BRIEFCASE IHOP SERVES UP GOOD SALES NEWS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

GLENDALE - IHOP Corp.'s same-store sales rose 4.8 percent for the second quarter, the pancake house chain reported Thursday. In the same period in 2002, sales at restaurants open more than one year rose 3.6 percent.

IHOP shares lost 5 cents to close Thursday at $33.

Diodes gets spot on Russell 3000

WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Diodes Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of semiconductor products, announced Thursday that its stock has been added to the Russell 3000 Index.

The annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. equity indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of May 31, ranking them by market capitalization to create the broad market Russell 3000 Index.

Index membership is effective July 1 and will remain in place for one year.

MGM Home, firms form partnership

SANTA MONICA - MGM Home Entertainment announced Thursday that it has forged partnerships with 10 companies to enhance its presence in the children's home entertainment arena.

MGM will acquire live-action and animated films, television programs, content derived from the publishing domain, established licensed brands and original direct-to-video products targeted at family entertainment from the companies.

They include: Scholastic Entertainment; Nelvana Limited; NBC Enterprises/The Jim Henson Company; DIC Entertainment; WGBH; Broadway Video; The Mad Science Group; and Southern Star Sales.

Mortgage rates at nine-week high

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages, which climbed to a nine-week high this week, are still lower than a year ago and should continue to support America's thriving housing market.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for the week ending July 12 was 5.52 percent, a sizable increase from last week's rate of 5.40 percent, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey.

Four week ago, rates on 30-year mortgages slid to a new weekly low of 5.21 percent, the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking this benchmark in 1971. Records that reach back earlier indicate that the rate is the lowest in more than four decades, economists said.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates rose to 4.85 percent, up from 4.75 percent last week.

This week's rates for both 30-year and 15-year mortgages were the highest since the week ending May 9, when rates stood at 5.62 percent and 4.97 percent, respectively.

Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages also moved higher this week, rising to 3.55 percent, compared with 3.49 percent last week.

Guilty plea given by Rite Aid exec

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Another former Rite Aid Corp. executive pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, a charge related to the government's investigation of an accounting-fraud scandal at the drugstore chain.

Philip Markovitz, 62, Rite Aid's former senior vice president of store development, admitted lying to FBI agents and a grand jury about when he received a lucrative severance letter from Martin L. Grass, Rite Aid's former chairman and chief executive.

Grass has admitted creating illegal, backdated letters authorizing generous severance benefits for several former executives.