Northeast heating oil dealers seek financial aid

Heating oil retailers from the Northeast say they are squeezed by obligations to buy fuel at the summer's high prices at a time of scarce credit, and have asked Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for a meeting to discuss emergency aid. Fuel dealers from all six New England states plus New York and New Jersey are asking the government to facilitate access to capital under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, according to a copy of the letter provided by the New England Fuel Institute, a trade group. Millions of consumers locked in heating oil prices at more than $4.50 a gallon, as futures prices soared to $4.16 a gallon in July, according to the letter. Many state regulators require retailers to have guaranteed sources of fuel when they sign such contracts, so they purchased the fuel at the summer's high prices. They have since fallen 53 percent. "They're feeling the pinch on the market side of it of $2 a gallon if a customer doesn't stick with the agreement," said Shane Sweet, chief executive for the Watertown-based group. "The retailer who bought the fuel at that price has to take delivery." (Bloomberg)

Plastic test-tubes and dishes used in laboratories are made with chemicals that can disrupt reactions and could be botching experiments worldwide, scientists said in the journal Science. A disinfectant called DiHEMDA and a lubricant called oleamide can leach out of plastic into experimental fluids and stop proteins from behaving normally, said Andrew Holt, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Alberta and an author on the study. Labs worldwide use plastic tubes, pipettes, and dishes made by companies such as Waltham-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and German firms Sarstedt AG and Eppendorf AG, Holt said. Thermo Fisher executives didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. (Bloomberg)

Express Scripts said it has received a letter demanding money from the company under the threat of exposing records of millions of patients. The threat was made in a letter received last month and turned over to federal investigators. The letter included personal information on 75 people covered by Express Scripts, including birth dates, Social Security numbers, and prescription information. The company manages prescription benefits for roughly 50 million people through thousands of clients, including health insurers, employers, and union-sponsored plans. The company believes it has identified the area where the data was stored and "have instituted enhanced controls." (AP)

Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker, said it would cut about 1,000 jobs, or 3 percent of its global workforce, as it faces higher manufacturing costs amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The cuts, which account for 8 percent of Mattel's professional and management employees, will include layoffs, eliminating open positions, and retirements, the maker of Barbie dolls said. A spokeswoman declined to say how much the company would incur in severance costs. (Bloomberg)

Microsoft Corp. still isn't interested in buying Yahoo Inc., even after Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang said the Internet company is willing to sell. There are no talks between the companies, a Microsoft spokesperson said. The software maker stood by a statement last month that it "has no interest in acquiring Yahoo." Yesterday, Yang said: "To this day, I would say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo." He made the comment after Google Inc. backed out of a proposed ad partnership. That increased investor speculation that Microsoft might bid for all or part of Yahoo. (Bloomberg)

Delta Air Lines Inc., which became the world's biggest carrier last week, said systemwide traffic and capacity fell in October, while load factor rose. The same was true for its Northwest Airlines subsidiary. Delta said it flew 9.93 billion revenue passenger miles last month, a 2.2 percent decline from 10.16 billion in October 2007. A revenue passenger mile is a widely watched industry measurement accounting for one paying passenger flown one mile. Available seat miles, or capacity, fell 4.7 percent to 12.17 billion, compared with 12.76 billion in the same month a year earlier. Load factor, or occupancy, rose 2 percentage points to 81.6 percent last month, compared with 79.6 percent in October 2007. (AP)