August 4, 2005

Treasury Department will resume selling 30-year bonds in February 2006 after four-year hiatus, offering $20 billion to $30 billion the first year; move will give government another tool to deal with financing of future budget deficits and could provide helpful tool for nation's underfunded pension system and prepare Treasury market for time when foreigners, particularly central banks, decide to buy fewer Treasuries; long bond will also offer safe, longer-term option for individual investors; graph (M)

Internal NASA report last Dec warned of deficiencies in way insulating foam was being applied to sections of fuel tank to be used on shuttle Discovery's current mission; report did not recommend against launching Discovery, but did offer harsh critique of quality control and practices at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which is managed by Lockheed Martin; that plant came under intense criticism after foam accident at liftoff led to loss of shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven astronauts in 2003; internal report was written by Conley Perry, retired NASA division chief for quality engineering; it states that Lockheed's external tank engineers were reluctant to re-evaluate quality-control problems because of 'schedule-first attitude' of Lockheed Martin management; photos (M)

Dozens of nontechnology companies, such as 7-Eleven convenience store chain, are making sideline of selling cellphones and mobile services; development reflects ease of repackaging telecommunications services in digital age and emergence of cellphones as inexpensive commodity and means of consumer self-expression; many of these new providers, known as mobile virtual network operators, also offer cheaper alternative to tradtional calling plans by selling prepaid minutes at flat rate; some provides promise to direct portion of receipts to particular causes or charities; reselling arrangement is also good deal for big carriers who complete calls for virtual operators because their own networks are capable of handling far more calls than their own subscribers make; photo (M)

Sen Jon S Corzine confirms that investment company he owns provided $470,000 mortgage to president of union that represents thousands of New Jersey state employees in 2002, then forgave debt two years later; says loan was not illegal, and that when he forgave loan, he also paid required gift tax on money; recipient of money, Carla Katz of Local 1034 of Communications Workers of America, had personal relationship with Corzine at that time; Corzine says that relationship has ended; if he succeeds in race for New Jersey governor, he could find himself negotiating opposite Katz; he is adamant in asserting that his personal and financial relationship with her would not deter him from bargaining aggressively on behalf of taxpayers;

When the Yankees gave Mike Mussina a four-run lead in the third inning on Wednesday, the Cleveland Indians knew what they were facing. The game was as good as over. ''There's no other guy you'd want with a four-run lead,'' said the Indians' Aaron Boone, a former Yankee. ''I'm surprised we were able to battle back.''