Corporate news items.

General Electric is thinking about selling its appliances division, which has been supplying homes with refrigerators, air conditioners and the like for decades. The conglomerate is under pressure to improve returns to shareholders and the division is now a relatively small part of its business.

Freddie Mac, a government-backed housing-finance company, posted its third consecutive quarterly loss and unveiled a plan to raise $5.5 billion in new capital.

Circuit City is finally throwing in the towel. Confronted with weak sales, impatient shareholders, and a U.S. consumer pummeled by recession, the electronics chain capitulated on May 9 and retained Goldman Sachs to help negotiate a deal.

The moves almost certainly presage a sale of the chain, likely to Blockbuster, where Carl Icahn has stepped up and agreed to finance a Circuit City acquisition. The billionaire—Blockbuster's largest shareholder—has bought into a "game-changing" scheme announced last month in which the troubled electronics retailer would be combined with the troubled movie retailer to create a new national chain selling consumer hardware and software.

Hewlett-Packard launched its biggest acquisition since its 2002 takeover of Compaq, when it agreed to buy Electronic Data Systems. The deal is valued at $13.9 billion. HP hopes its new purchase will enable it to compete better with IBM in a broad range of computer services.

Apple. “In the March quarter, Mac sales blew away all forecasts, soaring 51% over the previous year, or more than three times the rate for the personal-computer industry. Throw in the iPod and iPhone, and Apple's total sales have surged from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $24 billion last year. Its share price has risen 2,300% over the past five years, giving the company a market capitalization, at $154 billion, that tops those of tech giants Hewlett-Packard , Dell, and Intel.

Millions of consumers are seeing the Mac in a new light. Once an object of devotion for students and artists, the Mac is becoming the first choice of many. Surging demand for the machines led Apple to predict revenues will rise 33% in the second quarter, to $7.2 billion, even in the face of an economic slowdown.”