(Reuters) - Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ.N) fired the latest salvo in a 13-month-long battle for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc (DTG.N), offering nearly $2.1 billion as it looks to form the No. 2 U.S. car rental firm and bump a stalled bid from Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR.O). Hertz's latest bid is at a 3 percent premium to Dollar Thrifty's closing price on Friday and is worth over 30 percent more than what it offered in September last year -- a bid that was later rejected by Dollar Thrifty shareholders.

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(Reuters) - The jury at the insider trading trial of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam began the third week of deliberations by asking to hear replays of FBI phone taps between the Galleon Group founder and one of the former friends who testified against him. The jury told U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell in New York on Monday that it wanted to re-hear the secretly recorded conversations for the benefit of an alternate juror who replaced a sick juror last week. The six calls between Rajaratnam and former Intel Corp executive Rajiv Goel were played during the evidence phase of the trial and on April 27 before Juror No. 2 was excused on May 4.

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(Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators said they have expanded to 2.7 million vehicles an investigation into the possibility that straps holding fuel tanks can rust and break on Ford Motor Co (F.N) F-150 pickup trucks from the 1997-2001 model years. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said over the weekend that two fires have resulted from the issue in which one or both of the steel straps that hold the F-150 fuel tank in place rust and break.

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(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) is looking at whether to move its corporate headquarters after the state and local incentives that brought it to Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest Chicago suburb, expire in 2012. The company, which says it is in the early stages of the process, has had some preliminary discussions with the village of Hoffman Estates, a Chicago suburb northwest of the city, and commissioned a study to assess the economic impact of its departure on the village and the state, spokesman Chris Brathwaite told Reuters.

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(Reuters) - Oil rallied more than 4 percent on Monday as bargain hunting investors rushed in following a nearly $17 a barrel drop last week. Trade remained heavy after last week's collapse saw volumes jump to near twice the 30-day moving average as part of a sell off across several commodities markets.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped at the open on Friday, cutting weekly losses on the S&P 500 in half, after an unexpectedly strong payrolls report eased fears about the path of the economic recovery. U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 244,000 in April, the most in 11 months, the Labor Department said on Friday, well above economist' expectations for an increase of 186,000.

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(Reuters) - U.S. private employers shrugged off high energy prices to add jobs at the fastest pace in five years in April, pointing to underlying strength in the economy, even as the jobless rate rose to 9.0 percent. Private sector hiring, including a big jump in the retail sector, boosted overall nonfarm payrolls by 244,000, the largest increase in 11 months, the Labor Department said on Friday. Economists had expected a gain of only 186,000.

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(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is in "advanced discussions" with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a probe into its role in selling certain collateralized debt obligations, the bank said. The second-largest U.S. bank made the statement in a quarterly filing with the SEC on Friday.

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(Reuters) - Commodities trader Glencore is being pursued for as much as $900 million in damages through lawsuits including a long-running U.S. case linking it to pollution in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Glencore, due to make what could be a record $11 billion market debut this month, outlined more than 30 risks to its performance in a 1,637-page prospectus -- including legal risks such as "expensive litigation" related to accidents.

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(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) on Friday raised its worst-case estimate for litigation losses by 42 percent to $1.7 billion because of its exposure to foreclosure-related legal issues. The San Francisco-based bank's latest loss projection, disclosed in its first-quarter financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, increased by $500 million from $1.2 billion in the previous quarter.

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