IN BRIEF
Applications nearly due for chamber program
The application deadline for the 2010 class of Leadership Las Vegas, a program presented by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, is June 5.
In a statement, the chamber said it will choose 48 participants for the 10-month program, which aims to teach and strengthen leaders through lessons on civic issues. More than 900 community leaders have graduated from the program since it started in 1986 as a division of the chamber.
The chamber is accepting applications online at www.lvchamber.com/leadership-las-vegas.
Call 641-5822 for program information.
ATLANTIC CITY
Trump Marina sale may not happen soon
The company that owns the Trump Marina Hotel Casino says its planned sale to a New York developer and former protégé of Donald Trump will not happen soon.
Trump Entertainment Resorts says today's deadline to sell the struggling Atlantic City hotel-casino to Richard Fields will come and go. Company spokesman Tom Hickey says both sides are still interested in making it happen but can't give an estimate as to when that might be.
Fields announced plans a year ago to buy the casino and rebrand it as Margaritaville in partnership with the business operation of singer Jimmy Buffett.
The casino's price has already been cut from $316 million to $270 million.
CARLSBAD, Calif.
Exec: Yahoo-Microsoft alliance needs big cash
Yahoo Inc.'s chief executive said Wednesday that she is open to joining forces with Microsoft Corp. so both companies can better compete in Internet search, but a deal would need a specific set of terms -- including "boatloads of money."
An alliance in Internet search would have to enrich Yahoo, give Yahoo access to the "right data" and bring strong technology, Carol Bartz said at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference. In the past, Yahoo has insisted it needs data culled from search requests to sell the most effective ads and tailor other services to suit its users' interests.
Asked if she would consider selling all of Yahoo, she said, "Oh, they'd have to have BIG boatloads of money."
Yahoo already has walked away from what would seem to be a boatload. Microsoft offered as much as $47.5 billion for the company last year.
VIENNA, Austria
Oil cartel expected to keep output steady
Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia spoke out Wednesday against reducing OPEC's output, reinforcing expectations that the 12-nation cartel will keep production at present levels. But instead of falling on the news, crude prices blipped to six-month highs.
Even before Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi spoke, the recent jump in oil prices was working against hardline OPEC members who were advocating even costlier crude. Naimi's comments reinforced expectations that OPEC oil ministers meeting today would decide not to change oil production levels. The Saudis account for close to a third of OPEC's total production and what they say is usually informal policy for the rest of the bloc.
CHICAGO
Staples reports drop in quarterly earnings
Office-supply chain Staples Inc. reported tepid first-quarter results Wednesday.
Staples earned $143 million, or 20 cents per share, for the three months that ended May 2, down from profit of $212.3 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items related to last summer's acquisition of Dutch office-supply company Corporate Express NV, the retailer's profit in the latest quarter was 22 cents per share, down about 27 percent.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time costs in their projections, expected Staples to earn 21 cents per share.
Sales grew 19.3 percent to $5.82 billion from $4.88 billion, helped by the Corporate Express business.
NEW YORK
Chrysler tries to quiet critics, avoid liquidation
Chrysler tried to fend off hundreds of objections Wednesday to its plan to sell most of its assets to an Italian automaker, hoping in a marathon court session to save itself from liquidation.
The company was waiting to see whether Judge Arthur Gonzalez of U.S. bankruptcy court would approve the sale. If he does, Chrysler could emerge from bankruptcy within weeks.
The hearing was expected to continue well into Wednesday night.
Attorneys for Chrysler say unloading the assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA is the company's only hope to avoid selling itself off piece-by-piece. They say a leaner Chrysler could shift more easily to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.
NEW YORK
Bank of America raises $5.9 billion in switch
Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it raised $5.9 billion through the conversion of preferred shares for common stock as part of its plan to bolster its capital base.
The federal government told the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank that it should raise $33.9 billion in capital to boost its reserves in case the economy worsens further.
Bank of America exchanged 436 million common shares of stock for the preferred shares. It said it could issue up to 564 million more common shares through additional preferred-share exchanges.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Former Kmart chief fights off accusations
The former head of Kmart Corp. defended himself Wednesday against claims he covered up the retailer's woeful finances, capping a full day of testimony by repeatedly declaring he "absolutely" hid nothing before a bankruptcy filing in 2002.
Charles Conaway is on trial in a civil lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which says he misled Kmart's board and investors by not disclosing delays in payments to suppliers and an ill-timed purchase of $850 million in inventory.
Conaway said he informed the board about the buy in September 2001, not two months later, and also sent a letter to each director, telling them Kmart's problems were worse than he perceived.
Conaway, known as a turnaround specialist, was Kmart's chairman and CEO from May 2000 to March 2002.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices fall after auction of notes
Treasury prices sank Wednesday even after the government sold $35 billion in five-year notes to decent demand. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit a fresh six-month high.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1.59 points to 94.84. Its yield rose to 3.69 percent, up from 3.49 percent late Tuesday.
The 30-year bond fell 2.38 points to 93.5. Its yield was 4.60 percent, up from 4.44 percent.
