Business today

JOB CUTS AT CLAIROL: Procter & Gamble Co. plans to cut about 1,440 jobs as the consumer products giant integrates the recently-acquired Clairol hair-care products business into its operations. The cuts represent 36 percent of Clairol's 4,000 employees. The cuts will come across all areas, including marketing, finance, sales and research and developments, a spokesman said. P&G spent $4.95-billion to purchase Clairol from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

SEC ALLEGES FRAUD: The Securities and Exchange Commission said it froze the assets of two Tampa companies and four individuals it accused of pocketing at least $1.7-million from a stock promotion scheme. The companies used ads that the Wall Street Journal ran in its Sunday section, which appears in the St. Petersburg Times and other newspapers across the country. The SEC also suspended trading in the stock of Tel-One Inc., a video conferencing company promoted by Media Broadcast Solutions Inc. The SEC said W. Kris Brown, George Carapella, Alan S. Lipstein and George LaFauci carried out a "particularly brazen pump-and-dump scheme" that included mass fax messages and false advertisements designed to boost the price of Tel-One stock, which last sold for $2.37 a share. The scheme allowed them to sell hundreds of thousands of shares, the commission said.

MOTOROLA CUTS TO CONTINUE: Motorola Inc. said the company will pare another $200-million of expenses this year, but declined to comment on how many layoffs and other cuts will be required to achieve the savings. Last month, when the company said it was cutting 9,400 employees, the company estimated the cuts would save $865-million in 2002. Ed Breen, Motorola's president and chief operating officer, reiterated that annual revenue could drop as much as 10 percent from 2001, though the company thinks it can post operating income of 15 cents per share for the year.

TREASURY AUCTION: Yields on two-year Treasury notes fell in Wednesday's auction. The yield was 3.039 percent, down from 3.3 percent at the last auction Dec. 27. The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 3 percent. A total of $25-billion in notes were sold out of bids totaling $38.5-billion.

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