AUTOMOTIVE: Moody's reviews Chrysler's debt

New York —- Moody's Investors Service is reviewing its ratings on Chrysler LLC for a possible downgrade and keeping a negative outlook on Ford Motor Co., citing the market shift away from trucks and SUVs. Moody's said late Tuesday that it is reviewing Chrysler's corporate family rating of "B3," its senior secured first-lien term loan rating of "B1" and its senior secured second-lien term loan rating of "Caa1." All three ratings are noninvestment grade. The credit ratings agency is also maintaining its "negative" outlook on Ford's "B3" family rating and Ford Motor Credit Co.'s "B1" senior unsecured rating. On Tuesday, Fitch ratings downgraded General Motors Corp.'s noninvestment grade issuer default rating to "B-" from "B" with a negative outlook.

DEALS: Cleveland-Cliffs to buy coal miner

Columbus, Ohio —- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said Wednesday that it will buy coal producer Alpha Natural Resources Inc. for nearly $10 billion in cash and stock, positioning the iron and coal miner to better supply the global steel industry. The combined company will be named Cliffs Natural Resources and own nine iron ore facilities and more than 60 coal mines in the Americas and Australia. The boards of both Cleveland-based Cleveland-Cliffs and Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural have approved the deal, in which Alpha shareholders will receive 0.95 of a Cleveland-Cliffs share and $22.23 in cash for each share held Based on Cleveland-Cliffs' closing price Tuesday, Alpha shareholders will receive $128.12 per share, a 35 percent premium to Alpha's Tuesday close of $94.92. That values the deal at $9.01 billion. In a statement, the companies valued the transaction at $10 billion.

ENVIRONMENT: Australia plans to limit emissions

Sydney, Australia —- Australia's government unveiled a plan Wednesday for tackling climate change, aiming for a national limit on carbon dioxide emissions that would require businesses to buy permits if their pollution goes above a specified level. But in apparent concern about a consumer backlash, the plan also offers a cut in taxes equal to any increases in fuel prices caused by the plan. Climate Minister Penny Wong said the proposal marked a new stage in government policy, pointing the way to a "low-pollution economy of the future."

FINANCIAL: SEC: Rule aimed at bank runs

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said an emergency order targeting abusive short sales is aimed at avoiding bank runs amid a "high risk" of investor panics. The order, barring so-called naked short sales, is a "prophylactic" step to keep stock manipulators from spreading lies and fueling a "stampede," Cox said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. The agency so far hasn't seen an increase in such trades, he said. "What we're simply trying to remove are tools of mischief," Cox said. "A run on the bank, which can take hold quickly, would likely be turbocharged by illegal naked short selling."

LEGAL: Former Samsung chief avoids jail

Seoul, South Korea —- Former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee saw the suspension Wednesday of his prison sentence in a tax-evasion conviction, a move that confirmed South Koreans' widely held view that tycoons are immune from jail. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Lee for failing to pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes and imposed a fine of $109 million against the man who led the country's most powerful business conglomerate before he resigned in April over the allegations of fiscal crimes. Still, the court said putting Lee, 66, behind bars would be too harsh. "The extent of his crime is not serious enough to sentence him to prison," Judge Min Byung-hun said. Lee, one of the richest men in South Korea, is the latest in a series of South Korean tycoons whose lawyers deftly used their clients' "contributions" to the country's economic development to help them avoid jail despite guilty verdicts.

MEDIA: ABC to invest in fall schedule

ABC, the broadcast network owned by Walt Disney Co., plans to spend heavily on promoting its new television lineup to lure audiences after viewers tuned out during a 100-day writers strike last season. "We are going to spend a lot of money, and it will be a priority for us to launch into the fall," ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson said Wednesday at a TV critics conference in Los Angeles. "We're rooting for broadcast television."

REGULATORY: EU investigates aid to Volvo unit

Brussels, Belgium —- The European Union is investigating whether Sweden's government violated European Union rules by paying millions to assist Volvo AB's aircraft unit, Volvo Aero, regulators said Wednesday. The 39 million euros ($62.4 million) in government aid was meant to help pay for research and development of components for new aircraft engines being built by General Electric Co. The EU Commission said it was concerned, however, whether the project would have gone ahead had Sweden not stepped in with the aid.

Visa, MasterCard oppose legislation

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislation opposed by Visa and MasterCard that would give merchants more power to lower the fees banks charge them to process credit card purchases. The measure, passed 19-16 with bipartisan support, would grant retailers an antitrust exemption to act in concert to negotiate the fees. "Encouraging negotiations is not regulation," said Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel's chairman. "Retailers are now forced to enter a more or less take-it-or-leave-it contractual relationship before they can accept MasterCard or Visa at their stores." Opponents call the measure a form of price-fixing that wouldn't benefit consumers. Visa and MasterCard, which set the interchange rates to operate their respective payments network, say the measure would limit growth and innovation. The so-called merchant discount fee is the largest component of the 2 percent interchange rate that a retailer's bank pays the cardholder's bank to process the charges.

S.C. town's mayor accused by SEC

The mayor of Beaufort, S.C., has settled a regulatory lawsuit claiming he illegally traded shares of Advanced Cell Technology Inc. based on inside information gained while a company consultant. William Rauch, the city's mayor since 1999, agreed to forfeit $20,700 in profits, plus interest, and pay a fine of that same amount, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday in a statement. He didn't admit or deny wrongdoing. Rauch bought stock in the Alameda, Calif.-based biotechnology company in 2006 after an executive told him a science journal was writing an article on its new technique for creating stem cell lines, the agency said in its lawsuit.

RETAILING: Payless loses trademark ruling

Payless ShoeSource was ordered by a judge to put disclaimers on its "American Eagle" footwear and bags to avoid brand confusion, as part of a lawsuit by American Eagle Outfitters Inc. alleging trademark infringement. Payless, a unit of Collective Brands Inc., must use marketing that clearly states "American Eagle" by Payless isn't affiliated with American Eagle Outfitters, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled last week in federal court in New York. American Eagle Outfitters, a clothing retailer with about 900 stores, sued Payless in April 2007, accusing the Topeka, Kan.-based shoemaker of portraying itself as the owner of the "American Eagle" brand after buying a footwear label under that name.

TELECOM: AT&T loses ad exec in relocation

AT&T Inc. Senior Vice President Wendy Clark, who managed the phone service provider's advertising, is leaving the company because of its relocation from San Antonio to Dallas. AT&T plans to conduct "an extensive search for candidates," spokesman Fletcher Cook said in a statement.

TECHNOLOGY: Report: Microsoft, AOL in talks

Microsoft Corp. plans to meet with officials from Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Internet business to discuss a possible combination, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The two companies had been exploring a deal for several months as an alternative to Microsoft's effort to buy Yahoo Inc., the newspaper said. The discussions are preliminary and a transaction hasn't been formalized, the Journal said.

PC shipments beat target

Seattle —- Computer shipments rose faster than expected in the second quarter, fueled by exceptional demand in emerging markets and a decline in prices in the United States and Western Europe, two research groups said Wednesday. Worldwide shipments increased 16 percent from a year ago to 71.9 million PCs, according to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. The company had predicted 11.2 percent growth. IDC, a research group based in Framingham, Mass., that uses different methods to track sales, found a 15.3 percent rise to 70.6 million computers.

TRANSPORTATION: Hedge fund wins 4 CSX board seats

New York —- CSX Corp. says preliminary results of the railroad's contentious board vote show that four out of five directors nominated by activist hedge fund shareholders TCI and 3G Capital have been elected. The company said Wednesday that shareholders elected TCI Founder Chris Hohn, 3G Managing Director Alexandre Behring, Gilbert H. Lamphere and Timothy T. O'Toole. Lamphere is a managing director of private investment firm Lamphere Capital Management and a former director at Canadian National Railway Co. O'Toole is managing director of the London Underground.

Spanair to cut one-third of jobs

Madrid, Spain —- Spanish airline Spanair said Wednesday that it is cutting a third of its jobs and nine money-losing routes to survive reduced consumer demand and rising fuel prices. The airline, which is 100 percent owned by Scandinavian operator SAS, said it is cutting 1,100 jobs and dropping 15 aircraft from its fleet of 60 to produce savings of around 90 million euros ($144 million) by the end of 2009.

US Airways pilots complain to FAA

Washington —- The pilots union for US Airways said Wednesday the airline is pressuring pilots to use less fuel than they feel is safe in order to save money. US Airways Capt. James Ray, a spokesman for the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, which represents the airline's 5,200 pilots, said eight senior pilots and the union have filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration. The union also paid for a full-page ad in Wednesday's USA Today. The ad accuses the airline of "a program of intimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads."

FedEx cooperates with investigations

FedEx Corp. said it got another subpoena from U.S. officials and an information request from South Korean authorities in investigations of "anti-competitive behavior" in freight-forwarding and air cargo operations. FedEx, the world's largest air cargo carrier, said it's cooperating with both investigations and doesn't believe it has engaged in any such activities. The Memphis-based company made the comments Wednesday in a regulatory filing. The U.S. subpoena is the third FedEx has received in the Justice Department inquiry, first disclosed in February 2006. U.S. and European Union officials at that time said they were investigating at least 12 companies, including passenger carriers, and focusing on fees for fuel and security expenses.