CUBAN NOT GUILTY OF INSIDER TRADING
Jurors said the government failed to prove five key elements of its insider-trading lawsuit against billionaireMark Cuban. They agreed with the government on only two minor, technical points.
The verdictWednesday in U.S. District Court in Dallas marked an overwhelming defeat for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which sued Cuban in 2008. The SEC said Cuban avoided $750,000 in losses by selling his stock in a search engine company called Mamma.com based on confidential information about a stock deal that had not been publicly announced. The deal lowered the value of outstanding shares, including Cuban’s.
Carquest owner sold
richmond, va. » Advance Auto Parts Inc. saidWednesday it is buying General Parts International Inc. for $2.04 billion in cash, which the companies say will create the biggest automotive replacement parts provider in North America.
As part of the transaction targeted to close by late 2013 or early 2014, Advance Auto will get 1,246 company operated stores and 1,418 independently owned Carquest locations.
Windows upgrade available Thursday B »
los angeles Microsoft is releasing its long-awaited Windows 8.1 upgrade as a free download starting Thursday. It addresses some of the gripes people have had withWindows 8, the dramatically different operating system that attempts to bridge the divide between tablets and PCs.
Windows 8.1 update adds some new finger- and gesture-friendly shortcuts for touch-based apps, while restoring some respect for the desktop mode that a billion PC users have become accustomed to.
Fed mulls surcharge for commodities B
washington » Federal Reserve officials are considering imposing a new capital surcharge on Wall Street banks that own oil tankers, metals warehouses and other lucrative physical commodities assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Such an approach could encourage banks to pare back their involvement in physical commodities, which has increasingly raised concerns among regulators.
Fed officials have grown concerned about the evolution of banks’ roles because of the potential for a catastrophe such as an oil spill to put a bank in jeopardy.
Madoff employees begin trial
new york » Five former employees of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff enriched themselves and helped “perpetuateMadoff’s elaborate fiction” by weaving an elaborate web of lies that for decades duped investors and government regulators, a prosecutor said Wednesday as the trial began.
The defendants— Annette Bongiorno, Daniel Bonventre, JoAnn Crupi, Jerome O’Hara and George Perez— all have pleaded not guilty.
Bernanke won’t testify in AIG bailout.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke does not have to testify under oath about the government’s 2008 decision to bail out American International Group Inc., at least as long as he holds his current job, a federal appeals court ruledWednesday.