A computer graphic provided by DaimlerChrysler shows the carmaker's virtual Mercedes-Benz branch that will be officially opened in the "Second Life" gamelike virtual world on the Internet. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES

ATLANTA

Beazer Homes shares plunge on FBI report

Shares of Beazer Homes USA fell more than 8 percent Wednesday after the FBI said it is among agencies investigating possible fraud in the company's mortgage lending practices and other financial transactions. The homebuilder said it was cooperating with a federal prosecutor's request for documents.

The Atlanta-based company, which has suffered hefty losses amid a downturn in the housing market, is the subject of an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Charlotte, N.C., along with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FBI agent Ken Lucas said Tuesday.

In a statement Wednesday morning, Beazer said it has been in contact with the U.S. attorney's office and it was cooperating with a request for unspecified documents. It said there have been no allegations of wrongdoing.

NEW YORK

Now in virtual world, Corporate America

Companies are flocking to market themselves in virtual worlds, gamelike and usually three-dimensional online universes, but the long-term shape of this fledgling industry is far from clear.

"We're pretty much where the Internet was in the mid-'90s," said Steve Prentice, a vice president at technology research group Gartner, echoing a view held by other participants Wednesday at the Virtual Worlds conference in Manhattan.

MTV executives touted their TV-show spinoffs "Virtual Laguna Beach" and "Virtual Hills," which have attracted 600,000 registered users since they were launched six months ago. Almost like the real Southern California, these 3-D online spaces have perfect weather, but in an improvement on real life, its users are all represented by attractive, slim and young online embodiments known as avatars.

These avatars can interact with each other via text chats and commerce, providing a social element that virtual-world pioneers see as more realistic and engaging than chat rooms and MySpace pages.

ORLANDO, Fla.

Cell phone as credit card likely, exec says

Visa USA will make investments and partner with technology companies to push the concept of turning the cell phone into a credit or debit card, a move that President and Chief Executive John Philip Coghlan said is "inevitable."

During a keynote speech at the CTIA Wireless trade show Wednesday morning, Coghlan will discuss Visa's investment in Ecrio, a privately held software company based in Cupertino, Calif., as well as in dotMobi, an Irish consortium seeking to create a .mobi domain name for Web sites aimed at cell phones.

The company is also partnering with Qualcomm and Kyocera Corp. to create phones that can make payments. VeriSign is another partner.

Abercrombie & Fitch will join S&P 500

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a casual clothing retailer for teens and college students, will replace Univision Communications in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, S&P said Wednesday.

A group that included Thomas H. Lee Partners and Texas Pacific Group got regulatory approval for their $12.3 billion purchase of Univision. The S&P 500 change will take place after the close of trading today, S&P said.

The addition of Abercrombie & Fitch may support its stock price as money managers tracking the gauge purchase the company's shares. Index funds with $1.26 trillion in assets mimic the S&P 500, according to S&P.

MIAMI

Burger King to seek cage-free eggs, pork

Animal rights advocates praised Burger King for its new commitment to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.

PETA has been critical of the fast-food giant in the past.

Burger King Corp. product safety manager Steve Weiffenbach sent PETA two letters, dated March 14 and 20, outlining the company's new supply guidelines. PETA forwarded copies of the letters to The Associated Press, and Burger King later confirmed their authenticity.

The fast-food chain has already started purchasing 10 percent of its pork from suppliers that do not use sow gestation crates, according to the letter. The company said it will double that amount by the end of the year.

WASHINGTON

Digital TV deadline's approach brings angst

Lawmakers are uneasy with assurances they're getting that when old-style analog TV broadcasts go off the air in early 2009, consumers with nondigital televisions and traditional antennas won't be left in the dark.

Congress has ordered broadcasters to shut off old-style analog TV broadcasts by Feb. 17, 2009, and replace them with sharper digital ones. When that happens, millions of households with pre-digital TVs that rely on antennas will need to have purchased and installed digital converter boxes that will cost a minimum of $60 each.

As of June 2005, there were 15.4 million television households in the United States that received over-the-air signals only, the Federal Communications Commission says. Add to that homes that receive cable or satellite, but also have sets that rely on antennas, and the number gets larger.

NEW YORK

On listings, you may type 'M' for Macy's

Federated Department Stores shares will trade under the ticker symbol "M" if shareholders approve changing the company's name to Macy's Inc., the company said Wednesday.

In changing its symbol to "M" from "FD" -- which the retailer has traded under since 1992 -- Federated will join an elite group of 15 companies represented by a single letter on the New York Stock Exchange.

The change is before shareholders at Federated's May 18 annual meeting, and the stock symbol change would be effective June 1. The company opted to shorten its proposed new name from the previously announced Macy's Group.

NEW YORK

Fed chief's words leave bond prices mixed

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's address to Congress Wednesday walked a fine line between caution over growth and concerns about inflation, and left Treasury bond prices mixed by the end of the session.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was down 63 cents per $1,000 in face value, or 0.06 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.62 percent from 4.61 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 0.34 points.

The 2-year note rose 0.06 points. Its yield fell to 4.57 percent from 4.59 percent.