PNC Financial Services Group's senior vice chairman, William S. Demchak, appears on a list of 18 possible outside candidates to be considered for the CEO spot at Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America. The list was proposed by the Finger family, a large and vocal stakeholder in BofA, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Fingers oppose two internal candidates to succeed retiring CEO Kenneth Lewis. Mr. Demchak, through PNC, declined comment yesterday.

Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. reported a 22 percent increase in third-quarter earnings, buoyed by an investment gain and lower tax rate as it stepped up promotions on its bundled video, phone and Internet plans. The nation's largest cable TV operator also surpassed AT&T Inc. in the quarter as the country's largest Internet service provider. In the third quarter, Comcast earned $944 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $771 million, or 26 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue was up 3 percent to $8.8 billion, slightly shy of the $8.85 billion analysts were forecasting.

• Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp. reported first-quarter net income yesterday of $15.8 million, or 13 cents per share, after recording a loss of $3.3 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues for the quarter beat analysts' estimates, growing 23 percent, to $534.4 million, vs. $434.2 million in the year-ago period.

Utah-based SkyWest Airlines will offer three nonstop daily flights from Pittsburgh International Airport to Milwaukee starting Dec. 4 under a partnership with AirTran Airways. AirTran currently operates one daily nonstop flight to Milwaukee from Pittsburgh. That will become one of the three operated by SkyWest come December. AirTran also will add a third daily nonstop flight to Orlando, Fla., from Pittsburgh on Dec. 17, the Allegheny County Airport Authority said yesterday.

U.S. Steel announced the retirement of senior vice president Terrence D. Straub, 63, effective Nov. 30. Mr Straub, who joined the company in 1981, headed up the steelmaker's public policy and governmental affairs office. Upon his retirement, general counsel and senior vice president of corporate affairs James D. Garraux will assume responsibility for government affairs.

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Emclaire Financial Corp., parent company of The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton in Venango County, yesterday announced a public stock offering of about $20 million common shares. The company also said that beginning tomorrow, its common stock will be listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol "EMCF." The stock currently trades on the OTC bulletin board.

Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz confirmed reports that workers at a plant in San Joaquin, Venezuela, have gone on strike but a company spokesman said that type of walkout is not unusual in the region. Michael Mullen, vice president of corporate and government affairs, said there haven't been any reported incidents due to the strike and Heinz doesn't expect a major impact on its Venezuelan operations. The factory, which has 500 union employees, makes a range of products from ketchup to baby food.

Following a similar case in Europe, New York's attorney general hit Intel Corp. with an antitrust lawsuit yesterday, claiming the company used "illegal threats and collusion" to dominate the market for computer microprocessors. ... JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay more than $700 million to settle federal regulators' charges that it made unlawful payments to friends of public officials to win municipal bond business in Jefferson County, Ala. ... Google Inc. disclosed that its quarterly lobbying expenses eclipsed $1 million for the first time during the summer as the company tried to build on its dominance of Internet search and expand into other markets. ... PPG Industries will raise prices on its paints in January because of increased costs for raw materials, the company said. Its brands include Pittsburgh Paints, Porter Paints, and Olympic Paints and Stains. ... Snyder's of Hanover and Utz Quality Foods said yesterday that they had abandoned plans to merge the two snack food companies after they faced difficultly getting approval from the Federal Trade Commission. ... The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority approved a $550,920 loan to the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland, on behalf of Overly Door Co., to acquire and renovate a Greensburg building. The company, which has two facilities in Greensburg, will move its Nebraska operation to the new site. ... Wilmerding-based Wabtec Corp. said it signed a contract valued at about $30 million to supply electric, sliding plug doors for subway cars for a project in Istanbul, Turkey.

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