Consumer credit fell $8.7 billion in November, the Federal Reserve said. The unexpected decline in non-mortgage debt was the first in a year; consumer credit rose $9.5 billion in October. Revolving credit, which includes charge accounts, fell by $7.2 billion, also a record, in November after rising by $2.4 billion in October. Non-revolving credit, which includes loans for autos, mobile homes, schooling and vacations, fell by $1.5 billion in November after rising by $7.1 billion during October, the Fed reported.
Listerine Ads False, Judge Rules
Advertising for Listerine that said the mouthwash is as effective as dental floss at fighting tooth and gum decay, is false and misleading and poses a public health risk because it can undermine the message of dental professionals, a federal judge ruled. The lawsuit filed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil-PPC said the ads posed an unfair threat to its sales of dental floss, and the judge said he will order Pfizer to stop the ads.
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The Supreme Court agreed to review an appeals court ruling that a patent held by Integra LifeSciences, set to expire by 2006, prohibited the German company Merck from beginning research on a potential anti-cancer drug, even if the drug could not be marketed until after the patent expired.
Taser International said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its claims about the safety of stun guns, after reports of deaths that occurred after people were shocked with a Taser. The SEC is also investigating a $1.5 million, end-of-year sale of stun guns to an Arizona firearms distributor. Some stock analysts have questioned the sale because it appears to inflate sales to meet annual projections.
CSX's board approved restrictions on severance pay for executives after a $60.8 million payment to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow when he left the company two years ago. Shareholders will have to approve severance pay of more than three times an executive's annual salary and highest bonus in any of the previous three years, the railroad said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders approved a resolution urging the restrictions at CSX's annual meeting in May.
Kaplan said its higher education division has acquired Professional Careers Institute of Indianapolis, a career-oriented post-secondary institution that provides training in health-related, information and paralegal studies. Terms were not disclosed. Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co.
Carole Brookins, who has been U.S. executive director of the World Bank since mid-2001, will resign this month, the Treasury Department said. Robert B. Holland III, alternate executive director, will represent the United States on the development bank's executive board until a replacement is named.
Berkshire Hathaway received a subpoena from the New York attorney general's office about its reinsurance subsidiary, General Re. The subpoena seeks information relating to nontraditional or loss mitigation insurance products from General Re and its affiliates, the Omaha company said. The Securities and Exchange Commission asked for the same information last week. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren E. Buffett is a board member and major shareholder of The Washington Post Co.
The Miami Herald shut down Street Weekly, an alternative tabloid, because of financial losses. The issue that hit newsstands Thursday will be the publication's last. It was the second weekly paper shut down by the Herald in the past two years. It stopped publishing the Jewish Star Times in December 2002, also for financial reasons.
Pep Boys, an auto parts supplier, said President George Babich Jr. is leaving after helping oversee a restructuring. The company is splitting its field management team into separate retail and service organizations, which it said would save $1 million to $2 million a year.
INTERNATIONAL
Four Australian high school students were charged in connection with a Russian-based Internet scam that used stolen banking passwords to siphon cash into accounts in Eastern Europe, police said. Police said 13 Australians, including the students, have been charged. A suspect identified by police as a ringleader, Derrick Cheng of Sydney, earlier pleaded guilty to obtaining money by deception. His sentencing is set for Wednesday.
Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service and Washington Post staff writers.
