home.

Past offerings from Neiman have also included a $20 million submarine, mummy cases containing an actual mummy, and a mermaid suit that could be used while swimming.

“So many wealthy people were living above their means,” said Pedraza. “The economy reset their value and they’ve had to reset their minds.”

The 2008 holiday season was one of the worst in decades. U.S. holiday sales in 2009 are expected to fall 1 percent according to the National Retail Federation, as consumers continue to shun unnecessary items, and focus on necessities. [ID:nN05375558]