BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)

TRANSPORTATION

Continental leads 3rd rate hike try

Continental raised round-trip leisure fares by $20 late Thursday. On Friday, Delta, American and Frontier Air matched it. Northwest and United only matched on competing routes, not across the board. That could spell doom for the effort, analysts said. Since mid-April, Continental has twice tried to hike advance fares. But they quickly failed because Northwest didn't go along.

Frontier stopped paying base commissions to U.S. travel agents, following most major carriers who stopped in March and April.

Auto sales may be higher in May

U.S. auto sales are likely to be even or slightly up from a year ago, as consumers stayed upbeat and automakers kept incentives, analysts said. That's with a steady slump in fleet sales to businesses, especially rental agencies hit by the travel slowdown. About 20% of all U.S. retail sales flow through new-car dealerships. Automakers report U.S. sales Monday.

No more car deals from Canada