Moreland Signs has sold its four billboards in Tennessee to the Blanning Company, LLC, but the Chattanooga-based advertising firm will continue to operate about 200 other outdoor signs in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.
Al Hoke, who founded Moreland Signs in the 1980s, said he will continue to operate the business but he decided to sell the signs he had in Chattanooga and other parts of Tennessee.
Blanning Company, based in Spring Hill, operates 161 billboards in Mississippi and Tennessee and is continuing to acquire more billboards.
"This this is our fifth acquisition this year and adds some very powerful Interstate locations on I-40 near Cookeville and I-75 in Chattanooga as well some great community locations," said Keith Blanning Howell, managing member at Blanning Company, LLC. "Blanning's advertising reach has increased its foot print by more than 8 million people per month."
The signs bought by Blanning, three of which have been converted to digital displays, include those for Pilot, Dunkin Donuts and BMW of Chattanooga and Blanning said the firm has added Crown Automotive Group and Burns Tobacconist to its customer base.
Christmas air travel to rise 5.2 percent
U.S. airlines expect a 5.2 percent increase in air travel during the Christmas and New Year's break, to more than 2.5 million people a day. The busiest day is expected to be the Friday before Christmas.
The trade group Airlines for America said Tuesday it forecasts that 45.7 million passengers will fly on a U.S. airline during the 18-day stretch that starts Thursday, Dec. 20, and runs through Jan. 6, the Sunday after New Year's Day.
The group says that since last Christmas, airlines have added 143,000 seats per day on domestic and international flights. They are hoping that's enough to handle the expected increase of 126,000 passengers a day.
Travelers looking for relative calm, take note: The least-busy days are expected to be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Wholesale prices up only 0.1 percent
U.S. wholesale prices barely rose last month as a sharp decline in the cost of gas offset pricier freight trucking services and mobile phone plans.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the producer price index - which tracks cost changes before they reach the consumer - increased 0.1 percent in November from the previous month. That's down sharply from a 0.6 percent gain in October. Wholesale prices rose 2.5 percent from a year ago, the smallest annual increase this year.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core wholesale prices rose 0.3 percent in October and 2.7 percent from a year earlier. A second measure of core prices, which also excludes wholesale and retail profit margins, rose 2.8 percent from a year ago, down from a recent peak of 3 percent in July.
"With pipeline inflationary pressures moderating, we think there is little risk of core consumer price inflation rising further over the coming year or so," said Michael Pearce, an economist at Capital Economics.
Farm bill keeps most food plans
Lawmakers have reached an agreement on the farm bill, a mammoth package that will fund key farm safety net programs for the next five years without making significant changes to the food stamp program that serves nearly 40 million low-income Americans.
"As promised, this farm bill provides much needed certainty and predictability for all producers - of all crops -across all regions across the country," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
The measure bears a price tag of $867 billion over 10 years and sets federal agricultural and food policy for five years. It provides more than $400 billion in farm subsidies, conservation programs and food aid for the poor. It reauthorizes crop insurance and conservation programs, funds trade programs, bioenergy production and organic farming research.