DIGEST
The U.S. trade deficit surged to a monthly record of $11.37 billion in April as Japanese cars flooded the U.S. market ahead of possible punitive tariffs. The Clinton administration said the 16.2 percent increase in the deficit in goods and services only stiffened its resolve to impose trade sanctions against Japan next week if no agreement is reached.</br></br>IBM said it received "a green light" from federal antitrust regulators to proceed with its $3.5 billion acquisition of Lotus. "We heard from the {FTC} and they will not be requesting additional information from us," IBM spokesman John Iwata said. The agency's decision "basically is a green light to proceed," Iwata said. IBM will now ask Lotus shareholders to approve the deal.</br></br>Hoffmann-La Roche said it will make Invirase, a new AIDS drug that is still in clinical trials, available to a limited number of patients. Hoffmann also said it expects to file for FDA approval for Invirase in September, with a possible market approval expected in early 1996.</br></br>Fleet Financial's $3.7 billion acquisition of Shawmut National was approved by shareholders of both companies. The stock swap transaction will make Fleet the nation's ninth-largest banking company.</br></br>The federal budget deficit increased by just less than $39 billion in May, to $133.2 billion. It was up 21.5 percent from the same month a year ago, the Treasury Department said. But for the first eight months of the fiscal year, the shortfall was 19.1 percent less than for the same period in 1994.