Checklist

Regional

U An activist investor said struggling consumer-electronics retailer Circuit City Stores of Richmond should replace its chief executive officer and make other changes to help “unlock hundreds of millions of value.” Wattles Capital Management, which owns 6.5 percent of the company, said that turnaround efforts under CEO Philip Schoonover are not working.

U The Navy said it is moving forward with construction of a new type of smaller, speedy warship, putting the project back on track after the cancellation of two ships last year. The formal request for proposals from General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin calls for construction of three Littoral combat ships to be carried out over the next several years.

National

U The Federal Reserve said that it will auction an additional $25 billion in Treasury securities to big investment firms, part of an effort to ease problems in credit markets. The auction — the second of its kind — will be held today. For the 28-day loan of Treasury securities, firms can put up more risky investments as collateral.

U Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, asked the Securities and Exchange Commission why it declined to bring a case against Bear Stearns Cos. on how the securities firm valued mortgage-related investments. “Congress needs to understand more about this case and why the SEC ultimately sought no enforcement action,” Mr. Grassley said.

U Billionaire investor George Soros said he doesn’t expect another investment bank to collapse as Bear Stearns did last month. “This phase of the crisis is over,” said Mr. Soros, 77. “The Fed is in the business of providing liquidity. It has gone so far in providing liquidity that it has taken considerable risk in taking on papers, mortgages, whose value is rather unknown.”

U Thornburg Mortgage Co., the “jumbo” mortgage company that averted bankruptcy this week, said its rescue package gives new investors the right to demand changes in operations and replace directors if Thornburg doesn’t comply. The stock fell 11 percent to $1.29. Investors, including MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities, provided Thornburg with $1.2 billion and won the right to make management changes.

U A federal bankruptcy judge said the Justice Department can subpoena documents and officials of Countrywide Financial to determine whether the mortgage lender abused borrowers and the bankruptcy-claims process.

U Melvyn Weiss, co-founder of a prominent New York law firm, pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in a kickback scheme involving lawsuits against large corporations. The 72-year-old Weiss was ordered to pay nearly $10 million in fines and forfeiture penalties under the plea agreement, and could be sentenced to up to 33 months in prison.

U Health insurer WellPoint will start making hospitals pay for certain medical mistakes by cutting off reimbursement. The insurer said it will not cover costs tied to three major medical errors, so-called “never events” like surgery on the wrong body part. It also may withhold payment for expenses tied to eight other problems including bedsores or infections from a catheter.

U Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable television service, reported 2007 compensation of $20.8 million for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts, down 20 percent from 2006.

U CBS made a series of high-profile layoffs at stations it owns in cities that include Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Boston. The cuts include well-known local anchors and reporters whose faces adorned billboards around their cities. Many earned seven-figure salaries. The highest-profile cut came in Chicago, where WBBM-TV fired anchor Diann Burns.

U The chief executives of Verizon Communications Inc. and Aetna Inc. urged Congress to approve legislation that would spur adoption of electronic health records as a way to save billions of dollars. The legislation, introduced last year in the Senate with bipartisan support, would encourage wider use of computerized medical information, reducing health care costs and improving care, they said.

U Shares of Crocs Inc., the maker of colorful clogs of the same name, fell 10 percent after JPMorgan Chase cut its rating on the stock, citing slowing U.S. sales and the weakening economy. The investment bank wrote in a note to investors that Crocs’ U.S. sales may slow to 14 percent from 82 percent last year. Crocs shares fell $1.78 to $15.55.

U Seed company Monsanto Co. said its second-quarter earnings more than doubled on increasingly strong sales of corn seed and herbicide in the United States. But investor appeared disappointed at the company’s profit forecast, and the shares fell 96 cents to $112. Monsanto earned $1.13 billion ($2.02 per share) in the period ended Feb. 29.

U Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone, said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as consumers snapped up devices that display maps, surf the Web and play music. Net income rose to $412.5 million (72 cents), beating estimates. Sales doubled to $1.88 billion in the quarter ended March 1. The company forecast 2.2 million in subscriber gains this quarter.

U Google Inc. is cutting jobs at DoubleClick Inc., the online advertising company it bought last month for $3.24 billion. About 300 of DoubleClick’s 1,200 U.S. employees were fired or placed in “transitional” roles, Google said.

U Schering-Plough Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan said he will continue to promote the cholesterol pill Vytorin, even after a panel said the drug shouldn’t be used as an initial treatment. Mr. Hassan emphasized his experience in tough times, including rebuilding and selling Pharmacia Corp. and making Schering profitable after losses in 2003 and 2004. The company announced layoffs and other cost cuts.

International

U Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm by market value, will stop writing mortgages at two British units, Standard & Poor’s said. S&P said that the decision won’t affect its ratings of debt securities sold by Lehman’s Preferred Mortgage Ltd. and Southern Pacific Mortgage Ltd. units.

U The European Commission opened an investigation into Britain’s nationalization of Northern Rock PLC, the collapsed mortgage bank. Neelie Kroes, the EU antitrust chief, said a look at Britain’s plans to save Northern Rock was merited given the financial market turmoil, the amount of money involved and the risk of an unfair advantage over other banks.

U CEIBA Investments, the only closed-end fund that invests only in Cuba, plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in June, a sign of growing interest in the socialist state since Fidel Castro was sidelined by illness. The fund, registered in Britain’s Channel Islands, said this week it raised its capital by $28 million to $137.3 million on heavy demand despite gloom in world financial markets.

From wire dispatches and staff reports