SECURITIES

Shearson, Trader Face Fines: Shearson Lehman Bros. will pay a $500,000 fine and a top trader will be suspended for four months and pay $100,000 for an alleged stock price manipulation, sources close to the case said. The expected settlement with the New York Stock Exchange follows a lengthy investigation into whether Shearson trader Peter J. DaPuzzo ordered an improper trade to boost the chances of a November, 1990, stock offering. DaPuzzo, co-head of the firm’s worldwide equities division, and Manny Geronimos, a top assistant and head of block trading, have been suspended with pay since the inquiry was disclosed last September. Shearson took the action after a trading floor employee alleged that the two were responsible for a trade that lowered the share price of Conagra Inc. to make a stock offering more appealing.