in brief
Bank of Nevada parent raises $50 million in stock offering
Western Alliance Bancorporation, the holding company for Bank of Nevada, said Tuesday that it raised more than $50 million through the sale of 8 million shares of common stock.
That includes a 1 million overallotment by underwriter Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The net proceeds, $48 million, will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital injections into its bank subsidiaries.
"Western Alliance's consistent ability to raise capital continues to underscore the value of our franchise," Chairman and CEO Robert Sarver said in a statement.
TRENTON, N.J.
Johnson & Johnson told it's illegally marketing products
A Johnson & Johnson business that makes joint replacements has been warned by the Food and Drug Administration that it is illegally marketing two products.
The FDA notified Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. that it is selling one product that was never approved for sale and is selling another product for uses that have not been specifically approved.
In a letter to the company, the FDA wrote that DePuy is marketing its Corail Hip System for two unapproved uses, and promoting those uses in an online brochure.
The agency also said that it never approved the TruMatch Personalized Solution System. It uses software and high-tech CT scanning technology to create a detailed, 3-D view of a patient's knee so a surgeon can properly position a knee implant.
The FDA has told DePuy to stop selling the hip system for unapproved uses and to provide information that would be needed for the agency to approve the TruMatch system.
NEW YORK
Proxy-fight expenses help
send Barnes & Noble to loss
Barnes & Noble Inc. posted a first-quarter loss on legal expenses related to its proxy fight with billionaire financier Ron Burkle and cut its annual earnings outlook on costs related to the fight.
The book seller said it lost $62.5 million, or $1.12 per share, in the quarter ending July 31. Last year during the same period it earned $12.3 million, or 21 cents per share.
Revenue rose 21 percent to $1.4 billion, although the cost of sales rose as the company invested more in its online book store and Nook e-reader.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 80 cents on revenue of $1.4 billion.
WASHINGTON
Officials investigate fuel tanks in Jeep Grand Cherokees
U.S. safety officials have opened an investigation into 3 million Jeep Grand Cherokees over reports that defective gas tanks could cause fires in some crashes.
The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration investigation is the first step in determining whether a recall of the popular Chrysler-made SUV is necessary. Grand Cherokees in model years 1993 to 2004 are covered.
The advocacy group Center for Auto Safety in October asked NHTSA to review whether the gas tank's position below the rear bumper and behind the rear axle could cause fuel to spill if the SUV were struck from behind. The group also said that the neck of the fuel tank could tear off in crashes.
NHTSA has found 44 Grand Cherokee crashes and 55 deaths since 1992 where fire was listed as the most harmful factor. Of those figures, 10 crashes and 13 deaths were most likely associated with rear-end crashes, the agency said.
SAN FRANCISCO
Microsoft technology handling Yahoo searches in U.S., Canada
Microsoft Corp.'s technology is now processing all the search requests on Yahoo Inc.'s website in the U.S. and Canada, completing a long-awaited leap that creates a more formidable challenger to Google Inc. in the most lucrative part of the online advertising market.
Tuesday's shift marks the biggest step yet in a partnership that Microsoft and Yahoo forged 13 months ago after spending years trying to catch up to Google on their own, only to fall further behind.
Microsoft eventually will fuel Yahoo's search engine throughout the world, but the transition in other countries won't occur until next year and 2012. The technology in the U.S. and Canada will only field requests made in English for now, with other languages expected to be added in the next few weeks. The deal doesn't affect Yahoo Japan Corp., a separately run company that plans to rely on Google's search technology.
By leaning on Microsoft's Bing search engine, Yahoo plans to dramatically lower expenses and focus on other products as it tries to snap out of a financial funk that has depressed its stock price.
CHICAGO
Higher ingredient costs factor in lower profits for Burger King
Burger King Holdings Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income fell nearly 17 percent as sales slipped and costs for ingredients and packaging climbed.
The fast-food chain said Tuesday that it earned $49 million, or 36 cents per share, during the period that ended in late June. That compares to last year's net income of $58.9 million, or 43 cents per share.
The company also got a smaller tax benefit than last year.
Revenue fell 1 percent to $623 million.
The earnings beat Wall Street forecasts, but revenue fell short. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn 34 cents per share with revenue of $635 million.
Sales at restaurants open at least a year slid for the fifth consecutive quarter. That key indicator of a restaurant chain's performance excludes growth at stores that open or close during the year. The measure fell 0.7 percent around the globe and 1.5 percent in the U.S. and Canada.
HARTFORD, Conn.
Officials want adult services section dropped from Craigslist
Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking, attorneys general in 17 states demanded Tuesday in a joint letter.
"Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published," said Kansas attorney general Steve Six in a statement Tuesday. "Sadly, they are completely unwilling to do so."
The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section.
"No amount of money, however, can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist," the letter said.
NEW YORK
To stop New York official's inquiry, FedEx files lawsuit
FedEx sued New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to stop his fraud investigation into the speedy package carrier, saying federal law trumps any state laws he may cite against it.
FedEx said in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, that the probe can't proceed because there's a federal prohibition against state laws regulating the prices, routes and services of air carriers.
The lawsuit said that letting the investigation proceed would be allowing overlapping and inconsistent regulation of air carriers by the federal government and the states.
FedEx, which is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., filed the lawsuit in response to a subpoena it received from Cuomo's office in June. It said it must answer the subpoena by the end of August.
