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U.S. markets dive on year's last day

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. markets lost ground Thursday, ending a slow week with a hangover before the New Year's Eve parties got started.

The three major U.S. stock indexes seemed to prefer to sleep in through first three sessions of the week. On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average added a comparatively robust 26.98 points. On Tuesday, it dropped 1.67 points. The following session, it added 3.10 points.

On Thursday, the DJIA aimed higher at the opening bell, then dropped back despite a Labor Department report that said first-time jobless claims dropped by 22,000 in the week ending Dec. 26.

By close, the DJIA lost 120.46 points, 1.14 percent, to 10,428.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 11.32 points to 1,115.10, off 1 percent. The Nasdaq composite index shed 22.13 points to 2,269.15, off 0.97 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 994 stocks advanced and 2,018 declined on a volume of 2 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bill lost 11/32 to yield 3.837 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4324 from Wednesday's $1.4336. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 92.96 yen from Wednesday's 92.46 yen.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 15.02 points, 0.28 percent, to 5,412.88.

Wells Fargo adjusts pay for top four execs

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. bank Wells Fargo said Thursday its top four executives would receive only restricted stock for their bonus pay this year to encourage job retention.

The four executives would be awarded $25 million in bonus pay, the bank said.

Human Resources Committee Chairman Steve Sanger said, "Wells Fargo executives at all levels are being increasingly and aggressively recruited by competitors."

"Retaining them, along with our entire senior management team, is clearly in the best interest of our company and its shareholders," he said.

MarketWatch reported the bank's new policy comes a week after the firm divorced itself from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Companies that received extraordinary assistance under TARP had pay for the top 100 executives restricted, which raised concerns about banks keeping highly competitive executives.

In order to repay its federal bailout loan, the bank raised $12 billion last week with a sale of 489.9 million new shares, which sold for $25 each, MarketWatch said.

Airline alliances could reshape industry

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Alliances between major airlines are reshaping the industry to the point where antitrust issues could become a concern, a U.S. aviation consultant said.

Presently, Delta and American have each said they would pump $1 billion Japanese Airline Corp. if given the opportunity, The Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

United and Continental are pursuing a partnership with All Nippon in an effort to command more of the market share in a lucrative Asian market.

"Japan is by far the largest market in the Pacific. The stakes raised are illustrative of how important global alliances have become for all of the carriers," said Mark Schwab, senior vice president for alliances, international and regulatory affairs at United Airlines.

A consultant for Delta, which is merging with Northwest Airlines, Jeff Shane, said alliances "unleash the creativity … all kinds of innovative things can happen."

But aviation consultant Hubert Horan said one of the things that can happen is counter-productive for consumers.

"When you get down to the point in a market as huge as the trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific where there's only three players, then you have pricing power," he said.

Tavern on the Green: An icon folds up shop

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- New York City's landmark Tavern on the Green restaurant was set to serve its final meals on New Year's Eve at its famous Central Park address.

With annual sales that frequently exceeded $30 million, the restaurant filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, sparking a flurry of legal action from creditors and a lawsuit in which the LeRoy family seeks to keep the restaurant's name, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Known for its art deco Tiffany chandeliers and tourist-oriented menu, the business fell victim to the recession. It's $33 million in sales in 2008, was a drop of $4 million from the previous year, the newspaper said.

The restaurant's 450 creditors include Kay LeRoy, whose husband founded the business in 1974 and who loaned the restaurant $1.9 million. The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, the union representing its 400 employees, claims it is owed $1.7 million.

The space will not go to waste. The city signed a contract with a competitor, Dean Poll, who runs a rival Central Park eatery, the Boathouse Cafe. Poll has said he will spend $25 million revitalizing the Tavern, which he said he would name Tavern in the Park, if the lawsuit over the name is lost.