In the single largest case of identity theft prosecution, eleven people were charged by the US Justice Department with stealing above 400 million credit and debit card numbers from nine major retailers across the country. The Attorney-General revealed that the cost of the theft to citizens might run up to billions of dollars and many would not find out that they have been duped till months or even years from now.

Federal grand juries in San Diego and Boston passed indictments on the eleven defendants of whom three were residents of US and the others of countries like China, Estonia and Ukraine. All the defendants were charged with identity theft, fraud and conspiracy. Federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants hacked into the retailers’ data networks with their laptops, stored the information in personal computers which remained in the US or other East European countries and then converted the stolen information into usable bank cards.

Some of the retailers which found themselves at the receiving end of this massive fraud ring are TJX Cos, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc, Marshall’s, Barnes & Noble Inc bookstores, Dave and Busters restaurants, Boston Market Corp, DSW Inc shoe stores, Sports Authority and Forever 21. In January 2007 TJX had previously been invaded by hackers who stole information on 45.7 million card numbers. The company had to settle expensive claims with credit card companies as well as with the Federal Trade Commission.

-Kalyani Mookherji

The US Treasury announced on Tuesday that it plans to recruit the services of Morgan Stanley in an attempt to determine the best ways to deal with the troubled housing finance companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Last week the US C ogress had passed wide-ranging housing rescue legislations which authorized the Treasury to take all possible steps in shoring up consumers’ confidence that had been severely battered by the housing market crisis.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are the two biggest providers of housing finance in the US that guarantee almost $5 trillion worth of mortgage assets between them. The crisis in housing market saw the two financiers struggling for liquidity which in turn left thousands of homeowners at the deep end.

Under the new legislation, the Treasury has been allowed to provide equity and loans to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae so that they remain viable providers of housing finance. However the Treasury said on Tuesday that it has no immediate plans of bailing out the two financiers but was bringing in the services of Morgan Stanley to determine whether the two finance companies were adequately capitalized. The contract with Morgan Stanley stands till January 17, 2009 and the Treasury will pay the finance firm’s expenses of $95,000 but will not pay any separate fee to the firm.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Reputed auction house Sotheby’s reported a profit of $95.3 million in the second quarter of 2008 which was a significant turnaround from its first quarter losses. The profits indicate that despite an economic slow down, the market for fine and decorative art is still thriving.

Sotheby’s is the world’s largest publicly-listed auction house. Sales in the first half of 2008 totaled almost $3 billion which exceeded expectations after the first quarter loss of $12.4 million due to low commission margins. While Sotheby’s second quarter profits amounted to $1.46 a share, its revenues in this period actually fell by 5.6 % to $320.2 million.

Compared to an equivalent period in 2007, the earnings of Sotheby’s declined by 11%. However this was due to the shift of its contemporary art sales in London which earned around $24 million in July 2007. The auction house expects the London auction which occurred in July 2008 to add another $26 million in earnings to the third quarter results of 2008.

The profits earned by Sotheby’s were due to the patronage offered by the super wealthy who remain insulated from fluctuating market conditions. While the regular session of the stock market saw Sotheby’s shares dipping by 2.14% to $ 27.48, after the release of its second quarterly report, its shares rose to $28.25 in post hours trading.

-Kalyani Mookherji

In a pilot program initiated by federal authorities, illegal immigrants will be encouraged to carry out self-deportation by keeping them free from government custody. By this program titled “Scheduled Departure”, the US government hopes to convince around 457,000 immigrants to depart voluntarily.

The experimental program which was launched on Tuesday is only applicable to those immigrants who do not have any previous history of criminal activities. According to federal estimates around 457,000 immigrants living illegally in the country will be eligible for this program. The program will allow an immigrant ninety days to wind up their affairs and make travel arrangements fro departure from US. In return the immigrant will not be detained by Customs and Immigration authorities.

The self-deportation program is scheduled to continue for three weeks from places like Chicago, San Diego, Phoenix, Charlotte N.C and Santa Ana in California. While the response to the program has been tepid, and has even drawn some ridicule from the immigrant population, authorities feel it gives the immigrant a fair chance to avoid weeks and months of staying at detention centers. With this program the authorities also hope to counter the argument that forced deportation carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement disrupts families.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Delta became the latest Airlines in the US to claim that it would be offering its passengers wireless Internet access across its fleet in America. Delta plans To provide wi-fi services on its flights from 2009 onwards and for this it has decided to use the technology provided by Aircell.

Company officials from Delta Airlines revealed that by mid-2009 Gogo internet service from Aircell will be available on around 330 domestic flights. The service will be priced at $9.95 for a three-hour flight and $12.95 for longer duration.

Along with Delta, there are several other airlines which intend to jump on the wi-fi bandwagon. While American Airlines and Australia-based Qantas have plans to start the wireless internet service within the space of a month, others like Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Jet Blue and Alaska Airlines are in talks with start up companies like Row 44 which will provide the technology to introduce in-flight wi-fi connection.

This is the second time that airlines are experimenting with in-flight wireless Internet services. In the past American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines had entered into a partnership with Connexion to provide wi-fi services in their flights but abandoned the project after the terror strikes of September 11, 2001. Again, in December 2006, Boeing pulled out of a deal with Connexion due to inadequate demand.

-Kalyani Mookherji

In 2008, Iraq will be earning double of what it did last year from its oilfields. This projection by US government auditors reveals that Iraq continues to park billions of dollars from its oil income in surplus funds, spending only a fraction of its earnings on reconstruction projects and services.

A report from the US Government Accountability Office revealed that between 2005 and 2007 Iraq earned around $96 billion in revenues of which 94% came from oil. Keeping in mind the 2008 average oil export of 2 million barrels a day and continuing oil prices, Iraq is projected to earn between $67 billion and $79 billion this year from oil alone. Other sources of revenue like taxes will provide another $7 billion.

The GAO report estimates that in 2008, Iraq will spend only around $35 billion of its $ 49.9. billion budget on investment. Between 2005 and 2007, Iraq allocated just about 10% of its total expenditures to reconstruction projects with only 1 percent being spent to maintain investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons which had already been funded by the United States.

In an election year, the findings of the GAO report are bound to fuel further discontent in the US Congress. Already the US government is under fire for approving increasingly larger funds not only for reconstruction projects in Iraq but also for maintaining around 90,000 non-military Iraqi security personnel. Many in the Congress feel that with Iraq earning almost a hundred billion dollars, the US should cease to spend its own tax-payers’ money in funding Iraqi projects.

-Kalyani Mookherji

On Tuesday, the global electronics manufacturer Sony revealed that it plans to buy Bertelsmann’s’ 50% stake in their Sony BMG joint venture. The news was greeted by a rise in Sony shares at the Tokyo stock market. Sony has agreed to pay around $900 million to Bertelsmann for its fifty percent stake in the joint music company.

On the morning of August 6, the Tokyo stock market opened with anticipation at Sony’s latest deal. By mid-morning Sony shares were trading at 3.7 percent higher and had even outdone the 2.7% rise of the Tokyo stock market index or IELEC.

Sony BMG is the world’s second largest music company and comes only after Universal which is a unit of Vivendi. Post-takeover, the company will be called Sony Music Entertainment and After being approved by the regulatory authorities in the US, it will become a fully-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

In a message to its clients, Goldmann-Sachs maintained that despite restructuring costs of around $140 million in the current year, Sony BMG still had the potential for medium-term profit growth. However other analysts seemed surprised at Sony’s move, considering the falling sales of recorded music all over the world which according to an industry body slided by 8% in 2007.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Almost every profession values a successful team player. If you are able to contribute positively in a team environment at work, chances are that you will eventually do well for yourself also. Working as part of team is an acquired skill and can be learned over time.

The first step is to have an open, co-operative attitude to all other members of the team. This includes staying away from the troublemakers and gossip mongers who intentionally promote conflict among team members.

It is important to help and motivate other members of the team. This may be in the form of asking for suggestions, valuing their inputs and also encouraging others to go ahead with their ideas.

Again a successful team player is careful to develop a good working relationship with the team leader or the supervisor. This means supporting him or her on team issues and valuing their feedback on your work.

Every team values a problem solver. Instead of cribbing and complaining that the task at hand is too difficult, find ways to solve it. Enlist the help of your team members and if necessary ask for expert guidance outside the team. When the boss or supervisor sees you taking on challenges and getting results in team projects, you can be sure that you are on your way up the professional ladder.

-Kalyani Mookherji