Business Briefing
Geithner to testify about bank bailouts
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is set to testify before a House committee probing his role in deals that sent billions of bailout dollars to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other big banks.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said Geithner would appear at a Jan. 27 hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Towns, the committee’s chairman, said last week that he wanted Geithner to testify about the bailout of American International Group Inc. that Geithner oversaw as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Papers demanded from Monsanto
The Justice Department has intensified its antitrust investigation into Monsanto Co., demanding internal documents that outline marketing tactics of the world’s biggest seed company.
The demand formalizes a months-long investigation into possible antitrust violations at the company, which has gained unprecedented power in the multibillion-dollar market for biotech seeds.
WALL STREET
Regulators target oil speculation
Federal regulators took a first step aimed at reining in oil speculation, proposing new limits on trading in energy futures by Wall Street firms and other market players.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted 4 to 1 for new trade limits on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange intended to keep fund managers and other speculative investors from wielding excessive influence in the market.
The proposal is open to public comment for 90 days.
THE ECONOMY
Initial jobless claims decline
The average number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits over the last four weeks dropped to the lowest level since August 2008, indicating that companies are making fewer job cuts as the economy improves. Jobless claims increased in the latest week.
The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 440,750 last week from 449,750, Labor Department figures showed. Weekly jobless claims, which are more volatile, rose a more-than-anticipated 11,000 in the week that ended Jan. 9, to 444,000.
RETAILING
Williams-Sonoma raises forecast
Williams-Sonoma Inc., the U.S. cookware and home-furnishings retailer, raised its forecast as a consumer spending rebound at year’s end boosted sales.
Sales at stores open a year or more rose 6.5% in the eight weeks through Dec. 27, the San Francisco company said. Total holiday revenue increased 7.4% from a year earlier to $783 million, Williams-Sonoma said.
The company raised its fourth-quarter profit forecast to at least 69 cents a share.
COURTS
Massachusetts wine law blocked
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Massachusetts law restricting direct shipments by large out-of-state wineries violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The 2006 law gave wineries producing more than 30,000 gallons a year a choice between contracting with a wholesaler in Massachusetts or applying for a license to ship wines directly to consumers. But they couldn’t do both. The law did not apply to any Massachusetts wineries.
A group representing California winemakers argued that the law was protectionist.
-- times wire reports
