DEALS

Weyerhaeuser finishes asset sale

Timber and wood products producer Weyerhaeuser Co. said Monday that it completed the sale of its containerboard packaging and recycling business to International Paper for $6 billion in cash. Weyerhaeuser said it plans to use a substantial portion of the money to pay down debt. The transaction includes nine containerboard mills, 72 packaging locations, 10 specialty packaging plants, four kraft bag and sack locations, and 19 recycling facilities.

Anixter acquires two companies

Glenview, Ill. —- Communications products distributor Anixter International Inc. said Monday that it acquired the assets and operations of QSN Industries Inc. and all outstanding shares of Quality Screw de Mexico SA. Anixter, which distributes wire, cable, fasteners and other small parts for the communications industry, will pay approximately $80 million in cash for the two companies. QSN, which distributes and manufactures fasteners for original equipment manufacturers, operates 13 facilities in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Its manufacturing facility is located in Wood Dale, Ill.

Braselton bank makes acquisition

Hamilton State Bankshares said Monday that it has agreed to buy Jefferson State Bank in a deal that will add to its presence on the north side of metro Atlanta. Braselton-based Hamilton State Bancshares did not disclose terms of the deal to acquire Cumming-based Jefferson State Bank, which was established in 2006 and has about $80 million in assets. Hamilton State Bank was founded in 2004. "The change will allow us to combine some duplicated efforts between the companies so that we can better utilize our resources. Customers and employees alike will benefit from our combined efforts," Hamilton State Bank Chief Executive Robert C. Oliver said in a news release. Following the merger, expected to be completed before the year's end, Hamilton State Bank said it will have seven offices in Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Barrow and Forsyth counties. The combined bank will have about $278 million in assets, $223 million in deposits and $41 million in total capital, the company said.

FINANCIAL

Credit card proposal criticized

The Federal Reserve's proposed changes to rules for credit card lending will boost interest rates and fees for consumers, a trade group said. The changes, which include a prohibition on raising rates when borrowers default on other debt, would reduce investment in asset- backed securities of card receivables, boosting the costs, the American Securitization Forum said in a statement Monday. The proposed rules would also require to offer customers "a reasonable amount of time" to pay bills. The changes would cause companies to seek to offset the lost revenue, the forum said, partly by penalizing all new borrowers.

Interest rates rise in Treasury auction

Washington —- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction, with rates on three-month bills rising to the highest level in a month. The Treasury Department auctioned $25 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.710 percent, up from 1.695 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.920 percent, up from 1.880 percent. 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, fell to 2.30 percent last week from 2.33 percent the previous week.

LEGAL

Union Pacific fights federal fine

Omaha, Neb. —- Union Pacific Corp. wants a federal judge to set aside nearly $38 million in proposed penalties a U.S. agency has assessed against the railroad since 2002. The fines are related to 42 incidents when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents found drugs stashed in railcars crossing between the U.S. and Mexico. Union Pacific said it does not control the train cars until after they are inspected by customs agents, so it should not be held liable for what happens in Mexico.

More charges in rogue trader probe

Paris —- Futures trader Jerome Kerviel's 24-year-old assistant has become the second person handed preliminary charges in the multibillion-euro Societe Generale banking scandal, a French judicial official said Monday. Thomas Mougard is being probed on suspicion of "complicity in introducing fraudulent data into a computer system," the official said. The filing gives judges time to pursue an investigation that could result in a trial or in charges being dropped. Societe Generale has accused Kerviel, 31, of betting tens of billions of euros of the bank's money without permission, which led to almost 5 billion euros (more than $7 billion) in losses once the bank unwound his positions in January.

MGA denied mistrial motion

MGA Entertainment Inc., maker of the pouty Bratz dolls, was denied a mistrial in its copyright dispute with Mattel Inc. after a juror was dismissed for making an ethnic slur during deliberations in the trial's first phase. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson, at a hearing Monday in Riverside, Calif., denied closely held MGA's request to throw out a verdict returned July 17 that a former Mattel employee conceived of the Bratz characters and name while he worked at Mattel. During the trial's second phase, Mattel seeks damages from MGA for copyright infringement. "We're very disappointed," MGA lawyer Thomas Nolan said. "We believe we're entitled to a unanimous verdict of 10 free and impartial jurors, and we will seek review from the 9th Circuit." Larson refused Nolan's request to halt the trial while MGA appeals his ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

MANUFACTURING

Manitowoc to sell its marine unit

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri SpA and Lockheed Martin Corp. agreed to buy the marine unit of Manitowoc Co. for $120 million to acquire operations that built the first prototype for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship.

MEDIA

Magazine's parody irks Circuit City

Richmond —- Ignoring Alfred E. Neuman's mantra —- "What, me worry?" —- Circuit City Stores Inc. temporarily banished the irreverent Mad magazine from its store's shelves. But the company said Monday that "some overly sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters" had the August issue removed from the 40 Circuit City stores that sell magazines after seeing a four-page spoof, "Sucker City." "We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale," spokesman Jim Babb said in an e-mail response. "The parody of our newspaper ad in the August Mad was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony ... but there are occasional temporary lapses." The spoof features advertisements for items such HDTVs and video games, including the Nintendo Wii "Guaranteed In Stock ... if you're friends with an employee who hid it in the back for you. Otherwise, ooh, sorry, all sold out."

REAL ESTATE

WCI Communities files for Chapter 11

Carl Icahn's WCI Communities became the latest casualty of the housing market crisis Monday, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to get additional financing in the face of massive losses. Icahn, chairman of WCI's board, said the filing was necessary because the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based developer's entire $1.8 billion debt may soon be in default. Icahn said this was confirmed when some holders of $125 million convertible notes insisted on being paid in full today by cash. WCI also fired Chief Executive Jerry Starkey and replaced him on an interim basis with David Fry.

Pulte Homes matches tax credit

Los Angeles —- Pulte Homes Inc.'s CEO says a new, temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers signed into law last week is a "shot in the arm" to the housing industry and that the builder will help promote it by offering a matching discount. Richard J. Dugas Jr., chief executive of the Michigan-based builder, announced the plan Monday during a conference call with reporters. The housing stimulus law provides first-time home buyers a $7,500 tax credit that amounts to an interest-free loan payable over 15 years.

TECHNOLOGY

Motorola hires Qualcomm exec

Motorola Inc. snagged Sanjay Jha, the chief operating officer of Qualcomm Inc. and a star of the wireless industry, to head its handset division as that unit prepares to become an independent company. Jha will also be co-chief executive of the parent company, sharing the responsibility with incumbent Greg Brown until the spinoff next year. Brown will take responsibility for Motorola's other two divisions.

Remote-storage DVR wins court OK

New York —- In a decision sure to affect millions of cable television subscribers, a federal appeals court on Monday gave a green light to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s rollout of a remote-storage digital video recorder system. In overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked the service, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the judge wrongly concluded that Cablevision, rather than its customers, would be making copies of programs, thereby violating copyright laws. The next-generation technology would let any cable subscriber with a digital cable box store TV shows on computer servers rather than on a hard drive in their home. Cablevision's system was challenged by a group of Hollywood studios that claimed the remote-storage DVR service would have amounted to an unauthorized rebroadcast.

TRANSPORTATION

Mexican truck program extended

Mexican trucks' access to U.S. roads under a pilot program will be extended for two years, U.S. regulators said Monday, less than a week after a House committee voted to halt the test. Letting the program run until 2010 will allow more time to evaluate it, John Hill, chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said in a statement. The announcement sets up a possible confrontation between President Bush's Transportation Department and congressional opponents of the program. On July 31, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to end the test next month as originally scheduled. "The secretary of transportation continues to flout the will of Congress," Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House committee, said in an e-mailed statement.

Airline passenger growth slows

Airline passenger growth hit a five-year low amid surging oil prices and falling consumer confidence, the International Air Transport Association said Monday. Traffic grew 3.8 percent in June, the lowest monthly expansion since the 2003 SARS epidemic cut demand for air travel, the industry group said in a statement. "The airline sector is in trouble," IATA Chief Executive Giovanni Bisignani said in the statement. "With consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse." Losses at airlines could reach $6.1 billion this year, Bisignani said.

Delta cancels regional contract

Delta Air Lines said it is terminating a contract it has with Mesa Air Group's Freedom Airlines to operate 76-seat CRJ-900 regional jets, saying the fleet did not meet on-time performance and other requirements. Mesa plans to contest the termination. Mesa and Delta last year reached an agreement to expand Freedom's operation with 14 CRJ-900 aircraft. Delta said Mesa is now operating seven of those jets, mostly out of New York and Cincinnati. Delta owns the jets and said it will reallocate them to other Delta Connection carriers. It did not expect any noticeable impact to customers. The move follows Delta's attempt to cancel a Freedom Airlines contract for the operation of more than 30 50-seat Embraer 145 regional jets. Mesa challenged that termination, and a federal judge in May ordered Delta to resume the Embraer 145 flights by Freedom pending a trial. Delta has appealed that ruling.

Fliers' records compromised

The Transportation Security Administration has suspended Verified Identity Pass Inc. from enrolling travelers in its pre-screening program after a laptop containing the records of 33,000 people went missing. The company, based in New York, lost possession of the laptop July 26 at San Francisco International Airport; it contained unencrypted records of individuals, the TSA said Monday in a statement. The laptop had the names, addresses and driver's license or passport numbers of mostly online applicants to the Registered Travel Program, which allows customers to pass through security checkpoints quicker at 17 U.S. airports, Verified Identity Pass said in an e-mailed statement. "We don't believe the security or privacy of these would-be members will be compromised in any way," Chief Executive Steven Brill said.