Homestore.com takes BofA online Homestore.com has entered into a $10.5 million marketing and Web services agreement with Bank of America. Bank of America estimates it has more than 3.2 million online banking customers, providing a big boost to Westlake Village-based Homestore.com, which was founded in 1999. The Web site at www.bankofamerica.com/ homesolutions will give consumers a chance to check out homes for sale and financing options online. Users will be able to customize their home search and pre-qualify for a mortgage. Bank of America is the first major financial institution to become a member of Homestore.com’s network of Web sites. Others under the Homestore.com umbrella include Realtor.com, HomeBuilder.com, the official site of the National Association of Home Builders, HomeFair.com and HomeImprovement.com. Homestore.com has made a number of recent acquisitions. In February, the company acquired Move.com and last year took over online home listing service Newlist Corp. Homestore.com also operates the direct marketing program Welcome Wagon, which provides a packet of information about the neighborhood to new homeowners. E2O expands to Camarillo E2O Inc. plans to open its new research and development facility in Camarillo on May 1. The new facility is 25 miles west of E2O’s Calabasas headquarters. E2O makes devices that transmit and receive signals along a fiber optic communications network. In addition, the company plans to hire 25 or 30 employees to work at the Camarillo facility. E2O currently employs 350 and expects to be at 400 by the end of the year. The company owns manufacturing plants in Singapore and Malaysia and has a joint venture operation in Taiwan. E2O was founded in 1998. The company has raised more than $60 million in venture funding to date. Northrop-Litton Merger Complete Northrop Grumman Corp. has completed its $3.8-billion merger with Litton Industries Inc., bolstering its portfolio of electronics offerings to create what it calls a top-tier global defense industry enterprise. Northrop has received all regulatory approvals and completed the purchase of all tendered shares of Litton common and Series B preferred stock. Integration of the firms will be completed by year’s end. The merger makes the company the largest supplier of nonnuclear surface ships for the Navy. Combined revenues are expected to double to $15 billion in 2001 and to reach $18 billion in 2003; it also expects double-digit increases in its earnings through 2003. Syncor Makes Business Week’s 600 Syncor International Corporation has been recognized by Business Week as a top performer among S & P; SmallCap 600 Index companies. Syncor was ranked third out of the 600 companies comprising this index. To determine its rankings, Business Week ranked the stocks in the index by one- and three-year stock market performance. Robert Funari, president and chief executive officer of Syncor, said, “Syncor’s strong stock market performance is due not only to our success in delivering in excess of 40-percent compounded growth in net income over the last three years, but is also reflective of the market’s assessment of our prospects for future growth.” Syncor of Woodland Hills provides high-tech health care services concentrating on nuclear pharmacy services, medical imaging, niche manufacturing and radiotherapy. Whiz Kids Take Robotics Prize Chatsworth High School robot makers won top national honors in Florida last week for a science program recognized for mentoring younger students. In winning the FIRST National Robotics Championship Chairman’s Award in Orlando, Chatsworth High swept a field of 336 finalists. Chatsworth is one of 550 schools nationwide that build competitive robots. Under the direction of science teacher Wendy Wooten, Chatsworth placed in the middle of its division for a contraption designed to perform near-impossible tasks with beach- and weather-balloon-size balls in under two minutes. They were also recognized for mentoring a dozen middle school teams.