Merced Sun-Star

NEW YORK Treasury prices declined Tuesday as signs of modestly better-than-expected consumer spending and rising inflation made safe government securities less attractive to investors.

COVINGTON, Ky. Two partial owners of last year's Preakness winner are on trial in northern Kentucky, accused of defrauding clients out of millions from a diet-drug settlement.

WASHINGTON Fewer Americans are expected to fly this summer, but don't expect more empty seats as carriers park planes to help offset surging fuel costs.

WASHINGTON Median home prices fell in two-thirds of the cities surveyed during the first three months of this year while 46 states reported experienced declining sales, a real estate trade group reported Tuesday.

WASHINGTON Businesses added to their stockpiles in March by the smallest amount in a year, another indication of a weakening economy.

PALO ALTO, Calif. Hewlett-Packard Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings exceeded expectations and the company raised its full-year financial targets, the computer maker and technology services provider said Tuesday.

BOSTON TJX Cos. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose nearly 20 percent as the discount retailer continued to draw shoppers increasingly looking for bargains in a tough economy.

BOSTON Corporate Express NV said it is willing to consider a sweetened $2.47 billion hostile takeover bid by rival office products supplier Staples Inc., which boosted its offering price 10 percent Tuesday.

WASHINGTON Consumers, battling soaring gasoline prices and a slumping economy, cut back further on their spending in April.

WASHINGTON Turmoil in financial markets has eased somewhat, but the situation is still "far from normal," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.

PARIS French bank Societe Generale SA said Tuesday that write-downs linked to the crisis in financial markets led to a 23 percent decline in first-quarter profits.

SHANGHAI, China The earthquake that ripped through central China's Sichuan province, killing thousands, crumpling roads and factories and disrupting power and communication, will be only a transitory jolt for the booming economy, analysts say.