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Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Health Net revises year's projections

WOODLAND HILLS - Health Net Inc. expects an even better year than it previously projected, as the managed care company released updated guidance for 2006 on Friday.

For the full year, it now forecasts that it will earn between $2.90 and $3.10 per share, including a charge of 10 cents to 12 cents per share for the cost of stock options.

In its previous guidance, released only several weeks ago, the company told investors to expect a maximum of $2.90. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expect an average of $2.92 per share.

NASD supports a deal with NYSE 

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The National Association of Securities Dealers endorsed a regulatory ``partnership'' with the New York Stock Exchange, as the two Wall Street regulators seek ways to lower costs and reduce duplication in policing.

Such a move could mean more than $100 million in total yearly savings for securities firms that now deal separately with the NYSE and the NASD, said NASD Chairman Robert Glauber, in a speech here Friday at the Securities Industry Association's annual conference.

Separately, Glauber said he agreed with Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. Chief Executive Robert Greifeld that the NASD will likely shed its ownership stake in Nasdaq soon after Nasdaq receives stock-exchange status from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bureau confirms credit data stolen

CHICAGO - A desktop computer stolen last month from one of the nation's three major credit bureaus contained Social Security numbers and other credit information for as many as 3,600 people, the company confirmed Friday.

TransUnion LLC, which along with Equifax Inc. and Experian Information Solutions checks consumers' credit on behalf of banks and other lenders, acknowledged the security breach after it was first reported this week by the Privacy Times newsletter.

The Chicago-based firm said consumers who may have been affected were notified last month following the early October burglary of a small TransUnion sales office in California.

They were offered a year of free credit monitoring and the ability to place a fraud alert on their files.

Spokeswoman Colleen Tunney said the computer was password-protected and was only one of the items stolen, suggesting that the credit information was not the target of the burglary.

Crude prices slip before cold snap

Crude oil futures fell Friday but held above $57 a barrel as a forecast calling for colder weather in the Northeast next week tempered a sell-off tied to rising supplies and slack demand.

Analysts said that with crude plentiful for now, any short-term upward pressure on prices would likely come from distillates, such as heating oil and diesel, with the arrival of the Northern Hemisphere winter.

After a brief rise to $58.20, light sweet crude for December delivery fell 27 cents to settle at $57.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest level since July 21. In London, Brent crude traded on the ICE Futures exchange fell 69 cents to settle at $54.99 a barrel.

Nymex oil prices are 19 percent below the Aug. 30 high of $70.85, falling on a combination of warmer-than-usual autumn weather in the Northeast and Midwest.

United to increase flight attendants

CHICAGO - United Airlines said Friday it plans to hire 2,000 flight attendants in the coming year, the first time it has added to its flight attendant ranks in four years.

The announcement comes less than three months before United, a unit of UAL Corp., wants to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy and demonstrates its intent to expand next year after a three-year restructuring.

``We have essentially completed our restructuring, and we are in a much better position to compete,'' said Pete McDonald, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

United first released the information on Thursday to several newspapers as part of a marketing campaign.