IN BRIEF

OMAHA, Neb.

TD Ameritrade may be ready to make deal

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. officials said Wednesday that the company is ready for a possible merger or acquisition as it finishes integrating TD Waterhouse's U.S. retail securities business, amid a push by two hedge funds for the company to merge with E*Trade Financial Corp. or Charles Schwab Corp.

Ameritrade spokeswoman Katrina Becker said her company is always in talks with other companies but gave no further comment, citing securities regulations.

WASHINGTON

Congress asked to rethink fuel standards

The heads of Detroit's auto industry asked Congress on Wednesday to reconsider a proposal to increase fuel standards that the automakers say could hurt their industry.

The leaders of General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group discussed the impact of health care, trade and energy policies on their companies, and asked House and Senate leaders to look at alternatives to a proposed overhaul of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for vehicles.

General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner said the fuel economy program, developed in the mid-1970s, had failed to meet its goal of reducing gasoline consumption and oil imports.

The country would be better off developing alternative fuels and advanced batteries for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, Wagoner said.

WASHINGTON

Google director sells $30 million in shares

Google director John Doerr, whose firm was one of the search giant's biggest venture-capital backers, recently sold about $30 million worth of the company's shares, a regulatory filing shows.

Doerr, a general partner of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, reported Friday's sale of 59,900 Google shares in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Tuesday.

Doerr sold the shares for an average price of $500.90, though the selling price varied from $498.40 to $504. Google shares, which are up about 11 percent this year, rose $11.77, or 2.3 percent, to close at $518.84 Tuesday. The stock slipped 59 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $518.25 in Wednesday trading.

Commission cuts tax on regulated utilities

The Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday reduced the tax it levies on regulated utilities by an estimated $240,000 to about $9 million yearly.

The Commission voted 3-0 to lower the mill assessment to 1.95 from 2 millions. A mill is one-tenth of 1 percent and is levied on the in-state operating revenues of regulated natural gas, electric and telephone companies.

The mill rate was the maximum 3.5 in 2000. Commissioners credited outgoing Chairman Don Soderberg with keeping expenses under control so that the mill rate could be lowered over the years.

Ratepayers shouldn't count on much relief from the move -- the commission estimated that the new mill tax reduction will cut the typical residential customers monthly summer bill by 1 cent.

JetBlue: May traffic up nearly 17 percent

Discount airline JetBlue Airways Corp. on Wednesday said its traffic in May was up 16.9 percent over May 2006, providing an overall capacity increase of 12.7 percent, the company said.

Meanwhile, in a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was disclosed that philanthropist George Soros has given almost 4.9 million shares of JetBlue to his liberal advocacy organization, the Open Society Institute, bringing that group's stake in the budget airline to 5.4 percent.

NEW YORK

Gasoline futures fall on government report

Gasoline futures fell Wednesday after the government reported an unexpectedly large increase in gasoline inventories and a surprising decline in refinery use.

Oil futures jumped when news broke that several thousand Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to chase Kurdish guerrillas. Light, sweet crude for July delivery recovered from early losses and rose 35 cents to settle at $65.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline futures for July dropped 1.69 cents to settle at $2.1904 a gallon on the Nymex.

The average national price of a gallon of gasoline slipped 0.8 cents overnight to $3.14, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices at the pump peaked at $3.227 a gallon last month.

Investors vote against stock-option plans

Penn National Gaming shareholders voted against stock-option plans for directors and executives at the casino company's annual meeting.

UNITE HERE, an employees union, had objected to Penn National's proposals to connect the stock options to a $200 million stock buyback. Company spokesman Joseph Jaffoni confirmed the vote in an interview Thursday.

Under the plans, Penn was authorized to buy back an amount of stock equal to options granted to avoid diluting the value of its shares. UNITE HERE, which owns Penn shares, said the proposals unduly enriched board members, including chairman and company founder Peter Carlino, without benefiting shareholders. Carlino and his family own 11.3 million shares, or 13.2 percent.

Sony announces PlayStation layoffs

On the heels of a $1.8 billion annual loss in its games division, Sony Corp. on Wednesday announced layoffs at its U.S. PlayStation operations.

Sony Computer Entertainment America would not publicly disclose the number of workers affected. Company executives speaking on condition of anonymity said that as many as 50 people, or 3 percent of the 1,600 employees in its Foster City, Calif., office, would lose their jobs.

NEW YORK

Bond prices increase as stocks head down

U.S. Treasury bond prices were slightly higher Wednesday as stock faltered.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the 10-year Treasury note was up $1.88 per $1,000 in face value, or 0.19 points, from its level at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 4.97 percent from 5 percent.