Business news in brief

Talks between Verizon Communications Inc. and two unions continued as the company contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assistance in handling acts of vandalism. Verizon security chief Michael Mason said there had been 67, including 28 in New Jersey and 16 in Pennsylvania, since 45,000 workers went out on strike early Sunday. No vandalism arrests had been made, he said. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers spokesman James Spellane said Verizon's union employees regularly repair telephone vandalism because thieves often cut lines to steal copper wiring. Spellane and a spokeswoman from the Communications Workers of America, the other union on strike, said the unions did not condone vandalism and lawbreaking. - Jane M. Von Bergen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Wilmington's DuPont Co. to stop selling its weed-killing herbicide Imprelis, which the agency said may be harming trees such as Norway spruce and white pine. DuPont halted sales of Imprelis last week. The EPA said it was investigating whether damage to trees had occurred because of product misuse, inadequate warnings and directions on the product's label, or persistence in soil. It said DuPont voluntarily suspended Imprelis sales on Aug. 4 and announced a product recall and refunds. - Bloomberg News

Moody's Investor Service downgraded Sunoco Inc.'s long-term debt rating to below investment grade, following a similar recent move by Standard & Poor's. Among the reasons Moody's gave for pushing Sunoco corporate debt to "junk" status are the Philadelphia company's shrinking size and reduced diversification. Sunoco has reduced its crude-oil refining capacity by about 45 percent in the last few years, Moody's noted. Still, with $1.5 billion in cash as of June 30, "Sunoco's liquidity will support its financial flexibility," the rating service said. - Mike Armstrong

AmerisourceBergen Corp., Valley Forge, authorized a $750 million share repurchase program. The new program follows completion of a $500 million repurchase that had been announced in September. The pharmaceutical services company has about 267 million shares outstanding. Shares closed at $37.41, up 6.24 percent. They have a 52-week trading range of $27.09 to $43.47. - Reid Kanaley

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc., Narberth, reported its 12th straight quarterly loss, bringing total losses since the third quarter of 2008 to $106.5 million. This year's second-quarter loss was $4.2 million, not far off the $4.5 million loss from the same period a year ago. Despite the continued losses, the bank said it had reduced problem assets by about $20 million since the end of last year. Overall loans were off 12.4 percent this year, to $442.7 million from $505.3 million. Deposits were down 9.4 percent to $629 million. Royal's shares closed at $1.0152, up 7 cents. - Harold Brubaker

West Chester's Compass Capital Partners Ltd. and its owner, Harris M. DeWese, are accused of improperly removing money from the company's retirement plan, according to a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor. The federal court suit seeks to recover an unspecified sum allegedly deposited into DeWese's personal account. Some of the money also was used to help pay company expenses, the suit alleges. DeWese denied the claims and said his attorney would work to have the case dismissed. "This is not a situation where I stole any money or really did anything wrong," DeWese said. "I thought I was doing the right thing. But it's backfired." Five people, including a former partner and DeWese himself, had been plan participants. The company has been defunct for several years, DeWese said. - Maria Panaritis

The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is considering cutting as many as 120,000 jobs. Facing a second year of losses totaling $8 billion or more, the agency also wants to pull its workers out of the retirement and health-benefits plans covering federal workers and set up its own benefit systems. Congressional approval would be needed for either step, and both could be expected to face severe opposition from postal unions, which have contracts that ban layoffs. The post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff. In its 2010 report, the agency said it had 583,908 career employees. - AP

Food prices could level off at the end of the year because farmers are seeing less demand for corn and are expecting a big crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers expect 940 million bushels to be left over when the harvest begins this fall. That's up from last month's estimate of 880 million bushels. Record-high corn prices forced many ranchers to seek cheaper alternatives for feeding their livestock, such as wheat. The drop in demand, combined with the big corn crop, is likely to force prices down. - AP

The liquidator for Bernard L. Madoff's firm sued the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, seeking to recover $300 million for victims of the confidence man's Ponzi scheme. Irving Picard, the Madoff firm's trustee, said the sovereign wealth fund withdrew the money from Fairfield Sentry, a so-called feeder fund to Madoff's fraud, in a complaint filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Picard said he had the authority to take back the transfers made to the Abu Dhabi authority as he works to recover money for Madoff customers. Madoff, sentenced to 150 years, is in prison in North Carolina. - Bloomberg News

Fixed-mortgage rates fell to at or near record lows. That's good news for the few who can afford to buy a home or are able to refinance. But the rates have done little to lift the ailing housing market. Freddie Mac said the average rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.32 percent this week from 4.39 percent. The 30-year loan hit a record low of 4.17 percent in mid-November. The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, fell to a record low of 3.50 percent from last week's record rate of 3.54 percent. - AP