IN BRIEF

NEW YORK

Lehman raises cash to handle mortgage mess

Lehman Bros. Holdings raised $6 billion to help survive the collapse of the mortgage market after reporting a $2.8 billion second-quarter loss, the first since the company went public in 1994.

The fourth-largest U.S. securities firm fell 8 percent in New York trading after selling common and preferred shares at a price 13 percent below the close on June 6. The New York-based company sold about $130 billion of assets in the quarter and cut mortgage-related holdings and leveraged loans by as much as 35 percent.

Lehman shares fell $4.81, or 8.7 percent, Monday to close at $29.48 on the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK

Amazon site suffers sporadic outages

Amazon.com's Web site suffered sporadic outages Monday, just days after unspecified issues knocked the online retailer offline for more than two hours.

Keynote Systems, a California-based company that monitors Web site performance, said the latest troubles started shortly after 1 p.m. EDT and lasted at least an hour.

Keynote's automated probes were able to reach the main Amazon.com site as little as 30 percent of the time. Even when the monitors did reach the site, they faced delays, said Shawn White, Keynote's director of external operations.

The probes also found problems with the British Amazon.co.uk site, but other country-specific sites appeared to be functioning, White said.

WASHINGTON

Interest rates increase in Treasury bill auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction with rates on six-month bills climbing to the highest level since late February.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.85 percent, up from 1.82 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.05 percent, up from 1.95 percent last week.

ATLANTA

Delta pilots union head doesn't see concessions

The head of Delta Air Lines' pilots union said Monday he doesn't think that record fuel prices eating away at the company's cash reserves will force management to ask for pilot concessions as the carrier proceeds with its acquisition of Northwest Airlines Corp.

Delta pilots are trying to work out a joint contract with Northwest pilots so they can then tackle the thornier issue of seniority list integration. Delta's pilots, in a deal they worked out with Delta, are in line for pay raises and an equity stake in the new company.

Asked if Delta might seek to change that deal in the future given that the price of oil has soared and is now at about $134 a barrel, Lee Moak, chairman of the Delta pilots union's executive committee, said in an interview, "No. We don't see that."

LOS ANGELES

Retirement system sells LandSource stake

The California Public Employees' Retirement System said its holdings in LandSource Communities Development, which filed for bankruptcy protection, won't harm retirees.

Calpers, as the fund is known, said the $970 million it invested in LandSource, a joint venture part-owned by Lennar Corp. and LNR Corp. in which Calpers invested in 2007, amounts to less than 0.5 percent of the fund's $245 billion in assets. Pensioners' checks are guaranteed by state law and aren't affected by investment losses.

LandSource sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday after failing to reach a deal with lenders to restructure its debt.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices decline amid inflation fears

Short-term Treasury prices fell Monday as investors grappled with concerns about inflation.

The benchmark 10-year note fell 0.56 points to 99.03 and yielded 4.00 percent, up from 3.91 percent late Friday.

The 30-year long bond fell 0.06 points to 95.94 and yielded 4.63 percent, even with late Friday.