Business News

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba might withdraw its HD DVD next-generation video format, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday. via The Modesto Bee

“By the end of the week, it became a more reasonable conversation.”

Weeklong discussions in India about the creation of online domain names entirely in languages other than English led to greater understanding but no major decisions, the chief executive of the Internet's key ... via San Jose Mercury News

Toys "R" Us will soon have stricter safety standards for the products it sells in its more than 1,500 stores. via Fox News

“I know I was wrong. I deeply regret it.”

The former chief executive of Refco Inc., one of the world's biggest commodities brokerages, cried as he pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and fraud charges that carry a possible prison term of more than 300 years.

Phillip R. Bennett, 59, the company's former chairman and chief executive officer, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald to 20 counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and making false filings to the SEC. Read more

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have tentatively agreed to settle a U.S. price-fixing case, British Airways said Friday.

British Airways did not confirm the size of the settlement, but The Wall Street Journal has said the two airlines would pay more than $200 million to customers who flew between Aug. 11, 2004, and March 23, 2006.

The airlines were the subject of a class action suit in California which alleged that they colluded in setting fuel surcharges on long-haul flights.

Passengers who bought tickets in the United States or Britain for travel on long-haul routes between Aug. 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006, will be entitled to claim one-third of the fuel surcharge levied per long-haul ticket, BA said. Read more

Best Buy says it will earn less than expected in fiscal 2008 due to weak January sales and a difficult retail environment.

The consumer-electronics retailer now expects earnings to be $3.05 to $3.10 per share, from previous guidance of $3.10 to $3.20 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect $3.16 per share.

The company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue will fall short of expectations, hurt partly by weak January traffic.

Minneapolis-based Best Buy Co. expects revenue of nearly $40 billion for the year ended March 1. Analysts expect revenue of $40.2 billion. Read more

U.S. stocks headed for a lower opening on Friday after a weak manufacturing report stirred concerns of a further economic slowdown.

The New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that conditions have deteriorated this month. The reading fell nearly 21 points to negative 11.7 _ the first negative reading since May 2005. Analysts had forecast a decline of 6.5 percent for the February number, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

A Labor Department report found that U.S. import prices rose 1.7 percent in January, as oil prices jumped. In December, prices slipped 0.2 percent. Read more

Oil prices dropped Friday after rising more than $2 a barrel in the previous session as new U.S. trade deficit figures spurred hopes that the U.S. economy might escape a serious downturn.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday the trade deficit fell in December and for 2007 as a whole _ an indication the U.S. is exporting more goods. This led investors to think U.S. energy demand would not be as weak as feared.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's suggestion that the central bank is prepared to again cut interest rates also helped boost light, sweet crude to settle at $95.46 a barrel Thursday, an increase of $2.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Read more

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the deficit dropped to $711.6 billion last year, a decline of 6.2 percent. via SF Gate

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. says it swung to a profit of $52 million in the fourth quarter from a loss a year ago. Its latest results got a lift from strong U.S. and international premium tire sales.

The profit reported Thursday by the biggest U.S. tire company compares to a loss of $358 million in the year-ago quarter. That was when results were brought down by a Steelworkers union strike at Goodyear's North American factories.

The Akron-based company's fourth-quarter sales jumped 11 percent from a year ago to $5.16 billion. Read more

“The outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months, and the downside risks to growth have increased”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the country's economic outlook has deteriorated and signaled that the central bank is ready to keep on lowering a key interest rate -- as needed ... via Chicago Tribune

“Unfortunately, I can't turn this ship from its course of the past 10 years within just a few months”

Tribune Co. plans to cut 400 to 500 jobs companywide, including about 100 each at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, the company announced Wednesday. via San Jose Mercury News

“Any options other than Microsoft are all ... fraught with serious consequences”

Yahoo Inc is reportedly in talks with News Corp to combine their Web properties, but Wall Street analysts rained scorn on the likelihood of a deal that can fend off Microsoft Corp's $42.1 billion bid for Yahoo. via Reuters

The Coca-Cola Co. says its fourth-quarter profit rose 79 percent on a double-digit increase in sales.

The world's biggest soft drink maker said Wednesday it earned $1.21 billion for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to a profit of $678 million a year earlier, when the company took a big impairment charge at its largest bottler.,

That amounted to a profit of 52 cents a share versus 29 cents a share a year ago.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola says it earned 58 cents a share in the quarter excluding special items, ahead of the 55 cents a share analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting. Read more

WASHINGTON : Shoppers put aside worries about the slumping economy to go to the malls and auto dealerships in January. via International Herald Tribune

Agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 55 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations as lofty crop prices stoked global demand for its equipment. via New York Times

“Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye.”

Comcast Corp. told the Federal Communications Commission in formal comments Tuesday that hampering some file-sharing by its subscribers was a justifiable way to keep Web traffic flowing for everyone.

The comments are the fullest accounting yet of how Comcast manages its network.

Comcast's network management is the subject of formal complaints to the FCC from consumer groups and law professors.

The groups say Comcast has breached the principle, known as ''Net Neutrality,' of treating all Internet traffic equally. They also say the company was hampering movie downloading services because they might compete with Comcast's cable TV business. Read more

Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second largest bank, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit dropped 72 percent because of writedowns for investment banking and money-market funds.

The bank earned 1.33 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion) in the October-December period as it took writedowns of 2.07 billion francs ($1.88 billion), which showed it continues to weather the subprime crisis better than some rivals.

It said that in mortgage securities its net subprime exposure has fallen sharply to 1.6 billion francs ($1.45 billion) from 3.9 billion francs at the end of September. Read more

Marsh & McLennan has reported a smaller profit for the last three months of 2007 on weakness in its risk and insurance services business.

New York-based Marsh & McLennan Inc. said Tuesday it earned $85 million or 16 cents per share in the fourth quarter compared with $226 million or 40 cents per share in the same period a year ago.

A survey by Thomson Financial indicates Wall Street analysts had expected the company to earn 31 cents per share.

Many insurance brokers are struggling because insurers are loath to pay higher commissions as premiums slip. An industry group says the average insurance rate fell 12 percent in the fourth quarter. Read more

“Everyone's in crisis because they're all picking away at their BlackBerrys and nothing's happening”

BlackBerry outages are rare, but when they do hit, like one did Monday that wiped out service across United States and Canada, subscribers who have become addicted to the smart phones are quick to unleash their fury.

'I'm mad _ it's enough already,' said a frustrated Stuart Gold, who said he gets 1,000 e-mails a day as director of field marketing for Web analytics company Omniture Inc. and can't afford the downtime.

Gold, who worked most of Monday on a laptop while traveling, plans to ask his company to buy him a backup smart phone from a rival like Palm Inc., which makes the Treo, in case BlackBerry service goes on the fritz again. Read more