Business and Financial News

By Martha Graybow and Boris Groendahl NEW YORK/VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian fund manager Sonja Kohn did not receive any kickbacks from Bernard Madoff to steer Bank Medici customer funds to the swindler’s investment business, a Medici lawyer said on Friday. “There were no Madoff payments to Kohn. There were no kickbacks,” lawyer Andreas Theiss told Reuters. Theiss reiterated prior statements that Kohn, whose Bank Medici ran several funds that funneled at least $3.3 billion to Madoff, was one of Madoff’s biggest victims. He was responding to a Wall Street Journal report that said Kohn was under investigation by U.S., UK and Austrian prosecutors who believe she was paid more than $40 million in kickbacks to steer investors to the jailed swindler’s funds. The newspaper said prosecutors believe Madoff paid kickbacks to Kohn through separate companies she controlled. Theiss said he did not know the companies mentioned, but said Kohn did not have an operating role in any of them. Kohn owns 75 percent of Medici, which has renamed itself 20.[...]

• Wall Street rises on CAT, biotech, Apple

  By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised for a lower open on Wednesday as investors took in a slew of mixed results from major companies and a quarterly loss from Morgan Stanley (MS.N) increased jitters over the financial sector. Wall Street also focused on remarks on...
• Financials support Asia stocks; stress tests eyed

  By Kevin Plumberg HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on Friday, as financials gained on hopes that credit fears have eased, although the yen drifted higher with investors cautious until more details emerge on the U.S. Treasury’s bank stress tests. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside...
• Wall Street gains on reassuring earnings, data

  By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after Ford Motor Co (F.N) reported better-than-expected results as investors awaited data on manufacturing and housing. Government data on March durable goods orders and new home sales figures for the same month are...
• Banks, Fed, earnings, flu in view

  By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks may run into some turbulence this week as the impending release of bank “stress test” results, a Federal Reserve meeting and a flood of earnings give investors reasons for caution. Fears of a global swine flu pandemic developed into another factor...
• Flu fears spur Wall St sell-off; futures fall late

  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday on concerns the spreading of a new strain of flu could dampen optimism about the economy, overshadowing a sweeping overhaul of General Motors Corp and gains in biotechnology stocks. The three major U.S. stock indexes slid in choppy...