Dow jumps 204 to high for year as dollar slumps

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average stormed to its highest level in more than a year Monday as a falling dollar boosted prices for gold, oil and other commodities. Stocks also jumped as investors grew more confident that governments around the world will keep interest rates low to help the global economy.

Energy and materials stocks led the market. The major indexes rose 2 percent and the Dow jumped 200 points for the second time in three days, reaching its highest level in 13 months.

News that the Group of 20 countries will keep economic stimulus measures in place signaled to investors that rates will remain low. With U.S. rates near zero, the G-20 news lessened demand for the dollar.

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Kraft's $16.4B Cadbury bid starts takeover tussle

NEW YORK (AP) - Kraft Foods has gone hostile in its bid to buy Cadbury but didn't sweeten its first bid, drawing an immediate rejection from the British candy maker in what is likely to be a lengthy takeover struggle.

Taking the same offer directly to Cadbury shareholders likely means that Kraft is betting no competing bids will emerge for the maker of Dairy Milk and Creme Eggs. The early gambit also leaves the company room to take the bid higher.

Kraft made the offer, worth about $16.4 billion, just hours before a Monday deadline imposed by Britain's takeover law that required the company to make a formal offer or back off for six months. Kraft now has 28 days to file a prospectus, which will then trigger more deadlines that could last months.

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Deadline in Google book deal extended to Friday

NEW YORK (AP) - Google says it needs until Friday to come up with a new proposal that would give it the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books.

The new timetable approved Monday by a federal judge is the latest twist in a 4-year-old copyright lawsuit over Google's ambitious book-scanning project.

Google thought it had settled the dispute with U.S. authors and publishers more than a year ago. But the agreement still hasn't won court approval because of concerns that the deal would give Google too much control over the digital book market.

When U.S. antitrust regulators raised objections to the agreement in September, Google decided to redo the deal. The revisions were supposed to be filed by the end of Monday - before Google received the extension.

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Fed: GMAC to receive more bailout money

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Reserve said Monday that GMAC is the only one of 19 stress-tested banks that needs more capital to withstand losses if the economy softens.

GMAC, a crucial player in the U.S. auto industry, has been unable to raise the $11.5 billion regulators said it needed after stress test results were announced in May. The Fed says the finance company is expected to close the gap with more money from the $700 billion financial bailout.

GMAC, already the recipient of $12.5 billion in taxpayer infusions, is negotiating with regulators over how much more it will receive.

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Fed says banks eye tighter terms on credit cards

WASHINGTON (AP) - Banks expect to tighten terms on credit cards in response to a new law that aims to protect consumers from sudden rate hikes, the Federal Reserve said Monday.

A quarterly survey by the Fed found that many banks expect to increase rates, reduce credit limits and raise annual fees for both prime borrowers - those with sound credit histories -as well as more risky "non-prime" borrowers, who have tarnished credit. Banks also expected to raise minimum credit scores for non-prime borrowers, the Fed said.

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