SEC, Krispy Kreme settle spat over dough The Securities and Exchange Commission and doughnut maker Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. agreed to a cease-and-desist order to resolve an investigation that found the company misrepresented earnings. The SEC said Krispy Kreme misrepresented its earnings in statements filed with the SEC between the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003 and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, improperly accounting for its incentive compensation plan for senior executive officers and for three transactions related to acquisition of franchises. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme said it did not admit or deny any findings.

Services sector shrinks for fifth month A private measure of the U.S. services sector shrank in February for the fifth straight month. The Institute for Supply Management, a Tempe, Ariz.-based trade group of purchasing executives, said Wednesday that its services index fell to 41.6 last month from 42.9 in January. The February reading was slightly above economists' expectations. A reading above 50 signals growth, while one below 50 indicates contraction. About three-quarters of Americans work in service industries, such as hotels, retail, education, health care and financial institutions.

Crude oil supply falls; gasoline demand rises Crude oil inventories in the nation dipped last week and demand for gasoline continued to rise, according to government data released Wednesday. For the week ended Feb. 27, crude inventories fell by 700,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 350.6 million barrels, 16.5 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Gasoline inventories rose by 200,000 barrels, or 0.1 percent, to 215.5 million barrels, 7.7 percent below year-ago levels. Gasoline demand over the four weeks ended Feb. 27 was 2.2 percent higher than a year earlier, averaging 9 million barrels a day.

Amazon offers Kindle program for devices In bringing its Kindle e-book reader to a much larger audience through the iPhone and iPod Touch, Amazon.com Inc. may benefit even if the additional eyeballs don't translate into sales of the $359 Kindle. Seattle-based Amazon rolled out the free program on Wednesday, bringing several Kindle functions to the Apple gadgets' smaller screens. The application can be downloaded from Apple's online application store and lets iPhone and iPod Touch users read the same electronic books that Kindle owners can buy on Amazon.com. The application's release comes a few weeks after Amazon unveiled the second-generation Kindle. The company has not released sales figures for the device, which it began selling in late 2007, but Citi Investment Research analyst Mark Mahaney recently estimated that the company sold 500,000 Kindles in 2008. Availability of the Kindle program on the iPhone and iPod gives Amazon millions more potential e-book buyers -- 4.3 million 3G iPhones alone were sold in the U.S. in 2008.

Ford to trade cash, stock for debt holdings Ford Motor Co. Wednesday offered to exchange up to 40 percent of its debt for cash and stock. The company and its financial arm are putting up $2.2 billion in cash to attract holders of $10.4 billion in convertible notes, other unsecured debt and secured term debt to take the offer. The company said reducing the debt will cut the amount it pays in interest and put it in better position to compete with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler. Ford said Wednesday that it still does not intend to seek federal aid.