AP Business Highlights

3/22/2010, 5:51 p.m. EDT

The Associated Press

(AP) — Health overhaul promises pain, gain for businesses

WASHINGTON - The first changes under the new health care law will be easy to see and not long in coming: There'll be $250 rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare drug coverage gap, and young adults moving from college to work will be able to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26.

But the peace of mind the president promised is still a ways beyond the horizon, starting only in 2014. Insurers then will be barred from turning down people with medical problems, and the government will provide tax credits to help millions of working families buy coverage they can't afford now.

President Barack Obama plans to sign the main legislation Tuesday in the White House East Room after a bitterly divided House approved it Sunday night.

___

Bank bill set to pass committee on party-line vote

WASHINGTON - Republicans abandoned hope of altering Wall Street legislation in a key Senate committee Monday, clouding prospects for a bipartisan bill and leaving the fight for the full Senate.

Republicans had offered more than 300 amendments to legislation proposed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, but they withdrew them over the weekend. That cleared the way for a quick party-line committee vote on Dodd's proposal late Monday or early Tuesday.

The surprise development did nothing to mend the partisan fissures over the legislation and adds even more uncertainty to Congress' ability to pass a sweeping rewrite of financial regulations this year. The Senate would not take up the bill until April at the earliest.

___

IMF looms as Germany balks at Greek aid

BRUSSELS - German reluctance over bailing out Greece has raised the chances that the debt-laden country will be forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance, possibly by the end of this week.

French and Luxembourg politicians said Monday that European Union nations are now discussing a combination of bilateral loans from individual eurozone countries who want to contribute-and IMF aid for Greece if it needs it.

Greece has around 20 billion euros, or $27.1 billion, of debt maturing over the next couple of months and wants to avoid paying sky-high premiums to raise money from international bond markets.

___

Rio Tinto exec admits to some bribery charges

SHANGHAI - Four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto pleaded guilty Monday to taking bribes, lawyers and an Australian diplomat said, in an embarrassing case seen as part of a harsh new attitude toward foreign business in China.

Rio Tinto is one of China's top providers of iron ore and a key industry negotiator in commodity price talks with the government. The accused include a Rio Tinto executive who was arrested along with three employees last year during fractious annual negotiations over iron ore prices.

The admissions of bribe taking-although no details of the allegations have been released-are a blow for Rio Tinto at a time when it is striving to restore good relations with China.

___

Health care companies pull stock market higher

NEW YORK - Drug and hospital companies led stocks higher Monday after lawmakers ended months of uncertainty and approved the health care overhaul bill.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 44 points to 10,785.89. It has risen 14 of the past 17 trading days and stands at its highest level since October 2008. Broader indexes also climbed.

Investors had expected the health care bill would pass the House, but the approval late Sunday removed some of the anxiety about health care that has dogged stocks of hospitals and drug makers. A bill with changes made by the House now goes back to the Senate for approval. Debate could begin Tuesday.

___

PepsiCo to focus on healthier foods, cuts salt

NEW YORK - PepsiCo, largely known for junk-food brands such as Doritos and Pepsi, is setting out to triple its sales of healthier fare in the next decade.

PepsiCo Inc. unveiled the new goal for brands such as Tropicana, Dole, Quaker and Tazo teas on Monday at an investor event. The company also backed its forecast for long-term earnings growth.

Governments around the world are exerting pressure on food makers to improve nutrition. But Pepsi is also making the case that it's just as much consumer demand that's driving the changes.

___

Google ends China censorship with Hong Kong shift

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. stopped censoring the Internet for China by shifting its search engine off the mainland Monday but said it will maintain other operations in the country. The maneuver attempts to balance Google's disdain for China's Internet rules with its desire to profit from an explosively growing market.

On Monday, visitors to Google.cn were being redirected to Google's Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong. Google does not censor those results, but Chinese government filters can restrict the results that are seen by mainland audiences.

The Hong Kong page heralded the shift with this announcement: "Welcome to Google Search in China's new home." The site also began displaying search results in the simplified Chinese characters that are used in mainland China.

___

E-Trade names new CEO; seeks reverse stock split

NEW YORK - E-Trade Financial Corp. said Monday that it has tapped former Citigroup Inc. executive Steven Freiberg to be its new CEO, starting next month.

The brokerage firm also plans to ask shareholders to support a reverse stock split, which will lower its total share amount to 400 million.

Freiberg is stepping in to run a company that has been working to restructure itself for more than a year. It was hammered by losses on risky mortgage investments during the credit crisis and recession.

___

Gasoline pump prices highest since October, 2008

Gasoline pump prices lingered at a 17-month high on Monday following a steady climb in recent weeks.

Nationwide average retail prices remained flat at $2.82 per gallon, the highest level since October 2008. Prices are up 18.6 cents in the past month, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

That matched the national average in the Energy Information Administration's weekly report, up 3 cents from a week ago and 86 cents above a year ago. California had the highest average pump price-$3.09 a gallon-and the Gulf Coast region was the lowest at $2.69 a gallon.

___

Tiffany 4Q profit rises as sales regain sparkle

NEW YORK - Rising sales, particularly during the holidays, helped quadruple jeweler Tiffany & Co.'s fourth-quarter profit, the company said Monday, indicating luxury customers are willing to spend more as fears about the economy lessen.

The quarter that ended Jan. 31 produced more than half of Tiffany's fiscal 2009 profit, and the company, known for its signature turquoise boxes, forecast fiscal 2010 earnings ahead of Wall Street's expectations.

Tiffany earned more $140.4 million, or $1.10 per share, compared with $31.1 million, or 25 cents per share a year earlier. Excluding a restructuring charge, Tiffany earned 86 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. There were no one-time items in the current quarter.

The Dow rose 43.91, or 0.4 percent, to 10,785.89.

Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.91, or 0.5 percent, to 1,165.81, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.99, or 0.9 percent, to 2,395.40.

The April contract for benchmark crude oil, which expires Monday, rose 57 cents to settle at $81.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Most of the trading moved to the May contract, which added 63 cents to settle at $81.60.

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 0.7 cent to settle at $2.0837 a gallon, and gasoline gained 0.06 cent to settle at $2.2562 a gallon. Natural gas slid 9 cents to settle at $4.079 per 1,000 cubic feet. Earlier, natural gas hit a 52-week low at $4.036

In London, Brent crude rose 66 cents to settle at $80.54 on the ICE futures exchange.