Biz Buzz

Long Island

Audiovox signs deal

Hauppauge-based Audiovox Electronics Corp. says it has signed a deal for exclusive U.S. distribution rights for a new in-car sound system technology. The product, designed by Tony Bongiovi, a legendary record producer -- and Jon Bon Jovi's cousin -- is based on his Digital Power Station technology. Bongiovi's Power Station studio in Manhattan produced albums over the decades for the likes of Eric Clapton and Herbie Hancock. Audiovox, a subsidiary of Voxx International Corp., supplies sound and entertainment systems to top car manufacturers. Audiovox said Bongiovi's system is a "cost-effective way to bring studio quality sound to car audio." -- Joseph Mallia

New York

FreshDirect to stay in region

Internet grocer FreshDirect is moving its headquarters from Long Island City to the Bronx. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday that FreshDirect is getting state and city incentives worth $100 million to stay in New York; it had been wooed by New Jersey. The move will keep 2,000 jobs in New York City and add 1,000 new jobs, officials said. -- AP

Nation

Wal-Mart to mark healthy items

You may like the food you buy, but is it "great for you"? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to help its customers figure that out by adding a new icon that reads "Great for You" to packaging of some of its house-brand foods. The green and white seal, which shows a stylized human figure with its arms spread toward the sky, is part of the retailer's campaign to promote healthier products and fight childhood obesity. The seal won't impart any actual nutritional information when it starts appearing this spring. But the company says it will adorn products with lower levels of fat, sugar and artificial additives.-- AP

Consumer borrowing up

Americans accelerated their borrowing in December for the second straight month, running up more credit card debt and taking out loans to buy cars and attend school. Consumer borrowing rose by $19.3 billion in December after a $20.4 billion gain in November, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The two increases were the biggest monthly gains in a decade. Total consumer borrowing is now at a seasonally adjusted $2.5 trillion, nearly matching pre-recession borrowing. The report covers auto loans, student loans and credit cards; it excludes mortgages. -- AP

States join housing settlement

Arizona, Michigan and Florida, three of the states hit hardest by the housing crisis, will join a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses, officials with direct knowledge said Tuesday. They will join more than 40 other states in approving a deal that would benefit many Americans who lost their homes or can't afford their mortgages. The three states' involvement buoys hopes that a full 50-state deal is imminent. New York and four other major states -- California, Delaware, Massachusetts and Nevada -- are still considering whether to join the settlement. -- AP

World

Cuba trade ban at 50 years

The U.S. economic embargo on communist-run Cuba, a near-total trade ban, turned 50 on Tuesday. Supporters say it is a justified measure against a repressive government. Critics call it a failed policy that has hurt ordinary Cubans instead of the government. All acknowledge that it has not accomplished its core mission of toppling Fidel and Raul Castro. "We talk to the Russians, we talk to the Chinese . . . We trade with all of them," said former U.S. diplomat Wayne Smith. "So why not with Cuba?" -- AP