BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Disney shares up 7% after report

Shares of The Walt Disney Co. rose 7 percent Tuesday, a day after the media conglomerate beat earnings forecasts and said it would sell its ABC radio stations and network.

Disney surprised Wall Street analysts with higher-than-expected attendance at its domestic theme parks and continued strong performance at its ABC television network. Gains there and in Disney's consumer products division were nearly offset by a plunge in its movie studio division.

Nevertheless, one analyst upgraded the stock, and others confirmed their recommendations Tuesday, saying the company was on track to continue to produce double-digit earnings growth for several more years.

Disney shares rose $1.74, to $26.70, at the end of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday and fell 8 cents in after-hours trading.

Rising oil prices boost Occidental

Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Tuesday said high oil and gas prices drove its fourth-quarter profit up 55 percent.

Quarterly earnings totaled $1.15 billion, or $2.80 per share, up from $742 million, or $1.83 per share, in the prior-year period.

Total sales rose to $4.33 billion, from $3.08 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Occidental's largest oil and gas segment reported $3.03 billion in sales, up from $2.07 billion a year ago, while its chemicals segment increased sales to $1.26 billion, from $985 million at the same time. Analysts expected profit of $2.76 per share and sales of $4.27 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

Worldwide production in the fourth quarter averaged 589,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with 558,000 barrels in the 2004 quarter.

Full-year profit expanded to $5.28 billion, or $12.91 per share, from $2.57 billion, or $6.40 per share, in 2004. Sales for the year jumped to $15.21 billion, from $11.37 billion in 2004.

Shares of the company fell $3.89, or 4.1 percent, to close at $90.10 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gemstar ex-CFO slapped with fines

WASHINGTON - The former chief financial officer of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. will pay more than $1.3 million to settle civil charges that she participated in a scheme to inflate the company's licensing and advertising revenue.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement with Elsie Leung, 59, on Tuesday. The former executive also accepted a permanent bar on serving as an officer or director of a public company. She settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

GM cuts pension, health care costs

DETROIT - General Motors Corp., which says a return to profitability will require sacrifices from all involved, announced plans Tuesday to rein in white-collar pension and health care expenses, slash the dividend and trim executive salaries - moves some analysts say suggest it might seek benefit cuts from union workers.

The cuts in health benefits for salaried retirees, planned changes to its pension plan for salaried U.S. workers and decision to cut in half GM's dividend all support the company's ongoing North American turnaround efforts, which already include plans to shed 30,000 hourly jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008.

Google hires away Amazon's A9 head

SEATTLE - The head of Amazon.com Inc.'s online search effort is leaving to join Google Inc., the latest in a series of high-profile hires for the search engine leader.

Udi Manber, who has been chief executive of Amazon.com's A9 subsidiary, will be a vice president of engineering at Google, spokeswoman Lynn Fox said Tuesday. She declined to provide more details, including when Manber will start and what specifically he will work on.

Manber's defection marks the latest coup for Google, the Mountain View, Calif.-based search engine company that is proving a formidable foe for many technology industry titans.

Cisco sales rise, but net profit falls

SAN JOSE - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest network equipment maker, posted lower net profits but higher sales for its fiscal second quarter.

For the three months ended Jan. 28, Cisco earned $1.38 billion, or 22 cents per share, compared with $1.4 billion, or 21 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2005. Sales rose 9 percent, to $6.6 billion from $6.1 billion.

The latest results included a $188 million, or 3 cents per share, charge from the expense of employee stock options, a recently adopted rule by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Windows security shield out in June

SEATTLE - A new security service from Microsoft Corp. will charge users $49.95 per year to better protect its Windows operating system from spyware, viruses and other Internet attacks.

Microsoft plans to release the product in early June.

Called Windows OneCare Live, the subscription service will compete with security products made by traditional Microsoft partners, including Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. - although the software giant insists that its aim is not to run those companies out of business.

OneCare, which is already available for free in test form, aims to protect people running the most recent version of Windows against Internet attacks and intrusive spyware. It also promises to provide regular tuneups to help keep computers running smoothly, and offers users a way to back up and restore data.