Bad mixture taints fuel

        Gasoline tainted by a bad batch of the additive ethanol has been shipped to roughly 50 Milwaukee area service stations, forcing more than a dozen to close. Archer Daniels Midland Co. mixed 100 times the usual amount of a rust inhibitor into ethanol that was sent to blending terminals in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

        Gas sold in the Midwest during the summer driving season is treated with cleaner-burning ethanol, a corn derivative, to meet federal emissions standards.
       

Costly verdict upheld

        A circuit judge in Montgomery, Ala., upheld the largest jury verdict in state history, $3.4 billion in punitive damages against Exxon Mobil Corp. for deliberately underpaying the state natural gas royalties.

        Exxon Mobil plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which attorneys estimated could take up to1 1/2 years to rule.
       

Firm shuts abruptly

        Spartan International, a textile company that has operated in Spartanburg, S.C. for more than a century, closed suddenly Friday, putting 1,200 workers in the Carolinas and Georgia out of work.

        General Electric Capital Corp. seized the assets of the former Spartan Mills after defaults on financial agreements.

        Officials closed operations at six mills and the corporate office Friday morning.

        Spartan President Barry Leonard blamed the company's problems on the economic slowdown and imported products.
       

No takeover, for now

        A shareholders meeting for the nation's leading manufacturer of laser eye surgery machines lost its drama Friday after billionaire financier Carl Icahn ended his bid earlier this week for a hostile takeover. But the future ownership of Visx Inc. remains unclear.

        Mr. Icahn wants to buy the Santa Clara-based company for $32 per share and presumably auction the firm off to the highest bidder.

        Without Mr. Icahn's own board nominees, shareholders re-elected the current board of directors.
       

Branches to close

        First Union Corp. and Wachovia Corp. plan to close 250 to 300 branches, or about 8 percent to 10 percent of their combined branches, when the two banks merge.

        First Union chief financial officer Robert Kelly in Charlotte, N.C., revealed the number of branch closings earlier this week during a presentation to analysts.

        Most branches that will close are within a half-mile of another First Union or Wachovia branch.
       

Bankers to lose jobs

        Credit Suisse First Boston will lay off as many as 200 investment bankers because of the Wall Street slump, a source said Friday.

        The cuts could come as early as next week and affect about 13 percent of Credit Suisse's U.S. investment bankers who arrange mergers and acquisitions and help companies issue new stock, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

        The company, which has headquarters in New York and London, declined comment.

        A week ago, Credit Suisse cut about 160 support jobs.

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