Tyco Bonus Questioned

Kenneth G. Langone, former head of the New York Stock Exchange's compensation committee, called New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer's lawsuit against him "bullying" that will fail. Spitzer last month accused Langone of misrepresenting the pay of Dick Grasso, the former NYSE chairman and chief executive, and of breaching his fiduciary duty. Grasso was also named in Spitzer's suit. Langone, in a Wall Street Journal commentary titled "Let's Bring on the Jury, Mr. Spitzer," wrote that he welcomes a trial.

Mortgage rates moved higher, a trend that is slowing home mortgage refinancings but isn't expected to hurt home sales. Rates on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 6.30 percent for the week ending June 11, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly nationwide survey. Fifteen-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.67 percent, while one-year adjustable rate mortgage rates climbed to an average 4.14 percent.

Sara Lee Branded Apparel will shut five plants and lay off 3,825workers worldwide by the end of the year, as the company consolidates its production of intimates, sportswear and underwear.

Swift Transportation said the SEC is reviewing stock trades made by Jerry Moyes, its chairman and chief executive. It said Moyes, who made $622,000 trading 187,000 shares last month, is cooperating with the informal inquiry. Swift said this month that outside council is examining purchases by Moyes and broker trades for a company buyback just before it raised an earnings forecast, causing its share price to rise 20 percent.

INTERNATIONAL

Microsoft offices in South Korea were searched by that nation's regulators, who are investigating allegations that the company violates trade rules by tying its instant messaging program to the Windows operating system. The company pledged cooperation.

Saudi Arabia is acting on its promise to increase oil production. State-owned Saudi Aramco will ship between 85 percent and 100 percent of the amounts set in annual contracts with U.S. crude-oil buyers, officials at two of its U.S. customers said. The kingdom last month told buyers they would get between 75 percent and 80 percent in June.

Three British bankers may be extradited to the United States on wire fraud charges in an Enron-connected transaction. Formerly employed by National Westminster Bank, the three were indicted by a Houston grand jury in 2002 for allegedly cheating NatWest out of $7.1 million. They were arrested in London and face extradition hearings this month.

A group of independent music labels blasted Sony and Bertelsmann's plan to create the world's second-largest music company and urged European antitrust enforcers to take "severe" measures to protect diversity at a critical time for music sales. Impala, which represents some 2,000 independent music companies, and the heads of some of Europe's top independent labels warned that they were in danger of being "marginalized further" by the majors' "manipulating access to music at retail, media and on the Internet."

LOCAL BUSINESS

Freddie Mac submitted plans for the succession of top executives and for ensuring compliance with accounting rules and other laws to its regulator. It developed the procedures in response to a Dec. 9 consent order with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The order came after the federally chartered mortgage finance company disclosed that it understated earnings by $5 billion from 2000 until 2002.

America Online settled a lawsuit by science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison over copyrighted short stories posted by a participant in an online discussion group. Terms were not disclosed. A federal appeals court in February ruled that America Online may not be protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which normally bars such suits against Internet service providers.

EARNINGS

National Semiconductor rebounded to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $126.4 million from a $4.4 million loss a year earlier as market share continued to increase for its higher-margin analog products. Revenue rose 34 percent, to $571.2 million.

Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service and Washington Post staff writers.