National business briefs

Offer for ChoicePoint sends shares up 43% ChoicePoint Inc., a 1997 spinoff of credit agency Equifax, is being acquired by the parent of LexisNexis in a cash deal worth $3.6 billion. The purchase price by London-based Reed Elsevier PLC amounts to $50 a share. Alpharetta, Ga.-based ChoicePoint soared more than 43 percent, to close at $48.27 Thursday.

T-Mobile test-markets $10 home-phone plan T-Mobile USA Inc., the wireless carrier owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, started selling home-phone service in Seattle and Dallas to compete with AT&T. Subscribers can connect any home phone to a T-Mobile device that routes calls over the Internet. The service, which requires a wireless plan, costs $10 a month for unlimited calls, the company said Thursday.

Nike to sell Bauer Hockey unit for $200 million Portland, Ore.-based Nike Inc. said Thursday that it will sell its Bauer Hockey unit for $200 million in cash to an investor group led by investment company Kohlberg & Co. and Canadian businessman W. Graeme Roustan. Under terms of the deal, Bauer can use the Nike Bauer Hockey trademark on existing products for as long as two years.

Dollar's drop sends precious metals to highs Precious metals prices soared Thursday, with gold, silver and platinum hitting record highs after a drop in the dollar led traders to shift funds into hard assets as safe-haven investments. Platinum has gained 38 percent this year, gold 11 percent and silver 19 percent.

China's trade surplus with U.S. drops 6.7% China's trade surplus with the United States fell in January, while its surplus with Europe surged by 42 percent, according to data reported Thursday. The surplus with the United States was $12.1 billion, down 6.7 percent from the same month last year, China's customs agency reported. The trade surplus with the 27-nation European Union widened to $13.7 billion.