Oracle unveiled its $17-per-share cash offer Friday, one day after BEA rejected it as inadequate, according to a letter BEA released a few hours after Oracle's revelation catapulted its stock to a new 52-week high.

BEA makes "middleware," products that help software applications run more smoothly on top of databases, while Oracle makes business management software.

Oracle's bid represented a 25 percent premium over BEA's closing stock price Thursday.

Industry analysts believe BEA might be able to escape Oracle's clutches by finding a white knight. Activist investor Carl Icahn, who is using his 13.2 percent stake in BEA to push for a sale, told CNBC he believes other bids are likely.

SAP, IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co. are considered the most probable candidates to vie for BEA.

———

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — General Electric Co.'s profit rose 14 percent in the third quarter on strong global sales of airplane engines, locomotives and other equipment that have led to a record order backlog.

The Fairfield-based industrial, finance and media conglomerate, whose properties range from aircraft engine manufacturing to the NBC television network, reaffirmed its profit outlook for the year.

The company said Friday it earned $5.54 billion, or 54 cents per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30, up from $4.87 billion, or 47 cents a share, a year ago.

GE took a $1.4 billion charge for its planned sale of a Japanese personal loan business and a mortgage business, while realizing a gain of $1.8 billion from the sale of its plastic business.

Earnings from continuing operations were 50 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 50 cents.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $42.5 billion from $37.8 billion a year earlier.

———

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retail sales posted a stronger-than-expected gain in September, easing fears about a possible recession, while a big surge in gasoline costs pushed wholesale inflation higher.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales increased 0.6 percent last month, double what had been expected, as a big increase in auto sales helped offset weak demand for clothing.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said wholesale inflation jumped by 1.1 percent in September, the biggest increase in seven months, as gasoline costs shot up by 8.4 percent, the biggest gain since March. However, outside of energy and food, core inflation remained well contained, rising by just 0.1 percent.

With consumer spending, the economy's main growth engine, continuing at a solid rate, some analysts said the chance of another interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve when it next meets on Oct. 30-31 is growing less likely.

———

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed out a bumpy week with a moderate advance Friday as tech stocks charged higher on takeover news and other sectors gained on data that indicated the economy is expanding at a healthy pace. The major indexes managed to post gains for the week.

Oracle Corp.'s bid for BEA Systems Inc. helped prop up technology stocks, and gave investors renewed hope that acquisition activity is picking up again after the uncertainty of the summer's credit crisis. Corporate news also boosted some blue chip names: McDonald's Corp. posted higher-than-expected sales and General Motors Corp. said sales in its Latin America, Africa and Middle East region jumped in the third quarter.

Amid the economic data Wall Street mined Friday for signals about the health of the economy, the government reported that retail sales showed a stronger-than-expected gain last month and that wholesale prices jumped in September amid an increase in food and energy costs. Business inventories increased, while consumer sentiment slipped.

———

RENO (AP) — A jury has cut nearly $100 million from the compensatory damages it awarded three Nevada woman in a case involving hormone replacement drugs made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Washoe District Judge Robert Perry on Friday instructed the five-man, two-woman jury to reconsider the $134.5 million award issued Wednesday after questions were raised about whether the judgment included punitive damages designed to punish the pharmaceutical maker.

———

CHICAGO (AP) — McDonald's Corp.'s hot streak keeps on going.

The world's largest fast-food chain said Friday its third-quarter profits will top Wall Street's estimates following another month of strong sales.

Global sales from its restaurants open more than a year rose 5.9 percent in September, led by an impressive 12 percent gain in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division. Stronger foreign currencies helped boost results.

Same-store sales in its U.S. outlets rose 3.5 percent, increasing for a 54th consecutive month. The company cited its value menu, breakfast offerings and drinks as helping to boost sales — some 60 percent of which now come from drive-throughs.

McDonald's said it expects to earn 83 cents per share in the quarter, not counting an after-tax gain of 6 cents per share from the sale of its Boston Market franchise. That is six cents per share better than the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

———

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several leading makers of knee, hip and other orthopedic implants revealed Friday that federal regulators are looking into possibly unlawful sales of their products in foreign countries.

Stryker Corp., Zimmer Holdings Inc., Smith & Nephew plc and Medtronic Inc. each said the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry into possible company violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which outlaws bribing foreign officials to obtain or retain business. The SEC has brought civil charges under the act against a number of companies in recent years.

All firms said they would cooperate with the probe and do not believe they broke the law.

Stryker and Zimmer both specialize in replacement implants for the knees, hips and other joints. Medtronic makes spinal implants to reduce pain and restore movement of the back and neck.

———

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. dueled Friday in federal court with its hired attorneys over who shoulders the blame for what a judge called "gross misconduct on a massive scale" at a past trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major is considering sanctions against 19 attorneys who represented Qualcomm in a patent lawsuit the cell phone chipmaker filed against rival Broadcom Corp.

The possibility of sanctions has threatened the careers of attorneys from two Silicon Valley firms and prolonged a damaging episode for Qualcomm. The company's legal activity has helped it become the world's second-largest chipmaker for cell phones.

The judge said she was struggling to understand how Qualcomm and its lawyers committed "the fundamental and monumental error" of failing to share more than 200,000 pages of documents with Broadcom until after trial.

Neither lawyers for Qualcomm nor the 19 attorneys it hired — and is now arguing with — had clear answers.

———

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines raised many domestic fares by $5 each way but left prices unchanged on routes where it competes with low-cost carriers.

The Thursday night increase affected both advance-purchase tickets favored by vacationers and more costly last-minute tickets aimed at business travelers.

Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline owned by Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., said the fare increase was needed to cover high fuel costs.

Shares of AMR rose $1.23 cents, or 5.14 percent, to close at $25.14.

Fall is typically a slower time for air travel, which could make carriers reluctant to raise fares.

But this week, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines raised fares to Hawaii and other carriers went along, indicating that demand is firming, said Rick Seaney, chief executive of travel Web site FareCompare.com.