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JUNE 14, 2004
Edited by Monica Roman HEADLINER William Owens: Mum's The Word  Nortel Networks (NT
) investors will have to wait longer to get a true picture of the beleaguered telecom equipment company's finances. A month into his new job, CEO William Owens disappointed Wall Street on June 2 with the news that Nortel won't release long-awaited financial results for 2003 or the first quarter of 2004. He also wouldn't say when the results would be available from the company, which is being probed by American and Canadian regulators following revelations of accounting irregularities last year. Investors sent Nortel shares tumbling 6.1%, to $3.83.What's taking so long? Owens told BusinessWeek that Nortel is combing the numbers with "excruciating detail. If I knew of a way to get it done faster, I would dedicate the resources. It's frustrating." Customers could feel frustrated, too. Owens claims they're satisfied, but analysts say longtime customer Sprint (FON ) is monitoring Nortel. If Owens doesn't deliver financials soon, Nortel's recovery could be threatened. By Roger O. Crockett Sun Warms To Fujitsu Sun Microsystems (SUNW ) is getting cozier with longtime Japanese business partner Fujitsu. By 2006, the troubled Silicon Valley computer maker will merge its core server line with Fujitsu's similar products, Sun Chief Executive Scott McNealy said on June 1. The first computers from the combined effort won't be out until 2006, but sales reps from the two companies will soon start selling one another's equipment. The deal should help cost-cutting efforts at Sun, which has seen revenues decline over the previous year for the last 12 consecutive quarters. But whether the collaboration with Fujitsu will help Sun regain market share lost to IBM (IBM ), Dell (DELL ), and others remains unclear.   Spitzer Guns For Glaxo  The offensive of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against alleged corporate wrongdoing continues unabated. On June 2, Spitzer filed a lawsuit against British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK
) over the marketing of its antidepressant drug Paxil. Spitzer's suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, claims GSK withheld negative information regarding the drug's effect on adolescents and children, including data that showed a possible link to suicidal thinking and acts. In a statement, Glaxo said that it acted responsibly. In the past few weeks, Spitzer's office said it has filed suit against five coal-fired plants in West Virginia for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act, obtained settlements from five North County (N.Y.) auto dealers for alleged false advertising, and got barnesandnoble.com (BNBN
) to correct an Internet security breach. An attorney general's work is never done.Clearing A Telecom Line The telecom industry's network leasing logjam appears to have been broken. On May 31, long-distance carrier MCI struck a deal with local phone company Qwest Communications International (Q ) for access to its phone lines at prices set by the companies, instead of the federal government. MCI will pay current wholesale access rates until the end of the year. Then those rates "will increase an average of less than $5," according to Qwest, until January, 2007. The deal could lead to similar agreements between AT&T (T ) and local phone carriers. The SEC Slaps Symbol Tech Symbol Technologies (SBI ), a Holtsville (N.Y.) maker of wireless data systems, was expected on June 4 to settle accounting fraud charges with the Securities & Exchange Commission, and pay a $37 million fine. Eleven former Symbol executives are facing SEC charges in connection with the case. The fine is among the largest the agency has levied against a company for accounting misdeeds. From 1998 through early 2003, Symbol allegedly used fraudulent accounting to overstate revenues by $230 million and pretax earnings by $530 million. The SEC contends that Symbol execs falsified accounting entries to meet management's revenue targets. Et Cetera... -- Dow Corning emerged from bankruptcy on June 1, after nine years. -- Faced with slow growth, Sony Electronics (SNE ) exited the U.S. handheld market. -- TIAA-CREF will offer retirees only investment funds that meet its new governance rules. Closing Bell: Blue Nile 
Wall Street has been dazzled by Blue Nile (NILE
) since the e-jeweler's May 20 initial public offering at $20.50. In the two trading days ended on June 2, its shares rose 13%, to $38.20. Blue Nile's IPO was priced at a discount to other e-tailers, and investors are closing the gap.
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