In Brief

Analyst cuts price target for Wynn, sending shares lower

Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. dropped more than 3 percent as an analyst cut the casino operator's price target, citing expected weakness in Macau.

Felicia Hendrix of Barclays Capital said in a client note Monday that Wynn has usually paid commissions at or below market rates in Macau, instead using its luxury products and services to compete for junket VIP business.

But Hendrix says junket operators are shifting some business away from Wynn in response. She predicts the company will continue to lose market share in the near term.

Macau is the only area in China where gambling is legal.

Hendrix lowered Wynn Resorts' price target to $84 from $92.

Wynn Resorts shares fell $3.08, or 3.41 percent, Monday to close at $87.12 on the Nasdaq National Market.

NEW YORK

Wal-Mart Stores bids to buy Massmart for $4.25 billion

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is offering to buy South African retailer Massmart Holdings Ltd. for about $4.25 billion in a bid to jump-start growth beyond its sluggish U.S. business.

A deal would give the world's largest retailer an opening to expand in South Africa, a fast-growing economy but one that's also troubled by high crime and a 24 percent unemployment rate. It also has a heavily unionized work force.

Wal-Mart said it would pay 148 rands ($21.11) per share for Massmart, which has 201.5 million shares outstanding, according to Thomson Reuters. Further details of the proposed deal were not disclosed.

Massmart is Africa's third-largest distributor of consumer goods; the leading retailer of general merchandise, liquor, and home improvement equipment and supplies; and the leading wholesaler of basic foods. Massmart was founded in 1990 and operates chains including Game and Makro.

AMSTERDAM

Unilever to buy Alberto Culver in deal valued at $3.7 billion

Consumer products maker Unilever NV said Monday it has agreed to buy Alberto Culver Co., the U.S. maker of beauty products such as TRESemme, VO5 and Noxzema, for $3.7 billion in a management-backed deal.

Unilever, which makes Dove soaps, Degree deodorants and Suave shampoos, said it will offer $37.50 per share for Alberto Culver, a 19 percent premium to its closing price in New York on Friday. The deal must be approved by regulators and Culver shareholders.

Alberto Culver, based in Melrose Park, Ill., has a market capitalization of about $3.1 billion based on Friday's closing stock price of $31.48.

LV businessman told to stop selling unlicensed securities

State officials on Monday said they ordered Optimized Cash Flow Systems and Francisco De La Chesnaye of Las Vegas to stop selling unlicensed securities.

The Secretary of State's Securities Division said that the company, at 5353 W. Desert Inn Road, Apartment 1082, was promising 20 percent interest in high-yield savings and certificates of deposit that weren't registered with the state.

De La Chesnaye, who is unlicensed, said he didn't intend to violate state law and didn't consider the investments to be securities. He said he has taken down a website and will take steps to comply with the division's order.

The division order said De La Chesnaye offered to broker loans of $50,000 or more for investors and sold corporate notes with a minimum investment of $5,000. The underlying investments were residential and commercial property, the division said.

WASHINGTON

Banks called on to report all electronic money transfers

The Obama administration is proposing that banks report all electronic money transfers in and out of the country, expanding its anti-terrorism requirements for financial institutions.

Officials at the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Monday that the new requirement would boost their ability to track the source of funding for terrorists.

Banks are now required to only report cash transactions above $10,000. They are also required to keep records on all electronic transfers of money in and out of the country above $3,000 and provide that information to law enforcement officials if asked to do so.

James Freis Jr., the Treasury agency's director, said that widening the reporting requirement would provide benefits with only a "modest cost to industry."

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will hold virtual career fair

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will host a virtual career fair from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today as part of its effort to add 5,000 workers for its Dec. 15 opening.

In a statement, the Cosmopolitan said the fair aims to let candidates visit and chat with recruiters in a friendly, informal online environment.

People interested in attending can register online at www.thecosmopolitanvirtualcareerconnection.com.