United Tech has $16B deal to buy GoodrichUnited Technologies has agreed to buy the Goodrich Corp. for $16.4 billion in cash, the companies said late Wednesday, in an effort to expand in the fast-growing commercial aviation business. Under the deal's terms, United Technologies will pay $127.50 a share, a 16 percent premium to Goodrich's Wednesday closing price. It is also a 47 percent premium to the company's closing price Sept. 15, before reports of a potential deal emerged. The deal is the largest by United Technologies in recent memory. The combined company is expected to have $66 billion in global sales this year.

Existing home sales rise more than expectedSales of previously owned U.S. homes were up sharply in August, a ray of light for the nation's beaten-down housing market. But economists are skeptical the gains will last. The number of homes sold rose 7.7 percent from July and were up 18.6 percent from August 2010, when sales were depressed after the expiration of a popular tax credit for buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors. Although analysts had expected an increase in sales last month, many were surprised they rose as much as they did. Economists polled by Bloomberg News had estimated on average a 1.7 percent gain.

SABMiller seals deal to swallow up Foster'sSABMiller PLC clinched Foster's Group Ltd. with a sweetened $10.2 billion (U.S.) offer for Australia's biggest brewer after three months of pursuit. The purchase will be the biggest ever by London-based SABMiller. SABMiller's initial attempts to buy the maker of Foster's Lager were rebuffed by Foster's management as undervaluing the brewer, one of the world's most profitable. The deal will be the biggest takeover of a brewer since InBev NV acquired Anheuser-Busch Cos. for $52 billion in 2008.

Ex-Goldman trader accused of insider tradingA former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader and his father were accused by U.S. regulators of making illegal trades based on confidential information related to the Wall Street firm's exchange-traded fund investments. Spencer Mindlin, 33, and Alfred Mindlin, 68, reaped at least $57,000 in illicit profits by trading in December 2007 and March 2008 "with knowledge of massive, market-moving trades" that Goldman Sachs planned to execute in four securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The Mindlins denied the claims.

Home builders ordered to face bubble lawsuitCentex Corp., D.R. Horton Inc. and Lennar Corp. must face claims by homebuyers who say the companies inflated the "housing bubble" in neighborhoods they developed, leading people to pay more than the properties were worth. The buyers' claims against the three companies and at least five other home builders are "actual and concrete economic injuries" that give them the right to sue, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled.

FROM NEWS SERVICES