Business today

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION RISES: The nation's industrial sector continues to rebound after getting knocked down in last year's recession. The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that production at factories, mines and utilities increased for a sixth consecutive month, jumping by 0.8 percent in June, the largest monthly increase since October 1999. It was better than the 0.5 percent many analysts were expecting. Production of automobiles and parts, home electronics and computers and office equipment increased in June. Declines were reported in appliances, furniture and carpeting.

U.S. ATTORNEY CLOSES HCA CRIMINAL INQUIRY: The U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa has told hospital chain HCA that it has closed its criminal investigation of individuals related to the company. That decision, included in a Justice Department report released Tuesday, ends a federal investigation of the Nashville company that became public in March 1997. It resulted in the company paying $840-million in fines and in the indictments of four mid-level HCA executives. Though two executives were convicted of fraud in 1999 after a trial in Tampa, those verdicts were overturned by an appellate court in March. With the threat of further individual indictments removed, the government intends to question several former employees in connection with a pending civil lawsuit alleging HCA routinely overcharged government insurance programs in hospital cost reports. Settlement talks between HCA and the government are continuing, the Justice Department report said.

AMGEN ACQUIRES IMMUNEX: Amgen, already the biggest biotechnology company, announced Tuesday that it had completed its acquisition of Immunex, gaining control of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel. The cash and stock deal was valued at less than $10-billion, down from $16-billion when announced last December. Amgen's stock, along with that of many biotechnology companies, has fallen sharply since then. Amgen's shares, which fell sharply on Monday, rose $1.80, or almost 6 percent, to $32.87.

OPENNETWORK RECEIVES $10-MILLION: OpenNetwork Technologies Inc. of Clearwater has received $10-million in a third round of venture funding, this one led by Boston-area Battery Ventures. Also involved in the financing are JP Morgan and SI Ventures, both earlier investors in OpenNetwork. The Clearwater company has developed Web identity and access management security software used with Microsoft e-business solutions. OpenNetwork said its revenue increased by 60 percent in 2001 while its customer base tripled in size.

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM CEO RESIGNS: Yielding to intense political pressure and a stubbornly depressed stock price, the chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, Ron Sommer, resigned Tuesday as the head of a company he had sought to transform from a state monopoly into a global communications colossus. Deutsche Telekom named a former chairman of its supervisory board, Helmut Sihler, as a caretaker chief executive for six months. That decision may calm the company's unions, who fear an outsider could bring drastic change, but it is unlikely to soothe Deutsche Telekom's anxious shareholders.

FCC ADOPTS PRIVACY RULES: Federal regulators adopted rules Tuesday to limit use of customer records by telephone and paging companies to sell other services. The companies will have to get customers' permission to share personal information with organizations that do not provide communications services, the Federal Communications Commission said. That permission can be assumed, however, when a company wants to share information internally or with other affiliated communication companies. For example, a company that provides phone service can share a customer's records with its other divisions to sell related services such as Internet or voice mail. It is up to consumers to tell a company they don't want their personal information shared at all.

RAYTHEON FACES SEC CHARGE: Raytheon Co. will be charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with giving profit forecasts to stock analysts before telling the public in the agency's first case to enforce Regulation Fair Disclosure, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter said. Raytheon will pay no fine and won't admit to the allegations in a settlement under discussion between the SEC and the fourth-biggest U.S. defense contractor, sources said. The settlement calls for Raytheon to be subject to tougher sanctions should the company break the rule again, they said. Also, Raytheon Co. named William Swanson, 53, the head of its biggest business, to the newly created position of president as part of a realignment.

WORLDCOM WANTS FEDERAL COURT TO DECIDE SUIT: WorldCom Inc. has asked a federal court to decide a suit by 25 banks accusing the second-largest U.S. long-distance phone company of fraud when it borrowed $2.65-billion six weeks before revealing it misreported $3.85-billion in expenses. WorldCom requested a transfer of the case from New York state court, where the banks, including Deutsche Bank AG and ABN Amro Holding NV, filed it on Friday. Also, WorldCom has arranged to get as much as $2-billion from lenders to continue operating during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Bloomberg News has reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co.'s GE Capital unit have submitted proposals for so-called debtor-in-possession financing that will allow WorldCom to continue providing telephone, Internet and data services during bankruptcy, the sources said.

CANADIAN AUTOWORKERS IN TALKS WITH BIG THREE: The union representing 46,000 Canadian autoworkers began talks Tuesday with the Big Three North American automakers on a new labor contract that might set precedents for similar talks next year in the United States. There were signs that the local unit of General Motors would be the union's primary, and most accommodating, target. GM, Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler all have closely integrated their American and Canadian operations, with assembly lines in each country producing vehicles for the entire North American market. But for the first time in many years, bargaining on labor contracts is not taking place simultaneously in the two countries.

FORD SEEKS LOYALTY PLEDGE FROM EXECUTIVES: Ford Motor Co. asked 52 executives to sign new agreements that limit their ability to jump to a competitor, as the automaker seeks to keep top managers while trying to end losses. The world's No. 2 automaker asked executives with the title of vice president or higher to sign the agreements, which prevent them from working for another auto company for two years after leaving Ford. Those who sign will get financial incentives, said spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari, declining to provide details. Ford wouldn't say how many executives have signed. The voluntary agreements are "more binding" than previous clauses in Ford's executive contracts, Gattari said. The automaker had losses of $5.45-billion last year and $800-million in the first quarter. Ford in January said it would cut jobs, close plants and add new models to generate $7-billion in annual pretax profit by 2005.

ATA PILOTS, UNION REACH DEAL: American Trans Air's pilots ratified a new four-year contract with the airline, ending more than two years of negotiations. The Air Line Pilots Association said Tuesday that the contract was approved by about 80 percent of the 820 eligible crew members who voted. The Indianapolis-based airline and the pilots union had announced a tentative contract agreement last month. Details of the contract were not released, but the union said it included pay increases and improvements in scheduling and job security.

TREASURY AUCTION: The interest rate on the U.S. Treasury's four-week bills was unchanged at the government's weekly auction of the securities. The Treasury sold $20-billion of the bills at a discount rate of 1.695 percent, the same as last week. The government received bids for the bills equal to 2.54 times the amount sold, up from 2.45 at the last auction -- and a sign of stronger demand.

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