Briefs: Gold rises as hedge against inflation

SEATTLE -- Gold futures rose Wednesday, extending a seven-year rally to the highest price since 1980, as a weakening dollar and higher energy costs boosted demand for a hedge against inflation. Gold futures for February delivery rose $22, or 2.6 percent, to $860 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price ever. The metal earlier reached $864.90, the highest for a most-active contract since Jan. 21, 1980, the day gold futures touched a record $873.

CME Group trades hit record volume

CHICAGO -- CME Group Inc. reported Wednesday record volume and growth from its Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade in 2007 with nearly 2.8 billion contracts traded and average daily volume up 28 percent, the highest in five years. Based on combined results from the two exchanges, it was the seventh straight year that volume growth exceeded 20 percent, CME said.

More orders made for Boeing 787s

CHICAGO -- Boeing Co. said Wednesday orders for its 787 Dreamliner reached 817 planes. Vietnam Airlines Corp. and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co. sealed a 12-Dreamliner order, and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise signed for 15, Chicago-based Boeing said. The Dreamliner, with a backlog valued at more than $120 billion, is Boeing's most successful aircraft sales campaign. Also, Boeing won a U.S. Air Force contract valued at as much as $1.3 billion to enhance the C-17 cargo aircraft fleet.

Lockheed settles discrimination suit

SAN FRANCISCO -- Lockheed Martin Corp. has agreed to pay a former employee $2.5 million, more than any individual has received in the settlement of a racial discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, attorneys for the agency said Wednesday. Charles Daniels, 45, who is black, said he was called derogatory names and threatened by four co-workers and a supervisor between 1999 and 2001 when he worked as an aviation electrician for the company in Florida, Washington and Hawaii.