Business Briefs

Oil futures retreat after hitting overnight record

NEW YORK — Oil futures retreated from an overnight record above $103 as the dollar gained strength and Turkish forces withdrew from northern Iraq.

The slumping dollar and tension in the oil-rich Middle East have been among the factors in crude's dramatic 19 percent rise in February.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, continued to rise. Gas prices rose 0.3 cents overnight to a national average of $3.164 a gallon, creeping closer to last May's record of $3.227 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Delta has 'stand-alone' plan if merger talks fail

SEATTLE — If Delta Air Lines' consolidation talks with Northwest Airlines fall apart, Delta isn't committed to finding a replacement deal, its chief financial officer said Friday.

Ed Bastian would not say if Delta was prepared to walk away from talks if pilots from the airlines remain deadlocked on seniority issues or how long the company would give the pilots to find a solution.

When asked if Delta had a "Plan B" ready if the Northwest deal fails, Bastian said, "It's not a Plan B. It's a Plan A; that's our stand-alone option." Delta is Charleston's top carrier by passenger volume.

Wyeth wins FDA's OK for Effexor replacement

TRENTON, N.J. — Wyeth won approval Friday from the Food and Drug Administration for its antidepressant Pristiq, the planned successor to Wyeth's top-selling Effexor. It plans a June launch.

Effexor XR last year pulled in $3.8 billion, 17 percent of Wyeth's revenue. Cheaper generics are expected to start eroding sales this summer.

Pristiq becomes the ninth drug in two similar, widely used classes of newer antidepressants called SSRIs and SNRIs.

Alan Gelenberg, head of the American Psychiatric Association panel that develops guidelines for treating depression, said he has seen no data that Pristiq is better or safer than any other SSRI or SNRI.

Investor views mortgage crisis as an opportunity

NEW YORK — Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, known for making profits from troubled industries, has agreed to make up to a $1 billion investment in bond insurer Assured Guaranty.

The insurer said Friday that Ross's firm will buy $250 million of common stock and commit to buying an additional $750 million in shares at the company's option.