New York

Stocks claw back on deals, earnings reports

NEW YORK — Wall Street rose Wednesday on some strong earnings and new deals, but not without a struggle, as mounting signs of a tougher lending climate again dogged investors.

The stock market, coming off Tuesday's 226-point tumble in the Dow Jones industrial average, seesawed throughout Wednesday's session. Ultimately, it drew confidence from better-than-expected quarterly profits at Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. and plane manufacturer Boeing Co., and acquisitions involving German engineering company Siemens AG and drug maker Merck & Co.

Still, some investors worry that deteriorating lending conditions will cork this year's heavy stream of dealmaking. Buyouts usually involve taking on debt, and Wednesday, the banks raising funds for the turnaround of Chrysler Group had to postpone a $12 billion debt offer after investors balked at the deal's terms, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dow rose 68.12, or 0.50 percent, to 13,785.07, after trading up more than 100 points and down more than 40.

Broader stock indicators also rose in shaky trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 7.05, or 0.47 percent, to 1,518.09, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 8.31, or 0.31 percent, to 2,648.17.

Two newspapers report lower advertising

NEW YORK — Newspaper publishers New York Times Co. and Tribune Co. reported lower advertising revenues for the second quarter on Wednesday as the industry struggled with deep losses in several categories, especially classified.

The Times, which also owns The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and a group of regional newspapers, posted a 6.9 percent decline in newspaper advertising in the period, while Tribune's fell 11.2 percent.

Chicago-based Tribune is the nation's No. 2 newspaper company by circulation and publishes 11 newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday.

Weak classified advertising was a big factor behind the declines at both companies, falling 13.4 percent at the Times company and 17.7 percent at Tribune.

Despite the declining revenues, the Times reported that net profits doubled to $118.4 million from $59.6 million a year ago, due mainly to a one-time gain of $94.3 million from the sale of the company's nine TV stations.

Tribune, meanwhile, reported that net profits fell 59 percent to $36.3 million from $85.7 million on falling advertising and several significant charges from non-operating losses. Earnings per share fell to 18 cents from 28 cents. Excluding the one-time items, operating earnings were 47 cents per share.

Washington, D.C.

ValueClick's purchase of MeziMedia OK'd

WASHINGTON — Federal antitrust regulators have cleared online advertising company ValueClick Inc.'s acquisition of privately held MeziMedia Inc., which operates comparison shopping Web sites such as Smarter.com.

ValueClick said July 16 it would pay $100 million in cash for MeziMedia at the closing of the deal, and would make additional payments through 2009, up to a total of $352 million, if certain revenue and operating income performance targets are met.

Westlake Village-based ValueClick said it expects the deal to close in August.

Los Angeles-based MeziMedia has about 160 employees and had 2006 revenue of about $40 million, ValueClick said.

The Federal Trade Commission included the deal on a list of transactions Wednesday that received an "early termination" of their antitrust reviews. Early termination refers to the completion of a review before the end of a 30-day waiting period specified under antitrust law.

Shares of ValueClick (Nasdaq: VCLK) fell 49 cents to $27.82 Wednesday.

Nebraska

ConAgra Foods will pay $45 million fine

OMAHA — ConAgra Foods Inc. will pay a $45 million civil fine as part of a settlement with federal regulators who accused the company of using improper accounting to help it meet Wall Street expectations, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court in Denver on Tuesday, accusing ConAgra of "improper, and in certain instances fraudulent" accounting in fiscal 1999 through 2001.

As a result, the SEC alleged, ConAgra misreported profits between the first quarter of fiscal 1999 and the third quarter of fiscal 2001. The packaged-food company did not admit or deny the SEC charges as part of the settlement.

Texas

ConocoPhillips income drops 94 percent

HOUSTON — ConocoPhillips' decision to snub an invitation from President Hugo Chavez to keep producing crude oil in Venezuela under tougher terms has had two results: much lower net profit in the second quarter and a projected drop in third-quarter production.

On Wednesday, the third-largest U.S. oil company said a $4.5 billion charge in the second quarter to write off its huge assets in Venezuela sliced net income by 94 percent. Without that charge, operating earnings topped Wall Street expectations with the help of higher oil prices and refining margins.

Investors, focusing on operating earnings, drove ConocoPhillips shares up $1.96, or 2.4 percent, to $84.29 Wednesday. The shares have traded in a range of $54.90 to $90.84 in the past year.

Some analysts said the cut in production could make it hard for ConocoPhillips to achieve production-growth targets this year.

New Jersey

Merck to buy NovaCardia for $350 million

TRENTON — Merck & Co. will buy NovaCardia Inc., a tiny drug development company with a promising experimental heart drug in late-stage development, for $350 million, the companies said Wednesday.

Shares of Merck jumped nearly 3 percent, possibly because the drugmaker said it will update its 2007 earnings forecast when the deal closes.

Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck, the world's No. 7 pharmaceutical company, will fund the purchase with stock.

Privately held NovaCardia, a San Diego company with just 11 employees, has two compounds in clinical development for cardiovascular diseases not well controlled by existing treatments.

One, now in final human testing, is believed to boost blood flow to key parts of the kidneys in patients with dangerous flare-ups of congestive heart failure.

The chronic condition, in which weakened heart muscles pump less and less effectively, can be exacerbated by poor kidney function.