IN BRIEF

Harrah's agrees to use cash to buy securities

Harrah's Entertainment has entered agreements to use $250 million in cash to buy some of its commercial mortgage-backed securities for between 25 and 30 cents on the dollar, according to a Friday Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Harrah's has $6.5 billion in securities that mature in 2013 leveraged against several of the company's operating assets including the Rio, Flamingo and Harrah's Las Vegas.

The company posted a $1 billion loss in the quarter driven by a $1.33 billion write-down on the value of a majority of its assets in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Illinois and Indiana.

The company reported $19.3 billion in long-term debt through June 30, but has not adjusted the number for the third quarter.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong exchange greenlights LV Sands

U.S. gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. has won approval from Hong Kong's stock exchange to list shares of the company's Macau casino business, a person familiar with the listing said Friday.

Preliminary approval from the stock exchange paves the way for a Sands initial public offering expected to raise $2 billion or more to help the company pay off huge debt and revive a major casino-resort project in Macau, China's booming gambling enclave.

The exchange's listing committee recently greenlighted the effort, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not identified because the approval has yet to be formally announced.

The IPO, expected to debut later this year, would mark the second from an American casino operator in Hong Kong. Shares in the Macau resorts of billionaire Steve Wynn, rival of Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, debuted earlier this month.

HELSINKI

Biggest cruise liner in world makes first trip

The world's largest cruise liner on Friday began its maiden voyage to Florida, gliding out from a shipyard in Finland with an amphitheater, basketball courts and an ice rink on board.

The 16-deck Oasis of the Seas spans 1,200 feet from bow to stern. Its 2,700 cabins can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew.

The ship, commissioned by Royal Caribbean International, cost $1.5 billion and took two and a half years to build.

The liner has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children. There is also an ice rink that seats 780 spectators and a small-scale golf course.

NV Energy agrees to explore building of line

Local power utility NV Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Western Area Power Administration to explore development of 500-kilovolt transmission lines and related facilities to access and deliver renewable energy.

The power sources would serve the Southwest, including markets in Nevada, Arizona and California.

Western, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, has $3.3 billion in borrowing authority through federal stimulus laws to build projects that will allow delivery of power generated from renewable sources, such as sun, wind and geothermal hot spots.

The parties didn't say when the study process might finish, when potential projects would start construction or how much any joint projects might cost to build.

NEW YORK

National gasoline prices reach high for year

Americans are paying more for gasoline than they did last year as the holidays neared.

Gasoline averaged nearly $2.70 a gallon Friday, the highest of the year.

From last November to January, the average price was $1.86. Even if prices average $2.50 per gallon during the same period this year, Americans will pay an extra $26.6 billion for gasoline, Oil Price Information Service chief oil analyst Tom Kloza said.

In Las Vegas on Friday, the average price of a gallon of regular, self-serve unleaded gasoline in Las Vegas was $2.671, AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Hospital operator sued over vaccine policies

The Service Employees International Union Local 1107 is suing the operators of Sunrise Hospital and Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, claiming the hospitals' H1N1 vaccination policies are a violation of its collective bargaining agreement.

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday named Sunrise and Southern Hills' parent Healthcare Corporation of America, and seeks an injunction until an arbitration hearing can be held. At issue is the alleged new policy of the HCA hospitals to require employees to get both the seasonal flu shot and H1N1 vaccine.

If employees refuse to be vaccinated, they are allegedly required to wear masks and badges saying they had not received the flu vaccines. Hospital workers may face termination for refusing to do either.

The local 1107 is requesting that an arbitration hearing be held before the H1N1 procedures become a condition of employment.

HCA also operates Sunrise Children's Hospital.