Wachovia Securities

Jazz Semiconductor Inc. on Wednesday withdrew its initial public offering of up to $150 million in common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Newport Beach-based company said the registration statement was being withdrawn because of "market conditions." The IPO originally was filed with the SEC on Jan. 21. Jazz Semiconductor, which was spun off from Conexant Systems Inc., is a contract manufacturer of chips. Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Bros.

East West Bancorp Inc. settled a suit that claimed a unit of Wachovia Corp. broke a promise to provide analyst coverage for the company's stock in exchange for managing a $10-million securities offering. Terms of the agreement are confidential, said Doug Krause, East West's general counsel. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alban Niles dismissed the suit after notice of the private settlement. The lawsuit was initially filed against First Union Corp., which acquired Wachovia last year.

Shares of MannKind Corp., one of the last drug makers trying to develop inhaled insulin, rose the most in more than four years after analysts expressed optimism about the product. Valencia-based MannKind rose 95 cents, or 34%, to $3.78, the most since the company's initial public offering in July 2004. The gain offset a decline of 16% earlier this week after the company released the results of a clinical trial.

Wall Street's most optimistic strategist on U.S. stocks, Ed Keon of Prudential Equity Group in New York, just became one of the most pessimistic. Keon on Monday advised clients to reduce stocks to 55% of their total portfolios from 100%, retreating from a call that was the most bullish since Bloomberg News began surveying Wall Street strategists in 1996.

Earnings forecasts for Titan Corp. were reduced by at least five analysts Friday, one day after the defense contractor said it would report a second-quarter loss and declined to give an outlook for all of 2004. A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., Wachovia Securities, Credit Suisse First Boston, Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Stephens Inc. all cut their forecasts. Titan said Thursday that it would report a quarterly loss of as much as $78 million. Three analysts now expect a loss for the full year.

Leap Wireless International Inc., operator of the Cricket and Jump mobile-phone services, said Tuesday that it planned to bid in a U.S. government auction of airwaves in January to expand its network. Leap will use a subsidiary to bid in the Federal Communications Commission auction, according to a regulatory filing from the San Diego-based company. Denali Spectrum License, a company in which Leap has a noncontrolling interest, also will bid, the company said.

A retired couple, who charged that their broker made inappropriate investments with their money, has won a $239,670 arbitration judgment against Prudential Securities Inc. The award, handed down by a National Assn.

Heelys Inc., the novelty shoemaker that has equipped thousands of children around the world with wheeled sneakers, raised $134.9 million in an initial public offering Thursday, 20% more than it planned. The company and its shareholders sold 6.43 million shares for $21 each, more than the 6.25 million shares it expected to sell at $16 to $18 each, people familiar with the sale said. Heelys is expected to begin trading today under the ticker HLYS.

Luxottica Group said it will buy Sunglass Hut International Inc. for about $462 million, a deal that will wed the Italian eye wear maker's existing prescription business in North America with sunglasses. Luxottica will pay $11.50 a share for Coral Gables, Fla.-based Sunglass Hut, which operates 1,962 stores worldwide, and assume about $191 million in debt, the companies said. Sunglass Hut represents around one-third of the premium sunglasses market in the U.S.

Prudential Securities Inc. agreed to pay $382,000 to settle charges that it didn't have proper systems in place to catch a broker who allegedly caused investors to pay higher mutual fund commissions, regulators said Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Prudential of "a serious supervisory failure" by not having sufficient systems from 1998 to 2000 to enforce policies for the sale of different mutual fund classes. Prudential neither admitted nor denied the charges.