Business Today

BLUES, BAYCARE TALKING: Representatives of BayCare Health System and BlueCross BlueShield of Florida are back at the negotiating table, trying to revive a relationship that ended when the parties' contract expired Sept. 30. A spokeswoman for BayCare, a network of seven hospitals, said the two sides are "seriously back at the table." A spokesman for the Jacksonville insurer said, "There's been enough movement that everybody feels confident we can come to an agreement in fairly short order." Neither would speculate on a timetable for resolution of the deadlock that has affected 300,000 local BlueCross members. BlueCross said in late October it had reached a new contract agreement with BayCare's biggest competitor, HCA Inc., which has nine hospitals in the Tampa Bay area.

MOODY'S LOWERS OUTLOOK ON TECO: Moody's Investors Service lowered its outlook on TECO Energy Inc.'s debt rating to negative from stable, although it did not take the more damaging step of placing the rating on review for possible downgrade. The move was in response to TECO's conversion of a maturing $350-million credit line into a one-year loan. Moody's said "it may be more difficult to replace the ... loan with a new credit facility one year from now, unless TECO is successful in executing the plan of action it has outlined, including a series of asset sales and capital expenditure reductions aimed at conserving cash." TECO shares closed at $12.66, up 50 cents or 4.1 percent.

CANADIAN AIRLINE PLANS SEASONAL FLIGHTS: Discount carrier CanJet Airlines will begin weekly, seasonal flights between Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in February. The airline will make one round trip each Saturday from Feb. 1 through May 4.

CABLE MERGER APPROVED: Federal regulators approved the $29.2-billion merger of Comcast and AT&T Broadband, clearing the way for creation of the nation's largest cable television company. The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-1 for the deal over the objections of consumer groups that say the new cable giant would limit customers' choices in television viewing and Internet access. The FCC decision is contingent on AT&T and Comcast selling their combined 25 percent ownership of Time Warner Entertainment.

GASOLINE DEMAND UP: Demand for gasoline this year has been 3.1 percent stronger than a year earlier, the American Petroleum Institute said in a monthly report. Demand in October averaged 8.94-million barrels a day, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. Demand has been rising partly because motorists have more money to spend, the report said. The industry-funded institute measures demand as the amount delivered to the market by refiners, wholesalers and importers. It doesn't directly measure consumer use.

TOSHIBA TO LICENSE TIVO TECHNOLOGY: TiVo Inc. shares rose 21 percent after consumer-electronicsmaker Toshiba Corp. agreed to license the company's digital video-player technology to make devices for the 2003 holiday season. TiVo shares climbed $1.05 to close at $5.95. Toshiba didn't identify the specific products to be built. But the Wall Street Journal reported that Toshiba will make a combined DVD player and video recorder that will play DVDs and record television shows without cassettes.

SEARS HITS 20-YEAR LOW: Sears, Roebuck and Co. shares plunged to a 20-year low amid renewed concerns that the company's credit woes have hamstrung its push to improve weak retail sales. A retail analyst's downgrade accelerated a recent stock slide and sent Sears shares down $1.70, or 7.5 percent, to $21 -- their lowest closing price since Aug. 19, 1982 -- after dipping as low as $19.71. As recently as June, shares were $59.90. Goldman Sachs analyst George Strachan downgraded Sears' stock to "underperform," a day after Sears reported a record negative quarterly operating cash flow. The company also warned that increased delinquencies and soaring bankruptcy filings by its credit-card holders are expected to continue through year-end and lead to higher charge-offs for uncollectible accounts.

Earnings

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: The world's largest retailer said profits in the quarter ended Oct. 31 increased 23 percent as cost-conscious consumers turned to the discount retailer as the economy slows.

Federated Department Stores Inc.: The owner of Burdines and other department store chains said profits in the quarter ended Nov. 2 soared because of fewer discounts and reduced expenses. The results included an after-tax gain of $31 million related to the sale of Fingerhut assets.

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