AUTOMOTIVE: Toyota to recall 90,000 SUVs

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to recall about 90,000 Highlander sport utility vehicles from the 2008 model year. The Japanese automaker wants to fix a problem that could prevent the seat belt in a third-row seat from securing a rear-facing child seat.

DEALS: Citigroup to shed benefits servicer

New York —- Citigroup Inc., which has been shedding assets as it tries to turn around following heavy quarterly losses, said Friday that it will sell one of its joint ventures —- benefit servicing company CitiStreet LLC, which it owns jointly with State Street Corp. The buyer is ING Group in an all-cash transaction worth $900 million.

Spectrum drops plan to sell unit

Spectrum Brands Inc. said Friday in a regulatory filing that it has determined not to pursue a sale of its home and garden business at this time in light of current economic conditions and uncertainties in financial markets. The Atlanta-based consumer products company said it remains committed to exploring possible strategic options, including divesting certain assets, in order to focus on strategic growth businesses, reduce debt and maximize long-term shareholder value.

Report: Microsoft ups bid for Yahoo

Microsoft Corp. apparently has dangled a higher takeover bid in front of Yahoo Inc., hoping to reach a friendly deal after weeks of saber-rattling. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker upped its offer beyond the original value of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, The New York Times reported on Friday. The newspaper said Microsoft boosted the offer by "by several dollars" per share, lending weight to the assertion by many market analysts that Microsoft can afford to pay up to $35 a share.

ECONOMY: Part-time workers' ranks have swelled

The drop in the U.S. unemployment rate in April partly reflected a jump in part-time workers, raising concern businesses are still scaling back, economists said. The number of Americans saying they worked part time last month for economic reasons —- either because their hours were cut or they couldn't find full-time work —- jumped to 5.22 million from 4.91 million in March, the Labor Department reported Friday. That helped the jobless rate fall to 5 percent. "With goods employment still declining sharply, hours worked down and part-time employment up, this report can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," Nigel Gault of Global Insight said in a note to clients.

Bush: Slow growth 'not good enough'

Maryland Heights, Mo. —- President Bush said Friday that the slow growth of the economy is "not good enough for America" but that new stimulus checks will inject some life soon. "This economy is going to come on," Bush said. "I'm confident it will." Checks of up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples are starting to hit bank accounts this week. They are part of a broader economic stimulus plan that also includes tax breaks for businesses as an incentive to invest. Bush called it "a robust attempt to inject life" into the economy that hasn't fully kicked in yet.

FINANCIAL: Countrywide's credit rating cut

Countrywide Financial Corp.'s credit rating was unexpectedly cut below investment-grade status by Standard & Poor's Corp., which cited doubts about whether Bank of America Corp. will back the home lender's debt after the companies merge. The revision reflects "the new level of uncertainty as to the ultimate legal status of Countrywide's creditors" after the lender's sale, S&P said Friday. Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, agreed in January to buy Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, for about $4 billion after speculation that Countrywide might go bankrupt. Bondholders have been counting on the merger to put Bank of America's "AA" credit rating behind Countrywide's $97.2 billion in debt. But "there is no assurance that any such debt would be redeemed, assumed or guaranteed," the Charlotte-based bank said in an April 30 regulatory filing, adding that no decision has been reached.

ICE investigates expanding reach

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Sprecher said the Atlanta-based company is seeking to clear credit-market contracts as Wall Street seeks stronger guarantees on derivatives such as credit-default swaps. "I've spent the last nine months during the credit crisis talking to CEOs on Wall Street," Sprecher said Friday on a conference call with analysts. "They've dropped some bread crumbs we're following," he said, adding "you should assume we're active in the space."

Student-loan market gets help

Lawmakers who urged the Federal Reserve to help the shrinking student-loan market claimed victory after Chairman Ben Bernanke agreed to swap the securities for Treasuries loaned to Wall Street dealers. "I am pleased that the Federal Reserve" has "changed its policy," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said in a statement. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who chairs a House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, expressed "strong support" for the Fed's "reversal."

FOOD / BEVERAGE: Cadbury's stock rises in debut

London —- Cadbury PLC made its debut as an independent confectionery company on Friday after spinning off its U.S. drinks arm, hitting the London Stock Exchange at a lower-than-expected price but then rising amid speculation about further consolidation in the candy industry. The maker of Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident gum and Hall cough drops began trading at 622 pence ($12.35). The stock rose throughout the session to close at 640 pence ($12.71). That gives the group, half of the former Cadbury Schweppes PLC, a market capitalization of around 8 billion pounds ($16 billion). The other half of Cadbury Schweppes, the North American beverage business to be called Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

HEALTH CARE: FDA issues warning to Stryker

Stryker Corp., which makes artificial hips and knees, received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration alleging the company falsified documents and failed to control quality at a Massachusetts plant. The letter is the third warning Stryker has received from the FDA in 14 months. The allegation of falsified documents refers to material submitted to hospital ethics boards by Stryker sales representatives, said company spokesman Aaron Kwittken in an e-mailed statement. The documents were required to gain approvals by the boards for experimental products made in Stryker's Hopkinton, Mass., facility to be implanted in patients, he said.

HOSPITALITY: Overseas travel expected to rise

More U.S. travelers will head to other countries during their summer travel season, defying higher airfares and a drop in the value of the dollar, a study showed. About 25.1 million Americans will go abroad in June, July and August, a 2.6 percent increase from the same period in 2007, AAA said.

LEGAL: Parmalat issues shares to plaintiffs

Milan, Italy —- Italian dairy group Parmalat SpA said Friday that it will issue new stock valued at more than $36 million to settle a class-action case against it in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York. Under the agreement, Parmalat will issue to class members 10.5 million existing shares valued at $36.8 million at the current market price. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of former Parmalat shareholders and other investors, who claimed they were damaged by Parmalat's 2003 collapse.

P&G sues over whitening strips

Cincinnati —- Procter & Gamble Co. has sued rival Johnson & Johnson in federal court, alleging patent infringement over its teeth-whitening strips. P&G charges that health products maker J&J and its McNeil-PPC unit broke two of its patents concerning the whitener's active ingredient and coating system.

MANUFACTURING: Lionel to take different outlook

Lionel LLC has emerged from bankruptcy protection, ending more than three years of restructuring and a bitter fight with a rival maker of model trains. The 108-year-old toy maker formally came out of bankruptcy Thursday, leaving it poised to move out of the hobby shop and into the broader pop-culture marketplace. Chief Executive Gerald Calabrese, a former Marvel Comics executive who shepherded Lionel through bankruptcy, said in an interview that he sees the new Lionel as an entertainment company and not just a toy maker. "The way people buy and sell things has changed dramatically since 1900," Calabrese said. "We're not the distribution and sales mechanism anymore; we're the intellectual property. And that's the major change in the outlook of this company."

REAL ESTATE: Home 'cash outs' at four-year low

Washington —- Falling home prices and tighter lending standards are preventing more homeowners from pulling money out of their homes, Freddie Mac said Friday. In the first three months of the year, 56 percent of homeowners refinanced their mortgages and "cashed out" at least 5 percent of their equity. That's a four-year low and down from the peak in mid-2006 of 88 percent, according to the McLean, Va.-based mortgage finance company. Homeowners' inability to tap their home equity often affects their spending and investment decisions, which is why economists watch the rate so closely.

REGULATORY: McKesson settles with feds

McKesson Corp., the largest U.S. drug distributor, agreed to pay $13.3 million to settle government claims over the company's distribution of two often-abused prescription drugs. The agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Justice Department calls for McKesson to suspend temporarily the distribution of hydrocodone, a morphine-like drug, and alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug, from two of the company's 31 distribution centers, according to a company statement Friday. McKesson, which is based in San Francisco, had set aside the money for a potential settlement and expects no other "material financial impact," according to the statement.

RETAILING: Wal-Mart drops plans for store

Wal-Mart announced late Thursday night that it would not build a 176,000-square-foot Supercenter at the corner of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. While every step of the store's rollout was greeted by crowds of protesters wearing red T-shirts and carrying "Stop Wal-Mart" signs, there was no indication that pressure from neighborhood group Smart Growth Gwinnett had an effect on the decision. Instead, company spokesman Glen Wilkins said in a news release, the decision was "related to Wal-Mart's announcement in June 2007 to more strategically prioritize development of Supercenters." There are already two Wal-Mart stores within six miles of the proposed location, in Duluth and neighboring Suwanee.

TECHNOLOGY: BlackBerry maker, SAP start venture

SAP AG, the world's largest maker of business-management software, and Research In Motion Ltd. said they will work together to give users of the BlackBerry e-mail phone access to enterprise applications. Making customer-relationship management functions available for mobile salespeople is the first anticipated result of the partnership, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP and Research In Motion, the Canada-based maker of the BlackBerry, said in a joint statement Friday. The partnership is a new effort to expand SAP's user base after first-quarter software license sales, a gauge of future consulting fees, fell short of Wall Street estimates.

TRADE: South Korea defends U.S. beef

Seoul, South Korea —- The South Korean government tried to assuage fears Friday over the safety of U.S. beef, while thousands of people rallied in Seoul against the coming resumption of imports. Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun, other officials and medical experts spoke at a nationally televised news conference to head off a spate of sensational reporting since the government agreed last month to resume imports following a lengthy ban over fears of mad cow disease.

TRANSPORTATION: OHSA proposes fine for United

Chicago —- Federal authorities contend Chicago-based United Airlines committed dozens of violations of workplace safety standards at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $215,500 in fines, and United has 15 days to appeal.