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Business today
By Times staff writer MERRILL, NEW YORK NEAR DEAL: Merrill Lynch & Co. has agreed to a "framework" to settle the New York attorney general's investigation of alleged conflicts of interest at the nation's largest brokerage firm. A Merrill Lynch spokesman declined to provide details. Attorney General Elliot Spitzer's office wouldn't confirm the development or comment on negotiations. Lawyers for Spitzer and Merrill Lynch also agreed to postpone a court hearing set for Thursday until May 16. SEC LAUNCHES DYNEGY INQUIRY: The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun a formal investigation into energy marketer Dynegy Inc. The inquiry centers around a natural gas contract that provided an $80-million tax benefit in 2001 and resulted in about $300-million in net cash flow during 2001. The deal in question is a five-year physical gas supply contract with ABG Gas Supply LLC that provided Dynegy with a long-term supply of gas, cash and a permanent tax benefit. In a statement, Dynegy said it will "cooperate fully with the SEC in resolving this issue." Shares of Dynegy fell $1.11 to $11.15. JUDGE OKAYS SULZER SETTLEMENT: U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley has approved Sulzer Medica AG's $1-billion settlement of defective hip-implant claims, the company said. Plaintiffs have until May 15 to decide whether to opt out of the settlement and pursue individual claims. Sulzer then will have five days to decide whether to withdraw the settlement if too many people reject it. FLIGHT DELAYS AT SOUTHWEST: Southwest Airlines Co. said it experienced a higher-than-normal number of flights delayed by mechanical issues last weekend, days after the largest low-fare carrier presented a contract proposal to its mechanics union. Southwest declined to say how many flights were delayed. A number of delays occurred in Phoenix and Houston, two cities where the airline has maintenance hangars. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a letter to Southwest mechanics Monday stressing that the union was not supporting any job action against the airline. ADELPHIA TO SELL SOME SYSTEMS: Adelphia Communications Corp. said it will seek bids for cable television systems that include nearly half of its 5.7-million subscribers to reduce debt that has delayed the filing of its 2001 year-end financial statement for weeks. Adelphia said it will solicit formal bids for systems in the Los Angeles area as well as Florida, Virginia and elsewhere in the Southeast. Adelphia's stock closed at $6.44 a share, up 73 cents, before the announcement. Adelphia acquired the Pinellas County operations of Americast in March. STEAMBOATS GET NEW OWNER: The Delta Queen, for 40 years a fixture on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, has a new owner. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware has approved the sale of the Delta Queen, plus two other vessels, to Delaware North Companies Inc., whose chairman and chief executive officer, Jeremy Jacobs, has owned the Boston Bruins for 27 years. The company paid $80.9-million for the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and the American Queen, and the reservation systems and trademarks. MSN HACKER WARNING: Users of the latest versions of Microsoft's popular MSN Messenger program are vulnerable to computer hackers, the company warned. The latest problem is in a feature that allows users to gather in a single virtual location or "chat room" to exchange messages across the Internet in almost real time. Affected software includes Microsoft MSN Chat Control, Microsoft MSN Messenger versions 4.5 and 4.6, and Microsoft Exchange Instant Messenger 4.5 and 4.6. The company was aware of no user who had been hacked via the flaw, Microsoft security program manager Christopher Budd said, though he cautioned users not to be complacent about downloading the upgrades. TREASURY AUCTION: Yields on the U.S. Treasury's 9 3/4-year notes rose in Wednesday's auction. The Treasury sold a record $11-billion of the notes at a yield of 5.17 percent, up from 4.88 percent at the last auction Feb. 6. The government received bids equal to 2.15 time the amount of the notes sold.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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