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U.S. trade deficit resumes rise in April

The trade deficit is rising again after two months of declines, pushed by oil prices and a flood of imports from China. Analysts warned that global oil prices above $70 per barrel will swell the deficit more in coming months. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the gap between what the United States sells abroad and what it imports rose to $63.4-billion in April, 2.5 percent higher than the March imbalance of $61.9-billion. The trade deficit fell in both February and March after hitting an all-time high of $66.2 billion in January.

Michaels to review stock option grants

Michaels Stores Inc. said it would delay filing its first- quarter report to the Securities and Exchange Commission due to an internal review of its options-granting processes. The Irving, Texas, retail company said it decided to proactively review its options-granting procedures between 1990 to 2001 based on recent media reports regarding historical stock option practices at other publicly traded companies. More than 30 companies have said they are reviewing their options granting process after the Wall Street Journal reported last month that several companies exhibited highly improbable patterns of options grants to executives. The grants were allegedly backdated to establish strike prices on days when the companies' stocks hit lows in price.

Florida orange harvest pace slowest in decade

Florida orange growers are behind the normal harvest pace because of labor shortages and lagging fruit maturity, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The government's crop forecast was unchanged. About 71 percent of the crop was harvested as of June 1, the slowest pace in a decade, and dry weather is causing stress on some nonirrigated trees, which may affect fruit utilization over the next month, the department said.

Northwest bag, ramp workers approve cuts

Baggage handlers and ramp workers at Northwest Airlines Corp. on Friday approved concessions aimed at helping the carrier emerge from bankruptcy protection. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents the workers, said the renegotiated deal wasn't quite as bad as one rejected last month. The IAM approval leaves only flight attendants without a concessionary deal among Northwest's large unions. But none of the new contracts take effect until they all do.

Google to launch online pay system

Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, will start an online payment system this month that will challenge e-Bay Inc.'s PayPal and let Google offer more targeted ads, an analyst wrote. GBuy, which will begin on June 28, will handle purchases between shoppers and merchants.

Confidence rebounds

Consumer confidence in the economy rebounded over the month, suggesting that people are taking still-elevated gasoline prices and the specter of even higher borrowing costs in stride. The RBC CASH Index, based on results from the international polling firm Ipsos, showed confidence snapped out of the doldrums and clocked in at 84.1 in early June. That was a big improvement from May's reading of 67.1, a seven-month low.

[Last modified June 10, 2006, 07:40:32]