Finance news

In Silicon Valley’s white-hot competition for tech talent, programmers can face a daily barrage of calls from recruiters seeking to woo them to rival companies with offers of better pay and perks.

But workers for some of the biggest names in the business claim their phones fell silent because of a conspiracy among their employers. And they claim the world’s biggest tech icon was at the center.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose claims senior executives at Google Inc., Intel Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd., Pixar and Apple Inc. violated antitrust laws by entering into secret anti-poaching agreements not to hire each other’s best workers. In doing so, the suit contends the companies were able to keep wages artificially low by preventing bidding wars for the best employees.

The plaintiffs also claim that company e-mails show Steve Jobs himself sought and orchestrated at least some of the so-called “gentlemen’s agreements” while Apple’s CEO.

“I believe we have a policy of no recruiting from Apple,” then-Google chief executive Eric Schmidt wrote in a 2007 email cited by the plaintiffs. The email was originally furnished to the U.S. Justice Department, which investigated similar allegations in 2010. The same email included a forwarded message from Jobs complaining that Google’s recruiting department was trying to lure away an Apple engineer.

“Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening?” Schmidt wrote. Google’s director of staffing replied that the recruiter “will be terminated within the hour.”

The companies’ attorneys said the facts even as presented by the plaintiffs show no evidence of a conspiracy.

Rather, they said in court filings that some companies had separate one-to-one pacts among themselves as they worked together on various business ventures.

“The obvious explanation for the existence of these agreements were the collaborations,” said Apple defense attorney George Riley, as the two sides squared off Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Jose. Riley told Judge Lucy Koh that such arrangements were common.

The case hinges on a practice described in court documents as “cold-calling.” Under the practice, recruiters from one company will call an employee at another company who has the skills the company needs. The practice can lead to bidding wars as workers play the companies off one another to get the highest pay.

Cold-calling, the suit contends, helps workers get a sense of what they’re worth in a free market for employment in which all the companies are competing against one another for top employees. When the cold-calling stops, workers lose the knowledge and the leverage they could otherwise use to demand higher pay.

The Justice Department’s 2010 investigation included all the same companies except Lucasfilm, and the plaintiffs in some ways mimic the language from the department’s original case. The companies settled without admitting any wrongdoing but agreed not to enter into future agreements preventing them from cold-calling each other’s employees to recruit them.

Because the Justice Department’s case was settled quietly without any public dispute, court records contain little detail about any specific alleged agreements among companies.

Some of those details did come to light, however, in a recent filing by the plaintiffs, which quotes emails they obtained from the companies that had previously been given to the Justice Department business cards.

In a 2005 email describing a purported agreement between former Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen and his then-counterpart at Apple, an Adobe human resources executive wrote: “Bruce and Steve Jobs have an agreement that we are not to solicit ANY Apple employees, and vice versa,” according to court documents.

Ex-Palm Inc. CEO Ed Colligan wrote to Jobs in 2007: “Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other’s employees, regardless of the individual’s desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal,” the plaintiffs’ filing said.

In internal company communications, Intel CEO and Google board member Paul Otellini described a gentleman’s agreement between the two companies: “Let me clarify. We have nothing signed. We have a handshake `no recruit’” between himself and then-Google CEO Schmidt. “I would not like this broadly known.”

Defense attorneys contend the emails are being distorted by the plaintiffs and show nothing beyond legitimate one-to-one agreements. Apple declined to comment.

“Intel disagrees with the allegations contained in the private litigation related to recruiting practices and plans to conduct a vigorous defense,” said Sumner Lemon, an Intel spokesman.

Adobe said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

The other companies named in the suit did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

Whichever side prevails, the case underscores the high wages talented tech workers can command in Silicon Valley, where the tech industry added thousands of jobs last year. According to federal labor statistics, mid-level tech workers in the region such as computer security specialists, web developers and network architects earn more money than anywhere else in the country, with average annual salaries topping $110,000.

Many of those workers could get thousands more if the case goes their way, lead plaintiff’s attorney Joseph Saveri said. Given the potentially tens of thousands of workers affected if the plaintiffs succeed in turning the suit into a class-action case, Saveri said the combined damages for the companies could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars if decided at trial.

Such penalties would sink many companies. But Apple recently reported cash reserves of more than $97 billion. Google also has billions in cash on hand.

One anti-trust attorney not involved in the case doubts the companies have much to worry about anyway.

Antitrust cases that revolve around hiring practices are difficult to win, said David Balto, a Washington, D.C.-based antitrust lawyer who investigated Microsoft as a staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission in the 1990s. Among the legal challenges they face is defining who exactly makes up the class of workers harmed by the alleged violations, since people with different jobs have different employment options, he said.

“I don’t think anybody at these companies is losing a nanosecond of sleep because of this lawsuit,” Balto said.

Source

Apply today for no-hassle payday loans and cash advance no faxing. Get the money you need faster than the speed of sound. No credit checks. Fast Approval.

Canada is looking at alternatives for exporting its oil since U.S. President Barack Obama announced he was blocking a pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

A pipeline executive said Thursday that the company was weighing whether to build a segment of the line _ from Oklahoma to Texas _ that wouldn’t require U.S. State Department approval. And government officials said Canada would push harder for a pipeline to the Pacific Coast, where oil could be shipped to China.

At the same time, Canadian officials said, they are hopeful the 1,700-mile (2,740-kilometer) Keystone XL pipeline will be built.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford, the leader of the Canadian province that has the world’s third-largest reserves of oil, said that while Canada is disappointed at Obama’s decision, the government believes Obama has made it clear the U.S. would consider a new Keystone XL pipeline application with a new routing.

Obama called Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain that the decision on Wednesday was not on the merits of the pipeline but rather on the “arbitrary nature” of a Feb. 21 deadline set by Republican legislators as part of a tax measure he signed, Harper’s office said.

“The fact that the president has said that the decision was not based on the merits we take as a signal that there is an opportunity to make a decision that is in the national interest that allows the project to go ahead,” Redford told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., which proposed the pipeline, said Thursday it was considering building the pipeline in segments, with the first connecting an existing pipeline in Oklahoma to refineries in Texas.

The Obama administration had suggested development of an Oklahoma-to-Texas line to alleviate an oil glut at a Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub.

“If our shippers are interested in building that portion of the pipeline (first), we would look at that,” TransCanada President and CEO Russ Girling told The Associated Press in an interview.

Obama’s rejection of Keystone XL “clearly gives flexibility to do that,” Girling said. He emphasized that the company had made no decisions.

U.S. officials have said that building the pipeline in sections could speed up the process since the U.S. State Department would not be involved if the pipeline does not cross the U.S.-Canada border.

Girling’s remarks were in contrast to a statement TransCanada issued on Wednesday declaring it would reapply for a presidential permit to build the full pipeline. Girling said the company still expects to reapply, but “will take our time for how to refile it.”

He said a new route that avoids environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska should be made public in a matter of weeks

In Washington, the proposed $7 billion pipeline has become a political hot potato.

Republicans _ who earlier put the president in the awkward position of having to make a decision on it before Feb. 21 _ now hope to force Obama to deal with it yet again before next November’s presidential election. He wants to put it off beyond that.

Republicans are looking to drive a wedge between Obama and two key Democratic constituencies. Some labor unions support the pipeline as a job creator, while environmentalists fear it could lead to an oil spill disaster.

The Alberta-to-Texas pipeline proposed by TransCanada would carry 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta across six U.S. states to the Texas Gulf Coast, which has numerous refineries.

Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said it’s clear the process is not yet over and said Canada is hopeful the pipeline will be accepted on its merits.

Redford said Obama’s decision adds urgency to Enbridge’s proposed pipeline to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia that would allow Canadian oil to be shipped to Asia for the first time.

The project is undergoing a regulatory review in Canada.

“Asian markets are a very viable alternative. I say alternative, I probably shouldn’t. It’s not an either or situation. There’s an opportunity here for us to grow our markets in both directions and we’d like to be able to do that,” Redford said.

Canadian officials see the pipeline to the Pacific coast as critical as Canada seeks to diversify its energy customer base beyond the United States, which Canada relies on for 97 percent of its energy exports.

Alberta has more than 170 billion barrels of oil reserves. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have more reserves.

Sinopec, a Chinese state-controlled oil company, has a stake in Enbridge’s proposed $5.5 billion Northern Gateway Pipeline. Chinese state-owned companies also have invested more than $16 billion in the oil sands in the last two years.

Tens of billions more are expected to be invested in Canada’s oil sands if the Pacific pipeline is built.

There is fierce environmental and aboriginal opposition to the Pacific pipeline, but Harper’s government has called it a nation-building project that is crucial to the country’s goal of becoming an energy super power.

Source

No fax payday loans offer quick financial support before the next payday in an easy and instant manner.

The European Central Bank

The Sappington Farmers Market, which filed for bankruptcy Friday, will remain open despite its troubles.

“The reorganization of Sappington Farmers Market will allow the store to remain open and viable,” said Nancy Smith, the market’s manager, in a written statement. “We feel this will position us to be successful in the future.”

Smith didn’t provide an interview.

The store, on Watson Road in Marlborough, has roots going back to the early 1980s and has been at its present location since 1995, where it has gained a loyal following of bargain hunters and proponents of local farming.

The store’s mission has long been to support area farmers by featuring their products.

In her statement released Saturday, Smith said the store would continue to feature local farmers and would continue distributing their products not only through the store but through schools, restaurants and a “mobile market.”

The store’s founder, Tessa Greenspan, sold it in 2008 to a cooperative of small-scale farmers known as the Missouri Farmers Union, which formed a company called Farm to Family Naturally LLC to buy the business.

Farm to Family Naturally, which does business as Sappington Farmers Market, was the organization that filed for bankruptcy on Friday.

Members of the original cooperative who purchased the store have since left, according to employees.

Source

There was a time not so long ago that seeing a single wind turbine spinning in the distance was a novel experience for most people.

Not so much any more. There are now hundreds of wind turbines scattered across the province, representing 1,700 megawatts of wind capacity in Ontario alone

Forecasters say Rina has quickly strengthened into a hurricane off the coast of Honduras.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday that Rina was a Category 1 hurricane with top winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was centered about 195 miles (314 kilometers) southwest of Grand Cayman.

Forecasters say the storm could become a major hurricane with winds topping 111 mph (179 kph) by late Tuesday quick cash.

The storm is forecast to bring at least 2 inches of rain over the Cayman Islands.

Source

A New York businessman called a “mini-Madoff” because he was arrested weeks after the billion-dollar swindler was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $179 million in restitution _ money he doesn’t have.

Nicholas Cosmo, who apologized as he was sentenced, has had a gambling problem since high school, his lawyer said. He was arrested in January 2009 and pleaded guilty last year to mail and wire fraud.

“I’m going to be working until they put me in the grave,” said one of the victims, Ellen Gabriel, of Yaphank, N.Y., who did not address the court but wept throughout the hearing. The hairdresser said she lost $130,000 _ “my entire life savings.”

Gabriel added that she had researched before investing: “It’s not like we were stupid.”

Four victims did address the court.

“Everything that these people said about me, for the most part, is true,” said Cosmo, the former head of the Long Island-based Agape World and Agape Merchant Advance in New York City.

Agape solicited investors to fund short loans to help companies get temporary financing. Cosmo promised up to 80 percent returns but admitted using investors’ money for personal investments.

“It wasn’t my intention to ever hurt anyone. But I hurt them and I stand here as a guilty man,” Cosmo told the court. “I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I know that probably falls on deaf ears. There’s not a day that goes by that I am not ashamed for what I have done.”

Unlike the more notorious Bernard Madoff, who admitted cheating charities, celebrities and institutional investors out of billions, Cosmo targeted mainly blue-collar workers.

“He preyed on people’s personal relationships and trust,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetri Jones, who had urged a 40-year term. “The victims are everyman _ generations of families.”

The more than 4,000 victims include teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses and construction workers, Jones said. “They’re not banks. They’re not corporations. They’re people.”

Investors believed they would make returns as high as 80 percent a year from interest collected on short-term loans to businesses. But an investigation revealed that “much of the money paid back to investors … was actually money provided by subsequent investors” _ a Ponzi scheme.

Cosmo also spent 21 months in federal prison for a 1999 mail fraud conviction.

He had been free on $1.25 million bail until October 2009, when U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley revoked bail after finding Cosmo had violated bail conditions barring him from access to any computer or the Internet.

Cosmo “will bend the rules if he feels it will serve his interests,” the judge said at the time. “He is unlikely to abide by any condition or conditions of his release.”

Source

The conspiracy involved enlisting star-studded bait in an exotic locale for a high-stakes job.

Heidi Fleiss, the infamous “Hollywood Madam,” sat among the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, pleading for a woman she didn’t know to help trap a man almost everybody in St. Louis knew.

The target: Ray Vinson, the homespun mortgage salesman whose twangy rendition of the “99-99″ suffix on his American Equity Mortgage phone number made him a staple of St. Louis radio and TV advertising.

The point: Vinson was embroiled in a nasty, high-stakes divorce, with tens of millions of dollars hanging on the decision of a St. Louis County judge.

The plan: To coax Pamela Brensinger, a former exotic dancer, to claim that she had an affair with Vinson and that he was a dangerous, abusive boyfriend.

The problem: Brensinger didn’t remember anyone named Ray Vinson.

The intrigue that September day in 2005 ran deep. Unknown to Fleiss, Brensinger’s husband, a driver for a Las Vegas escort service, sat at a nearby table, surreptitiously listening in. Unknown to Brensinger and her husband, private detectives who hired Fleiss were nearby payday advance.

Those detectives were working with Joe Adams, a flamboyant private eye from St. Louis who was the bodyguard of Vinson’s estranged wife, Deanna Daughhetee.

A strike deadline has now passed for Southern California grocery workers, but there is no word of any walkout just yet.

The three-day notice period required before calling a strike elapsed at 7:10 p.m. Pacific time Sunday, but union leaders said they intended to keep negotiating past the deadline.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 spokesman Mike Shimpock said earlier Sunday that workers will stay on the job at least until midnight and possibly longer if talks are moving ahead.

Messages left for union and grocery representatives just after the deadline were not immediately returned.

Some 62,000 grocery employees have been working without a contract since March, while in discussions with negotiators for grocery chains Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

A union representing workers at three major grocery chains in Southern California distributed picket signs Sunday, as the clock ticked toward the end of a three-day notice period required before calling a strike.

Union negotiators intend to keep talking if a resolution appears to be in sight when the period ends at 7:10 p.m. They also stressed that members could keep working beyond that time.

“Our workers will stay on the job until at least midnight, and possibly longer if negotiations are moving ahead,” said Mike Shimpock, spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, one of the unions representing the 62,000 workers seeking a new contract.

If little progress is made toward settling disagreements over health benefits, negotiators said they will tell members to walk off the job.

The grocery workers have been working without a contract since March, while in discussions with negotiators for The Vons Cos. Inc.; Ralphs Grocery Co., a subsidiary of The Kroger Co.; and Albertsons, owned by Supervalu Inc.

Representatives for the supermarket chains said last week they were disappointed that the unions had taken that step but remained committed to reaching an agreement.

Kendra Doyel, a spokeswoman for Ralphs, said Sunday the supermarkets remained hopeful a deal would be reached before the deadline.

Calls to representatives for Albertsons and Vons were not immediately returned.

A four-month strike and lockout that began in 2003 cost Ralphs and other grocery chains an estimated $2 billion.

Both sides in the current dispute announced in July that they had reached a tentative agreement on the employers’ contributions to pension benefits, but payments to the union health care trust fund remained a major sticking point.

Union members voted overwhelmingly to reject the health care proposal offered by the chains and to authorize their leaders to call a strike.

Union officials said they were responding to what they characterized as the chains’ delaying tactics when they issued the required 72-hour notice Thursday evening to cancel the contract extension under which they had been working.

Source

Asian markets opened lower Tuesday after fears of a worsening global economy sparked a session of free-falling losses in Europe.

Oil prices fell to below $84 a barrel in Asia as investor fears of a recession in developed countries sent equities and commodities lower. The dollar was higher against the euro but lower against the yen.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.2 percent to 8,676.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 1 percent down at 19,420.47. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 lost 1.1 percent to 4,095.50. South Korea’s Kospi index was 0.6 percent down at 1,774.73.

The slump in Asia comes a day after European shares booked sharp losses. Britain’s FTSE 100 closed the day down 3.6 percent to 5,102.58. Germany’s DAX tumbled a massive 5.3 percent to 5,246.18, and France’s CAC-40 plummeted 4.7 percent to 2,999.54.

A wave of negative sentiment was unleashed Friday by a government report that said the U.S. economy failed to add any new jobs in August. That caused European and Asian stock markets to sink sharply Monday.

The August jobs figure was far below economists’ already tepid expectations for 93,000 new U.S. jobs and renewed concerns that the U.S. recovery is not only slowing but actually unwinding.

U.S. hiring figures for June and July were also revised lower, adding to the gloom. The unemployment crisis has prompted President Barack Obama to schedule a major speech Thursday night to propose steps to stimulate hiring.

The health of the U.S. economy is crucial for the wider world because consumer spending there accounts for a fifth of global economic activity. The U.S. imports huge amounts from Japan and China and is closely linked at all levels with the European market.

Traders are hoping for signs that the Federal Reserve might take action at its September meeting to support the economy _ perhaps a third round of bond purchases, dubbed quantitative easing III or QE3.

Wall Street, which was closed Monday due to the Labor Day holiday, was bracing for losses Tuesday.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was down $2.47 to $83.98 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude last settled at $86.45 on Friday because U.S. markets were closed Monday for the holiday.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was steady at $110.08 on the ICE Futures exchange.

In currencies, the euro weakened to $1.4074 Tuesday from $1.4187 in New York late Friday as worries mounted about Greece’s ability to meet requirements set by international lenders to stave off a massive default on the country’s debts.

The dollar weakened to 76.82 yen from 76.87 yen. Last month, the dollar fell under 76 yen, which was a new post-World War II high for the Japanese currency.

Source