Checklist

Regional

U The bankruptcy of air carrier ATA has halted plans for a partnership with Southwest Airlines that would have put Southwest’s international hub in Baltimore. Under the arrangement, ATA would have offered inexpensive flights to Europe from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

U Shares of Massey Energy Co. soared more than 18 percent after the Richmond coal mine operator announced it expects to sell coal for far higher prices than expected this year. Massey originally told Wall Street it expected prices ranging from $54 to $56 a ton this year. But now the company says it expects between $61 and $63 a ton in 2008. Massey’s shares gained $7.27 to close at $47.15.

U Circuit City Stores Inc. is hoping to meet with an investor who is seeking the ouster of the Richmond company’s chief executive and board of directors. In a letter sent yesterday to Wattles Capital Management, the nation’s No. 2 consumer electronics retailer said it plans to contact the firm’s manager, Mark J. Wattles, to schedule a meeting.

U A three-ring binder containing the personal records of nearly 3,000 former federal employees is missing. But the government says not to worry — because it was probably accidentally thrown out with the trash. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the binder contained Social Security numbers of employees who left the agency between 1983 and 2007.

National

U Early data from the Energy Information Administration suggest U.S. oil demand in the first quarter fell by nearly 475,000 barrels a day from a year ago. That would be the biggest decline since the drop in the fourth quarter of 2001 that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

U Retail gas prices surged 1.4 cents to a record $3.303 a gallon yesterday and appear poised to rise further in coming weeks as gasoline supplies tighten, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The U.S. Energy Department expects prices to peak near $3.50 a gallon later in the spring.

U The Energy Department said it would continue putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve even as crude oil prices remain above $100 a barrel. The department announced a solicitation of bids for 13 million barrels of oil, with deliveries expected to begin in August, when the current delivery contracts expire.

U A federal grand jury in New Haven, Conn., indicted the former president of Greenwich-based United Rentals Inc. on insider trading and securities fraud charges. Federal prosecutors say 48-year-old John N. Milne, a Canadian citizen living in Westport, used insider information when he sold 850,000 shares of United Rentals stock and made more than $22 million.

U Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is seeking to ease worries that tight credit markets might make it hard for students to get college loans. Ms. Spellings said that her department had reviewed the law and concluded that it has the authority to quickly free up money from the U.S. Treasury, if needed, to finance student loans.

U Bear Stearns Cos. was another step closer to its takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co. after the troubled investment bank won approval from the New York Stock Exchange for a share issuance. Bear Stearns now has the OK to issue 95 million shares of its common stock to JPMorgan.

U A judge rejected a request by lawyers representing Countrywide Financial shareholders to examine Bank of America’s internal documents related to the pending merger of the two companies. Plaintiffs challenging the $4 billion stock deal argue that it undervalues Countrywide to the detriment of its shareholders, while enriching executives at Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender and home loan servicer.

U Information technology company CA Inc. said it will eliminate 2,800 jobs under a restructuring plan, instead of the 1,700 job cuts the Islandia, N.Y., company previously announced.

U Honeywell International Inc. of Morris Township, N.J., said it will buy Norcross Safety Products LLC for $1.2 billion to expand its line of personal protective gear. Norcross, based in Oak Brook, Ill., makes protective and safety equipment for firefighters and utility workers.

U A person familiar with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo says the software company is evaluating its offer in light of the economic climate and the Internet pioneer’s deteriorating business. Shares of Yahoo fell nearly 4 percent in after-hours trading.

U Verizon Wireless said it will use the spectrum it agreed to buy for $9.36 billion in a Federal Communications Commission auction this winter to expand its data services. Verizon said the “C block” spectrum it acquired was “ideal” for connecting consumer electronics such as mobile phones, medical devices and gaming consoles.

U A western Pennsylvania couple sued Google Inc., saying pictures of their home that appear on the Web site’s “Street View” feature violated their privacy, devalued their property and caused them mental suffering.

U The nation’s airlines performed worse last year than in any other year since 2000, according to Brent Bowen, one of the co-authors of an annual report on quality. Full details of the Airline Quality Rating report, which measures how well the airlines minimize the hassles of flying, will be released Monday.

U WellPoint’s former chief financial officer, David Colby, left in disgrace, but he didn’t leave empty handed: His cash, options and retirement plans totaled $118.2 million, according to a federal regulatory filing. The company even paid him $116,692 for his unused vacation. Mr. Colby, 54, resigned abruptly in May and has since been plagued by lawsuits tied to a string of romantic entanglements with women across the country.

International

U UBS AG, already wincing from massive write-downs caused by the subprime crisis, has taken another blow as a former CEO is pushing the Swiss bank to separate its private client operations from the stumbling investment unit. A shareholder group cheered the proposal from the bank’s former CEO Luqman Arnold and investors agreed, sending its stock higher yesterday.

U Foreign-owned cement companies operating in Venezuela reacted with caution to President Hugo Chavez’s announcement that their assets would be nationalized. Mexican-owned Cemex, Switzerland’s Holcim and French-owned Lafarge are all affected by the order. Mr. Chavez said that the companies would be compensated.

From wire dispatches and staff reports