3 firms put $100 million in Isis payment company

Monday, August 29, 2011

$100 million

That's how much Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile plan to invest in their mobile-payment venture, called Isis, according to people familiar with the project. And they may spend hundreds of millions more if the effort is successful. Isis would let shoppers pay for purchases by tapping their phones against a reader in the checkout aisle. The carriers' unusual alliance will take on Google's mobile-wallet service and other rival projects.

Hear here

"We thought we'd kind of seen it all, to some degree. This rewrote the books."

Dahlen Hancock, a cotton farmer in Texas, on the devastating drought afflicting the state. Farmers are facing the worst conditions since the dust bowl era of the 1930s, leading to diminished crops and shrinking cattle herds. Gov. Rick Perry, the son of a cotton farmer, has asked supporters to pray for rain to end the "monster drought." Still, the calamity may be good news for some speculators: Cotton futures are expected to rise as much as 15 percent this year. Story on D3.

Heads up

Is the consumer economy sputtering? Investors and economists may get a better sense of that Thursday when retailers deliver their August sales figures. Companies that will release data include locally based chains such as Gap and Ross Stores, as well as Target, Costco, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney and other national retailers. Growth in some same-store sales slowed in July, according to ICSC-Goldman Sachs.

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