IN BRIEF

President of world’s largest casino to quit

The president of one of the world’s largest casinos will resign amid an expansion and a fight against a union drive by dealers.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs Foxwoods Resort Casino, announced Friday that John O’Brien will resign, effective Jan. 18.

“It’s the right time for me to move on to pursue other interests, including spending more time with my family,” O’Brien said in a statement.

A telephone message was left for O’Brien, who did not disclose what interests he is pursuing.

Foxwoods’ senior vice president of operations, Barry Cregan, will serve as interim president while the tribe begins a search for a permanent replacement.

NEW YORK

Oil prices extend slide amid recession fears

Oil prices extended their slide Friday on a growing sentiment that the country might be headed for a recession that would depress demand for oil.

Energy investors remained focused on recent government jobs reports that suggest the economy is struggling to make headway against the challenges posed by a troubled housing market and high oil prices.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell $1.02 to settle at $92.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices ended the week $5.22 a barrel lower, and are 7.4 percent below their record trading price of $100.09 set last week.

NEW YORK

Gold prices briefly rise above $900 an ounce

Gold futures briefly rose above $900 an ounce — an all-time high — before pulling back Friday as growing worries of a U.S. recession prompted uneasy investors to keep buying the precious metal.

An ounce of gold for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $6.50 to $900.10 in morning trading, an all-time high and a psychologically important milestone. The precious metal later fell on profit-taking but still ended $4.10 higher to settle at $897.70 an ounce, a new closing record.

Also on Friday, spot gold closed at $896.10 an ounce.

Gold has had a meteoric rise the past year — rising nearly 32 percent in 2007 — boosted by a falling dollar, rising prices for oil and other commodities and increased Middle East instability.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.

Security breach may stir talk at Internext

When operators of sex-oriented Web sites gather at the Internext convention starting Sunday in Las Vegas, a major leak at a little New Jersey company is likely to be a big topic.

Freehold-based Too Much Media, which sells accounting software for adult Web sites, told its customers last month that a security breach on its computers allowed hackers to access various adult Web sites’ subscriber lists.

It appears stolen personal and company information is being used to bombard subscribers, many of whom would rather not have their identities known, with junk e-mails advertising sexually explicit images from competitors. No credit information appears to have been stolen.

Company co-founder John Albright said someone stole addresses and passwords from Too Much Media’s computers that allowed them to log onto its customers’ porn Web sites as the webmasters and extract information about porn subscribers and the Web sites that refer them.

NEW YORK

As stocks are sold off, Treasurys finish higher

Treasurys rallied Friday, benefiting from a steep stock market sell-off sparked by worries that Merrill Lynch & Co. may have to write down an additional $15 billion in bad mortgage debt.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.59 points to 103.59 with a yield of 3.81 percent, down from 3.88 percent late Thursday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The 30-year long bond advanced 0.75 points to 109.97 with a 4.39 percent yield, down from 4.45 percent.