July 23, 2008 > Business Highlights Business Highlights Submitted By AP Wire Service Oil prices tumble in biggest weekly drop ever NEW YORK (AP) _ The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high. So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped? Experts won't go that far just yet. ``It's too early to say we've seen the worst of it,'' said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange _ well below its trading record of more than $147 a week earlier. ___ Wall Street mixed after earnings reports NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street closed out an impressive week with a mixed performance Friday after disappointing high-tech earnings punctured some of investors' enthusiasm over better-than-expected bank earnings reports. The Dow rose 49.91, or 0.44 percent, to 11,496.57, adding on to a 483-point gain Wednesday and Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.36, or 0.03 percent, to 1,260.68, and the Nasdaq dropped 29.52, or 1.28 percent, to 2,282.78. For the week, the Dow rose 3.57 percent, the Nasdaq increased 1.95 percent, and the S&P rose 1.71 percent. ___ Republic rejects Waste Management unsolicited bid HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ The trash talking has begun. In a stinging letter Friday, garbage hauler Republic Services Inc. rejected an unsolicited $6.19 billion cash offer from larger rival Waste Management Inc., saying the proposal ``seriously undervalues'' its company. Republic, the nation's third-largest waste collector, instead wants to stick with its own deal announced last month to buy No. 2 Allied Waste Industries Inc. The all-stock agreement was worth about $6.07 billion at the time. The investment office that manages the assets of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust also disagreed with the deal. BGI owns 15.6 percent of Republic and 2.3 percent of Waste Management. ___ WTO publishes trade ruling against China GENEVA (AP) _ The World Trade Organization made public its first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices on Friday, releasing a February ruling that sided with the United States, the European Union and Canada in a dispute over car parts. The verdict _ findings of which were obtained by The Associated Press five months ago _ found that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars. In the sweeping decision, the three-member WTO panel ruled against China on nearly every point of contention with the U.S., the 27-nation EU and Canada.