Stock market rises slightly in morning trading

NEW YORK — The stock market nudged higher Monday morning after a handful of U.S. companies announced acquisitions. Family Dollar's stock jumped following news that investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in the company.

KEEPING SCORE: A half hour after the market opened, Standard & Poor's 500 index crept up two points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,951.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,944, while the Nasdaq composite index rose eight points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,329.

On Friday, the S&P 500 index notched another record high, its eighth in 10 trading days. The index notched its third straight week of solid gains.

TYSON WINS: Tyson Foods emerged as the winner in a bidding war for Hillshire Brands, beating an offer by Pilgrim's Pride for the meat-processing company. Tyson raised its offer to $63 a share, beating Pilgrim's Pride's offer of $55 a share. Hillshire Brands jumped $2.95, or 5 percent, to $61.87, while Tyson Foods slipped $1.69, or 4.2 percent, to $38.32.

MERGER MONDAY: Merck announced a deal to buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion. Merck & Co. said Indenix has built a promising array of treatments for hepatitis C. Indenix soared $16.97, or 234 percent, to $24.20, while Merck eased 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $57.70.

ICAHN: In a regulatory filing on Friday, Carl Icahn said he and his affiliates have picked up a 9 percent stake in Family Dollar, a discount store, and plan to look for changes to boost the company's value. Family Dollar's stock jumped $7, or 12 percent, to $67.52.

APPLE SPLITS: Apple's stock fell 37 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $9185. That's after closing at of $645.57 on Friday. What happened? The difference reflects Apple's 7-for-1 stock split. Every Apple stockholder received six additional shares for every share they owned. The move doesn't affect Apple's market value.

BONDS AND COMMODITIES: In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 2.60 percent from 2.59 percent late Friday. Yields rise when bond prices fall. The price of oil rose 87 cents to $103.53 a barrel.

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UK phone hacking trial set to go to jury

LONDON — The last lawyer has argued. The final witness has been heard.

After seven months of courtroom drama and celebrity cameos, Britain's phone hacking trial will soon be in the hands of jurors. They are expected to retire this week to decide whether the dramatic fall of powerful editors political insiders Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks will end in criminal conviction, and possibly prison.

The prosecution and the defense agree that employees of the scoop-hungry News of the World hacked the phones of scores of people, including Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old who was kidnapped in 2002 and later found murdered. Revelation of that action, in 2011, triggered a wave of public outrage that brought down the 168-year-old tabloid and spurred criminal investigations in which dozens of journalists and officials have been arrested.

Judge John Saunders told jurors that the News of the World had invaded victims' privacy — their job is to decide who knew about it.

Brooks, Coulson and five other defendants deny the charges, which include:

PHONE HACKING: Brooks, Coulson and former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner are accused of "conspiracy to intercept communications" — phone hacking. Brooks was editor from 2000 until she moved to sister paper The Sun in 2003; Coulson was her deputy. He edited the News of the World between 2003 and 2007, when he became communications chief to Conservative leader, and later prime minister, David Cameron.

Several News of the World employees have pleaded guilty to hacking in conjunction with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was briefly jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the voicemails of royal aides. Defense lawyers say there is no evidence to prove Brooks, Coulson and Kuttner — busy editors of a large paper in a fiercely competitive market — were aware of illegal actions by staff.

Prosecutors say they must have known; the News of the World paid almost 100,000 pounds a year ($168,000) to Mulcaire.

And they say Brooks and Coulson must have shared information with each other because they were having an affair. An intimate letter written by Brooks after the couple broke up provided the trial with one of its many riveting moments.

Lead prosecutor Andrew Edis told the jury that Brooks, Coulson and Kuttner all knew about phone hacking, and "none of them lifted a finger to stop it."

BRIBERY: Brooks, Coulson and ex-News of the World editor Clive Goodman are accused of paying public officials for information.

Prosecutors allege Coulson and Goodman bought royal phone directories and that the phone numbers were targeted for hacking.

Goodman was jailed along with Mulcaire in 2007 for hacking the phones of royal staff. But he did not disclose until this trial — after being promised that he would not face further phone hacking charges — that he also eavesdropped on Prince William and Kate Middleton, the latter more than 150 times.

Brooks is charged with conspiring to pay officials for information while she was editor of The Sun. Another charge, that Brooks paid an official for photos of Prince William in a bikini, was dropped due to lack of evidence.

COVER-UP: Brooks, her husband Charles, her personal assistant Cheryl Carter and News International security chief Mark Hanna are accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by hiding evidence from investigators. Prosecutors say that as the police net closed around the News of the World in 2011, Carter took boxes of notebooks from the company archive at Brooks' request.

They also allege that Rebekah Brooks, Charles Brooks and Hanna took electronic devices and other material from the Brooks' home and hid the belongings in a parking garage, where they were later found by a cleaner. The stash included a laptop computer, documents and several lesbian porn DVDs. Charles Brooks said he hid the material because he was embarrassed, not disposing of evidence.

THE DEFENSE

Defense attorneys accuse prosecutors of twisting innocent actions to fit a narrative of wrongdoing. Coulson's lawyer, Timothy Langdale, said prosecutor Edis was "more than capable of making running for a bus look sinister."

Laidlaw said prosecutors had subjected Rebekah Brooks to "a witch hunt," and the judge told jurors to ignore the vitriol directed at her online. Brooks gave her own account of events on the witness stand, describing her rise from cub reporter to top executive, the pressures of her career and her "car-crash" personal life.

Her husband was painted by his defense as an amiable but sometimes "daft" person incapable of masterminding a criminal operation. A character witness described how he once drank a pint of dishwashing liquid as a hangover cure. Charles Brooks' lawyer Neil Saunders said that "while he is a man who is capable of drinking a bottle of Fairy Liquid, he is not capable of committing this offense."

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

The trial has featured moments of high drama — including the revelation of Coulson and Brooks' love affair— and celebrity appearances. Jude Law and Sienna Miller testified about how their relationship, and Miller's fling with Daniel Craig, became headline news.

The final chapter is in the hands of eight women and three men on the jury, who will deliver their verdicts as soon as they have reached a decision on all counts.

If convicted, the defendants could face prison. The maximum sentence for phone hacking is two years in jail, while the other charges carry a maximum life sentence, although the average term imposed is much shorter.

Summing up, the judge told jurors that all the defendants — apart from convicted phone hacker Goodman — "are of good character."

"It does not mean that any of the defendants cannot lie," he said.

___

Follow Jill Lawless at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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US stocks drift sideways in early trading

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market is little changed in early trading after major indexes ended last week at record highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up six points, or 0.04 percent, to 16,930 shortly after the U.S. market opened Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index nudged up less than a point, or 0.05 percent, to 1,950. The Nasdaq composite rose four points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,325.

On Friday, the S&P 500 index notched another record high.

Tyson Foods slipped 56 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $39.56 after it emerged as the winner in a bidding war for Hillshire Brands. Hillshire jumped $2.77, or 5 percent, to $61.70.

Merck fell 50 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $57.35 after the drugmaker announced a deal to buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals.

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Tyson wins bidding war for Hillshire Brands

NEW YORK — Tyson Foods Inc. has won a bidding war for Hillshire Brands, the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs, with a $63 per share offer.

Tyson had been vying with rival poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride for Hillshire Brands, which ended its bidding process Sunday. Tyson had previously offered $50 per share for the company. Pilgrim's Pride then raised its bid to $55 per share.

Pilgrim's Pride said Monday that it is withdrawing its offer.

Still, the deal is not sealed yet. It is contingent on Hillshire abandoning its plan to acquire Pinnacle Foods Inc., which makes Birds Eye frozen vegetables and Wish-Bone salad dressings. Hillshire Brands said Monday its board of directors has not yet approved Tyson's offer. The company said it does not have the right to end the deal with Pinnacle on the basis of the Tyson offer, or enter into an agreement with Tyson before the deal is terminated.

"There can be no assurance that any transaction will result from the Tyson Foods offer," Hillshire said in a statement.

Tyson's offer will be in place until Dec. 12, the final termination date of the deal with Pinnacle.

The takeover bids by Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods were driven by the desirability of brand-name, prepared foods like Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. Those types of products are more profitable than fresh meat, such as chicken breasts, where there isn't as much wiggle room to pad prices.

While Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson both sell such products, their businesses have been more focused on supplying supermarkets and restaurant chains.

In particular, Tyson said it was drawn by Hillshire's stable of breakfast foods, which would better position it in the fast-growing category.

Hillshire, based in Chicago, had been trying to diversify its own portfolio by moving into other areas of the supermarket with the $4.23 billion acquisition of Pinnacle. But some investors questioned the wisdom of that deal, given the outdated image of many Pinnacle brands, and the differences in the two companies' product portfolios.

The offer from Tyson is worth $7.75 billion based on Hillshire's 123 million shares outstanding. Tyson values the deal at $8.55 billion, including debt.

Tyson shares fell 2 percent in premarket trading. Hillshire shares rose 4.7 percent an hour ahead of the market opening.

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High court rules on scope of bankruptcy authority

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says bankruptcy courts have limited authority to rule on disputes outside the traditional bankruptcy process.

The justices ruled unanimously Monday that a Washington state bankruptcy court did not exceed its powers when it considered a lawsuit claiming the Bellingham Insurance Agency had wrongfully transferred assets to the another insurance company shortly before declaring bankruptcy.

Lower courts had upheld the bankruptcy court action. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the bankruptcy judge was simply making recommendations that were later approved by a federal judge and that all parties had consented to the proceeding.

The high court agreed that a bankruptcy court can rule on non-bankruptcy matters as long as a federal district court reviews those findings.

The case is Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison, 12-1200.

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MGM poised to become state's 1st casino operator

BOSTON — MGM Resorts International is nearing a final ruling on its bid to become Massachusetts' first licensed casino operator, with a proposed $800 million project in Springfield.

Starting Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission will hold a series of meetings in Springfield and Boston leading up to a Friday vote in Springfield on who receives the western region casino license.

MGM, which owns the Mirage, Bellagio, MGM Grand and other casinos, is the lone operator standing in a once-crowded field.

Plans by Penn National Gaming and Ameristar Casinos never went before Springfield voters, while proposals by Mohegan Sun in Palmer and Hard Rock International in West Springfield were defeated in local referendums.

MGM's plan for a casino, hotel, shopping and entertainment complex on 14 1/2 acres straddling the city's downtown and South End neighborhood was approved by Springfield voters last July.

Still, commission members have been reluctant to describe MGM as a shoe-in, noting the panel has reserved the right to not issue a license now or to impose stipulations or conditions on issuing the license.

Stephen Crosby, chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said recently he doesn't expect the five-member commission will need all four days to make its decision. Each commission member is expected to present findings on one of five areas of MGM's 236-page application that they have been tasked to review.

Crosby, for example, will give an overview of the proposal, including how it "manifests an appreciation" for the Massachusetts "brand," ''leverages Massachusetts' existing assets" and enhances the state's existing tourism and leisure venues, according to the commission's evaluation guidelines.

Other commissioners will look at the project's finances, economic impacts, building and site design and impacts on local traffic patterns, gambling addiction and the state lottery.

One open question is whether the commission will take up MGM's request to delay formal "awarding" of the license at least until early July, when the state Supreme Judicial Court decides whether a voter referendum to repeal the casino law outright should be allowed on the November ballot.

Michael Mathis, CEO of MGM Springfield, has said the Las Vegas-based casino giant is concerned about some $200 million in fees and payments that effectively come due if it is awarded the license.

Those payments could be lost if the casino law is ultimately repealed.

Crosby and other commissioners have declined to say whether they support the delay. But MGM Springfield spokeswoman Carole Brennan says the casino is hopeful.

"The license isn't going to be awarded, we hope. We will be designated the licensee," she said.

The western region casino license is one of three authorized under the 2011 casino law.

In the eastern region, Mohegan Sun is proposing a more than $1 billion casino on the Revere side of the Suffolk Downs horse racing track, and Wynn Resorts has proposed a $1.6 billion casino on a former chemical plant in Everett. The commission anticipates awarding that license by the end of August, at the earliest.

In the southeastern region, Foxwoods and other casino operators have expressed interest, but no proposal has yet been put before local voters. The commission will likely not award that license until February.

The commission has already awarded the state's sole slot parlor license to Penn National Gaming. That slot facility, located at the Plainridge harness racing track in Plainville, is expected to open by June 2015.

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Mass, RI US senators to highlight climate change

BOSTON — U.S. senators from Massachusetts and Rhode Island are among at least five Democratic lawmakers calling on their Republican counterparts to come up with solutions to climate change.

The Democrats are members of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, a group formed to highlight climate change. They invited all 45 Republican senators to join them on the Senate floor Monday evening to present their own perspectives on climate change and to discuss the best way to address the problem.

Democrats who plan to participate in the session include Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and Rhode Island U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

The episode comes nearly three months after Democratic senators delivered overnight speeches to highlight differences between Republicans and Democrats over climate change.

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Drones fly with Mass. users

Some Bay State businesses are already putting drones in the air to boost their bottom line as the Federal Aviation Administration hints it may be open to some commercial uses of the hovering craft.

"It's a novelty now, but I think it will become more of a mainstay," said Missy Cummings, a drone expert at MIT. "These drones can really improve business processes."

Lexington Realtor Jonathan de Araujo has been using a drone to take aerial shots of properties he is listing since last summer, and the birds-eye view has quickly found a place in de Araujo's real estate arsenal.

"The end result is just unparalleled," he said. "Everything we can do to give a more positive impression means more people at the open house. The idea is to just give a better, more positive, a more thorough impression of what you're looking at."

De Araujo uses his drone, a model outfitted with a camera and available to any consumer, to give his homes more context, including offering a complete view of a backyard, or showing how close the park down the street is.

"When you're taking stills from ground level, you're seeing one angle, one shot," he said. "It just made sense to add that extra dimension."

Last week, the FAA said it is considering letting seven movie and television filming companies use drones. Now, the only commercial drone flights permitted by the FAA are those by one company off the Alaskan coast. The FAA has been working for the past decade on potential safety regulations that would allow widespread commercial drone use, but those regulations have been repeatedly delayed. Most recently, the FAA has said it will release proposed regulations for operating small drones by November. That would be followed by a potentially yearslong process to finalize the regulations.

Dan Kara, a robotics and drone industry analyst with Myria Research, said the FAA is under pressure to clarify the guidelines because many, from individual real estate agents to Amazon.com, are using or expressing interest in making drones part of their toolkit.

"It's happening organically," Kara said.

Marcella Hoekstra, who runs wedding video company Heirloom Pictures, is planning on buying a drone soon.

"I've seen what these drones can do, and I've seen some really beautiful, sweeping shots of landscapes and architecture," Hoekstra said. "It's a wonderful way to explore ... and give the bride and groom a bird's-eye view."

Kara said some are looking to drones for the novelty — a club in Las Vegas is delivering high end champagne to its high-rollers by drone.

But others are advocating for the permitted use of drones for search and rescue missions, to get a good view of wildfires and to help farmers track their crops.

"There's no question drones can revolutionize (agriculture)," Cummings said.

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When there’s white smoke, check first for coolant leak

I own a 2003 Honda Accord. In April a large amount of white smoke came out of the front of the car when I started it. It has happened three more times, coming from the rear of the car. Three times the engine was cold, once warm. The Honda dealer found nothing, but told me to keep track of these instances. Nothing has leaked on the garage floor.

White smoke from an automobile can be caused by three things: condensing moisture, heated coolant and vaporized fuel. In your case I'd be suspicious of an external coolant leak that collects on some part of the exhaust system and is heated into smoke as the exhaust system heats up, leaving no evidence on the garage floor.

Do you smell the semi-sweet odor of antifreeze/coolant? Before you start the cold engine next time, open the hood and visually inspect for any coolant in the engine compartment. Make sure you are monitoring the coolant level in the radiator/reservoir.

If the white smoke is exclusively from the exhaust pipe, a leaking cylinder head gasket would be a suspect. In this case the coolant would end up being heated in the combustion chambers and blown out the exhaust as the engine starts.

White smoke from the exhaust on a cold morning start is normal condensation of moisture that has collected in the exhaust system overnight, and is of no concern.

White smoke from vaporized but unburned fuel — unlikely in this case — can be caused by a failed or stuck fuel injector allowing raw fuel to be carried through and vaporized in the exhaust system as it is heated.

My 2011 Subaru is squeaking so loudly I'm ready to tear my hair out! It started on the driver's side just behind the driver's seat, moved to under the driver's seat near the middle, and then under the console. All three areas are squeaking! It's been on a lift and nothing that can be seen is an issue, according to the mechanic. A body shop owner with 40 years experience found that the back of the rear seat hadn't been put in place properly and the spare tire was not tightened down securely. The noise lessened, but is still a major nuisance.

The most common causes of body squeaks and rattles are something flexing or something loose. The entire exhaust system and its hangers should be inspected for evidence of flexing, movement or contact. Next, all engine, transmission and drive shaft mounts should be checked.

If the squeaking is rhythmical and varies with engine or road speed, the noise may be coming from the transmission or drive shaft CV joints. Subaru issued a service bulletin addressing a high-pitched sound originating in the transmission extension housing. Thermal expansion can potentially damage a pre-loaded bearing, causing the noise.

I have a 2007 Dodge Caravan with the automatic door lock feature. When I drive in the rain, the locks start locking and unlocking rapidly for 60-90 seconds then quit for a while, then do it again. This continues even after removing the key, but quits after being parked for a while. I tried to disable the auto lock, using the instructions in the manual, but was unsuccessful. There is no separate fuse that controls this. Any thoughts?

Water/moisture is grounding the electrical circuit that operates the locks. A scan tool should be able to identify specific fault codes with the power door lock system, but you could try "watering" each window for a minute or so, one at a time, with a garden hose. Water may be getting by the window seals, running down the inside of a door and grounding the circuit, causing the rapid cycling of the locks. This may help you pinpoint which door or cylinder lock switch or connector is getting wet.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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Startup tests resistance to HIV drugs

A simple, fast, affordable test developed by a Boston-based MassChallenge finalist is able to determine which drugs HIV is resistant to, saving money and lives.

Using a technology called Pan Degenerate Amplification and Adaptation, Aldatu Biosciences allows doctors to match patients with drugs the HIV won't be resistant to, based on the genetics of the virus.

"If resistance is present, switching people to effective drugs improves quality of life and saves money by reducing the risk of new infections," Aldatu CEO David Raiser said. "If resistance is not present, money is saved by not switching patients to more expensive drugs unnecessarily. There are clear economic and public health benefits to performing the test, regardless of the result."

Aldatu's test produces results in about two hours, compared to roughly two days for current tests, Raiser said, and the price is $99, about one-third the cost of other tests.

"Ours is a simple 'sample in/answer out' format, whereas the current tests have multiple steps and require several pieces of equipment," he said.

Raiser and co-founder Iain MacLeod, Aldatu's chief scientific officer, plan to bring their test first to Botswana, where one in four adults has HIV and about 10 percent of those receiving treatment don't respond to it, but the price of the prevailing drug-resistance test prevents most doctors from using it.

"Presently, (doctors) give everyone the same drugs and wait for them to fail to see if they're resistant to the drugs," Raiser said.

If they are, they are put on a second line of drugs, which typically costs four times as much as the first, he said. And if they're resistant to that, they're put on a third line, which can cost 15 times as much.

"In some cases, people are being switched to a second or third line of drugs because doctors don't realize the virus isn't resistant; the patients just aren't taking their meds correctly," Raiser said.

"There's the ethical question of leaving people on ineffective drugs when their quality of life is poor and they're at risk of infecting other people with drug-resistant HIV," he said.

There is also the economic question, one that countries around the world are wrestling with.

"What happens in Botswana can and will impact what happens in the U.S.," said John Hallinan, chief business officer at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. "What's happening is a drain on the entire global health system. We think (Aldatu) has a very promising technology."

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