Apple Computer executives sold stock before warnings

Twice in the past two years, Apple Computer executives sold company stock for millions just weeks before Apple warned of disappointing earnings. Each warning sent shares tumbling.

While the sales could have an innocent explanation, analysts consider them unusual because there were no other large stock dumps by Apple executives during the same period. And while stock options often are a major part of compensation, Apple executives tend to be less active sellers than their counterparts at other companies.

The computer maker defended the sales, which were questioned in a column last week on a Web site for Mac enthusiasts.

“I can assure you that no executive would have exercised options had they believed we would not meet our original guidance for the quarter,” Fred Anderson, Apple’s chief financial officer, said in a written statement.

Anderson, one of the executives who sold stock prior to the warnings, refused further comment. So did other executives.

Enron case: Justice Department charges former bankers with fraud

Three former British bankers have been charged by the United States with wire fraud in an alleged $7.3 million scheme involving Enron Corp.

The charges against the bankers were the first involving Enron as a company, as opposed to the indictment in March of its auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP. Andersen was convicted of obstructing justice for shredding Enron audit documents.

A criminal complaint against three former employees of National Westminster Bank Gary Mulgrew, Giles Darby and David John Bermingham was filed by the Justice Department’s Enron task force on Thursday in Houston.

The complaint alleges the former bank officers secretly invested in an Enron entity Southampton LP through a series of financial transactions.

Economy: Consumers cut spending in May as incomes increase

Consumers trimmed their spending in May by 0.1 percent, the first decrease in six months, as unusually cool weather chilled their appetite to go out and shop. Incomes rose modestly.

The pullback came after consumers increased their spending by a solid 0.6 percent in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists were predicting a slightly bigger 0.2 percent drop in spending in May.

Consumers whose spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States especially cut back on big-ticket items.

Americans’ incomes including wages, interest and government benefits, went up 0.3 percent in May, matching many analysts’ expectations. That followed a 0.2 percent advance in April.

Wall Street: Dynegy listed at junk status

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Dynegy Inc. to junk status Friday, noting concern about the company’s ability to shore up its finances with more than $8 billion in debt looming.

Dynegy announced a sweeping restructuring plan earlier this week to beef up cash flow, which includes a dividend cut, the spinoff of a unit and the partial sale of a 16,500-mile natural gas pipeline that it acquired from bankrupt Enron Corp. in January.