Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 48

BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY A49 IN BRIEF visit newsaaycomsa to enter toaay: Newsday has just 15 copies of "Snakes on a Plane" to give away! This contest is for Newsday Subscribers only Visit newsdaycomsa for complete details instructions and rules Entry Deadline: January 3rd 9 AM newsdaycom center and compliance monitoring services to hospitals pharmaceutical companies and clinical resource organizations WB CBS TO PAY GRANITE $13 2M WB network and CBS Corp will pay bankrupt Granite Broadcasting Corp about $132 million to settle a lawsuit over claims they disrupted the sale of two TV stations WB a unit of Manhattan-based Time Warner Inc prematurely ended affiliations with KBWB in San Francisco and WDWB in Detroit leading to cancellation of a planned $180-million sale to AM Media Holdings Lie Granite claimed in a May 17 complaint in Delaware state court The WB affiliates agreed to settle the suit avoid the necessity inconvenience and attendant risk and expense associated with further according to papers filed Friday in the US Bankruptcy Court in New York Manhattan-based Granite sought bankruptcy protection from creditors Dec blaming actions Granite owns or operates 23 TV stations in the United States some in New York Michigan Illinois and California WDWB is now WMYO ENTERCOM TO PAY $425M TO END 'PAYOLA' INQUIRY Entercom Communications Corp one the largest broadcasters will pay $425 million to end Attorney General Eliot investigation of gifts or given by record companies in exchange for airplay Spitzer said yesterday A lawsuit filed in March by office claimed Entercom solicited payments from record labels and traded airtime for promotional items personal trips and other gifts Spitzer the governor-elect also charged that Entercom took payments from record labels to play their songs on its overnight programs to manipulate the music charts court did not find any liability nor are we admitting liability with this the company said in a statement NEW-HOME SALES RISE IN NOVEMBER Sales of new homes in the United States rose more than forecast last month The 34 percent increase to an annual sales pace of 1047 million followed a rate of 1013 million the prior month the Commerce Department said yesterday Economists had predicted a gain of 16 percent The median price of a new home rose 58 percent in November to $251700 from $237900 a year earlier report showed The number of homes for sale fell to a seasonally adjusted 545000 during the month from 558000 the prior month In a separate report yesterday the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage applications fell last week by 142 percent to then-lowest level since early August APPLE RIDES OUT STOCK-OPTIONS REPORT Apple Computer Inc shares rebounded as investors discounted the possibility that chief executive Steve Jobs may be implicated in a probe of the stock-options grants Shares of Cupertino Calif-based Apple rose 1 cent to $8152 at 4:30 pm in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading They had fallen as much as 58 percent The shares fell after a legal newspaper reported federal prosecutors are examining whether company officials falsified documents to inflate the value of options Several analysts issued reports yesterday saying the news would have no impact on Apple or Jobs A report of a 413 percent rise in Christmas traffic at iTunes store may also have helped the stock AMERICAN MEDICAL ALERT BUYS 2 COMPANIES American Medical Alert Corp an Oceanside company that offers telephone-answering services for health professionals and emergency response monitoring said Tuesday it acquired two telephony companies based in Chicago American Mediconnect Inc is a telephone answering service focused on hospitals physicians and other health care providers Phone Screen Inc provides call granted Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd in June when patents expired The new versions will drive prices down as much as 70 percent analysts said Teva has been selling copies for 8 percent less than Merck The price drop may hurt sales of Pfizer Lipitor the top-selling drug with revenue last year of $122 billion FED ENDS ACTION AGAINST CANADIAN IMPERIAL The US Federal Reserve Board said it ended a 3-year-old enforcement action against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce related to the Toronto-based dealings with Enron Corp Canadian Imperial agreed to pay $80 million in December 2003 to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it contributed to collapse by helping the energy trader inflate profit and hide debt The Fed and Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions at the time ordered CIBC to adopt policies and related to the transactions The Fed released CIBC from that agreement Friday according to a news release issued yesterday in Washington FORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO UNITEDHEALTH United Health Group Inc the second-largest health insurer behind WellPoint Inc said Tuesday that federal regulators have begun a formal investigation into its historical stock-options practices The Securities and Exchange formal order follows an informal inquiry begun in April Minnetonka Minn-based UnitedHealth said in an SEC filing it intends to cooperate with the investigation The own internal review found errors in its stock options accounting that will cost some $400 million to $17 billion to correct UnitedHealth has said it will have to restate its earnings back to 1994 The scandal forced out former chairman and chief executive William McGuire SUM SETTLEMENT FOR CARDINAL Cardinal Health Inc which distributes drugs and medical supplies to hospitals grocery stores pharmacies and other retailers said Tuesday it agreed to pay $11 million to settle an investigation by the New York attorney office into improper trading of pharmaceuticals on the secondary market Cardinal which said it already booked reserves to cover the costs of the settlement did not admit or deny any findings The payments comprise $3 million to New York State $7 million to a nonprofit health research corporation called Health Research and $1 million to the attorney office to cover investigation costs New York governor-elect Eliot Spitzer led the investigation in his role as attorney general Compiled from wire reports GETTY IMAGES PHOTO liewwd 4 parents children LONG ISLAND The Minneapolis Star Tribune MINNESOTA PAPER GOES TO EQUITY FIRM Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co said Tuesday that it will sell its flagship Minneapolis Star Tribune to the private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $530 million a sharp drop from the $12 billion it paid to acquire the newspaper just eight years ago McClatchy sold its largest newspaper in part because it can take a tax loss and because the growth had tapered off said chairman and chief executive Gary Pruitt McClatchy spent $43 billion earlier this year to buy the Knight Ridder newspaper chain As part of that deal it immediately sold off 12 newspapers for a profit generating a tax bill that will be offset by the loss on the Star Tribune That tax benefit is worth $160 million raising the total value of the deal to $690 million the company said McClatchy plans to use the money to pay down its Knight Ridder debt SIX MORE COMPANIES LINE UP FOR ZOCOR GENERICS US regulators cleared six more companies to begin selling generic copies of Merck cholesterol drug Zocor signaling steeper price reductions The approvals posted yesterday on the Food and Drug Web site are in addition to those wwwnewsdaycom NEWSDAY THURSDAY DECEMBIy 28 2006 SO Best Gift Ideas Winter Family Travel Win Disney DVD Games: Disney Dogs or Disney Princess at iiparentcom Pick up a copy today at your local CVS or go to www liparent com To advertise call 631-843-4672.