BRIEFCASE AMGEN APPOINTS 2 NEW EXECUTIVES.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

THOUSAND OAKS - Amgen Inc. named two new vice presidents Thursday, supporting the biotechnology giant's discovery efforts in neuroscience and drug metabolism.

H. Christian Fibiger has been named vice president and global therapeutic area head for neuroscience research, while Paul Pearson has been appointed vice president of pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism.

The two positions arrive at a time when Thousand Oaks-based Amgen is in the process of developing a product that treats Parkinson's disease. The product is in its second phase of clinical trials.

Reliance reports higher earnings

Los Angeles-based Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. reported on Thursday third-quarter earnings per diluted share of 39 cents, up 26 percent from the 31 cents reported in the year-ago period.

Quarterly net income was $12.4 million, up 24 percent from $10 million recorded in the comparable year-ago period. Sales totaled $490.6 million, compared with $454.8 million in the 2002 third quarter.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, earnings per diluted share were 77 cents, compared with 89 cents per diluted share for the year-ago period, and net income amounted to $24.3 million vs. $28.2 million.

Sales for the 2003 year-to-date period were $1.4 billion, up 7 percent compared with 2002 nine-month sales of $1.3 billion.

J2 Global expands network to Israel

Los Angeles-based j2 Global Communications Inc., a provider of outsourced messaging and communications services, announced Thursday that it expanded its network of local telephone numbers to Israel.

The move marks the company's entrance into the Middle Eastern market.

Currently, the j2 Global network offers local telephone numbers in more than 1,000 cities in 20 countries worldwide.

Thursday's announcement is the latest in a series of strategic network expansions. Earlier in the year, j2 Global established a presence in Asia and grew its network to include additional cities in Canada and Latin America.

Chevron agrees to spend millions

A $282.5 million emissions-reduction settlement lodged by Chevron on Thursday includes $800,000 for violations at the company's El Segundo refinery, and a pledge of $400,000 for local environmental programs.

The consent decree filed in federal court in San Francisco will require Chevron to spend $275 million on technology to reduce emissions at five refineries, including the one in El Segundo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

Together, the five facilities represent more than 5 percent of the nation's total refining capacity.

Chevron also will pay $3.5 million in civil penalties, and $4 million for emissions controls and other environmental projects in communities around the refineries, the EPA said.

Sun's loss bigger that was forecast

SAN JOSE - Sun Microsystems Inc. reported a larger fiscal first-quarter loss Thursday as the computer-and-software maker continued to struggle with weak demand from its corporate customers and questions about its strategy.

For the three months ended Sept. 28, Sun lost $286 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of $111 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period last year. Sales were down nearly 8 percent in the first quarter, to $2.54 billion from $2.75 billion.

Analysts were expecting Sun to lose 8 cents per share on sales of $2.5 billion, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.

EBay's earnings meet expectation

SAN FRANCISCO - EBay Inc. reported Thursday that its profits leaped 69 percent in the third quarter, barely exceeding the online auction leader's conservative estimates and matching Wall Street's expectations.

The San Jose-based company earned $103.3 million, 16 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. In the comparable period last year, eBay showed net profits of $61.0 million, 11 cents per share.

Revenue surged 84 percent to $530.9 million.

Excluding one-time items, eBay reported ``pro forma'' earnings of 18 cents per share, the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts. The company, which boosted estimates in previous quarters, had told investors to expect 17 cents per share.

Consumer prices up for 2nd month

WASHINGTON - Consumer prices rose by a modest 0.3 percent in September for the second month in a row, mostly reflecting higher gasoline prices that put a dent in motorists' wallets. At the same time, production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rebounded.

The Labor Department's latest reading Thursday on the Consumer Price Index, the government's most closely watched inflation barometer, should ease somewhat Federal Reserve policy-makers' concerns about deflation, an economically dangerous and widespread weakness in prices.

Separately, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose a solid 0.4 percent in September, a turnaround from the disappointing 0.1 percent dip registered in the previous month. At factories, output jumped 0.7 percent in September led by an increase in automobile production; production at mines was flat; and output at utilities dropped 2.2 percent.

NYSE to discipline five trading firms

NEW YORK - The New York Stock Exchange will discipline, and seek tens of millions in fines against, five floor-trading firms as part of a widening probe into improper trading that may have cost investors millions.

The world's largest stock exchange said Thursday that it will seek to compensate investors after the NYSE investigation, which found that the specialist firms ignored their primary duty to directly match buy and sell orders when possible and instead, intervened from their own account for a profit.

Ford narrows loss for third quarter

DEARBORN, Mich. - Aggressive cost-cutting and strong results from its financial services business helped Ford Motor Co. narrow its loss sharply in the third quarter, but intense pricing pressure left it with red ink in its automotive operations.

The world's No. 2 automaker said Thursday that it lost $25 million, or 1 cent a share, in the July-September quarter, compared with a loss of $326 million, or 18 cents a share, a year ago.

Ford also revised upward its full-year earnings forecast from 70 cents a share to 95 cents to $1.05 a share.