GAS PRICES SLIDE: Gasoline prices tumbled 3 1/2 cents a gallon in the past three weeks, easing concerns of a summer shortage, an analyst said. The average retail price of gasoline was about $1.73 a gallon Friday, down 3.48 cents since May 18, according to the Lundberg Survey of nearly 8,000 gas stations nationwide. It was the first price drop since March. "There was never any gasoline "crisis,' and I still maintain that for this summer there will be none," analyst Trilby Lundberg said. Only San Francisco had an average gasoline price above $2 per gallon, at $2.02.

DANKA EXTENDS DEADLINE AGAIN: With lenders increasingly wary, troubled Danka Business Systems extended the deadline for refinancing its short-term debt a fourth and probably final time. The St. Petersburg copier company set June 22 as the new deadline for short-term noteholders to accept a watered-down return on their investment. As of Friday, holders of about $149.5-million, or 75 percent of the $200-million in short-term debt, had tendered offers in support of the plan. That's far short of the 95 percent acceptance Danka needs for the plan to proceed. Danka has little leeway for another extension, facing a June 30 deadline to finish its refinancing package to appease senior lenders. "This is the stretch run," Danka investor relations director Sanjay Sood said. On Friday, Danka reported a net loss of $221-million for the year ended March 31.

VERIZON PLANS ADDED CUTS: Verizon Communications will cut an unspecified number of jobs in addition to the 10,000 positions announced in February, co-chief executive Charles Lee said. The company is cutting the jobs this year "to eliminate costs in areas that aren't growing as fast" as Verizon's long-distance phone, data and fast-Internet units, a spokesman said, adding the cuts may include employees that handle customer service inquiries and managers. Verizon had 250,000 employees as of March.

AOL FORMS CHINA VENTURE: AOL Time Warner is forming a venture with Legend Holdings Ltd. to help China's biggest personal computer manufacturer provide Web access in China. AOL and Legend will each invest $100-million, with Legend holding a 51 percent stake in the venture. The venture gives AOL a foothold in China ahead of the nation's expected entry into the World Trade Organization, when Beijing has promised to ease restrictions on foreign investment in Internet companies.

NICHOLAS FINANCIAL EXPANDS: Nicholas Financial Inc. of Clearwater said it has signed leases to open branch offices in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Jacksonville as part of a plan to add six branches this fiscal year. The latest additions will give the car finance company 15 locations in Florida and three each in North Carolina and Georgia.

EBAY OFFERS SPACE TO RETAILERS: Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., reaching out for a bigger slice of the e-commerce pie, said it will rent space on its Web site to merchants that want to sell their wares at fixed prices. The move is part of eBay's bid to outgrow its image as an online yard sale carrying used goods and collectibles and puts it in direct competition with online retailers such as Amazon.com and Yahoo Inc., both of which already offer virtual storefronts as well as auctions on the Web. The subscription fee will be $9.95 a month. Commissions on items listed in the new eBay Stores area will amount to a nickel per item, plus an additional percentage for items that sell. EBay Stores will launch Monday.

GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS RAIL MERGER RULES: New rules from the federal Surface Transportation Board will make it harder for railroads to merge. The board, an arm of the Transportation Department, said railroads seeking to combine operations would have to act to prevent the merger from reducing competition and would have to offer a plan to avoid service disruptions. The rules apply to railroads with revenues of more than $250-million annually. The rail industry criticized the policy, with officials of CSX Corp. saying the rules "raised the bar for rail consolidation in a way that makes future transactions all the more difficult to achieve."

EU PROBES DVD PRICING: The European Commission is investigating complaints that AOL Time Warner and six rivals colluded to keep prices for movies on digital video discs artificially high. If found guilty, AOL Time Warner, Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Vivendi Universal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Corp. and Paramount Pictures would face fines of as much as 10 percent of annual sales. European Union competition commissioner Mario Monti said regulators have received a "significant number" of complaints that videomakers divided the world into six regions with different security codes, preventing Europeans from importing cheaper videos from the United States or Asia. Movie companies defend the regional coding, arguing it is needed to prevent piracy and to facilitate the collection of royalties. Consumer groups say Europeans must pay around $17 to $27 per DVD, while prices in the United States range between $15 and $25.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $12.5-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.510 percent, down from 3.590 percent last week. An additional $11.5-billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 3.510 percent, down from 3.520 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors: 3.590 percent for three-month bills and 3.622 percent for a six-month bill. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills fell to 3.64 percent last week from 3.70 percent the previous week.

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