Business, in brief

30-year mortgage rates slip

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.85% this week, down slightly from 5.87% last week and the second consecutive week below 6%.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 5.34% from 5.27% last week. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.67%, up from 5.56%. One-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.24%, up from 5.15% last week.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. For 30-year and 15-year mortgages, the nationwide average fee was 0.4 of a point. Five-year mortgages carried a 0.6-of-a-point average fee, and one-year mortgages averaged 0.5 of a point.

MEDIA

States protest Sirius-XM deal

Eleven states urged U.S. regulators to consider imposing conditions on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s proposed $4.59-billion takeover of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

The attorneys general of 11 states, led by Marc Dann of Ohio, said they were “disappointed” the U.S. Justice Department cleared the deal Monday. The states said the combination of the only two satellite radio providers was anticompetitive and the government should demand concessions.

CBS names TV distribution chief

CBS Corp. named John Nogawski president of television distribution, responsible for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Jeopardy!” and “Dr. Phil.”

Nogawski will oversee all creative, business and administrative operations for domestic TV syndication, New York-based CBS said. He reports to Chief Executive Leslie Moonves.

SOFTWARE

Photoshop for Web unveiled

Adobe Systems Inc., facing competition from websites letting people edit photos online, created a free, Internet-based version of its Photoshop software.

A test version of the service, Photoshop Express, will allow users to store, sort and edit pictures online and move them to social-networking sites such as Facebook.

Adobe hopes to entice digital-camera owners who may become customers for its software later, analysts said.

AIRLINES

UAL must pay bondholders

UAL Corp., parent company of United Airlines, must pay $27.2 million to bondholders who helped finance the renovation of its San Francisco International Airport facilities, a federal judge ruled.

United lost its bid in a 2006 ruling in Bankruptcy Court to reduce the amount by roughly $7.5 million. U.S. District Judge John Darrah in Chicago upheld a lower court’s opinion.

From Times Wire Services