ENRON JURORS REQUEST DOCUMENTS: Jurors deliberating the fate of four former Merrill Lynch & Co. executives and two former midlevel Enron Corp. executives on trial for conspiracy and fraud have requested lists of the reams of documents presented during the six-week trial. Deliberations wrapped up Friday without a verdict shortly after the panel sent a note to the judge mid afternoon Friday, the first full day of deliberations in the first criminal trial to emerge from Enron's 2001 collapse. U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein directed attorneys on both sides to comply with the request by Monday.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SLIPS: Consumer confidence levels slipped in October but didn't fall as much as economists had feared, according to a report Friday. The University of Michigan's full-month report on consumer sentiment was said by those who had seen it to have fallen to 91.7 in October from 94.2 in September. In the preliminary October data, the index had been reported at 87.5. The final October reading came in above the 88.0 mark that was the median expectation of forecasters in a survey conducted by Dow Jones Newswires.
NEW ACCESS FOR BANK CUSTOMERS MONDAY: After this week's approval of the merger of Wachovia and SouthTrust, the two banks' holding companies are expected to be legally joined as soon as Monday. At that point, customers of either bank will be able to use any of the 5,300 ATMs in their combined network, Wachovia spokesman Kevin Bezner said. Former SouthTrust customers will gain access to such products as a free checking account with no direct deposit and no minimum balance required. Wachovia has not indicated when it will convert SouthTrust's electronic system to its own or give more details on the closure of overlapping branches.
KKR SELLING WALTER STAKE: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., an investment company that acquired Walter Industries Inc. in 1988, is selling its 27 percent stake in the Tampa company. KKR will sell 2-million shares to Walter for $32.3-million and offer the remaining 8-million shares on the open market at $16.35 apiece. Three of Walter's nine board members have ties to KKR. Walter's stock price closed Friday at $17.01, up 20 cents a share.
ASIAN MARKETS MIXED ON CHINA'S RATE HIKE: Asian financial markets showed a mixed reaction Friday to China's first interest rate rise in nine years, which analysts welcomed as a shift toward capitalist-style economic tools and away from central planning. China announced the 0.27 percentage point hike in its benchmark one-year lending rate to 5.58 percent late Thursday amid efforts to slow rapid economic growth and prevent a surge in inflation. After an initial jolt, regional currency, commodity and stock markets took the news in stride. The U.S. dollar initially rallied but later drifted lower on expectations of continued pressure, even with the rate hike, for a cheaper dollar.
BROKERAGE SETTLES ENRON SUIT: Wall Street brokerage house Lehman Brothers Holdings Corp. has agreed to pay $222.5-million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it and other banks and brokerages helped the failed energy giant Enron Corp. mislead investors. The University of California, lead plaintiff in the case filed in Houston, announced the settlement Friday. The settlement will be shared among the thousands of institutional and individual investors. The university lost nearly $150-million when Enron imploded.
BLACK OFFERS TO GIVE UP POSTS: Conrad Black, the embattled press baron, said Friday he would give up his posts as CEO and chairman of Hollinger Inc., a Canadian holding company, to ease his plan to take the company private.
