Microsoft Corp. said Monday it has reached a settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by Minnesota customers who claimed the software giant overcharged them in violation of state antitrust laws. The settlement details were not disclosed. Attorneys for the plaintiffs had said they were seeking as much as $505 million. Minnesota law would have automatically tripled that, meaning Microsoft could have faced a potential payout of more than $1.5 billion.
Merrill Lynch &Co. has added Mukilteo-based CombiMatrix Corp. to its nanotechnology index. The investment company launched the index of 25 companies on April 1, but overhauled it at the end of last week after getting feedback from investors. To be included in the index, a company has to have a “significant percentage” of future profits tied to nanotechnology, meaning microscopic products, according to Merrill Lynch. CombiMatrix makes programmable semiconductor chips, known as microarrays, for DNA analysis and other research. The company’s tracking stock, under the symbol CBMX, gained 23 cents Monday, closing at $5.35 a share.
The Customer Respect Group of Bellevue ranks the online sites for Foot Locker and Amazon.com tops in how they treat their customers. The consulting firm interviewed a sampling of adults who use the Internet about the Web sites for 52 major retailers. The full list is at customerrespect.com.
An indicator of future economic activity nudged higher in March, adding to a growing body of data suggesting that the recovery is gaining strength. The Conference Board, a private research group, reported Monday that its Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.3 percent in March. The indicator is a gauge of activity for the next six months or so.
The Treasury Department sold three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.935 percent, up from 0.915 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 1.080 percent, up from 1.025 percent. The new rates understate the return to investors – 0.949 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,976.40 and 1.101 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,945.40. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 1.41 percent last week from 1.32 percent the previous week.
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