ATLANTA (AP) – The Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home improvement store chain, distanced itself further from the strategies advanced by former Chief Executive Bob Nardelli as it said Monday it will consider shedding its division serving contractors, homebuilders and other business customers.

Its shares rose on the news.

Some analysts said the decision to possibly sell Home Depot Supply could benefit the company by allowing it to focus on generating value for shareholders, while others suggested it could put the onus back on the company’s retail side, where it faces tough competition from Lowe’s Cos.

The announcement followed a decision earlier this month by the Atlanta-based company to give a seat on its board to an investment group that wants Home Depot to consider a leveraged buyout of the entire company to generate shareholder value.

National debt lower than in ’06

WASHINGTON (AP) –The deficit for the first four months of the current budget year is down sharply from the same period a year ago as the government continues to benefit from record levels of tax collections.

The Treasury Department reported Monday that the deficit for the budget year that began Oct. 1 totals $42.2 billion, down 57.2 percent from the same period a year ago.

The amount of revenues collected from October through January were up 9.7 percent from the same period a year ago, climbing to a record level for the period of $834.1 billion.

Government spending also set a record for the period, but the growth was a slower 2.1 percent, pushing the total to $876.3 billion for the first four months of the current budget year.

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BEIJING (AP) – China’s surging trade surplus jumped 67 percent in January from the same month last year to $15.88 billion, the General Administration of Customs said Monday.

China’s trade gap has soared as the country has become the world’s low-cost manufacturing center, cranking out toys, shoes and other goods, but the surplus has been accompanied by complaints China keeps the value of its currency artificially low to make its products more competitive.

That criticism was repeated over the weekend by finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations at a meeting in Germany.

China’s exports hit $86.62 billion, up 33 percent from January 2006, while imports totaled $70.74 billion, up 27.5 percent from a year earlier, the customs bureau said

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MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J. (AP) – Pinnacle Foods Group Inc., the privately held owner of Duncan Hines baking mixes, Hungry Man and Swanson frozen dinners and Vlasic pickles, has agreed to be acquired by a group led by the buyout specialist Blackstone Group for about $1.3 billion in cash.

Former Kraft Foods Inc. Chief Executive Roger Deromedi will become chairman when the deal closes, the companies said in announcing the deal on Monday.

In addition to the cash payment, the buyers will assume about $900 million in debt, Pinnacle spokesman Roy Winnick said.

Under the deal, a Blackstone affiliate is expected to combine with Pinnacle’s direct owner, Crunch Holding Corp.

Pinnacle employs more than 3,000 workers, owns seven manufacturing facilities in the United States, and generates approximately $2.1 billion in annual gross sales.

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ATLANTA (AP) – A rift between The Coca-Cola Co. and some bottlers has been eased as the world’s largest beverage maker announced Monday that several lawsuits over its plan to distribute Powerade to Wal-Mart stores directly through the retailer’s warehouses were being dropped.

Coca-Cola also said it will work with the bottlers “to develop and test new customer service and distribution systems.”

The company and its bottlers will consider shipping products directly to retailers’ warehouses, as well as other ideas, Coca-Cola spokesman Dan Schafer said. In turn, the bottlers will be compensated for products delivered in their regions through forms of distribution other than themselves, Schafer said, adding that details still need to be worked out.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said that it hoped that all U.S. bottlers who distribute Coca-Cola products, including Powerade, will participate in the initiative.

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TORONTO (AP) – Luxury hotel operator Four Seasons Hotels Inc. said Monday it agreed to accept a $3.37 billion going-private offer from its chief executive and firms owned by Bill Gates and a Saudi prince.

Under the terms of the agreement, parties including Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC, Kingdom Hotels International and Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons’ chairman and chief executive, will buy the Toronto company for $82 per share. Kingdom Hotels is owned by a trust created by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a nephew of the late King Fahd and one of the richest businessmen in the Middle East.

When the transaction is completed, Sharp will receive a one-time payment of $289 million related to a long-term incentive agreement approved by the company’s shareholders in 1989.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Loews Corp., a conglomerate with interests in tobacco, watchmaking, financial services and oil drilling, said Monday its fourth-quarter earnings climbed, boosted by results at its offshore drilling and insurance units.

Loews has two classes of common stock. One is a tracking stock meant to reflect the performance of its Carolina Group business, mostly comprised of Lorillard Inc. Its Loews common stock represents its remaining assets.

Net income attributable to Loews common stock rose to $609.4 million, or $1.11 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $46 million, or 8 cents per share, a year ago.

Net income attributable to Carolina Group stock was $137.1 million, or $1.26 per share, compared with $81.6 million, or $1.11 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005.

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By The Associated Press

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 28.28, or 0.22 percent, to 12,552.55.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 4.69, or 0.33 percent, at 1,433.37, and the Nasdaq composite index retreated 9.44, or 0.38 percent, to 2,450.38.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell $2.08 to settle at $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday, after sliding as low as $57.38 earlier in the day.

Brent crude for March dropped $2.41 to settle at $56.60 a barrel at London’s ICE Futures exchange.

Gasoline prices plummeted 6.21 cents to settle at $1.5527 a gallon on the Nymex, heating oil dropped 7.97 cents to settle at $1.6454 a gallon, and natural gas fell 60.1 cents to settle at $7.226 per 1,000 cubic feet.