Toyota settlement gets preliminary OK

LOS ANGELES >> A U.S. judge gave preliminary approval Friday to a $1 billion-plus settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. in cases involving problems of sudden, unintended acceleration by its vehicles, a plaintiffs’ attorney said.

Attorney Steve Berman said in a statement he was pleased District Judge James V. Selna gave swift initial approval.

Toyota has said the deal, announced Wednesday, will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from motorists who said the value of their Toyota vehicles plummeted after recalls stemming from claims that the Japa­nese automaker’s cars and trucks accelerated unintentionally.

Netflix CEO gets pay bump after 2012 cut

LOS ANGELES » Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ pay will double to $4 million next year, after he took a pay cut due to management missteps this year.

Hastings’ annual salary will rise to $2 million in 2013, and he will get $2 million in stock options, according to a securities filing Friday. That’s up from a salary of $500,000 and $1.5 million in stock options for 2012.

Hastings’ total pay for 2012 was down 43 percent from $3.5 million in 2011, when some controversial decisions, including a steep price hike on subscriptions, sent the stock spiraling. It fell from a high above $300 to a low below $70 per share.

This year shares are up 29 percent, closing Friday at $89.33. Recovering from the missteps, the company expects to add around 5 million U.S. subscribers, to between 26.4 million and 27.1 million by the end of the year.

Trains carrying more oil in U.S. amid boom

BILLINGS, Mont. » Energy companies behind the oil boom on the Northern Plains are increasingly turning to an industrial-age workhorse — the locomotive — to move their crude to refineries across the U.S., as plans for new pipelines stall and existing lines can’t keep up with demand.

Delivering oil thousands of miles by rail from the heartland to refineries on the East, West and Gulf coasts costs more, but it can mean increased profits — up to $10 or more a barrel — because of higher oil prices on the coasts. That works out to about $700,000 per train.

The parade of mile-long trains carrying hazardous material out of North Dakota and Montana and across the country has experts and federal regulators concerned. Rail transport is less safe than pipelines, they say, and the proliferation of oil trains raises the risk of a major derailment and spill.

Pending home sales highest since 2010

WASHINGTON » A measure of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes increased last month to its highest level in 2 1⁄2 years, the latest sign of improvement in the once-battered housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said Friday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 1.7 percent in November from October to 106.4. That’s the highest since April 2010, when a homebuyer tax credit caused a spike in sales. After excluding those months when the tax credit was available, it’s the best reading since February 2007.

The increase followed a 5 percent gain in October and suggests higher sales of previously occupied homes in the coming months. There’s generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.

U.K. firm invests in Barnes & Noble’s Nook

LONDON » Pearson, the U.K. publisher and education company, is to take a 5 percent stake in Barnes & Noble’s NOOK e-reader as technology companies seek new paths into the potentially lucrative business of digital textbooks for schools.

Pearson PLC will pay $89.5 million cash for a 5 percent stake in NOOK Media LLC, which includes the bookseller’s e-reader and tablets, its digital bookstore and its 674 stores serving U.S. colleges. Barnes & Noble will hold 78.2 percent of the business, and Microsoft will have about 16.8 percent, the company said Friday. Major tech companies have looked for inroads into the industry, seeing tablets like the iPad and the NOOK as replacements for the dozens of books that students must lug to and from school each day.

HP’s Autonomy unit under investigation

NEW YORK » Autonomy, the British business software company now owned by Hewlett-Packard Co., is facing a Justice Department investigation over improper accounting under previous management, according to HP.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday, HP said Justice officials had informed the company Nov. 21 that they were opening an investigation into the allegations, which HP said in November that it had uncovered after a senior Autonomy executive came forward. HP also reiterated that it provided information to the SEC and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office related to "accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentations at Autonomy." HP said it was cooperating with all three government agencies.

Anti-clotting drug Eliquis gets FDA approval

WASHINGTON » The Food and Drug Administration approved the anti-clotting drug Eliquis, developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc. It’s a potential blockbuster drug in a new category of medicines to prevent strokes.

The agency previously rejected the drug twice, most recently in June, awaiting additional data from company trials. The FDA cleared the pill for treating the most common type of irregular heartbeat — atrial fibrillation — in patients at risk for strokes or dangerous clots.

On the Move

Prudential Locations has announced the following winners of its Top Agent Awards for November: 

>> Stephanie Chan of the Diamond Head office received “Listor of the Month.”

>> Charmaine Quilit-Poki of the Diamond Head office received “Newcomer of the Month” and “Sales Person of the Month.”

>> Corinda Wong of the Diamond Head office was awarded “Highest Producer of the Month.”

Central Pacific Bank Foundation has awarded $20,000 to Hawaii HomeOwnership Center. The donations will be used to fund Hawaii HomeOwnership Center’s 2013 homebuyer education program, including one-on-one counseling, education classes and post-purchase services.