NEW YORK — Bear Stearns Cos. needs to invest only half of the $3.2 billion it initially pledged to rescue one of its ailing hedge funds, and does not expect to rescue a second troubled fund, the company said Tuesday.

The Wall Street investment bank said it will provide about $1.6 billion in secured financing to its Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Fund after the fund sold some assets to partially mollify lenders.

The fund, which invests in complicated securities underpinned by risky mortgage-backed bonds, ran into trouble when the value of its assets fell sharply amid an increase in defaults of subprime mortgages.

Investors began to pull funds and creditors started asking for more collateral to back their loans, causing a cash crunch at the fund. The financing from Bear buys time for the fund to boost earnings through trading to repay investors and lenders.

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DOW JONES, NEWS CORP REACH DEAL ON JOURNAL

NEW YORK — Dow Jones & Co. and News Corp. agreed broadly on measures to protect the editorial independence of The Wall Street Journal under ownership by Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, clearing away a major hurdle in the way of a deal, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Details of the agreement remained unclear, and any deal must still be approved by the full membership of Dow Jones' controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, who initially rejected Murdoch's approach.

The family has since softened its opposition, but there appeared to be disagreements among the family's far-flung membership, which includes about three dozen adults in various parts of the country.

The person, who asked not to be named because the agreement was not yet public, said News Corp. and Dow Jones have agreed in principle on ways to ensure the Journal's independence, with some items yet to be decided. Both Dow Jones and News Corp. declined to comment.

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ORACLE BEATS EXPECTATIONS IN FOURTH QUARTER

SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit topped analyst expectations, providing further validation for a $25 billion shopping spree that has enabled the software maker to narrow rival SAP AG's long-standing lead in the business applications market.

The Redwood Shores-based company said Tuesday that it earned $1.6 billion, or 31 cents per share, for the three months ended in May. That represented a 23 percent improvement from net income of $1.3 billion, or 24 cents per share, at the same time last year.

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CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DROPS IN JUNE

NEW YORK — Consumer confidence slid in June as Americans began to worry that high gas prices and a slumping housing industry may be undermining the health of the job market.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index, which is meant to measure how good shoppers feel about the economy and employment, fell to the lowest level in almost a year.

At the same time, the Commerce Department said that new home sales dropped in May for the fourth time in the past five months.

Both pieces of the economic puzzle dropped into a market that is already concerned about inflation, interest rates and economic growth ahead of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve that begins Wednesday. The Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady at 5.25 percent, but investors are watching for clues about future moves.

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LENNAR REPORTS SECOND-QUARTER LOSS

MIAMI — Lennar Corp., one of the nation's leading homebuilders, said Tuesday it fell to a second-quarter loss as inventories of unsold homes rose and it had to cut prices to attract buyers. Lennar also warned that it would likely post a loss in the third quarter as well.

Losses totaled $244.2 million, or $1.55 per share, versus a profit of $324.7 million, or $2 per share, in the previous year.

The Miami-based company said its results were hurt by a charge of $1.33 per share related to valuation adjustments and write-offs of option deposits and pre-acquisition costs.

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2 COMPANIES REFUSE NEW TERMS OF VENEZUELA OIL PACT

CARACAS, Venezuela — Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips refused to sign deals Tuesday to keep pumping heavy oil under tougher terms in Venezuela's Orinoco River basin, signaling their departure from one of the world's largest oil deposits.

Analysts said the move, however, won't have a major effect on supplies or lead to higher prices at U.S. pumps because production by the two companies will shift to other producers who agreed to the pacts.

Four major oil companies — U.S.-based Chevron Corp., BP PLC, France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA — signed deals to accept minority shares in the oil projects under new terms set by President Hugo Chavez's government.

Elogio Del Pino, a director of the state oil company, said Houston-based ConocoPhillips, the third largest U.S. oil company, is not leaving the country completely and will maintain a 50-percent share in the Deltana Platform natural gas project.

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PHILIP MORRIS PARENT LAYS OFF 2,500 AT N.C. PLANT

RICHMOND, Va. — Altria Group Inc., parent of the Philip Morris cigarette companies, will cut in half its U.S. manufacturing base, closing a North Carolina plant that employs 2,500 as it moves cigarette production for non-U.S. markets to Europe.

The manufacturing shift announced Tuesday comes amid a declining U.S. cigarette market and Wall Street speculation that Altria would soon move to split its domestic and international tobacco businesses into two companies.