VERIZON SWITCHES ON PORTABILITY: Verizon Wireless Inc. has given up its fight against pending federal rules that would make it easier for mobile-phone customers to keep their old phone numbers after switching carriers. That is an about-face for Verizon, which, along with the industry's trade association, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, had made fighting the rules one of its top priorities.
BANK WORKERS' OPTIONS VESTED: More than 100,000 rank-and-file employees of Bank of America have a hefty boost to their paychecks this week thanks to the vesting of millions of stock options. The employees are benefitting from the rising stock of Bank of America, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., and operates the biggest banking network in Florida. Most of Bank of America's 132,000 employees worldwide received shares in February 2002, with full-timers getting 400 apiece and part-timers 200 apiece. The options were exercisable at the then-market price of $61.36 a share. Half of the options, or about 35-million options, vested this week as the bank's stock price held above the exercise price of $76.36 a share. The second half of the options will vest once the stock closes at $91.36 or higher for 10 consecutive trading days or on Feb. 1, 2006, whichever comes first. Bank of America stock closed Tuesday at $77.55 a share, down 37 cents or 0.5 percent.
PLANVISTA HAS NEW CFO: PlanVista Corp. has hired a new chief financial officer to replace Donald Schmeling, who is leaving the Tampa company around July 30. Bennett Marks, 54, the new CFO and executive vice president, has been a chief financial officer for RailAmerica Inc., ProxyMed Inc. and FiberCorp International. He also was an audit partner for 10 years with KPMG. PlanVista said Schmeling, 42, is leaving to pursue other interests but would not elaborate. The company provides administrative services to health care payers and provider networks. Its stock closed Tuesday at $1.90 a share, down 5 cents or 2.6 percent.
ASICS SUES TARGET: Japanese athletic shoemaker Asics Corp. is suing Target Corp. for trademark infringement, claiming the Minneapolis discounter is selling a style of ProSpirit-brand shoes with a stripe logo similar to Asics' design. The lawsuit, filed late Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, accuses Target of trying to pass off its lower-priced shoes as Asics shoes. Target usually charges $23 to $25 for ProSpirit shoes, while Asics shoes typically carry price tags of $90 or more. Target did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
MICROSOFT TO FIGHT SPAM: A week after filing 15 lawsuits against alleged junk e-mailers, Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it has created a group of researchers and programmers to develop new tools to fight spam. In an e-mail sent to Microsoft customers and partners, chairman Bill Gates outlined the company's strategy of lawsuits, technology and legislation for fighting spam. Researchers are developing "smart" filters that can automatically adapt to spammers' changing tactics. One version is in beta testing for an update this summer to the Outlook e-mail program, said Kevin Doerr, group business manager for Microsoft's Anti-Spam Technology and Strategy group.
TREASURY BILLS: The interest rate on the U.S. Treasury's four-week bills dropped to their lowest since the government started selling the securities in July 2001. The Treasury sold $12-billion of the bills at a discount rate of 0.8 percent, down from 0.895 percent last week. The return to investors was 0.811 percent for the bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,938.00.
AIRLINE EXTENDS FARE SALE: Continental Airlines' Web site was inoperative for much of Tuesday, the same day the company announced a one-day fare sale for tickets purchased at the site. The Houston-based carrier said it would extend the sale for 24 hours because many people were unable to access the site. Continental spokeswoman Julie King said it was unclear what caused the technical difficulties. Because of the glitches, the fare sale will now conclude at 12:59 a.m. Eastern time Thursday.
GROUP WOULD TAKE JLM PRIVATE: JLM Industries Inc. of Tampa announced Tuesday that it has received a going-private proposal from an investor group led by founder John Macdonald and one of JLM's principal stockholders, Philip Sassower. The marketer and distributor of performance chemicals and plastics said the investor group, which owns 53 percent of JLM's shares, is offering to buy the rest of the company for $1.40 a share. Macdonald is the company president and CEO, and Sassower resigned from its board last month. The stock closed Tuesday at $1.17, up 4 cents or 3.5 percent.
TELEMARKETER FINED: A New York telemarketing company has agreed to pay $1-million to resolve government charges that it deceived consumers about magazine subscription costs and refunds, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday. The civil settlement also bars Cross Media Marketing Corp., its Atlanta subsidiary Media Outsourcing Inc. and some of their officers from making deceptive claims, the FTC said. Cross Media did not immediately return calls seeking comment. The company filed for bankruptcy last week, said J. Reilly Dolan, a director with the FTC's enforcement division. In October, Cross Media announced that it had closed its Tampa sales office in an effort to save money.
Correction
A photo Tuesday showed Apple CEO Steve Jobs holding a wafer used to make a new IBM processor. Information from the Associated Press incorrectly stated what Jobs was holding.
