Business in Brief

Dow ends down 110; Nasdaq, S&P also drop\nNEW YORK -- News of frail consumer spending started another stock selloff by investors Monday, producing a second day of triple-digit declines in the Dow Jones industrials to cap a dismal third quarter for Wall Street. \nIt was the worst quarter for the Standard & Poor's 500 index in 15 years. The S&P also endured its worst six-month period in 28 years. \nMonday's selling also sent the Nasdaq composite index to a six-year low.\n"The level of investor anxiety has just reared up its ugly head again. It is just totally driven by uncertainty," said Joseph Keating, chief investment officer at AmSouth Asset Management in Birmingham, Ala. \nThe Dow closed down 109.52, or 1.4 percent, at 7,591.93, having dropped 295 on Friday.\nExec admits fraud, falsifying balance sheets\nNEW YORK -- Former WorldCom Inc. executive David Myers plead guilty Thursday to conspiracy and securities fraud, the first admission of guilt in the largest corporate accounting scandal in U.S. history. \nMyers, 44, agreed to cooperate with authorities against his former bosses. \nProsecutors say Myers and Scott Sullivan, the former chief financial officer at WorldCom, directed employees to falsify balance sheets to hide more than $3.8 billion in expenses. The deception enabled WorldCom to report a profit when it was actually losing money, according to regulators. \nU.S. District Court Judge Richard Casey asked the defendant if he had committed the three crimes spelled out by prosecutors: conspiracy, securities fraud, and making false filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. \n"Yes, sir, I did," Myers answered. \nMyers faces up to 10 years on the most serious charge of filing false reports with the SEC.\n401(k) losses may be fault of Enron's heads\nWASHINGTON -- The Labor Department has filed a court brief that says Enron Corp. executives could be personally liable for retirement plan losses by workers who are suing the company. \nThe Labor Department's friend of the court brief, filed Aug. 30 in federal court in Houston, says if officials should continue to offer company stock as an investment option in its retirement plan with knowledge of Enron's problems, "They are personally liable for the losses."\nThe filing details the government's position on employers' responsibilities to company-sponsored 401(k) plans, and for the first time outlines its position on the Enron case. \nThe 20,795 participants in Enron's 401(k) plan had about 63 percent of their assets invested in company stock. \nDockworker dispute could cost $1 billion a day\n\nSAN FRANCISCO -- Cargo ships lay at anchor offshore, waiting to be unloaded, and trucks with fresh produce lined up outside West Coast ports Monday after dockworkers were locked out in a dispute that could cost the U.S. economy $1 billion a day. \nWest Coast shipping lines said they will keep the ports closed until the longshoremen agree to extend their expired contract. But the 10,500-member union said it will not budge until the lockout is ended. \nThe Bush administration said that it is concerned about the effect on the struggling U.S. economy but that it has no immediate plans to break the impasse by declaring a national emergency. \nThe U.S. economy would lose $4.7 billion in wages and revenue during a five-day shutdown, according to a study conducted for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and sea terminal operators. A 10-day shutdown could cost $19.4 billion as economic problems snowball. \nAirlines Expect to Lose $8 Billion\nNEW YORK -- The Air Transport Association, a trade group, is predicting that the airline industry could easily lose $8 billion by the end of the year, exceeding the record-breaking losses of 2001. \nDavid Swierenga, the trade group's chief economist, said Thursday that major carriers are on course to lose $1.5 billion to $2 billion in the third quarter and $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting a seasonal decline in the last three months of the year. \nAirlines lost $3.8 billion in the first half of the year and revenue remains down about 15 percent on average, Swierenga said. \nIn 2001, airlines had a combined net loss of $7.7 billion, although that included the effect of $5 billion in cash paid out by the federal government as part of a bailout approved by Congress after the terrorist attacks. \nPassenger traffic remains extremely weak, with 10 percent fewer people boarding planes in August compared with a year ago, when the demand for travel had already been sharply crimped because of the economic downturn. \nAnother serious problem for the industry is the increased bargain-hunting by business travelers, who traditionally have paid more than leisure travelers. By hunting for fares on the Internet and purchasing in advance, business travelers have seen huge savings. \nThe economy remains fragile and talk of war with Iraq has caused jet fuel prices to rise and investors to worry about a dropoff in international travel. \nExecutives are worried that a war in Iraq could cause more financial damage and force the weakest carriers into bankruptcy. \nThe chief executives of American, Delta and Northwest lobbied Congress last Tuesday, seeking government assistance for terrorism insurance and the extension of a $10 billion loan guarantee program in the event of a war, among other requests.