THE LAST RESIDENCE: Under stricter federal guidelines following the Enron scandal, Phillip Bennett faces a maximum of 315 years in prison and forfeiture of US$2.4 billion
Former Refco's Inc chairman Phillip Bennett pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and 17 other charges in a scheme that cost investors more than US$2.4 billion.

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After facing recall after recall of millions of Chinese-made items, the US' biggest toy sellers are imposing stricter measures on their suppliers -- including tougher standards for lead content -- to get ahead of expected new federal legislation.

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Many classes of bonds are being punished for the problems of subprime mortgage debt, but at least one segment of the market is expected to perform well this year -- long-term, investment-grade municipal bonds.

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CUTTING COSTS: A spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association said retailers had incentives to resolve the issue as it was costly to devote shelf space to two formats
HD DVD, the beloved format of Toshiba and three Hollywood studios, died on Friday after a brief illness. The cause of death was determined to be the decision by Wal-Mart to stock only high-definition DVDs and players using the Blu-ray format.

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FOREIGN APPETITE: The New Taiwan dollar chalked up its fifth week of gains on an inflow of overseas funds and as exporters dumped the US currency, traders said
The New Taiwan dollar and the Thai baht led gains among Asian currencies this week as investor appetite for the region's assets returned.

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The US dollar traded mostly lower on Friday as traders mulled soft US economic data and generally downbeat comments a day earlier by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.

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Asian stocks rose for the first time in seven weeks, led by shipping and commodities companies, on higher cargo rates and raw-materials prices.

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EXPOSURE: The FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent, the French CAC-40 fell 1.8 percent and the German DAX 30 dipped 1.9 percent, with banks in particular edging down
Stocks in Europe ended sharply lower on Friday, as worries about the health of banks, including Switzerland's UBS, combined with poor US economic data to send shares lower and largely wipe out the week's gains.

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US stocks showed some renewed life over the past week as Wall Street traders licked their wounds and sought to gauge the extent of the US economic slowdown.

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Oil futures inched higher on Friday, giving up much larger earlier gains as traders sold to book profits from crude's recent 10 percent price rally.

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■ FINANCE