IN BRIEF

MINNEAPOLIS

Softer sales spark drop in earnings for Target

First-quarter profits dropped almost 8 percent at Target Corp. on softer-than-expected sales and higher costs, but still beat Wall Street earnings estimates for its first quarter.

The nation's second-largest discount retailer on Tuesday reported a profit of $602 million, or 74 cents per share, in the three months ended May 3, down from $651 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected 71 cents per share.

Revenue rose 5.7 percent to $14.8 billion from $14 billion.

NEW YORK

Going up: Oil prices flirt with $130 a barrel

Just in time for the start of the summer driving season: Oil near $130 a barrel and gasoline up nearly 20 percent over last year. It may be worth packing some extra cash along with the picnic supplies this Memorial Day weekend.

Crude prices spiked to yet another trading high Tuesday as supply concerns mounted and traders poured in for a last-minute buying binge. At filling stations across the country, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline approached $4, touching $3.80 for the first time.

The June contract for light, sweet crude traded as high as $129.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at $129.07, up $2.02 from Monday's record high. The imminent expiration of that contract, which ended with the close of Tuesday's trading, created additional volatility in the market.

SAN FRANCISCO

Hewlett-Packard posts higher quarterly profit

Strong demand outside the United States for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s computers, printers and other products widened its profit margin in its second quarter, but investors worry the trend will break as HP digests Electronic Data Systems Corp. this year.

The deal has raised concerns that Plano, Texas-based EDS will cause more trouble to HP than it's worth and slow the financial momentum building at HP since it hired Mark Hurd as chief executive a little more than three years ago.

In its second quarter, which ended in April, HP earned $2.06 billion, or 80 cents per share, a 16 percent increase from a profit of $1.76 billion, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 11 percent to $28.3 billion.

WASHINGTON

First-class flier count shrinks during March

The number of international air travelers flying in business or first-class fell in March by the largest amount in five years, the latest bad news for an industry buckling under record fuel prices and slowing global economies.

The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday said premium air traffic shrank 3.9 percent in March compared with the same month last year, after growing by 5.1 percent in February.

Although the drop was exaggerated both by the leap year adding an extra day to February and because March business travel fell due to an early Easter, it was the largest "absolute decline" in business and first-class passengers since 2003.

WASHINGTON

Officials crack down on telemarketing scams

Federal and state officials announced a widespread crackdown Tuesday against telemarketing scams that have bilked thousands of consumers, many of them elderly, out of tens of millions of dollars.

The sweep, dubbed "Operation Tele-PHONEY," was coordinated by the Federal Trade Commission and has yielded more than 180 enforcement actions in the United States and Canada. That makes it the largest such operation the FTC has ever coordinated, the agency said.

William Kovacic, chairman of the FTC, said the 180 cases include new civil charges filed by the FTC against 13 telemarketers that defrauded more than 500,000 consumers out of $100 million.

Here it comes to save the day? ... Maybe not

Apple, maker of the iPod media player, and CBS Corp. were sued for trademark infringement by closely held computer-accessory firm Man & Machine over the name of Apple's wireless "Mighty Mouse" device.

Apple started selling computer mice under the name "Mighty Mouse" more than a year after Man & Machine began selling waterproof and chemical-resistant computer mice to labs and hospitals under that name in 2004, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Greenbelt, Md.

Man & Machine claims its earlier use trumps Apple's, even though Apple sells more products.

The names of both products play on the 1942 animated superhero mouse whose trademark rights are partly owned by CBS. New York-based CBS is accused of licensing "Mighty Mouse" to Apple for computer devices when its trademark doesn't cover such goods.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices increase as oil prices surge again

Treasury prices climbed Tuesday as another record run in oil prices sent stock market investors fleeing to the safety of government debt.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.47 points to 100.81 and yielded 3.78 percent, down from 3.83 percent late Monday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.

The 30-year long bond rose 0.66 points to 97.44 and yielded 4.53 percent, down from 4.56 percent late Monday.