NEW YORK, May 4 (UPI) -- A federal judge in New York approved a $2.43 billion settlement to end claims Bank of America misled shareholders when it purchased Merrill Lynch & Co.

Bank of America closed on the purchase of Merrill Lynch in January 2009, having announced it had reached a deal to buy the financial giant in September 2008, one day before Lehman Brothers announced it was bankrupt.

Shareholders approved of the deal but later sued, claiming the bank's executives misled them by not revealing the extent of financial problems at Merrill Lynch. At the time, Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis called the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, "the deal of a lifetime."

The company's market value did not reflect that sentiment. BofA shares lost more than half their value from the time the agreement to buy Merrill Lynch was announced to the time it was finalized, cutting BofA's value by $70 billion.

Similarly, the Merrill Lynch deal was valued at $50 billion in September, when announced. By the time the deal closed, it was worth about $19 billio.

BofA did not admit any wrongdoing, but said it settled the matter to avoid prolonged litigation, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said the settlement was "fair, reasonable and adequate," and Max Berger, a lawyer for the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the settlement was "historic."

It is the largest settlement for shareholders to come out of the 2008 financial crisis, the Journal said.

BofA was struggling on other fronts, as well. Primarily, it was the height of the 2008 financial crisis that originated in the United States and became so severe that a nearly global economic downturn ensued.

Very few financial firms, if any, were unscathed by the debacle.

Secondly, Bank of America purchased West Coast mortgage lender Countrywide Financial earlier in 2008.

With the financial crisis sparked by a downturn in the subprime mortgage market, and with California being one of the regions most affected by the market collapse, the purchase of Countrywide could hardly have been timed more poorly.

FAIRFIELD, Conn., April 24 (UPI) -- U.S. lender General Electric Capital said in a letter it was no longer offering financing for the purchase of firearms.

The letter that was sent to gun store owners said the company had made a "difficult decision," to retreat from financing firearm sales, a decision made in the wake of the Newton, Conn., shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six adults.

Company spokesman Russell Wilkerson said the decision was made because of "industry changes, new legislation and tragic events."

The impact on the gun business will be marginal, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. It will have little impact on gun sales, which in 2012 reached $11.7 billion. At GE Capital financing gun sales is an "insignificant and immaterial" part of the business, Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson also said the GE Capital was cutting ties with gun shops where the business was primarily selling firearms. But it would still do business with stores such as Dick's Sporting Goods, which carry a broad range of products.

Cerberus Capital Management LP said after the shooting spree that it would put its gun company, Freedom Group Inc., up for sale. GE is the second major firm to take action after the event, the Journal said.

GE was personally affected by the tragedy. It's headquarters is in Fairfield, Conn., and many of its employees have children that attend Sandy Hook, the school where the shooting took place. A GE executive, Peter Lanza, is the father of the gunman, Adam Lanza, who killed himself as first responders arrived at the school.

SACRAMENTO, April 24 (UPI) -- A survey in California found that health insurance premiums for employers rose five times the rate of inflation over the past 10 years.

In the course of a decade, premiums rose 170 percent, the California Healthcare Foundation said. The Los Angeles Times reported that the inflation rate for the state over the same period was 32 percent.

As costs for employers have risen, the percentage of companies offering health insurance has dropped.

In 2012, 60 percent of the companies in California offered healthcare benefits. Three years ago, 73 percent offered healthcare benefits, the newspaper said.

California, however, is not far behind the national average. Across the country, 61 percent of employers provide some healthcare benefits, the Times said.

NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes rose Friday, closing out a volatile week in which corporate reports knocked back initial enthusiasm.

The latest corporate report to backfire came from International Business Machines. Stock values for IBM dropped 8.28 percent after its first quarter report failed to meet to expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a modest gain of 10.37 points, up 0.07 percent to 14,547.51. The S&P 500 added 13.64 points, or 0.88 percent, to 1,555.25. The Nasdaq index of tech-dominated stock gained 39.69 points, or 1.25 percent, to 3,206.06.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,213 stocks advanced and 842 declined on a volume of 3.5 billion shares traded.

Gold pulled ahead for the second consecutive trading session, up $9.50 to $1,402 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. NYMEX West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at $87.95 per barrel, up 22 cents.

The 10-year U.S. treasury note fell 6/32 to yield 1.708 percent.

Against the dollar, the euro was lower at $1.305 from Thursday's $1.3052. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 99.55 yen from 98.16 yen.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.73 percent or 96.41 points to 13,316.48. The FTSE 100 index in Britain climbed 0.69 percent or 42.92 points to 6,286.59.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, corn for May delivery added 4.5 cents to $6.49 per bushel. July soybeans dropped 8.25 cents to $13.8175 and July wheat added 5.75 cents to $7.125.

WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- U.S. mortgage rates slipped for the third consecutive week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.
Add a comment

WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims rose by 4,000 to 352,000 in the week that ended last Saturday.

The department revised last week's estimate from 346,000 to 348,000.

The four-week rolling average for the week increased by 2,750 to 361,250.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 6 were in New York with a gain of 20,120, North Carolina with a gain of 4,403 and Ohio, up by 3,029.

The largest decreases were in California, down by 12,893, Kentucky by 1,318 and Pennsylvania with 1,299 fewer claims.