Shares of struggling Armonk-based bond insurer MBIA Inc. rose for a second straight day today after the company said it might pay out a special dividend, buy back shares or start a new insurance company.

MBIA shares closed at $5.87, up 56 cents, or 10.56 percent. On Thursday, MBIA shares rose 46 cents, or 9.48 percent.

The [...]

MasterCard Inc., the giant credit card company based in Purchase, said this week it will drop 40-year-old transaction fees that European regulators have declared illegal.

The European Commission said last December the company had to devise an alternative to its interchange fees that doesn’t harm consumers. The commission said MasterCard would face a daily penalty of [...]

The Private Office, a company that offers shared office space, said a pair of law practices have moved into 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook. The offices of attorney Scott M. Sherman and Charles J. Favata have taken space in the building.

PepsiCo Inc., the soda and snack food company in Purchase, said this morning its chief financial officer, Richard Goodman, will tell investors at a conference in London next week that the company continues to expect fiscal 2008 earnings of $3.72 a share.

Nutrition 21 Inc., the Purchase-based company that markets nutritional supplements, this morning confirmed its earnings forecast for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company said it continues to expect revenues for the quarter to be in the range of the $10.8 million reported for the third quarter, which ended in March.

Nutrition 21 also said it expects [...]

Drew Industries, the White Plains-based company that supplies parts for recreational vehicles and manufactured homes, said Fredric M. Zinn, who has been chief financial officer since 1986 and executive vice president since 2001, has been promoted to president. He was also elected to the board of directors.

Leigh J. Abrams will give up the president’s role [...]

Those looking to buy property in a down real estate market will have the chance to bid on houses, condominiums, commercial buildings at an auction to be held June 8 at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel in White Plains.

United Country – Absolute Auctions Realty Inc. of Pleasant Valley will take bids on about 50 properties from [...]

CVS Caremark Corp. has opened a store and pharmacy at 10 S. Bedford Road in Mount Kisco. The company will hold a grand opening ceremony at the 17,000-square-foot store Saturday.

Westchester County’s Department of Consumer Protection is warning parents and others taking care of children about the dangers of inflatable pools.

The county’s laws require stores selling inflatable pools deeper than two feet to post signs urging parents to make sure their children are supervised while in the pool.

The department’s inspectors have been visiting retailers to [...]

A mediocre salesperson tells a prospective customer what will happen “if” the customer places a deposit. But the highly successful salesperson talks about what will happen “when” or “once” the customer provides a deposit.

The so-so salesperson may ask the prospect a couple of questions about why the person needs the product of service for sale. [...]

Barr Laboratories Inc., the Pomona-based subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., is challenging the patents held by AstraZeneca LP for the drug Entocort, which treats Crohn’s disease.

Barr filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January to seek the right to market a generic version of the drug. But AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company [...]

The independent members of the board of directors of Hudson Technologies Inc., the Pearl River company that decontaminates refrigeration equipment, has approved raises for the company’s top executives, including Kevin Zugibe, the chairman and chief executive.

Zugibe’s base annual salary became $192,800, effective May 5, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and [...]

Computer giant IBM Corp. of Armonk has opened a center in Pune, India to provide customers worldwide with business consulting services. The company said the new center is the fourth that IBM Global Business Services has opened in Pune. Pune is home to a number of equipment makers and auto industry experts, meaning the new [...]

EpiCept Corp., a pharmaceutical company in Eastview, said today it has provided regulators in Europe with a “comprehensive dossier” stating why the regulators should re-consider the company’s application to market Ceplene, a drug to prevent certain leukemia patients from suffering a relapse.

The company said that in recent months a number of medical experts have recommended [...]

Gamco Investors Inc., Mario Gabelli’s Rye-based money-management company, named Nicholas F. Galluccio to serve as president and chief executive of its Teton Advisors Inc. subsidiary, effective July 1.

Galluccio was formerly with Trust Co. of the West where he served as the group managing director and a portfolio manager for $4.5 billion in assets. He is [...]

IntegraMed America Inc., the Purchase-based company that runs vein clinics and fertility centers, said Dan P. Doman has been promoted to president of the Vein Clinics of America division. The move became effective Thursday, the company said this morning. He replaced Kush Agarwal, who retired but remains a board member. Doman was chief financial officer [...]

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., an Eastview company that is about to start marketing a drug for the treatment of constipation in patients who are on certain pain relievers, lost $15.5 million, or 52 cents a share, during the first quarter of this year.

The loss widened from the $10.4 million, or 40 cents a share, reported for [...]

The chief executive of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has research operations in Rockland County, said this morning the company’s first-quarter earnings were disappointing but will improve later in the year.

The company, the parent of Barr Laboratories Inc., earned $23 million, or 21 cents a share, in the quarter that ended in March. A year earlier, [...]

Jarden Corp., the consumer products company based in Rye, said this morning its first-quarter profit more than tripled to $4.7 million or 6 cents a share.

A year earlier, the company earned $1.4 million, or 2 cents a share.

The company, which markets Rawlings sporting goods, Mr. Coffee machines and Coleman camping equipment, also reported its results [...]

Nutrition 21 Inc., the Purchase-based company that markets nutritional supplements, lost $8.2 million during the quarter that ended in March, compared with a loss of $2.2 million a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the company lost 13 cents during this year’s quarter, the third quarter of its fiscal 2008. A year earlier, the loss was [...]