Drop in leading indicators biggest since 1991 A gauge of the economy's future performance posted its biggest annual drop since 1991, as the declines in housing and job markets accelerated in November. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators dropped 0.4 percent from October, and 3.7 percent from a year before, showing little sign that the U.S. contraction will ease in early 2009. Other reports showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits hovered near a 26-year high and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region contracted for the 11th time this year. The drop in the leading index underscores economists' projections that the recession will be the longest in the postwar era as banks restrict credit, the value of homes and stocks plunge and job losses mount.
MillerCoors taking caffeine out of Sparks Bowing to pressure from critics, MillerCoors said Thursday that it will reformulate the Sparks product line to remove caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng from the drinks. MillerCoors also agreed not to produce caffeinated alcoholic beverages in the future. The announcement came after MillerCoors struck an agreement with a group of 13 state attorneys general that launched an investigation of Sparks. That group's investigation, and a separate lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, raised questions about Sparks, which is an alternative to mixing energy drinks such as Red Bull with vodka and other spirits.
Lehman broker charged in insider-trade scheme A Lehman Brothers broker who gleaned tips about pending mergers from his wife, a partner at the Brunswick Group public relations firm, was charged Thursday in a wide-ranging insider trading scheme that earned $4.8 million in profit, authorities said. Federal prosecutors in New york City and the Securities and Exchange Commission brought the case against Matthew C. Devlin, 35, who authorities said enabled clients and friends to make millions of dollars from 2004 to last summer while he was rewarded with gifts including cash, a Cartier watch and a widescreen television. The securities agency said that those who received tips so treasured the information that Devlin got from his wife, Nina, that they began referring to the pair as the "golden goose."
