In Brief

NEW YORK

Oil prices continue slide into third day

Oil prices tumbled below $130 a barrel for the first time in more than a month Thursday as crude's dramatic slide entered a third day accompanied by a sharp sell-off in natural gas.

Oil is now more than 10 percent cheaper per barrel than it was on Monday; natural gas prices are down more than 20 percent since the Fourth of July.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $5.31 to settle at $129.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen nearly $16 in the past three days.

Natural gas futures for August delivery fell more than 8 percent Thursday, marking their biggest one-day drop in nearly a year, according to Nathan Golz, researcher at Wachovia Securities in St. Louis. Prices for the key heating, cooking and power generation fuel settled 86.1 cents lower at $10.537, their lowest point since April.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Securities regulators raid Wachovia offices

Securities regulators from several U.S. states on Thursday raided the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities, seeking documents and records on the company's sales practices.

The move is part of a broad investigation into questionable practices involving auction rate securities, Missouri officials said.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office said the "special inspection" at the Wachovia division, the former A.G. Edwards, concerned the $330 billion auction rate securities crisis. Wachovia Securities is part of Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp.

"Hundreds of Missouri investors have called my office because of inability to access their money," Carnahan said in a statement. She added that she aims to take actions to "to make these investors whole."

The action, which also sought information on internal evaluations and marketing strategies, comes after more than 70 formal complaints were filed with the Missouri Securities Division over the last four months, representing more than $40 million of frozen investments.

Coke drinkers will pay more to imbibe

Drinkers of Coca-Cola can expect to pay more starting this fall after the company's biggest bottler said Thursday that it would raise prices.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, which has about 80 percent of the U.S. market for Coke, said it would raise prices after Labor Day because of higher commodity costs and declining U.S. soda sales. Bottlers set prices for retailers like grocery stores.

The Atlanta-based drinks company earned $1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, down from $1.85 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The results included a charge of 40 cents per share related to Coca-Cola Enterprises. Excluding one-time items, the per share figure came to $1.01. Revenue rose 17 percent to $9.05 billion from $7.73 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 96 cents per share on revenue of $8.93 billion, on average. But the company's shares fell about 4 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO

AMD changes CEO as company struggles

Hector Ruiz was pushed aside Thursday after six tumultuous years as CEO of Advanced Micro Devices as the chip maker tries to pull itself out of a deep financial hole caused by a questionable acquisition and a major product gaffe.

Ruiz, 62, who had been the only person to head AMD other than founder and longtime CEO Jerry Sanders, is stepping down as chief executive but will remain on the board. He's being replaced as CEO by chief operating officer Dirk Meyer, 46.

AMD also reported that it lost $1.19 billion in the second quarter, worse than the $600 million it lost in the same period a year ago. Taking one-time events into account, AMD's adjusted loss totaled 60 cents per share, below the 52 cents expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Revenues rose to $1.35 billion from $1.31 billion, falling short of the $1.45 billion expected on Wall Street.

Merrill Lynch reports loss of $4.9 billion

Merrill Lynch & Co. on Thursday reported a $4.9 billion loss amid massive write-downs from soured mortgage positions and other risky investments, and unveiled plans to raise money by unloading assets including its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg LP.

The world's largest brokerage posted its fourth straight quarterly loss as it struggles to shore up a balance sheet battered by the global credit crisis. Merrill Lynch took $9.4 billion of charges and write-downs from mortgage-backed securities, unprofitable hedge positions and residential mortgage exposure.

Mortgage rates at lowest mark since June

Mortgage rates fell this week with 30-year mortgage rates dropping to the lowest level in six weeks as investors became less worried that the Federal Reserve would soon tighten credit policy to stall inflation.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.26 percent this week.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, dipped to 5.78 percent, down from 5.91 percent last week.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.80 percent, down slightly from 5.82 percent last week, while rates on one-year ARMs dropped to 5.10 percent, down from 5.17 percent last week.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.73 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.38 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.35 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.72 percent.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices tumble on reports

Treasury prices fell sharply Thursday as several upbeat earnings reports, falling energy prices and an unexpected jump in housing starts alleviated some of investors' concerns about the economy.

The 10-year Treasury note fell 0.44 percent to 99.03 points. Its yield rose to 4.00 percent from 3.94 percent on Wednesday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Yields move in the opposite direction as prices.

The 30-year long bond -- typically the most sensitive to inflation worries -- fell 0.31 points to 96.22.

Its yield rose to 4.61 percent from 4.59 percent from Wednesday.