AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Monday, April 9, 2007:

Vt. Bid to Curb Emissions Heads to Court

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) _ A week after the U.S. Supreme Court said vehicle carbon dioxide emissions can be regulated like other pollutants, an effort by several states to do that is about to get its first court test. California long has been the pacesetter in regulating car emissions, setting tougher limits than those imposed by the federal government.

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Investors Await Fed Minutes, Price Data

NEW YORK (AP) _ The stock market appears to be regaining its health after a weak first quarter, but a full recovery may be far off if upcoming data suggests inflation is a growing concern for the Federal Reserve. Before this week's inflation data comes in, though, stock market investors will likely react Monday to the stronger-than-expected employment report released by the Labor Department on Friday, a stock market holiday. The data showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 180,000, higher than the 135,000 that had been expected. The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, a five-month low.

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Retailers Explore Movie Download Options

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ When movies shifted from videocassettes to DVD, retailers simply cleared the tapes off the shelves to make room for discs. That's not so easy now that movies appear poised to follow music onto the Internet. The shift of music online has hurt stores such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Circuit City, and some retailers are looking to avoid a repeat with movies. Wal-Mart has launched its own movie download service, Best Buy is said to be in talks to start one, and Blockbuster explored buying movie download company Movielink earlier this year.

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Cotton Acreage Expected to Decline

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Elliot Colvin usually plants most of his 1,800 acres in cotton. But not this year. With corn prices up and cotton at break-even levels, the northeastern Louisiana farmer considers corn his best bet and for the first time in more than a decade will plant no cotton.

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Oil Prices Drop in Asian Trading

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices fell Monday amid relief over last week's release of British sailors detained by Iran, but concerns over the tight demand-supply balance and other geopolitical issues supported prices. Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 44 cents to $63.84 a barrel in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Hurricane Suit Against Allstate to Start

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ After Hurricane Katrina demolished Robert and Merryl Weiss' home, the couple were paid hundred of thousands of dollars by their insurance company. But they say it isn't enough. Jury selection was to start Monday in the Weisses' lawsuit against Allstate Insurance Co., only the second Katrina insurance case to be tried so far in a Louisiana federal court.

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Taubman Sheds Light on Sotheby's Scandal

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (AP) _ A. Alfred Taubman, ignoring all of his instincts, stayed silent during the price-fixing trial that would end with a prison sentence for the former owner of Sotheby's auction house. It was a decision that the luxury mall developer and philanthropist sees as a critical mistake as he reflects on a career in retailing that began as a discount store salesman and eventually put him at the center of an art world scandal.

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US Airways Expects 1st-Quarter Profit

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) _ US Airways Group Inc. is projecting a slight profit for the first quarter despite weather-related disruptions and a computer glitch that temporarily shut down the airline's check-in kiosks at airports across the country. "We are happy to have the first quarter of 2007 behind us," US Airways President Scott Kirby said in a statement Friday.

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New Century Unloads Unfunded Loans

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) _ New Century Financial Corp. has unloaded all of the mortgage loans it originated but had yet to fund, the company said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Irvine-based company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, said in the regulatory filing Friday that, as of April 3, it has disposed of all the loans in its inventory.

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Report: SABMiller Planning Bid for Rival

LONDON (AP) _ Brewer SABMiller is weighing a move to acquire rival Scottish & Newcastle in a 6.5 billion pound ($12.8 billion) deal, a British newspaper reported Sunday. Britain's Sunday Express, quoting unnamed sources it said were close to SABMiller, claimed a bid could be made for the rival brewer within days, valuing the company at around 7.12 pounds ($13.90) per share.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Metal markets in London were closed Monday for a holiday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks rose robustly Monday, led by technology and auto exporters, as investors were heartened by an upbeat U.S. jobs report and the dollar's rise against the yen.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar rose in Asia Monday as a strong jobs report in the U.S. lowered expectations for a cut in U.S. interest rates.

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