AUTOMOTIVE

Ford F-series truck dethroned by cars

Detroit —- Cars outsold the top-selling Ford F-series truck in May for the first time since 1992, a sign of the rapid shift in customers' preferences from trucks and SUVs to small cars that is forcing painful production cuts and plant closures at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. GM said Tuesday that its U.S. sales fell 28 percent in May compared with a year earlier, while Ford's sales fell 16 percent, Chrysler LLC's sales were down 25 percent and Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales slipped 4 percent. Honda Motor Co., riding the wave of customers seeking better fuel efficiency, said its sales jumped 18 percent, led by a 36 percent increase in car sales. Nissan Motor Co. said its sales rose 8 percent, with a 19 percent increase in car sales. The Toyota Corolla and Camry and Honda Civic and Accord sedans all outsold the F-series truck, which saw sales plummet 31 percent in May to 42,973. F-series trucks have been the best-selling trucks in the United States for 31 years and the best-selling vehicles overall for nearly as long. They also have been the best-selling vehicles each month since June 2005, when the Chevrolet Silverado pickup took a brief lead.

DEALS

Staples raises bid for Dutch company

Amsterdam, Netherlands —- Staples Inc. on Tuesday raised to $2.6 billion its hostile bid for Dutch office supplies distributor Corporate Express NV. Rather than accepting two previous overtures from Staples, Corporate Express last month struck a surprise deal to buy a French competitor, Lyreco SAS, which would create an international competitor to Staples.

Smith International bids for competitor

Houston —- Oil-field services provider Smith International Inc. said Tuesday that it will buy W-H Energy Services in a deal valued at roughly $3.2 billion, a combination that will broaden Smith's offerings in key drilling segments. Smith International will pay $56.10 cash and 0.48 of a Smith share for each W-H Energy share, the Houston-based companies said. Based on Smith's closing price Monday, the deal values W-H at about $93.55 per share, a 9.4 percent premium to its close.

ICE to acquire Creditex Group

Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange Inc. announced plans Tuesday to acquire Creditex Group Inc. in a move that could give it a substantial edge over rivals in the fast-growing market for processing credit derivatives. ICE is offering $625 million in cash and stock for the New York-based group. Creditex operates the largest platform for trading and processing credit-default swaps and related products. Creditex operates voice and electronic platforms for trading and processing over-the-counter CDS products in Europe and North America, with the latter finally gaining traction after a number of years of sluggish growth. Banks trade most CDS contracts among themselves. ICE is paying $565 million in stock and $60 million in cash, at the middle range of market estimates of the value of Creditex, which is owned by its management and a number of private equity groups.

ECONOMY

Manufacturing index for Ga. falls

Georgia manufacturing slowed "significantly" in May, according to the monthly survey by the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University. After what seemed to be a robust April, Georgia's Purchasing Managers Index fell from 57.0 to 48.8. A reading above 50 indicates that manufacturing activity is expanding. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. Georgia's echoes the national reading of 49.6, said Don Sabbarese, director of the Econometric Center. "What's happening is there's a lot of uncertainty around manufacturers. They're on the edge." Among the worries are higher prices for commodities; those costs have gone up for Georgia manufacturers at an unprecedented pace during the past six months.

FINANCIAL

Residential Capital needs more cash

New York —- Residential Capital LLC, the mortgage lending unit of GMAC, said Tuesday that it needs more than three times more cash to stay in business than it estimated just weeks ago. ResCap estimates it now needs about $2 billion in cash by the end of June to meet liquidity demands, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "The change in the number is not a positive development," said Christopher Whalen of consulting firm Institutional Risk Analytics. "ResCap may have to restructure."

FOOD / BEVERAGE

Chicken eateries, PETA strike deal

Norfolk, Va. —- Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisees in Canada have reached an agreement with animal rights activists to buy chickens from suppliers that use a more humane method of slaughter than throat-slitting. Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it has ended a protest campaign as a result of the agreement. The deal with Vaughan, Ontario-based Priszm Income Fund affects all of Canada's roughly 750 KFC restaurants because Priszm acted on behalf of KFC franchisees in Canada, the group said. Priszm owns 485 restaurants. "The ethical treatment of chickens is important to us, which is why we took proactive steps to work with PETA to enhance our animal welfare standards and policies," KFC Canada President Steve Langford said in a statement.

LEGAL

AT&T settles suits on cellphone billing

A unit of AT&T Inc. has settled a group of consumer lawsuits accusing the company of billing customers for downloadable mobile-phone content they didn't want. More than 70 million people will get notice under which they can get full refunds for bogus charges, plaintiffs' attorney Jay Edelson said Tuesday in a phone interview. The content, which included customized ringtones and horoscopes, was being provided to customers of AT&T Mobility LLC by third parties, Edelson and a spokesman for San Antonio-based AT&T said in separate interviews.

REAL ESTATE

D.R. Horton: Tough times to continue

Los Angeles —- Home builder D.R. Horton said Tuesday that the industry could face tough times until 2010. Underscoring that point, Toll Bros. and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. each reported a quarterly loss. "I believe the industry will continue to face rising pressures for certainly the next 12 to 18 months," said Don Tomnitz, D.R. Horton's chief executive, adding that "2010 will be the earliest we get a more solid home-building environment." Tomnitz said home prices may still drop more in many of the hardest-hit markets.

REGULATORY

CFTC to require more disclosure

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will require investors and index funds to disclose more information about their holdings in agricultural markets. The CFTC, in an e-mailed statement Tuesday, called for more information from index traders and swaps dealers in the futures markets. "We want to make sure that markets are functioning correctly," acting Chairman Walt Lukken told reporters in a teleconference in Washington. "We want to encourage access to markets, but we want to be sure too much money isn't distorting markets artificially." Elsewhere, the CFTC announced that it has launched an investigation into the cotton market, looking for possible manipulation.

RETAILING

Wal-Mart starts Web classified ads

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched an online classified advertising site, a move that opens a broader range of shopping to the chain's Internet customers. The site is run through Oodle.com, a 3-year-old San Mateo, Calif., firm, and links to Oodle's online offerings. "This free, community-based resource allows customers to buy and sell items locally, find local jobs and learn about events in their area," Walmart.com spokesman Ravi Jariwala said Tuesday in an e-mail. Jariwala said the site expands goods and services that Wal-Mart customers can buy through the company. "It also further connects our community of 130 million customers who shop the Wal-Mart brand each week," Jariwala said.

Borders to trim corporate jobs

Detroit —- Borders Group Inc. said Tuesday that it is cutting nearly 275 corporate positions as part of a plan announced last week by the nation's second-largest bookseller to reduce annual expenses by $120 million. Borders, which is more than a year into a restructuring and is considering selling itself, said the cuts represent about 20 percent of its corporate jobs but less than 1 percent of its total work force.

TRANSPORTATION

Airlines ask for 'dormancy' waiver

Delta and other U.S. airlines jointly asked the federal government to let them suspend flying on international routes during the next two years without penalty because of high fuel costs. The request to the Transportation Department seeks a blanket waiver of "dormancy" requirements that let the agency take away authority for routes not being used by airlines.

Spirit Airlines signals cutbacks

Spirit Airlines Inc., a closely held carrier that flies to 43 cities, told unions and state regulators Tuesday that it plans to reduce crew bases in at least four cities and lay off employees. Spirit hasn't made any decisions on trimming operations or eliminating jobs, spokeswoman Misty Pinson said in an interview. "It's something that we have to do to maintain flexibility," Pinson said. "We need to continue evaluating our overall flying as we go into the fall, which is the slow season, and depending on where fuel prices go."

Feds seek more info on merger

The Department of Justice has made a second request for information as it reviews the proposed Delta-Northwest merger. Delta Air Lines spokesman Kent Landers said Tuesday that a request for more information is customary in large transactions. "We will continue to work with the Justice Department to meet their request and show that this transaction is pro-competitive and good for consumers," he said. Delta expects the Justice Department process to continue through much of this year. If approved, the airlines expect to close the deal by the end of the year. The airlines filed paperwork with antitrust regulators in April after announcing the merger proposal.

UTILITIES / ENERGY

Gas demand falls 4.7% from 2007

U.S. gasoline demand fell 4.7 percent year-over-year during the Memorial Day weekend, a sign motorists are cutting consumption because of record prices, MasterCard Inc. said Tuesday. Consumers purchased an average 9.043 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended May 30, down from 9.486 million a year earlier, MasterCard said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. Demand for motor fuel fell 3.6 percent from the previous week.

WORKPLACE

House passes telework legislation

Washington —- The House, in a voice vote Tuesday, approved legislation requiring the head of each federal agency to set policies allowing qualified workers to do some work from home. The bill specifies that eligible employees should be permitted to telework at least 20 percent of the hours worked in a two-week period, generally the equivalent of two workdays.