Harold Maass of The Week The Best of Today's Business

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Oracle sees gains, but sales miss targets

Business software maker Oracle Corp. reported a 30 percent rise in quarterly profit, to $1.34 billion, in line with analysts' projections. However, its stock dropped 8 percent in extended trading, as a lower-than-expected 21 percent jump in sales led investors to conclude that Oracle is more vulnerable than they thought to the slump in U.S. business spending. (AP in Yahoo! Finance) "People have turned to the software sector in general as somewhat defensive," said analyst Charles DiBona at Sanford C. Bernstein, "but it's not immune." Shares of rivals SAP, IBM, and Microsoft also fell after the earnings report. (Reuters)

KPMG fingered in New Century fraud

Accounting firm KPMG was complicit in "significant" accounting fraud at New Century Financial, which was the second-largest U.S. subprime lender before going bankrupt last April, according to a report ordered by the Justice Department. The report, by court examiner Michael Missal, was unsealed yesterday. (Reuters) It found that some KPMG auditors had uncovered suspicious accounting, but that partners at the firm had rejected the concerns so as not to lose New Century as a client. KPMG said it disagreed with the report's conclusions. The findings could help shareholders sue KPMG and New Century executives whose pay was inflated by the fraud. (The New York Times, free registration)

H&M profits up on new stores

Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz reported a better-than-expected 28 percent rise in quarterly profit, to $485 million. Profit growth at Europe's No. 2 fashion retailer was fueled by new stores, growing online sales, and the weak dollar, which lowered its purchasing costs. (MarketWatch) H&M opened 11 new stores in the quarter, and plans to open 190 this year, including its first outlets in Japan and Saudi Arabia. Its shares rose more than 4 percent in Stockholm early today. "I'm surprised at the amazing strength of the report, considering the weak retail figures we've seen recently coming out of the U.S. and Germany," said Johan Stein at Nordea Asset Management. (Bloomberg)

For small TV stations, a digital kiss of death?

Almost the entire U.S. television universe is going digital next year, and small TV broadcasters are calling the switch a "death sentence." The Community Broadcasters Association, representing 2,600 low-power stations -- which aren't required to go digital -- is asking a federal court to prevent the government to entirely phase out analog broadcasts, specifically seeking a ban on the sale of analog-to-digital TV converter boxes. If granted, the ban could derail the switch to digital service. The government now offers $80 in coupons to buy such boxes. "Every time a person gets a coupon, buys a converter box and plugs it in, we lose that viewer," said association president Ronald Bruno. (AP in USA Today) 

BEST COLUMNS OF THE DAY

Avoiding a date with the taxman

"More Americans than ever before are being audited," says Catherine Clifford in CNNMoney.com, but you can reduce the chances that "the tax man will take a second look" at your returns. The IRS keeps its auditing criteria "under lock and key," but here are "a few factors" to keep in mind: The more you earn, the greater your risk -- 1 out of 11 people earning $1 million or more were audited last year. Unexplained high expenditures or large charitable donations are also red flags, as are handwritten or unsigned returns. And "home office expenses" are a "dangerous area" -- be conservative in your deductions, and keep "very detailed logs and organized receipts."

Your résumé is an open book

Lying on your résumé was never wise, says Molly Selvin in the Los Angeles Times, but now such "fibbing" is "a really bad idea." Yes, it is "epidemic" today, amid "superheated" job competition that rewards star performers. But why risk getting caught by the "army of commercial background screeners" employers now use, especially when most hirers are "forgiving if you come clean" about your job-related peccadilloes? The most common "red flag" is lying about academic credentials, but you can get in trouble for what you leave off your résumé, too -- bankruptcies, lawsuits, minor convictions. Employers know you're human, and "fessing up is always better than staying silent."

GOOD DAY FOR: The bigger picture, as Adobe is launching a free online version of Photoshop today. Photoshop Express is the latest software franchise seeking to expand its presence among younger users who primarily work online. "This is the battlefield where Adobe and Microsoft and Google are going to fight some pretty big battles," said analyst Kathleen Maher at Jon Peddie Research. (AP in Yahoo! Finance)

BAD DAY FOR: High-flying confidence, after American Airlines grounded about 320 flights over concerns about wiring in its MD-80 aircraft. The FAA had flagged those aircraft as inadequately inspected. Delta said it was running tests on 133 related MD-90 and MD-88 planes. "This isn't a safety issue," said Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia. "But reliability is becoming a concern." (Los Angeles Times, free registration)

NOTED: Clear Channel Communications said it won a ruling from a Texas judge that could help it force six banks to fund the radio operator's buyout by two private equity firms, Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H Lee Partners. The banks had committed $22 billion in financing, and the judge said backing out would cause Clear Channel irreparable harm, the company said. (Reuters)

This column was written by Peter Weber and edited by Harold Maass of TheWeekDaily.com.