IN BRIEF

CHICAGO

Kraft Foods to sell Post cereals for $1.7 billion

Kraft Foods on Thursday agreed to sell its two dozen Post cereals to Ralcorp Holdings in a nearly $1.7 billion stock deal that will make the private-label food maker a major player in the cereal market.

The acquisition, which is expected to close in mid-2008, catapults the maker of store-brand cereal into the No. 3 position behind industry leaders Kellogg Co. and General Mills.

The tax-free transaction will boost Ralcorp's 2007 sales by 50 percent to $3.3 billion a year from $2.2 billion, with Post cereals accounting for about 32 percent of total annual sales.

Dubai World closes CityCenter stake deal

Dubai World has completed its purchase of a $2.96 billion, 50-percent equity stake in CityCenter, the megaresort MGM Mirage is building on the Strip.

MGM Mirage will continue as the project's developer.

Meanwhile, the new joint venture firm formed from the deal will pay MGM Mirage a fee to run the property when it opens in late 2009.

WASHINGTON

Reporting rule out for foreign companies

Federal regulators on Thursday eliminated a rule requiring foreign companies with U.S.-traded shares to explain their financial results in line with U.S. accounting standards.

The move, a push toward acceptance of a single, global accounting standard has raised objections from investor advocates and some key lawmakers, who say investors will lose an important source of information used in making decisions and that it will be harder to compare the results of companies that use different standards.

At a public meeting, the four members of the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed foreign companies no longer need to "reconcile" their financial results with U.S. standards known as generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Foreign public companies, which already comply with international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, argued the mandate was burdensome and costly.

WASHINGTON

Thirty-year mortgage rates holding steady

Rates on 30-year mortgages were unchanged this week after posting three consecutive declines.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages remained at 6.24 percent, the same as last week. That is the lowest level since rates were at 6.21 percent in mid-May.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 5.88 percent, down from 5.9 percent last week.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.96 percent, up from 5.89 percent last week.

ATLANTIC CITY

Union barred from role in license hearing

A casino workers' union that has been harshly critical of massive job cuts at the Tropicana Casino and Resort will not be allowed to intervene in a hearing on whether the gambling house should have its license renewed, state casino regulators decided Thursday.

But the state Casino Control Commission also dealt the Tropicana a setback by refusing to ignore concerns about staffing levels at the casino in making its licensing decision. The casino had argued that such factors were outside the scope of what the commission could legally take into account in deciding on a license.

The commission denied a request by UNITE-HERE Local 54 to intervene in the hearing as an interested party. The union has been battling new management at the Tropicana over job cuts and working conditions.

SAN FRANCISCO

Housing decline called worst since Depression

Evoking Depression-era memories, Wells Fargo & Co. President John Stumpf on Thursday became the latest banker to predict continuing difficulties in the U.S. housing market as risky mortgages made to overextended borrowers disintegrate into large loan losses.

Speaking at an investment conference in New York, Stumpf said the current real estate conditions are the worst he has experienced during his 30-year career. He then punctuated his gloomy assessment by harking back to the deepest downturn of the 20th century.

"We have not seen a nationwide decline in housing like this since the Great Depression," he said.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices rally as investors seek safety

Treasury prices rallied powerfully Thursday, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down as economic concerns sent investors to the safety of government securities.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.08 points to 100.72 with a yield of 4.16 percent, its lowest level since Sept. 21, 2005, and down from 4.25 percent late Wednesday.