The legal dispute started back in 2002, when Immersion filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Sony over Xbox and PlayStation game controllers. Microsoft agreed to pay $26 million at the time, in order to settle the lawsuit.

The lawsuit against Sony ended last year, when the electronics maker was forced to pay a total of $121 million to Immersion. However, things did not end here. In 2003, Microsoft closed a deal with Immersion concerning business and IP licensing arrangements. According to the terms of the sub-license agreement, Microsoft was entitled to at least $15 million from any Sony payment over $100 million, plus 25 percent of any amount over $100 million up to $150 million.

This means that under the sub-license agreement, Microsoft is entitled to a percent of that $121 million settlement between Immersion and Sony. “We entered into a binding licensing agreement with Immersion and are seeking to have that agreement honored,” Microsoft said at the time, adding that their request simply demands that all companies and industry partners play by the same rules.

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Jet Aviation, currently owned by private equity firm Permira Funds, provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for business jets. It also charters executive jets. General Dynamics, also a major defense contractor, said the deal would expand its flight support services and is expected to immediately add to its earnings. It expects the acquisition to close by the end of 2008.

Sales of business jets have been on track to hit an all-time record this year, reflecting an explosion of wealth — mostly outside the United States. High fuel prices and the credit crisis have dampened growth in the U.S. market, but a three-year boom in global jet sales has boosted companies like General Dynamics Corp’s Gulfstream and Textron Inc’s Cessna.

Following the acquisition, Jet Aviation will operate as a business unit within the General Dynamics Aerospace group under the Jet Aviation and Midcoast Aviation brands. General Dynamics said the current management of Jet Aviation, which has about 5,600 employees, would not change. Nicholas Chabraja, General Dynamics’ chief executive, said Jet Aviation “is well positioned to capture further growth opportunities in the business aviation market.”

“This acquisition will expand General Dynamics’ franchise as the world leader in high-end business aviation products and services,” said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. “It is a smart hedge against any post-Iraq downturn in defense spending and a vote of confidence in the global economy,” Thompson added.

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The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales dipped 0.1 percent last month, the first decline since sales had fallen by 0.5 percent in February. It was a worse showing than the flat reading economists had been expecting. The weakness last month came after another big slide in auto sales as Detroit faced its worst sales month in 16 years. Automakers have been battered by the weak economy and record gasoline prices which have cut into demand for their once-popular sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

Excluding the big drop in autos, retail sales would have posted a 0.4 percent increase. While that was a positive reading, it was still the weakest showing for sales excluding autos in five months. Much of what little strength there was in July came from a big jump in sales at gasoline stations, which were up 0.8 percent. That increase reflected surging prices rather than increased demand, however.

Gasoline pump prices hit an all-time high during the month at $4.11 per gallon. Without the big rise in gasoline station sales, retail sales would have fallen by 0.2 percent in July. The disappointing performance of retail sales meant that the consumer sector, which accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity, got off to a weak start at the beginning of the third quarter. The government wrapped up distributing the bulk of the economic stimulus payments for a total of $92 billion through the end of July.

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The loss has come only three weeks after the U.S. government created an effort to prop up the second biggest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding and its rival Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac affirmed a commitment to increase fresh capital.

Freddie Mac’s chief financial officer repeated that it continues to maintain a surplus over regulatory capital requirements, and said the company can wait for “choppy” market conditions to improve before raising capital, which could exceed $5.5 billion. For the second quarter, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac reported a loss of $821 million, or $1.63 cents per share, compared with a profit of $729 million, or 96 cents per share, a year earlier.

That included the first loss from its holdings of subprime and other risky loans, which formed a significant part of its $2.8 billion in realized and anticipated losses stemming from the steepest U.S. housing downturn since the Great Depression.

“Credit-related expenses were far higher than what guidance had been,” said Rajiv Setia, a strategist at Barclays Capital in New York. Barclays was expecting about $2 billion, “and that was on the high side” of analyst estimates, he said. It was not immediately clear whether the loss was directly comparable with the average estimate among Wall Street analysts for a loss of 28 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

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Mutual of Omaha Bank’s acquisition of all deposits was the “least costly” resolution for the Deposit Insurance Fund compared to all alternatives because the expected losses to uninsured depositors were fully covered by the premium paid for the banks’ franchises, the FDIC said in a statement.

All depositors, including those with deposits in excess of the FDIC’s insurance limits, will automatically become depositors of Mutual of Omaha Bank for the full amount of their deposits, the FDIC said. Over the weekend, customers of the banks can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the banks will be processed normally. Loan customers should continue to make loan payments as usual.

As of June 30, 2008, First National of Nevada had total assets of $3.4 billion and total deposits of $3.0 billion. First Heritage Bank had total assets of $254 million and total deposits of $233 million, the FDIC said. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the banks, Mutual of Omaha Bank will purchase approximately $200 million of assets from the receiverships.

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“Now that it’s going away, we’re devastated,” said Kate Walker, a facilities manager for SunGard Financial Systems, a software company, who recently learned of a store closing in New York City.

Customers watched as Starbucks grew to be one of the biggest and fastest growing retailers during the past decade. For the longest time the independent coffee shops were upset and angry over the control that they had on the people - but now everyone is sad to see them go. Starbucks said that because of poor sales they are forced to close 600 store locations.

Ms. Walker is in charge of consolidating 525 people from seven of the company’s New York City offices into a new building in January. The Starbucks inside that building, at Madison and 44th, “was something that we were using to psych people up” about the move, she said.

Her hopes were dashed after Thursday night, when Starbucks released the list of the stores that it plans to close. She scoured the Internet to find a phone number for the company’s main office and jotted down a company post office box address so she can ask officials to reconsider. “I know it’s going to be tough but I’ll keep trying at it,” Ms. Walker said. “It’s sort of an extension of our office.”

Although the states with the largest number of closings are California, Florida and Texas, the impact is greater proportionally elsewhere. Mississippi, for instance, is slated to lose 41% of its Starbucks locations; North Dakota, 33%; Minnesota, 32%; and Nebraska, 30%, according to an analysis by William Blair & Co. analyst Sharon Zackfia. That calculation excludes licensed Starbucks stores.

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This led Coca-Cola, which owns approximately 35 per cent of CCE, to take a $1.1bn write down in its second quarter results, reducing reported earnings per share by 40 cents to 61 cents per diluted share.
CCE reported a second quarter loss of $3.17bn, or $6.52 per share. CCE distributes Coke’s drinks in 46 US states, alongside a range of small independent local bottlers, as well as in the UK and parts of western Europe, accounting for 18 per cent of company’s total sales.

John Brock, chief executive, said that “continued significant declines in the North American economy” and “unprecedented escalating commodity costs” were threatening the company’s plans for near term growth, and creating “an immediate need to accelerate substantive operating changes in our business”. As a result, he said CCE would institute a round of price increases in September, and had begun a review aimed at improving its supply chain and other operations.

The company said that during its second quarter it had seen “persistent weakness” in sales of its higher margin 20-ounce bottles of Coke and other drinks, as well as in sales of Coke’s Dasani bottled mineral water. It said that the price per case it charged to retailers grew 4 per cent, but its costs per case increased 7.5 per cent. CCE took a write-down of $2bn in the value of its business in 2006, which it attributed to having overpaid for acquisitions of smaller bottlers during a period of rapid expansion in the 1990s.

Management also lowered its full-year 2008 earnings forecast to $1.40 to $1.45 per share. It also forecast a decline in operating income in North America in the low-teens, offset by solid growth in Europe. In Europe, the company said that consumer demand remained steady, despite “some economic headwinds”.

Coca-Cola itself said that overall case sales of carbonated drinks in North America fell 4 per cent, which it said was primarily due to continuing weak demand from restaurants and other food service locations. But sales by volume for its Glaceau enhanced water, Fuze juices and other non-carbonated drinks increased 9 per cent.

It also reported a 5 per cent increase in international case volume, and a 3 per cent increase for the group overall. Net revenues increased 17 per cent to just over $9bn, with nine percentage points of the increase due to the weak dollar. CCE’s shares, which hit $27 six months ago, lost over 3 per cent to $16.10. Coke shares were down over 3 per cent, at $50.27.

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“I’m very shocked - do you know how many Benadryls I bought here?” asked Sonnithia Springer, 15, of Brooklyn. “It makes me not trust them.”

“How could anybody let that go unnoticed?” said Peter Pruitt, 21, outside a CVS near City Hall.

The state’s three-month probe found dozens of expired medicines - including popular names like Bayer aspirin and store brands - on shelves at about half of the CVS and Rite Aid stores probed. The expired medications pose a serious health risk to those who have bought them and they are a waste of money.

“It’s a double whammy for the consumer,” Andrew Cuomo Attorney General said.

Both Rite Aid and CVS promised to cooperate and ordered store to check for expired products of any kind.
CVS and Rite Aid vowed to cooperate and ordered stores to check for expired products.

“I’m disgusted,” said Shawn Love, 19, of Queens. “No one should have to consume expired goods.”

Like many consumers, Sarah Harper, 35, of Brooklyn, blamed the problems on the disappearance of trusted mom-and-pop drugstores, which once dotted the city.

“It’s unacceptable,” said Antonio Lamota, 58, of Queens, who was shopping for eye drops at a CVS in Greenwich Village. “You’re dealing with human lives. You can’t be negligent.”

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Manpower’s top executive said this should come as “no surprise” in light of current economic conditions around the world. conducts its closely followed surveys, based on interviews of more than 55,000 employers, on a quarterly basis to measure trends in employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of their employees.

“The employment picture in the U.S. is slightly weaker than three months ago, with the construction sector continuing to struggle,” said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower’s chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
U.S. job seekers “should find ample opportunities” in the services sector, he added. “Employers in all of the G7 countries are expecting to hire at a slower pace from July through September than they were a year ago,” Joerres said, referring to the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries.

The U.S. is part of the G7. Japan was the only other G7 member whose employers are planning to reduce hiring between the second and third quarters, Joerres said. He added that employers surveyed in France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. plan little changes in their hiring, with Canadian employers indicating “slight improvement” in their hiring plans.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the hiring trend shows that G7 labor markets “remain healthy,” Joerres said, noting that five of the seven countries are expected to hold steady or show improvement. The survey data of employers in 32 countries revealed that the most optimistic third-quarter hiring plans included a handful of emerging markets: India, Peru, Costa Rica and Romania.

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There is belief that they will be announcing the end of two U.S. plants in Ohio and Wisconsin at the annual shareholder meeting. They are making the cuts due to the increase in gas prices and the housing slump.

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