BUSINESS NEWS

• Pratt & Whitney lays off 350 employees 12/3/2008, 6:52 p.m. EST
(AP) — Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney laid off about 350 employees across the country on Wednesday amid concerns that airlines may delay or cancel orders as the global economy slows.

• Consumer group questions online medical device ads 12/3/2008, 6:51 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A consumer watchdog group on Wednesday questioned the legality of several advertisements for medical devices that appear on YouTube and called on regulators to crack down on the promotions.

• Low Treasury yields mean savers see meager returns 12/3/2008, 6:49 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Treasury yields, some of the most sensitive barometers of investor sentiment, keep dropping to new record lows as a torrent of bad economic news continues. But as investors send yields down, they're also influencing the economy — driving interest rates so low that savers get punished and borrowers get a break.

• Rising royalties send Yahoo's Launchcast to CBS 12/3/2008, 6:39 p.m. EST
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo Inc. is plugging its Internet radio service into CBS Corp.'s webcasting network in a move driven by dramatically higher fees for airing music online.

• Brazil's Vale cuts 2.1 percent of work force 12/3/2008, 6:19 p.m. EST
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, has cut 2.1 percent of its work force because of slumping global demand for the raw ingredient used to make steel, the company confirmed Wednesday.

• SEC adopts new rules for credit-rating agencies 12/3/2008, 6:19 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Wednesday adopted new rules designed to stem conflicts of interest and provide more transparency for Wall Street's credit-rating industry, widely faulted for its role in the subprime mortgage debacle and ensuing credit crisis.

• French power company in hunt for Constellation 12/3/2008, 6:16 p.m. EST
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — A $4.5 billion bid Wednesday by France's state-controlled power company for reactors in two states could lead to the only foreign ownership stake in U.S. nuclear plants.

• Management group wins auction to buy Neuberger 12/3/2008, 6:11 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — A group of managers and employees has won an auction to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings' prized investment management unit, which includes the Neuberger Berman money management business.

• Global economic slowdown felt in mining towns 12/3/2008, 6:09 p.m. EST
DENVER (AP) — A severe pullback in spending for everything from houses in Connecticut to jewelry in Europe and steel in China has reached as far as the New Mexico mining town of Silver City, N.M.

• Hospitals raise perk ante to draw, treat patients 12/3/2008, 6:06 p.m. EST
(AP) — At suburban Detroit's Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, patients will indulge in gourmet room service, stroll walking trails and take cooking classes. A former Ritz-Carlton executive is running the show.

• Latam stocks rebound after falling in morning 12/3/2008, 6:00 p.m. EST
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Latin American stocks opened lower Wednesday in line with European markets, then rebounded after Wall Street investors calmly absorbed the latest evidence of a still-weakening economy.

• French power company in hunt for Constellation 12/3/2008, 5:59 p.m. EST
(AP) — A $4.5 billion bid Wednesday by France's state-controlled power company for reactors in Maryland and New York could lead to the only foreign ownership stake in U.S. nuclear plants.

• Stocks finish higher despite dismal economic data 12/3/2008, 5:56 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street withstood another stream of bad economic readings Wednesday, closing sharply higher after investors shuttled between pessimism about the recession and hopes that the nation might start seeing relief soon. The major indexes saw big swings throughout the day, but all closed up more than 2 percent, giving the market its second straight advance.

• World markets advance amid heightened volatility 12/3/2008, 5:52 p.m. EST
LONDON (AP) — World stock markets rose Wednesday as investors brushed aside further dismal economic news ahead of key interest-rate decisions in Europe and the closely watched U.S. jobs report for November.

• Financial industry pushes for lower mortgage rates 12/3/2008, 5:37 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Financial industry lobbyists are urging the Treasury Department to take steps to lower mortgage rates in an effort to stabilize the housing market.

• Signs mount of deepening recession 12/3/2008, 5:35 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest evidence of a deepening recession that's already the longest in a quarter-century came Wednesday in a pair of reports that found little relief in sight.

• Gold, other precious metals prices fall 12/3/2008, 5:35 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Gold and other precious metals prices fell Wednesday as investors again flocked to safer investments like cash and Treasurys in response to more bleak economic data.

• Oil prices waver on skimpy crude inventory report 12/3/2008, 5:28 p.m. EST
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Oil prices wavered near three-year lows as investors weighed falling global demand and a government report showing an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories.

• Obama names Richardson to head Commerce 12/3/2008, 5:27 p.m. EST
CHICAGO (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama selected a prominent Hispanic for his new Cabinet on Wednesday, naming New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his commerce secretary and calling him a leading "economic diplomat for America" in troubled times.

• Schlumberger, Research in Motion are big movers 12/3/2008, 5:23 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:

• Wikipedia hopes to make editing user-friendly 12/3/2008, 5:19 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Concerned that many would-be contributors to Wikipedia are being scared away, the foundation that runs the Internet encyclopedia is getting an $890,000 grant to try to make the editing process more user-friendly.

• UAW to renegotiate labor terms, suspend jobs bank 12/3/2008, 5:17 p.m. EST
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers said Wednesday it is willing to change its contracts with U.S. automakers and accept delayed payments of billions of dollars to a union-run health care trust to do its part to help the struggling companies secure $34 billion in government loans.

• Professors aim to get students a Web analysis tool 12/3/2008, 5:12 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — For anyone who remembers sifting through yellowed card catalogs in the library for that 10th-grade history project, the abundance of information available online is astounding — as is the task of sifting out unreliable information.

• Activists slam EPA decision on mining rule change 12/3/2008, 5:04 p.m. EST
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Angry environmentalists launched an online campaign Wednesday urging President-elect Barack Obama to undo a federal rule that clarifies when coal companies can dump mining waste in streams, calling it a long-awaited "parting gift" from the Bush administration.

• Brazil to up infrastructure spending amid meltdown 12/3/2008, 4:56 p.m. EST
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A top government official says Brazil will boost infrastructure spending by about 34 percent to counter the effects of the global economic meltdown.

• Group finds fewer toys with high lead levels 12/3/2008, 4:55 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — After the high-profile recalls of millions of lead-contaminated toys last year, a watchdog group said Wednesday that its tests found fewer toys with high levels of chemicals in them this year. But about a third of the toys tested still contained a worrisome level of chemicals.

• The phone that feels the flu before you do 12/3/2008, 4:44 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Did your parents tell you to remember your scarf when you went out, so you wouldn't catch a cold? Today, the advice might be: Remember your cell phone.

• Medtronic challenges lawsuit over spinal implant 12/3/2008, 4:34 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. said Wednesday it did not encourage the unapproved use of its spinal implant, which a new lawsuit is blaming for the death of a California woman.

• Clarion-Ledger newspaper cuts 9 percent of staff 12/3/2008, 4:31 p.m. EST
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's largest newspaper announced Wednesday it was reducing its staff by 9 percent, citing declining revenue and rising expenses.

• Fed: Economy darkens heading into holidays 12/3/2008, 4:08 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The country's economic picture has darkened further as Americans hunkered down heading into the holidays, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production.