Apartments pump up new construction

December 21, 2011 at 2:53AM

Apartments pump up new constructionNew construction on homes and apartments rose sharply in November. New housing starts last month rose 9.3 percent from a revised October estimate and were up 20.1 percent above November 2010. Homes and apartments were built at a rate last month that would produce 685,000 new units this year, when adjusted for seasonal variations, according to the Commerce Department. The gains were largely driven by the volatile apartment sector, meaning that the uptick could reverse itself.

British tax officials called too cozy with firmsGoldman Sachs, Vodafone and other big businesses were treated too favorably by British tax officials, potentially costing the nation billions in lost revenue, according to a government report released in London. The report did not say how much the deals, often struck at expensive restaurants, cost the government. But the government said there were 2,700 unresolved cases with big companies, with potential taxes of 25 billion pounds ($39 billion) as of March 31. The report did not identify companies, but Member of Parliament Margaret Hodge in a BBC interview mentioned two names previously cited in newspaper reports: Goldman Sachs and British telecommunications giant Vodafone. Vodafone called the allegations "unjust ... and based on gross untruths." Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Stanford ruled competent to stand trialA forensic psychologist testified Tuesday that jailed Texas financier R. Allen Stanford is mentally stable and competent to be tried next month on charges he bilked investors out of $7 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme. Stanford had been declared incompetent in January due to an addiction to an anti-anxiety drug he developed while jailed. He spent more than eight months being treated at a federal prison hospital in Butner, N.C.

Merck to pay a $24 million settlementDrugmaker Merck & Co. will pay Massachusetts $24 million to settle a civil lawsuit accusing a former subsidiary, the defunct Warrick Pharmaceuticals, of causing the state to overpay pharmacists for a widely used asthma medication.

Lowe's takes petition but won't resume adsMooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's Cos. met with local clergy who delivered a petition from people opposed to the retailer's decision to pull commercials from a TV show about U.S. Muslims, but said it won't reinstate the advertising.

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