Icahn company seeks bankruptcy protection

Carl Icahn’s WCI Communities became the latest casualty of the housing market crisis Monday, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the home builder failed to get additional financing.

Icahn, chairman of WCI’s board, said the filing was necessary because the Florida-based developer’s $1.8 billion debt may soon be in default. Icahn said some holders of $125 million convertible notes insisted on being paid in cash in full on Tuesday.

NEW YORK

Cablevision cleared for remote DVR storage

In a decision sure to affect millions of cable television subscribers, a federal appeals court Monday gave a green light to Cablevision Systems Corp.’s rollout of a remote-storage digital video recorder system.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court wrongly concluded that Cablevision, rather than its customers, would be making copies of programs, thereby violating copyright laws.

The technology would let subscribers with a digital cable box store TV shows on computer servers rather than on a hard drive in their homes.

LONDON

U.S. mortgages plague Europe’s largest bank

HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe’s largest bank by market value, reported Monday its steepest fall in profit since 2001 as costs for bad U.S. mortgage loans mounted.

Net profit for the first half of the year plunged 29 percent to $7.7 billion from $10.9 billion in profit in the January to June period of last year.

The biggest losses came from the North American market, which HSBC depends on for a quarter of its revenue. Operations there posted a first-half loss of $2.9 billion, compared with profit of $2.4 billion a year ago.

NEW YORK

JetBlue begins charging for pillows, blankets

JetBlue Airways Corp. said Monday it is charging passengers for pillows and blankets.

The carrier has done away with the recycled blankets and pillows used on its flights and started offering an “eco-friendly” travel blanket and pillow that can be purchased for $7 on flights longer than two hours. The pair come in a kit with a $5 coupon to home furnishings retailer Bed Bath & Beyond.

JetBlue claims the pillow and blanket feature a fabric technology that blocks pesky critters like dust mites, mold spores, pollen and pet dander.

From wire reports