BUSINESS BRIEFS
Attorney general removes himself from Madoff case
Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — The fraud investigation of Wall Street money manager Bernard L. Madoff took unusual twists yesterday as the U.S. attorney general removed himself and the Securities and Exchange Commission looked into the relationship between Madoff's niece and a former SEC attorney who reviewed Madoff's business.
The developments reflect growing criticism that Wall Street and regulators in Washington have grown too close. Madoff himself has boasted of his ties to the SEC.
The question of Madoff's connection to regulators goes to the heart of the investigation of the alleged $50 billion fraud, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told reporters.
Congress jumped into the Madoff scandal, too. The chairman of the House capital markets subcommittee, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., said an inquiry will begin early next month into what may be the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and how the government failed to detect it.
Free on $10 million bail, Madoff now has a curfew and an ankle-bracelet to monitor his movements.
MORGAN STANLEY POSTS $2.4B LOSS
NEW YORK — Morgan Stanley said yesterday it lost $2.37 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as it took a range of losses on assets amid one of the roughest quarters for investment banks.
The New York-based firm, which is aggressively building on its new status as a bank holding company, lost $2.34 per share for the quarter ended Nov. 30. It lost $3.61 billion, or $3.61 per share, during the year-ago period when it took a $9.4 billion write-down on mortgage-related assets as the housing crisis began to spiral downward.
EDF WINS, BUFFETT LOSES ON N-POWER
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Constellation Energy said yesterday it will sell half of its nuclear power business to French state-controlled nuclear power provider EdF for $4.5 billion, scuttling a $4.7 billion offer from a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for all of the company.
Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. had agreed to the $26.50-per-share bid by Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. back in September. The deal, which included a much-needed $1 billion capital infusion, came after Constellation's shares plummeted amid liquidity concerns that had analysts worried the nation's largest wholesale power generator would go out of business.
NIKE PROFIT SURGES ON OVERSEAS SALES
BEAVERTON, Ore. — Shoe and apparel company Nike Inc. said yesterday that, despite weak domestic sales, its profit grew 9 percent in the second-quarter on strong sales overseas.
The Beaverton, Ore.-based company reported its net income rose to $391 million, or 80 cents per share, compared with net income of $359.4 million, or 71 cents per share in the same quarter last year. The company said its total revenue grew 6 percent to $4.6 billion, from $4.3 billion last year. Changes in currency exchange rates boosted revenue by 1 percentage point for the quarter.
Nike president and CEO Mark Parker said the results demonstrate the strength of the brand. He said the current state of the industry and the world offer opportunities for Nike to become a stronger leader.
U.S. TRADE DEFICIT SHRINKS BY 3.7%
WASHINGTON — The deficit in the broadest measure of American trade fell more than expected in the third quarter, and the declines are likely to intensify as the U.S. recession and falling oil prices sharply narrow the trade gap.
U.S. exporters, however, will face a tough time selling their products overseas as America's economic woes spread around the globe.
The current account trade deficit fell by 3.7 percent to $174.1 billion in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. That was better than the $178.8 billion deficit that economists expected.
