Business: Business today

FORD WARNS OF WIDER LOSS: Ford Motor Co. says its fourth-quarter losses will be larger than expected because the recession and rising unemployment are causing a higher number of motorists to default on their car loans. Ford expects to report a loss of 50 cents per share, before one-time items. Previously, Ford said it expected to improve from its third-quarter loss of 28 cents a share, and analysts expected a loss of 14 cents a share. Ford also said marketing costs related to zero-interest and low-interest finance offers were higher than expected, but the problem loans were made before the low-rate loans were offered.

DEMAND BOOSTING HOMEBUILDER'S PROFITS: Dallas homebuilder Centex Corp. says its fiscal 2002 and 2003 profits will be better than expected as demand for new homes remains strong, spurred by low interest rates. Centex says it will earn $5.85 a share for the year ending March 31, beating analysts' estimates of $5.76 a share. It says it will earn $6.85 to $7.70 a share in fiscal 2003; analysts had forecast $5.95 a share.

MERRILL FREEZES PAY: Merrill Lynch & Co. is halting all salary increases as business slumps at the biggest securities firm. The move comes after Merrill had 2,600 employees take a voluntary buyout and fired thousands more. Merrill says it will reevaluate the pay freeze in mid-2002. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and UBS AG also have canceled raises to shore up earnings. Merrill spent $13.7-billion last year on compensation for its 72,000 employees.

BUSINESS INSURER CUTS JOBS, OFFICES: Business insurer CNA Financial Corp. is restructuring and eliminating 1,850 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force, in the wake of big losses. CNA said it is restructuring its property-casualty and life insurance operations, discontinuing its variable life and annuity business, consolidating real estate locations and making related job cuts nationwide. The insurance holding company plans to close 101 offices in the first half of 2002, leaving it with 68. CNA is confronting $304-million in losses from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as well as bigger-than-expected claims from prior years.

UNITED MECHANICS TO VOTE ON STRIKE: The union representing 15,000 United Airlines mechanics and related employees scheduled a Dec. 13 strike vote in hopes of strengthening its negotiating position in a 2-year-old contract standoff. Approval would authorize a strike at the nation's second-biggest airline when legally allowable -- not before Feb. 21. The two sides are halfway through a federally mandated 30-day countdown toward a possible strike after the failure of previous talks. But the Bush administration has said it will extend that process as soon as the countdown expires Dec. 21 to avoid a walkout during the heavily traveled holidays. A presidential emergency board would then have another 60 days to try to settle the contract dispute before a strike could take place.

LABOR INVESTIGATING ENRON: The Labor Department is investigating Enron Corp. for the way the collapsed energy-trading company handled its employees' retirement benefit plans. The Houston company, which filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors Sunday, prohibited its workers for several weeks from selling stock held in retirement plans. Critics say that forced employees to keep their voluntary contributions and earnings on them invested in Enron's plunging stock. The Labor Department said many Enron employees lost 70 to 90 percent of their retirement assets after the company said it would restate its earnings.

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