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The frightful images of a sinking Italian cruise ship have scared off some cruise passengers, at least temporarily, during the industry’s peak booking season.

Travel agents — who book more than two-thirds of cruise passengers worldwide — have been nervously watching bookings since the Costa Concordia, which is owned by Carnival Corp, ran aground on Jan. 13.

On Monday, they got a new reason to be nervous: bookings fell significantly for Miami-based Carnival Corp. following the Costa accident. Attention is now focused on Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which reports earnings Thursday. An increase there could show that passengers are fleeing Carnival over safety fears. A decrease could indicate an overall distrust of all cruise lines.

Nearly 11 million Americans took a cruise last year, generating an estimated $14.5 billion in revenue for the industry, according to PhoCusWright, a travel research firm. Like the rest of the travel industry, cruise lines are still recovering from the recession. Several new megaships started sailing just as passengers struggling with finances decided to stay home. But 2012 was supposed to be a year of moderate growth.

Carnival won’t say exactly how much bookings have dropped, but it disclosed Monday that in the 12 days following the Concordia capsizing, there was a percent decline “in the midteens compared to the prior year.” Reservations hit a low on Jan. 16, the company said in its annual report filed with the SEC.

Carnival operates 101 ships under several brands including Costa, Carnival, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and Seabourn. It said reservations with the Costa line are “down significantly” but difficult to interpret because many Costa customers were rebooked on other ships because of the loss of the Concordia ship.

Unlike plane tickets or hotel rooms, which are mostly booked directly through the Internet, most cruises are sold by travel agents. That scattered sales approach makes it harder to gauge the impact of an accident like the Concordia.

“Who knows how many people … (were) on the fence and decided not to book?” said Michael Driscoll, editor of Cruise Week.

Barclay’s Capital noted that on Thursday, the Carnival line began offering promotional onboard credits of up to $200 for things like drinks and spa treatments.

“Despite this ad, which in normal circumstances would have stimulated strong call volume, calls remain down 10 (percent),” Barclay’s analyst Felicia R. Hendrix wrote in a note to investors.

A major unnamed online travel agent has also seen cruise call volume fall 30 percent, Hendrix said.

Hendrix also noted that cancellations in the U.S. are up 10 to 15 percent. That’s because savvy travelers are backing out of trips now in anticipation of getting the same cruise later for less.

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Alberici Corp. said today it has bought a Topeka, Kan.-based company that specializes in building water treatment facilities using the design-build method.

Terms of Alberici’s deal to buy CAS Construction LLC were not released. Mike Burke, executive vice president of Alberici, said in a statement the acquisition provides Alberici with additional design-build capabilities and the ability to reach new customers and markets.

Alberici and CAS began working together three years ago, when they teamed with engineering firm Burns & McDonnell on the $73 million aquifer recharge system for the city of Wichita, Kan.

Mike Hafling, president of CAS, and other senior managers will remain with the company, which has been renamed CAS Constructors. LLC. Charles A. Stryker founded the company in 1985 and managed the business until his death in 2006.

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Wall Street opened higher Wednesday following reports that the International Monetary Fund could get more cash to help countries struggling to manage their debt.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 43 points at 12,483 after the first half-hour of trading. That’s an increase of 0.4 percent. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are the Dow’s leading stocks. BofA rose 2.6 percent, JPMorgan 2 percent.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. jumped 3.5 percent after the investment bank reported earnings that trumped analysts’ expectations. Profit still sank 58 percent in the last three months of 2011, a result of sinking interest rates and volatile financial markets.

Other financial stocks were sharply lower. State Street Corp. dropped 6.5 percent.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, said Tuesday that the fund was looking at ways to increase the amount it can lend to countries, partly to deal with Europe’s debt crisis.

The S&P 500 index is up 5 points to 1,298. The Nasdaq is up 16 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,744.

Yahoo Inc. rose 2 no credit check payday loans.5 percent on news that co-founder Jerry Yang is leaving the struggling Internet company. The departure clears the way for newly hired CEO Scott Thompson to take more radical action to shake up the company.

The Federal Reserve said manufacturing rose 0.9 percent in December, the biggest increase since December 2010. Output surged as companies bought more machines and materials.

Among other stocks making large moves Wednesday:

_ Amphenol Corp. soared 10 percent, the largest gain in the S&P 500. The manufacturer of fiber optic cables reported earnings that beat analysts’ expectations.

_ Linear Technology Corp. jumped 8.3 percent. The Milpitas, Calif.-based circuit maker said it expects revenue to rise between 4 and 8 percent in its third quarter following strong order increases in December and January. It also raised its dividend by a penny to 25 cents per share.

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The Czech Republic should sell Eurobonds this year at better terms than other eastern European Union states because of government plans to trim the budget deficit, Deputy Finance Minister Jan Gregor said.

The Finance Ministry will be ready to sell between 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and 2 billion euros of debt from the start of February after the ministry updates its macroeconomic forecasts, Gregor said yesterday in an interview in Prague. The ministry may sell a bond on foreign markets denominated in other currencies if terms for a Eurobond issue aren

Members of the European Parliament involved in drawing up a new treaty designed to stop countries that use the euro from overspending on Wednesday slammed the latest draft.

The three MEPs, all from different parties, warned that that the latest version of the accord “is not compatible with existing EU Treaties.”

Eurozone leaders decided to draw up a new accord, which sets up tighter limits on budget deficits and is supposed to pull the 17 countries that use the euro closer together, at a summit in December in the hope that it would help the currency union pull out of its worsening debt crisis.

They were forced to resort to a separate accord after the U.K. blocked changes to existing EU treaties. All nine other EU countries that do not use the euro have supported the new accord in principle.

But the European Parliament in particular is concerned that the separate treaty sets up parallel structures within the EU, disempowering elected lawmakers and the European Commission.

“The draft does not guarantee that any decision to implement the new agreement would be taken via the normal procedures laid down in the EU treaties to ensure proper democratic scrutiny and accountability,” Elmar Brok, a member of the center-right European People’s Party; Roberto Gualtieri from the Socialist party, and Guy Verhofstadt, a liberal, said in a joint statement.

Their warning underlines a trend that has become more and more pronounced as the eurozone’s debt crisis has intensified over the past two years: important decisions are made by heads of state and government at EU summits _ often dominated by the leaders of France and Germany _ and then presented as a take-it-or-leave-it deal to national parliaments fast cash advance loan.

The parliamentarians are concerned that most of the amendments they made to the previous draft _ stressing the role of the Parliament and the Commission _ were not taken up in the latest version. A roadmap toward eurobonds, debt instruments backed by the eurozone as a whole, also did not make it into the draft.

There were few major changes to the new rules established in the accord. One point of contention is the number of countries that have to ratify the new treaty before it comes into force.

The first draft, circulated before Christmas, stipulated that only eight countries had to ratify the treaty to bring it into existence. A second draft increased that number to 15, while the latest version takes it back down to 12.

Even though the treaty would only apply to the countries that have ratified it, a lower threshold for bringing it into force makes it easier for countries to set up new structures.

However, a spokesman for Verhofstadt stressed that this section was not a “make-or-break” issue.

The next round of negotiations will take place on Thursday morning and the Parliament will adopt its official position on the new accord next week.

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Less than 12 hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel emerged from an all-night crisis summit on Oct. 27, Joerg Asmussen appeared in front of lawmakers in Berlin to sell the deal he helped broker in Brussels.

General Motors Co. is on track to retake the title of world’s top-selling automaker, riding strong sales in the U.S. and China to beat Volkswagen and Toyota.

GM, which lost the crown to Toyota in 2008 after holding it for more than seven decades, won’t release global sales numbers until later this month, but it’s on pace to finish 2011 at around 9 million cars and trucks, at least 800,000 more than its German and Japanese rivals.

Volkswagen AG on Monday said it sold a record 8.156 million vehicles last year, a 14 percent rise over 2010. The company expects a tough 2012, though. Toyota, whose production suffered from the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster, had earlier reported sales of 7.9 million vehicles in 2011.

GM, meanwhile, sold almost 7 million vehicles worldwide in the first three quarters and is expected to reach around 9 million for 2011.

GM has more appealing cars and trucks than in the past when Toyota took the crown away, says Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry consulting company in Troy, Michigan.

Other manufacturers have passed Toyota partly because its car production was paralyzed by Japan’s earthquake and nuclear disaster last year. But rivals also developed stylish vehicles that are drawing more customers.

“They’re not pushing their designs as much as others in terms of new looks and feel,” Schuster says of Toyota. “The market has changed.”

Volkswagen met its aggressive sales goals in the U.S. and throughout the world, and its products also have made it a strong global competitor, Schuster says.

In the U.S., VW sales rose 26 percent last year to top 324,000 vehicles, boosted by a new Jetta compact sedan and the Passat midsize sedan. That surpassed its goal of 300,000.

Schuster expects a tighter race for the global sales crown next year with Toyota recovering from Japan’s disasters and the Nissan-Renault venture challenging the leaders.

Volkswagen, whose brands include Audi, Skoda and Seat, has a goal of producing 10 million vehicles per year and passing Toyota and GM to become the world’s biggest automaker by 2018.

Volkswagen’s top sales and marketing executive, Christian Klingler, says that “all the company’s brands have shown increases in difficult conditions on volatile markets” and called the 2011 figures “an outstanding result.”

But he added that the coming year will be demanding. “In 2012 the risks are increasing above all on European markets.”

The 17 countries that use the euro are struggling with a financial crisis over too much government debt. Fears that a country may default and damage the banking system have weighed on the wider economy and many think the eurozone economy may have shrunk in the last three months of 2011.

But the 2011 figures underlined a strong year for German automakers, who have profited from strong sales and profits in emerging markets, especially China. Volkswagen, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche all recorded record vehicle sales for the year.

Luxury carmaker BMW AG said Monday that it sold a record 1.67 million vehicles under its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands thanks to a 14.2 percent increase over 2010.

The BMW brand, the company’s mainstay, sold 12.8 percent more cars and SUVs _ a total of 1.38 million. Rolls-Royce increased unit sales by 30.5 percent with 3,538 cars sold worldwide, breaking a sales record from 1978.

Porsche on Monday reported a 22 percent sales increase to 118,867 vehicles.

Daimler AG on Jan. 5 reported record sales of 1.362 million for its Mercedes-Benz, smart and Maybach brands.

Some analysts have said that VW is the world’s biggest because GM’s figures include vehicles made by its Wuling joint venture in China. Many don’t count Wuling because GM doesn’t have controlling interest in the company, but GM includes it in global sales figures.

Including Wuling, GM will overtake Toyota and Volkswagen, says Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry consulting company in Troy, Michigan.

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AP Auto Writer Bree Fowler in Detroit contributed to this report.

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The European Central Bank

Companies with 401(k) plans and their employees may have to wait a little longer to find out what they are paying for their plans.

The Labor Department may push back the April 1 deadline that 401(k) plan providers were given to comply with new rules about fee disclosures, according to several people who had spoken to officials at the department.

One reason for the delay is that the release of the final rule, on how providers will be required to disclose their fees to employers, has been delayed for months, and isn’t expected to be published until the end of January. The rule will apply to all service providers, including recordkeepers, financial advisers and fund companies that work with 401(k) plans.

The Labor Department has a “high degree of confidence” that it can issue the rule by the end of January, according to a person familiar with the matter, adding that the department was sympathetic to the industry’s concerns about the short deadline for complying with the rule and wanted to avoid “a chaotic adjustment period.”

For 401(k) plan sponsors and participants, the delay means waiting three more months to find out what they are paying for their plans. The point of the disclosures is so that employers and ultimately employees know exactly what it is they are paying for when they sign up for their 401(k) plans.

Critics argue that it isn’t transparent what fees employers and plan participants are paying because much of it is buried in prospectuses and similar documents. As it stands, companies that offer 401(k) plans as retirement savings vehicles for employees are supposed to have access to fee information by April 1. Participants would get fee disclosures by June 1.

But for 401(k) plan providers, a delay of a few months would provide time to clarify exactly what they need to do to comply with the regulation, officials at industry lobbying groups said.

“We are very happy to work with the Department of Labor on expanded fee disclosure, but we need to know what it is we are complying with,” said Lisa Bleier, managing director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which represents hundreds of broker-dealers, banks and asset managers.

SIFMA wrote a letter to the Department of Labor on December 2 requesting a 12-to-18-month extension on the deadline from when the rule is finalized.

The Labor Department came out with the current version of the rule in July 2010 and gave providers 12 months to comply. After industry opposition, the agency extended the deadline to April 2012. With the final version of the rule still awaiting release, plan providers say they won’t have enough time to comply.

“The DOL needs to give us some breathing room,” said David Tittsworth, executive director of the Investment Adviser Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. “Every day that goes by that you don’t have the new rule, it becomes more compelling to extend that time frame.”

Of particular concern for providers is whether the final rule will require them to provide a summary disclosure of all fees associated with the plan, on top of the actual fee disclosures. If so, providers also want guidance on the format that disclosure needs to take, said Craig Hoffman, general counsel for the Association of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

“We are not opposed to the idea…, but we need sufficient time to implement it,” he said. ASPPA, in conjunction with the Council of Independent 401(k) Recordkeepers wrote a letter to the Department of Labor on December 19 asking for at least 12 months after the rule is finalized to comply with it.

” I would not be surprised if they came forward with an extension,” Hoffman said.

A Labor Department spokesman declined to comment.

A delay would also give plan providers more time before they face pressure to cut fees in the face of heightened competition as costs are put in the spotlight.

But sources familiar with the discussions at the Labor Department said providers should not expect a long delay on the deadline to comply with fee disclosures.

“The (department) is definitely flexible, but they do want it to happen this year,” said one person who had spoken to Labor Department officials.

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