NEW YORK — Blackstone Group LP today priced its highly-anticipated initial public offering at $31 per share, the high end of its expected range, in the biggest U.S. IPO in five years.

The IPO will raise an estimated $4.14 billion, according to a person familiar with the transaction who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The stock is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

The sale of 12.3 percent of Blackstone's management partnership will mean a big payout for the two Wall Street financiers who launched the firm with a $400,000 investment in 1985.

Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone's chief executive and co-founder, will walk away from the IPO with a 24 percent stake worth about $7.7 billion. Senior Chairman Peter G. Peterson, who plans to retire sometime after the IPO, will retain a 4 percent stake worth about $1.9 billion.

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GE DROPS TALKS TO PLACE DOW JONES BID

NEW YORK — General Electric Co. said today it has abandoned talks with Financial Times publisher Pearson PLC about a possible bid for Dow Jones & Co., removing a potential rival to a $5 billion offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

GE said it held "exploratory discussions" with London-based Pearson about combining GE's CNBC business news cable channel, Pearson's Financial Times newspaper and Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Dow Jones Newswires, but decided not to proceed.

Pearson's CEO Marjorie Scardino told FT staff in a note that given News Corp.'s interest in Dow Jones and Thomson Corp.'s pending deal to acquire Reuters Group PLC, Pearson had "kicked around some ideas" about combining CNBC, the FT and Dow Jones, but "didn't see that combination stacking up for our shareholders."

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GROWTH PROJECTED FOR U.S. ECONOMY

NEW YORK — The U.S. economy should expand modestly in coming months as a healthy job market continues to trump weakness in housing prices, a gauge of future business activity showed today.

The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose a higher-than-expected 0.3 percent in May, boosted by rising stock prices, higher consumer expectations and the availability of jobs.

Economists said that jobs should continue to be plentiful, despite an unexpected surge in jobless claims last week.

The Labor Department reported today that unemployment claims totaled 324,000 last week, up 10,000 from the previous week, to the highest level since mid-April.

While the big increase was unexpected, analysts said it did not change their view that the labor market remains hardy. Even with the increase, analysts noted claims remain close to their average — 319,000 — over the first 5› months of the year.

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COURT RULES AGAINST WRONGED INVESTORS

WASHINGTON — Investors who already had lost money on their stocks lost again at the Supreme Court today when the justices imposed a strict standard for shareholders suing companies accused of fraud.

The 8-1 opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes it easier for companies and business executives to seek dismissal of investor lawsuits at the very start of a case.

A lawsuit will proceed only if the facts alleged in it are "cogent and compelling" in pointing to an intent to deceive investors, Ginsburg wrote. Those factual allegations must be at least as compelling as "any opposing inference" suggesting innocence, she added.

Plaintiffs attorneys said almost all cases already meet the standard the court adopted.

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SENATE APPROVES NEW FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS

WASHINGTON — Senators reached agreement today on a proposal to increase automobile fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon, the first significant boost demanded of automakers in nearly 20 years.

The agreement, expected to be announced at a news conference, would scale back a proposal already in the Senate's energy bill but still was considered strong enough to have wide support from environmentalists.

The compromise aimed to head off attempts by senators sympathetic to the auto industry from pressing a less stringent proposal. Supporters said they had the 60 votes needed to prevent opponents from blocking it.

Earlier today, Senate Democrats fell three votes short of the 60 they needed to advanced a tax package that would have levied $29 billion in new taxes on the oil industry to pay for development of renewable fuels and clean energy programs.

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OIL, GAS PRICES ON SLIGHT DOWNTURN

NEW YORK — Oil prices slipped below $69 a barrel today after a report that a strike in Nigeria hasn't affected oil exports from Africa's largest crude producer alleviated the market's supply concerns.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped 21 cents to settle at $68.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery lost 20 cents to finish at $70.22 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gasoline futures, however, ended higher at $2.2467 a gallon, up 1.8##6 cent. Unleaded gasoline was $2.996 a gallon, down from $2.998 a gallon yesterday and $3.209 a month ago.

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GREETING-CARD COMPANY REPORTS PROFITS

CLEVELAND — American Greetings Corp. said today that its first quarter profit nearly doubled from a year ago on strong sales of greeting cards designed to be more personal.

Its shares rose $1.86, or 7.4 percent, to $26.99 today, after setting a one-year high of $27.79 earlier in the day. The shares have been as low as $20.65 in the past year.

The company made $30 million, or 54 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 25 compared with earnings of $15.4 million, or 24 cents per share, a year ago. Sales rose to $418 million in the quarter from $404.2 million a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for the company to post earnings of 34 cents per share for the most recent quarter.

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H&R BLOCK SEES QUARTER, YEAR LOSSES

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trouble in H&R Block Inc.'s subprime lending unit led the company today to report fourth-quarter and full-year losses and predict smaller 2008 earnings than those expected by Wall Street.

For the three months ended April 30, the Kansas City-based company said it lost $85.5 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with earnings of $587.5 million, or $1.79, a year earlier. The latest quarter included $676.8 million in losses from discontinued operations, mostly tied to its Option One Mortgage Inc. subsidiary.

H&R Block said continuing operations earned $591.2 million, or $1.81 per share, up from $541.7 million, or $1.63 per share, during the same period a year ago.

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CRITICISM LEADS TO FAILURE OF WTO TALKS

POTSDAM, Germany — A crucial meeting of the World Trade Organization's four most powerful members has failed, officials said today, dealing a major setback to efforts at reaching a new global commerce pact.

Brazil and India criticized the United States for its failure to offer deep enough cuts in the billions of dollars of subsidies it pays annually to American farmers.

The European Union and the United States said the two emerging economic powers refused to offer new market opportunities for manufacturing exports. Brussels and Washington added, however, that they were pleased with each other for showing flexibility.