Net sales surge in 4th quarter

        Internet sales of everything from books to cars boomed during the final three months of 2000 even as the nation's economy slowed sharply.

        Online purchases rose by 35.9 percent to $8.69 billion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

        Those sales accounted for 1 percent of the $856.2 billion in total retail sales rung up during the fourth quarter.
       

Pilots to ask reversal

        Delta Air Lines Inc.'s pilots union said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision that allowed the carrier to get an injunction barring the pilots from disrupting flights.

        The Delta Air Line Pilots Association notified members of the move late Thursday. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month called for an injunction requiring the union “to take all reasonable steps” to stop “the unilateral unlawful activity of its members.” Delta received the injunction Wednesday from the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, which in December had declined the airline's request.
       

Kmart upgrading registers

        Kmart plans to install speedier cash registers that should cut a customer's checkout time by 20 percent. The Troy, Mich.-based retailer will allow IBM to replace registers in 2,100 stores with a faster, more powerful model. The deal is worth about $200 million.
       

Eddie Bauer regroups

        The Spiegel Group plans to close 25 Eddie Bauer stores this year as well as open 10 stores with merchandise that extends beyond the retailer's traditional casual, rugged style.

        The Downers Grove, Ill.-based company has not announced which stores will be closed.
       

Judgment disputed

        Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and two co-defendants on Thursday asked a judge to overturn a $454.5 million judgment against them, denying that they conspired to derail a Dallas company's plans to open computer stores in Mexico.

        Last week, a jury found Mr. Slim and a total of four co-defendants guilty of interfering with the contractual rights of COC Services Ltd., which claims it had a deal to open CompUSA stores in Mexico before Mr. Slim bought the giant computer retailer.
       

Nortel stock
down a third

        Shares of Nortel Networks plunged nearly 33 percent Friday after the Canadian telecom equipment maker slashed its 2001 profit forecast by two-thirds and said it now plans to cut 10,000 jobs this year.

        After insisting for months that its robust forecasts could withstand the U.S. economic slide, Nortel issued the profit warning after the stock market closed. Nortel tumbled $9.75 to close at $20 a share Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

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