Money Minute: Pizza Hut Gives Slices a Try; For-Profit Colleges Probed

You can now get a piece of the pie at Pizza Hut.

We're not talking about buying a share of Pizza Hut stock, but for the first time, the nation's largest pizza chain, a unit of Yum Brands (YUM), is experimenting with selling pizza by the slice. It starts today at just two of its 6,400 stores, but could expand quickly. The slices will be thinner than traditional Pizza Hut pies.

The government is expanding its investigation into the student loan policies of for-profit colleges. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and some state attorneys general want to know if the companies are engaged in unfair or deceptive lending practices. Corinthian Colleges (COCO) and ITT Educational Services (ESI) had previously said they could be the subjects of a regulatory probe.

Here on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) slid 179 points on Monday, the biggest loss in nearly four months. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 23 points and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) tumbled 61.

After months of rumors that Time Warner Cable (TWC) was up for sale, %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%it's now received a formal bid. Much smaller Charter Communications (CHTR) is offering more than $37 billion in stock and cash for the nation's second-largest cable company. Time Warner Cable immediately rejected the offer as too low. Its stock has jumped almost 40 percent since last summer when reports surfaced that Charter and other potential bidders might be interested in making an offer. There's no word yet on whether Comcast (CMCSA) or others might enter the bidding.

Google (GOOG) is expanding its effort to run your household. The company agreed to buy Nest Labs for more than $3 billion. Nest controls home thermostats, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors through Internet connections.

Finally, the doll war is on again. MGA Entertainment, the maker of Bratz dolls, is suing Mattel (MAT), seeking more than $1 billion. It alleges that Mattel employees stole important information at toy industry trade shows. The two companies have been battling in court for more than a decade. In the first round, MGA Entertainment was awarded $137 million.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.