IN BRIEF

Skybus Airlines says it is ceasing operations

Low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines is shutting down today and plans to file for bankruptcy protection next week, becoming the latest of the nation’s airlines to fall because of rising fuel costs and a slowing economy.

The financial situation of the airline, which announced the shutdown late Friday, has worsened in recent weeks, said Skybus spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.

“We deeply regret this decision, and the impact this will have on our employees and their families, our customers, our vendors and other partners, and the communities in which we have been operating,” Michael Hodge, chief executive of Columbus-based Skybus, said in a statement.

The airline makes 74 daily flights to 15 U.S. cities, Tenenbaum said. It has about 450 employees.

Trump Entertainment to consider casino sale

Trump Entertainment Resorts will consider opportunities to sell one or more of its three casinos in Atlantic City after founder Donald Trump said earlier the properties weren’t for sale.

Trump Entertainment said in a statement Friday that it “looks at opportunities” to sell its New Jersey casinos and would pursue them if it determined it was in the best interest of its shareholders.

SAN FRANCISCO

Big Apple’s green logo has Apple seeing red

Apple says The Big Apple is worming into its territory with a logo the city is using for its green living campaign.

Apple on Friday renewed its challenge to a trademark registration application that New York City filed last May, saying the apple logo was too similar to its own.

Both logos depict a plump apple with a leaf. Apple’s logo is white, with its signature bite mark, while New York City’s proposed trademark is a green, figure-eight outline reminiscent of an infinity sign, with a stem, and the word “greeNYC” under it.

Apple’s challenge, filed in January with the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, says the company will be “damaged” if the trademark is granted. The city responded, alleging one of Apple’s trademarks was fraudulently acquired. Apple disputed that allegation in another filing Friday.

Resolution of the dispute could come by late 2009, according to a schedule of expected filings provided by the trademark board.

GM may be expected to help ailing ex-unit

Besides slumping U.S. sales and a strike that has shut down 30 of its factories, General Motors automaker may now be on the financial hook to help its former subsidiary and largest parts supplier, Delphi. Delphi’s lifeline to exit bankruptcy was stalled after a private equity fund ended a deal for a $2.55 billion cash injection on Friday.

The Appaloosa Management-led investment was an essential pillar in Delphi’s reorganization, which has been complicated by a tight credit market. The loss of the deal puts Delphi Corp.’s plan to exit bankruptcy at risk and raises the issue of whether General Motors Corp. would be forced to offer even more support than it is already giving.

“I would not be surprised to see additional forms of financial support from GM,” Fitch Ratings analyst Mark Oline said. “It’s been never-ending since the initial filing.”

Self-serve tests on tap at some Starbucks

Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest chain of coffee shops, is testing letting its customers pour their own coffee at some stores as part of an effort to halt two quarters of customer declines.

Customers can pay before or after getting their own drip coffee from a brewer near the condiment bar, the company said on its new customer-feedback Web site.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who returned to run the chain in January, is testing several new ideas.

Landry’s chief exec lowers buyout bid

Landry’s Restaurants, the owner of the Chart House and Rainforest Café chains, said Chief Executive Officer Tilman Fertitta reduced his bid to buy out other investors for $21 a share.

Landry’s, which on Thursday closed 35 percent below Fertitta’s initial offer of $23.50 a share, surged 17 percent in New York trading. The company said Friday the value of the transaction would be $1.3 billion.

Landry’s owns the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas.

Fertitta owns 39 percent of Landry’s. He cut his offer from his first bid in January, citing deteriorating credit- market conditions that make it more expensive for him to obtain financing for the acquisition, the company said in a statement.

Landry’s jumped $2.61, or 17.06 percent, Friday to close at $17.91 on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the company a market value of $289 million.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices rally after news on jobs

Treasury prices rallied March after the Labor Department reported the economy last month forfeited 80,000 jobs.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.81 points to 100.09 with a yield of 3.49 percent, down from 3.59 percent late Thursday, according to BGCantor Market Data.