IN BRIEF
ATLANTIC CITY
Caesars settles lawsuit over hiring practices
Caesars Atlantic City has settled a discrimination lawsuit over its hiring practices at the Toga Bar.
The lawsuit was filed by mostly male bartenders who claimed they were passed over in favor of young women who were to wear provocative togas at the Roman-themed bar.
A trial was scheduled for Monday to decide whether 19 men and one woman are entitled to punitive and compensatory damages.
Caesars admitted no wrongdoing as part of a confidential settlement.
NEW YORK
Northern Trust faces scrutiny for parties
Northern Trust Corp., a bank that received $1.6 billion in government funds, is facing scrutiny for hosting parties and other events connected to its sponsorship of a professional golf tournament.
Reports of the parties brought a swift protest from Washington, with Democratic lawmakers pressing the bank to return the money spent on the events, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., proposing legislation restricting banks that received government funds from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences or entertainment events.
WASHINGTON
Task force discourages carmaker bankruptcy
An Obama administration task force considering the fate of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC is discouraging bankruptcy protection as an option for the struggling companies, two senators said Tuesday.
Michigan Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow said they argued against bankruptcy as a way to restructure GM and Chrysler. In meetings Tuesday with members of the panel, the lawmakers said Obama's team did not push bankruptcy as a viable choice.
"I think they agreed that nobody should be talking about bankruptcy," Levin said. "That's not their goal. They don't want to exclude anything, but that's not what their goal is."
Stabenow said the task force was in a "fact-finding mode" and had also met with auto suppliers on Monday.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.
Oil prices increase along with stocks
Oil prices rose on the coattails of broader financial markets Tuesday as investors shook off more bad housing news and a dismal government report suggesting that consumer confidence is in free fall.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery staged a late-session rally to settle up $1.52 at $39.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have failed to settle above $40 for more than two weeks and inventories of crude are surging toward record levels.
DETROIT
Ford's top executives will have pay reduced
Ford Motor Co.'s top two executives will take 30 percent pay cuts as the company tries to conserve cash and make it through the worst sales downturn in 26 years.
Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. will see salary reductions this year and next. They were spelled out in a memo to employees obtained by The Associated Press.
In addition, two people briefed on contract concessions made by the United Auto Workers say Ford will offer another round of early retirements and buyouts to all hourly workers.
WASHINGTON
Musicians want royalties from radio
Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, Herbie Hancock and other entertainers are asking Congress to force radio stations to pay them when their music is broadcast.
The musicians appeared Tuesday on Capitol Hill on behalf of the musicFirst Coalition to push legislation that would require radio stations to pay them royalties for when their songs are played.
Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels already pay fees to performers and musicians, along with songwriter royalties. But commercial AM and FM radio stations do not.
The National Association of Broadcasters opposes the fee for performers. It says it puts thousands of radio jobs at risk. The association also says radio stations drive listeners to buy music.
Mall owner says lenders haven't demanded cash
General Growth Properties Inc., the U.S. mall owner that has lost 99 percent of its market value, rose 36.11 percent in New York trading after saying lenders haven't demanded full repayment of $1.18 billion in past-due debt.
General Growth reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $965,000, compared with net income of $58.7 million a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said in a statement Monday after New York trading closed. Funds from operations were 70 cents a share, less than the 87-cent median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
In Las Vegas, General Growth owns Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, Shoppes at Palazzo, and the Fashion Show, Boulevard and Meadows malls.
General Growth shares rose 13 cents Tuesday to close at 49 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.
AUSTIN, Texas
Texas lawmakers want Las Vegas-style casinos
Some Texas lawmakers are trying again to establish Las Vegas-style casinos in Texas, and they say now is the time to do it because the state needs the money.
Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and John Carona, R-Dallas, unveiled their casino legislation Tuesday and said that Texans are gambling, but they're going out of state to casinos.
The proposal calls for up to 12 "destination resort" casinos, meaning they would include retail and other entertainment, Carona said.
Officials crack down on payday lending
The Nevada Attorney General's office and Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday said a federal court order was issued stopping deceptive trade practices of seven Nevada companies and an individual as part of an international Internet payday lending operation.
The defendants are accused of failing to disclose loan terms and using abusive collection practices that violated federal and Nevada laws. The court order bars the companies from making misrepresentations that consumers can be imprisoned for failing to pay debts.
Jim Harris is the individual defendant. Defendant companies include Leads Global and Waterfront Investments.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices mixed after auction of notes
Treasury prices finished mixed Tuesday as stocks rebounded and the government sold $40 billion in two-year notes.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.38 points to 99.53. Its yield rose to 2.79 percent from 2.77 percent.
The 30-year bond rose 0.44 points to 100.19, and its yield fell to 3.49 percent from 3.52 percent.
