The Buzz On Business

UNITEDHEALTH TO CLEAN HOUSE: UnitedHealth Group Inc. cleared its decks of bad news, announcing a lower profit outlook, a restructuring that will trim 4,000 jobs and a $900 million payout to settle a class-action lawsuit over options backdating. UnitedHealth said its restructuring would change operations on every level to focus more on regional coverage. The new UnitedHealth will be "simpler, leaner and faster," Chief Executive Stephen J. Hemsley said. Analysts saw the announcements as perhaps the end of a long rough patch for UnitedHealth, the nation's second-largest health insurer. Shares in UnitedHealth Group fell 38 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $25.25 in afternoon trading.

MICROSOFT, YAHOO A POSSIBILITY? Unable to strike a deal on its own, Microsoft Corp. reportedly is hoping to snap up Yahoo's online search operations with the help of News Corp. and Time Warner Inc. The latest twist in Microsoft's convoluted courtship caused Yahoo's shares to rise more than 3 percent in Wednesday's sinking stock market, even though the chances of a deal getting done still seemed remote. If nothing else, the enthusiastic reaction to the unconfirmed report in The Wall Street Journal served as another reminder that investors want Yahoo to pursue a different path than the one mapped out by Chief Executive Jerry Yang. And that could be bad news for Yang, who started Yahoo as an Internet directory 14 years ago. Unless he can sway shareholder sentiment before Yahoo's annual meeting Aug. 1, Yang could lose his job in a boardroom coup being attempted by investor Carl Icahn.

BLOCKBUSTER PULLS PLUG ON CIRCUIT CITY DEAL: Circuit City Stores Inc. plummeted to historic lows in trading after Blockbuster Inc. withdrew its takeover bid, causing investors to question the consumer electronics retailer's future. Shares of the Richmond, Va.-based company fell 23 cents, or 9 percent, to close at $2.32 in trading on Wednesday, after hitting a 17-year-plus low of $2.10 earlier in the day. The company, which has lost 86 percent of its stock from its 52-week high of $15.33, says it will continue to review strategic alternatives, but said that doesn't require Blockbuster's presence. Blockbuster pulled its bid to buy Circuit City on Tuesday night, citing market conditions.

LATE PAYMENTS DIP: Late payments on consumer loans dipped slightly in the first three months of the year, but remained at a level not seen since the early 1990s. The American Bankers Association said Wednesday that late payments on a broad sample of consumer loans fell to 2.62 percent in the January-March quarter, down from 2.65 percent in the last quarter of 2007. Still, it was the second-highest level since the first quarter of 1992, when the economy had just emerged from a recession. Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due. The survey is based on information supplied by more than 300 banks nationwide.

LAYOFF TALK: American Airlines says it could cut 900 flight attendant jobs as it reduces flights to cope with record fuel costs.The Fort Worth-based airline expects to reduce jobs for pilots and mechanics too, but it hasn't released numbers yet. American has about 18,000 active flight attendants. ... The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday announced plans to cut 250 positions across the company, including 150 positions in editorial, in a new effort to bring expenses into line with declining revenue. In a further cost-cutting step, the paper will reduce the number of pages it publishes each week by 15 percent. ... Journal Sentinel Inc., publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said it will cut about 10 percent of its 1,300 full-time employees because of continued industrywide declines in advertising sales. ... The Tampa Tribune plans to lay off 11 newsroom employees this week and 10 more by early fall. Combined with 29 people who took voluntary buyouts and tendered resignations, the job losses announced will leave the paper with a news staff of about 200.

BEE NEWS SERVICES

Figuratively Speaking

62: Percentage of adults in the United States who believe that the government should tax the wealthy more, according to a Financial Times-Harris Poll

51: Percentage of adults in France (the lowest percentage in the countries polled) who agree

56: Percentage of adults in the United Kingdom who agree

77: Percentage of adults in Japan (the highest percentage in the countries polled) who agree

JOHN MacINTYRE,

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE