NATIONAL

Federated plans for ticker symbol M

Federated Department Stores Inc. shares will trade under the ticker symbol M if shareholders approve changing the company's name to Macy's Inc., the company said Wednesday.

In changing its symbol to M from FD - which the retailer has traded under since 1992 - Federated will join an elite group of 15 companies represented by a single letter on the New York Stock Exchange.

The change is before shareholders at Federated's May 18 annual meeting, and the stock symbol change would be effective June 1. The company opted to shorten its proposed new name from the previously announced Macy's Group Inc.

UAW REJECTS OFFER The United Auto Workers union rejected wage concessions proposed by Delphi Corp. and a group of private equity firms, jeopardizing a $3.4 billion investment aimed at pulling the auto-parts maker out of bankruptcy.

The offer came at a March 21 meeting between the company and the union at a General Motors Corp. office in Pontiac, Mich. GM officials and Cerberus senior executive David Thursfield also attended. The UAW turned down the plan Monday.

The union has threatened to strike if the contract is voided, potentially cutting off parts to GM, Delphi's biggest customer.

SEC SUES ENRON LAWYERS The Securities and Exchange Commission sued former Enron Corp. attorneys Jordan H. Mintz and Rex R. Rogers, accusing them of facilitating fraud at the energy trader whose collapse wiped out at least $1 billion in retirement funds.

Mintz, as general counsel at Enron's global finance division, and Rogers, as an associate general counsel, helped the Houston-based company hide financial troubles from investors, the SEC said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Houston.

The SEC asked the court to force the two men to pay unspecified fines and forfeit allegedly ill-gotten gains. The Washington-based regulator also wants to bar them from working as officers or directors of public companies.

DOUBLECLICK EYES SALE DoubleClick Inc.'s owners put the Internet advertising company up for sale and may seek about $2 billion, according to a person familiar with the sale.

DoubleClick hired Morgan Stanley to review options that may also include going public, said the person, who declined to be identified because the decision is confidential. Microsoft Corp. is among companies interested in buying DoubleClick, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.

WORLD

Porsche raises offer for Volkswagen

Porsche AG made a bid for Volkswagen AG that values Europe's largest carmaker at $47.8 billion, a low-ball offer designed to leave the sports-car maker with a controlling stake rather than full ownership.

Porsche, maker of the 911 and Cayenne, raised its stake in Volkswagen to 30.94 percent on March 26, triggering a legal obligation to bid for the rest of the shares.

LOCAL

First E85 fuel pump opens in Fort Collins

The Colorado Ethanol Coalition on Wednesday announced the opening of the first alternative fuel pump selling E85 fuel in Fort Collins. E85 is a blended mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline.

Flex-fuel vehicles that are capable of running on E85 fuel could refuel at the Western Convenience Store at 1113 W. Drake Road in Fort Collins.

ECONOMY

Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods up 2.5% in Feb.

Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose modestly in February, helped by a rebound in sales of commercial aircraft and autos.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that demand for durable goods rose by 2.5 percent last month after having plummeted by 9.3 percent in January. The huge January decline, the biggest in 6 1/2 years, was one of the factors that triggered a one-day drop of 416 points in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Even with the February rebound, which was smaller than the 3.5 percent gain that Wall Street was expecting, the report continued to raise worries about the health of the manufacturing sector.

Outside of the transportation sector, orders were down 0.1 percent, the fourth decline in this category in five months.

The strength last month was led by a 9.6 percent rise in orders for transportation goods, led by an 88.4 percent surge in orders for commercial aircraft.

THIS JUST IN...

• The University of Colorado Law School honored Norm Brownstein and Steve Farber with the 2007 Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement at the school's 26th annual Law Alumni Banquet.

• Mountain Travel Symposium awarded Patrick O'Donnell, former president of Aspen Skiing Co., with its first Mountain Travel Industry Achievement Award for his longtime activism and leadership in environmental protection.

• 5280 magazine will begin printing on 30 percent post- consumer recycled paper with its April issue. According to estimates provided by the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator, the switch will save 2,520 trees annually.

• Elisa Speranza, a vice president in CH2M Hill's water business group, received the 2007 Outstanding Service to AWWA Award from the American Water Works Association.

• Eddie Bauer, a specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, plans to open a store at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder on April 6.

• Key Equipment Finance, a bank-affiliated equipment financing company and an affiliate of KeyCorp, has named Richard J. Paine Sr. national finance manager specializing in commercial marine equipment.

• Slender Lady of Longmont has converted to a Healthy Inspirations Center, a women's weight-loss franchise that combines individual nutritional plans with coaching and exercise.

• Denver-based Linhart McClain Finlon Public Relations was named Boutique Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report, a public relations industry publication.

• The Breakaway Group, a Denver-based company that helps health care professionals adopt new technology and equipment, has appointed five people to its advisory board based on their experience in health care, publishing and business development. They are David Batstone, David S. Chernow, Brian Kosar, Paula Morgan and Jeffrey R. Woodside.

• Broomfield-based Gaiam Inc., a lifestyle-media company, was ranked No. 24 on Corporate Responsibility Officer magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list. This is Gaiam's third appearance on the list.

• Ed O'Donnell will be stepping down from the board of directors of Venoco Inc. and rejoining the company as a senior vice president.

• The Department of the Interior has honored Colorado State University forestry economics professor Douglas Rideout for his research in wildland fire management.

• Ciber Enterprise Solutions, a division of Ciber Inc., has hired Dave Siebert to serve as senior vice president of several units within the division.

Rocky news and wire reports.

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