IN BRIEF

Speculation pushes stock price for Boyd Gaming near $10

An Internet rumor fueled a run-up on shares of Boyd Gaming Corp. on Wednesday, sending the casino operator's stock price over the $10 mark during trading on New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Boyd Gaming closed at $9.58, up 14 cents, or 1.48 percent.

Boyd became the center of takeover chatter, and the market speculated that one possible buyer was Las Vegas Sands Corp., according to one Internet source.

Spokesmen in both companies said they had no idea where the rumor began.

One gaming analyst said the rumor was clearly untrue.

"Las Vegas Sands has made it clear they are an Asian company and don't want domestic assets," KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Dennis Forst said.

Sterne Agee analyst David Bain called the rumors, "unfounded speculation."

"Las Vegas Sands' profile of focusing on high-end destination locations, the convention business and Asia gaming growth does not match Boyd's asset profile, in our view," Bain said.

This is not the first time Boyd Gaming has been the focus of takeover rumors, but Forst also does not see much possibility of another company picking Boyd Gaming up unless it's an international operator.

CHICAGO

Starbucks issues first dividend; boss claims rebound for brand

Starbucks' CEO proclaimed its once-stumbling brand is back in business after two years of layoffs and store closings, while the coffee giant issued its first dividend for investors on Wednesday.

Speaking in front of thousands of shareholders and employees at the company's annual meeting in Seattle, Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said the brand's ambitious turnaround effort sliced $580 million from its expenses and the turnaround is now taking hold.

Earlier in the day, Starbucks announced the dividend, pledging to return 10 cents per share to investors and ultimately boosting that payment to as much as 40 percent of its annual profit. It also will expand its effort to buy back its own shares.

Shares fell 12 cents, or 0.47 percent, to $25.29 on the Nasdaq National Market.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Bank of America offers relief from threat of foreclosure

Bank of America Corp. is giving some of its most troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the threat of foreclosure.

The bank, the largest mortgage servicer in the country, said Wednesday it will forgive up to 30 percent of some customers' mortgage balances. The homeowners must have missed at least two months of mortgage payments and owe at least 20 percent more than their home is worth.

The plan is the newest provision of an agreement the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle charges over high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial Corp.

The loans were made before Bank of America acquired the mortgage lender in mid-2008. The bank has since stopped making those loans.

Although the motivation for Bank of America's announcement was to resolve legal problems, it has the potential of putting pressure on other banks to also forgive principal on loans that are in danger of failing.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland

Naked justice: Iceland votes
to ban striptease shows

In a break with liberal European practice, Iceland has voted to ban striptease shows, making it an offense for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees.

Iceland's legislature, the Althingi, passed the ban Tuesday night, with just two abstentions and no votes against, although almost half the country's 63 lawmakers were absent.

Both opponents and supporters of the bill said Wednesday it was a European first. With the exception of the Vatican and tiny principalities like Andorra, strip clubs operate across the continent.

"I am quite happy about Iceland being the first European country to take this step," said Steinunn Valdis Oskarsdottir, a Social Democrat lawmaker who supported the ban.

"Women who work at strip clubs are in many cases the victims of human trafficking and other kinds of abuse," she said. "I have been working in this field for almost 15 years and not yet have I met one woman who dances at strip clubs because she wants to."