Janus queried in insider trading investigationJanus Capital Group Inc. said Tuesday it has received an inquiry in an investigation of insider trading on Wall Street. A day after federal investigators raided offices of three hedge funds, Janus disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it received an inquiry seeking "general information." The Denver-based manager of $161 billion in mutual funds and other investments said it intends to cooperate. Media reports on Tuesday identified other mutual fund companies tied to the probe, including Wellington Management, MFS Investment Management, Deutsche Bank and Prudential Financial.
Sales of existing homes down in OctoberSales of existing homes fell 2.2 percent in October, according to a report released Tuesday, with activity remaining mired near record lows. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.43 million after a 10 percent pickup in September. Year-over-year, sales fell 25.9 percent. The trade group is predicting that for 2010 sales will reach 4.8 million, a drop of 6.6 percent from 2009 levels, and rise to 5.1 million in 2011.
Buying this Apple took bushel of bucksIts processor works 1,000 times slower than the Apple iPad, but the first Apple computer has sold for 425 times the price. The Apple I, one of only 200 ever made, was sold Tuesday at Christie's auction house in London for 133,250 pounds (about $210,000). When the Apple I was introduced in 1976, it sold for $666.66 and was the only personal computer to come with a fully assembled motherboard, making it ready to use straight from the box -- if the user supplied a keyboard, power supply and display, Christie's said. The winning bid came from Italian businessman and private collector Marco Boglione.
J. Crew agrees to be boughtClothing retailer J. Crew Group Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to be bought by private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners for about $3 billion. The buyout firms will pay $43.50 a share, or a 16 percent premium over J. Crew's closing price of $37.65 on Monday. Chief Executive Mickey Drexler, who had a 5.4 percent stake in the company as of September, will stay on and maintain a "significant equity investment." The deal also includes a "go-shop" provision where New York-based J. Crew can solicit higher offers through Jan. 15.
Fed group had concerns over new buybackFederal Reserve policymakers clashed over the benefits and risks of launching a $600 billion program to rejuvenate the economy but voted for it anyway, according to minutes of their closed-door deliberations released Tuesday. Despite a near-unanimous 10-1 vote in support of the program (with Thomas Hoenig of Kansas City dissenting), the minutes from the Nov. 2-3 meeting show that some Fed officials had concerns about embarking on a second round of stimulus.
Fugitive agrees to forfeit $48M, pay $6M fineJacob Alexander, a onetime chief of software maker Comverse Technology who fled to Namibia to avoid charges related to stock option backdating, agreed to forfeit nearly $48 million to settle a civil action by federal prosecutors. The deal returns the money to his former company, which will use it to settle shareholder lawsuits. He'll also pay a $6 million fine to the SEC.
Saudi prince buys stake in GMThe Saudi billionaire with a stake in Citigroup has invested $500 million in General Motors, the U.S. auto giant whose shares returned to trading last week after its bankruptcy and bailout by Washington, his investment company said Tuesday. Kingdom Holding Co. said Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and KHC's buy-in amounts to 1 percent of GM's value.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
