ECONOMY: Growth estimate revised upward

Washington —- Moves by Congress to pump money into the economy and by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates will generate a slightly stronger economy this year, Capitol Hill economists predicted Friday. The economy will experience growth in gross domestic product of 1.9 percent this year, the Congressional Budget Office predicted, a 0.2-percentage-point increase over estimates produced by the agency in early December and released last month. "The impact of monetary and fiscal policy stimulus slightly outweighs the deterioration in economic conditions," CBO Director Peter Orszag wrote in a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

FINANCIAL

Mortgage insurer swings to loss

Philadelphia —- Radian Group Inc., whose primary business is insuring mortgages against defaults, on Friday posted a loss of $618 million for the fourth quarter. Chief Executive S.A. Ibrahim called 2007 "an extremely challenging year" and said "the housing downturn will continue to challenge us in 2008 and into 2009." The fourth-quarter loss came to $7.74 per share and compared with a profit of $158.4 million, or $1.96 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Earnings up 9% at Abercrombie

Columbus, Ohio —- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. said Friday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 9 percent on increased sales from its expanding Hollister Co. chain that caters to teens and its Abercrombie stores for children. The apparel retailer said it earned $216.8 million, or $2.40 per share, for the quarter ended Feb. 2, compared with a profit of $198.2 million, or $2.14 per share, a year ago. Fourth-quarter sales rose 8 percent to $1.23 billion. The year-ago quarter had an extra week.

Countrywide's delinquencies rise

Los Angeles —- Countrywide Financial Corp. said Friday that home loan delinquencies and foreclosures rose in January as more borrowers struggled to make their mortgage payments. The nation's largest mortgage lender and servicer said loan delinquencies increased to 7.47 percent last month from 7.2 percent in December and 4.32 percent in January 2007.

One-time gain boosts Scana profit

Columbia —- SCANA Corp. said Friday that increased electric sales and a one-time gain led to higher profits in the fourth quarter, beating analysts' expectations. The electricity and gas provider reaffirmed its outlook for 2008 that was above Wall Street's expectations. Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 increased to $88 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with $65 million, or 57 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier.

Bond insurer plans to split in two

Albany, N.Y. —- Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. is expected to apply to the New York State Insurance Department to separate into two companies, splitting its municipal bond business from its insurance on riskier financial instruments, the regulator said. "Congress was clear, almost directional on that," state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo told The Associated Press on Friday, a day after he and other state officials testified at a congressional hearing. He said the message from Congress was: "If you can solve it, solve it, but don't let the municipalities downgrade." A ratings downgrade would make it more expensive for cities to borrow money.

UBS warns of more bank write-downs

The world's biggest banks may have to book as much as $203 billion of write-downs, in addition to the $152 billion reported so far, if bond insurers become insolvent, UBS AG says. "Risks are still rising on many fronts; the problem is broadening from just subprime," London-based UBS analyst Philip Finch said in a note to investors Friday. "We expect more write-downs." MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc., the Nos. 1 and 2 bond insurers, are struggling to maintain their "AAA" credit ratings following losses on residential mortgages. Banks may be forced to write down the value of securities protected by contracts with insurers if their financial condition deteriorates, Finch said. The New York-based companies guarantee the repayment of bond principal and interest in the event of defaults.

MANUFACTURING: Lockheed closes in on training deal

Washington —- The British government is about to complete a $2 billion, 25-year deal with a Lockheed Martin Corp.-led joint venture to train 50,000 pilots and crew. The tentative deal for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed and privately held British defense contractor VT Group took nearly five years to negotiate.

MEDIA

Universal Music sued over royalties

New York —- Some of the biggest names in American music or their estates are suing Universal Music Group Inc. for more than $6 million, claiming the company has been cheating them out of royalties. The plaintiffs include Patti Page and the estates of Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Benny Goodman and the Mills Brothers. The lawsuit, filed late Thursday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says Universal Music and one of its subsidiaries have "pervasively and systematically breached" agreements with the artists by using accounting tricks since at least 1998. The lawsuit seeks at least $6.07 million plus attorneys' fees and punitive damages.

Publishers start online ad network

New York —- Four major newspaper publishers have created an online advertising sales network in the latest industry attempt to claw back ad dollars that are increasingly migrating to the Internet. Gannett Co., Tribune Co. are joining Hearst Corp. and New York Times Co. to form a company that will sell online ad space across a network of newspapers in many large cities.

Hollywood sues Chinese Web site

Beijing —- A Hollywood group said Friday that it is suing a popular Chinese Web site over film piracy, expanding a legal battle over use of the Internet by China's thriving industry in product copying. The Motion Picture Association accused Xunlei Networking Technology Co. of allowing users of its file-sharing service to download hundreds of movies from other Web sites despite repeated warnings. The group said it is seeking 7 million yuan, or about $1 million, in damages.

REGULATORY: SEC adds investor tool at Web site

Washington —- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday launched software at its Web site to help investors easily analyze the financial results of publicly traded companies. The agency said the software, called Financial Explorer, lets investors automatically create financial ratios, graphs and charts showing important information from company financial statements. Information including earnings, expenses and cash flows can be analyzed and compared across competing public companies, the SEC said.

RETAIL: Toy sellers toughen safety standards

New York —- After facing recall after recall of millions of Chinese-made items, the nation's biggest toy sellers are imposing stricter measures on their suppliers —- including tougher standards for lead content —- to get ahead of expected federal legislation. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc., the nation's top two toy sellers, are setting a much tighter standard for the amount of lead allowed on surface paint for toys shipped to their chains on or after March 1. The companies are also phasing out chemicals found in PVC, or vinyl, that have raised safety concerns. The measures are meant to meet or exceed new federal standards expected from Congress in the wake of last year's highly publicized recalls of millions of toys because they contained excessive amounts of lead or other hazards.

TECHNOLOGY

Wal-Mart picks Blu-ray format

Bentonville, Ark. —- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has picked Blu-ray over HD DVD in the battle for the format of high-definition video. The nation's largest retailer said Friday that it has decided to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware and no longer carry HD DVD offerings. The announcement comes five days after Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD format and instead go exclusively with the rival Sony Corp. technology favored by five major movie studios.

Yahoo exec leaves to join Google

Yahoo Inc.'s Bradley Horowitz, head of an internal startup unit at the company, has left for larger rival Google Inc. Horowitz, vice president in the advanced development division, called the timing "a bit unfortunate" on his personal blog Thursday and said his move isn't related to Microsoft Corp.'s bid to buy Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo.

TRANSPORTATION: Deutsche Post CEO quits over scandal

Berlin —- The chief executive of Deutsche Post AG tendered his resignation Friday in the wake of allegations that he evaded some $1.45 million in taxes through investments in the nation of Liechtenstein, the German Finance Ministry said. Deutsche Post delivers mail in Germany and is a major worldwide player in express delivery through its DHL unit. A Finance Ministry spokesman said Klaus Zumwinkel presented his resignation to a committee of the supervisory board of Deutsche Post, in which the German government is the largest shareholder.

UTILITIES / ENERGY: TVA to raise rates effective April 1

Chattanooga —- The Tennessee Valley Authority is raising electric rates for the first time since 2006 to help pay for new generating plants. TVA directors agreed Friday to raise rates 7 percent effective April 1, increasing the average residential bill by about $8 a month. Knoxville-based TVA, the country's largest public utility, provides power to distributors in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.