Jewelry lead content laws in abeyance for 3 months

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts said the Massachusetts Department of Public Health tentatively agreed to delay for at least three months the implementation of laws that severely limit lead in children's jewelry. The two sides met following requests from the Retailers Association of Massachusetts and the Fashion Jewelry Trade Association which criticized the regulations as too harsh. The laws are the strictest in the nation for setting the highest acceptable level of lead. Donna Rheaume, a health department spokeswoman, said a short delay was discussed to accommodate the anticipated demands for the new testing requirements. (Jenn Abelson)

A former hedge fund manager from Waltham and his investment business have agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle an insider trading case. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has resolved its civil case against Michael Tom and Global Time Capital Management. Investigators alleged a Citizens Financial Group employee tipped Tom off to the Rhode Island-based bank's plans to acquire Charter One Financial in 2004. Tom was accused of buying shares of Charter One before the acquisition was made public. Tom agreed to pay more than $801,000 under the agreement, which is separate from a criminal case in which he previously pleaded guilty. Tom's investment business and the Burlington-based hedge fund that Tom ran agreed to pay $252,000. (AP)

Toy maker Mattel Inc. said it plans to open a 20,000-square-foot store for its American Girl doll brand at the Natick Collection shopping mall in November. Visitors there will find the complete assortment of Mattel's popular historical and contemporary dolls, along with a rotating selection of doll outfits, accessories, girl-size clothing, and a variety of best-selling American Girl books, said the California company. (Chris Reidy)

Iron Mountain Inc. said it has acquired privately owned DocuVault for an undisclosed amount. Boston-based Iron Mountain specializes in information protection and storage services. DocuVault is a records management and information destruction company in Denver. Iron Mountain said it gains two records storage facilities and a secure shredding plant. (Chris Reidy)

State Street Corp., the world's second-largest manager of exchange-traded funds, plans to open two ETFs investing globally in an effort to catch up with Barclays PLC. SPDR DJ Wilshire Global Real Estate will track more than 240 commercial and residential real estate companies in the United States and abroad, State Street said. SPDR S&P International Mid Cap will follow more than 850 midsize companies outside the United States. Both funds will begin trading today on the American Stock Exchange. (Bloomberg)

JPMorgan Chase & Co., acquiring rival investment bank Bear Stearns Cos amid one of the worst market slumps ever, so far has extended jobs to about 6,000 of Bear's nearly 14,000 employees, a person familiar with the situation said. JPMorgan declined to comment. Chief executive James Dimon said about three-fourths of people decisions have been completed, with 40 percent offered jobs. Separately, the third-biggest US bank will post lower earnings from investment banking and credit cards this quarter as the US recession gets underway, Dimon said. JPMorgan is seeing lower revenue growth in its credit card business and will probably have to set aside more money to cover bad loans in that unit, as well as in retail and investment banking. (Wire services)

Cablevision Systems Corp., the New York-area cable provider, topped offers from Rupert Murdoch and Mortimer Zuckerman to buy Tribune Co.'s Newsday in a deal valuing the Long Island newspaper at $632 million. Tribune will get $612 million for a 97 percent stake in Newsday, plus $18 million in prepaid rent for some facilities, the companies said. Tribune will keep a 3 percent stake worth $20 million. The money will help Chicago-based Tribune manage $13 billion of debt from a leveraged buyout last year led by chairman Sam Zell. Cablevision plans to boost profit at Newsday, located 7 miles from the cable operator's Bethpage, N.Y., headquarters, by combining ad and marketing efforts. Analysts said they're skeptical because spending on newspaper ads is moving to the Internet. (Bloomberg)