Morgan Stanley, the third-biggest securities firm by market value, agreed to pay as much as $42.5 million to settle a lawsuit demanding overtime pay for its California brokers.
The suit, which was filed on behalf of about 5,000 current and former commission-based brokers and broker trainees in the state, claimed that New York-based Morgan Stanley failed to pay required overtime and improperly deducted money from paychecks.
The agreement is the third to win overtime pay for stockbrokers, following multimillion-dollar settlements with Merrill Lynch and Co. and UBS AG. Several securities firms face overtime suits across the U.S. Court victories for the brokers may force firms to change their compensation policies.
Software
EU antitrust boss threatens Microsoft with hefty fines
Microsoft Corp. will be fined if it keeps up its current conduct, the EU's antitrust chief warned Thursday after the company accused the EU of withholding documents and colluding with Microsoft's rivals before filing charges last December.
"If we pursue the line we are following now, there will be fines and they won't be small fines," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told Dow Jones Newswires.
The EU has threatened $2.4 million in daily fines, backdated to Dec. 15, unless the company obeys a 2004 antitrust order to provide competitors with the information needed to make their software work with Microsoft servers.
Microsoft claims that it worked strenuously last autumn to meet the EU demands and that regulators kept shifting the goalposts - something the Commission firmly denies.
Internet Google CEO reassures investors on ads outlook
Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said he sees no limit to the Internet search engine's ability to increase advertising revenue, a bullish outlook that allayed investor concerns about slowing growth.
The remarks prompted a 3.5 percent rise in the shares. Schmidt soothed worries about a slowdown that were sparked this week by comments from Chief Financial Officer George Reyes.
There is "tremendous room" for improving the quality of Internet advertising, which would drive sales growth, Schmidt said.
The total market for advertising worldwide is as much as $800 billion, and Google will offer ads for all areas including radio and print, Schmidt said. He wants to increase clients' spending by displaying ads for their entire range of products, rather than a narrow selection.
Apparel Abercrombie shares fall on lackluster sales growth
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. shares plunged after the retailer posted its smallest comparable-store sales gain in more than a year.
The seller of casual clothing for teenagers said sales at stores open at least a year rose 5 percent in February, missing analysts's estimates of a 14 percent gain. The stock dropped as much as 12 percent.
Men bought fewer fleece items while women reduced purchases of sweaters and jeans at its namesake chain, Abercrombie said in a recorded call. The company lifted sales by at least 10 percent each month last year by emphasizing destroyed-style jeans. It's now focusing on selling more items such as cargo pants and shorts as it forecast lower denim sales, the company said.
Auto
Chevy Tahoe SUV drives better truck sales at GM
General Motors Corp.'s redesigned large sport-utility vehicles, central to its efforts to stem North American losses, contributed to a 5.1 percent increase in the automaker's truck sales last month as car sales fell.
Sales of the Chevrolet Tahoe rose 47 percent from year-earlier levels, GM said Wednesday. Tahoe sales increased 53 percent in January after the redesigned version was introduced. Consumer are buying Tahoes without sales incentives and choosing models loaded with features, leading to an 18 percent jump in its average selling price to $41,352 last month from a year earlier, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
"We do find initial results very encouraging," said Joseph Amaturo, an analyst with Calyon Securities. "We expect increased inventory of these SUVs to meaningfully improve GM's light truck sales throughout 2006."
