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Posted at 12:21 p.m., Monday, October 8, 2007

Business briefs: Sprint CEO out; Google tops $600

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Sprint Nextel Corp. Chairman and CEO Gary Forsee resigned Monday as the company's board expressed disappointment with the financial results of the nation's third-largest wireless provider. Sprint also lowered its financial forecast for the current quarter.

The board said it was searching for a replacement for Forsee, who was also president. In the meantime, Director James Hance Jr. will assume the role of acting nonexecutive chairman, and Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh will serve as acting CEO.

Also Monday, Sprint Nextel said it expects to report a net loss of approximately 337,000 monthly subscribers in the third quarter. Its operating income excluding some items is expected to fall below the previously forecast range $11 billion to $11.5 billion. Revenue is expected to fall below the earlier forecast of $41 billion to $42 billion.

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DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers has set a deadline of 11 a.m. Wednesday to agree on a new contract with Chrysler LLC or workers could strike.

The deadline, confirmed Monday morning by Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson, gives negotiators less than 48 hours until a strike could be called.

Bargainers returned to the table Monday morning after spending most of the weekend in negotiations.

Just because a deadline has been set doesn't mean a strike will happen, Tinson said. The union also could extend the contract hour-by-hour as negotiations continue, she said.

UAW spokesman Roger Kerson would not comment Monday on the possibility of a strike.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Textron Inc. is buying United Industrial Corp. in a $1.1 billion deal that underscores its expectations for U.S. military reliance on unmanned aircraft.

The deal announced Monday would help Textron expand its aerospace and defense business.

United Industrial's AAI Corp. unit, based in Hunt Valley, Md., makes aerospace and defense systems including unmanned aircraft and ground control stations and counter-sniper devices.

Textron, a diversified conglomerate, owns Bell Helicopter and Cessna, and also makes golf carts, auto parts and surveillance systems.

In a conference call Monday, Textron chief financial officer Ted French said the company believed that the military would continue to rely on unmanned aircraft and vehicles, as it does currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Thomson Corp.'s $18.4 billion offer for Reuters will face an in-depth inquiry by EU antitrust regulators who worry the deal could harm competition in the financial information industry, the European Commission said Monday.

The EU's executive arm said that its initial investigation saw problems with the combination because both companies supply data feeds to traders, control news services and have access to broker research reports as well as financial information databases that they sell to their customers.

The two companies said in a statement that they would keep working with the Commission "to help narrow and resolve the issues which the EC has indicated require further review."

Thomson's bid for Reuters Group PLC would cut the number of major companies selling information and trading systems to the financial services industry from three — Reuters, Thomson and privately owned Bloomberg LP — to just two.

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NEW YORK (AP) — The beaten-down shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. more than doubled in value Monday after the Internet phone company said it had settled a patent suit filed by Sprint Nextel Corp.

The shares gained $1.42 to close at $2.57.

On Sept. 25, a jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., found that Vonage infringed on six Sprint patents, and ordered Vonage to pay $69.5 million in damages. The settlement Monday resolves all claims in that suit for $80 million, the companies said.

Sprint also agreed to license Vonage its portfolio of more than 100 patents on connecting calls between a regular telephone network and a packet-switched network such as the Internet. The settlement does not put all of Vonage's legal troubles behind it. In March, another jury awarded Verizon Communications Inc. $58 million in damages, plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenues after finding that Vonage violated three Verizon patents. Litigation continues in that suit. Vonage denies infringement and says it has deployed workarounds for two of the patented technologies.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google Inc.'s stock price sailed past $600 for the first time Monday, extending a monthlong rally propelled by the lofty expectations surrounding the Internet search leader's upcoming third-quarter earnings report.

The Mountain View-based company's shares traded as high as $610.26 before slipping back to $609.62, a gain of $15.57, or 2.6 percent. It marked the sixth time in the past 12 trading sessions that the stock has reached a new peak, indicating investors are confident Google's third-quarter profit will be impressive. The results are scheduled to be released Oct. 18.

The latest milestone served as yet another reminder of the immense wealth created since Google went public in August 2004.

The shares have increased more than sevenfold from their initial public offering price of $85, bringing the nine-year-old company's market value to $190 billion — eclipsing bigger, more mature businesses like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street finished a quiet session mostly lower Monday as investors cashed in some gains from last week's rally and readied for quarterly corporate earnings reports.

The Treasury bond market was closed for the Columbus Day holiday and there was no major economic news to guide investors, so Wall Street remained cautious ahead of the flood of third-quarter results. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc., one of the 30 Dow Jones industrial average components, kicks off the earnings season on Tuesday.

Earnings are expected to reflect the difficulty some companies have faced — particularly in the financial and housing sectors — following upheaval in the credit markets amid overly leveraged debt and defaults in subprime mortgages. The reports will also give insight into the fourth quarter, which market participants predict will bring more robust growth.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Fast-food giant Yum Brands Inc. said Monday its third-quarter profit rose 17 percent on the strength of surging sales in its international and China divisions that offset sluggishness in the United States, led by slumping Taco Bell.

The operator of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut reported 28 percent profit growth in its China division and 21 percent growth in its international division for the three months ended Sept. 8. Yum's U.S. operation had a scant 1 percent profit growth for the period.

Overall, net income rose to $270 million, or 50 cents per share, from $230 million, or 42 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 45 cents.

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LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC named Andrew Witty as its new chief executive on Monday, ending a yearlong internal competition for a replacement for Jean-Pierre Garnier who retires next year.

Witty, 43, the current head of Pharmaceuticals Europe for GlaxoSmithKline, was chosen over chief operating officer David Stout and president of U.S. pharmaceuticals Chris Viehbacher for the top post at the world's No. 2 drugmaker.

Analysts and investors have been speculating about who would replace Garnier since he extended his contract at Glaxo until May 2008 to see the company through the rollout of a series of key drugs. His term had been due to expire this month on his on his 60th birthday.