IN BRIEF

LOS ANGELES

LV Sands boss earned $3.1 million, filing says

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands Corp. continues to build out a casino empire in Macau, was given $3.1 million in compensation in 2007, according to a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The 74-year-old Adelson saw his compensation as CEO of Las Vegas Sands dip from $5.6 million the previous year, according to the filing.

His 2007 earnings consisted of $1 million in salary, $1.9 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation, and about $242,000 in other compensation such as health insurance premiums, a car and driver, and security.

Adelson controls 184.9 million shares, or 52 percent of the company. Given the share price of $74 on Tuesday, that pegs the current value of his stake at $13.7 billion.

Las Vegas Sands is set to report its first quarter earnings today.

Court won't reinstate case accusing Bally

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate a lawsuit that accused Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies, the second-largest U.S. maker of slot machines, of infringing a patent covering anti-counterfeiting technology.

The nation's highest court Monday let stand a federal appeals court ruling that Bally didn't violate a patent owned by closely held CIAS.

The justices made no comment, turning away an appeal by CIAS as part of a list of orders released in Washington, D.C.

The fight centered on computer-directed systems for detecting counterfeit tickets used to play cashless slot machines in casinos. The systems use codes assigned to each ticket to verify authenticity.

ATLANTIC CITY

Atlantic City casinos to build smokers lounges

No Atlantic City casino will go totally smoke-free this fall to comply with a tough new smoking law, the casinos said Tuesday.

Ten casinos said they are planning to build the enclosed, nongambling smoking lounges permitted under the law, and the 11th said it is leaning that way.

The only casino that has not explicitly said it will build smoking lounges is the Borgata. But the president of one of the two companies that jointly own it said the casino will not go totally smoke-free.

LONDON

BP, Royal Dutch Shell post profit increases

BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's two biggest oil producers, posted forecast-busting first-quarter earnings on Tuesday thanks to record crude oil prices that are expected to bolster profits across the industry.

The combined profits of $17 billion reignited calls for a windfall tax on oil profits as consumers struggle to pay for food and fuel.

BP posted a 63 percent surge in first-quarter net profit to $7.6 billion (4.9 billion euros), while Shell reported a 25 percent rise, to a record $9.08 billion (5.81 billion euros).

Revenue at BP jumped 44 percent to $89.2 billion (57.1 billion euros), while sales at Shell soared 55 percent to $114 billion (72.95 billion euros).

WASHINGTON

Interest-rate reduction expected from Fed

The Federal Reserve is poised to deliver another interest rate cut to millions of people and businesses today, although that could be the last break they get for a while.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues opened a two-day meeting Tuesday to take a fresh pulse on the economy and decide their next move on interest rates.

The Fed is widely expected to lower its key interest rate by one-quarter percentage point to 2 percent at the end of its session today.

In response to the Fed's expected action, the prime lending rate for millions of consumers and businesses would fall by a corresponding amount, to 5 percent. The prime rate applies to certain credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other loans. Both rates would be the lowest since late 2004.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices higher as traders seek safety

Treasury prices rose Tuesday as investors sought safety following a report of a sharp drop in home prices and a further slide in consumer confidence.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.19 points to 97.53 and yielded 3.80 percent, down from 3.83 percent late Monday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The 30-year long bond rose 0.47 points to 97.44 and yielded 4.53 percent, down from 4.57 percent late Monday.