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Oil rises to new intraday high
World Business News |
2007/10/16 02:53
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| Oil prices rose Tuesday on fears Turkey will pursue Kurdish rebels into Iraq and disrupt oil supplies in the region. A weakening U.S. dollar, low U.S. crude inventories and increased buying by investment funds also supported prices, counterbalancing expectations of higher inventories in the weekly U.S. supply report. The Turkish government's decision Monday to ask Parliament for permission to pursue Kurdish rebels into Iraq stoked the worries about potential interruptions to oil supplies. "Whenever there is any escalation in political tensions in the Middle East, oil markets become concerned," said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "There is production and there are pipelines that people worry may be affected if there are any issues in Iraq." There have been several skirmishes along the Turkey-Iraq border already. Although oil coming out of the region has been erratic, a total disruption would send prices higher, analysts said. After surging in earlier trading to intraday highs near $87 a barrel, light, sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 46 cents to $86.59 in electronic trading by afternoon in Europe. The contract had jumped $2.44 to settle at a record close of $86.13 a barrel Monday. Brent crude advanced 60 cents to $83.35 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. "Eight-six dollars is a historically high level. ... Many people are looking at this level for the first time so it's very difficult to say what will happen next," said Tetsu Emori, commodity markets fund manager at ASTMAX Futures Co. in Tokyo. "All the factors in the market are bullish, there are no bearish factors except maybe that the market looks like it's been overbought, technically." Despite the gains, Nymex oil is still below inflation-adjusted highs hit in early 1980. Depending on the adjustment, a $38 barrel of oil in 1980 would be worth $96 to $101 or more today. Technical buying by investment funds is also driving oil's record run, analysts say. Data released Friday showed that speculative buying of oil contracts increased last week. "Particularly because the oil price has been so strong, that in itself may have attracted some speculators to oil," Moore said. Many investment funds automatically buy or sell oil futures when prices hit certain levels. In recent days, as oil has pushed into record territory, several of these resistance prices levels have been broached. That triggers new buying, driving prices even higher. Analysts also cited the weak U.S. dollar—which makes crude cheaper for traders using other currencies—as a factor in higher commodity prices generally. The dollar lost ground Monday to most major currencies before recouping some losses Tuesday. Expectations that Wednesday's U.S. inventory report would show crude and gasoline stock increases failed to dent the climb. Vienna's PVM Oil Associates said forecasts called for "a rise in the U.S. crude stocks of about 1.4 million barrels ... (and) an extra 700,000 barrels" for gasoline, while distillates—diesel and fuel oil—were expected to diminish by 350,000 barrels. Heating oil futures were up 0.4 of a cent, fetching $2.3112 a gallon while gasoline prices rose by nearly a penny to $2.1667 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 2.4 cents to $7.475 per 1,000 cubic feet. |
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Medtronic Faces Suit Over Cardiac Leads
Breaking Legal News |
2007/10/16 01:19
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A pair of former users of Sprint Fidelis cardiac leads made by Medtronic Inc. (MDT) said Tuesday they are suing the medical device firm over injuries they claim to have sustained from the product. The two are suing both for their own damages and as members of a class of all users of the leads. The suit, filed in federal court in Minnesota, has plaintiffs Leonard Stavish and Kelly Liusi alleging the lead wire portion of the implanted heart defibrillators was defective and they "received jolting shocks when it falsely detected that the user needed a jolt from the device, or that the device failed, so that when they actually needed defibrillation they could not get it," according to their attorneys. -William Spain; 415-439-6400 |
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EU Court Backs Mandatory Retirement Age
International |
2007/10/16 01:11
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| The European Union's highest court on Tuesday backed the system of mandatory retirement age to combat high unemployment. In a judgment, the European Court of Justice said that even though discrimination based on age was illegal, the imposition of the 65-year threshold for workers can be justified to stabilize the labor market and if proper pension is provided. A Spanish manager, Felix Palacios de la Villa, took his company Cortefiel to court when he was notified of his pension two years ago, arguing it amounted to dismissal. A court statement said that since it was part of national labor measures to promote employment "the legitimacy of such an aim of public interest cannot reasonably be called into question." If the court had ruled against the pension system, it would have caused widespread disruption of social and economic policies throughout the 27-nation EU. |
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Philadelphia Law Firm Accused Of 'Pay To Play'
Legal Business |
2007/10/15 07:54
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Attorney Pat Biswanger filed a federal complaint last month in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the Philadelphia law firm Cozen O'Connor P.C. Ms. Biswanger claims she was the victim of sexual discrimination and fired illegally from the firm in retaliation for her involvement in Haverford Township politics. Ms. Biswanger claims in her accusation that Delaware County Common Pleas President Judge Kenneth Clouse had inappropriately involved himself in Haverford Township politics led to Judge Clouse contacting Cozen O'Connor and demanding her firing.
In 2004, Judge Clouse hired the politically powerful and well-connected attorney Richard Sprague to sue Ms. Biswanger and Haverford Township Commissioner Andy Lewis on grounds they had defamed him.
Ms. Biswanger alleges Mr. Sprague threatened to include Cozen O'Connor as a defendant in the defamation suit unless the firm agreed to fire her.
In July 2005, the same month former Philadelphia City Treasurer Corey Kemp was sentenced by a federal judge for his role in helping to direct city bond work to firms willing to contribute to, among other things, the mayor's reelection campaign, Ms. Biswanger was asked if she would be interested in applying for the general counsel position in the School District of Philadelphia.
She claims she spoke with Mr. O'Connor about the opportunity. He told her he wanted to recommend someone to the district who would be loyal to his firm and continue to send it bond work.
He allegedly told her he considered the job a "corporate opportunity."
Mr. O'Connor, she says, told her he would recommend her to district CEO Paul Vallas and School Reform Commission Chairman James Nevels. She claims that after she was fired Mr. O'Connor no longer supported her application.
A check of school district records shows corporate bond work was an economic opportunity for the firm. Cozen O'Connor attorneys Alan Wohlstetter and Steven Goldfield served as special council to the district between 2003 and 2005. During that time the firm received fees of $390,000 for its participation in bond issues for the district. |
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Attorney general pick has had terrorism cases
Breaking Legal News |
2007/10/15 06:53
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Early in the Bush administration, Michael Mukasey's position at the intersection of terrorism and the justice system may have cost him a promotion. Mukasey, then chief judge of the federal court in Manhattan, caught the eye of the White House in early 2002 for elevation to the U.S. Court of Appeals. A conservative intellectual whose admirers cut across party lines, he was running the nation's busiest courthouse just a mile from Ground Zero, one that had handled trials of Islamic radicals for nearly a decade.
But that June, President George W. Bush declared "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla an enemy combatant. When Padilla's lawyers filed a challenge, Mukasey drew the case. White House lawyers decided they could not offer him the appellate post without seeming to undermine his impartiality, those familiar with the issue said.
Now, Mukasey's experiences in the Padilla case and other terrorism prosecutions undergird his credentials for nomination to become attorney general.
Mukasey recently argued in an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal that Congress should find ways to relieve the strain on a legal system trying to stop terrorist plots while still guarding the rights of terrorist suspects. He has advocated national security courts, where classified information could be presented in secret.
"If there is anybody who has a handle on the debate on terrorism issues, it's him," said David Kelley, who served as New York's U.S. attorney from 2003 to 2005. "He is one of the only people who has sufficient practical experience together with the intellectual ability."
The 1995 trial of Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian known as the blind sheik, in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center presented Mukasey with questions that have fueled public debate since 9/11: how to ensure lawful treatment for terror suspects without impeding government efforts to protect citizens from attack.
Three years of litigation, including a nine-month trial, served as a "deep primer" on radical Islam, said Mary Jo White, the former U.S. attorney who brought the case. Andrew McCarthy, who led the prosecution, recalled months of litigation over questions on the limits of free speech and religious practice and the difficulty of prosecuting terrorism without making classified information public. "The arguments we've been having the last six years are the arguments we were having then," McCarthy said.
The appeals court had high praise for Mukasey's handling of the case, saying he "presided with extraordinary skill." Prosecutors in other terrorism cases say they study his jury instructions on the use of speech and religious convictions as evidence.
Only one of several attorneys interviewed who had clients in Mukasey's court after 9/11 had complaints about the way his client was treated.
However, Alexander Eisemann, who represented Zacarias Moussaoui's driver, said Mukasey was responsive to complaints that Hussein al-Attas was being physically mistreated in detention.
Also, Mukasey was presented with what has proved to be an intractable issue in dealing with suspected terrorists - Bush's assertion that he has the authority to designate even people captured in the U.S. as "enemy combatants." In late 2002, the judge gave the White House a split decision in the case, upholding the president's authority to consider an American citizen detained on U.S. soil an enemy combatant but ruling that Padilla was entitled to a lawyer who could challenge that status. |
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Class Action against LDK Solar Co., Inc.
Class Action |
2007/10/15 05:00
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| Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP has filed a class action in the Southern District of New York on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of LDK Solar Co., Inc. during the period June 1, 2007 through October 8, 2007, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The case has been given Civil Action # 07civ8766. The complaint charges LDK and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that the Company had significantly less polysilicon feedstock inventory than it was reporting; (2) that only a fraction of the feedstock inventory that the Company did have was of sufficient quality for use in the manufacture of silicone wafers; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the court no later than December 7, 2007 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class. A Lead Plaintiff is a representative chosen by the Court, who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than fifteen years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States. You may visit our website at www.murrayfrank.com. If you would like to discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights and interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel Brian D. Brooks of Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP.
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Charles Schwab 3rd-Quarter Profit Soars
Business |
2007/10/15 04:42
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| Brokerage firm Charles Schwab Corp. said Monday its third-quarter earnings soared, mainly due to a big gain on the sale of its U.S. Trust wealth management business. Schwab reported earnings of $1.53 billion, or $1.28 per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with $266 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. The latest earnings include a $1.2 billion after-tax gain from the sale of U.S. Trust, which was sold July 1 to Bank of America Corp. for $3.3 billion. Excluding the gain, Schwab's earnings from continuing operations were $323 million, or 27 cents per share. Schwab reported third-quarter revenue of $1.29 billion versus $1.07 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 25 cents per share on revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter. Analysts do not typically include one-time items in their forecasts. Operating earnings were boosted by $37.3 billion in net new assets brought by clients to Schwab during the third quarter, a 66 percent increase from the same quarter last year. The new assets helped Schwab reach a record $1.441 trillion in total client assets as of Sept. 30. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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