Former GE CEO Welch Says White House Manipulates Jobs Data (Bloomberg)
Jack Welch, writing on his Twitter account, said the Obama administration manipulated U.S. employment data for political gain by showing a drop in the jobless rate. “Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers,” the former General Electric Co. (GE) chief executive officer said in a message posted immediately after the U.S. Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent last month, the lowest since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.
Lehman’s brokerage, Europe units settle $38 billion of claims (Reuters)
Investors and creditors with claims against Lehman Brothers Inc and Lehman Brothers International Europe received news of major progress Friday in their efforts to recover at least a portion of their funds four years after Lehman, once Wall Street’s fourth-largest investment bank, filed for bankruptcy at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis. Lehman emerged from bankruptcy in March, and has paid out or plans to pay out $33 billion of an expected $65 billion to creditors, who are expected to recover an average of 21 cents on the dollar. The company also being wound down. The agreement in principle still requires the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan and the English High Court.
Ruckus Wireless files for $100 million IPO (Marketwatch)
Ruckus Wireless Inc. filed plans for an initial public offering of up to $100 million in common stock as the Wi-Fi provider looks to raise funds for working capital and other general corporate purposes. The company didn’t specify which exchange it plans to list its shares on but indicated it plans to trade under the symbol RKUS.
Deficit tops $1 trillion for 4th straight year (CNN Money)
The U.S. federal government logged a $1.1 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2012 — marking the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar shortfalls. Deficits as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) in the past four years have been the highest since 1947. Overall, the 2012 deficit pushed the debt held by the public to another record high. Public debt — $11.3 trillion — is almost 73% of GDP, up from 67.7% a year ago.
