Oil Prices Drop Nearly 10% for the Week
Crude oil prices posted their biggest weekly decline in more than a year only days after flirting with $50 a barrel, and analysts say prices could drop further if tensions in oil-rich Iraq continue to stabilize.
Despite edging up 8 cents a barrel Friday, to $43.18, oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $4.69 a barrel, or 9.8%, for the week. It also was crude oil's first weekly decline since late June.
But gasoline prices continued edging higher after falling for most of the summer. Pump prices in Southern California climbed a few cents a gallon last week, as they typically do before the Labor Day weekend, and prices of gasoline futures contracts rose in New York trading.
Oil's surge was attributed to tight world supplies and a rash of disruptions in several exporting nations that raised fears of a major interruption in global oil production and delivery. Heavy speculation by hedge funds and other institutional investors also helped lift prices.
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State Court Allows Class Actions on Overtime Pay
In a closely watched labor law case, the California Supreme Court cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit brought by Sav-on Drug Stores workers who say they were misclassified as managers and improperly denied overtime. The unanimous ruling overturned a lower-court decision that would have discouraged such suits.
Plaintiffs' attorneys maintain that many workers, despite having titles such as "store manager," spend much of their day doing non-managerial tasks such as stocking shelves or tending a cash register, rather than overseeing any of the business.
A Sav-on spokeswoman declined to comment on the ruling.
A trial judge in Los Angeles agreed to certify the suit as a class action, a move appealed by Sav-on. The state Court of Appeal reversed the trial judge. In overturning the Court of Appeal's decision, the high court judges said workers had presented enough evidence of common grievances to have their suit certified as a class action.
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U.S. Launches Inquiry of Alleged Piracy Ring
The Justice Department said it had launched an undercover criminal probe of a members-only group that allegedly traded movies, songs, games and software over the Internet.
The move came as the Recording Industry Assn. of America said it had filed copyright- infringement lawsuits against 744 file sharers, bringing the total sued to 4,680.
