United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) and Continental (NYSE: CAL) were informed by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice that it had completed its review of the proposed merger. That clears the way for the deal to close Oct. 1, pending shareholder votes in September.

"The completion of DOJ's review is an important step on our journey of creating the world's leading airline, benefiting our customers, co-workers, communities and stockholders," said Jeff Smisek, Continental's chairman, president and chief executive in a statement. "The DOJ's decision permits us to clear one of the last regulatory hurdles to closing our merger."

Houston-based Continental and Chicago-based United announced an all-stock merger on May 3 business cards. Both companies have set special shareholder meetings to vote on the deal Sept. 17.

United and Continental received clearance from the European Commission on the airlines' proposed merger in July, which noted its investigation found the transaction would not raise competitive concerns in Europe or on trans-Atlantic routes.

Continental shareholders will receive 1.05 UAL shares for every Continental share they own. At the closing of the deal, Continental shareholders will hold 45 percent of the new entity, while UAL shareholders will own 55 percent. The combined company will have headquarters in Chicago.

Also on Aug. 27, Continental and United said they would lease 18 pairs of round-trip flights to Southwest Airlines at Newark Liberty International airport in an effort to address DOJ concerns.

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In July, comScore figures show, Palo Alto-based Facebook had 20.9 million visitors in India, up 179 percent from the same period a year ago.

"The social networking phenomenon continues to gain steam worldwide, and India represents one of the fastest growing markets at the moment," said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. "Though Facebook has tripled its audience in the past year to pace the growth for the category, several other social networking sites have posted their own sizeable gains."

More than 33 million Internet users age 15 and older in India visited social networking sites in July, representing 84 percent of the total Internet audience. India now ranks as the seventh largest market worldwide for social networking, after the U.S personal loans for bad credit., China, Germany, Russian Federation, Brazil and the U.K. The total Indian social networking audience grew 43 percent in the past year, more than tripling the rate of growth of the total Internet audience in India.

After Facebook, Orkut ranked second in India with 19.9 million visitors during the period, up 16 percent over a year ago. That was followed by BharatStudent.com with 4.4 million visitors, up 3 percent.

San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. had the highest rate of growth among the top five social networking sites, increasing 239 percent to 3.3 million visitors.

Sunnyvale-based Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) owned two of the top 10 social networking sites: Yahoo Pulse (3.5 million visitors) and Yahoo Buzz (1.8 million visitors).

Click here to read the press release.

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In a highly-anticipated regulatory filing, GM said it plans to offer an unspecified number of common shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the company’s previous ticker symbol of "GM."

The automaker said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of common stock held by current shareholders, including the U.S. government. At the same time, the company said it will offer an undisclosed number of preferred shares, which will be used to fund its operations.

"The amount of securities offered will be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of the offering," GM said in a statement.

Separately, the Treasury Department said it has agreed to be a selling shareholder of common stock in GM, although it did not say how much it might sell.

The initial public offering is expected to generate an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest in U.S. history. Analysts say the IPO, which will now undergo a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission, could take place sometime later this year.

The current GM was created out of the ashes of the automaker’s bankruptcy process in July 2009, and is owned by combination of taxpayers, former bondholders and union-controlled trust funds.

A majority of the stock is held by governments that bailed out the automaker to keep it operating through the bankruptcy process. The U.S. Treasury received 60.8% of the company’s 500 million common shares, while the Canadian government received 17.5%. In order to get back most of the taxpayer money spent on the bailouts, stock needs to be sold to investors.

The U.S. Treasury gave $50 billion to GM, receiving common and preferred stock in return for most of that money. While GM has since paid back almost $7 billion in loans to Treasury, the company’s stock will need to reach a total market value of roughly $67 billion in order for U.S. taxpayers to break even on Treasury’s common shares.

That level might be possible — experts have forecast a market value of between $64 billion and $90 billion. But it is far from certain.

Stock of rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) has a market value of only $42 billion, and that’s after a gain of more than 50% over the course of the last year. In its history, GM stock has never had a market value greater than $61 billion, reaching that level in May of 1999 payday loan.

In addition to the government-owned shares, union-controlled trust funds have an additional 17.5% stake. Those trust funds were set up to cover the promised health care expenses of GM retirees and their family members.

Creditors of the old company, primarily bondholders, will end up splitting about 10% of the new company’s stock. Top GM executives will be issued about 1% of the stock, six months after the IPO.

In its regulatory filing, GM said the main risk factors facing the company include continued weakness in auto sales, inadequate cash flows and challenges to the company’s cost cutting plans.

GM said the government’s involvement in the company could also impact its performance. The Treasury has the ability to "exercise significant influence over our business if it elects to do so."

The announcement comes after GM said last week that it continued to be profitable in the second quarter and announced that Daniel Akerson would replace Ed Whitacre as the company’s chief executive.

In the second quarter, GM said it earned $1.3 billion after the payment of dividends on preferred shares held by the U.S. Treasury. It was the best result in six years for GM and a stark turnaround from the $12.9 billion it lost in the year-earlier period when the company went into bankruptcy.

The underwriters expected to deliver the shares to investors include several banks that received government support during the financial crisis. Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Citi (C, Fortune 500), BofA Merrill Lynch (BAC, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) are among those named in the filing.

Bill Buhr, Morningstar IPO analyst, said the offering will be subject to a higher degree of scrutiny given the support GM has received from taxpayers.

"There is an implicit pressure from the government that this gets priced correctly," he said, adding that the fees charged by investment banks underwriting the deal could also be politically charged. "The government wants to ensure that U.S. taxpayers get out at least whole, if not a bit better off."

– CNNMoney.com’s senior writer Chris Isidore contributed to this report.  

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In addition, the automaker said Ed Whitacre is resigning as chief executive effective Sept. 1, a move that will give the company its fourth chief in less than 18 months. Daniel Akerson, a former CEO of Nextel and a GM board member for just over a year, will succeed Whitacre.

The No. 1 automaker in terms of U.S. sales reported earnings of $1.3 billion in the quarter after the payment of dividends on preferred shares held by the U.S. Treasury. It was the best result in six years for GM and a stark turnaround from the $12.9 billion it lost in the year-earlier period when the company went into bankruptcy.

It was also an improvement from the $865 million it made on a similar basis in the first quarter.

Revenue reached $33.2 billion, up 5% from the first quarter and 44% from a year ago.

The biggest improvement came in its core North American automotive operations, where operating profit soared to $1.6 billion, up 31% from the first quarter and a turnaround from the $3.4 billion loss there in the last three months of 2009.

The operating loss in its European unit narrowed to $160 million, a 66% improvement from the first quarter. But profit slowed in its international operations unit, which includes its Chinese business and now sells more cars than any other region at the company. The $672 million profit there was down 42% from the first quarter.

Achieving two straight quarters of profits was seen as a necessity before GM could return to the market to start selling shares. The company is expected to file its plans to start selling those shares within days, with the initial public offering likely to take place before the end of this year.

GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell refused to comment Thursday on plans for the IPO timing.

"We’ll look at an IPO when the markets are right and the company is right," he told CNNMoney.

But he said the company is pleased with its second-quarter results, which he said were better than internal targets going into the period.

In a series of television interviews, Liddell said he is particularly pleased that a company that essentially ran out of cash a year ago generated $2.8 billion in cash in the quarter, leaving it with $31.5 billion on the balance sheet at the end of June. That’s up from only $22.8 billion in cash it had on hand at the start of the year.

The strength of the balance sheet is one of the factors that will be weighed by investors when GM starts selling shares again.

While Liddell said the company expects to be solidly profitable this year, he believes profits could slip a bit in the second half. He said results so far this year have been helped by the need to rebuild dealer inventories.

IPO key to repaying bailout

The sale of shares will be a key event in the company’s efforts to repay most of the $50 billion in federal assistance it received last year to continue operations before and during its bankruptcy reorganization. The U.S. Treasury Department has already been repaid a $7 billion loan by the automaker, as well as received $405 million in preferred stock dividends so far this year.

But most of the help was given in exchange for a 61% stake in the automaker. Treasury is expected to start selling some of those shares as part of the IPO, although it is unlikely to dump all of its shares on the market at that time. A trust fund set up to pay retiree health care costs and former bondholders of the bankrupt company are the other major shareholders in the company.

In May, when it reported first-quarter results, analysts estimated that the company would have a total market value of between $64 billion and $90 billion once it went public, a range that would allow Treasury to break even or make a profit on the bailout.

But such a value is by no means certain. It would not only dwarf the current $42 billion market value of rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), it would also be the most GM stock has ever been worth in its history. According to the the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago, the company’s greatest value was $61 billion in May 1999. 

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Company leaders hope his expertise can help H&R Block improve performance in the increasingly important digital segment, which includes programs that let consumers prepare taxes online.

At eBay, Cobb was responsible for more than $25 billion in gross merchandise sales, $2.6 billion in revenue and more than 5,000 associates. He also oversaw affiliated businesses such as StubHub, Shopping.com and Rent.com. During his eight years at eBay, Cobb also was general manager of eBay International and head of global marketing for eBay.

Before his time at eBay, Cobb held senior marketing positions at Pepsico/Tricon, which now is YUM Brands. For more than 12 years, he handled marketing for companies such as KFC International, Pizza Hut International and Taco Bell International.

Cobb holds director positions at Orbitz Worldwide, Pacific Sunwear of California and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group No teletrak payday loan.

“Over an eight-year period, Bill helped build eBay into one of the largest and most successful e-commerce businesses in the world,” H&R Block Chairman Richard Breeden said in a release. “As we consider opportunities to enhance our digital business, such as online tax filing and prepaid debit cards, Bill’s experience will be extremely helpful to us. His extensive marketing experience for highly successful brands also will be an important addition to the board. Bill has a proven record of creating shareholder value in the digital arena and also brings high-level executive leadership experience to our board.”

H&R Block suffered a disappointing tax season this year, and one key concern of management was that the company continued losing market share in the digital segment. The company also changed the agency of record for its $155 million advertising account to Fallon Group Inc., saying H&R Block needed a different focus.

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Oakland-based Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Health Plan and subsidiaries had operating revenue of $11 billion for the second quarter, ended June 30, up nearly 5 percent from the same quarter in 2009, when the huge nonprofit organization had $10.5 billion in operating revenue.

But operating income plummeted nearly 24 percent, from $411 million last year to $313 million in 2010's second quarter. Net non-operating income was $91 million in this year's second quarter, less than half the $209 million Kaiser netted in the same period last year. As a result, net income sank 35 percent, from $620 million a year ago to $404 million in 2010’s second quarter.

Kaiser doesn’t provide financial information about its for-profit Permanente Medical Groups, and typically provides only high-level summaries of its financial and operational results.

Enrollment jumped by 47,000 members to 8.6 million as of June 30. Capital spending for the second quarter was $576 million, roughly comparable to last year’s $558 million second-quarter tally.

“We are pleased by our overall year-to-date net income, which is consistent with our performance for the same period last year,” Kathy Lancaster, Kaiser’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in the Aug. 6 statement. “Through our financial performance we are able to support our capital expenditures as well as our ongoing efforts to deliver high-quality, affordable health care.”

However, Kaiser gave no immediate indication of why its operating income and net income fell dramatically in this year’s second quarter, compared to the same period a year ago.

For the first half of the year, Kaiser’s operating revenue was $22 billion, compared with $21.1 billion a year earlier. First-half operating income fell 21 percent from $1 billion last year to $794 million for this year’s first half, although net non-operating income, at $316 million, was more than 20 times higher than 2009’s first half total of $15 million.

Nonetheless, net income for the first half was virtually identical to last year’s first-half tally of $1.1 billion, Kaiser said, without providing exact details.

Capital spending for the first half was also nearly identical to last year’s first-half total, at $1 billion compared to $1.1 billion last year.

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"I became a villain for doing the right thing," Hayward told the Wall Street Journal in his first interview since announcing his exit earlier this week. "But I understand that people find it easier to vilify an individual more than a company."

Hayward told the newspaper that he took responsibility of the spill and has spent billions to contain the spewing oil and clean up the shoreline.

As the head of the company, Hayward became a target for public and political anger after the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

Hayward told the Journal that while he understood the Obama administration’s frustration, he resented the constant criticism.

"I didn’t want to leave BP (BP), because I love the company," Hayward said in the interview. "Because I love the company, I must leave BP."

Hayward will be replaced by an American, Robert Dudley, effective Oct. 1.

"In America, the road back will be long but I believe achievable when the whole truth of the accident finally emerges and the Gulf coast is restored….BP can rebuild faster in America without Tony Hayward as its CEO," he said in the interview.

After he helps Dudley transition into BP’s top spot, Hayward will serve as a board member for BP’s Russian oil and gas business, TNK-BP.  

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The bill is marked for approval in the House and Senate on Friday, the last day of formal sessions for the year. Bill supporters say its provisions will make state government more responsive to businesses while critics say the bill lacks policy directives that will target underlying high costs for Bay State employers.

Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray stood before a phalanx of lawmakers to announce agreement on the bill, also aimed at consolidating the state’s web of economic development agencies and increasing business’s access to capital.

“We’re already fifth in economic activity and business friendliness. This should bring us up to number one,” Murray said. The bill came together with three hours to go until an 8 p.m. deadline for filing compromise legislation.

More than half of the Senate, including a pair of Republicans, stood behind Murray and DeLeo to announce the agreement. “We recognize that in this difficult economy … that this would not be an economic development bill that did a lot in terms of tax policy but we felt it was important to do a couple of things to make a very strong statement,” said Rep. Brian Dempsey, co-chair of the Economic Development Committee.

Republican lawmakers offered rare praise for their Democratic colleagues’ work on the economy. “There will be jobs created because of this bill,” said Rep. Viriato DeMacedo (R-Plymouth), the House’s minority party negotiator. “There will be investment in the commonwealth of Massachusetts because of this bill.”

Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland), Dempsey’s co-chair and the Senate’s lead negotiator on the dueling bills, said provisions limiting the salaries of state agency employees were stricken during negotiations.

The legislation, the latest in a wave of job creation laws that have proven no match for the job losses the state has endured over the past decade, arrives as the state’s unemployment rate hovers at 9 percent.

The bill also would:

• Merge the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority and MassDevelopment;

• Extend for two years permits for development projects hampered by the difficult economy;

• Place a 3 percent tax rate on capital gains earned on investments in Massachusetts-based start-ups and extend from five to 20 years the period in which a corporation can carry forward its losses;

• Require the state Housing and Economic Development Secretary to chair the boards of most state authorities.

• Require state agencies to file economic impact statements detailing projects costs to small businesses of new regulations;

• Merge agencies, including the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, the Mass. Film Office, and the Mass. Sports Partnership, into a new Massachusetts Marketing Partership. The bill also eliminates the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment commission and the Massachusetts Industrial Development Authority.

• Expedite permitting rules for projects in so-called gateway cities and a housing development initiative for such cities.

• Create a $50 million bond authorization to support a “growth districts” initiative and creates a $25 million to $50 million credit program within the state pension fund to support small businesses.

• Create a Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation to provide capital to small businesses;

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The region’s unemployment rate was lower than the state as a whole, which saw 9.2 percent unemployment in June, or the nation, where unemployment was 9.5 percent. In May, the Pittsburgh area's unemployment rate had increased one-tenth of a percentage point, from 8.5 percent in April to 8.6 percent.

Here is a detailed look at the seasonally adjusted unemployment figures for each of the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area’s seven counties:

Allegheny

• June 2010: 8.1 percent
• May 2010: 8.4 percent
• June 2009: 6.8 percent

Armstrong

• June 2010: 9.7 percent
• May 2010: 9 Internet Payday loans.9 percent
• June 2009: 9.2 percent

Beaver

• June 2010: 8.2 percent
• May 2010: 8.7 percent
• June 2009: 8.3 percent

Butler

• June 2010: 7.7 percent
• May 2010: 7.9 percent
• June 2009: 7.1 percent

Fayette

• June 2010: 9.8 percent
• May 2010: 10.5 percent
• June 2009: 9.1 percent

Washington

• June 2010: 8.4 percent
• May 2010: 9.0 percent
• June 2009: 7.7 percent

Westmoreland

• June 2010: 8.5 percent
• May 2010: 8.9 percent
• June 2009: 7.8 percent

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The case was filed Aug. 8, 2008 in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Wyndham Resort Development Corp. and The Resort at Seaside Condominium Association against Swinerton Builders, a San Francisco-based general contractor.

The roughly $42 million lawsuit accused Swinerton — which was operating in Oregon as Swinerton Builders of Oregon — of breach of contract, negligence and breach of warranty for construction defects at The Resort at Seaside, an eight-story, 414,970-square-foot beachfront condominium completed in 2003.

The lawsuit alleged that Swinerton failed to construct The Resort, at 26 Ave. A in Seaside, in conformance with the agreement, drawings, manufacturers’ instructions and requirements and building codes.

The list of complaints identified numerous defects, including misalignment of exterior surfaces that led to wind and water damage in the building’s envelope, roof and windows payday loans. Damage included dry-rot fungus, water stains, mold, mildew, warping, rust and other damage to drywall, fireplaces, flooring and insulation in individual units and common areas. The lawsuit also alleged that construction defects led to sections of the building's exterior falling off.

Swinerton hasn’t operated in Oregon since 2005.

According to court documents, a settlement was reached in Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen K. Bushong’s courtroom in the last week. Terms of the settlement are confidential under the agreement.

The plaintiffs were represented by Miller Nash LLP and Sussman Shank LLP.

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