BUSINESS BRIEFS
Obama's energy plan a reversal on earlier positions
Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. — Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan yesterday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high anxiety over gas prices.
Obama's proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.
Obama and McCain are emphasizing solutions to the country's energy woes as they seek an advantage in polling that shows the race competitive just weeks before their respective national nominating conventions and the final stretch of the campaign.
TOUGHER CREDIT CARD RULES URGED
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate's investigations subcommittee said yesterday he supports the Federal Reserve's proposed restrictions on credit card practices, but that the rules don't go far enough.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a 13-page letter to the Fed that it should expand its rules to limit such practices as charging interest for debt paid on time and interest on transaction fees.
Levin also sought an end to fees levied on consumers paying their bills on time as well as billing amounts that force consumers to pay four or five times their original debt.
In May, the Federal Reserve and other regulators proposed steps to end "unfair and deceptive" credit card industry practices that were hitting consumers who were already facing tumbling home prices, a shaky job market and higher energy and food costs.
The proposed rules aim to protect people from having their interest rates raised arbitrarily, and from being imposed with insufficient time restraints to pay their bills. The regulation would also restrict such practices as allocating all payments to balances with lower interest rates when a borrower has balances with different rates.
IMCLONE: $4.5B OFFER IS TOO LOW
NEW YORK — ImClone Systems Inc.'s board of directors said yesterday cancer drug partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s $4.5 billion buyout offer "substantially undervalues" the company, with Chairman Carl Icahn personally against the deal.
Despite calling the bid too low, ImClone stopped short of rejecting it and said its board formed a committee to weigh the offer. The board also said it is considering splitting the company into two units to focus on Erbitux and its developing pipeline separately.
The New York-based companies are partners on the colon- and head-and-neck-cancer treatment Erbitux. They are also currently developing the drug as a lung cancer therapy.
ICAHN'S WCI FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
MIAMI — Carl Icahn's WCI Communities became the latest casualty of the housing market crisis yesterday, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the home builder failed to get additional financing in the face of massive losses.
Icahn, chairman of WCI's board, said the filing was necessary because the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based developer's entire $1.8 billion debt may soon be in default. Icahn said this was confirmed when some holders of $125 million convertible notes insisted on being paid today in cash, in full.
WCI also fired Chief Executive Jerry L. Starkey and replaced him on an interim basis with David L. Fry.
