AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Tuesday, December 12, 2006:

Ex-Enron CEO Skilling Gets Prison Delay

WASECA, Minn. (AP) _ The former Enron chief who once resided in a $4.7 million, Mediterranean-style mansion in Houston's toniest neighborhood will get a bit of a reprieve before he must report to prison, where he would likely have three roommates in a converted college dorm room. Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive officer of Enron, was scheduled to report Tuesday to the Federal Correctional Institute here to serve his 24-year sentence on fraud and conspiracy charges.

___

Nissan: No Need to Merge With New Partner

ATSUGI, Japan (AP) _ Nissan needs to boost production capacity in the United States to meet growing demand for new models but is under no pressure to merge with a new partner following the break-up of alliance talks with General Motors, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday. His comments follow scuttled talks between Nissan, France's Renault and General Motors Corp. on a merger that would have produced an automotive juggernaut spanning North America, Europe and Asia.

___

China Rejects U.S. Trade Complaints

BEIJING (AP) _ China on Tuesday rejected U.S. complaints that it is failing to live up to market-opening commitments on the eve of a visit to Beijing by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to discuss currency and other contentious issues. "We have implemented our obligations and commitments earnestly and have abided by the rules of the World Trade Organization," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

___

Fed Expected to Leave Rates Unchanged

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Federal Reserve, under first-year Chairman Ben Bernanke, appears close to achieving the tricky maneuver of steering the U.S. economy to a soft landing. That is the growing view of economists who believe Bernanke and his colleagues are nearing the goal of slowing economic growth as a way of lowering inflation pressures while making sure the slowdown doesn't become something more severe such as a recession.

___

Oil Prices Hold Above $61 a Barrel

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices held above $61 a barrel Tuesday as the market awaited OPEC's decision this week on whether to further cut production in order to shore up prices. Light sweet crude for January delivery rose 15 cents to $61.37 a barrel in midafternoon Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

___

Drought Keeps Cotton Crop Down

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) _ West Texas cotton producer Rickey Bearden lost all 4,000 of his dryland acres to drought, and the lack of rain made his irrigated crop just average. "I'm considerably down from last year," he said. "Just lack of rainfall."

___

Dow Ends Up 21 As Investors Wait for Fed

NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street extended its advance Monday as investors digested new takeover developments and placed bets ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. A series of recent acquisition announcements has reassured investors that corporations still feel the economy is robust enough to strike deals. About $45.4 billion worth of acquisitions were announced by Standard & Poor's 500 companies last week, setting up this year to be the best for M&A since 2000. Driving the Dow Jones industrials was American International Group Inc., which agreed to buy the U.S. port operations of state-owned Dubai Ports World. Hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LLC bought a stake in miner Phelps Dodge Corp., and said it would oppose the company's planned takeover by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

___

Mortgage Delinquencies a Rising Threat

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates are on the rise, and the impact could be greatest on low-income families that took out higher-interest loans for risky borrowers, some experts said Monday. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government wants to issue guidelines to banks and savings and loans that will allow people to get home loans "without taking unnecessary risks."

___

UPS Seeks More Cuts, Offers Severance

ATLANTA (AP) _ UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Monday it is seeking more job cuts on top of 1,200 positions in its logistics unit it previously said it would cut. The Atlanta-based company has offered voluntary severance packages to roughly 650 employees at its headquarters and in its Supply Chain Solutions division in the United States. Those receiving the offers are at least 50 years old and have at least 10 years of experience, spokesman Norman Black said. The company did not disclose a goal of how many people it hoped would take the severance offers, and Black declined to say whether there would be any forced layoffs if not enough people take the offers.

___

HP CFO Wayman to Retire at End of Year

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday that Bob Wayman, the company's longtime chief financial officer who briefly served as interim CEO, plans to retire at the end of the year. Wayman, 61, joined HP in 1969 as a cost accountant and became CFO in 1984. Industry experts praised Wayman as a steady leader who guided the company through periods of intense turmoil between the 2005 ouster of Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina and the hiring of Mark Hurd.

___

Gold Prices

HONG KONG (AP) _ Gold closed higher in Hong Kong Tuesday at $629.55 an ounce, up $2.15 an ounce from Monday's close of $627.40.

___

Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks rose Tuesday for a second session, led by blue chips and fishery stocks following Wall Street's overnight gains.

___

Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar hovered near a two-week high against the yen in Asian trading Tuesday ahead of a Federal Reserve's meeting later in the day.

A service of The Associated Press. Copyright 2006 All rights reserved.