IN BRIEF

GlaxoSmithKline will buy rival drug maker

GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's largest drugmaker, agreed to buy Reliant Pharmaceuticals for $1.65 billion in cash to gain the Lovaza heart medicine.

Closely held Reliant had $341 million in sales in the first nine months of the year, London-based Glaxo said Wednesday. The U.K. company expects the purchase to add to earnings next year.

Glaxo, hurt by a May report in the New England Journal of Medicine that linked its Avandia diabetes pill to heart attacks, needs new medicines to offset slowing sales of some of its biggest products. Reliant's Lovaza offers the maker of the Advair asthma treatment a new growth driver in the U.S. after Avandia prescriptions there dropped by about a half as a result of the reported heart risks.

Casino owner may put $1.8 billion into buys

Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., Australia's biggest casino owner, may spend at least A$2 billion ($1.8 billion) on gaming acquisitions in Pennsylvania, the Australian Financial Review reported.

The purchase may include a gaming house and horse racetrack owned by Harrah's Entertainment, the world's largest casino company, the Review said, citing unidentified industry sources. Publishing & Broadcasting, controlled by Australia's richest man, James Packer, said it's in talks to buy a North American gaming asset without naming the business or indicating a price.

Publishing & Broadcasting has led $1.5 billion of casino purchases in Canada and the U.S. this year to focus on its fastest-growing business. Packer plans to split the media and gaming assets, freeing up A$2.7 billion of cash for acquisitions.

NEW YORK

Crude oil prices slip ahead of holiday

It didn't happen Wednesday, it may not happen Thanksgiving Day, but the price of oil seems destined to burst through the $100 mark sometime soon, leaving higher pump prices and rising heating fuel costs in its wake.

Energy futures balked on that drive Wednesday after the government reported that supplies at a key oil terminal in the Midwest rose for the first time in weeks. Analysts said it was a pause, not a retreat for energy futures that reached as high as $99.29 in electronic trading overnight.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 74 cents to settle at $97.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

NEW YORK

Facebook program has users upset

Some users of the online hangout Facebook are complaining that its 2-week-old marketing program is publicizing their purchases for friends to see.

Those users say they never noticed a small box that appears on a corner of their Web browsers following transactions at Fandango, Overstock and other online retailers. The box alerts users that information is about to be shared with Facebook unless they click on "No Thanks." It disappears after about 20 seconds, after which consent is assumed.

Users are given a second notice the next time they log on to Facebook, but they can easily miss it if they quickly click away to visit a friend's page or check e-mail.

MINNEAPOLIS

GMAC Financial may buy non-U.S. lender

GMAC Financial Services may buy a non-U.S. lender to combine with its struggling Residential Capital, and GMAC managers plan to inject money to keep the mortgage unit afloat, ResCap said Wednesday.

ResCap's net worth fell to $6.2 billion at the end of September. Its lending agreements require it to keep a net worth of $5.4 billion.

GMAC is owned by an investment group led by Cerberus. General Motors Corp. retains a 49 percent stake in the finance company it once controlled before selling it to the Cerberus-led group.

NEW YORK

Ten-year Treasury yield slips below 4 percent

A sharp Treasury rally Wednesday sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year note below 4 percent for the first time since 2005.

The boisterous rally also sent the yield on the 2-year note to its lowest level in nearly three years and amounted to an investor vote of no confidence in the troubled credit markets and the broader economy.

The benchmark yield rose 0.59 points to 101.96 with a yield of 4.01 percent, down from 4.09 percent late Tuesday, but above its low for the day of about 3.89 percent. The benchmark yield had not been below 4 percent since September 2005.

The 30-year long bond shot up 5.94 points to 108.81 with a yield of 4.46 percent, down from 4.48 percent late Tuesday.

U.S. financial markets will be closed today for Thanksgiving.