Business today

REPORTS DETAIL ECONOMIC GROWTH: Orders to U.S. factories rose 1.2 percent in April, the Commerce Department reported. The 1.2 percent rise was the biggest since a 7.5 percent advance in October, as stronger demand for cars, computers, household appliances and machinery helped to boost orders to factories, the department said. In another report, the Labor Department said business productivity in the first quarter grew at its strongest pace in 19 years. Productivity -- the amount of output per hour of work -- grew at a revised annual rate of 8.4 percent in the January-March quarter as hard-pressed companies produced more with fewer workers. The reading was a bit weaker than the 8.6 percent rate of increase previously reported for the quarter, but still marked an improvement over the strong 5.5 percent productivity growth rate posted in the fourth quarter of 2001.

GROCERY SALE IN TEXAS: Brookshire Grocery Co. says it will buy 17 Winn-Dixie stores in north Texas. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Brookshire's announcement is the first major purchase of groceries since Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. announced May 6 that it would close all 71 of its stores in Texas and five in Oklahoma, and lay off 5,300 workers.

ANALYST CONFLICT INQUIRY: The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating 10 allegations of conflicts of interest by Wall Street analysts, and the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange are investigating 37 potential conflicts of interest by analysts rating stocks their firm seeks to land as investment banking clients, according to Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts. The action by Wall Street regulators follows the investigation of more than a half-dozen brokerages headed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the North American Securities Administrators Association. "This is good news, since vigorous enforcement is an important deterrent to potential wrongdoers," said Markey, a Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Z-TEL TAKES UNWANTED TRIP: Z-Tel Technologies Inc.'s shares were inadvertently transferred Friday from the Nasdaq National Market and to the OTC Bulletin Board due to an administrative error by Nasdaq, according to Nasdaq spokesman Scott Peterson. The shares of the Tampa telecommunications company will be reinstated on the Nasdaq National Market Monday morning, Peterson said. Z-Tel's shares ended unchanged on the Bulletin Board Friday at $1.15.

MICROSOFT, SEC SETTLE: The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to charge Microsoft Corp. with violating bookkeeping rules for disclosure of millions of dollars in reserves from 1995 to 1998, SEC commissioner Isaac Hunt said. The finding won't result in a fine because the violations didn't harm investors, Hunt said. SEC chairman Harvey Pitt, who represented Microsoft's accountant Deloitte & Touche LLP while in private law practice, recused himself from the vote, Hunt said. The probe examined reserve accounts to determine whether Microsoft set aside revenue with the intent of using the money to record higher sales in a later period. Microsoft neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.

SULZER AGREES TO SETTLEMENT: Sulzer Medica AG agreed to settle a class-action suit over faulty hip and knee implants instead of filing for bankruptcy, after convincing all but 87 plaintiffs to accept the accord. The orthopedic products company had until Friday to decide whether to take the settlement, which pays plaintiffs about $200,000 each in compensation. Medica, which is changing its name to Centerpulse, faces thousands of claims over the implants. In the only hip-implant lawsuit against the company that went to trial, a jury awarded $15.4-million to three Texas women. Medica later settled those cases for "substantially" less, it said.

LOWE'S WARNING: Lowe's Cos. Inc. executives told shareholders that the company expects 2002 earnings to fall slightly short of Wall Street projections. Chief financial officer Robert A. Niblock said Lowe's was standing by its previous forecast of earnings between $1.66 and $1.69 a share for the full year. That's lower than a $1.70 consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. Shares in the home improvement chain fell on the news, dropping as low as $45.75 before rebounding to close at $47.16, down 73 cents.

U.S. GETS DELAY IN EU TARIFF: Reacting to a concession by Washington, the European Union said it will delay by two weeks a threat to impose $300-million in retaliatory tariffs against U.S. imports in a dispute over American steel tariffs imposed March 20. The EU had planned to impose tariffs on politically sensitive products -- from Florida orange juice to North Carolina textiles -- on June 18. After U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas told EU trade officials Thursday that Washington was ready to admit more European steel without paying penalties, the EU executive Commission moved its retaliation date back until July 3.

AT&T PLANS OFFERING: AT&T Corp. said it plans to raise about $2.25-billion through a share sale and may use the proceeds to buy the 69 percent of AT&T Canada Inc. it doesn't already own. AT&T in 1999 agreed to purchase the Toronto company by June 2003.

TREASURY AUCTION: The Treasury Department sold $20-billion in nine-day cash management bills at a high discount rate of 1.72 percent. Tenders totaled $49.165-billion. The bills are used to meet the Treasury's short-term cash needs in addition to the funds raised at scheduled sales of bills, notes and bonds.

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