NEW YORK

Stocks up as oil's retreat eases inflation fears

NEW YORK — Wall Street rallied Monday as oil prices fell back and alleviated some of investors' concerns about accelerating inflation. The Dow Jones industrials gained 130 points.

Oil's retreat helped soothe some of Wall Street's worries about inflation's effect on consumer spending. Crude briefly reached a trading high of $126.40, but investors seemed shy, for the time being at least, to add to oil's huge gain of nearly $10 last week. Light, sweet crude oil fell $1.73 to settle at $124.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors also got some encouraging news about the credit crisis from London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, which said its first-quarter profits were up from a year ago although the global banking company took a $3.2 billion write-down on subprime mortgage assets in the United States.

The Dow rose 130.43, or 1.02 percent, to 12,876.31.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 15.30, or 1.10 percent, to 1,403.58, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 42.97, or 1.76 percent, to 2,488.49.

New BlackBerry doubles screen resolution

NEW YORK — Research In Motion Ltd. on Monday introduced its first major new BlackBerry model in more than a year: the Bold, a high-end model that further demonstrates the company's desire to make tools for both work and play.

The Bold, or 9000, has twice the screen resolution of the current Curve model, making for a very sharp display. It matches the resolution, but not the size, of the screen on Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which has emerged as a potent competitor in the "smart phone" category.

AT&T Inc. on Monday said it would be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the Bold.

It also has much more internal memory, a glossy metallic look, and adds corporate-strength Wi-Fi capabilities to third-generation cellular and Bluetooth radios.

Otherwise it stays close to the formula of the Curve, with a horizontal screen above a trackball and a keyboard with one letter per key.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM didn't announce a price for the Bold, nor agreements with specific carriers. It said the phone would be available from various carriers this summer.

Former Journal editor joining Bloomberg

NEW YORK — Norman Pearlstine, a former top editor at Time Inc. and The Wall Street Journal, is leaving The Carlyle Group for a senior editorial role at Bloomberg LP, the financial news and data provider announced Monday.

Pearlstine had joined The Carlyle Group in September 2006, where he served as a senior adviser to the investment firm in media and telecommunications.

At Bloomberg, Pearlstine will serve in the newly created role of chief content officer, where his responsibilities will include expanding Bloomberg's presence in television, radio, magazine and online.

Pearlstine will work closely with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler, with whom Pearlstine had worked at the Journal in the 1980s.

TEXAS

Clear Channel, banks in settlement talks

SAN ANTONIO — Clear Channel Communications Inc. and its prospective buyers are talking with banks to try to settle a dispute over whether the banks must fund promised loans for the $19.5 billion takeover, the radio and outdoor advertising company said Monday.

Clear Channel shares jumped $2.87, or 9.6 percent, to $32.87.

The company and its private equity buyers, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, sued a consortium of six banks, accusing them of trying to undermine the deal by changing the terms. That lawsuit is pending in a Texas court, while the equity firms have a separate suit pending against the banks in New York court.

Pretrial hearings in San Antonio and the trial in New York were delayed Monday. The trial before a New York Supreme Court judge was rescheduled to start today.

RHODE ISLAND

Foam companies to settle in nightclub fire

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several foam manufacturers have agreed to pay $30 million to settle lawsuits brought by survivors and family members of those who died in a 2003 fire that killed 100 people and hurt more than 200.

The settlement offers were disclosed in court papers filed Monday.

More than $101 million has now been offered to victims of the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick from several companies, including Home Depot and a maker of fireworks. Plaintiffs have yet to approve the settlements.

Investigators blame flammable, egg-crate-style foam on the walls and ceiling of the club for fueling the fire.

MISSOURI

Sprint affiliate sues to block Clearwire deal

KANSAS CITY — An affiliate of Sprint Nextel Corp., iPCS Inc., said Monday it is seeking to block Sprint from forming a wireless broadband company with Clearwire Corp.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based iPCS, with 640,600 subscribers in seven states, said three of its subsidiaries have filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, alleging the service would compete with iPCS within its markets and therefore violates an exclusivity agreement Sprint signed in 1999.

Sprint and Clearwire Corp. announced last week they plan to combine their wireless broadband units to create a $14.55 billion communications company, to be called Clearwire, that will continue developing a mobile network based on WiMax technology.

Shares of iPCS rose $2.12, or 7.8 percent, to $29.26, while Sprint shares closed down 14 cents to $9.24.

— From wire reports