IN BRIEF

Station Casinos extends deadline

Station Casinos has extended the deadline for its debt exchange offer until Thursday, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Last week, a committee representing 66 percent of the outstanding notes told the company that it deems the offer "deficient" and does not intend to participate.

Instead, the group would like to talk with the casino company about the committee's "concerns," something Station Casinos said it would do.

The exchange offer, however, continues "pending such discussions."

Station Casinos said Nov. 25 that it hoped for a private exchange of $459 million for $2.088 billion in debt notes trading as low as 8 cents on the dollar.

The casino operator is seeking to exchange debt for new debt with longer maturities and is offering the new debt at a significant discount to par, with senior note holders being offered $540 per $1,000 in debt and subordinated note holders offered $200 per $1,000 of bonds.

The deadline for the offer has been extended to 5 p.m. EST Thursday, from its original deadline of last Friday.

NEW YORK

Dow Chemical to cut work force 11 percent

Dow Chemical Co. said Monday it will slash 5,000 full-time jobs -- about 11 percent of its work force -- close 20 plants and sell several businesses to rein in costs.

The company, one of the largest chemical makers in the world, expects the plan to save about $700 million per year by 2010. Dow also will temporarily idle 180 plants and prune 6,000 contractors from its payroll.

NEW YORK

Bargain-hunting diners lift sales at McDonald's

Consumers hungry for cheap meals boosted worldwide sales at McDonald's Corp.'s established locations by 7.7 percent in November, more proof of how the fast-food leader is thriving in a downturn that has eaten into sales at its competitors.

Even recession-weary consumers in the U.S. were enticed by the Golden Arches during the month. U.S. same-store sales -- or sales at locations open at least a year -- rose 4.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, the company said Monday.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain said the increase came from strong sales of breakfast items, chicken sandwiches and the chain's value menu options. It comes even as U.S. consumers increasingly opt for eating at home to conserve cash.

BRUSSELS, Belgium

Anheuser-Busch will cut 1,400 U.S. jobs

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Monday it would cut some 1,400 U.S. jobs -- or 6 percent of its U.S. work force -- to help save the world's largest brewer at least $1.5 billion a year.

It said three-quarters of the jobs cut will disappear from Anheuser's North American headquarters in St. Louis, both at downtown offices and a campus in suburban Sunset Hills, Mo. Unionized workers at the company's 12 North American breweries will not be affected.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

Production-cut chance sends oil prices higher

Oil prices rebounded from four-year lows and shot above $43 a barrel Monday as OPEC floated the possibility of a "severe" production cut.

Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Saturday that the cartel could announce a reduction of output quotas at its next meeting Dec. 17.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery gained $2.90 to settle at $43.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Friday, the contract dropped nearly $3 to settle at $40.81 and prices fell as low as $40.50, levels last seen in December 2004.

WASHINGTON

Short-term rates on Treasury bills hit lows

Investors hungry for safety during these times of economic and financial peril are pouring money into Treasury securities, driving rates on short-term bills to record lows.

The Treasury Department auctioned $27 billion in three-month Treasury bills on Monday, fetching a discount rate of 0.005 percent, a record low. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.3 percent, also an all-time low.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices decline as stocks head higher

As the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 300 points on growing confidence on Wall Street, Treasury prices declined.

The 10-year note fell 0.28 points to 108.69, and its yield rose to 2.75 percent from 2.70 percent. The 30-year bond fell 0.94 points to 125.53, and its yield rose to 3.16 percent from 3.14 percent.