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Today’s headlines
Robert Trigaux
Corporate directors: poodles or pit bulls?
What's today's toughest job?

Home resales hit skids in June
Existing home sales nationwide dropped 11.7 percent from a month earlier. In Florida, sales were flat.

Carlton Fields selects new site
The big law firm plans to move from downtown Tampa to a new building in West Shore in 2004.

Ferry will connect Tampa Bay with Yucatan Peninsula
TAMPA -- Four times a week, Mexican and American tourists will sail between Tampa and the Yucatan Peninsula starting in November.

Dow's day: yaw to yawn
After wild swings, the blue-chip index closes flat. Tech troubles pull the Nasdaq down 50 points.

Crusading for corporate reform
Investor advocate Sarah Teslik, whose job is to give CEOs an earful, says corporate scandals ultimately will benefit shareholders, Nasdaq has been "pussyfooting around" reform, Harvey Pitt should resign, and boomers thinking about retirement... shouldn't.

Accounting oversight reform bill goes to Bush
The House and Senate overwhelmingly pass the legislation to crack down on corporate fraud that has unnerved investors.

Investor group buying Burger King; challenges ahead
Britain's Diageo PLC announced a deal Thursday to sell Burger King Corp., the world's second-largest fast-food business, to a consortium of U.S. investors.

Business digest
GENERAL DYNAMICS GETS CONTRACT: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in St. Petersburg has received a $7.8-million contract from the Army. The contract is part of a $66.3-million order for demilitarization of six families of munitions from 20mm ammunition to 2,000-pound bombs. Work is to be completed by November 2005. The St. Petersburg plant, formerly Primex Technologies, is a business unit of General Dynamics Corp. of Falls Church, Va.