Price of BP shares tumbles another 9.7%

Price of BP shares tumbles another 9.7% BP shareholders who have already lost billions because of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico now must deal with the federal government's demand that the oil company set up a multibillion-dollar fund to help victims of the spill. That potential fund and the possibility that BP could forgo its second-quarter dividend drove the stock down again Monday after a small rebound at the end of last week. BP shares fell $3.30, or 9.7 percent, to close at $30.67 in New York. The shares were worth $60.48 when the Transocean rig it was leasing exploded on April 20 and later sank.

Drop in gasoline prices is flattening out It looks like the nearly six-week run in lower gasoline prices is just about over. Gasoline prices have dropped about 8 percent since hitting $2.93 per gallon on May 6 on the back of lower oil prices. Pump prices fell 0.3 cent to a national average of $2.698 a gallon Monday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. "We may wobble down another nickel or up a nickel, but what you see now on the street probably will be close to what you pay for July 4th weekend," said OPIS' Tom Kloza.

Microsoft reveals its answer to Nintendo's Wii Looking to outdo Nintendo and its popular Wii, Microsoft officially introduced Kinect, its camera-based, motion-control game system. The company also announced that it had redesigned its Xbox 360 game console, making it smaller and quieter, and adding a built-in hard drive and Wi-Fi. The new Xbox, which will still cost $299, will be available at retail stores this week. Kinect, which will be released on Nov. 4 (its price has not been announced), tries to one-up Nintendo's Wii by eliminating the controller, using advanced camera technology and software instead.

CEO recovering from stroke, Sara Lee says Sara Lee Corp. CEO Brenda Barnes is recovering from a stroke, the foodmaker said. Last month the company said Barnes, 56, would take a temporary medical leave but declined to specify the reason. "I know there has been a lot of speculation on my condition, so I want to take the opportunity to provide some details," Barnes said in a statement. "I suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, and I am now in the process of recuperating." CFO Marcel Smits is handling CEO duties until Barnes returns.

UAW's Gettelfinger delivers farewell address Ron Gettelfinger, whose tumultuous eight-year tenure as president of the United Auto Workers ends this week, encouraged workers to keep fighting the "antiunion forces" that want to kill off the UAW. A year after the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, Gettelfinger said the Detroit carmakers were rebounding, but not without a cost. The union, which once counted 1.5 million members, now has fewer than 400,000. It is "leaner, yes," Gettelfinger said, "but stronger, wiser and more determined as well."

Hershey OKs cost-cutting modernization plan Chocolate maker Hershey Co. said it will spend $250 million to $300 million to modernize several facilities and cut costs as part of a plan that is intended to save $80 million a year and could mean big changes for the company's hometown. Hershey made the announcement after its board unanimously approved the plan. Union members paved the way for the move 10 days ago by approving a contract that will lead to hundreds of layoffs and move production out of the century-plus-old factory in Hershey, Pa., that company founder Milton Hershey built.

Deal expands Cablevision beyond New York Cablevision Systems Corp. said it will pay $1.4 billion to expand far beyond its focus in the New York area with the purchase of Bresnan Communications, a midsize cable TV provider in the West. Cablevision will borrow most of what it needs to fund the deal, which comes at a steep price and casts some uncertainty over the widespread belief that Cablevision has been priming itself for a sale. Cablevision spun off its Madison Square Garden business in February, and acquiring another business typically isn't something a company for sale would do.

WaMu alters bankruptcy reorganization plan Washington Mutual Inc. has again revised its proposed bankruptcy reorganization plan. The new plan filed Monday tweaks the allocation of tax refunds to be shared by WaMu and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a proposed settlement of lawsuits filed after the FDIC seized WaMu's flagship bank in 2008 and sold it to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion. In the settlement, J.P. Morgan agreed to turn over $4 billion in disputed deposits to Washington Mutual.

Rates may be low into '12, Fed paper suggests Given high unemployment and low inflation, the Federal Reserve is likely to wait until 2012 before it starts to raise interest rates, a new Fed research paper states. The paper, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, does not represent the official position of the central bank, whose governors have declined to specify when they might begin to raise rates. The federal funds rate has been essentially zero since December 2008, and most economists estimate that the Fed will increase it earlier than 2012.