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By Times staff and wires
Published June 24, 2006

Jabil to shut down facility in Ireland

A unit of St. Petersburg's Jabil Circuit Inc. in Dublin, Ireland, is closing down with the loss of 75 jobs, the Irish Times reported Friday. The Ireland cuts come in the same week Jabil announced plans to close an unspecified number of plants and job reductions in a $250-million restructuring. Jabil shares closed Friday at $25, up 21 cents.

Jailed Tyco boss lists island home for $23M

Jailed former Tyco International executive L. Dennis Kozlowski, still trying to raise cash to pay fines and court-ordered restitution, has listed his Nantucket, Mass., estate for $23-million. If the property fetches the asking price, it would set a record for the island, local brokers say. In 1997, Kozlowski paid $5-million for the house, records show. The property borders conservation land and has a three-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot, shingle-style main house and a guest cottage, studio and garage. As part of his larceny conviction, Kozlowski was ordered to pay $167-million in fines and restitution. Via sales of real estate and artwork, he has raised $105.8-million, which is in an escrow account, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Newsletter publisher settles with SEC

A newsletter publisher will pay nearly $2-million to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC claimed that Weiss Research Inc., based in Jupiter, should have registered as an investment adviser before offering some subscribers a way to trade automatically on its investment tips. Weiss Research agreed to return $1.6-million of subscriber fees and pay a $350,000 fine under a settlement announced late Thursday. Weiss pulled the plug on auto trading in April 2005, which "ensures we are acting exclusively as a publisher," Weiss wrote in an open letter to customers.

Durable goods orders drop unexpectedly

Durable goods orders dropped 0.3 percent in May after a sharp 4.7 percent drop the month before, according to the Commerce Department, the first back-to-back declines in two years, pushing Wall Street into negative territory for the week. Economists expected orders to rise 0.4 percent. Corporate spending remained strong, however.

Fashion retailer J.Crew to offer IPO

J.Crew Group Inc., the New York-based fashion retailer known for its colorful preppy clothing, plans to go public next week in what's being touted as one of the biggest retail IPOs in recent years. J.Crew, which operates a store in Tampa's International Plaza, should be able to weather an expected consumer spending slowdown later this year because its well-heeled customers seem to care more about getting the latest cargo jacket than they do about higher gas prices.

UAW officials lived it up, report shows

While their union membership shrank by 15 percent last year, United Auto Workers officials spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meetings at splashy resorts from Palm Springs to Cape Cod, and paid tens of thousands more for bowling and shooting tournaments, baseball and golf. The spending is outlined in U.S. Labor Department forms that, for the first time, require unions to provide greater details about how they spend members' money.

[Last modified June 24, 2006, 06:50:25]