IN BRIEF

Crown Las Vegas project declared dead

The $5 billion Crown Las Vegas project slated for the old Wet 'n Wild site is officially dead, according to the Australian-based partner in the project.

Melbourne, Australia-based Crown limited announced late Tuesday that LVTI, the joint-venture company developing the project, has decided not to proceed with an option to buy the 27-acre site and no further payments will be made.

Texas-based developer Christopher Milam and private equity firm York Capital Management were partners in the project.

The site, which had been approved for a 1,064-foot hotel tower, is now owned by Archon Corp.

In addition to LVTI and the Fontainebleau projects, Crown's U.S. investments include a 4.9 percent stake in Station Casinos and a 2.5 percent holding in Harrah's Entertainment.

WASHINGTON

Manufactured goods orders higher in April

Orders for manufactured goods posted a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose in a number of areas including heavy machinery, iron and steel.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that orders were up 1.1 percent in April following a 1.5 percent increase in March.

Those gains followed dips in January and March that raised concerns about how much pain manufacturing industries would feel from the economic slowdown hitting housing and financial sectors.

Analysts had forecasted that overall orders would edge down slightly in April.

PHILADELPHIA

Toll Bros. loss smaller than Street forecast

Luxury-home builder Toll Bros. on Tuesday posted a second-quarter loss that was smaller than Wall Street expected, as a hefty write-down driven by joint ventures was offset by other income.

Toll lost $93.7 million, or 59 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30, reversing a year-ago profit of $36.7 million, or 22 cents per share.

The quarter included a pretax write-down of $288.1 million, which included $85 million from joint ventures with other builders on land development.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 89 cents per share including charges.

Revenue fell 30 percent to $818.8 million from $1.17 billion.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices rise as traders seek safety

Treasury prices finished higher Tuesday as reviving jitters about the financial sector encouraged investors to keep their money in safe government securities.

The benchmark 10-year note rose 0.48 points to 99.75 points and yielded 3.91 percent, down from 3.97 percent late Monday.

The 30-year long bond rose 0.83 points to 95.97 points and yielded 4.63 percent, down from 4.68 percent late Monday.