Also. . .

Federal officials are considering a plan that would enable the Internal Revenue Service to use “yield-burning” fines paid by municipal-bond underwriters to cover tax liabilities owed by cities and states. The proposal, which is still under preliminary discussion, would transfer liability for the federal taxes under investigation to the underwriting firms from the municipalities. The IRS is looking at 36 cases of possible yield burning, which occurs when underwriters charge excessive markups to municipalities on bonds used to refinance state and local debt. . . . Upscale retailer Barney’s Inc. said it will sign a definitive agreement by next Friday to sell a 51% stake to Hong Kong’s Dickson Concepts International Ltd. . . . Mountain View, Calif.-based Netscape Communications Corp. said a security flaw was discovered in the updated version of its Navigator browser that allows malicious programmers to collect credit-card numbers and other information. The flaw is similar to one found last month that allows a programmer to write a program that tracks and collects personal information when typed into the browser as the user moves to different Web sites. The program creates a second browser window that can be used to send information back to the Web site. The company said a fix for the bug, discovered Aug. 19, will be available on its Web site next week. . . . Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. said it may sell its Duncan Hines line of baking mixes and is already taking bids. P&G; said the Duncan Hines line does not fit into its strategy of building market-leading food and beverage brands.