Import prices

Import prices
spike in March
Fueled by a drastic jump of 9.1% in petroleum import costs, the price of imports increased 2.8% last month, according to the Department of Commerce.
The bump in prices follows a more modest 0.2% increase in the cost of all imports in February and a decrease of 1.9% in petroleum import costs.
Sell WaMu short,
Goldman advises
In a letter Friday to investors, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of New York recommended that investors short shares of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. because the firm has incurred losses stemming from credit card debt and subprime mortgages.
Active equity ETFs
make debut
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC of Wheaton, Ill., has launched the first actively managed exchange traded funds to invest in equities as well as an actively managed fixed-income ETF.
Government sues firm
over pension losses
The Department of Labor Friday sued Chicago-based AA Capital Partners Inc., an investment advisory service, and its executives, accusing them of improperly causing more than $25 million in losses for five Michigan pension funds.
Vanguard adds
adviser to two funds
The Vanguard Group Inc. of Malvern, Pa., said Friday that it will add Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland, as an adviser to the $6.9 billion Vanguard Global Equity Fund (VHGEX) and the $980 million Vanguard Growth Equity Fund (VGEQX).
Consumer confidence
weakens again
The RBC CASH Index from RBC Capital Markets of New York fell to 29.5 this month, from 33.1 in March, an all-time low since its launch in January 2002.
The negative reading continues the index’s downward spiral from 48.5 in February, 56.3 in January and 69.5 in December.
Meanwhile the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers’ preliminary index of confidence fell to 63.2 this month, down from 69.5 in March, marking the index’s lowest reading since 1982. Reuters is based in New York, and the University of Michigan is located in Ann Arbor.
Corrections
In an article in the March 31 issue, “Carbon emissions trading becomes hot,” the quote, “Pending legislation may force a market” for Point Carbon, a research and consulting firm based in Oslo, Norway, should have been attributed to Greg Singleton, a senior analyst at the firm.

An article in the April 7 issue, “B-D execs take wait-and-see-approach on Bear Stearns clearing unit,” incorrectly reported that First Allied Securities Inc. of San Diego clears through Bear Stearns Securities Corp., Pershing LLC and Wells Fargo & Co.
First Allied cut ties with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo last year and now clears with Bear Stearns of New York and Pershing of Jersey City, N.J.