COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

US official says no decision yet on whether to prosecute BoeingThe U.S. Justice Department has made no decision yet on whether to pursue a prosecution of planemaker Boeing for violating the terms of a 2021 settlement related to two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, a top DOJ official said in an email seen by Reuters.Glenn Leon, chief of the Justice Department's fraud section, said in an email on Friday to lawyers representing family members of victims of the crashes: "The department has not made a decision on how to proceed or whether to pursue prosecution of Boeing."The Justice Department and Boeing both declined comment.In May, the Justice Department said Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement with prosecutors that shielded it from criminal prosecution over the fatal crashes. The 2021 DPA required the U.S. planemaker to overhaul its compliance practices. Boeing has said it complied with the agreement.Earlier on Friday, the New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the Justice Department "is expected to allow Boeing to escape criminal prosecution" for violating the DPA.Boeing in January 2021 reached an agreement with the DOJ to pay $2.5 billion to resolve a criminal investigation into the company's conduct surrounding the fatal crashes.Boeing last week told the government it did not violate the agreement. Federal prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans, which could be to proceed with a criminal case or negotiate a plea deal with Boeing. The Justice Department could also extend the deferred prosecution agreement for a year.-REUTERS-Elon Musk's $56 billion pay: Tesla, critics clash over how to resolve legal dispute Tesla and opponents of Elon Musk's compensation clashed on Friday over ways to resolve the legal quagmire that has engulfed the CEO's $56 billion pay package and billions of dollars in potential legal fees generated by the case.Tesla said in a court filing that a Delaware judge should recognize a vote by Tesla shareholders in favor of the pay package and reverse her January ruling that voided the compensation.In response, shareholder attorneys said the vote to ratify Musk's pay has no legal effect and the only way for Tesla to challenge the January ruling is to appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.The shareholder attorneys said that before Tesla can appeal, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick has to determine the legal fee that the company should be ordered to pay them for winning the case.They had previously asked for 29 million shares of Tesla stock, which is worth more than $5 billion. But on Friday they said Tesla could as an alternative pay at least $1.1 billion in cash, which would be justified by the court's precedent, although they described that as "unfairly low."-REUTERS-S&P, Nasdaq end lower as Nvidia drags the tech sector for second dayThe S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed marginally lower on Friday, weighed down by a decline in Nvidia shares for a second straight day, which dragged down the technology sector.Technology was the biggest loser among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, down 0.84%, weighed by Nvidia, while communication services led the gain.“It's Nvidia's game, and the rest of us are just pretending to be here,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia."Basically all the activity is now concentrated in Nvidia call options," he added. "Seven million option contracts Nvidia have traded. That's something in the neighborhood of three or four times the quantity of contract volume that would have traded for the market in total five years ago."The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.57 points, or 0.04%, to 39,150.33, the S&P 500 lost 8.55 points, or 0.16%, to 5,464.62 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 32.23 points, or 0.18%, to 17,689.36.Shares of megacaps Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com rose between 0.92% to 1.89%. Apple slipped 1.04%.“We've had a very strong run, especially in the S&P over the last couple weeks. So not surprised to see things kind of take a pause and settle down,” Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.Friday's trading could be more volatile than usual due to triple witching, the simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index options, and stock index futures.-REUTERS-

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-12

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COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-12

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