AUTOMOTIVE

19,000 GM workers to take buyouts

Detroit —- General Motors Corp. said Thursday that a quarter of its U.S. hourly workers will take the company's latest buyout and early retirement offers, opening the door for new hires who will make less money. The automaker said Thursday that 19,000 workers had agreed to leave the company by July 1. GM offered buyouts to all 74,000 of its U.S. hourly workers in February. GM never said how many workers it hoped would take the buyouts, but under a new labor agreement reached last fall with the United Auto Workers union, GM may hire up to 16,000 nonassembly workers at half the old wage of $28 per hour.

DEALS

Bear shareholders approve buyout

New York —- Bear Stearns shareholders have approved JPMorgan Chase's $2.2 billion buyout, ending the saga of the 85-year-old pillar of Wall Street that crumbled under the weight of its own wagers on high-risk mortgages. Bear Stearns officially becomes part of JPMorgan Chase today, after a widely anticipated "yes" vote that won with 84 percent of the vote Thursday morning at Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan headquarters. The meeting, led by Bear Stearns Chairman James Cayne and CEO Alan Schwartz, lasted less than 10 minutes, leaving some Bear Stearns' shareholders angered by the speed at which the deal closed.

Atlantic City casino to get makeover

Atlantic City, N.J. —- The Trump Marina Hotel Casino is about to be reborn with a tropical theme under new owners who are bringing singer Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" brand to the Northeast. Coastal Marina LLC, an affiliate of Coastal Development LLC, said Thursday that it is buying the casino from Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the casino company founded by real estate magnate Donald Trump. After the $316 million sale closes in six to nine months, Trump Entertainment will have two remaining casinos in Atlantic City: the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

ECONOMY

Bernanke assures liquidity for banks

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that the central bank's auctions of cash to banks will increase as needed. While market conditions have improved, they remain "far from normal," Bernanke said in remarks to a workshop in Basel, Switzerland, that were the same as a May 13 speech. The Fed chief spoke to the event via videoconference. Bernanke established the Term Auction Facility in December and two other programs in March to reverse a decline in credit availability. The Fed announced earlier Thursday that it will auction $75 billion apiece in three sales next month through the TAF. "We stand ready to increase the size of the auctions further if warranted by financial developments," Bernanke said.

Lehman's hedging practices criticized

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and other securities firms will have further losses because of dwindling revenue and their "incompetence" at risk management, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. analyst Richard Bove says. Business is evaporating in the markets for mortgages, credit derivatives, private equity, prime brokerage and international transactions, Bove said in an interview. New York-based Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, may have a loss of as much as $2 billion on hedges in the current quarter, he said. Many securities firms "are dealing with tens of billions of dollars and they are just not hedging properly," Bove said. "What we see is almost a level of incompetence on risk management that is frightening."

HEALTH CARE

McKesson accused of inflating costs

Hartford, Conn. —- The state of Connecticut is accusing a major drug distributor, McKesson Corp., of illegally inflating wholesale drug costs for hundreds of brand-name drugs. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday that "illegal and deceptive practices" by San Francisco-based McKesson meant Connecticut consumers and state-funded health care programs paid millions more than they should have for Celebrex, Lipitor, Prevacid, Flonase, Nexium and other medications. "The victims of this surreptitious scheme included patients and taxpayers who were overcharged by companies seeking higher sales and profits," Blumenthal said. "McKesson exploited publicly funded programs that serve our must vulnerable citizens." McKesson officials have not yet reviewed the lawsuit, company spokesman James Larkin wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Thursday. But he added that the allegations appeared to be the same as those in a 2005 class-action lawsuit against McKesson and that the company strongly denies those claims.

HOSPITALITY

Ted's finally has Montana location

Bozeman, Mont. —- With 56 restaurants in 18 states, Ted's Montana Grill is finally coming to Montana. The 57th Ted's Montana Grill is scheduled to open Monday in the Baxter Hotel in downtown Bozeman. The restaurant co-founded by media mogul Ted Turner specializes in bison.

LEGAL

Merck prevails in 2 Vioxx appeals

Appeals courts in New Jersey and Texas on Thursday scrapped verdicts against drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. stemming from some of the earliest trials involving its once-popular painkiller Vioxx. A Texas court reversed a $26 million verdict against the drug company stemming from the first trial. The court found no evidence that Robert Ernst suffered a fatal heart problem from a blood clot triggered by Vioxx. He had been taking the now-withdrawn drug for eight months before being stricken in May 2001. His widow had won a $253 million verdict against New Jersey-based Merck in 2005, but Texas punitive damage caps later cut that to about $26 million. Also Thursday, a New Jersey appeals court voided $9 million of the $13.9 million awarded to John McDarby in 2006 by a jury in Atlantic City. The panel found that New Jersey's Product Liability Act was pre-empted by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. McDarby survived his 2004 heart attack. Thursday's rulings give Merck 11 victories and three losses stemming from the trials that reached verdicts, with the damages now reduced in one of those losses. Retrials are pending in a few cases.

MANUFACTURING

Israel interested in Lockheed jet

Lockheed Martin Corp. Chief Executive Robert Stevens confirmed Thursday that Israel has requested that the United States allow the sale of as many as 75 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. Israel's initial request includes a "firm" requirement for 25 of the aircraft, with options for 50 more, Stevens said at a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.-sponsored conference in New York. The Haaretz newspaper had reported the request on May 22, without citing the source of its information. The United States already has eight partner countries assisting with development of the F-35 jet, and they are projected to buy about 730 aircraft, Stevens said. The number of jets bought by current partners may increase, while additional allies may also be added to the list of buyers including Israel, Japan and Singapore, he said. "I rather suspect the international interest in the airplane, while it's initially strong, will only grow over time," Stevens said.

MEDIA

News channel to seek black viewers

Oklahoma City —- Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts is developing a cable news network focusing on a black audience. Black Television News Channel, scheduled to launch in 2009, will provide "original news programming with a distinctly African-American perspective," according to a news release. It recently announced a multiyear agreement with Comcast Corp. to carry the channel.

REAL ESTATE

30-year mortgage rates rise again

Washington —- Rates on 30-year mortgages jumped this week to the highest level since mid-March as investors began to worry about what the Federal Reserve will do to combat growing inflation pressures. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.08 percent this week. That was up from 5.98 percent last week. It was the highest level for 30-year mortgages since they averaged 6.13 percent the week of March 16.

REGULATORY

Rat poisons to be restricted

Washington —- The government imposed new restrictions Thursday on some of the biggest-selling rat poisons, citing the danger they pose to children, pets and wildlife. Beginning in October 2009, many rat poisons sold to the public in retail outlets will have to be packaged in dispensers, called bait stations, that cannot be easily tampered with by children and pets. Loose bait such as pellets will be taken off the market for home use.

TECHNOLOGY

FCC chief supports Net subsidies

Carlsbad, Calif. —- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Thursday reiterated his support for government subsidies for broadband network construction. "We spend $6 billion a year on infrastructure for telephone networks," Martin said during a question-and-answer session at The Wall Street Journal's "All Things D" conference. "I think we need to move that to subsidized broadband." Martin supports the idea that broadband networks are becoming as important as the telephone and its networks. Telephone network construction has been subsidized for decades.

TRADE

Counterfeit goods included condoms

U.S. authorities accused nine people of being part of a ring that trafficked in hundreds of thousands of counterfeit items, including more than a half million fake Trojan-brand condoms. At least eight of those named in federal complaints were arraigned Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Michael Orenstein in Central Islip, N.Y., said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell. The defendants shipped the counterfeit goods in containers from China sent to the Newark Seaport in New Jersey. The fake items included counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbags, Mattel Barbie dolls, Rolex watches, Marvel comic books and NASCAR hats, the complaints said. "This is a huge operation, and the individuals are making tens of millions of dollars off these counterfeit items," said Peter Smith, agent in charge of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New York.

TRANSPORTATION

American to cut jobs in Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico —- American Airlines plans to cut more than 400 jobs in Puerto Rico as the dominant Caribbean carrier grapples with record-high fuel prices. Company spokeswoman Minnette Velez says American plans to reduce its daily flights out of San Juan from 38 to 18. American Eagle, which currently makes 55 trips out of San Juan daily, will trim down to 33.

AirTran fined for Web site violation

AirTran Holdings Inc. was fined $45,000 by federal regulators for not listing fuel surcharges in its advertised fares last year. Consumers using AirTran's Web site couldn't see some of the fees until after picking their itineraries, the Transportation Department said in an order. U.S. rules require that charges imposed by the carriers be included in advertised fares. Employees at Orlando-based AirTran made the error while trying to disclose the fees by listing them separately, Richard Magurno, the carrier's general counsel, said in an interview. "Their efforts were well-intentioned," he said. The fine follows actions against at least four carriers in 2007 for failing to disclose flight delays to consumers. Half the penalty will be forgiven in a year if AirTran makes no similar violations.

United, US Air chief execs meet

Chicago —- The CEOs of United Airlines and US Airways met Thursday, according to several published reports, but there were no indications a decision was near on whether to combine the carriers. Glenn Tilton of United and Doug Parker of US Airways have been communicating about a potential deal for more than two months. Word of their face-to-face meeting drew extra interest following reports that the talks appeared to have been broken off.

Expedia.com yanks Frontier's flights

Denver —- Travel Web site Expedia.com has stopped listing flights and selling tickets for Frontier Airlines after Frontier sought to restructure its contract. Frontier said Thursday it is holding discussions with Expedia with the aim of negotiating a new contract and getting its flights relisted. Last month, Frontier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy laws allow debtors to cancel or attempt to restructure existing contracts.