Documents on Yahoo's challenge to NSA declassified

Vail Resorts is paying $182.5 million to buy Park City Mountain Resort to expand Utah operations. Vail Resorts is paying $182.5 million to buy Park City Mountain Resort to expand Utah operations. Photo: George Frey, Getty Images Photo: George Frey, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Documents on Yahoo's challenge to NSA declassified 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

SURVEILLANCE

Yahoo data declassified

The federal court that rejected Yahoo's 2008 challenge to the government's secret surveillance of its users on Thursday ordered the release of about 1,500 pages of previously sealed documents that show the arguments and evidence presented in the landmark case.

Yahoo's loss in the case helped set the stage for a vast expansion of the federal government's surveillance of Internet users through the secret Prism program. Ultimately, Yahoo and seven other companies agreed to provide data to the government under the program, which came to light through documents leaked last year by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor.

Yahoo said in a blog post on Thursday that at one point the federal government threatened to fine the company $250,000 a day if it failed to comply with the data requests.

Proceedings in front of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court are usually secret, and Yahoo had been pressing for months for the declassification and release of the case documents.

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"We consider this an important win for transparency, and hope that these records help promote informed discussion about the relationship between privacy, due process and intelligence gathering," Ron Bell, Yahoo's general counsel, wrote in the blog post.

The company said it is working to make the documents available to the public.

SKI AREAS

Vail Resorts buys Park City

One of Utah's largest ski areas will be sold to Vail Resorts Inc., resolving a legal battle between two ski titans and paving the way for the creation of what could be the country's largest resort.

The $182.5 million deal gives Vail the base area and parking lot at Park City Mountain Resort, east of Salt Lake City. The Colorado company already is leasing the upper 3,000 acres of slopes, but couldn't use them without the base area owned by Powdr Corp.

The sale will allow Vail to connect Park City with the adjacent Canyons ski area it leased last year from real estate company Talisker, which applauded the deal Thursday.

When the two are connected with a lift in the future, the resulting 7,000-acre resort will be the largest in the country, said Vail CEO Rob Katz.

"This is one of the most impactful opportunities our company has ever had," said Katz.

EARNINGS

Lululemon has strong quarter

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc., the maker of yoga clothing that recently ended a dispute with its founder, jumped the most in more than three years after boosting its annual forecast on quarterly profit that topped estimates.

The shares advanced nearly 14 percent to close at $43.73.

Lululemon raised its penny to $1.72 to $1.77 a share.

Chief Executive Officer Laurent Potdevin is adding more clothing that customers might wear outside of a yoga studio, capitalizing on demand for street wear. Lululemon also is seeking more growth from men's apparel and overseas customers after a fight with founder Chip Wilson that ended with him selling half his stake in the company to private-equity firm Advent International Corp.

Net income declined to $48.7 million (33 cents per share) in the three months ended Aug. 3, from $56.5 million (39 cents) a year earlier, the Vancouver company said. Analysts had expected 29 cents per share.

Revenue rose 13 percent from a year earlier, to $390.7 million, topping analysts' estimates for $377 million in sales.

MORTGAGES

30-year loan rates inch up

Average long-term mortgage rates rose slightly this week but remained near their lows for the year.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday the nationwide average for a 30-year loan edged up to 4.12 from 4.10 percent last week, where it had stayed for three straight weeks.

The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 3.26 from 3.24 percent.

At 4.12 percent, the rate on a 30-year mortgage is down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year. Rates have fallen even though the Federal Reserve has been trimming its monthly bond purchases, which are intended to keep long-term borrowing rates low. The purchases are set to end next month.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.99 from 2.97 percent. For a one-year ARM, the average rate increased to 2.45 from 2.40 percent.

UNEMPLOYMENT

More people file for benefits

More people sought unemployment benefits last week, though the trend in applications in the past month remained low.

The Labor Department says that weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000, the most since late June. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, rose just 750 to 304,000.

The data covers the week that included the Labor Day holiday. Unemployment benefits data can be more volatile around holidays.