Biz Buzz

LONG ISLAND

$3.1M in grants for mortgage aid

Groups that help Long Island homeowners in distress are set to receive more than $3.1 million in grants, the state's top law enforcement official said Monday. The funds will be provided under the $25-billion nationwide settlement reached this year by the nation's five largest mortgage servicers with state and federal officials, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. The deal settled allegations of improper foreclosures. The New York Federal Reserve has estimated that more than 33,000 homes on Long Island -- more than one in every 10 single-family homes -- have mortgages that are 90 or more days delinquent, or have already begun the foreclosure process. -- Maura McDermott

NEW YORK

Dish, Voom jury selection continues

Jury selection is scheduled to continue in Manhattan on Tuesday in a $2.4-billion trial pitting Bethpage-based Cablevision Systems Corp. against Dish Network Corp. A former unit of Cablevision, Voom HD, filed the lawsuit in 2008, accusing Dish of breaking a 15-year satellite television contract between the companies. Dish, of Englewood, Colo., says it pulled out of the deal because Cablevision failed to spend a required $100 million annually to develop high-definition programs. Cablevision, which owns Newsday, denies that charge and says Dish unlawfully tried to back out of a deal it no longer liked. The trial could feature testimony from some of the biggest names in pay television, including Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan and Dish chairman Charles Ergen. Opening arguments are expected later this week. In the run-up to the trial, Dish declined to renew its contract to broadcast programs from Cablevision affiliate AMC, including "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad." AMC accused Dish of dropping its channels to gain an upper hand in settlement talks. Dish said it dropped the AMC channels for financial reasons. -- Joe Ryan

Village Voice, most assets sold

Venerable alternative news weekly The Village Voice is being sold, along with its affiliated free arts weekly newspapers. The deal excludes the online classified site Backpage.com, whose listings have drawn fire for promoting the illegal sex trade. The buyout is being led by Scott Tobias, chief operating officer of Village Voice Media Holdings Llc. Tobias will become the new organization's chief executive. He said he has lined up private financing to buy almost all of the company's assets, which include LA Weekly and SF Weekly.

NATION

Critic: Facebook still too high

Facebook's stock took a hit Monday after an article in the financial magazine Barron's said it is "still too pricey" despite a sharp decline since its initial public offering. Andrew Bary at Barron's said the stock trades at "high multiples of both sales and earnings, even as uncertainty about the outlook for its business grows." At issue is the shift of Facebook's massive user base to mobile devices. The company is still figuring out how to advertise to people who use their mobile phones and tablets to access the social network; Bary said success is "no sure thing" for Facebook. Its stock fell $2.07 to close at $20.79. It went public at $38; Bary said he thinks it's worth $15.

Economists score indecision

The best way to reduce the federal deficit is through a combination of higher taxes and spending cuts, according to a group of economists. The 236 members of the National Association for Business Economics recently surveyed say the country needs more fiscal stimulus through 2013, but by 2014 it should be time to throttle back. The biggest worry they cited was not how much to raise taxes or how to trim the budget. It was indecision: 87 percent believe that uncertainty about what direction Washington will take is holding back the economic recovery. -- AP