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Business Today

Aerosonic settles class-action suits

By wire services
Published January 13, 2006

Aerosonic Corp. said it has settled class-action lawsuits filed after company officials were accused of inflating financial results to boost its stock price.

The company said it will pay $800,000 of the $5.4-million settlement, with the rest paid by its insurance carrier and former auditor. The stock price of the Clearwater aircraft instrument maker plunged after the company restated earnings in March 2003.

Boston Scientific Corp. raised the stakes Thursday in a bidding war to buy rival medical device maker Guidant Corp., boosting its offering price $330-million to about $25-billion in hopes of ousting rival suitor Johnson & Johnson. Boston Scientific's move came about 24 hours after J&J sweetened its bid for Guidant, raising its offer from $21.5-billion to $23.2-billion.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in November as the price of foreign oil fell and U.S. exports hit a record. Some economists predicted the country may soon start to see sustained improvements in its trade performance. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that November's deficit declined by 5.7 percent to $64.2-billion.

Maryland legislators voted Thursday to enact a first-in-the-nation requirement that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spend more on employee health care. The measure, touted as a money-saver for the state-supported Medicaid program, takes effect despite the governor's veto.

United Airlines' parent company said Thursday that it had resolved its differences with a committee representing unsecured creditors, moving the airline a step closer to its exit from bankruptcy next month. A final agreement will be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago.

A U.S. Justice Department official disbanded a committee representing shareholders of Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., the bankrupt grocery retailer, leaving them without a court-authorized role in negotiating a reorganization plan. Elena Escamilla disbanded the panel after unsecured creditors expressed concern the panel would be privy to confidential information that could be leaked to competitors.

The United Farm Workers union has left the AFL-CIO and will join a group of breakaway unions known as the Change to Win Coalition.

[Last modified January 13, 2006, 01:45:18]