Lenon’s main business news

The government is demanding that a one-time billionaire awaiting sentencing in New York for insider trading reveal his medical conditions that he argues should win him leniency.

Prosecutors asked a judge in a letter Thursday to unseal the arguments surrounding the medical conditions so the public can know the issue at stake for Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT’-nuhm). The government says in the letter that a defendant waives his right to medical privacy when he makes medical issues the basis for seeking leniency guaranteed fast personal loans.

The 54-year-old Rajaratnam was convicted in May of securities fraud charges after a jury reasoned that he made trades based on inside information provided by friends and business associates. Prosecutors say he earned more than $50 million in profits from his trades. Sentencing is set for Oct. 13.

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The tropical depression named Ophelia has regenerated in the Atlantic east of the Leeward Islands and is expected to strengthen.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tuesday the depression with top sustained winds of 30 miles per hour (45 kph) was about 175 miles (285 km) east-southeast of the Leewards. It could become a tropical storm Wednesday on a forecast track that could steer it toward the north Atlantic.

Far out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Philippe was heading northwest and continued to weaken.

Philippe had maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) and should become a tropical depression Wednesday as it heads west-northwest.

In the Pacific, Hurricane Hilary is also weakening and doesn’t pose any immediate threat to Mexico’s coast.

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Three former aides of a Japanese ruling party powerbroker were convicted Monday in a political funding scandal, dealing a further blow to his status in the struggling party ahead of his own trial.

Ichiro Ozawa engineered the Democratic Party of Japan’s rise to power in 2009, but was charged this year with political funding violations for allegedly overseeing false accounting by his aides.

The Tokyo District Court gave the former aides suspended prison terms ranging from one to three years for accepting $1.3 million (100 million yen) in illegal donations from a construction company and for failing to register a $5.2 million (400 million yen) loan from Ozawa to his funding body in a 2004 Tokyo land deal.

All three aides have denied any wrongdoing, as has Ozawa, who says he is confident of proving his innocence at his own trial, which starts Oct. 6.

Opposition leaders were quick to attack Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s 3-week-old government after the ruling.

Opposition Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Nobuteru Ishihara said the aides’ convictions were serious and “their boss, Ichiro Ozawa, bears even more serious political responsibility business

Hundreds of jailed members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA have called for an end to violence as a tool for achieving Basque independence, boosting pressure for ETA to disband and prompting the government on Saturday to call the appeal significant but insufficient.

A group representing the 700 ETA prisoners in Spain and France made the appeal in a statement Friday night, adding that they themselves should be granted amnesty.

The call endorsed a groundbreaking agreement reached late last year by pro-independence Basque political parties _ chiefly the remnants of ETA’s banned political wing, Batasuna _ and civic groups that said Basque independence should be achieved through peaceful means, not by shooting people or setting off car bombs.

But the prisoners stopped short of calling on ETA to dissolve, as demanded by Spain, and reiterated traditional demands that the government also rejects, such as letting the Basque people decide whether to break away or remain part of Spain.

ETA declared a cease-fire in September 2010 and went further in January by calling the truce permanent and saying it was prepared to let international observers verify it.

ETA has killed 829 people since the late 1960s in a campaign of bombings and shootings aimed at forcing the government to allow creation of an independent Basque homeland straddling the Basque provinces of northern Spain and southwest France. But the group has been decimated in recent years by arrests of its leaders and members, and has not killed anyone in Spain in more than two years.

Government spokesman Jose Blanco said Saturday the prisoners’ appeal was unprecedented.

“It is an important step, a significant one. But it is not the one that society in general and the government wanted because it is not definitive, nor is it the one that announces the end of ETA,” Blanco said.

Debate among ETA prisoners _ seen as holding much sway in the organization _ on whether to renounce violence has been under way for months.

The appeal comes now with a general election due in Spain in November. The governing Socialists, who negotiated with ETA in 2006, are expected to lose badly to the opposition conservatives, in large part because of the dismal state of Spain’s economy.

While many in Spain see Europe’s last major armed militancy as being on its last legs, one big question mark is whether ETA will make some kind of big announcement before the voting on Nov. 20.

Some in Spain say ETA’s demise _ the golden ring that successive Spanish governments have sought in vain for decades _ might conceivably be enough to save the Socialists by letting them claim credit for what would be a historic event.

Meanwhile, Basque police said some 10,000 protesters marched through the region’s main city, Bilbao, Saturday evening to protest a 10-year jail term given Sept. 16 to activists who include Arnaldo Otegi, the former Batasuna leader who has been credited with leading the pro-independence community to reject violence as the way to achieve a Basque state.

A court in Madrid convicted Otegi and four others of forming an organization to replace Batasuna and serve as a political tool for ETA. Many Basques reacted angrily, saying the conviction dashed hopes for peace just as momentum toward it seemed to be building.

At the march, protest leaders hailed the decision by the ETA prisoners as setting the stage for a settlement. Many demonstrators waved the red, white and green Basque flag and chanted slogans calling on the government to transfer ETA prisoners scattered around the country to prisons in the Basque region _ a long-standing ETA demand.

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Forecasters say Hurricane Hilary has strengthened into a small, but powerful Category 4 storm in the Pacific.

Hilary’s maximum sustained winds were near 135 mph (217 kph) Thursday. The hurricane is not forecast to make landfall, though officials say it is expected to rake Mexico’s coast with wind, rain and heavy surf.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a tropical storm warning is in effect for Mexico’s coast from Lagunas de Chacahua to Punta San Telmo. A tropical storm watch is in effect for west of Punta San Telmo to Manzanillo.

Hilary is centered about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, and is moving west-northwest.

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Ophelia is weakening.

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In a boost to the region’s moribund auto industry, General Motors will inject $380 million into its Wentzville assembly plant, adding 1,850 jobs and a new pickup line as part of a proposed new labor contract, the United Auto Workers announced Tuesday.

The announcement is part of GM’s commitment to invest a total of $2.5 billion in facilities nationwide and create or retain 6,400 jobs over the life of the four-year contract, according to the UAW.

The union and GM reached an agreement Friday, but did not reveal details of expansion plans until Tuesday. The 48,500 union members working for GM nationwide must still ratify the contract next week.

UAW Local 2250 Chairman Mike Bullock said the contract called initially for the Wentzville plant to add a second production shift of between 400 and 700 people in the first quarter of 2012. Local 2250 represents hourly workers at the Wentzville plant, which produces Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. About 1,300 people in one production shift currently work at the Wentzville facility.

“This will be a real shot in the arm for Wentzville and the St. Louis area,” Bullock said in a phone interview. “This really is a tribute to the men and women who work at the Wentzville assembly center and produce the best quality product at the best cost.”

The local automotive industry has been devastated in recent years. Closures included the Ford plant in Hazelwood five years ago and Chrysler’s two Fenton plants in 2008 and 2009. Multiple local automobile suppliers that feed those plants with parts also closed. In 2009, GM eliminated a shift at the Wentzville plant, affecting more than 800 workers.

Some were laid off, and some took voluntary transfers to GM facilities elsewhere.

Some of those transferred and laid-off employees could be eligible for rehiring, according to UAW officials. Sixteen former Wentzville GM employees were transferred to GM’s Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., and 27 laid-off employees remain on Local 2250’s recall list.

GM also will be offering openings to unemployed GM union workers nationally who have recall rights. The number of such workers was unavailable.

Additionally, there are 350 people on a local referral list who could be tapped for the new jobs, Bullock said.

The investment by GM would pay for a 500,000-square-foot addition to the Wentzville’s current 3.7 million-square-foot facility, improvements to its paint department and other upgrades. The new contract also details plans for a midsize pickup to be produced in Wentzville. More than 1,000 workers would start working on that new line in 2013 for a 2014 model pickup, Bullock said.

“We’ve been waiting patiently a long time to hear this news,” said Tom Brune, UAW communications coordinator for Local 2250.

As Joe Gurrieri, 31, of O’Fallon, Mo., used a mechanical arm to swing dash panels into place on a steady stream of Chevy Express vans Tuesday, he said he was hopeful current workers would have more job security. Gurrieri, a 12-year employee, said he had returned to work in November after being laid off. “It’s good to be back, and it’s good to know we’ll be here for a while,” he said.

Some analysts have speculated that GM will shift production of its Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon pickups, which currently are made in Shreveport, La., to Wentzville. The Shreveport assembly facility, which employs more than 900 people, is not owned by GM and had previously been slated to close as part of GM’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2009. A GM spokesman declined to comment on the pending contract or expansion details.

Last week, plant manager John Dansby told the Post-Dispatch that he believed Wentzville had been selected for expansion because of the plant’s emphasis on producing high quality vehicles at low costs.

“We’ve been working really hard at the plant to try to position ourselves to be very competitive,” Dansby said.

Last year, the plant forecast production of 80,000 vehicles and ended the year producing nearly 100,000.

“Our volumes are increasing, and the buying public has done a great job supporting our product,” he said.

TAX BREAKS

To help finance the expansion, Wentzville’s board of aldermen approved last week partial tax abatement for GM if it expands. As part of the deal, GM would make “payments in lieu of taxes” to local school districts, and have 75 percent of its property taxes for the new development abated for 10 years.

Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi said he was hopeful the new jobs would bring back what was lost when the GM plant downsized in 2009. “There was an unbelievable ripple effect,” Lambi said, describing the closure of nearby restaurants and retailers two years ago. “Every business that relies on retail sales was affected. Bringing back a second shift is extremely good news.”

A couple of miles from the plant, Dan Strantz, owner of Mama’s Grill, also welcomed the news. The diner’s location near the intersection of Highway 40 and Interstate 70 opened about a month and half ago, he said, but his family has been in the restaurant business since 1972. “It’ll be good that there will actually be people with money to go out and spend,” he said.

If the expansion proceeds, GM is likely to pursue state incentives. The automaker has been in talks with Gov. Jay Nixon’s office and Department of Economic Development officials for a year, according to the governor’s spokesman, Sam Murphey. The automaker has not yet applied for any state incentives.

“We are strongly encouraged by the recent steps GM has taken, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with GM throughout this process,” Murphey said in a statement Tuesday.

The UAW outlined investments proposed by GM at several other plants nationwide, including plans to invest $925 million at three Michigan factories that will generate 900 jobs during the life of the contract. GM also plans to invest in plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., which had been idled, and Fort Wayne, Ind., that will generate or preserve a combined 3,700 jobs.

Gerrion Grim, 53, of O’Fallon, Mo., has worked at the Wentzville plant for about 18 months. He said he was laid off for a while and returned to work in April. Now, he said, he would like to see job security. “I’m definitely hoping for some longevity,” he said. “I just hope it all goes well.”

Shane Anthony of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. Postal Service should be allowed to reduce mail delivery to five-days-a-week to help cut its massive losses.

The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing even more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off large amounts of first-class mail and the weak economy reduces advertising mail.

While the post office has cut more than 100,000 workers in the last few years it needs to cut more, close offices and find other ways to reduce costs to keep operating.

In his economic growth and debt reduction plan unveiled Monday, Obama endorsed the idea of dropping one day of mail delivery _ it is expected to be Saturday _ and urged other changes in postal operations

He agreed that nearly $7 billion the post office has overpaid into the federal retirement system should be refunded to the agency, urged that its payments for advance funding of retiree medical benefits be restructured, and said the post office should be allowed to sell non-postal products and raise postage rates.

Currently the post office cannot raise rates more than the amount of inflation.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the president “has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service’s financial crisis.”

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del personal loan for poor credit., who has proposed a bill including many of the same suggestions, welcomed the president’s statement.

“I have been saying for some time now that Congress and the administration need to come together on a plan that can save the Postal Service and protect the more than seven million jobs that rely on it,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has his own postal reform bill in the House, responded that “the president’s proposal is not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs.”

He asserted that Obama’s plan “will certainly cost taxpayers money.” Currently the post office does not receive tax funds for its operations.

Meanwhile, 75 members of Congress led by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Don Young, R-Alaska, called on the independent Postal Regulatory Commission to block the post office’s plans to close as many as 3,700 local offices across the country.

The proposed closures, most in rural locations that do little business, are currently under review.

The letter called for establishment of a new business model for the post office without closing offices and cutting its work force.

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Man Dip has a six-month lease on life.

That’s about how long local grocery stores will give the spicy sausage and cheese dip, a new product from an unknown local entrepreneur, before they decide whether to keep it or dump it. But that’s a lot farther than most other food startups make it in the highly competitive race for grocery shelf space.

If it were up to Dr. Ted Mimlitz, the man behind Man Dip, the concoction he’s been whipping up for 15 years might have remained just a party favorite and inside joke among his circle of friends.

But about four years ago, Andy Wolf, a serial entrepreneur who has brought to market a number of items including a deer sled for hunters, took a bite of Mimlitz’s dip at a school-related event for their children.

“I said right there, ‘Have you ever thought about bringing this out commercially?’” Wolf said. “I pestered him for three months. Then he called me one December night and said, ‘Do you really think we can do this?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’

That confidence belies the difficulty in bringing a product to market from scratch. Lots of folks flirt with the idea of branding and selling their homemade creations. But few people pursue it beyond their daydreams.

Local products face stiff competition from large food manufacturers with established brands, bulk negotiating power and money for extensive product and marketing research. Most local food products that have found success at area grocery stores are affiliated with local restaurants or well-known landmarks such as the Hill. Think Imo’s salad dressing, Zia’s pasta sauce and Fitz’s root beer.

“When people see that on your shelves, there’s that connection right away,” said Rich Wallace, Dierbergs’ director of procurement.

Another local example

An alleged renegade trader accused of losing Swiss banking giant UBS about $2 billion in unauthorized trading was charged Friday with fraud and false accounting, and ordered to appear before a London court.

City of London police said that 31-year-old Kweku Adoboli would appear at a magistrates’ court in the British capital on Friday.

“He remains in police custody and is due to appear at City of London Magistrates this afternoon,” the police department said in a statement. It said an investigation involving financial regulator the Financial Services Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service was continuing.

Law firm Kingsley Napley, which represented Nick Leeson _ the trader who brought down British bank Barings in 1995 after he made around $1.4 billion of losses in unauthorized trades _ said that it had been hired to represent Adoboli.

In Switzerland, UBS faced pressure to explain how its managers failed to catch the $2 billion loss, and how monitoring systems had been unable to flag up the alleged unauthorized trades.

Adoboli, born in Ghana, has been employed by UBS on an equities desk known as Delta One and worked with exchange-traded funds _ which track different types of stocks or commodities, such as precious metals no checking account payday advance.

Some commentators and politicians called for senior managers at UBS to take responsibility for the loss.

“Until UBS has explained in detail how such a significant loss due to unauthorized trading could happen, and how the problem will be solved, confidence will remain impaired,” said Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Zuercher Kantonalbank.

The international banking industry has been trying to implement stricter controls on traders in the wake of a 2008 scandal at France’s Societe Generale, when trader Jerome Kerviel gambled away euro4.9 billion ($6.7 billion), and the infamous Leeson case.

UBS stock on Friday recovered some of the losses suffered the day before. Investors took the chance to buy the shares cheaply, sending their price up 3.3 percent to 10.07 Swiss francs ($11.52) on the Zurich exchange by early afternoon. Shares had slumped 10 percent the day before, after the bank said a lone employee had caused the massive loss.

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ST. CHARLES