NEWS | IN BRIEF
Galleon boss asks for lower bail
Lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon hedge-fund founder accused in a coast-to-coast insider trading probe, yesterday asked a New York judge to reduce his bail from $100m to $20m, taking aim at the government’s reliance on a cooperating witness. His lawyers took issue with the government’s reliance for proving its case on former trader and Intel employee Roomy Khan, who pleaded guilty in October and is cooperating with the investigation.
Oshkosh falls on watchdog news
Shares of specialist truckmaker Oshkosh tumbled as much as 18 per cent yesterday after a US watchdog upheld a complaint against the company’s contract win to build trucks for the US Army. Shares of rivals Navistar International Corp and BAE Systems, meanwhile, rallied after the US Accountability Office said the challenge they mounted to Oshkosh’s summer win was valid.
US oil demand lower until 2035
US oil demand is not expected to return to the peak levels that were reached before fuel consumption fell sharply until 2035, according to the US government’s energy forecasting agency. US oil demand reached a high of 20.8m barrels per day in 2005, and oil consumption is forecast to remain “near” its current level of about 19m bpd until 2035, the Energy Information Administration said.