CBS in $1.8B buy of CNET

NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS is buying CNet Networks, the online news and information provider, for 1.8 billion dollars in cash in its latest bid to expand its reach on the Internet.

The price of $11.50 a share represents a premium of 45 percent over CNet's closing stock price on Wednesday, and appears to get CNet out of a nasty battle with one of its largest shareholders, which had been agitating for a shakeup at the company after its stock slumped.

CNet shares jumped 43 percent at midday.

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves tells reporters that acquiring access to CNet's large online audience in order to distribute media content from CBS was "a large part" of CBS' motivation in going after the San Francisco-based online company.

CNet is known for technology reviews, news and advice but has also expanded into entertainment areas with a stable of sites that includes ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com. It also owns the highly valuable Internet domain name News.com.

Icahn sends letter to Yahoo, plans proxy battle

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is looking to oust Yahoo's board of directors for what he says are "irresponsible" and "unconscionable" actions that led Microsoft to withdraw its 47 billion dollar offer to buy the online giant.

In a letter sent to Yahoo's chairman, Icahn writes that outraged Yahoo shareholders urged him to lead a campaign to replace Yahoo's 10 directors at the company's annual meeting in July with the hope of bringing Microsoft back to the bargaining table.

To give him leverage, Icahn says that he has spent more than a billion dollars snapping up Yahoo shares to give him a roughly 4 percent stake in the company. He plans to seek approval from the Federal Trade Commission to acquire up to 2.5 billion dollars worth of Yahoo stock.

The revolt threatens to send Jerry Yang out of the company that he started with David Filo 14 years ago. Yang is one of Yahoo's directors and has been trying to engineer a turnaround since taking the job of CEO 11 months ago.

At midday, Yahoo shares were up less than 1 percent.

Gas prices crimping Memorial Day travel plans

NEW YORK (AP) -- An automobile club says high fuel prices are prompting Americans to curb their travel plans for Memorial Day weekend.

The AAA says its survey shows the number of Americans traveling more than 50 miles from home over the long holiday weekend will fall nearly 1 percent from last year.

AAA president and chief executive Robert Darbelnet said many Americans are feeling a financial pinch this holiday weekend due to record high gasoline prices and other factors.

The group said the number of people planning to travel via car will drop by 1 percent, while the number of air travelers will fall by about a half a percent.

Crude surges on weaker dollar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices have surged nearly $2 a barrel as the dollar fell against the euro and investors anticipated strong demand for diesel fuel in parts of earthquake-ravaged China.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $1.87 to $126.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar's long decline has been one of the driving forces behind oil's record-setting climb. Many investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback falls; also, a weaker dollar makes oil less expensive to investors overseas.

The AAA and Oil Price Information Service say diesel fuel prices today jumped 3.6 cents to a new national average of more than $4.45 a gallon. The national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 1.8 cents overnight to a national average of more than $3.77. Prices are 67 cents higher than a year ago.

Industrial output plunges

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve says the nation's industrial output plunged in April. The decline reflects big cutbacks in autos and other manufacturing industries.

Industrial production dropped 0.7 percent last month, more than double the decline economists had expected.

Manufacturing output fell by 0.8 percent with half of that weakness coming from large cutbacks in auto production which has been beset by falling demand for new cars and also problems related to a strike at a parts supplier for General Motors.

The drop in overall production pushed the industrial operating rate to its lowest point in more than two years.

In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 last week to 371,000. The gain was in line with expectations.