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WACHOVIA TO CUT 18 BRANCHES: Wachovia Corp. will sell 18 SouthTrust Corp. branches in Florida and Georgia as part of an agreement to secure the U.S. Justice Department's approval of the $14.3-billion merger of the banks. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Wachovia will divest 15 SouthTrust branches in Florida and three in Georgia with about $592-million in total deposits. None of the affected branches are in the Tampa Bay area. David Oliver, a spokesman for SouthTrust, said each of the branches employs eight to 15 workers. He did not know the number of employees at the 18 branches.
OIL PRICES GO BELOW $44: Oil prices dropped below $44 a barrel Wednesday, sinking for the fourth consecutive day as supply fears receded, gasoline futures plunged and profit-taking took over. "This is overdue, this is so overdue," said Fadel Gheit, an oil industry analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "Oil prices have been extremely inflated." Light crude for October delivery settled at $43.47, down $1.74. The price of oil futures has fallen by 11 percent since Aug. 19, when they hit a record high of $48.70.
FBI INVESTIGATES FILE SHARING: The FBI seized computers, software and equipment in Texas, New York and Wisconsin as part of the first federal investigation into illegal sharing of copyrighted movies, music and games over an Internet "peer-to-peer" network, in which users can access files directly from computers of others in the network, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Wednesday. The warrants targeted the "Underground Network," an organization of about 7,000 users who, prosecutors charge, repeatedly violate federal copyright laws by swapping feature films, music, software and computer games.
SABRE, NORTHWEST TRADE SUITS: Northwest Airlines Corp. and Sabre Holdings Corp., a major ticket distributor, have filed dueling lawsuits over Northwest's new fees for customers and travel agents who don't buy tickets on Northwest Web sites. The fees, from $5 to $10, prompted an outcry from travel agents and a lawsuit from Sabre when Northwest announced them Tuesday. Sabre also said it would make Northwest fares less prominent in its displays while charging the airline more - prompting a lawsuit from Northwest. The airline says Sabre's retaliation breaches their contract.
SEC FINES 7 BROKERAGES: The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday it had fined seven brokerages a total of $3.65-million for failing to warn investors they had taken money from unnamed investment bankers in exchange for writing research reports about stocks the bankers wanted to sell. The seven are SG Cowen & Co., Needham & Co., Prudential Equity Group LLC, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, Adams Harkness Inc., Morgan Keegan & Co. and Friedman, Billings Ramsey Group Inc.
WORKERS' COMP RATE TO DROP: Insurance companies that sell workers' compensation policies to Florida businesses plan to drop their premiums an average of 2.3 percent in January. The premium reductions are based in part on a law passed this year in an effort to reduce soaring insurance costs, limits attorneys' fees and makes it more difficult for injured workers to obtain permanent total disability benefits. The rate change comes on top of a 14 percent decrease in this year's premiums.
HOME DEPOT SETTLES SUIT: The Home Depot has agreed to pay $5.5-million to settle discrimination claims brought by workers in Colorado, the company said Wednesday. Current and former workers at outlets in Colorado had charged that the nation's largest home improvement store chain discriminated against them based on gender, race and nationality. Some also said they faced retaliation for claiming discrimination. The settlement divides $3-million among 38 plaintiffs and $2.5-million among "other individuals who were harmed by the same conduct," Denver EEOC spokeswoman Patricia McMahon said.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES ORDERS JETS: Singapore Airlines gave Boeing Co. an order for up to 31 of the airplanemaker's long-range jets but held off deciding whether to buy the new 7E7 Dreamliner. The contract is a big win for Boeing, but the hesitation on the Dreamliner likely rankles, as Boeing's commercial future is heavily reliant on the new model's success. Singapore Airlines said it had placed a firm order for 18 Boeing 777-300ER jetliners and reserved an option for 13 more, which at list price would total $7.35-billion. Delivery is to begin in 2006.
ENRON EX-EXEC PLEADS GUILTY: Mark E. Koenig, 49, Enron's former top investor-relations executive, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of helping conceal the energy company's shaky financial condition before its collapse.
Koenig pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting securities fraud, which carries up to 10 years in prison. In a related suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Koenig agreed to turn over to the government $1.49-million in forfeited assets and civil penalties, and cooperate with federal investigations.
EU EXAMINES ANTIPIRACY DEAL: European Union antitrust regulators said Wednesday they were investigating whether Microsoft Corp.'s deal with media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. to develop antipiracy software might lead to a new monopoly. Microsoft and Time Warner both said they were "fully cooperating" with the EU inquiry after initial efforts to head it off fell short. The deal concerns ContentGuard Inc., a Bethesda, Md., company that develops technology for digital rights management, or DRM, to protect films, books, music, video games and other media distributed on the Internet from illegal use or copying.
SERVICE PACK 2 SPREADING: Microsoft Corp. is ramping up distribution of its huge security update for the Windows XP operating system, but analysts say they still expect the company to move slowly to avoid widespread glitches. With only a small percentage of users running the product, analysts say they aren't seeing any problems yet. But some expect confusion to mount as more people begin installing the update. The softwaremaker completed work on the update, called Service Pack 2, in early August. But Microsoft says a small percentage of users have received the update so far, mainly through a download service.
YUKOS FINED FOR NONPAYMENT: Russian oil giant Yukos, struggling with an enormous back-taxes bill, must pay $223-million for missing a payment deadline, a court ruled Wednesday. Yukos already owes $3.4-billion in back taxes for 2000 that it warns it cannot pay, and the total claims against it for the period of 2000 to 2003 are expected to swell to $10-billion. Russian law allows government bailiffs to levy fines of 7 percent of the amount they are collecting if payment is not made within the prescribed time.