In the Region

Casino workers to protest

Atlantic City dealers and slot technicians who voted to join the United Auto Workers will continue to put the heat on Harrah's Entertainment Inc. with a pair of protests today. The first will start at 2 p.m. at Brighton Park and proceed down the Boardwalk. A second protest is to begin tonight at 7 in the same location. The UAW-represented workers contend that Harrah's Entertainment has not bargained in good faith with them at two of its casinos - Caesars and Bally's - where they work. The UAW workers say they have been denied a contract since they joined the union more than two years ago. Harrah's Entertainment said it had no comment. But Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, the city's largest casino workers union, says the ads are scaring away customers. Local 54 president Bob McDevitt says he supports the dealers but disagrees with the UAW's approach. - Suzette Parmley

Judge rejects shareholder complaint

A federal judge in Delaware has rejected a shareholder lawsuit against Frazer, Pa., drugmaker Cephalon Inc. The judge ruled this week that Jerald King had failed to demonstrate that Cephalon's board was aware of the wrongdoing that led to his lawsuit. King accused CEO Frank Baldino and Cephalon directors of breaching their fiduciary duties in not properly overseeing the marketing of drugs for uses not approved by the FDA. He said the lack of oversight involving the painkiller Actiq, the anti-epilepsy drug Gabitril, and the narcolepsy drug Provigil resulted in huge losses to Cephalon. The company pleaded guilty last year and agreed to pay $425 million to settle federal charges that it broke the law by marketing the drugs to doctors for off-label uses. - AP

Shares recover after profit news

Shares of Dollar Financial Corp., Berwyn, recovered yesterday, a day after it posted a loss of $31.2 million in its fourth quarter and said annual profit was down almost 97 percent. High unemployment hurt its consumer lending business and forced it to close many of its financial services stores. The results beat Wall Street estimates, however. Dollar's stock closed up 54 cents, or 3.2 percent, at $17.20. The earnings include one-time charges of $57.5 million in legal expenses from a class-action suit in Canada and $4.5 million related to severance payments and other expenses associated with closing stores. - AP

Eurand gets FDA approval

Eurand NV, which is based in Amsterdam but has offices in Yardley, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its lead product, the pancreatic enzyme drug Zenpep. Shares rose $1.01, or 7.5 percent, to close at $14.46. Eurand plans its U.S. launch for next quarter. Zenpep treats the inability to properly digest food due to a lack of digestive enzymes made by the pancreas, a problem of cystic fibrosis and other conditions. Eurand said the drug was now the only FDA- approved pancreatic enzyme product that has been evaluated for both children as young as 1 year and adults. - Miriam Hill

Elsewhere

Regulators close Md., Minn. banks

Regulators have shut down small banks in Maryland and Minnesota, pushing to 83 the number of bank failures this year amid the soured economy and rising loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Baltimore-based Bradford Bank, with about $452 million in assets and

$383 million in deposits. It also seized Mainstreet Bank, of Forest Lake, Minn., with assets of $459 million and

deposits of $434 million. Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co., Buffalo, has agreed to assume the deposits and assets of Bradford Bank. The nine branches of Bradford Bank will reopen today as offices of M&T. Central Bank, Stillwater, Minn., is assuming the deposits and assets of Mainstreet Bank, whose eight branches will reopen today as offices of Central Bank. The failure of Bradford Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $97 million. - AP

FDIC extends scrutiny for new banks

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. extended the period during which new banks must maintain higher capital levels and face more frequent examinations, saying such companies fail at a higher rate than more-established lenders. Newly insured institutions must hold higher capital levels and be examined every 12 months during their first seven years of operation, the FDIC said. The previous rules applied during the first three years of operation.
- Bloomberg News

Whirlpool to cut 1,100 jobs

Whirlpool Corp. said it would cut 1,100 jobs and close a refrigerator factory in Evansville, Ind., to trim excess production capacity by next year. Whirlpool will move the production of refrigerators with freezers on top to

a company location in Mexico. Ice-makers produced in Evansville will be moved to a yet-to-be-decided location. The jobs will be eliminated in mid-2010. - AP

Hacker pleads guilty

A computer hacker accused of masterminding one of the largest cases of identity theft in U.S. history agreed to plead guilty and serve up to 25 years in federal prison for his crimes. Albert Gonzalez of Miami was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity-theft charges in federal courts in New York and Boston. Court documents filed in federal court in Boston indicate Gonzalez, 28, agreed to plead guilty to 19 counts and combine the two cases in federal court in Massachusetts. Additional charges against Gonzalez are pending in New Jersey, but they are not currently part of the plea deal. The Miami man is accused of swiping the credit- and debit-card numbers of more than 170 million accounts. - AP

Intel raises revenue forecast

Intel Corp. raised its third-quarter revenue forecast above Wall Street's expectations, citing strong demand for its chips and giving another signal that business is improving for one of the world's biggest technology companies. Intel's shares closed up 78 cents, or 4 percent, at $20.25. The leading maker of computer microprocessors said it now expected sales of $8.8 billion to $9.2 billion. Its last guidance, which came July 14, was for revenue in the range of $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion. - AP