Business Briefing

Peet’s again raises its bid for Diedrich

Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. raised its bid to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine for a second time to $32.50 a share, topping the latest offer from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.

Peet’s, of Emeryville, Calif., and Green Mountain, of Waterbury, Vt., are vying for Diedrich’s K-Cup business, which makes prepackaged single-serving coffee used in Green Mountain’s Keurig brewing equipment.

AUTOS

U.S. may toughen side air bag rules

New cars and trucks could be required to have larger and stronger side air bags to prevent motorists from being tossed out of vehicles during rollover crashes.

The government proposal is the latest attempt by the government to address deadly rollover crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the proposal, combined with anti-rollover technology, would attempt to reduce the more than 10,000 deaths in rollover crashes every year.

Carmakers would need to meet standards in rollover crashes that would probably lead to “side curtain air bags made larger to cover more of the window opening, [and] made more robust to remain inflated longer,” the proposal said. The air bags would have to be “sufficiently strong to keep an occupant from being fully or partially ejected through a side window.”

BANKING

BofA online transfers disabled

Bank of America Corp. said a computer malfunction prevented online customers from transferring funds between accounts.

The service interruption started at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday and the bank wasn’t sure when access would be restored, a spokeswoman said. Other Internet services were unaffected and customers could transfer funds at automated teller machines and in branch offices.

COURTS

Judge orders Samueli to testify

A Broadcom Corp. co-founder must testify at the trial of a former chief financial officer accused of backdating stock options, a judge said.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney in Santa Ana said he would sign an order compelling testimony by Henry Samueli, co-founder of the Irvine computer chip maker.

Carney also granted immunity to Samueli, who indicated through his attorney that he would have asserted his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination if he were called as a defense witness in the trial of former CFO William Ruehle.

RETAIL

Stores cut back growth forecast

A prominent retail trade group trimmed its November sales growth forecast, citing more shoppers saying they’ve delayed holiday purchasing compared with a year ago.

Michael P. Niemira, chief economist for the International Council of Shopping Centers, now predicts that November sales at stores open at least a year -- a key industry barometer -- will be up 3% to 4%, compared with the steep 7.7% drop a year ago.

The uneven start is worrisome because how consumers behave will be key to how strongly the economy rebounds from the worst recession since the 1930s.

LAS VEGAS

CityCenter’s first hotel opens

Owners of the CityCenter casino complex unveiled its first hotel, opening the first 1,500 rooms available at the $8.5-billion development.

-- times wire reports