BRIEFCASE DISNEY SANCTIONS APPEAL REJECTED.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services A state Supreme Court panel has declined to hear The Walt Disney Co.'s appeal of sanctions for destroying documents in the long-running legal battle over Winnie the Pooh royalties. The action by the high court means an appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. ruling rejecting Disney's appeal stands. Bert Fields, the attorney for plaintiff Patricia Slesinger, the heir to Pooh rights holder Stephen Slesinger, called the decision a ``tremendously important ruling.'' But John Spelich, a Disney spokesman, said the high court made no findings on the merits on the merits adj. referring to a judgment, decision or ruling of a court based upon the facts presented in evidence and the law applied to that evidence. A judge decides a case "on the merits" when he/she bases the decision on the fundamental issues and considers of the appeal. Mortgage rates fall to new lows WASHINGTON - Mortgage rates around the country fell this week, setting new lows that economists predicted would spell more good news for the housing industry. The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 5.84 percent for this week, down from 5.86 percent last week, Freddie Mac Freddie Mac: see Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. reported Thursday in its latest nationwide survey of rates. That rate was the lowest since the mortgage giant began tracking 30-year mortgage rates in 1971. Records that reach back earlier than Freddie Mac's indicate that rate is the lowest since the early 1960s. Chrysler shows dramatic recovery DETROIT - Two years into a three-year turnaround plan, DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S. arm showed dramatic improvement in 2002, posting a $1.38 billion operating profit Operating profit (or loss) Revenue from a firm's regular activities less costs and expenses and before income deductions. operating profit See operating income. , a hefty swing to the black after losing some $2 billion a year earlier. DaimlerChrysler said thanks to ``outstanding progress'' in efficiency, it exceeded its original aim of simply returning the U.S. division to profitability in 2002, even as Chrysler's full-year revenue slipped 5 percent to 60.2 billion euros ($64.8 billion) from 63.5 billion euros because of the weaker dollar. J.P. Morgan will pay to settle claim WASHINGTON - A major Wall Street firm, J.P. Morgan, has agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations that its Hambrecht & Quist investment bank got inflated commissions from customers who improperly received hot new stocks, regulators announced Thursday. J.P. Morgan neither admitted to nor denied the allegations by the disciplinary arm of the National Association of Securities Dealers National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Nonprofit organization formed under the joint sponsorship of the investment bankers' conference and the SEC to comply with the Maloney Act, which provides for the regulation of the OTC market. , the brokerage industry's self-policing group. J.P. Morgan also was censured. The violations by Hambrecht & Quist allegedly occurred from November 1999 to March 2000, before J.P. Morgan acquired the San Francisco-based firm. Sporting goods giants to merge NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - In a move designed to battle the behemoth behemoth (bē`hĭmŏth, bĭhē`–) [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. discounters, the nation's two largest sporting goods chains - The Sports Authority Inc. and Gart Sports Co. - have agreed to merge, creating a national retailing force with 385 stores in 45 states and annual sales of about $2.5 billion. The stock swap deal values each of the sporting goods retailers at more than $200 million as both companies' shares rose in the wake of Thursday's announcement. Sports Authority shares climbed 63 cents, or 11.4 percent, to close Thursday at $6.14 on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . Gart Sports' shares rose $1.54, or 10.3 percent, to $16.48 on the Nasdaq Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. . Gart is the parent of SportsMart. |
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