AG fines 2 companies for violating child labor laws

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley fined two companies operating at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield for violating child labor laws. Live Nation Incorporated and Sports Service are accused of having minors work beyond 10 p.m. on school days. They're also accused of employing minors without a work permit and having children work for more than nine hours a day. Sports Services was fined over $12,000, while Live Nation will pay nearly $4,000 in child labor penalties. Coakley said an anonymous tip triggered a three-month investigation that revealed the violations during this year's concert season. (AP)

A group of state attorneys general urged a federal judge to extend court oversight of Microsoft Corp., saying they continue to have concerns over the state of competition in the personal computer software marketplace. In a filing to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the US District Court in Washington D.C., the states asked that the landmark antitrust judgment against Microsoft be continued until 2012. The states include California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, as well as the District of Columbia. Almost every aspect of the oversight of Microsoft is due to expire in November, after five years of the company having to regularly appear before Judge Kollar-Kotelly's court and account for its activities. (Dow Jones/AP)

Retailer Best Buy Co. said it has pulled all analog televisions from its stores ahead of a planned 2009 US switch to digital television. The consumer electronics retailer said its stores were instructed to stop selling analog products Oct. 1 and it will now sell only digital video tuners. The move is designed to help boost awareness of the switch to digital signals by US broadcasters that is due to take effect by Feb. 17, 2009. At that point, many older TVs using analog signals will not work. (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley, the world's second-biggest securities firm, is eliminating about 300 jobs after third-quarter revenue from fixed-income fell 3 percent, said a person familiar with the decision. The cuts affect the firm's institutional securities division, which includes fixed-income, equities, and investment banking, said the person, who declined to be identified because the reductions aren't public. About 200 of the jobs are in the United States and most of the others are in Europe. Some of the employees will be moved to Asia, the person said. (Bloomberg)

Computer shipments rose this summer at the fastest rate in nearly two years, and Hewlett-Packard Co. pulled still farther ahead of Dell Inc. as the world's largest maker of PCs, two technology research firms reported. Sales of portable computers drove much of the 15.5 percent increase in global PC shipments from July through September, especially in Europe, according to research firm IDC, based in Framingham. Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., pegged the growth at 14.4 percent. IDC reported 66.9 million PCs shipped in the third quarter, up from 57.9 million a year ago, while Gartner said 68.5 million PCs were shipped, up from 59.8 million in the same period a year ago. The two research firms use slightly different measurement methods. (AP)

Citigroup won a fierce bidding war against a Mexican business family to buy money-losing airline Aeromexico for around $249 million, the Mexican government said. In a frenzied final round of offers, a group of investors led by Citigroup placed the highest bid for the state-controlled airline within 30 seconds of a deadline. Aeromexico has been hobbled by high labor costs and competition from discount carriers. It posted a $63 million loss in the second quarter. Mexican businessman Moises Saba squared off against Citigroup, but admitted defeat after more than doubling his original bid. (Reuters)

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