The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Blackstone Finds Vornado No Pushover in Takeover Battle for Office Tower Reit

PARAMUS Just when everyone thought Blackstone Group LP, led by Stephen Schwarzman, could get whatever it wanted in the buyout world, along comes Steven Roth of Paramus-based Vornado Realty Trust to spoil his party. Roth outbid Schwarzman on Jan. 17 by offering $37.6 billion for Equity Office Properties Trust. Equity Office's collection of office towers is the largest in the U.S. and the prize in a takeover battle as landlords vie to dominate coastal cities such as New York, Washington and Lo...

Holidays Help Cingular Boost Its Profit Nearly Four Times

SAN ANTONIO Cingular Wireless LLC, the nation's largest cellphone provider, said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, boosted by customer growth during the holidays. Cingular said it earned $782 million during the fourth quarter, compared with $204 million in the same quarter of 2005. The company reported revenue of $9.8 billion, up 10 percent from $8.8 billion in the year-ago period.

Oritani Shares Have a Huge Day [Corrected 02/13/07] ; Bank Goes Public, Raising $120m for Expansion

Shares of Oritani Financial Corp., which has 19 branches in North Jersey, soared nearly 60 percent on their first day of trading, the biggest first-day increase of any of the 40 mutual bank public offerings nationwide since October 2004, providing a windfall for depositors and cash for the bank to expand. "It shows investors have a lot of confidence in Oritani," said Mike Raab, analyst with the Virginia-based research firm SNL Financial, which tracks mutual-bank IPOs.

Mcdonald's Sees Fourth-Quarter Profit Double

CHICAGO The spinoff of a burrito chain coupled with record- setting overseas sales helped McDonald's Corp. more than double its fourth-quarter profit, executives said Tuesday. McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food company, said it will continue its push into countries such as China, Japan and Russia when it opens 800 new restaurants this year.

Hey, Joe, Where You Goin' with That Energy Drink? ; Beverage Meant to Honor Hendrix

CALABASAS, Calif. A new energy drink doesn't promise to give you the juice to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix, but it does hope to give you a "Liquid Experience." Beverage Concepts says its non-alcoholic "Liquid Experience" drinks, named for Hendrix's breakthrough album, "Are You Experienced?" will debut in April.

Cinema System Gets Inside Your Head ; Visor, Goggles Create Sensation of Giant Tv

There's something almost bewitching about Headplay's personal cinema system. When I slipped the lightweight visor on, thin goggles covered my eyes. A slight adjustment for my significant near-sightedness and zing, I was watching a movie.

Vitamins Recalled On Allegations They Contain Lead

NORTH BERGEN The Vitamin Shoppe, a North Bergen-based maker of vitamins and nutritional supplements, said Wednesday that it had voluntarily removed its "Especially for Women" multivitamins from store shelves and its Internet sales site in light of allegations that the product contains trace quantities of lead in excess of California labeling requirements. "In order to assure that we have all of the information needed, we have asked our contract manufacturer and an independent scientific lab ...

National Briefs

Wal-Mart ad chief files suit over firing BENTONVILLE, Ark. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, was sued by former advertising chief Julie Roehm for breach of contract and fraud. She also said Wal-Mart "made false and malicious statements to the media."

N.J. Briefs

Appeals court revives suit over BD needles FRANKLIN LAKES A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Becton Dickinson & Co., the world's largest maker of hypodermic syringes, must face a patent-infringement suit filed in 2003 by a Massachusetts company over syringes designed to protect health workers from accidental needle sticks.

Emergency Cash On Payday Comes with a Heavy Price

MINNEAPOLIS Call it an emergency cash advance. Call it "proactive" overdraft protection. Just don't call it a payday loan. At least that's how U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. prefer it. The two companies offer direct-deposit checking customers cash advances on future paychecks. The two banks charge a 10 percent fee for loans up to $500, which is automatically repaid when the customer's next paycheck is deposited in the account. Payday lenders, by contrast, have an upfront charge of anywhe...

Real Good Real Estate

We're Not so Tough. That's Ok. ; Study Calls N.J. Good Place to Do Business

After years of being known as a tough place to do business, New Jersey has gotten a break. A Washington, D.C., non-profit group that evaluates the economic performance of the states each year has concluded New Jersey isn't a bad place at all for running a company, or working for one.

Expressjet Leaves the Nest ; Continental Partner Set to Fly Solo

Regional air carrier ExpressJet Holdings Inc., operator of Continental Express, said Wednesday that it will use 44 regional jets no longer under contract with Continental Airlines Inc. to launch a new airline. ExpressJet, which according to its Web site serves more than 60 cities from Newark Liberty International Airport, said its start-up independent airline will serve 24 cities in the West, Midwest and Southeast. Company officials declined to identify the cities in a conference call with an...

Briefly

Markets buoyed by tech earnings NEW YORK Wall Street bounded higher Wednesday, lifting the Nasdaq composite index well over 1 percent after profit reports from Yahoo Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. restored investors' confidence in the tech sector. The Dow Jones industrials logged fresh trading and closing highs.

Taxing Health Benefits: Will It Help?

President Bush's proposal to make employer-provided health insurance taxable after a standard deduction was greeted by support but also warnings Wednesday. Some experts likened it to a remedy on par with the invention of penicillin. Others saw it as a misstep that could end health coverage provided through businesses.

Bid to Raise Minimum Wage Hits Bump in Senate ; Gop Seeks Offsets to Help Employers

WASHINGTON Democrats' promise of a quick increase in the minimum wage ran aground Wednesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are insisting it include new tax breaks for restaurants and other businesses that rely on low-pay workers. On a 54-43 vote, Democrats lost an effort to advance a House- passed bill that would lift the pay floor from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour without any accompanying tax cut. Opponents of the tax cut needed 60 votes to prevail.