Business

• Camping out for biotech tax credits

  Mark A. Vulcan - a tax attorney and CPA - had something of a rock star moment when he rolled into work at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development's Baltimore offices yesterday morning just before 8.

• Hammered

  The economic slowdown and high gasoline prices hit carmakers hard in June.

• Jay Hancock: Fed is bit player in global economy

  The business press paints the Federal Reserve as omnipotent. Maybe once it was. But events are likely to prove it has lost some of its mojo.

• Under Armour splits top jobs

  Under Armour founder Kevin Plank is splitting his job, bringing in a veteran retail executive as president of the Baltimore athletic wear company as it transforms itself from upstart to major player.

• Starbucks Coffee shop chain to close 600 stores in the next year

  Starbucks Corp., dragged down by a slowing U.S. economy, is pulling the plug on 600 of its underperforming U.S. coffee shops and trimming the number of stores it had planned to open over the coming year.

• Still rockin'

  At a time when Baltimore officials are poised to make recommendations on a new indoor sports and concert arena, the aging facility that's being replaced is performing better than ever.

• Gorfine CPA firm merges with former Grabush, Newman & Co.

  Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn PA, an Owings Mills certified public accounting firm, merged yesterday with the accounting division of Smart and Associates in Towson, the firm formerly known as Grabush, Newman & Co. PA.

• Thieves hack Citibank ATMs

  Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores last fall and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record.

• Campbell Soup buys Wolfgang Puck

  Campbell Soup Co. has bought the Wolfgang Puck soup business in a move that expands the company's organic soup options. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Campbell said the cash deal with Country Gourmet Foods is not expected to have a material effect on its fiscal 2009 financial results. Campbell entered a licensing agreement with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc. to use the Wolfgang Puck brand on soup, stock and broth products in North America. The deal includes an option to extend the brand into other related categories and channels. Campbell says the acquisition and licensing agreement extend the company's offerings in the organic segment of the market. Denise Morrison, president of Campbell's North America soup, sauces and beverages division, says the newly acquired soups help meet the company's dual goals of adding healthy and premium foods.

• CIT home lending going to Lone Star

  CIT Group Inc. said yesterday that it will sell its home-lending business to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion in cash, plus $4.4 billion of assumed debt, in a move to exit the troubled mortgage arena and focus on its commercial finance operations. The company also is selling its $470 million manufactured-housing portfolio to Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc. at a loss, for about $300 million. CIT expects to see combined cash proceeds from both deals of about $1.8 billion.

• $75 billion auctioned to ease credit stress

  The Federal Reserve has auctioned another $75 billion in loans to squeezed banks to help them overcome credit problems and announced that it will provide a fresh batch of the loans this month. The central bank released the results yesterday of its most recent auction - the 15th since the program began in December. It is part of a continuing effort to ease financial turmoil and credit stresses.

• Busch shareholders get takeover bid plea

  Brewer InBev SA made a plea yesterday to Anheuser-Busch shareholders to challenge the U.S. beer company's rejection of its unsolicited $46 billion takeover bid. InBev Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito insisted that his offer of $65 a share was "full and fair" and gave shareholders immediate certainty as stock markets plunge. On Thursday, the Anheuser-Busch board rejected InBev's offer as "financially inadequate," launching a plan to boost earnings growth to win shareholder support to stay independent.

• Mattress company liquidation ordered

  Jessup mattress manufacturer Dormia, which filed for bankruptcy June 18, has been ordered by a court to liquidate its 20 retail stores in a 10-week sale that begins tomorow. Mattress and bedding inventory valued at about $4.3 million will be liquidated at below-market prices at all Dormia stores in nine states, including Ohio, New York and Florida. Dormia will close all of its retail stores after liquidation but will still manufacture mattresses for sale by outside retailers at its Jessup plant. Hudson Capital Partners LLC, which is also liquidating The Room Source California-based furniture chain, is managing Dormia's liquidation sale.

• Hip-hop artist Nas to promote Fila

  Fila, the Italian sportswear brand with American offices in Sparks, said yesterday that it has appointed hip-hop artist Nas as the ambassador of its Fila Italia Footwear Collection. The footwear collection goes on sale next month. Fila and Nas will also collaborate on the design of a 1980s-era footwear and apparel collection that will be released beginning with the holiday season. The partnership between Fila and Nas will include a marketing and public relations program that integrates print, broadcast and online advertising with retail promotions, artist tour support and album launch initiatives.

• Visa rescinds its PIN rule

  Consumers can now use Visa debit cards for smaller purchases without entering a personal identification number. Visa said yesterday that it is no longer requiring merchants to treat its debit cards differently when customers use them as PIN-debit cards. The move prompted the Justice Department to drop an antitrust probe.

• Constellation Brands profit jumps 50%

  Constellation Brands Inc. said yesterday that fiscal first-quarter profit jumped 50 percent, lifted by price increases as well as strong sales of its new higher-margin wine brands such as Clos du Bois and Wild Horse.

• Lead-paint verdict is overturned

  The Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned a landmark verdict against three former lead paint producers yesterday, a major setback for communities that want the companies to decontaminate hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings. The unanimous decision reversed the lone victory to date against the lead paint industry. A jury in Providence found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable in 2006 for creating a public nuisance by manufacturing and selling a toxic product. The state had proposed that the companies spend an estimated $2.4 billion to inspect and clean hundreds of thousands of homes built before 1980 that it said were likely to contain lead paint. The appeals court, in its 4-0 decision, said the state's lawsuit should have been dismissed at the outset. It said that while lead paint was a public health problem in Rhode Island, it wasn't the companies' responsibility to clean it up because they had no control over how the paint was used.

• Quarter-point rise expected in Europe

  The European Central Bank is widely expected to raise its main interest rate a quarter-point to 4.25 percent tomorrow to combat rising inflation in the 15-nation euro zone. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said at the bank's last monthly meeting, June 5, that it was in a state of "heightened alertness" on inflation and could raise the main rate "by a small amount." While Trichet has said his main objective is to keep prices stable in the euro zone, he has also recently suggested that repeated interest rate increases are probably not likely.

• 2 claims against Grasso pay voided

  A midlevel New York appeals court yesterday ordered the remaining state claims of excessive pay dismissed against former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard A. Grasso's $187.5 million compensation package.

• UBS announces boardroom shuffle

  UBS AG announced a major boardroom reshuffle yesterday, the second since the Swiss banking giant suffered heavy losses as a result of the U.S. subprime crisis. Four of the bank's 12 board members will step down. Analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank welcomed the changes, which will see Stephan Haeringer, Rolf Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence Weinbach leave the board. Replacements have not been named.

• S. American version of OPEC envisioned

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting South American leaders to create their version of OPEC. The socialist president says the group, known as Petrosur, would link state oil and gas companies in a system like the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which sets production quotas for members. Venezuela has South America's largest reserves: 310 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Chavez said he does not expect oil prices to fall below $100 a barrel and says Venezuela is willing to donate $1 per exported barrel to finance South American farmers. Chavez met yesterday with regional leaders in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina. He praised Brazil's sugar cane-based biofuels industry, but not the United States' "crazy" use of corn for the fuel.

• Positive trends give a lift to market; Dow gains 32

  Wall Street began the third quarter with an erratic session and modest gain yesterday after a mix of news made it clear the country is still deep in economic problems but may have some positive trends.

• Calendar

  Tuesday

  Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. is accepting applications for building trades apprenticeships. Apply in person from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Suite 322, 1220B E. Joppa Road, Towson. Call 410-821-0351 for details.

• Training teachers in finance

  Mary Ann Hewitt