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Ernst & Young set to be charged in Lehman collapse

New York prosecutors are poised to file civil fraud charges against Ernst & Young for its alleged role in the collapse of Lehman Brothers, saying the Big Four accounting firm stood by while the investment bank misled investors about its financial health, people familiar with the matter said.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is close to filing the case, which would mark the first time a major accounting firm was targeted for its role in the financial crisis. The suit stems from transactions Lehman allegedly carried out to make its risk appear lower than it actually was. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

Reports: Leading indicators for November, 9 a.m.

Notable earnings: Carnival Corp.

The day ahead in business

Reports: Weekly jobless claims, 7:30 a.m.; Housing starts for November, 7:30 a.m.; Current account trade deficit for third quarter, 7:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.

Hearings:
House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Espionage Act and the legal and constitutional questions raised by WikiLeaks.

Major earnings: FedEx Corp., General Mills Inc., Oracle Corp., Research in Motion Ltd.

Carl Ichan to buy Dynegy for $665M

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he had agreed to buy power producer Dynegy Inc for $665 million in cash, just three weeks after a bid by private equity firm Blackstone Group failed to win over Dynegy shareholders.

The offer of $5.50 a share by Icahn Enterprises LP is 10 percent higher than Blackstone’s bid and calls for Dynegy to continue soliciting other buyers until Jan. 24, the companies said in a press release. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

Reports: Consumer Price Index for November, 7:30 a.m.; Money flows data for October, 8 a.m.; Industrial production for November, 8:15 a.m.; NAHB housing market index for December, noon,

Hearings: House Judiciary Committee hearing on foreclosures.

Starbucks-Kraft spat brewing since January

A feud between Starbucks Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. over supermarket coffee sales has been brewing since at least January — far longer than Kraft has acknowledged — according to email exchanges between their top executives provided by Starbucks.

The rift became public last month, when the Seattle coffee company said it wanted to end its 12-year-old distribution deal with Kraft, which sells bags of Starbucks coffee in supermarkets and other stores. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

Reports: Weekly jobless claims, 7:30 a.m.; Wholesale trade inventories for October, 9 a.m.; Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.

Major earnings: Borders Group Inc., Smithfield Foods Inc.

Klein Tools to open small R&D facility in Texas

Klein Tools Inc. confirmed plans to open a small research and development facility in Mansfield, Texas that will employ between 20 and 30 people

The Lincolnshire-based company bought a 126,000 square-foot building for $4.5 million in Mansfield earlier this year to prepare for the facility, which will be used to test certain robotic and automated equipment, Chris Hargan, Klein Tools senior vice president of operations told the Tribune. Get the full story »

Family retakes control of R.J. O’Brien brokerage

R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC, the Chicago derivatives brokerage, is back in the hands of its founders after two private equity firms opted to sell back the control acquired in 2007 at the height of a flurry of deal-making in the sector.

The firm is one of the largest independent U.S. futures brokers, started in 1914 as a cash butter and egg specialist called John V. McCarthy & Co., and part of a coterie that developed Chicago’s role as the self-styled risk-management capital of the world. Get the full story »

Senate test vote today on Obama-GOP tax deal

Senators get their first chance Monday to vote on the tax-cut deal struck by President Barack Obama and Republicans, but whatever the outcome of the test vote, the White House expects the bill to pass by year’s end.

“Everybody understands what it would mean for the economy if we don’t get this done,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said Sunday. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said a “good cross-section” of senators in his party are ready to accept the deal. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

International: Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy lays out planemaker’s plans for the next 20 years.

Mansueto joins billionaires giving away half of wealth

Joe and Rika Mansueto at their home in Chicago on May 9, 2008. (Handout)

Another 17 U.S. billionaires, including Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz as well as Morningstar’s Joe Mansueto, have pledged to give away at least half their fortunes in a philanthropic campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

A total of 57 billionaires now have joined The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffett in June. The campaign announced the new pledges in a statement late Wednesday.

Gates, his wife Melinda, and Buffett have asked U.S. billionaires to give away at least half their wealth during their lifetime or after their death, and to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

Reports: Weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m; Wholesale trade inventories for October, 9 a.m.; Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.

Major earnings: Borders Group Inc., Smithfield Foods Inc.

The day ahead in business

Hearings: Senate Banking Committee subcommittee and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations holds joint hearing on the stability of capital markets, focusing on the May 6 market plunge, 2 p.m.

Abbott settles inflated drug price case with feds

Abbott Laboratories and two other drugmakers will pay $421 million to settle allegations that they falsely inflated product prices to gain larger government reimbursement payments, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

Abbott’s share of the settlement is $126.5 million for violations of the False Claims Act involving pricing of two antibiotics and agents used to facilitate intravenous infusions of other drugs, the Justice Department said. Get the full story »