WASHINGTON (AP) -- Brash
Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was indicted Friday on charges his
international banking empire was really just a Ponzi scheme built on lies,
bluster and bribery.
The Justice Department
announced charges against Stanford and six others who allegedly helped the
tycoon run a $7 billion swindle.
Among those charged were
executives of Stanford Financial Group and a former Antiguan bank regulator who
prosecutors say should have caught the fraud but instead took bribes to let the
scheme continue.
Jobless rate in Western US
tops 10 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
unemployment rate in the West jumped over 10 percent last month, the first time
that regional threshold has been broken in about 25 years. On the state level,
eight set record-highs and only two -- Nebraska and Vermont -- did not report
increases.
The Labor Department
reported Friday that 48 states and the District of Columbia saw employment
conditions deteriorate last month. The fallout from the longest recession since
World War II, was the worst in Michigan as automakers cut tens of thousands of
jobs. Its unemployment rate rose to 14.1 percent.
Stocks log first weekly loss
since early May
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks
finished mixed Friday, leaving all the major indexes with their first weekly
loss since early May. Tech, financial and retail stocks gained, while utilities
and energy stocks were lower.
The market had started the
day stronger following suprisingly good reports the day before on jobs and
manufacturing. But with little in way of corporate or economic news Friday,
prospects were poor for restarting a rally that powered the market up as much
as 40 percent this spring after hitting its lowest level in more than a decade
in early March.
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 15.87, or 0.2 percent, to 8,539.73.
Nestle recalls all
refrigerated Toll House dough
NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal
authorities are investigating a new outbreak of a bacteria-triggered illness,
this time related to a sweet treat treasured by the heartbroken and children-at-heart
-- packaged raw cookie dough.
The federal Centers for
Disease Control said its preliminary investigation shows "a strong
association" between eating raw refrigerated cookie dough made by Nestle
and the illnesses of 65 people in 29 states whose lab results have turned up E.
coli bacteria since March.
About 25 of those people
have been hospitalized, but no one has died. E. coli is a potentially deadly
bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe
cases, kidney failure.
CarMax 1Q earns fall, still
tops view
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Auto
retailer CarMax Inc. said Friday its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 2.7
percent on a double-digit sales drop and increased costs at its auto financing
arm, but the results still beat Wall Street expectations.
The Richmond-based company,
which operates 100 stores, said it earned $28.7 million, or 13 cents per share,
in the three months ended May 31, down from $29.6 million, or 13 cents per
share, a year ago.
The latest results include a
charge of 11 cents per share related to loans at its financing arm and a gain
of 2 cents per share for a litigation settlement.
Energy prices tumble,
gasoline leads the way
NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline
markets exhibited the first signs that an extended rally in pump prices is
nearing an end after 52 straight days on the rise.
Gasoline futures started
falling midweek after a government report showed a huge surplus. Already,
wholesale gasoline prices in key markets like the Gulf Coast and Chicago had
begun to fade. Should prices continue to fall on the New York Mercantile
Exchange, cheaper gas may be on the way for motorists.
Benchmark crude for July
delivery dropped $1.82 to settle at $69.55 a barrel in light trading as the
contract was set to close Monday. The August contract fell $1.89 to settle at
$70.02 a barrel.
New iPhone goes on sale with
less drama
NEW YORK (AP) -- The new
iPhone went on sale Friday morning, greeted by much smaller lines and less
hoopla than previous models.
A few hundred people were in
line just before the 7 a.m. opening of Apple Inc.'s flagship store on
Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, a fraction of the people who lined up around the
block for last year's launch.
That launch turned into a
debacle as Apple's servers failed to cope with the load of new customers trying
to activate their phones. People who already had iPhones were trying to install
a software update on the same day, adding to the pressure.
House targets Fed in Bank of
America investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A House
panel has subpoenaed documents that lawmakers say could shed new light on
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's role in Bank of America's acquisition
of Merrill Lynch.
The subpoena comes ahead of
a hearing next week in which Bernanke is scheduled to testify.
Lawmakers have accused
Bernanke and President Bush's treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, of pressuring
Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis into the deal and urging
him to keep quiet about Merrill's financial problems.
Not divulging that information
would have violated Lewis' fiduciary duty to the bank's shareholders.
Treasury: no decision yet on
bank stock warrants
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Treasury Department and the nation's largest banks are still negotiating what
price the government should receive for stock warrants that represent the
banks' final ties to the $700 billion bailout program.
Treasury Department
spokeswoman Meg Reilly said Friday that the announcement is expected no earlier
than Monday.
The department also formally
acknowledged that it had received $68 billion in repayments of bailout funds on
Wednesday. The largest amounts were $25 billion from JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
and $10 billion each from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
GM to recall 900 workers at
Mich. crossover plant
DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors Corp. said Friday it will recall 900 workers and restore the second
shift at a factory near Lansing, Mich., because of increased sales of its Buick
Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia large crossover vehicles.
Spokeswoman Sherrie Childers
Arb said the laid-off workers will come back to the plant in Delta Township
starting Aug. 24, with the second shift continuing indefinitely.
The company also says it has
canceled plans to shut down the Spring Hill, Tenn., plant for an additional
week in August because of increased demand for the Chevrolet Traverse
crossover.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 15.87, or 0.2 percent, to 8,539.73.
The broader Standard &
Poor's 500 index rose 2.86, or 0.3 percent, to 921.23 and the Nasdaq composite
index gained 19.75, or 1.1 percent, to 1,827.47.
Benchmark crude for July
delivery dropped $1.82 to settle at $69.55 a barrel in light trading as the
contract was set to close Monday. The August contract fell $1.89 to settle at
$70.02 a barrel.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil dropped 5.03 cents to settle at $1.7867 a gallon, and natural gas
for July delivery lost 6.1 cents to settle at $4.032 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent prices lost
$1.87 to settle at $69.19 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
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