In Brief

Lowe's officials change date for opening of Las Vegas store

Lowe's officials have changed the date for the opening of a new Lowe's home-improvement store in northwest Las Vegas.

The public opening is now set for 7 a.m. Friday. The store is 7751 N. El Capitan Way.

The store has 103,00 square feet of retail space and an adjacent garden center. It is one of two major building projects in the Las Vegas Valley. The other is Tivoli Village at Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive.

Lowe's officials have also scheduled a formal grand opening at 10 a.m. on July 1.

WASHINGTON

Fed suggests Europe's debt crisis threatens U.S. recovery

The Federal Reserve struck a more cautious tone about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, indicating Europe's debt crisis poses a risk to it.

Wrapping up a two-day meeting Wednesday, the Fed in a 9-1 decision retained its pledge to hold rates at record-low levels for an "extended period." Doing so is intended to energize the rebound.

The Fed expressed confidence that the recovery will stay intact despite threats from abroad and at home. But Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues offered a slightly more reserved outlook than the last time they convened.

The Fed said the economic recovery is "proceeding." That was a bit less upbeat than the view at the April meeting when the Fed said economic activity continued to "strengthen." The Fed also said the labor market is "improving gradually."

RICHMOND, Va.

Higher vehicle sales help fuel earnings surge for CarMax

Used car dealership chain CarMax Inc. said Wednesday its net income more than tripled in the fiscal first quarter because it sold more vehicles as the industry slowly recovers from the worst U.S. auto sales market in decades.

The company, which will join the Standard & Poor's 500 after the market closes Friday, said its net income climbed to $101.1 million, or 44 cents per share, in the three months ended May 31, up from $28.7 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a benefit related to lower-than-expected loan losses, its adjusted earnings totaled 41 cents per share, topping analysts' estimates for earnings of 33 cents per share.

CarMax, which operates more than 100 stores, said its revenue rose 23 percent to $2.26 billion from $1.83 billion, while revenue at stores open at least a year rose 9 percent. Analyst polled by Thomson Reuters on average expected revenue of $2.09 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO

Judge sides with Google in lawsuit over YouTube videos

A federal judge in New York sided with Google Inc. in a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by media company Viacom Inc. over YouTube videos, saying the service promptly removed illegal materials as required under federal law.

Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in the closely watched case further affirmed the protections offered to online service providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The law, enacted in 1998, offers immunity when service providers promptly remove illegal materials submitted by users once they are notified of a violation.

That safe harbor had helped persuade Google to buy YouTube for $1.76 billion in 2006, even though some of its own executives had earlier branded the video-sharing service as "a 'rogue enabler' of content theft," according to internal documents unearthed in the case.

LOS ANGELES

First ogres, now trolls: DreamWorks buys doll maker

Now that "Shrek" the ogre is playing out his final chapter on the big screen, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. is turning to trolls to bring in the green.

The Glendale, Calif.-based movie studio said Wednesday it has agreed with Dam Things of Denmark to bring the popular doll franchise, Good Luck Trolls, to movie theaters.

The ugly but cute toys with wild hairdos became popular in the 1960s and had a revival in the 1990s.

They were created by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam, who carved the doll in 1959 when he couldn't afford a Christmas gift for his young daughter Lajla.

A release date was not announced.