HavenWorks.com/business/archive/2002| HavenWorks.com/business/archive/2002 |
 |
 |
 |
|
ARCHIVES NEWS Business News History Archives BUSINESS ARCHIVES |
|
 |
|
 |
- "Yahoo
buys search firm Inktomi for $235M." ... "Yahoo
Inc. has purchased Inktomi Corp.
for about $235 million, the companies announced
today. Yahoo will add Inktomi's Web search technology to its portal sites
in hopes of becoming the premier destination for Web searches, it said."
... "Foster City, Calif.-based Inktomi has deals with Amazon.com Inc.,
eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com portal, according to its Web site.
Computerworld.com also uses Inktomi search software." -By
Tom Krazit -IDG.net
via -Computerworld
- "Yahoo
Buys Search-Software Maker Inktomi." ... "Internet
media company Yahoo Inc. YHOO.O on Monday said it would pay $235 million
to buy Internet search-software maker Inktomi Corp. INKT.O , strengthening
its position in the growing Web search business." ... "The cash deal of
$1.65 per share valued Inktomi, a high-flyer during the Internet boom,
at a 41 percent premium to Friday's close but at less than a third of its
value at its 1998 initial public offering." -By Ben
Berkowitz -Reuters/Business
-
Discussion - "Yahoo
Buying Inktomi."
-Slashdot
- 
Eliot
Spitzer - 
- "TIME
2002 Crusader of the Year: Eliot Spitzer: ... "Wall Street's Top Cop:
In a year when business let so many down, Eliot Spitzer fought back. How
a rich kid from the Bronx became the people's champion." ... "Spitzer opened
an investigation that in just a few months began fundamentally reshaping
America's financial markets. Analysts, Spitzer would show, were doctoring
their reports—which the public relies on for stock information—to win business
for their banks' investment arms or to downgrade companies that didn't
play ball. Insiders knew the scam; folks in the heartland had no idea.
Spitzer's aggressive pursuit of Merrill Lynch and, subsequently, a dozen
other Wall Street firms turned the tables. The new ethics he championed
are touching in their simplicity: analysts' ratings should reflect what
they actually believe. There has not been such an affirmation of what's
right since Moses and the Ten Commandments. "The system was rotten, and
no one seemed interested in fixing it," says Spitzer. "So we moved in.""
(1,
2,
3,
4)
-By Adi Ignatius -TIME
- Person of the Year
- 2002
- Eliot
Spitzer -
- OPINION
- "[New
York states Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer: Man Of The Year - Savior of
Capitalism?" ... "Using a New York state law, he
obtained some explosive internal emails from Merrill Lynch and secured
a $100m fine. This pushed a complacent Securities and Exchange Commission
into action, and finally yesterday Spitzer got the reward for his pursuit."
... "As part of the agreement forged with the Stock Exchange [full
details], the ten leading brokerages must pay $900 million in retrospective
relief, $450m to fund "independent" research and $85 million to "investor
education". The brokerages, including Solomon Smith and Barney, CSFB, Lehman,
Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg, will not be allowed to reward CEOs with
IPO offerings, and must operate at arms length from no less than independent
analysts on each offering. (Since the brokers are still paying these independent
analysts' fees, it's hard to see how this cure will be truly effective.)"
... "But for the Bronx-born Spitzer, his legend is assured as a pugilist
populist attorney straight from central casting. He's taken on the mob,
the music pigopolists (for CD price fixing), low-paying employers, and
is currently suing President Bush for gutting the clean air act." -By
Andrew Orlowski -TheRegister.co.uk
- "Can
Tribune's FitzSimons Do It Again?" ... "Watch for
dramatic industry changes next year if the Tribune (nyse: TRB
- news
-people)
broadcasting czar, Dennis
J. FitzSimons, has his way. FitzSimons was named chief executive
officer last week, replacing John
W. Madigan as CEO of the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company (estimated
2002 revenue: $5.3 billion) behind Gannett (nyse: GCI
- news
-people).
FitzSimons' fame? The 20-year Tribune veteran, who formerly ran Tribune's
WGN-TV, put print-dominated Tribune on the television map, buying 18 of
Tribune's 24 stations since 1992. TV is now Tribune's fastest growing unit,
accounting for 26% of sales and 35% of operating profit." ... "Under FitzSimons,
TV will get even bigger as soon as he can rally the Federal Communications
Commission to repeal decades-old rules banning ownership of TV stations
in markets where it already owns newspapers or other TV stations." -By
Erin Killian -Forbes
- 
- "Halliburton
settles asbestos claims: Company paying about
$4 billion to thousands of victims." ... "The company said at least 75
percent of plaintiffs with pending cases agreed to the settlement." ...
"Representatives for the Houston-based oilfield-services company once led
by Vice President Dick Cheney were in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh
on Wednesday to settle most of the pending asbestos cases against the company
and one of its former subsidiaries." -AP
via -MSNBC
Christmas
- "Chain
Stores Take on Christmas Trees." ... "Operating a
roadside Christmas tree stand has never been a huge moneymaker, and now
that the big boys have moved into the market it's even tougher." ... "The
National Christmas Tree Association says 17 percent of the roughly 30 million
Christmas trees sold last year were at large chain stores, such as Wal-Mart,
Home Depot, Lowe's and Target. That's up from 14 percent in 2000 - the
first year the association began tracking sales at chain stores - and came
even as the overall market shrank a bit." -By Clarke
Canfield -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "United
pilots union 'stunned' by wage cut request." ...
"United Airlines' pilots union said on Monday it was "stunned" by a new
wage cut proposal the world's second-largest carrier put forth less than
a week after filing for bankruptcy, signaling possible litigation ahead."
... "United, a unit of UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL),
late last week presented its labor unions with requests for wage cuts that
were more than double what it was seeking before filing the biggest bankruptcy
case in aviation history." ... "Of United's 83,000 member work force, about
80 percent is unionized. Nearly half of the work force is represented by
the International Association of Machinists." -By
By Kathy Fieweger -Reuters
via -Lycos -Finance
- Smallpox
News
- "Smallpox
vaccine costs raise questions." ... "Secretary of
Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, in a press briefing Saturday,
said most states are expected to pay workers' compensation for lost work
time for medical or emergency personnel sickened by the vaccine. Modest
death benefits are also available. Unions, however, say those amounts are
likely to be inadequate." ... "Thompson also said that health care workers
and private citizens who seek the vaccine would need their own health insurance
to pay for any care needed to treat side effects." -By
Julie Appleby -USATODAY
-
- "UK
internet shopping 'breaks £1bn mark'." ...
"For the first time, UK consumers have spent more than £1bn ($1.6bn)
in just one month shopping online, according to a survey." ... "Online
sales have risen by 95% over the past year, IMRG said, compared with a
rise of just 6.1% in general retail sales." ... "US figures for the July
to September period this year showed online shopping sales were more than
$11bn, representing 1.3% of total US retail sales, an increase of 34.3%
on the same period last year." ... "In the UK, online sales over the same
July to September period reached £2bn ($3.14bn), representing 4%
of total UK retail sales, up 114.5% on the same period in 2001."-BBC/News
-
- Press Release - "imrg
e-retail sales index - internet shopping bursts £1bn barrier."
- Links to [PDF]:
"Internet
Shopping Bursts £1 Billion Barrier!" ... "Santa
is shopping online this year in a BIG WAY. Monthly internet shopping
soared into ten figures for the first time in November as Britain's 14.3
million online shoppers flooded e-retailers with £1,000 million worth
of orders, according to the IMRG Index." ... "The Index has risen almost
ten fold, from 100 to 993, during the 32 months it has tracked UK e-retail
sales, since April 2000, and the pace of growth it reveals continues to
accelerate. The November Index was based on sales of £218 million
reported by 77 participating e-retailers, which represents 22% of the estimated
market." ... "UK online shopping is growing three times faster than in
the USA, and is three times the proportion of total retail sales.
US retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2002 was just over
$11 billion, representing 1.3% of total US retail according to latest figures
from the US Department of Commerce, an increase of 34.3 percent from Q3
2001. UK e-retail during the same period was worth £2 billion
($3.14 billion), representing 4% of total UK retail, and was 114.5% higher
than Q3 2001." -IMRGorg
- "eBay
hit by credit card scam." ... "The world's largest
online auction site eBay has been targeted by fraudsters using a shadow
site to steal credit card details from its 55 million customers." ... "The
scam involved sending e-mails to customers asking them to log on to a Florida-based
website - ebayupdates.com - and re-submit their financial details." -By
Stefan Armbruster-BBC/News
- Accounting
News - "Donaldson
to head SEC: Co-founder of DLJ and ex-NYSE
chief would succeed Pitt as top market watchdog." ... "Wall Street veteran
William Donaldson, the founder of the former firm Donaldson Lufkin &
Jenrette, is the Bush administration's choice to be the new chairman of
the Securities and Exchange Commission." ... "Donaldson, whose firm was
sold to Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, was introduced by President
Bush at a news conference Tuesday." ... "The SEC has been under greater
scrutiny due to the attention given to accounting and corporate misdeeds
that resulted in the nation's two largest bankruptcies, at WorldCom and
Enron, and shook investors' confidence in the market."
-CNN /fn
- "CSX
chief named to run Treasury: Bush also vows
tax breaks to spur business revival." ... "President Bush moved on two
fronts yesterday to demonstrate his concern about the flagging economy:
nominating John W. Snow, chairman of railway conglomerate CSX Corp., as
his Treasury secretary and promising a new package of tax breaks and other
incentives to spur more vigorous business activity." ... "Snow has been
chief executive and chairman of Richmond-based CSX Corp. since 1989 The
firm, which runs one of the largest rail networks in the eastern half of
the United States, and other transportation-related services, has been
a major source of campaign donations to the Republican Party. Snow has
been an advocate of more rigorous financial reporting for executives."
-By Sue Kirchhoff
-Boston/Globe
- "Bush
taps an economic salesman: Bush names John
Snow as new Treasury chief with task of selling tax cuts and buoying confidence."
... "By appointing John Snow, a railroad executive, as Treasury secretary
Sunday, and probably Stephen Friedman, a Wall Street executive, as White
House economic counselor Monday, Mr. Bush will be getting two people who
are, by all accounts, consensus builders and "listeners."" ... "That will
help the administration speak more with one voice on the economy, but not
necessarily result in new initiatives. "I think the president is looking
for a new messenger, not a new message," says Sung Won Sohn, chief economist
at Wells Fargo Banks, of Mr. Snow's appointment. "So he would be a good
messenger."" -By David R. Francis and Ron Scherer
-CSMonitor
Eliot
Spitzer - 
- OPINION
- "Eliot
Spitzer vs. the Chicago Boys: Corporate crooks,
dirty air, pricey drugs -- they're all the doing of the University of Chicago's
free-marketeers, says N.Y.'s Attorney General." ... "As a voice of laissez-faire
economics, the University of Chicago has shaped much of the dialogue over
market regulation in recent years, starting with Ronald Reagan's Administration
in 1980. Free markets, the theory goes, will correct most excesses by making
it impossible for those guilty of bad behavior to survive. "They've said
that intervention by...government is wrong," Spitzer said. "But they haven't
taken into account that markets can have structural flaws."" ... "For example,
environmental polluters are not being punished by the market, he charged,
and that means all of society pays the price for pollution. Relying on
the market to fairly price prescription drugs has also failed, he insisted,
since some severely ill people rely so much on one particular drug that
they will pay anything to get it." -By Heather Timmons
-BusinessWeek/Daily
-
- "Chavez
threatens state of emergency." ... "President Hugo
Chavez of Venezuela has warned he may declare a state of emergency if disruption
caused by an national strike continues to escalate." ... "In a speech to
supporters in Caracas, Mr Chavez accused his opponents of trying to sabotage
the oil industry, which provides half the government's revenue." ... "Crude
oil production has dropped by up to a sixth of the total national output
since refinery workers and oil tanker crews joined other strikers, threatening
the economic backbone of the world's fifth biggest oil exporter." ... "Analysts
have warned that a shutdown for longer than two days could have a major
impact on US and world oil prices." -BBC/News
- 
- 
- "Military’s
use of satellites probed: Investigation launched
amid complaints of unfair advantages." ... "The General Accounting Office
is investigating the Defense Department’s use of commercial satellites,
after competitors complained that Washington-based Intelsat Ltd. has an
unfair advantage in a growing market." ... "Intelsat, incorporated in Bermuda,
is owned by companies and governments in 148 nations, including Iraq and
Iran. Its satellites help the U.S. military communicate with soldiers in
far-flung outposts." ... "The GAO investigation coincides with the Pentagon’s
increasing dependence on commercial satellite providers to provide extra
bandwidth, industry experts say. Government satellite programs have faced
delays and cost overruns even as information has become a key part of battlefield
strategy, they said." -By Renae Merle-WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- 
-
- "Ex-Regents
official: U of Iowa should pay president more." ...
"The University of Iowa president’s salary is “severely limiting the pool
of people that will apply for the job,” former president of the Board of
Regents said." ... "The salary of $281,875, puts Iowa next to last among
public schools in the Big Ten Conference, after the Indiana University
at Bloomington, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac."
... "Mark Yudof, the president of the University of Texas system, was among
the highest-compensated university leaders last year. More than half of
his $787,319 in salary and benefits comes from private sources."
-AP via -QCTimes
-
- "Update:
Bush Creates ".Kids" Domain." ... "President Bush
signed into law on Wednesday a bill that would create a ".kids" domain
name, and certify that the domain was "safe" for minors." ... "The .kids
domain will actually be a subdomain of the ".us" suffix, and so will only
apply to web sites based in the U.S, such as "www.example.kids.us". Since
the domain is under the purview of the U.S. country code, it will be overseen
by the Department of Commerce." -By Mark Hachman
-ExtremeTech
- "Bush
Shakes Up Economic Team With Ouster of 2 Advisers."
... "Wrestling with a shaky economy and criticism that his administration
projects a muddled message on how to respond, President Bush today dismissed
his Treasury secretary, Paul H. O'Neill, and the director of his National
Economic Council, Lawrence B. Lindsey." ... "The president's move also
demonstrates that the White House has grown increasingly concerned that
Mr. Bush, like his father, could pay a political price if the country's
economic woes are not addressed more forcefully." ... "The dismissals also
come when business confidence is stubbornly low, investment is weak and
joblessness is rising. Less than two hours before Mr. O'Neill surprised
Washington with his resignation, the Commerce Department reported that
unemployment last month surged at an unexpectedly fast rate last month,
to 6 percent from 5.7." (1, 2)
-By Edmund L. Anderews
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Buy,
Use, Dispose: A Spike in Disposable Products
Has Environmentalists Worried." ... "Scrub the floor, toss out the rag.
Use up your minutes, toss out the phone. Watch a movie, throw away the
DVD." ... "In a nation that places a high value on convenience, this is
all possible or will soon be possible for consumers willing to pay a little
more for products designed for one-time use. And the list is growing."
... ""The business model of the high-tech industry depends on us to continue
to
buy, consume and throw away," he [executive director of Californians Against
Waste, Mark Murray] says. "That's the problem, they're not designing these
things to last, they're designing them to use and throw out."" -By
Amanda Onion -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Ricochet's
Comeback Means Free Wireless Internet Access for Cities:
Municipal governments striking new deals to get free wireless access."
... "Denver-based Ricochet Networks offered Internet access to 51,000 subscribers
in 21 cities until its owner, Metricom, went bankrupt last year." ... "Aerie
Networks has resurrected Ricochet, spending $8.25 million for technology
and equipment that Metricom spent $1.3 billion developing." ... "Technological
Quid Pro Quo." ... "Now, Ricochet is offering cities free service and
giving their public employees modems to use on the job. In return, Ricochet
gets to use transmitters that fell into cities' control after Metricom
went bankrupt." -By Catherine Tsai
-AP via
-GovTech.net/news
- "Bankruptcy
'inevitable' for United: Mechanics reject pay
concessions; airline, union in last-minute talks." ... "Securing an agreement
with District 141-M, which represents 13,000 mechanics and other employees,
coupled with similar pacts with pilots, flight attendants, nonunionized
workers and others, is a key part of a projected $5.2 billion in wage concessions
that United hopes will allow it to avoid filing for Chapter 11." ... "Reducing
labor costs is considered to be a crucial part of United's application
for a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization
Board. The board's ruling is expected any day, perhaps as early as Monday,
the due date for United to repay $375 million in debt. UAL has up to 10
additional working days to repay the debt, which could push the payment
deadline back to Dec. 16 and give the company more room to maneuver." -David
Armstrong -SFGate.com
-
- "Fraud
fears still hamper online sales." ... "The number
of Britons doing Christmas shopping online is expected to soar this year
but the government says fear of fraud is still preventing sales reaching
their potential levels." ... "The government is keen to encourage more
net shopping, with Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson telling shoppers that
online retail can be safe if they follow a few simple rules." ... "She
is advising consumers to use websites they know or that have been recommended,
obtain suppliers' telephone numbers or postal addresses and keep copies
of order forms or e-mails."-BBC/News
- "Bush
to Allow Private Sector Bids." ... "Up to half of
the nation's 1.8 million federal civilian workers eventually could find
they have a new boss or, worse, no job." ... "The Bush administration is
taking steps to privatize federal jobs at an unprecedented level, and officials
proposed rules Thursday to make it easier for companies to compete with
the government for maintenance, construction, secretarial and other work."
... "Employee unions raised strong objections, contending the administration
was trying to help its business allies at the expense of workers' rights.
Bush officials said it was just a question of saving money."
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Accounting
News Page added.
- "Webster
leaves board in turmoil." ... "Although Biggs still
has the support of two SEC commissioners Harvey Goldschmid
and Roel Campos he probably won't get the nod, given the acrimony surrounding
Webster's appointment. Following the disclosure of Webster's involvement
with U.S. Technologies CEO Greg Earls, a man with a long trail of fraud
accusations in his past, Biggs called on SEC Chairman Pitt to resign."
... "The new board has until April to launch its operations in earnest."
... ""You're going to need at least 100 people. You're setting up a real
operation in the next few months," says Charles Bowsher, who headed the
Public Oversight Board, an accounting-industry body that was disbanded
this year and will be replaced by the SEC-appointed panel." -By
Greg Farrell -USATODAY
-
- "Playing
the Ad Game: Marketers Use Online Games to
Make Soft Sales Pitches." ... "Analysts are still trying to determine just
what kind of impact such "advergames" will have on the overall dismal online
advertising market. But many note that the addictive nature of such interactive
games are attracting companies to try and develop the medium into an effective
advertising vehicle." ... "Most developers say it can cost anywhere from
$50,000 to $500,000 to produce an advergame, depending on its complexity.
However, the return on such investments can be much higher than other forms
of advertising." -By Paul Eng
-ABCNEWS.com
- Accounting
News - "White
House narrows SEC chief hunt: Quick decision
needed to restore investor confidence, experts say." ... "Even as high-profile
cases against companies like WorldCom and Enron continue to be investigated
by SEC lawyers, the political fallout surrounding Pitt is affecting the
overall mission and charge of the agency." ... "Among those most closely
keeping an eye on who Pitt’s replacement will be are those in the accounting
industry. Accounting lobbyists furiously lobbied against the nomination
of reformist John Biggs to head the independent accounting oversight board
and instead pressed Pitt to nominate William Webster, former head of the
F.B.I. instead." ... "Now Webster is also resigning amid allegations about
his role as the head of the audit board of U.S. Technologies, a company
that later discovered to be racked with accounting problems that Webster
himself acknowledges he was made aware of at the time." -By
Brock N. Meeks -MSNBC
- "Intel's
$10 Billion Gamble: Tech's ailing, yet the
chip king is opening plants and entering new markets. Its bet: that no
competitor can afford to keep up." ... "The labyrinthine vastness of Intel's
nearly completed D1D semiconductor factory in Hillsboro, Ore., is every
bit as breathtaking as the microscopic intricacy of the microprocessors
it will soon start making." ... "By investing heavily during a tech recession,
Intel thinks it can leap a generation ahead in chip know-how and manufacturing
ability." ... However, the piece opines, that "even if Intel widens its
dominant 81% market share for PC microprocessors, it won't generate enough
incremental sales to use all that new capacity, nor will it get back to
growing at its historical double-digit rates." ... "The transistors on
the chips pounded out at D1D will be smaller than 90 nanometers across--so
small that ten of them would fit in the diameter of a human hair--vs. 130
nanometers at the current state of the art." (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Brent Schlender with associate Noshua Watson
-Fortune
TIA:
Total Information Awareness -
- "Pentagon
Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans."
... "As the director of the effort, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, has described
the system in Pentagon documents and in speeches, it will provide intelligence
analysts and law enforcement officials with instant access to information
from Internet mail and calling records to credit card and banking transactions
and travel documents, without a search warrant." ... "Historically, military
and intelligence agencies have not been permitted to spy on Americans without
extraordinary legal authorization." ... "In order to deploy such a system,
known as Total Information Awareness, new legislation would be needed,
some of which has been proposed by the Bush administration in the Homeland
Security Act that is now before Congress. That legislation would amend
the Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to limit what government agencies
could do with private information." (1, 2)
-By John Markoff -NYTimes
via -LawMeme
UPS
News - "United
Parcel raises rates by up to 3.9%." ... "United Parcel
will boost prices Jan. 6 for ground shipments to businesses, its largest
market, by 3.9 percent." ... "United Parcel shares rose 73 cents to $62.34
yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen
14 percent this year." -Bloomberg
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- Microsoft
News - "The
Microsoft case: Antitrust overseers are named." ...
"Microsoft yesterday established a committee of directors to make sure
it obeys the law — a move mandated by a federal judge's Nov. 1 ruling in
the company's antitrust case." ... "Meeting a requirement to set up the
compliance committee, Microsoft appointed Harvard Business School professor
James Cash to lead the group, which also includes Merck Chief Executive
Raymond Gilmartin and former U.S. Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin Korologos."
-By Kim Peterson -SeattleTimes.NWsource
- Microsoft
News - "MS
Palladium: A must or a menace? At the USENIX
Security Conference held here recently, Microsoft developers touted the
company's upcoming Palladium architecture as technology that would enhance
privacy, stymie piracy and increase a corporation's control over its computers."
... "Others, however, see a more nefarious role for the security software."
... "Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and co-founder
of the GNU project for creating free versions of key Unix programs, lampooned
the technology in a recent column as "treacherous computing."" ... ""Large
media corporations, together with computer companies such as Microsoft
and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you,"
he wrote. "Proprietary programs have included malicious features before,
but this plan would make it universal."" -By Robert
Lemos -ZDNet>News
- "Wi-Fi,
Heading for Air Supremacy." ... "It turns out wireless
networking start-ups are hot these days. Really hot. Silicon Valley's high
rollers are throwing what little money they have left at wireless entrepreneurs...."
... "There is no shortage of entrepreneurs to back. Vivato, a San Francisco
start-up, announced this week it has developed an antenna system that boosts
the signal strength of Wi-Fi radio beams by focusing them more narrowly.
Vivato claims its antennas can expand the range of Wi-Fi signals from a
few hundred feet to 2,000 feet indoors and four miles outside." -By
Leslie Walker -WashingtonPost
>TechNews
- 
- WorldCom
News - "SEC
Case Against WorldCom Grows: Agency Says Fraud
May Exceed $9 Billion." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission expanded
its fraud case against WorldCom Inc. yesterday, saying the improper bookkeeping
at the telecommunications company stretches back to at least 1999 and the
total amount of fraudulent accounting may exceed $9 billion." -By
Christopher Stern-WashingtonPost
>TechNews
- "Harvey
Pitt resigns as SEC chief." ... "Securities and Exchange
Commission chairman Harvey Pitt stepped down late Tuesday, bringing a stunning
end to his tumultuous 15-month reign as the nation's top securities regulator
amid still-unfolding financial scandals." ... "Although Pitt got caught
in numerous public-relations flaps during his tenure, his resignation stems
directly from his handling of the appointment of former FBI director William
Webster to head a new five-member panel charged with overseeing the accounting
industry." ... "Webster's selection was controversial because he was chosen
over a candidate opposed by the accounting industry. At a contentious Oct.
25 hearing, Pitt and the two other Republican commissioners voted for Webster
and the two Democrats voted against him." -By Greg
Farrell -USATODAY
- Enron
News - "Enron
loss major blow to law firm: Vinson & Elkins
regroups after hit." ... "Dynegy has experienced it. So, too, has Arthur
Andersen." ... "And now the city's largest law firm, a historical pillar
of Houston's downtown establishment, is suffering through the repercussions
that come from a too-close association with Enron Corp." ... "A year after
Enron's collapse, Vinson & Elkins is beginning to jettison some of
its partners -- something that is rarely done at major law firms." -By
L. M. Sixel -HoustonChronicle.com
- "Federal
Regulators Sue Ernst & Young." ... "Federal regulators
say accounting giant Ernst & Young misstated the assets of a failed
Chicago-area savings and loan and deliberately delayed reporting the error
to the government." ... "The allegation came Friday in a $548 million fraud
and negligence lawsuit filed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
[FDIC]. It said the accounting firm was silent about the misstated assets
to avoid publicity that would hurt the $11 billion sale of its consulting
arm." ... "Ernst & Young, one of the so-called Big Four accounting
firms, issued a statement blaming Superior Bank's management and a slumping
economy for the collapse of the savings and loan, which was based in west
suburban Oakbrook Terrace." -By Mike Robinson
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "SEC
Chief Is Subject Of Probe: Pitt Failed To Disclose
Past Of Board Nominee." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered
an investigation into the actions of its own chairman yesterday, after
the agency's commissioners learned that Chairman Harvey L. Pitt failed
to tell them that his choice to head a new accounting oversight board chaired
the audit committee of a company being questioned about possible fraud."
... "Former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster told Pitt about his
association with Washington-based U.S. Technologies Inc. more than a week
before the SEC approved Webster by a 3 to 2 party-line vote last Friday.
The new board, intended to restore investor confidence, was created by
legislation passed after accounting scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc.
and several other major companies cost investors and employees billions
of dollars." -By Kathleen Day, David S. Hilzenrath
and Shannon Henry-WashingtonPost
- "SEC
investigates choice of Webster for board." ... "The
Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday opened an investigation into
the selection of former FBI director William Webster to run a new five-member
board to oversee the embattled accounting industry, amid escalating calls
for SEC chairman Harvey Pitt to resign. The White House said it stood by
Pitt, but also said it did not have all the facts in the matter." ... "Pitt
requested the probe under pressure from fellow SEC commissioners, some
of whom have publicly complained that he bowed to pressure from the accounting
industry last month when he selected Webster to run the new board instead
of another, more experienced candidate." -By Sue Kirchhoff
-Boston/Globe
- "Audit
Overseer Cited Problems in Previous Post." ... "Shortly
before William H. Webster was appointed to head a new board overseeing
the accounting profession by the Securities and Exchange Commission last
Friday, he told the commission's chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, that he had
until recently headed the auditing committee of a company that was facing
fraud accusations, Mr. Webster recounted today." ... "Mr. Pitt chose not
to tell the other four commissioners who voted on Mr. Webster's nomination
that day, according to S.E.C. officials. White House officials said they,
too, were not informed about the details of Mr. Webster's work for the
company." (1, 2)
-By Stephen Labaton -NYTimesvia
-AltaVista-News
Enron
News - "Ex-Enron
Executive Indicted on 78 Counts." ... "A federal
grand jury on Thursday handed up a 78-count indictment accusing fired Enron
executive Andrew Fastow of engaging in fraud, money laundering, and other
crimes to enrich himself and create the "illusion of business skill and
success" at the ruined energy giant." ... "The indictment added a new charge
that Fastow, 40, allegedly obstructed justice by trying to persuade former
protege Michael Kopper, who is cooperating with prosecutors, to destroy
computer records." ... "The order to Kopper, who pleaded guilty Aug. 21
and implicated his former boss in a series of fraud and kickback schemes,
came in August and September 2001." -By C. Bryson
Hull -Reuters/Business
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Union
Blames Co.'s for Dock Trouble: Dockworkers'
Union Files Documents Blaming Shipping Companies for Slowdown." ... "Shipping
companies are mismanaging cargo at major Pacific ports so federal prosecutors
can blame longshoremen for a work slowdown, the dockworker's union contends."
... "The union made the allegation in documents filed Tuesday with the
Justice Department." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Union
points finger at shippers, Justice Department in filing."
... "The West Coast dockworkers union blames mismanagement by shipping
companies for slow movement of cargo, saying Pacific Maritime Association
members are trying to make longshoremen look bad." ... "In documents filed
yesterday with the Justice Department, the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union also said the department appears to blame longshoremen
for the backlog. The union says the department has not asked the maritime
association to respond to union charges that its mismanagement is keeping
ports clogged." -By Frank Vinluan -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Longshore
union blames owners for port backlog: Letter
to feds refutes charges by management." ... "A combination of increased
traffic, a lack of skilled labor, equipment shortages and breakdowns and
other logistical problems that are the responsibility of employers explains
the decline in number of cargo containers processed, said the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union." ... "The union made its case in a letter
to the Department of Justice, which had requested a response to an allegation
of a slowdown made by the owners' group, the Pacific Maritime Association."
-By George Raine -SFGate.com
- "Disney
to Offer New Internet Access Service [Through Microsoft]."
... "That could create a curious conflict, since MSN's news service is
provided by MSNBC, Microsoft's joint venture with NBC News, not Disney's
ABCNews.com. Mr. Eisner said in an interview that Disney had already decided
to accept adjacent cooperation and competition. Last year, Disney merged
its ESPN.com sports Web site with the sports section of MSN. That deal
helped ESPN.com rise to be the clear audience leader among sports sites
on the Web." -By Saul Hansell
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "N.Y. Times
to buy Post's 50% share of IHT." ... "The International
Herald Tribune will be acquired by one of its two current owners, The New
York Times Co., which will buy out the 50 percent interest of The Washington
Post Co. under a plan announced Tuesday." ... "The sale, which follows
some contentious, behind-the-scenes negotiations between two of the world's
most famous newspapers, should not have any immediate effect on the IHT.
"The world's daily newspaper," as the IHT calls itself, will continue to
be published in 22 printing sites around the world and distributed in more
than 180 countries." ... "After Katharine Graham's death last year, she
was replaced by her son Donald, who is chief executive of the Post company.
Though the elder Sulzberger remains as IHT co-chairman, his son Arthur
Ochs Sulzberger Jr., is now chairman of the Times company." -IHT.com
- OPINION
- "Can
You Trust Your Computer?" ... "Who should your computer
take its orders from? Most people think their computers should obey them,
not obey someone else. With a plan they call "trusted computing," large
media corporations (including the movie companies and record companies),
together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning
to make your computer obey them instead of you. Proprietary programs have
included malicious features before, but this plan would make it universal."
... ""Treacherous computing" is a more appropriate name, because the plan
is designed to make sure your computer will systematically disobey you."
... "Programs that use treacherous computing will continually download
new authorization rules through the Internet, and impose those rules automatically
on your work. If Microsoft, or the U.S. government, does not like what
you said in a document you wrote, they could post new instructions telling
all computers to refuse to let anyone read that document. Each computer
would obey when it downloads the new instructions. Your writing would be
subject to 1984-style retroactive erasure. You might be unable to read
it yourself." -By Richard Stallman
-NewsForge via -CorpWatch.org
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Imports,
exports clog ports." ... "More than a week after
longshoremen returned to the docks after the 12-day lockout, a logjam of
ships persists at 29 ports in Oregon, Washington and California, confounding
shipping lines' schedules, sowing confusion among importers and exporters,
and in several cases threatening their bottom lines." ... "Since May, the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union has battled the Pacific Maritime
Association, which represents terminal operators and shipping lines, over
a new three-year contract. Acrimonious negotiations prompted the maritime
association to lock workers out Sept. 27." -By Boaz
Herzog and Dylan Rivera -OregonLive.com/Oregonian
- "Bush
Seeks to Cut Back on Raise for S.E.C.'s Corporate Cleanup."
... "Less than three months ago, President Bush signed with great fanfare
sweeping corporate antifraud legislation that called for a huge increase
in the budget of the Securities and Exchange Commission to police corporate
America and clean up Wall Street." ... "Now the White House is backing
off the budget provision and urging Congress to provide the agency with
27 percent less money than the new law authorized. Administration officials
say their proposed increase is enough and that other budgetary needs, like
the military and security against terrorism, make it impossible to afford
more." ... "Harvey L. Pitt, the commission's chairman, has acknowledged
through a spokesman that the administration's level of financing will not
allow it to undertake important initiatives." (1, 2)
-By Stephen Labaton-NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- Enron
News - "CHRONOLOGY-
California power crisis investigations." ... "A former
top Enron Corp. electricity trader pleaded guilty Thursday to inflating
prices during the California energy crisis, confirming the suspicions of
state officials who are demanding billions of dollars in refunds." ...
"Timothy Belden, who was employed by Enron as the head of its western power
trading unit in Portland, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy
to commit wire fraud, federal prosecutors said."
-Reuters via -Fortune
- "Jakarta links
Bali bombing to Al Qaeda: Security boosted
at plants of U.S. energy companies." ... "In the government's most explicit
acknowledgment that Al Qaeda is operating in Indonesia, the defense minister
linked the terrorist group Monday to a nightclub explosion Saturday that
killed and wounded hundreds of people on the resort island of Bali." ...
"President George W. Bush, linking the bombing of a French oil tanker off
Yemen and the shooting of two U.S. Marines in Kuwait, said Monday that
the Bali explosion appeared to be part of "a pattern of attack" by Al Qaeda."
... "Australia said Monday it had information linking Al Qaeda to the Bali
bomb blasts, Reuters reported from Bali." -By Seth
Mydans -NYTimes
-IHT.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Shippers:
W. Coast Dock Work Slows: West Coast Shipping
Lines Say Dock Work Rate Is Down About 25 Percent." ... "Officials with
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it was only a matter
of time before their employers accused them of slowing down work. The union
has said the docks are congested because of the 10-day lockout, which ended
Wednesday evening on orders from a federal judge in San Francisco." ...
""You've got a logistical nightmare out here caused by their lockout,"
said union spokesman Steve Stallone. "They've created all the problems
themselves and they're searching and searching for a way to say it's the
union's fault."" ... "He said that the union has asked the association
to train more workers than the current 10,500 members, but that it has
balked. Union members also said they will adhere to safety rules."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Dock
backlog likely to hit Christmas sales: Intervention
by Bush will get ports moving again, but return to normal is uncertain."
... "At least four weeks of loading and unloading backlog still lie ahead,
after which the movement of goods will still be crimped. The amount of
available dock space, and the number of containers, ships, and personnel
to process goods are all in question." ... "The result, for the short term
of five weeks, will continue to be the stranding of both perishable foodstuffs
as well as goods destined for those markets with very specific windows
of salability." -By Daniel B. Wood
-CSMonitor/buy
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Bush
Gets The Goods Moving." ... "Judge Alsup will hold
a hearing in a week on whether to grant a full 80-day injunction. Such
an order would push the dispute past the Christmas buying season, past
the November elections--and, perhaps, past the start of the war, if it
comes." ... "The judge issued a temporary restraining order that expires
Oct. 16. On that day, he will hold a hearing to determine whether to impose
the 80-day cooling-off period as mandated by Taft-Hartley at that time.
Both sides expect the judge to do so." -By Dan Ackman
-Forbes
- -West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Asia
Relieved U.S. Ports Reopen: Asia Relieved,
but Counts Cost As West Coast Ports Set to Reopen." ... "Hong Kong's Trade
Development Council has estimated local losses linked to the shutdown would
be at least $128.2 million." ... "The impact has varied, though with countries
like Malaysia and Taiwan that specialize in high-value electronics and
computer equipment to the United States saying they are least affected
because a large share of their exports are shipped by air."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "West
Coast Ports Set to Reopen After Court Intervenes in Labor Dispute."
... "Workers may need as long as two and a half months to clear the backlog
of goods caused by the 10-day lockout at 29 major Pacific ports." ... "The
most often-cited study estimated total harm to the economy from the labor
strife at between $1 billion and $2 billion a day. The study, prepared
for the shippers' association by Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pa., estimated
the cost of a 10-day stoppage at $19 billion."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- -West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Port
Lockout Left Cargo Stranded." ... "The current port
shutdown occurred in a critical month, October, when imports are generally
at their highest as American retailers rush to obtain deliveries for the
all-important Christmas sales season. The October-December period normally
accounts for 40 percent of retailers' annual sales." ... "The West Coast
ports, which handle more than $300 billion in trade annually, account for
more than half of all containerized cargo moving in and out of the country,
reflecting the burgeoning trade with Pacific Rim countries." -By
Martin Crutsinger -AP
via -Newsday.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Stocks
Rise on Hopes That Port Dispute Will Be Resolved."
... "Investors took heart after Bush said he will seek a court order to
suspend a management lockout of workers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports. Citing
a need to protect the U.S. economy and jobs, Bush is invoking the 1947
Taft-Hartley labor act for the first time since 1978 despite administration
fears of an organized labor backlash."
-Reuters via -NYTimes
via -Moreover
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "U.S.
Port Talks Break Down, Crisis Escalates." ... "The
lockout of ports handling $300 billion in trade has raised widespread fears
of new disruptions in the faltering U.S. economy." ... "With billions of
dollars worth of cargo stranded in ship holds and dock terminals, manufacturing
production lines are beginning to shut down, food shipments are rotting
and retailers are growing anxious that shop shelves will be bare just as
the U.S. holiday shopping season gets underway." -By
Kevin Krolicki-Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Bush
to Intervene in Port Lockout." ... "President Bush
will take the first step toward ending a labor dispute between West Coast
port workers and shipping lines Monday by forming a board of inquiry to
make a quick assessment of the economic damage and determine whether the
two sides are negotiating in good faith." ... "Bush is forming the board
under the Taft-Hartley Act, hours after talks broke down between the union
and management Sunday night." -By Leigh Strope
-AP via -Seattle-PI.com.NWsource
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Port
Talks Break Off Indefinitely." ... "Labor talks broke
off between longshoremen and shipping lines after the union rejected the
latest contract proposal in a dispute that has shut down West Coast ports
and done billions of dollars in damage to the economy." ... "The Pacific
Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal
operators, has locked out 10,500 members of the longshoremen's union, claiming
the dockworkers had engaged in a slowdown late last month." -By
Simon Avery -AP
via -Seattle-PI.com.NWsource
-
- "Night
owls boost online spending." ... "Internet shopping
has captured a new "out-of-hours" market which is claiming an ever greater
proportion of UK retail spending, a report said." ... "Research from Barclaycard
suggested that one third of all online sales were made between 6pm and
9am." ... "The report suggested travel and financial service products were
the most popular online purchases with night owls, and that the average
spend was £1.60 higher than during the day."-BBC/News
- "An
Iraq war's economic toll: Early estimates put
the total cost as high as $200 billion, but economists say it's hard to
figure the actual impact." ... "Despite the uncertainties, hardly any economist
thinks the cost of the conflict will be too onerous for the economy. The
Gulf War cost about $80 billion, or about 1 percent of US gross domestic
product. Early estimates put a second Iraq war between $100 billion and
$200 billion – again about 1 to 2 percent of GDP." ... "But estimating
the cost of the war is also slippery for economists." -By
Ron Scherer -CSMonitor/buy
UPS
News - "UPS
faces escalating ground war." ... "FedEx Ground,
the Memphis-based company's trucking subsidiary, reported a 33 percent
increase in package shipments in the quarter that ended Aug. 31. That followed
a 15 percent jump in daily ground volume for fiscal year 2002." ... "The
recent quarter's surge was fueled in part by a spike in "diverted" volume
from UPS customers concerned about a possible Teamsters strike. UPS and
the Teamsters agreed to a new contract in July, but about 4 percent of
its package volume, or 500,000 daily packages, went to competitors in the
weeks before the agreement." ... "FedEx says it expects to keep a "significant
portion" of the 150,000 additional daily shipments it gained." -By
Dave Hirschman-AJC
- "Hershey
Trust decides not to sell candy maker: The
trust company that controls Hershey Foods Corp. voted not to sell the candy
manufacturer, the company announced late Tuesday."
-CNN
- "A
small town mirrors shift to 'flexible' factory era."
... "Can Greenville [Illinois] – and the United States – polish up its
factories and still thrive on manufacturing? Short term, the prospects
look iffy because the sector's expansion has slowed. Long term, the answer
looks more positive, experts say, with one twist: today's factories don't
create as many new jobs as they used to." ... "Call it the downside of
productivity. Today's factories churn out nearly three times as much real
value as they did in 1965 but actually employ slightly fewer people."
... ""The manufacturing sector in the long run is not a net job creator,"
says David Huether, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers
(NAM) in Washington, D.C." -By Laurent Belsie
-CSMonitor/buy
Enron
News -
-
- "British
Bankers Indicted in Enron Case." ... "A federal grand
jury in Houston yesterday indicted three British bankers on wire-fraud
charges in connection with an alleged scheme to swindle their employer
out of $7.3 million and enrich themselves and senior executives at Enron
Corp." ... "The seven-count indictment names David Bermingham, Giles Darby
and Gary Mulgrew, former employees at National Westminster Bank PLC who
allegedly conspired with Enron's onetime chief financial officer and his
key aide by using a secretive offshore partnership to siphon off money
owed to the bank." -By Carrie Johnson-WashingtonPost
Enron
News -
-
- "Enron
probe indicts three British bankers." ... "Federal
prosecutors in Houston on Thursday indicted three British bankers on wire
fraud charges in connection with an Enron Corp. deal considered a critical
piece of the case being built against former Chief Financial Officer Andrew
Fastow." -By C. Bryson Hull
-Reuters via -Forbes
- "Hershey
Sale Hearing Set for Sept. 11." ... "The Hershey
Trust Co. has said the sale proposal is among options it has considered
for diversifying the $5.4 billion portfolio of the Milton Hershey School
Trust for disadvantaged children. The trust company serves as trustee for
the school, which has over half its assets in Hershey stock." -By
David Morgan -Reuters
via /Business
- "Japan
Stocks Close at 19-Year Low." ... "The benchmark
225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 141.95 points, or 1.54 percent, at
9,075.09 Wednesday its lowest finish since Sept. 17, 1983, when it closed
at 9,010.08. On Tuesday, the Nikkei plunged 304.59 points, or 3.12 percent."
... "On the stock market, the Nikkei temporarily fell below the psychologically
important 9000-point level before inching up to a 19-year closing low."
-By Natalie Obiko Pearson-AP
via -Newsday.com
- "Bhopal
charges intact: Ex-Chairman of Union Carbide Still
Held liable in Deadly 1984 Gas Leak in India." ... "[India's] Chief Judicial
Magistrate Rameshwar Kotha asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to
start extradition proceedings against former chairman Warren Anderson."
... "The leak of deadly methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide plant
in Bhopal, the capital of central Madhya Pradesh state, killed 4,000 people
within hours on the night of Dec. 2, 1984. Over the years, the death toll
has risen to 14,410 as those sickened by the gas later died, the government
says." -By Mazhar Ullah
-AP via -MercuryNews
Enron
News - "Enron
audit costs Andersen Worldwide $60 million." ...
"Andersen's vast global accounting empire, which boasted 85,000 employees
in 84 countries and more than $9 billion in revenue last year, lies in
tatters after its U.S. arm was found guilty of obstructing justice in the
Enron investigation." ... "The U.S. arm of the network, Arthur Andersen,
wasn't part of the agreement, according to a person familiar with the matter."
-Reuters via -CNET
/News
- "Saudi
investors 'pull out of US'." ... "Saudi investors
are reported to have withdrawn billions of dollars from the United States,
as relations between the two countries have come under increasing strain."
... "Withdrawals by individual Saudi investors may amount to $200bn, contributing
to the recent falls in the dollar, one analyst told the Financial Times
newspaper." -BBC
/News
Enron
News - "Justice
Department Seeking $23 Million in Assets From Enron Former CFO Fastow [and
his family and "unnamed associates"]." ... "The government
contends the proceeds represent "assets derived from a scheme to unlawfully
generate millions of dollars for themselves," according to a person familiar
with the situation." -By Jonahthan Weil
-WSJ.com via -Quicken.com
Enron
News - "Former
Enron executive pleads guilty to money laundering, wire fraud; to surrender
$12 million." ... "In his written pleading, [Michael]
Kopper said his activities were conducted under the direction of Fastow
and in some cases in concert with Fastow." ... "Kopper's cooperation represents
a potential watershed in the investigation, given his knowledge of Enron's
innermost workings." ... He "could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison
and fined up to double the amount determined to have been fraudulently
gained." -By Kristen Hays
-AP via -Boston/Globe
Enron
News - "Former
Enron Executive Kopper Will Plead Guilty of Fraud."
... "... Michael Kopper will plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering
charges, in what would be the first criminal indictment in the federal
investigation of the fallen energy giant."
-WSJ.com via -Quicken.com
- Enron
News - "Arthur
Andersen loses license to practice in Texas." ...
"The state board that regulates the Texas accounting profession voted unanimously
to revoke the once venerable firm's license because of the company's obstruction
of justice conviction." ... "Andersen was convicted by a Houston jury in
June of obstruction of justice in a federal investigation of Enron's financial
collapse." -By Natalie Gott
-AP via -NandoTimes
- 
- OPINION
- "India,
Pakistan and G.E.." ... "Two months ago India and
Pakistan appeared headed for a nuclear war. Colin Powell, the U.S. secretary
of state and a former general, played a key role in talking the two parties
back from the brink. But here in India, I've discovered that there was
another new, and fascinating, set of pressures that restrained the Indian
government and made nuclear war, from its side, unthinkable. Quite simply,
India's huge software and information technology industry, which has emerged
over the last decade and made India the back-room and research hub of many
of the world's largest corporations, essentially told the nationalist Indian
government to cool it. And the government here got the message and has
sought to de-escalate ever since. That's right — in the crunch, it was
the influence of General Electric, not General Powell, that did the trick."
-By Thomas L. Friedman
-NYTimes via -Moreover
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
reveals $3.8 billion more in errors." ... "The company
now says it will restate its earnings for 2000 in addition to 2001 and
the first quarter of 2002. An extra $3.3 billion in improperly reported
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA),
plus a further $501 million change in the company's non-EBITDA pre-tax
adjustments, brings its total reduction in pre-tax profit since 1999 to
$7.68 billion, the company said in a statement Thursday." -By
David Legard and Matt Berger -InfoWorld
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
discovers $3.3B more in errors." ... "The $3.3 billion,
found by WorldCom auditors, came from "a whole cadre of things," Sidgmore
says. Much of it was from turning reserves set aside for such things as
bad debt and acquisitions into revenue. The earlier alleged fraud was for
improperly hiding expenses, which boosted earnings." -By
Kevin Maney and Thor Valdmanis -USATODAY
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Finds Another $3.3B in Errors." ... "Bankrupt telecommunications
firm WorldCom Inc. said Thursday it uncovered another $3.3 billion in bogus
accounting, adding to the $3.85 billion fraud it revealed in June." ...
"The additional fraud would bring the total of phony accounting at WorldCom
to some $7 billion." -By Matt Moore
-AP via -WashingtonPost>TechNews
Operation_TIPS
- "When
neighbors attack! Volunteers for Operation TIPS,
John Ashcroft's citizen spy army, are being steered to the Fox crime show
"America's Most Wanted." Is the merger of tabloid TV with the federal snooping
operation funny or scary or both?" -By Dave Lindorff
-Salon
-
"Stock
Prices Plunge in Tokyo." ... "Tokyo stocks plunged
Tuesday, with its key index temporarily falling just above the 18-year
low it posted in February, on selling triggered by continued uncertainty
on Wall Street. The dollar climbed against the yen."
-AP via -WashingtonPost
Enron
News - "Enron
probe looks at alleged bribery: Federal prosecutors
examine overseas operations." ... "Federal prosecutors are investigating
whether Enron Corp. for years bribed foreign government officials to win
contracts for its far-flung operations abroad, underscoring the sweep of
the government’s probe into Enron’s collapse." -By
John R. Wilke -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
WorldCom
News - "Former
WorldCom CFO, Controller Arrested." ... "If convicted,
the men could face a prison term of up to five years and a $250,000 fine
on the one conspiracy count and 10 years and a $1 million fine on each
of the fraud and false filings counts." ... "Although the securities reform
legislation signed on Tuesday quadruples penalties for accounting fraud,
the WorldCom executives were charged under pre-existing laws because the
alleged wrongdoing predates the new statue." -By Gail
Appleson -Reuters
via -FindLaw /LegalNews
WorldCom
News - "Complaint
Against Former WorldCom CFO And Controller."
-FindLaw /LegalNews/Documents
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
ex-CFO surrenders. ... "A criminal complaint charges
both Sullivan and David Myers, WorldCom's former controller, with securities
fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and filing false statements
that allowed the No. 2 long-distance phone service provider to inflate
profits by hiding $3.8 billion in expenses." ... "One count of securities
fraud charges that Sullivan directed Myers to improperly account for billions
of dollars of operating expenses as capital expenses starting last year.
The second count involves conspiracy. The final five counts involve filing
false financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which
has filed civil fraud charges against WorldCom."
-CNN /fn
Enron
News - "Merrill
Denies Helping Enron Hide Losses." ... "An official
at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. asked whether the firm would suffer a "reputational
risk" if it helped "aid/abet" Enron Corp. to sweeten its books by entering
into a $7 million deal, according to documents presented at a Senate hearing
today." ... "Senators sharply criticized Merrill for contradicting documents
that congressional investigators had gathered from the firm's own files,
including one internal Merrill 1999 communication that called the Nigerian
barge deal "the most unusual deal of the week" and said it was a "'relationship'
loan."" -WashingtonPost
Enron
News - "Merrill
Lynch denies helping Enron cover up ailing finances."
... "Skeptical senators accused Merrill Lynch & Co. today of abandoning
its moral, if not legal, responsibility to investors by helping Enron hide
its financial problems despite a host of ethical questions." ... "At issue
was whether Merrill Lynch did Enron the favor of buying an energy-producing
barge service in Nigeria -- with Enron promising the service would be bought
in six months -- knowing that the energy giant was going to claim the transaction
as a sale to boost its earnings statements. Technically, senators said,
the transaction was a loan, not a sale, and Merrill Lynch knew it."
-AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
Enron
News - "Merrill
[Lynch] Replaced Research Analyst Who Upset Enron."
... "In the summer of 1998, when it was eager to win more investment banking
business from Enron, Merrill Lynch replaced a research analyst who had
angered Enron executives by rating the company's stock "neutral" with an
analyst who soon upgraded the rating, according to Congressional investigators."
... "The chairman of the Senate committee, Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan,
said Merrill was part of several "troubling" deals with Enron. The panel's
ranking Republican, Susan M. Collins of Maine, added that it appeared Merrill
"knowingly participated in deals that were used to make Enron's financial
position appear more robust than it actually was."" -By
Richard A. Oppel Jr. -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
Enron
News - "Enron
art committee spent millions in final months." ...
"Most of the works are now in storage, awaiting sale. And while art lovers
lament the loss, others view the spending spree as symbolic of the arrogance
of Enron's leadership." ... ""To be amassing a collection of art while
the ship is sinking - it's the symbol of the thing," said Dr. W. Michael
Hoffman, director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College
outside Boston." -AP
via -NandoTimes
HUMOR_;-)
- Operation_TIPS
- "Citizen
freedom fighters: Eddie the pool man, Jake the cable
guy and Madge the janitor free America from the real terrorists." ... "Citizen
Corps - Working for TIPS." -By -Mark
Fiore -Salon
OPINION
- "A
fool's paradise for CEOs." ... Regarding requiring
"that CEOs attest to the accuracy of corporate financial statements," Sun
Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy, reportedly said ""I haven't convinced myself
that it is in the best interest of our shareholders," McNealy told the
[New York] Times." ... "McNealy's attitude is the culmination of the last
decade's ascendant ethos for U.S. business: near worship and lavish compensation
for people who "make things happen" coupled with near contempt and minimal
rewards for people who "make things work."" -By Michael
Thomas -Salon
WorldCom
News - "Worldcom
files for protection in bankruptcy court." ... "The
filing took place late Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. WorldCom
President John Sidgmore said the filing would ensure that the company receives
about $2 billion in financing while it reorganizes." -Miami/Herald
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
files for bankruptcy: Embattled telecom’s board
of directors approves action." ... "WorldCom’s debtor-in-possession funding
was arranged by lead bank Citigroup Inc. along with J.P. Morgan Chase and
General Electric Co.’s financial-services arm, GE Capital. Providing the
financing gives these institutions what is called “super-priority” status
among WorldCom creditors, which means they will be repaid for the new loans
before anyone else." -By Shawn Young, Carrick Mollenkamp,
Jared Sandberg and Henny Sender -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
drops bomb on telecom." ... "It is the largest company
by far to file for bankruptcy-court protection. WorldCom claimed $107 billion
in assets in March, dwarfing the next-biggest bankruptcy filing
Enron, which claimed $63 billion in assets when it filed." -By
Kevin Maney and Andrew Backover -USATODAY
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Value at a Glance." ... "WorldCom Inc. is a conglomerate
of some 70 companies, assembled in a string of mergers by former chief
executive Bernard Ebbers." Holdings include MCI, UUNET, MFS, Brooks Fiber,
Digex Inc., SkyTel, Embratel, Avantel, and more.
-AP via -Newsday.com
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Accounts Shifted in 2000." ... "Several managers
at WorldCom discovered the earlier juggling of the books, tried to do something
about it and were brushed off by senior executives, Rep. Billy Tauzin,
R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Sunday."
-By Marcy Gordon -AP
via -WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "Lawmaker:
WorldCom cooked books back in 2000." ... "A finance
department employee named Troy Normand pointed out bookkeeping problems
in 2000 to Sullivan and company controller David Myers, and contemplated
resigning after he was assured there was nothing wrong, [Republican Representative
Billy] Tauzin said." -By Andy Sullivan
-Reuters via -Miami/Herald
- "Dick
Cheney in the Andersen [promotional] video: "I get
good advice, if you will, from their people....""
-BBC /News
UPS
News - "UPS,
FedEx Pick Euro [Wireless] Standard." ... "United
Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp., wireless pioneers and two of the largest
users of mobile wireless data services, have both decided to standardize
globally on IP-based General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the next-generation
version of the European Global System for Mobile Communications (GMS) standard,
to support their pickup, delivery and package-tracking operations worldwide."
... "In the future, the [GPRS] network will also support voice as well
as data, global roaming, video telephony and real-time emergency services...."
-By
Bob Brewin and Linda Rosencrance
-Computerworld
WorldCom
News - "Ebbers
denies role, triggers debate: WorldCom founder
says he's got 'nothing to hide.'" After declaring his innocence,
Ebbers subsequently invoked the Fifth Amendment, "several irate members
of the House Financial Services Committee charged that Ebbers forfeited
his Fifth Amendment protection by denying any complicity in the affair."
-By
Jeffry Bartash
-CBSNews /MarketWatch
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
executives, former auditors clash." ... "WorldCom
Chairman Bert Roberts called auditor Arthur Andersen's failure to uncover
the irregularities "inconceivable.''" ... "Former Andersen partner Melvin
Dick countered that auditors rely ``on the honesty and integrity of the
management of the company.''" -AP
via -MercuryNews
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
wants former CFO to repay $10M bonus." ... "WorldCom
Inc. filed a federal lawsuit Friday against former chief financial officer
Scott Sullivan, who was fired after the company revealed it had improperly
accounted for nearly $4 billion in expenses." ... "The battered telecommunications
giant is demanding that Sullivan, 40, pay back the $10 million bonus he
received last year." -AP
via -USATODAY
- WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Fallout: Four editorial page editors and writers
discuss the state of corporate responsibility in the wake of the WorldCom
scandal." -PBS
/NewsHour
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom,
MCI trading halt lifted: Yet stocks set to
de-list after July 4 holiday." ... "WorldCom is now trading under the ticker
"WCOME." MCI Group is being listed under the symbol "MCITE."" .. "Under
Nasdaq procedures, the "E" is added to an existing symbol to designate
a company that is delinquent in its filings to the Securities and Exchange
Commission, a spokesman said." -By Jeffry Bartash
-CBSNews /MarketWatch
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Internal Accounting Probe Expands." ... "WorldCom
said it is has requested the assistance of its new auditor KPMG LLP in
the review of 1999 and 2000 accounting. "In particular, questions have
been raised regarding certain material reversals of reserve accounts during
2000 and 1999," WorldCom said in the sworn document signed by general counsel
Michael H. Salsbury." -WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Debacle Causes Telco Shock Waves." ... "Sources close
to the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier said WorldCom likely
will not shut down its voice and data networks, which carry about half
of all e-mail traffic worldwide, without sufficient warning to customers.
Still, many maintain that the company's time is limited." -By
Caron Carlson -eWEEK
WorldCom
News - "Want
a Piece of WorldCom? Contact the Company's
Bankers." ... "The assets that are getting so much scrutiny were assembled
into WorldCom as part of a flurry of deals that made the company a stock
market favorite in the 1990's. John W. Sidgmore, WorldCom's chief executive,
sold UUNet Technologies, the Internet service provider he built, to MFS
in 1996. He joined WorldCom when it bought MFS in 1996." -By
Simon Romero and Riva D. Atlas -NYTimes
via -AltaVista.com/News
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Feeling Job Loss Pain." ... "... 17,000 of the company's
80,000 workers worldwide" will be terminated, "including some at its Clinton
[Mississippi] headquarters." -By John Porretto
-AP via -WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
revelations renew telecom doubts." ... "Just as Enron
Corp.'s collapse raised the heat on its peer energy trading companies,
WorldCom Inc.'s fraud revelations renew doubts about the already battered
telecommunications industry." -By Vikas Bajaj
-DallasNews.com
WorldCom
News - "Business
Reform Gains Support In Senate, SEC: WorldCom
Crisis Prompts Call For Stronger Oversight Rules." ... "If the Senate bill
passes, as Daschle and others now expect, lawmakers will have to reconcile
it with a House-passed bill sponsored by Reps. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio)
and Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.). The House bill is supported by the accounting
industry but, like Pitt's proposal, is has been attacked by Democrats andsome
investor and consumer groups for being too soft on industry." -By
Kathleen Day and Anitha Reddy-WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "It's
déjà vu all over again." ... "Even
if Andersen can be blamed, what about SEC? Its lawyers and accountants
have been investigating WorldCom for three months. Still, it took the company's
own admission for the agency to file charges. The SEC, and especially its
former Wall Street lawyer chairman, Harvey Pitt, have been faulted by some
for its lack of diligence. But is it as incompetent as the WorldCom case
would make it appear, or is there something else going on?"
-By Dan Ackman -Forbes
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom's
Fired 'Whiz Kid' Leaves a Mystery and a Mess." ...
"[CFO] Scott D. Sullivan was the "whiz kid" [CEO] Bernard J. Ebbers relied
on to put together the many mergers that lifted WorldCom from obscurity
as a small long-distance phone company to prominence as a global telecommunications
giant." -By Barnaby J. Feder and David Leonhardt -NYTimes
via -CBSNews
/MarketWatch
WorldCom
News - "Crisis
of Confidence: In the Wake of WorldCom, Have
Investors Had Enough?" ... "Corporate scandals these days are a lot like
Jason, the hockey-masked killer from the Friday the 13th movies. Just when
you think he's dead, he springs back to life for yet another remake."
-ABCNEWS.com
WorldCom
News - "Sidgmore:
'Utterly Shocked'." ... "John W. Sidgmore, WorldCom's
chief executive for the past two months, got a phone call last Thursday
from the head of the company's audit committee. There's a potential problem,
Sidgmore said he was told. An emergency meeting at the new auditors' office
was called for that night." -By Shannon Henry
-WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "Another
blow for corporate America: WorldCom's woes
further undermine a fragile economy, shake Wall Street, and may affect
millions of consumers." -By Ron Scherer and Alexandra
Marks -CSMonitor/buy
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Nears Bankruptcy; Faces Charges of Fraud." ... "WorldCom
on Tuesday night fired Scott Sullivan, its chief financial officer since
1994, and said it would restate results for the last five quarters, erasing
all profits from the beginning of 2001." ... ""There's going to be more
restatements (by WorldCom), if they cooked the books this badly in 2001,
they need to check previous years," said Scott Cleland, chief executive
of the independent research firm Precursor Group." ... ""It's not just
going to take forensic accounting, it's going to take archeological accounting.""
-By Jessica Hall -Reuters
WorldCom
News - "Euro
rises near to parity with dollar." ... "The euro
surged 1.5% in early trade on Wednesday to a 28-month high of $0.9944,
after WorldCom's admission of accounting fraud trashed investor confidence
in the US." -BBC
/News
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
'Misplaces' $4B in Financial Debacle." ... "In addition
to terminating Scott Sullivan as chief financial officer and secretary,
WorldCom also accepted the resignation of senior vice president and controller
David Myers." -By Kirk L. Kroeker & Stephanie
Losi -ECommerceTimes.com
WorldCom
News - "The
WorldCom We Hardly Knew." -By
Dan Ackman -Forbes
WorldCom
News - "Regulators
move against WorldCom." ... "The fraud is far bigger
in money terms than Enron's misdeeds, and will further undermine the trust
of investors in corporate America."-BBC
/News
WorldCom
News - "Bush
vows investigation into WorldCom scandal."
-MSNBC
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Internal Investigation Uncovers Massive Fraud." ...
"At the SEC, a source familiar with the situation said that the agency's
investigation into the WorldCom fraud could "go right to the top" of the
company's management, potentially including the role of Mr. Ebbers. The
source said the SEC's inquiry will now broaden and accelerate that investigation
to include the massive financial deception." -By Jared
Sandberg, Rebecca Blumenstein, and Shawn Young
-WSJ.com via -Morningstar.com
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Scandal Jars Wall Street." ... "News of another accounting
scandal sent stocks falling Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping
more than 160 points and below 9,000 for the first time since October.
The Nasdaq composite index traded below its post-Sept. 11 closing low and
was in jeopardy of finishing the session at a level not seen in five years."
-By Amy Baldwin -AP
via -WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Says Its Books Are Off By $3.8 Billion." ... "WorldCom
Inc. said last night it had improperly accounted for $3.8 billion in expenses
and would restate its financial results for the last five quarters." (1,
2)
-By
Yuki Noguchi and Renae Merle -WashingtonPost
WorldCom
News - "Massive
Accounting Fraud Fells WorldCom: The giant
telecom discloses a $3.8 billion accounting scam and the markets falter.
TIME looks back at the rise and fall of the company."
-TIME.com
WorldCom
News - "Multibillion-Dollar
Blow: WorldCom Says it Overstated Income for
the Last Five Quarters." ... "In what is among the largest-ever corporate
accounting scandals, No. 2 long-distance phone company WorldCom has revealed
that it cooked its books by nearly $4 billion."
-ABCNEWS.com
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
to Restate Earnings, Fires CFO [Chief Financial Officer Scott] Sullivan.
(Update3)" ... "Arthur Andersen LLP was WorldCom's
auditor until May, when the accounting firm was replaced by KPMG LLP, the
U.S. affiliate of KPMG International, according to a proxy filing with
the SEC." -By Tom Giles
-Bloomberg
Enron
News - "Bigger
Than Enron: Why the largest business scandal
in American history is just the tip of the iceberg
— and why investors should care." -PBS
/FrontLine
Enron
News "Andersen's
guilty verdict puts chill on other boardrooms:
he decision worries many by penalizing the whole firm for one worker's
deed." -By Kris Axtman -CSMonitor/subscribe
Enron
News -
- "Jury
finds Andersen guilty: Auditor convicted of
obstructing U.S. investigation of Enron failure. Firm says verdict 'effectively
ends' its core practice." ... "In an inglorious end to its 89-year history
as the country's pre-eminent accounting firm, Chicago-based Andersen was
convicted Saturday of obstruction of justice for interfering with a federal
investigation of its failed client, Enron Corp." ... "In a surprise to
defense attorneys, jurors said their decision to convict centered not on
the shredding of trunks full of paperwork but largely on the changing of
a just a few words by in-house Andersen attorney Nancy Temple on Andersen
internal memos." -By E.A. Torriero and Robert Manor
-ChicagoTribune
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
Gets Out of Wireless." ... "As the largest reseller
of wireless services in the U.S., WorldCom has some two million customers
generating US$1 billion in revenues. WorldCom has been a major player in
the wireless services market for five-plus years and once set its sights
on becoming a full-scale wireless carrier." -By Jay
Wrolstad -ECommerceTimes.com
TX
- Enron
News
- "Oil
the fuel for East Timor: For the next three
years, the newest nation on earth's economy will be bolstered by $440 million
in aid, after a series of nations pledged to help East Timor out." ...
"But in the long-term, East Timor's economic survival rests on the promise
of oil and gas, with large reserves under an area of sea known as the Timor
Gap." -CNN
WorldCom
News - "The
Rise And Fall Of Bernie Ebbers: A bar bouncer
turned telecom billionaire, he's now out of a job and $366 million in debt.
But he still has faith." (1, 2)
-By Tim Padgett/Jackson
-TIME.com
... In the movie business, "as much as 80% of any film's revenue now comes
not from ticket sales but from its release on video and DVD, pay-TV and
so forth. Filmed entertainment for children is as much about selling toys,
yoghurt pots, lunch-boxes and other paraphernalia as the film itself."
-Economist
WorldCom
News - "WorldCom
founder resigns." ... "Bernie Ebbers, founder and
colourful chief executive of US telecoms company WorldCom, has resigned
following a collapse in the company's share price, falling sales and investigations
into his personal finances." ... "Taking over at the top is 51-year-old
vice chairman John Sidgmore, formerly the head of the company's internet
unit UUNet." -BBC
/News
Enron
News - "Ex-Im
Bank working with Justice Enforcers interested in Enron records."
... "The Export-Import Bank, which helped finance some of Enron's overseas
projects, told a lawmaker this week that it was cooperating with a federal
criminal probe of the bankrupt energy giant." -By
William L. Watts -CBSNews
/MarketWatchEnron
News - "The
Mysterious Death Of An Enron Exec." ... "Police were
criticized for calling it a suicide before investigating, so they kept
the case open. The fact that it's still open more than two months later
has made the Cliff Baxter case prime fodder for murder conspiracy theories,
reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson."
-CBSNews
Enron
News - TheSmokingGun.com
has archived the Bush-Lay
correspondence "exchanged during the years Bush served
as governor of Texas," released by the Austin state archives.Enron
- "Enron
Cited in Call for Reform: Bankruptcy judge
OKs emergency fund for 4,500 former employees but refuses to order payout
of legal fees to executives and directors." -By Thomas
S. Mulligan, Warren Vieth, and Walter Hamilton -LAtimes
Enron
- "Skilling:
Getting Off The Titanic In Ireland."
-By Dan Ackman -Forbes
Enron
- "Enron's
fall ripples into other firms: Wall Street
is skittish about businesses far from Houston." -By Ron Scherer
-CSMonitor/buy
Enron
- "Skilling
on the Hot Seat: Ex-Enron CEO a Swashbuckler
Who Took Home Millions." Once lauded Skilling "walked away with at
least $69 million from sales of company shares," just prior to Enron's
"$60 billion implosion." -ABCNEWS.com
Enron
- "Timeline
of Enron's Collapse." -WashingtonPost
Enron
- "No
Regrets: Enron Exec Sold $270 Million in Stock
Before Company Collapsed." ... "As a top Enron executive, [Lou] Pai set
up a series of multibillion-dollar deals that, even though they mostly
failed, produced huge up-front bonuses for him in Enron stock."
-By Brian Ross -ABCNEWS.com
Enron
- "Enron
accountants may be placed on leave after issuance of report."
-By Rebecca Smith -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
Enron
- "How
Chewco Brought Down an Empire."
-By Peter Behr-WashingtonPost
Enron
- "Enron
lapses and corporate ethics: New questions
surface about corporate leaders as Kenneth Lay testifies before Congress
today." -By Kris Axtman and Ron Scherer
-CSMonitor/buy
Enron
- "Enron
Panel Finds Inflated Profits and Few Controls."
(1, 2)
-By Kurt Eichenwald -NYTimes
via -AltaVista
Enron
- "Enron:
A House Divided." -By Dan Ackman
-Forbes
Enron
- "Some
of Enron chief's recommendations got jobs."
Both the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC.gov),
Pat Wood, and commission member Nora Brownell, received jobs from President
Bush's administration after recomendations by Ken Lay.-AP
via -USATODAY
Enron
- "Houston,
we have a problem: The city where deregulation
is king is in Enron denial -- and won't let go of its wildcatting ways."
(1, 2,
3,
4)
-Salon
Enron
- "Enron
Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books."
-By Kathleen Day and Peter Behr -WashingtonPost
Enron
- "The
spreading Enron mess: As revelations in the
Enron affair continue to tumble out, employees and investors are furious
at the way senior executives seem to have behaved and at how auditors,
analysts, banks, rating agencies and regulators turned a blind eye to what
was going on. Changes to financial and corporate regulation in America
seem inevitable." -Economist
Enron
- "Did
Enron jack up energy futures? Investigators
probe whether firm manipulated power prices." -By
Jeanne Cummings -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
Enron
- "Restructuring
Expert [Stephen Cooper] Named as Enron CEO."
-By Kristen Hays -AP
via -WashingtonPost
- "China's
stock markets plunge." ... "Stock markets are down
more than 17% in January" -BBC
/News
Enron
- "Enron
scandal at a glance."
-BBC /News
Enron
- "Timeline:
Enron's rise and fall: BBC News Online chronicles
the key moments of the spectacular rise and fall of US energy giant Enron."
-BBC /News
Enron
- "Enron
Story Echoes Old Conflict-of-Interest Theme."
-By Chet Currier -Bloomberg
/WealthManager
Enron
- "Levitt:
Enron not isolated case: Calls for end to Wall
Street's conflicts of interest." -By Lisa Smith, Medill
News Service via -CBSnews/MarketWatch
Enron
- "Lay
could pocket almost $17 million: Enron chair,
CEO resigned for company's survival." -By Lisa Sanders
& Allen Wan, -CBSnews/MarketWatch
Enron
- "Enron
auditor ripped as hearings open: Fired Andersen
accountant refuses to testify before House panel."
-MSNBC
Enron
- "Enron
Chief Quits Ahead of Hearings."
-By Michael Graczyk -AP
via -LAtimes
Enron
- "Enron
execs’ benefits kept flowing: As workers’ pensions
waned, top managers’ plans waxed." -By Ellen E. Schultz
and Theo Francis -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
Enron
- "Enron
execs sold $1.3B in stock: CEO sold $201.6M
in stock, made $119M in profit in last three years."
-CNN/fn
Enron
News - "Enron
Raised Funds In Private Offering: Shareholders
in Dark, Documents Show." -By Peter Behr -WashingtonPost
Enron
News - "Cover-Up?
Former Enron Exec Says Documents Were Shredded After Probe Was Launched."
-ABCNEWS.com
Enron
News - "Enron
Case Raises the Bar in Texas: A matter that's
big even by the state's usual standards has the legal community in a frenzy,
with lawyers hiring their own lawyers and others dodging conflicts."
-By David Streitfeld-LAtimes
Enron
News - "Enron
Is Proving Costly to Economy: Energy projects valued
at $12 billion are on hold as financial markets make it tougher to raise
capital. Any shortages would fall heavily on consumers."
-By James Flanigan-LAtimes
Enron
News - "Andersen
Knew of Enron Risks Last February: E-mail memo indicates
executives in Chicago were aware of questionable issues. Also, the energy
trader's board fires the auditor." -By Richard Simon
and Jerry Hirsch-LAtimes
Enron
News - "A
New Twist in Enron's Can of Worms: Congressional
probers are now examining whether the company used complex but legal securities
to mask the true size of its debt load." -By Howard
Gleckman -BusinessWeek/Daily
Enron
News - "Lessons
of Enron: How could no one have seen it? Bankruptcy
forces a look at accounting, Wall Street practices, and pension plans."
-By Ron Scherer and David R. Francis -CSMonitor/buy
Enron
News - "Enron
Chief Was Warned of Problems: A top officer's memo
to Chairman Lay, found by congressional investigators, cautioned that "funny
accounting" practices could embroil the firm in scandal."
-By Edmund Sanders, Richard Simon, and David Streitfeld -LAtimes
Enron
News - "C-SPAN's
Weeklong Series on the Enron Bankruptcy - January
14 through January 18: LIVE on C-SPAN, each night at 8pm - Re-air
at 11pm ET" -C-SPAN.org
Enron
- "Enron:
Who's Accountable? Inside the growing Enron
scandal: how evidence was shredded and top executives fished for a bailout
as the company imploded." -By Daniel Kadlec
-TIME.com
Enron
News - "Auditor
Hints of 'Illegal Acts' at Enron: Arthur Andersen
CEO Also Says His Firm Made Judgment Error." -By David
S. Hilzenrath -WashingtonPost
Enron
News - "Hidden
Numbers Crushed Enron: 'Partnerships' Shielded
$600 Million Debt." -By Peter Behr
-WashingtonPost
Enron
News - "Congress
deepens Enron probe: Bush officials say no
help was offered to Enron head." -By Matt Andrejczak
-CBSNews /MarketWatch
Enron
News - "Criminal
inquiry into Enron collapse."-BBC
/News
Enron
News - "Enron
Met With Cheney Before Fall."
-By Pete Yost -AP
via-LAtimes
Enron
News - "Who’s
Counting? Enron Mess Raises Questions About
Andersen, Accounting Practices." -By Peter Dizikes
-ABCNEWS.com