Tabbed Business News

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are fluctuating in a narrow range after traders received one mixed report on the jobs market and await a second later this week.

NEW YORK (AP) — The bidding contest between computer makers Hewlett-Packard and Dell for the data storage company 3Par is heating up. Even before Dell could make its latest offer public, HP has come back with a higher bid.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people requesting unemployment benefits declined for the second straight week, suggesting that the slowing economy isn't prompting widespread job cuts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shutter the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Productivity in the spring fell by the largest amount in nearly four years while labor costs rose, signals that companies may have reached the limits of squeezing more work out of fewer workers.

NEW YORK (AP) — A published report says the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into certain types of stock trade orders that could be distorting share prices and trading volume.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Productivity in the spring fell by the largest amount in nearly four years while labor costs rose, signals that companies may have reached the limits of squeezing more work out of fewer workers.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Court records show a lawsuit in which Nicolas Cage accused a former business manager of mismanagement has been dismissed.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Engineers don't expect to see another gusher when they delicately remove a cap on the blown-out Gulf of Mexico well that spawned the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

NEW YORK (AP) — Baby carrot farmers are launching a campaign that pits the little, orange, crunchy snacks as daring, fun and naughty — just like junk food.

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — American Samoa will make it illegal for stores to hand out plastic bags once a new law takes effect early next year.

DETROIT (AP) — Americans nervous about the drumbeat of bad economic news stayed away from auto showrooms. Automakers nervous about their bottom lines didn't offer deals to lure them in.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former chief of Lehman Brothers told a panel investigating the financial crisis that the Wall Street firm could have been rescued, but regulators refused to help — even though they later bailed out other big banks.

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's teachers union and Seattle Public School have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year labor contract.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank McCourt says his plans to turn the fortunes of Los Angeles Dodgers around included reducing players' salaries.

NEW YORK (AP) — Xerox Corp. has this message for you: For the last time, we're not just about making copies.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. dedicated a $140 million road grader factory Wednesday, a facility that will employ 600 people and produce the big machines for markets around the world.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Police say the gunman who took three people hostage at the Discovery Channel network's programming has died after they shot him.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has made a formal offer to buy the roughly 1.4 million shares it doesn't already own of subsidiary Wesco Financial Corp.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal agriculture inspectors at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have found a destructive pest in a shipment of pineapples that's never been seen before in the United States.