Official
Hints Fed Won’t Raise Rates
The U.S. economy is benefiting
from “low and stable inflation,” giving Federal Reserve policymakers
room to experiment with faster growth than previously thought possible,
said St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole, The
Wall Street Journal reported. He said he doesn’t see inflation
as enough of a threat right now to force the Fed to raise interest
rates to keep the economy from overheating. Fed policymakers have
raised the overnight bank-lending rate six times since June 1999,
pushing it to a nine-year high of 6.5 percent. They will next meet
Aug. 22.
While the Fed can’t “take chances” with
inflation, Poole said, the economy is less subject today to some
of the inflationary risks found in previous years. An increase in
worker productivity has allowed the Fed to raise its view of the
rate of economic growth that can be sustained without setting off
an acceleration of consumer prices, he said. Productivity grew in
the first three months of this year at the fastest rate in seven
years, Labor Department figures showed last month, and is expected
to have made its best performance in 17 years in the second quarter.
Sirena
Apparel Group Receives Approval for Reorganization Plan
Bankruptcy
Judge Ernest M. Robles (C.D. Calif.) confirmed the reorganization
plan in the chapter 11 case of the Sirena Apparel Group Inc. on
July 24, according to a newswire report. Sirena, a designer, manufacturer
and marketer of branded and private-label clothing, filed chapter
11 in Los Angeles on June 25, 1999, following its delisting by NASDAQ
and the termination of certain key management employees. The plan,
filed jointly by Sirena and the official unsecured creditors' committee,
took the company private, with the issuance of stock in the reorganized
debtor to the unsecured creditors and Foothill Capital Corp. Foothill
also provided interim and exit financing. Sirena is represented
by David A. Gills and
Anne E. Wells of Danning, Gill, Diamond & Kollitz LLP in Los
Angeles.
Ridgeview
Files Chapter 11
Ridgeview Inc., Newton, N.C., announced
yesterday that it filed chapter 11 in order to recapitalize the
company and reorganize its operations, according to a newswire report.
The company said it has a specific plan of reorganization that addresses
bringing cash into the company now for operations and completely
closing its ladies hosiery operation, concentrating all efforts
and resources on its sport sock business. The company will continue
to seek an equity sponsor and a new lender to provide the funding
required exiting the bankruptcy proceeding. Plans have been completed
to close a new factoring arrangement and new lending facilities
for Ridgeview’s sport sock operations immediately. Last week, the
company took steps to close the remainder of its ladies hosiery
operation, ultimately reducing weekly cash requirements. The division
will operate for approximately three weeks to complete customer
orders.
Geotele.com
to Emerge from Chapter 11
Geotele.com Inc. yesterday
announced that its reorganization plan was approved by Hon. Burton
R. Lifland (S.D.N.Y.), which allows Geotele.com to successfully
emerge from chapter 11 on Aug. 11, according to a newswire report.
The company is hopeful that it can soon resume operations and start
deploying a network of its VoIP gateways, which will allow termination
of international voice traffic.
Digital
Entertainment Investigated in Bankruptcy Case
The bankruptcy attorney for the trustee in the Digital
Entertainment Inc. bankruptcy case announced yesterday the investigation
of Digital Entertainment for possible fraudulent asset sales before
the Internet company's bankruptcy filing, according to The
Los Angeles Times. The sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of company equipment and other assets to company insiders
is being investigated. Los Angeles-based Digital Entertainment filed
for bankruptcy protection in June, saying it owed more than $10
million to at least 200 creditors. The company, which delivered
television-like programming over the Web, closed in May after running
out of money. The company once drew big-name investors such as General
Electric Co.'s NBC unit, Dell Computer Corp., Microsoft Corp. and
Intel Corp.
Arizona
Woman Charged with Perjury in Bankruptcy Case
Lynn T. Weikel of Phoenix was charged with five counts
under Title 18 of knowingly and fraudulently trying to conceal the
ownership of her Hawaiian condominum during her bankruptcy case
in 1997, according to a Department of Justice report. Weikel was
ordered not to transfer any property outside the ordinary course
of business within one year of her case commencement, yet she transferred
the title during that time. She then denied that she owned any property
and was charged with perjury.
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