IN BRIEF
LOS ANGELES
Mattel earnings drop 1 percent in quarter
Mattel on Monday reported a 1 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter profit, due to the impact of charges, costs and supply chain delays related to multiple product recalls by the world’s biggest toy maker.
The El Segundo, Calif.-based company said net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 slipped to $236.8 million, or 61 cents per share, from $239 million, or 62 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Latest-quarter results included charges of about $40 million related to the company’s product recalls covering merchandise containing small magnets or tainted with lead paint.
Sales rose 3 percent to $1.84 billion from $1.79 billion a year ago, mainly helped by the weaker dollar.
Gambling technology lawsuit dismissed
Multimedia Games, which runs New York state’s lottery games, won a federal appeals court ruling throwing out a patent-infringement lawsuit over video-gambling technology.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington in Monday overturned a lower court’s finding that an agreement between International Game Technology, or IGT, and International Gamco gave Gamco the right to sue.
MINNEAPOLIS
Woman asks judge to overturn verdict
A woman facing a $222,000 music-sharing verdict asked a judge on Monday to overturn it.
Jurors in a case that six record companies brought against Thomas found she violated the companies’ copyrights by offering 24 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network. They ordered Thomas to pay the companies $222,000.
Thomas’s attorney, Brian Toder, did not argue in a motion filed Monday on Thomas’s behalf that she hadn’t violated the copyrights. But he said that, because the songs could have been purchased online for about $24, the $222,000 verdict is disproportionate and amounts to punitive damages.
Toder asked for a new trial to determine damages or for a finding that the $222,000 verdict is unconstitutional.
Copyright law allows damages of $750 to $150,000 per song; the jury awarded the record companies $9,250 per song. Toder argued they suffered actual damages of less than $151.20.
WASHINGTON
Fed chief sees housing slump slowing growth
A deepening housing slump probably will be a “significant drag” on economic growth into next year and it will take time for Wall Street to fully recover from a painful credit crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Monday.
Bernanke once again pledged to “act as needed” to help financial markets — which have suffered through several months of turbulence — function smoothly and to keep the economy and inflation on an even keel.
“Conditions in financial markets have shown some improvement since the worst of the storm in mid-August, but a full recovery of market functioning is likely to take time, and we may well see some setbacks,” Bernanke said in a speech to the New York Economic Club. A copy of his remarks were made available in Washington.
It was Bernanke’s most extensive assessment of the country’s current economic situation since the August turmoil unhinged Wall Street
Against that backdrop, Bernanke said the central bank will be closely watching the economy’s vital signs. He didn’t specifically commit to cutting rates again.
NEW YORK
To reduce costs, AOL will cut 2,000 jobs
AOL is eliminating another 2,000 jobs worldwide as it tries to cut costs and make room to grow in online advertising.
The 20 percent slice from AOL’s work force comes after several rounds of layoffs in recent years, including a cut of 5,000 jobs last fall. The latest cuts would give AOL more flexibility to expand ad-related businesses through acquisitions and potentially new hires, company officials said.
AOL believes it is now best at developing Web sites such as its Moviefone and MapQuest properties to attract people in some 30 countries, Falco said.
FedEx drivers can sue as group, judge says
FedEx Corp.’s thousands of independent drivers can sue as a group for benefits sought in litigation originally filed by contract workers claiming they should be paid as full-time employees, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert Miller said in South Bend, Ind., that the drivers can proceed with a proposed class action against FedEx on claims they deserve full-time benefits under federal law.
ST. LOUIS
What’s for breakfast? Nine hundred calories
The people who brought you the Monster Thickburger and the 1,100-calorie salad are at it again — this time for breakfast.
Hardee’s on Monday rolled out its new Country Breakfast Burrito — omelets filled with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy, all wrapped inside a flour tortilla. The burrito contains 920 calories and 60 grams of fat.
Brad Haley, marketing chief for the St. Louis-based fast-food chain, said the burrito offers the sort of big breakfast item normally found in sit-down restaurants with an added advantage.
WASHINGTON
Interest rates increase in Treasury auction
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction to the highest levels in six weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $16 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.185 percent, up from 3.925 percent last week. Another $15 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.225 percent, up from 4.095 percent last week.
NEW YORK
Credit-market worries send Treasury prices up
Treasury prices closed mainly higher Monday as stocks sold off on renewed credit worries.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.06 points from its opening level to 100.56 with a yield of 4.68 percent, down from 4.70 percent at its Friday close.
The 30-year long bond ended flat at 101.47 with a yield of 4.91 percent, up fractionally from its 4.90 percent close on Friday.
