FINANCIAL MARKETS
Wall Street Hammered by Tyco and Negative Analyst Comments on the Tech Sector!
Wall Street was hit hard on the first day of June as traders sold stocks off throughout the day. However most of the damage was done in the last hour of trading as waves of selling hit the major averages.
The buzz today centered on Tyco....as word spread that Chairman and CEO Dennis Kozlowski had resigned from the company for personal reasons. The problem is that Koslowski is reportedly the focus of a criminal investigation for allegedly avoiding New York state sales taxes. Shares of Tyco plunged 26% on the news.
Shares of El Paso Corp. dropped 14% after the company's treasurer and Executive Vice-President, Charles Rice was found dead of an apparent suicide. The company was accused and so far has denied the use of so called phony round trip energy trading deals to pad revenues.
Barry Diller's USA Interactive has offered $4.5 billion to purchasse the remaining shares of Expedia, Ticketmaster and Hotels.com that it does not already own. The three companies are subsidiaries of USA Interactive.
From Wall Street:
Dow....................-215 @ 9,709
NASDAQ............-53 @ 1,562
S & P 500..............-26 @ 1,040
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Consumer Information
The I.R.S. Announces More Taxpayer Assistance
The internal revenue service has announced a major expansion of customer service to taxpayers. Through the agency's "EVERYDAY TAX SOLUTIONS" service, a taxpayer or tax preparer can now call a local number to set up a personal appointment at the most convenient time and place. The numbers are dedicated to scheduling face-to-face meetings to help solve tax problems.
The local Bay Area numbers are:
San Francisco 415-522-4061
Oakland 510-637-2487
Walnut Creek 925-279-4000
Santa Rosa 707-523-0924
San Jose 408-817-6747 |