Getty Images Steam pours out of a smokestack at the Conoco Phillips refinery in Rodeo. Domestic oil consumption fell by 3.3 percent in March.

While drivers are facing sticker shock at the pump these days, here is a bigger shock: High prices are putting a strain on oil refiners. After last year's stellar profits, U.S. refiners are going through a traumatic period. In a time of record gasoline prices, some of them actually lost money in the first quarter, and for virtually all refiners, profits are down sharply.

The Microsoft-Yahoo merger story may not be over yet. Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire investor and activist shareholder, is considering a proxy fight for seats on the Yahoo board in hopes of pushing the company to restart talks to sell itself to Microsoft, people who have held discussions with him said yesterday.

NEW YORK – Solid first-quarter profits from discounters Wal-Mart and TJX show that more Americans are hunting for bargains as they struggle to cover their monthly credit card payments, put food on the table and gas in the family car.

After 34 years of doing business in San Diego County, Cunningham BMW of El Cajon has been sold for an undisclosed price to San Diego's Sunroad Automotive. Cunningham BMW, which bills itself as one of the first BMW dealerships in the United States, was sold 15 months after the death of Richard “Rug” Cunningham, who founded the dealership with his father, Allan, in 1974.

When Silver State Helicopters flight training school in El Cajon suddenly shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy in February, it left dozens of students owing loans, some totaling nearly $70,000, for classes they hadn't completed.