Business highlights

Las Vegas OKs casino, big sign at Strip city line

LAS VEGAS (AP) - An Arizona developer has City Council approval to put a huge sign and a new casino, restaurant and stores at the city line on the Las Vegas Strip.

Mayor Oscar Goodman and Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese told a lawyer for developer Steve Johnson on Wednesday that they want something special on the corner at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

Johnson plans a 98-foot-tall, 11,200-square-foot electronic sign and a 37,100-square-foot building. No hotel is planned.

The sign would be almost as big as an 11,500-square-foot video screen touted as the world's biggest at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Johnson bought the Las Vegas site in 2007. It's the former home of the Holy Cow! brewery, which closed in 2002.

Jobless claims fall

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a positive sign for the economy, companies are laying off fewer workers as they prepare to ramp up production to replenish their depleted stockpiles of goods.

Many analysts pointed to Thursday's drop in jobless claims as evidence of a trend signaling fewer job losses in coming months, particularly compared with the flood of layoffs earlier this year.

Still, job openings remain scarce. And most economists expect the unemployment rate to keep rising to 10 percent or higher by the end of this year.

Sluggish July sales show tight-fisted consumers

NEW YORK (AP) - Shoppers remained tight-fisted in July, raising concern about the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons as well as for the broader economic recovery.

The big worry is that frugal parents will focus on outfitting their children this fall with just necessities like notebooks and jeans. And fear is bubbling up that frugal parents might consider any extra splurges early Christmas gifts.

The persistent pullback despite signs of a stabilizing economy could stall the overall recovery as consumers account for 70 percent of all economic activity.

The bargain-hunting played out again in the retailers' reports, with mall-based apparel stores faring the worst. Among the disappointments were Macy's Inc. and teen retailers Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Wet Seal Inc. The few bright spots were apparel discounters.

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Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fannie Mae says it needs an additional $10.7 billion in government aid after posting a loss of $15.2 billion in the second quarter as the taxpayer bill from the housing market bust keeps growing.

The mortgage finance company, seized by federal regulators last September, posted a quarterly loss of $2.67 per share. That compares with a loss of $2.6 billion, or $2.54 per share, in the year-ago period.

The results were driven by $18.8 billion in credit losses due to declining housing market conditions. The request for federal aid is Washington-based Fannie Mae's third since the takeover. It has received about $34 billion so far.

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As jobless claims fall, layoffs could slow further

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a positive sign for the economy, companies are laying off fewer workers as they prepare to ramp up production to replenish their depleted stockpiles of goods.

Many analysts pointed to Thursday's drop in jobless claims as evidence of a trend signaling fewer job losses in coming months, particularly compared with the flood of layoffs earlier this year.

Still, job openings remain scarce. And most economists expect the unemployment rate to keep rising to 10 percent or higher by the end of this year. On Friday, the government will report the July unemployment rate.

First-time claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 last week, down from 588,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, dropped to 555,250, its lowest point since late January.

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SEC: Ex-AIG CEO Greenberg settles fraud charges

NEW YORK (AP) - The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that former American International Group Inc. CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg agreed to pay a $15 million fine to settle fraud charges.

The charges are tied to an accounting scandal earlier this decade at AIG that led to Greenberg's ouster in 2005. The following year, AIG paid more than $1.6 billion to settle charges of improper accounting.

The case is unrelated to the government bailout of AIG, which is in the process of trying to sell off assets to pay off the $182.5 billion in loans it has received since last September.

The SEC said AIG's former chief financial officer, Howard Smith, will pay a $1.5 million fine tied to the investigation.

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AIG Director Golub will replace Liddy as chairman

NEW YORK (AP) - AIG says Director Harvey Golub on Monday will become its non-executive chairman, replacing retiring Chairman Edward M. Liddy.

Golub, 70, was elected to the AIG board in May 2009. He was chairman and CEO of American Express Co. from 1993 to 2001.

New York-based American International Group Inc. announced in May that Liddy, who took over the insurer in September, would step down as soon as a search for a replacement was complete.

AIG's annual shareholder meeting is June 30. At that time, investors will vote on a slate of new independent directors.

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Stocks slip after jobless claims report

NEW YORK (AP) - Investors shuffled through the final day of trading before the government's July employment report.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25 points and other major indexes suffered moderate slides Thursday as worries about the Labor Department's report dominated trading for a third day. A stream of disappointing July sales numbers from major retailers added to Wall Street's uneasy mood.

A recovery in the job market is crucial to the economy's ability to pull itself from the longest recession since World War II. Unemployment often keeps rising after a recovery begins, but investors need to see the pace of job losses slowing before they'll continue the rally that began in March.

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Morgan Stanley repurchases TARP warrants

NEW YORK (AP) - Morgan Stanley said Thursday it paid $950 million to buy back warrants from the government that could have eventually been converted to common shares in the bank.

New York-based Morgan Stanley issued the warrants to the Treasury Department as part of the loan package it received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

As part of the program, Morgan Stanley received $10 billion in funding from the government to help bolster its balance sheet as credit markets essentially shut down. In exchange, the government received preferred shares in Morgan Stanley and the warrants to purchase common shares.

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Nasdaq, BATS to stop offering flash trading

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The operators of the Nasdaq and BATS stock exchanges said Thursday they will stop a practice that gives some brokerages a split-second advantage in buying or selling stocks.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. is voluntarily ceasing the practice, known as flash order trades, on Sept. 1. Randy Williams, a spokesman for BATS which also operates computerized stock exchanges, said his company will also quit the practice.

Earlier this week, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said the agency is moving in the direction to ban the practice.

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FTC issues rule policing oil price manipulation

NEW YORK (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it would begin policing the petroleum industry with new penalties for anyone attempting to manipulate energy prices.

The rule, which will go into effect in November, targets anyone dealing with crude oil, gasoline and petroleum distillates. It prohibits market distortions through false or misleading statements about stockpiles, prices or crude and fuel output.

As part of its new powers, the FTC will monitor reports from petroleum refiners on the amount of gas held in storage by refiners. Those figures, which are collected and published by the Department of Energy each week, can push prices up or down.

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Hackers attack Twitter; Facebook also slows down

NEW YORK (AP) - A hacker attack Thursday shut down the fast-growing messaging service Twitter for hours, while Facebook experienced intermittent access problems.

Twitter said it suffered a denial-of-service attack, in which hackers command scores of computers to a single site at the same time, preventing legitimate traffic from getting through.

The fact that a relatively common attack could disable such a well-known Web site shows just how young and vulnerable Twitter still is, even as it quickly becomes a household name used by celebrities, large corporations, small businesses and even protesters in Iran.

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Senate readies fill-up for 'cash for clunkers'

WASHINGTON (AP) - Acting with unusual haste, the Senate readied a $2 billion fill-up Thursday for "cash for clunkers," an economy-boosting program that sent car buyers storming into formerly deserted auto showrooms at a pace that quickly exhausted its $1 billion funding.

The House approved the $2 billion replenishment last week for the program, which gives consumers up to $4,500 in federal subsidies for trading in their cars for new, more energy-efficient models. A final Senate vote would send the bill to the White House, where President Barack Obama's signature was assured.

Officials said the additional money would help consumers purchase 500,000 more new-model cars.

The Senate's action capped an unusually swift response by lawmakers, who were informed scarcely a week ago that the program was quickly running short of money.

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CBS 2Q net profit slumps 96 percent on weak ads

NEW YORK (AP) - CBS Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell sharply as softness in the advertising market continued. Yet the broadcast network saw early signs of recovery during the quarter.

Net profit in the April-June quarter dropped 96 percent to $15 million, or 2 cents per share, from $408 million, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings fell to 8 cents per share from 49 cents per share a year ago. That beat the 7 cents per share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue dropped 11 percent to $3.01 billion from $3.39 billion. Analysts were expecting $3.03 billion.