April 15, 2004

Jobless Claims Rise More Than
Expected

The number
of Americans filing initial claims for jobless aid rose more than the
expected 30,000 last week, the biggest jump in over a year, according to
a government report today, Reuters reported. First-time claims for state
unemployment benefits climbed to 360,000 in the week ended April 10,
their highest level since early February, from a revised 330,000 in the
prior week, the Labor Department said. The increase in initial claims
was the largest weekly rise since December 2002. Wall Street economists
had expected claims to rise to only 335,000 from the more than
three-year low reached in the previous week, the newswire
reported.

U.S. SEC Nears Settlement in
Global Crossing Case

U.S. market regulators are edging closer to a legal
settlement in a more than two-year-old probe of telecommunications group
Global Crossing Ltd.-- recently emerged from bankruptcy court
reorganization-- sources close to the case said on Wednesday, Reuters
reported. The SEC staff has recommended a settlement, but the
five-member commission has not voted on it, one source said. Former
officers and directors last month reached a $325-million settlement of a
shareholder class action suit, putting added pressure on the SEC to
reach agreement, the newswire reported.

Solutia Wins Extension To File
Reorganization Plan

A U.S. bankruptcy judge has
given bankrupt chemical maker Solutia Inc. three more months to propose
a reorganization plan, court records showed on Wednesday, Reuters
reported. Judge Prudence Carter Beatty ordered the 90-day
extension, until July 14, following a Tuesday hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in New York. She called the extension 'necessary and appropriate'
to carry out the bankruptcy process. A lawyer familiar with the case
said the judge recognized that the company needed more time to develop
its plan, the newswire reported.

Globalstar Completes Restructuring

Satellite-telephone company Globalstar,
more than two years after seeking federal bankruptcy court protection,
has completed its restructuring with the new majority owner pledging a
$43 million investment to help expand coverage and enhance services, the
Wall Street Journal reported. With
the agreements signed today, Thermo Capital Partners LLC owns 81.3
percent of the newly formed Globalstar company and has committed to
build a new ground station in Florida, plans to put another in Alaska
and is proceeding with preparations to launch eight more, already-built
satellites by early 2006, the Journal reported.

HealthSouth Creditors Cleared To Seek
Accelerated Payment

A Jefferson County court judge in
Birmingham, Ala., yesterday denied HealthSouth's request for a
preliminary injunction that would have prevented bondholders from having
the right to accelerate payment of the company's debt, the
face='Times New Roman'>Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Allwin
E. Horn III's decision means bondholders could seek the right to speed
up the payment of $2.6 billion in debt, a move that could force
HealthSouth into bankruptcy-court protection, the newspaper
reported.

Phoebe Morse Appointed
U.S. Trustee For Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode
Island

Phoebe Morse of Cambridge,
Mass., has been appointed United States Trustee for Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island (Region 1), it was announced
yesterday by Lawrence Friedman, Director of the Executive Office for
United States Trustees. Morse's appointment takes effect on April 19,
2004.

Immediately before joining the
U.S. Trustee Program, Morse served as Clerk of Court for the United
States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and as Clerk of the
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. From 1983 to 1997, she was Regional Director
of the Federal Trade Commission, where she directed antitrust and
consumer law enforcement in the New England region, supervising
litigation before the federal district courts and the Commission's
administrative law judges. She was selected as a White House Fellow in
1980 and, as a Fellow, held assignments in the Executive Office of the
President and the Department of Labor. Morse has published numerous
articles on antitrust and trade regulation issues, as well as materials
on federal appellate practice.

Kids Watch and Learn Your Bad Money Habits



A series of studies about financial behaviors and the reasons behind
them by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., a Milwaukee-based
insurance and financial-services company, found that most of those
surveyed learned how to manage money from their parents, the
face='Times New Roman'>Wall Street Journal
reported.

In the second of a two-part series on
teaching kids about money, the newspaper discusses what parents can do
to help teach their kids learn how to manage money wisely, the
face='Times New Roman'>Journal reported.

Court OKs Naming Turnaround Executive As
Mirant Examiner

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Ft. Worth,
Texas, approved the appointment of turnaround consultant William K.
Snyder to serve as the examiner in the Mirant Corp. bankruptcy case, a
court order made public Wednesday said, the online Wall Street Journal reported.

Snyder was named as Mirant chapter 11
examiner by the U.S. Trustee's Office on Tuesday after consultation with
attorneys for Mirant, its creditors, lenders, equity holders, the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Attorney, court papers
said. He is a managing partner with Corporate Revitalization Partners
LLC in Dallas.

FAO Creditors, Lender Seek Court Nod On $1
Million Settlement

A lender and creditors involved with the
FAO Inc. chapter 11 case are asking a bankruptcy court to approve a
settlement, according to court papers obtained on Wednesday by Dow Jones
Newswires, the online Wall Street
Journal reported. In court papers submitted on Friday to the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., the official committee of
unsecured creditors and Fleet Retail Group Inc. are seeking the court's
approval of a $1 million cash settlement to FAO by Fleet. A hearing on
the agreement has been scheduled for April 28 in Wilmington,
Del.

Enron India Row Nearing End
After GE, Bechtel Buy

Lenders to a $2.9 billion Indian power plant set up by
bankrupt Enron Corp. hope to break a three-year deadlock next week, when
they meet to finalize plans for restarting the idle project, Reuters
reported. General Electric Corp and Bechtel Corp won approval from a
U.S. bankruptcy court last week to buy energy firm Enron's 66 percent
stake in the Dabhol Power Company project, increasing their negotiating
power with Dabhol's lenders. GE and Bechtel own 10 percent each of
Dabhol's $1 billion equity, the newswire reported.

Hawaiian Air, Boeing Extend
Leases To May 31

Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday
said Boeing Co. had agreed to extend reduced lease rates on 14 jetliners
until May 31 while the carrier works out a plan to emerge from
bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Longer-term lease agreements are expected
once Hawaiian completes its reorganization later this year. Officials
from the airline's parent, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., and Boeing have
submitted competing reorganization plans to a Honolulu bankruptcy court,
the newswire reported.