Stymied by a phalanx of opponents from big banks to unions and dogged by conflicting messages about its intentions, Wal-Mart withdrew a bid for a banking license today and said it would find other ways to serve customers' financial needs.

The world's largest retailer withdrew its application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for a bank charter after nearly two years of what it called "manufactured controversy."

It was the Bentonville, Ark.-based company's fourth failure since 1999 to open a bank after previous efforts in Oklahoma, California and Canada were stopped by regulators or lawmakers.

Wal-Mart repeatedly said its latest bid was about payment processing, not branch banking for consumers. It said it wanted to open an industrial bank to save millions of dollars it now pays outside banks to handle credit and debit card payments in its stores.

CVS WINS BID FOR CAREMARK

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Caremark shareholders approved a $26.5 billion acquisition by CVS today, creating one of the largest competitors in the prescription drug industry, the company said.

The combined forces of the second-largest U.S. pharmacy benefits manager and the nation's largest retail pharmacy chain are expected to increase their bargaining power with drug makers and edge out competitors like Walgreen's, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and also Medco Health Solutions Inc., the largest benefits manager.

Express Scripts Inc. and CVS Corp. have been in a bidding war for months to acquire Caremark Rx Inc.

But increased antitrust scrutiny of the Express Scripts' proposal and the decision earlier this week not to increase its offer turned the bidding war in CVS' favor, some analysts said.

GAS PRICES NOT EXPECTED TO HIT $3/GALLON

Elementary school principal Randy Busscher of Holland, Mich., is braced for gasoline prices of $3 a gallon or more by summer break.

Analysts say Busscher and other U.S. motorists may be more worried than necessary, however. Absent a major Gulf Coast hurricane, unexpected international strife or a wave of refinery woes, average U.S. gasoline prices are not expected to rise to the $3-a-gallon psychological threshold this summer — a good sign as well for the broader economy, which is under pressure from a weakening housing market.

When energy prices rise, the risk is that consumer spending will fall, particularly at discount stores and low-priced restaurants, whose customers tend to be more sensitive to extra costs in their monthly budgets.

The stock prices of some restaurant chains, including Applebee's International Inc., Darden Restaurants Inc. and Wendy's International Inc. dipped in recent weeks as gasoline prices rose.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX UP SLIGHTLY

WASHINGTON — Consumers paid more for energy, food and a host of other items in February as a sluggish economy failed to extinguish inflation pressures. But in a hopeful sign for growth, factory output posted a better-than-expected increase.

The Labor Department reported today that the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.4 percent last month, double the January increase, as energy prices shot up and adverse winter weather in Florida and California sent citrus prices soaring.

The increase was larger than the 0.3 percent rise analysts had expected, although core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose by just 0.2 percent, in line with forecasts.

But even there, economists saw problems with widespread increases in a number of categories including clothing, housing, education and medical care.

The Fed, which meets next Tuesday and Wednesday, would like to cut interest rates to give the sluggish economy a boost, analysts said, but the central bank cannot do so because of the stubborn persistence of inflation pressures.

EAST COAST STORM CANCELS FLIGHTS

NEW YORK — JetBlue canceled 215 flights today because of a winter storm on the East Coast, aiming to avoid the days of cancellations and criticism that followed a storm last month, an airline spokesman said.

The cancellations affected about one-third of all JetBlue flights. More than 200 of them involved flights to or from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, said airline spokesman Sebastian White.

Other airlines also reported cancellations. American Airlines had canceled about 120 flights to or from New York and other Northeastern airports as of Friday morning, said spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon. Northwest Airlines canceled about 35 flights to or from the East Coast, all but a handful of them at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International, spokeswoman Tracy Carlson said.

A few JetBlue flights also were affected at LaGuardia, Newark and Boston's Logan International Airport, White said. In addition, the airline had canceled 15 flights Thursday night, he said.

FITNESS CENTER MAY FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY

CHICAGO — Shares of Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. lost more than half their value today after the struggling fitness center operator said it may file for bankruptcy.

The slide accelerated a steep decline in the company's stock that began last year amid questions about management and failed efforts to sell the company.

Its stock plummeted $1.24, or 62 percent, to an all-time closing low of 75 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have fallen more than 90 percent in the past year.

Bally said late Thursday it might file to reorganize its operations under Chapter 11 because it has $827 million in outstanding debt, with an additional $300 million coming due in October, and just $45 million in cash.

OIL PRICES FALL

NEW YORK — Oil prices slipped today, weighed down by the front-month contract's expiration next week and the stock market's continued weakness, a possible harbinger of an economic slowdown.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 44 cents to settle at $57.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped as much as $1.38 to $56.17 a barrel in late afternoon trading.

"This is a market hitting the skids going into the April contract's expiration on Tuesday," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. "All the speculative activity is in May and June. That's why you see a larger drop in the April contract than in May," Evans said.