APPOINTMENTS

Friday, April 20, 2007

APPOINTMENTS

Treasury Nominee Withdraws

T. Timothy Ryan Jr., a vice chairman at J.P. Morgan Chase, asked that his nomination as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs be withdrawn for personal reasons, the White House said.

Ryan, a former head of the Office of Thrift Supervision, was to replace Timothy D. Adams, who plans to leave April 27.

LEGAL

Justice Dept. Joins Lawsuits

The Justice Department joined lawsuits against Hewlett-Packard, Accenture and Sun Microsystems, claiming that they made improper payments to alliance partners on government contracts. The lawsuits, originally filed in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, allege that the three companies submitted false claims to the government for technology contracts from the late 1990s to the present, the Justice Department said. The lawsuits were first filed by two individuals in September 2004 under the whistle-blower provisions of the False Claims Act.

EXECUTIVES

Wal-Mart CEO Paid $29.7 Million

Wal-Mart Stores paid chief executive H. Lee Scott $29.7 million last year, when the company's U.S. sales grew at the slowest pace in more than two decades. Scott, 58, received a salary of $1.3 million and stock valued at $15.3 million, Wal-Mart said in a regulatory filing. The company also awarded him bonuses of $4.29 million and $8.08 million in stock options.

CONSUMER SAFETY

Magnetix Toy Recall Expanded

Four million additional Magnetix building sets were recalled after more children swallowed the magnets in them and were seriously injured, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The expanded recall includes all sets except those sold since March 31, 2006, that are labeled "6+" and "CAUTION: Do not ingest or inhale magnets. Attraction of magnets in the body may cause serious injury and require immediate medical care."

Mega Brands can be reached at 800-779-7122.

MORTGAGE FINANCE

GMAC, GE to Cut Jobs

GMAC's Residential Capital home-lending unit and General Electric's WMC Mortgage announced job reductions as losses mount in the U.S. subprime loan industry.

WMC Mortgage slashed 771 jobs and closed three centers; it has cut more than half its workforce this year. Six hundred to 700 workers at GMAC's ResCap will lose their jobs by midyear, and at least 300 vacant positions won't be filled.

AUTOMOTIVE

Delphi Bidder May Drop Out

Delphi said it expects Cerberus Capital Management to drop out as lead bidder in a $3.4 billion investment, delaying the auto-parts maker's exit from bankruptcy protection. Negotiations with Cerberus's four partners in the offer will continue, Delphi said.

BANKRUPTCY

Fund May Bid for Loan Unit

New Century Financial won court permission to sell its loan-servicing business at a bankruptcy auction at which a hedge fund it created has the lead spot in bidding.

ECONOMY

Unemployment Claims Down

The number of applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 last week, from 339,000 the week ending April 7. The four-week moving average for claims rose slightly, to 328,750, last week.

Separately, the U.S. economy should expand only slightly in coming months, a gauge of future growth showed. The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators climbed 0.1 percent to 137.4 in March.

EARNINGS

Merrill Lynch said first-quarter profit more than quadrupled, rising to $2.16 billion from $475 million in the comparable period a year earlier, led by the fastest trading gains on Wall Street and higher fees from underwriting stocks and arranging takeovers. Year-earlier earnings were $1.65 million excluding costs from a change in accounting and retirement polices. The surge in equity and fixed-income trading more than compensated for a decline in mortgage revenue.

Revenue rose 24 percent, to $9.85 billion.

D.R. Horton, the second-largest U.S. home builder by revenue, said second-quarter profit plunged 85 percent, to $51.7 million from $352.8 million, as the weak housing market cut sales and spurred the company to walk away from options to buy land. Revenue slid 26 percent to $2.6 billion. Orders dropped 37 percent and closings fell 22 percent, the company said.

Merck said its first-quarter profit rose 12 percent, to $1.7 billion, as it posted sharply higher sales of its asthma and cholesterol drugs. Revenue rose 7 percent, to $5.77 billion.

Bank of America said its first-quarter profit rose 5 percent, to $5.26 billion, helped by growth in fee income. Revenue increased 3 percent, to $18.42 billion.

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