IMPROPER TRADING FOUND: Employees at Federated Investors Inc. improperly accepted more than 100 after-hour trades and two other employees involved in an arrangement that would allow for timed trading with a hedge fund have resigned, the mutual fund company said. Pittsburgh-based Federated, one of the nation's largest fund firms, made the disclosures as it offered a more detailed accounting Tuesday of trading activities at the firm. It had previously said it had uncovered instances of late trading and market timing.
TECH DATA SHARES UP: Shares of Tech Data Corp. of Clearwater, the world's second-largest computer distributor, closed 11 percent higher Wednesday after the company said sales this quarter will increase more than analysts expected. The shares closed at $36.13, up $3.60 or 11.1 percent, in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. U.S. companies are spending more on technology products, chief executive Steven Raymund said Tuesday. That will help drive fourth-quarter sales up as much as 15 percent from a year earlier, he said.
TREASURY AUCTION: Yields on two-year Treasury notes rose in Wednesday's auction. The yield was 1.939 percent, up from 1.737 percent at the last auction on Oct. 29. The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 17/8 percent, with each $10,000 in face value selling for $9,987.50.
American turkeys, by the numbers
ANNUAL CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA:
1970: 8.1 pounds
2002: 17.7 pounds
NUMBER BEING RAISED:
1975: 124-million
1995: 292-million
2002: 269-million
TOTAL WEIGHT BEING RAISED:
1995: 6.8-billion pounds
2002: 7.4-billion pounds
AVERAGE COST OF THANKSGIVING MEAL FOR 10:
1995: $29.64
2002: $34.56
2003: $36.28
WEIGHT OF AVERAGE TURKEY BOUGHT FOR THANKSGIVING:
15 pounds
- Sources: National Turkey Federation, American Farm Bureau Federation.
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SCRUSHY ORDERED TO REPAY: Ousted HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy has been ordered by a Delaware judge to repay $25-million in loans he took from the Alabama-based hospital company in 1999. In a decision that Scrushy's defense team called "unprecedented," Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr. ruled that Scrushy, who sought to settle the loans in 2002 with HealthSouth stock that soon proved virtually worthless, should give the company $25.2-million in cash. Scrushy has been charged with masterminding a $2.7-billion accounting fraud to pump up the company's stock price.
SUBWAY PICKS COKE: The Subway sandwich chain has named the Coca-Cola Co. as its exclusive beverage provider for its restaurants worldwide. The agreement announced Wednesday, which covers all of Coke's products and package forms, includes all 20,000 Subway outlets in 72 countries. Subway is based in Milford, Conn. Financial terms of the deal, which is a blow to Coke rival Pepsi-Cola, were not disclosed. Previously, Atlanta-based Coke's share of Subway's beverage business was only 15 percent and Pepsi-Cola of Purchase, N.Y., had the remaining 85 percent.
BENLATE SUIT REINSTATED: A Florida appeals court reinstated a prize-winning orchid grower's lawsuit Wednesday against Du Pont, which again must fight claims that flowers and plants were ruined by its recalled fungicide Benlate. The decision by the 3rd District Court of Appeal calls for a third trial in an 11-year-old lawsuit over Benlate use by Claire and Phillip Sidran at her hobby-turned-business from 1988 to 1991. The Miami nursery went out of business. Du Pont was improperly allowed to tell jurors that the Sidrans' well water was polluted with dry-cleaning solvents even though there was no evidence that the solvents damaged the orchids, the appeals court decided.
EX-RENT-WAY EXEC SENTENCED: The former president and chief financial officer of Rent-Way Inc., the nation's second-largest rent-to-own furniture company, has been sentenced to more than a year in prison for ordering subordinates to falsify earnings reports filed with federal regulators. Jeffrey Conway, 46, now a consultant for Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, was sentenced Tuesday to 13 months in federal prison to be followed by two years of probation. He also must pay a $20,000 fine. Conway will likely report to a minimum security prison in Florida - the nearest to his home in New Orleans - within 60 days, federal prosecutors said.
NYSE BOARD TO ADD INVESTOR: The New York Stock Exchange's new independent board has amended the exchange's constitution to add a representative of individual investors on its executive panel. Federal regulators must approve the change. The amendment was approved by the eight-member board Monday.
