Business in brief: GDP growth down to a crawl
The economy nearly sputtered out at the end of the year and probably is faring even worse now amid continuing housing, credit and financial woes.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gross domestic product – the value of all goods and services produced in the United States – increased at a feeble 0.6 percent annual rate from October through December.
The reading, unchanged from a previous estimate a month ago, provided stark evidence of just how much the economy has weakened. In the previous three months, the economy had a 4.9 percent growth rate.
TJX Cos. settles hacking case
More than a year after millions of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls customers found out their credit card information had been hacked into, the stores’ operator agreed to have its information audited but avoided paying federal fines.
TJX Cos. was one of three firms that agreed to settle charges that each “failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for sensitive consumer information,” federal regulators said Thursday in two unrelated data-breach decisions.
Data broker Reed Elsevier PLC and its Seisint subsidiary also avoided fines but have agreed to obtain third-party audits biennially for 20 years under a separate settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
Fed loans hugely popular
Big Wall Street investment companies have jumped all over the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented offer to obtain emergency loans, borrowing more than double the program’s debut week.
Those firms averaged $32.9 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending program, compared with $13.4 billion the previous week, the central bank reported Thursday. The program is part of the Fed’s effort to aid the financial system.
On Wednesday alone, lending reached $37 billion.
The Fed, for the first time, agreed on March 16 to let big investment houses temporarily get emergency loans directly from the central bank. This mechanism, similar to one available for commercial banks for years, will continue for at least six months.
NEW YORK
Bear Stearns chairman sells
Bear Stearns Cos. Chairman James Cayne on Thursday dumped his entire stake in the embattled investment bank for $61 million as it appears closer to a takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cayne sold 5.66 million shares for $10.84 a share on March 25, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His stake was once valued at about $1 billion when the stock was trading at $171.50 per share.