Also . . .

* Irvine lender New Century Financial Corp. on Thursday said it expects third-quarter earnings to surpass Wall Street estimates partly because of strong volume.

The company said it expects earnings to exceed 71 cents a share, the top of the range of analysts’ estimates. New Century earned 24 cents a share in the third quarter last year.

The stock edged up 13 cents to $12.38 a share on Nasdaq.