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By wire services
Published May 29, 2005

THERE ARE SIGNS of increasing awareness of global warming at the top of U.S. business, the Economist says. James Rogers, the head of Cinergy Corp., whose coal-fired power plants are criticized as contributing to global warming, told environmentalists that climate change influenced the deal for Cinergy to merge into Duke Energy, allowing for fuel diversity. And General Electric chief Jeffrey Immelt says he has "committed GE to a set of green goals going far beyond any current government regulations," which he says "will increase our revenue, our value and our profits."

THE GROWTH RATE of corporate medical costs is slowing significantly, BusinessWeek reports. Medical inflation has slowed, the magazine says, and higher copayments and deductibles also have helped. Now companies are trying a variety of ways to find more savings, including rewarding employees for using the most efficient hospitals and doctors.

WITH DETROIT TRYING to reignite sluggish sales, the car industry is aggressively pushing customers to lease instead of buy. For the first time in at least four years, carmakers spent more on leasing incentives in the first quarter than on traditional financing deals, CNW Marketing Research says. That means opportunities for consumers - some automakers are testing leases that are easy to break.

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN worker has 12 vacation days a year, the fewest among six nations in a 2005 survey by online travel company Expedia. France had the most, with 39 vacation days a year, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. Yet the average full-time U.S. worker is likely to skip three vacation days this year, according to the survey. That translates to workers giving back more than 421-million vacation days.

IF YOUR GOLF GAME is suffering, you may want to try Honma golf clubs - though your bank account might suffer. "A single Honma LB-201 platinum-plated putter runs $640, more than the entire set of workaday Callaway GES clubs, which costs about $500," Bloomberg Markets reports. A five-star set of three woods, 10 irons, a putter and bag costs nearly $37,000. If you can't afford the clubs, you probably can afford shares in Honma Golf on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the price dropped from 2,560 yen in 1995 to about 250 yen, or $2.30, a share these days.

Compiled from Times wires and Web sites.

[Last modified May 27, 2005, 18:01:02]