The news at a glance

Banking: The Fed tackles the bonus culture

The Federal Reserve wants to overhaul the way bankers are paid, said Edmund Andrews and Louise Story in The New York Times. “Departing from the hands-off approach that dominated bank regulation for the last three decades,” the proposed rules would encourage banks to defer bonus compensation for several years and take other steps that challenge a culture in which employees are rewarded for “illusory” short-term profits. The government is not seeking to cap salaries or bonuses, as some lawmakers have advocated. Instead, the top 20 U.S. banks would have to submit their compensation plans to regulators, “to see if they properly balanced goals of short-term growth and long-term stability.”

The guidelines might not go far enough to satisfy European regulators, said Ian Katz in Bloomberg.com. European officials, led by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, favor explicitly limiting bonuses, setting up a possible clash with the U.S. at this week’s G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. Summit participants are working on a compromise to head off an embarrassing conflict. “Europeans may now be willing to endorse linking bonuses to a bank’s capital level,” which is close to the U.S. position.

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Computing: Dell buys Perot Systems

Dell Computer this week agreed to pay $3.9 billion to acquire Perot Systems, in an effort to challenge Hewlett-Packard in the IT services business, said Simon Kennedy in Marketwatch.com. Perot is a leader in the business of providing IT services for large organizations. Although analysts have been urging Dell to diversify away from the highly cyclical PC business, critics said that potential profits from the deal aren’t enough to justify the rich price Dell is paying.

Gambling: Wynn bets big on Macau

Wynn Resorts has upped the amount of money it aims to raise from an initial public offering of its Macau casino assets, said Cathy Chan in Bloomberg.com. The U.S.-based casino developer and operator is “tapping optimism that China will later this year make it easier for

its citizens” to travel to the Asian gambling hub. Wynn said it would sell as much as $1.6 billion in new shares, up from its initial target

of $1 billion. Wynn’s income from its Macau operations rose 48 percent last year, while earnings at its U.S. operations have fallen for the past two years.

Airlines: Signs of revival at American

AMR, the parent of American Airlines, has secured $2.9 billion in

new financing, raising hopes that the credit freeze for air carriers is easing, said Mike Esterl in The Wall Street Journal. AMR raised $1.6 billion by selling Boeing 737s to GE Capital and then leasing them back. GE Capital also lent the company almost $300 million. In addition, AMR sold $1 billion in frequent-flier miles to Citigroup, “which the financial-services giant can use as rewards for its customers.”

Smart phones: Palm’s losing streak continues

Palm, the maker of the Pre smart phone, has posted its ninth consecutive quarterly loss, losing $165 million in its most recent quarter, compared with a $42 million deficit in the year-earlier period, said Barbara Ortutay in the Associated Press. The company added to investors’ disappointment with its prediction that sales in the next quarter would be much weaker than previously forecast. Palm’s Pre has been struggling against Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone.