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	AM Business Notebook By: MetroSoruce News (New York, NY) -- Some important economic reports could shape trends in the stock markets this week. Investors will be looking at the February retail sales report for indications of consumer spending and confidence. Weekly jobless claims will also be posted by the government. As earnings reporting season is winding down, major companies reporting 2009 fourth quarter results include Kroger, the nation's biggest grocery chain, and the Brown-Forman Corporation, makers of Jack Daniel's whiskey, Finlandia vodkas and other big-name liquors. >>Stock Markets Higher Last Week (New York, NY) -- The stock markets rallied strongly last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than two percent higher while the S&P 500 was up three percent. Since last March, the S&P has rallied nearly 70 percent. On Friday, investors reacted enthusiastically to new jobs figures, sending stocks higher. Government data showed U.S. companies cut fewer jobs than expected in February. That eased concerns that bad winter weather would spark a steeper increase in joblessness. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrials gained 123 points, closing at ten-thousand-567. The Nasdaq added 35 points, finishing the session at 23-27. The S&P 500 Index tacked on 16 points, closing at 11-39. U.S. crude oil for April delivery gained one-dollar-29-cents to settle at 81-dollars-50-cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. >>Report: AIG To Sell Insurance Unit To MetLife (New York, NY) -- American International Group reportedly will sell its foreign life insurance business to MetLife of New York. Such a sale would net AIG about 15-billion in cash and a 20-percent stake in MetLife. The AIG unit, the American Life Insurance Company or Alico, was begun in 1921 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. It sells life insurance and retirement financial products to an estimated 19-million people in more than 50 nations. Neither company has commented on the report. U.S. taxpayers own about 80 percent of AIG through a 185-million-dollar bailout. >>Schools Move To Four-Day Weeks To Balance Budgets (New York, NY) -- Parents may not be thrilled at the prospect, but many schools are being forced to consider four-day weeks to help close budget gaps. "The Wall Street Journal" reports more than 100 school districts in at least 17 states have already implemented a four-day system. Dozens more are considering the change for next year. School superintendents say they've asked residents to pay higher taxes, staff has been cut, and schools may have to be closed. The four-day week, despite a lot of opposition from working parents, is becoming an option of last resort. Currently most of the states allowing four-day school weeks are in the west and include California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. The idea has also caught on in Virginia and Georgia. >>Gas Prices Rise With Hike In Crude Costs (New York, NY) -- The increasing cost of crude oil has pushed retail gasoline prices higher by about ten cents a gallon over the past two weeks. That's according to the Lundberg Survey, which keeps tabs on the price of gas at five-thousand filling stations across the nation. Survey editor Trilby Lundberg says the average price of regular gas is now two-dollars-73-cents a gallon. Last week, crude oil hit an eight-week high of 81-dollars-50-cents a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Lundberg says the full impact of crude oil on gasoline prices has yet to be felt, and she expects even higher prices at the pump in the weeks to come. Gasoline is generally more expensive on the West Coast, where it's being sold for more than three dollars a gallon in Los Angeles. On Long Island, it goes for an average of two-84 a gallon. The most expensive petrol pumped in the 50 states is in Honolulu, where it costs three-dollars-33 cents a gallon. The least expensive is in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the average price is two-47 a gallon. >>Report: School Soft-Drink Sales Fall (New York, NY) -- A new report indicates soft-drink sales in schools have tumbled 72-percent between the first semester of the 2004 school year to the first semester of the current academic year. "The Wall Street Journal" cites the report, which shows a 95-percent decline in sales volume of full-calorie soft drinks. The American Beverage Association says soft-drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola accounted for only six-point-eight-percent of beverage volume sent to schools last semester. In 2004 that figure was 40 percent. The report comes just as Congress is set to consider regulating the types of beverages allowed in school vending machines. The report claims voluntary guidelines put in place by beverage companies in 2006 have played a major role in the decrease of soft drinks in schools. Volume has also fallen for bottled tea, sports drinks and for diet soda. Bottled water and flavored or fortified waters are now listed as the most popular drinks currently sold in schools. The report doesn't deal with student consumption of beverages once they leave the campus. >>"Alice In Wonderland" Takes Weekend Box Office (Los Angeles, CA) -- The 3-D update of "Alice In Wonderland" is the new number-one at the box office. The Tim Burton flick earned 116-point-three-million dollars in North America and another 94-million around the globe during the weekend. Disney, which distributed "Alice In Wonderland," said the movie set new records for a movie released both in March and in the first quarter of the year with this weekend's opening. Reviews for the film have been mixed. 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