IN BRIEF

General Growth gets extension on loans

General Growth Properties Inc. rose in New York after the second-largest U.S. shopping mall owner said lenders agreed to extend a deadline to pay or rework $900 million in loans on two Las Vegas properties.

The deadline for the mortgages was extended to Feb. 12. The loans are for the Fashion Show mall and Shoppes at Palazzo in Las Vegas, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

General Growth, the owner or manager of more than 200 malls in 44 states, faced the prospect of defaulting on the loans, and has said if it's unable to refinance debt it may have to file for bankruptcy protection. In October, General Growth hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Eastdil Securities to sell the two Las Vegas malls along with a third, Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian.

General Growth shares rose 3 cents, or 1.9 percent, Thursday to close at $1.61 on the New York Stock Exchange.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

Prosecution of tribe sought over blackjack

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Thursday he has asked the federal government to prosecute the Seminole Indian tribe over its blackjack operations.

McCollum sent the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa a letter Wednesday urging action. Since the summer, the tribe has been offering Las Vegas-style slot machines and card games at its casino in Hollywood under an agreement struck with Gov. Charlie Crist a year ago.

The state Supreme Court has since struck down that compact, which gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate blackjack and other card games as well as a guarantee that the state won't expand Las Vegas-style slots beyond Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

The justices said Crist didn't have authority to enter the agreement on his own, but the games continue.

WASHINGTON

Jobless-benefit claims dip; staff cuts go on

Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected last week, but little relief for workers is in sight as companies continue to cut jobs.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for jobless benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 for the week ending Dec. 13, from an upwardly revised figure of 575,000 the previous week. The new tally was slightly below economists' expectations of 558,000 claims.

Large layoffs are occurring across the economy. On Thursday, water treatment and storage systems maker Pentair Inc. said it will cut about 1,600 jobs, due to a faster-than-expected drop-off in demand and consumer spending.

FedEx Corp. said Thursday it has cut jobs and closed locations in its FedEx Office unit, as the company suspects business at its copy and shipping stores will continue to wane.

Oil prices decline as layoff count mounts

Oil continued its downward march Thursday as mass layoffs pushed the U.S. economy deeper into recession, signaling a drastic pullback on energy spending.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell $2.94 to settle at $41.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The January contract, which closes on Friday, fell 9 percent, or $3.84, to settle at $36.22 after dropping as low as $35.98, levels last seen in June 2004.

Higher prices for the February contract suggest that oil brokers and traders believe OPEC's unprecedented 2.2 million-barrel daily production cut, announced Wednesday, will tighten supply. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had already taken 2 million barrels of oil out of production, bringing total cuts to more than 4 million barrels per day.

Reverse stock split OK'd for Sirius XM

Sirius XM Radio Inc. shareholders approved a reverse stock split and an increase in shares to help the satellite-radio operator pay its debts.

Thursday's vote boosted the number of authorized shares to 8 billion from 4.5 billion, New York-based Sirius said. Investors also permitted the board to effect a reverse split ranging from 1-for-10 shares to as much as 1-for-50 to lift the stock price above $1 and avoid delisting from the Nasdaq National Market.

NEW YORK

Demand for Treasurys stays high; yields drop

Investors poured more money into Treasurys on Thursday, sending yields to record lows again.

The 10-year note rose 1.25 points to 114.94, and its yield fell to 2.07 percent from 2.19 percent.