AUTOMOTIVE: GM to raise prices on 2009 models

Detroit —- General Motors Corp. is telling dealers it plans to raise prices on 2009 models by an average of 3.5 percent. But the automaker also will run a sale starting today to help clear out high inventories of 2008 pickups, sport utility vehicles and larger cars. Company officials said in conference calls to dealers Monday that the increases on 2009 models will allow GM to recover only part of the rising cost of steel and other commodities. The increases will amount to about $1,000 per vehicle.

DEALS: Bunge to acquire Corn Products

Two of America's oldest agricultural companies laid the foundation for a new $30 billion-a-year ag and food colossus Monday with the announcement that Bunge Ltd. is buying Corn Products International Inc. in a $4.4 billion stock deal. While neither boasts a brand name known to consumers, the combination will vault White Plains, N.Y.-based Bunge into the Fortune 100 by adding Corn Products' sweeteners, starches and other ingredients to its portfolio of agribusiness, fertilizer, edible oil and milling products.

Waste collection giants to combine

West Palm Beach, Fla. —- Disposal company Republic Services said Monday that it will buy Allied Waste Industries in a $6.07 billion stock deal to combine the second- and third-largest players in the industry. Republic Services Inc. will pay Allied Waste shareholders 0.45 of a Republic share for each share held, a value of $14.04 per share based on Republic's Friday closing stock price of $31.19. Based on the nearly 432.5 million Allied shares outstanding, the deal represents a nearly 4 percent premium to Allied's closing stock price Friday. Shareholders of Phoenix-based Allied Waste will own 52 percent of the combined company.

Fandango buys Movies.com

Movie ticketing and entertainment site Fandango Inc. said Monday that it has acquired Movies.com from Walt Disney Co. for an undisclosed amount. Los Angeles-based Fandango, which is owned by Comcast Corp., sells tickets for 1,300 theaters nationwide. It said it will now handle the movie ticketing functions for Movies.com, which is mainly an entertainment Web site.

Luxembourg firm buys Mid Vol Coal

Charleston, W.Va. —- Luxembourg mining and metals company ArcelorMittal said Monday that it has agreed to buy Mid Vol Coal Group. Mid Vol owns approximately 85 million tons of reserves and produced 1.5 million tons of coal from West Virginia and Virginia mines last year.

FINANCIAL: Interest rates fall in Treasury auction

Washington —- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction to the lowest levels in two weeks. The Treasury Department auctioned $22 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.855 percent, down from 2.050 percent last week. Another $23 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.255 percent, down from 2.350 percent last week. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 2.57 percent last week from 2.51 percent the previous week.

LEGAL: Huntsman sues over failed sale

Salt Lake City —- Huntsman Corp. is suing Apollo Management and its two partners, alleging fraud after the private equity group backed out of a deal to buy the chemicals company for $6.5 billion. Huntsman seeks a jury trial for damages exceeding $3 billion, plus additional punitive damages, in a suit filed in Texas. While Huntsman is based in Salt Lake City, it has its administrative headquarters in Texas. Last Wednesday, Apollo's Hexion unit said it no longer believes it can buy Huntsman, citing the company's financial deterioration. Huntsman alleges that Apollo falsely represented its commitment to the deal in order to get the company to terminate a previous buyout agreement with Dutch manufacturer Basell AF.

Court rules for collection agencies

Washington —- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a collection agency with no financial stake in a case can sue on behalf of its customers. The 5-4 decision addresses a basic legal point, that courts can only hear cases when plaintiffs suffer actual injuries that are traceable to a defendant's conduct. In the case, APCC Services Inc. is trying to collect from Sprint Communications and AT&T for coinless long-distance calls over the networks of Sprint and AT&T. APCC provides billing and collection services on behalf of pay-phone providers.

Court to decide Internet rivalry

Washington —- The Supreme Court intervened in a lawsuit by an Internet service provider accusing AT&T of anti-competitive practices. AT&T had asked the justices to step into the dispute over wholesale prices AT&T charges for high-speed service to Internet service providers who then compete with AT&T for retail Internet customers. AT&T says it is under no obligation to deal with the Internet service providers and that the lawsuit should be thrown out for failing to state a valid legal claim.

Broadcom figure enters guilty plea

Santa Ana, Calif. —- Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry Samueli pleaded guilty Monday to lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission as it probed stock option backdating at the chip maker. Samueli, a billionaire philanthropist and owner of hockey's Anaheim Ducks, told U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney he was guilty of the single felony of making a false statement. The plea agreement is part of a larger federal criminal probe into stock-option backdating at Broadcom, which was ultimately forced to write down $2.2 billion in profits.

MARKETING: Philip Morris ends cigarette filter test

Richmond —- Philip Morris USA said Monday that it has ended test marketing of Marlboro-branded cigarettes that use a high-tech filter. The operating company of Altria Group Inc. said it pulled the plug on Marlboro Ultra Smooth and Marlboro Ultra Light cigarettes, which used an activated carbon filter to deliver nicotine with potentially less exposure to carcinogens than in conventional cigarettes. The Marlboro Ultra Smooth brand was tested in Atlanta, Tampa and Salt Lake City for more than three years. Marlboro Ultra Lights in Phoenix and North Dakota, and Basic Ultra Lights in Washington state also were discontinued.

REAL ESTATE: Harry Norman loses president

Harry Norman Realtors President Lewis Glenn is leaving "to pursue other personal and professional opportunities," the company announced Monday. Glenn, who headed Harry Norman for 14 years, will be succeeded by Martha Hayhurst. HomeServices of America, an affiliate of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, bought Harry Norman in 2006.

TELECOM: FCC nixes sales pitch from Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. must stop trying to talk customers out of switching service providers while they wait for the phone numbers to be transferred, regulators said. It's illegal for Verizon to use information from rivals to contact customers to persuade them not to change carriers, the Federal Communications Commission said in an order released Monday. Competitors typically need to notify Verizon if customers want to switch service and retain their old number. The FCC vote against Verizon was 4-1, with Chairman Kevin Martin the lone dissenter.

TRANSPORTATION: Australian strike hampers Qantas

Sydney, Australia —- Qantas canceled six flights Monday between Australia's two largest cities and prepared for broader turmoil as engineers launched strikes against the national carrier in a pay dispute. Six of the carrier's flights from Sydney and Melbourne were canceled Monday, and another 18 flights in those cities as well as Brisbane and Cairns will be canceled today, the airline said. Qantas executives said they have contingency plans in place to keep disruptions to passengers to a minimum but did not release details.

Japan Airlines to test biofuel

Tokyo —- Japan Airlines said Monday it plans a test flight of a Boeing 747 partially powered by biofuel by early next year. The airline will use a biofuel mixed with kerosene in one of four engines on the jet, with the three remaining engines powered by ordinary jet fuel or kerosene, it said in a statement Monday. The carrier said it plans to use a new generation of biofuel made of nonedible materials to avoid using potential food sources.

AirTran adds San Juan service

AirTran Airways is launching flights from Baltimore to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in December, the carrier announced Monday. AirTran, which has its major hub in Atlanta and is based in Orlando, said it will begin flying nonstop between Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport on weekends starting Dec. 20. It is also adding a second daily flight from Atlanta to San Juan starting Dec. 18 and from Orlando to San Juan starting Nov. 2.

Northwest fuel bill up $2 billion in '08

Washington —- Northwest Airlines Chief Executive Doug Steenland said Monday that the airline's fuel costs will be up $2 billion in 2008 from 2007. He said he expects the airline's total fuel costs to be in the region of $6 billion this year. Steenland testified at a congressional hearing.

United to lay off 14% of pilots

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines will lay off 950 pilots, or about 14 percent of its total, while shrinking its jet fleet to save on fuel. The first 100 furloughs will begin in September and extend into 2009 as United retires 100 planes, airline spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said Monday in an interview. The pilot cutbacks come on top of buyouts offered to 600 senior flight attendants and 1,600 salaried jobs being eliminated at Chicago-based United amid an 82 percent surge in the price of jet fuel during the past year. United is paring its U.S. capacity by 18 percent.

Midwest to ground a third of fleet

Milwaukee-based Midwest Air Group Inc., the carrier purchased by buyout firm TPG Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., plans to ground about a third of its fleet and cut jobs. All 12 of Midwest Air's Boeing Co. MD-80s will be taken out of service after the peak summer travel season ends, spokesman Michael Brophy said Monday. "It's going to have an impact on flight crews," he said. "We don't have that number nailed down."

Delta-Northwest deflates in value

Delta Air Lines Inc.'s all-stock purchase of Northwest Airlines Corp. fell to a value of $1.73 billion on Monday, less than 50 percent of the total when the deal was announced on April 14. Northwest shares fell $1.15 to $5.51, while Delta's closed at $5, down 68 cents. The deal, which requires regulatory approval, calls for each share of Northwest to be exchanged for 1.25 Delta shares.

WORKPLACE: 2 midsize Atlanta firms honored

Two metro Atlanta companies were among the 25 best medium-sized firms to work for in America by the Society for Human Resource Management. Holder Construction Co., which builds commercial buildings, ranked sixth and was cited for its employee training philosophy, unconventional organizational structure and new employee referral reward of $2,500. Matrix Resources Inc., an information technology staffing firm —- ranked 15th —- was recognized for its employee mentoring programs, its "get-to-know-you" breakfasts for new employees and welcome packages for new hires. The firms were ranked based on 44,258 employee survey responses as well as the assessment of the Great Place to Work Institute, a research and management consulting firm, of companies' efforts in credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie.

Tech industry outshines others

Washington —- High-tech companies are rapidly adding jobs and paying workers more than other industries in metropolitan areas stretching from New York to Seattle, according to a new study looking at the nation's top "cybercities." In a report being released today, the American Electronics Association found 51 of the top 60 U.S. cybercities —- those with the most technology workers —- added high-tech jobs in 2006. The report also found the average technology industry wage was 87 percent higher than the average private sector salary. Although the AeA report is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2006 —- the most recent year available —- the industry continues to experience robust growth even as much of the rest of the economy slows, said Christopher Hansen, president and chief executive of the trade group. "The tech sector is not laying people off," Hansen said. "If anything, the industry is having trouble getting enough people with the right credentials."