Daily News (New York, NY) articles from December 2001

Daily News (New York, NY) archives from December 2001

Gross Domestic Product Contracts by 1.1 Percent During Third Quarter.
December 1, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 1--The economy slumped nearly three times more sharply during the third quarter than originally thought as the Sept. 11 attacks deepened the recession, the government said yesterday. The gross domestic...

General Motors, Ford Reap Strong November Sales, but See Tough Year Ahead.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 4--The nation's top two automakers rode 0 percent financing promotions to impressive November sales gains, but both predicted a rocky road for early 2002. Industry leader General Motors, which sparked the 0...

Wall Street Posts Fourth Loss in Five Days.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 4--A fresh look at the nation's ailing manufacturing sector, combined with concerns over banks' exposure to bankrupt energy giant Enron sent Wall Street to its fourth loss in five days. Manufacturing...

Bankrupt Enron Gets $1.5 Billion in New Financing From Banks.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 4--Energy giant Enron yesterday came up with $1.5 billion in new financing from a group of banks headed by New York's J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank, a day after it filed the biggest bankruptcy case in U.S....

Surveys Show Consumer Holiday Spending Is Likely to Be Lukewarm.
December 5, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 5--Retailers could find lumps of coal in their stockings this year, as several surveys warned that lukewarm consumer spending might make this a holiday season to forget. In New York State, unseasonably...

New AOL Time Warner Chief Executive Comes with Abundant Resume.
December 6, 2001... Byline: Paul D. Colford Dec. 6--The new CEO of AOL Time Warner embodies a New York story about a kid who grew up in Queens, graduated from a tough public high school, climbed the ladder of success and stayed close to the community after...

AOL Time Warner Chief Executive Announces Retirement.
December 6, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 6--In a surprise move, AOL Time Warner chief executive Gerald Levin, the shrewd media mogul who built the world's most powerful Internet and media company, is stepping down and will be replaced by his confidant,...

Stocks Close Above 10,000 Mark.
December 6, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 6--Wall Street soared into territory not seen since late summer as investors bet the market had hit bottom and the economy would also soon turn stronger. The Dow jumped 220.45 to 10,114.29, its first close...

Lawsuits against Enron Allege Misconduct by Top Executives.
December 6, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 6--Enron's top execs misled the public about the company's serious financial problems, causing enormous losses to shareholders, while pocketing $1.1 billion in illegal gains, according to lawsuits filed...

New York State's Common Retirement Fund May Sue Enron over $58 Million Loss.
December 7, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 7--New York State's common retirement fund, which lost $58 million from the plunge in Enron stock, may file a federal class-action suit against the failed energy giant. "We're considering it," a spokesman...

NYSE Creates Secret Emergency-Backup Trading Floor.
December 7, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 7--Spurred to action by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the New York Stock Exchange has created a secret emergency backup trading floor in New York. It also will enter final talks with the city on building a...

Daily News, New York, Publishing Column.
December 7, 2001... Byline: Paul D. Colford Dec. 7--The Wall Street Journal is stopping the presses -- to add more color, more pages, a new section and the first redesign of its front page since World War II. On Jan. 2, The Journal's print capacity will...

November Retail Sales Deliver Disappointing Numbers.
December 7, 2001... Dec. 7--Gap, the chain that put khaki chinos in nearly every 1990s office wardrobe, had another utterly dismal month in November. The parent of Banana Republic, Old Navy and its flagship Gap boutiques suffered a 25 percent drop in...

Seagram Heir to Leave Post at Vivendi.
December 7, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 7--Edgar Bronfman Jr., the Seagram heir who steered his family's liquor fortune into show biz and was derided by critics along the way, is stepping down from French media giant Vivendi. The 46-year-old son...

Jobless Rate Soars to 5.7 Percent.
December 8, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 8--The country shed jobs at a blistering pace for the second month in a row in November, as unemployment shot up to 5.7 percent -- it's highest level in six years. The Labor Department said 331,000...

Halliburton Shares Increase 17 Percent.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 11--Halliburton shares clawed their way back from a Friday drilling after the oil services giant sought to down play the risk of asbestos lawsuits. The Dallas company, run by Vice President Dick Cheney until...

New York Controller Says Wall Street Bonuses Could Drop to $10 Billion.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 11--Bonuses on Wall Street, which began arriving this week, are expected to drop at least 30 percent from last year as the investment community reels from one of the worst periods in a decade. But...

Too Many New York Law Firms, Too Little Work Forces Layoffs.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 11--Too many New York lawyers are chasing too little business, a new report from Citigroup Private Bank has found. With the economy in a full-blown recession, major law firms are finding their highly...

Daily News, New York, Publishing Column.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Paul D. Colford Dec. 11--In the weeks before "The Lord of the Rings" opens in movie theaters, the late J.R.R. Tolkien has been burning up the best-seller lists, except at The New York Times. Pocket-size paperbacks of Tolkien's...

Fed's Latest Cut Brings Interest Rate Down to 1.75 Percent.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 11--Among such sure things as death and taxes, add today's Fed rate cut -- widely expected to be a quarter per cent, bringing rates to a low of 1.75 percent last seen in June 1961. Today's cut will be the...

Telecommunications, Electricity Companies Face Daunting Task at Ground Zero.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Greg Gittrich Dec. 11--Five blocks south of the smoldering mounds of rubble at Ground Zero, an unimpressive bump of pavement -- rising only slightly higher than the sidewalk -- is spray-painted with a glaring warning. "CAUTION...

Daily News, New York, Peter Siris Column.
December 11, 2001... Byline: Peter Siris Dec. 11--Two weeks ago, I stuck my neck out and predicted there was a 75 percent chance the stock market would melt up. With each passing day, the continuation of the melt up becomes more real. Most money managers I...

Fed Lowers Interest Rates to Lowest Level in Four Decades.
December 12, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 12--The Fed sliced interest rates by another quarter percent yesterday, to the lowest level in more than 40 years, while acknowledging glimmers of economic improvement, and suggested there may be more cuts to...

Developer Accuses New York Times Co. of Taking Advantage of City Taxpayers.
December 12, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 12--Alleging "fraud, bad faith and collusion against the taxpayers of the city," a developer has sued The New York Times Co., challenging fiscal incentives promised the paper as part of its deal to build a new...

New York Governor Taps New Director of Port Authority.
December 13, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 13--Gov. Pataki tapped New York Power Authority chairman Joseph Seymour yesterday to run the Port Authority, an agency still reeling from the loss of 75 employees in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack. ...

Aetna, Qwest Cutbacks to Add 13,000 to Ranks of Unemployed.
December 14, 2001... Dec. 14--The ranks of the nation's unemployed swelled yesterday, as giant health insurer Aetna and telecom Qwest Communications each slashed thousands of workers. Aetna announced it's cutting 6,000 jobs, or 16 percent of its workforce, to...

New York Times Co. Reveals Design of New Headquarters.
December 14, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 14--The New York Times Co. unveiled the design of its new headquarters building yesterday -- giving shape to the future of the paper and Times Square with plans conceived in Italy. The design by architect Renzo...

Republic New York Bank Owes $606 Million In Fraud Case.
December 18, 2001... Byline: Barbara Ross Dec. 18--Republic New York will be paying $606 million to Japanese investors -- victims of a corrupt securities scheme. It's the biggest restitution pact ever made in federal court. Republic and its new parent...

Daily News, New York, Media Column.
December 18, 2001... Byline: Paul D. Colford Dec. 18--A new book that accuses CBS News of liberal bias has become an instant best-seller. Written by former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg, "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News"...

New York City Comptroller Reports Grim Fiscal Outlook.
December 18, 2001... Byline: William Sherman Dec. 18--New York City is in the middle of the worst economic downturn in a decade -- mired in a recession that's worse than the nation's, the city controller reported yesterday. Alan Hevesi warned that a...

Stores Continue Offering Discounts in Order to Boost Holiday Sales.
December 18, 2001... Byline: Judith Schoolman Dec. 18--Leading into the last shopping week before Christmas, retailers braced for the worst season in a decade. But consumers are finding twice as many discounts as a year ago and mark-downs near 50 percent. ...

Entrepreneur Becomes Chief Executive of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
December 18, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 18--It's showtime for Barry Diller. Sidelined on the fringes of the media business for years, yesterday Diller surged back to the inner circle of media moguls -- sealing a deal to sell the entertainment...

New GE CEO Announces Grand Business Plan.
December 19, 2001... Byline: Rachel Scheier Dec. 19--General Electric, the world's richest company, only plans to get richer -- and bigger -- weak economy or no. That was the message yesterday from Jeff Immelt. GE's new CEO laid out a blueprint of how to...

Daily News, New York, Media Column.
December 19, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 19-- DISMAL DISNEY PLUNGES LOWER: There's not much magic left in the Magic Kingdom. Disney -- dragged down by the sour economy and an increasingly weak ABC -- is looking more and more like the ugly...

Pfizer Delays Launch of New Drugs.
December 19, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 19--Manhattan-based Pfizer slipped a bitter pill into its otherwise upbeat investor conference yesterday. The nation's largest drugmaker confirmed research delays will slow the FDA approval process for two...

New York State Attorney General Targets World Trade Center Copycat Charities.
December 20, 2001... Byline: Thomas Zambito Dec. 20--State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating several charities that allegedly are cashing in on the World Trade Center tragedy at the expense of the legitimate fund-raising efforts of the FDNY and...

Lack of Tourists Hurts New York City's Holiday Retail Season.
December 20, 2001... Byline: Greg Wilson Dec. 20--Nearing the finish line, the all-important holiday shopping season is in slow gear -- but lots of New Yorkers are doing their part. Wall Streeters on their lunch hour are returning to the shops at South...

AT&T Now a Remnant of the Once-Mighty Ma Bell.
December 21, 2001... Byline: Rachel Scheier Dec. 21--What's left of AT&T? With the news that it has agreed sell its cable business, with its wireless operation already gone -- spun off to shareholders last summer -- the company has pushed its two most...

Independent New York City Bookstore Reaches Final Chapter.
December 21, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 21--Coliseum Books has reached its final chapter. One of Manhattan's last big independent bookstores, Coliseum can no longer afford its home at 1775 Broadway. The store will close its doors by mid-January. ...

AT&T, Comcast Merge to Create World's Most Powerful Cable Company.
December 21, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 21--AT&T and Comcast are wiring up to create the world's most powerful cable company -- bad news for cable TV networks and media giant AOL Time Warner, the big loser in the deal. "This transaction redefines...

Security Flaw Present in Microsoft's Windows XP.
December 21, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 21--Bill Gates had to switch from celebration to damage-control yesterday as news of a "major" security flaw in his prized Windows XP operating system upstaged the fanfare over Microsoft winning a piece of the...

Daily News, New York, Peter Siris Column.
December 23, 2001... Byline: Peter Siris Dec. 23--This is the time of year when many of you have the choice to reevaluate the retirement plan at your company. There are usually a number of choices: mutual funds, bonds, money markets, and, often, the...

Retailers Resign Themselves to Dismal Holiday-Shopping Season.
December 25, 2001... Byline: Rachel Scheier Dec. 25--They stayed open round the clock, sent E-mails and coupons, slashed prices on everything from Barbies to cashmere sweaters. But retailers were still heading into what, by Christmas Eve, was shaping up to...

New York's Mayor Makes Pitch for Two New Ballparks.
December 26, 2001... Byline: Luke Cyphers Dec. 26--Mayor Giuliani's bottom-of-the-ninth talks for new Yankees and Mets ballparks call for the teams to pay more than $400 million each -- and for the city to claim a piece of the teams' gate receipts for 35...

New Mayor Sets New Course for His Bloomberg Empire.
December 26, 2001... Byline: Phyllis Furman Dec. 26--With six days left before he takes office, Michael Bloomberg has set in motion a succession plan for his financial and media empire, but has received no word yet on whether his plan will satisfy city ethics...

Boeing Works on Plan to Offer Internet Access on Commercial Jets.
December 27, 2001... Byline: Rachel Scheier Dec. 27--One day in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to check your e-mail, shop online and watch the game -- all from 32,000 feet. At least that's the goal of executives at Boeing, who are working to...

Post-Holiday Stock Rally Fails to Last for Long.
December 27, 2001... Dec. 27--A post-holiday stock rally, fueled by OPEC price increases and a big holiday season for discount retailers, ran out of steam by the end of the day yesterday. Stocks gave back more than half the triple-digit gains they racked up...

Development Company to Build Facility for New York Printing-Related Firms.
December 27, 2001... Byline: Don Bertrand Dec. 27--A $25 million, 400,000-square-foot facility is planned for College Point for dozens of the printing-related firms being squeezed out of Manhattan by high rents. The designation of Hudson Development to...

New York Real Estate Market Starts to Regain Legs after Sept. 11.
December 27, 2001... Byline: Bill Farrell Dec. 27--In a market driven by low interest rates, Gerard Longo said his Brooklyn real estate business was on a record pace for much of the year. "We had the top three quarters ever," said Longo, who has operated...

Numbers Indicate Worst Holiday Shopping Season in 11 Years.
December 27, 2001... Byline: Rachel Scheier Dec. 27--Americans weren't much in the mood for shopping this holiday season, and when they were they went to Wal-Mart. Numbers showing the worst holiday shopping season in 11 years emerged yesterday as analysts...

New York City Pension Funds Sue Enron over $109 Million in Losses.
December 28, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 28--New York City pension funds lost $109 million on investments in Enron and have sued the Houston-based energy over the losses, the Daily News has learned. "There are accounting irregularities and fraud...

Daily News, New York, Peter Siris Column.
December 28, 2001... Byline: Peter Siris Dec. 28--Last winter, I asked Daily News readers to enter a stock-picking contest that would last through the rest of the year. Using Christmas Day as a cutoff, the results are now in. The readers did not cover...

Giuliani Says $1.6 Billion Deal to Build New York Stadiums Would Pay off.
December 28, 2001... Dec. 28--Calling it "one of the best baseball deals ever made," Mayor Giuliani revealed more details yesterday of his plan to build new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets -- a proposal that could bring new ballparks for the teams by 2007. ...

Yahoo! to Buy HotJobs.com Career Site.
December 28, 2001... Byline: Nancy Dillon Dec. 28--The battle over Silicon Alley survivor HotJobs.com ended yesterday with Yahoo! winning its first real piece of the fast-growing online job recruitment business. Yahoo! is paying $436 million for the No. 2...

Developer Starts Legal Process against 22 Insurers of World Trade Center.
December 29, 2001... Byline: Eric Herman Dec. 29--Talks between developer Larry Silverstein and companies that insured the World Trade Center have broken down, setting up a legal battle that could determine the fate of the WTC site. Silverstein's lawyers...