AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Tuesday, April 10, 2007:

Martha Stewart Relaunching Web Site

NEW YORK (AP) _ Domesticity diva Martha Stewart aims to parlay her authoritative voice on everything about lifestyle to the millions of women who surf the Internet with the relaunch of her namesake Web site. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. _ which scaled back its Web operation as a catalog/e-commerce business in 2005 _ is set to officially relaunch marthastewart.com Tuesday as an information portal.

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Wall Street Headed Toward Flat Opening

NEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. stocks tipped toward a flat opening Tuesday as investors remain cautious ahead of first-quarter earnings season that begins when Alcoa Inc. reports after the closing bell. The aluminum producer is expected to post a profit of 75 cents per share. Its results are used by Wall Street not only to gauge the pace of earnings for the quarter, but of the economy itself.

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U.S. Blasts China Over Copyright Piracy

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration announced new trade cases against China on Monday over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books. Standing near a table of pirated movie DVDs, music CDs and books, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said American companies were losing billions of dollars annually from piracy levels in China that "remain unacceptably high."

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Closing Arguments Set in Nacchio Trial

DENVER (AP) _ There was no mention of top-secret government contracts, no ongoing explanation of internal and external financial targets, and the former head of Qwest Communications didn't say a word. Joe Nacchio's attorneys rested their defense in his insider trading trial Monday after calling just three witnesses who discussed his stock trading patterns and testified Nacchio wanted to resign at the time he is accused of illegally selling $101 million of stock.

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McDonalds, KFC Allow Unions in China

SHANGHAI, China (AP) _ McDonald's and KFC are allowing union branches in their China outlets, in a nod to the country's state-sanctioned labor federation, while labor officials in Shanghai said Tuesday that a probe cleared the companies of any labor violations in that city. McDonald's China began planning to set up unions in southern China's Guangdong province early this year, and will "move on step by step," the company said.

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Bank of Japan Leaves Rates Unchanged

TOKYO (AP) _ The Bank of Japan held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.5 percent at the end of a two-day policy meeting Tuesday amid recent price declines and concerns about the U.S. economy. The policy board's decision _ widely expected _ was unanimous, the bank said in a statement.

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Oil Prices Bounce Back Slightly in Asia

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices bounced back slightly Tuesday as Asian traders reacted to a slide the day before that pulled prices down more nearly $3 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 30 cents to $61.81 in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading was light as the market looked for fresh signals.

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Scrushy Remains Free on Bond

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) _ Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy can remain free until his sentencing on a federal bribery conviction, but must wear an electronic monitoring device if he travels outside Alabama, a federal judge ruled Monday. Prosecutor Steve Feaga said that Scrushy's bond should be revoked because he took a yacht trip from West Palm Beach, Fla. to Miami in violation of court orders.

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McDonald's CEO Gets $13.4M Compensation

CHICAGO (AP) _ McDonald's Corp. CEO Jim Skinner received compensation the company valued at $13.4 million in 2006 during one of the strongest years in the fast-food company's history, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing Monday. Skinner, who has been chief executive since November 2004 after more than three decades with the company, was paid a $1,177,692 salary, with the bulk of his pay package coming in incentive pay of $8.8 million. That consisted of a $3.5 million bonus for the company's 2006 performance and $5.3 million for it having exceeded targets for 2004-06 _ both awarded under incentive programs for top executives.

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Nokia-Qualcomm Licensing Pact Expires

SAN DIEGO (AP) _ A licensing agreement between Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. expires Tuesday, potentially heralding a new wave of lawsuits between the wireless industry heavyweights. The agreement was to expire in each time zone at 12:01 a.m. local time, said Bertha Agia, a Qualcomm spokeswoman.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Tuesday at a bid price of $676.30 a troy ounce, up from $$671.90 Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks retreated moderately Tuesday as blue-chip exporters like Honda Motor dipped on profit-taking following recent gains.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar was lower against the yen in Asia Tuesday amid lingering concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy.

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