The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today’s highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
SO MUCH INSIDER TRADING The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Rajat Gupta, former director of both Procter & Gamble (PG) and Goldman Sachs of trading inside information on both companies during the financial crisis in 2008. One of the most egregious examples is when Gupta told Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam about a pending $5 billion dollar investment in Goldman Sachs (GS) from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA). [Wall Street Journal]
ON THE ROAD AGAIN Consumers are starting to buy cars, judging by GM (GM) and Toyota’s February sales numbers. GM sold 46% more cars this February compared to last year–207, 028 vehicles. Toyota sold 141,846 cars, which was a 42% sales increase. [Wall Street Journal]
SAYONARA Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) could get rid of its Japanese assets, a 30% stake in Yahoo Japan, which is the country’s leading web portal. Yahoo is talking to Japanese telecom company Softbank Corp., already a stakeholder in Yahoo Japan, about the deal. [Wall Street Journal]
THAT NAGGING MORTGAGE PROBLEM could still take its toll on megabanks JPMorgan (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC). While the two companies have become more efficient in many ways, they haven’t addressed lawsuits related to issuing faulty mortgages, which could end up costing each bank billions of dollars. [New York Times]
APPLE DROPS IPAD 2 at 1:00 PM EST today. Avid Apple (APPL) users will want to know if the new version of the tablet has one camera or two, when it will ship and if Steve Jobs will be healthy enough to show up for the announcement. [Fortune]
AND THE PRESSURE’S ON, according to some analysts, who claim that with increased competition in the market, Apple needs to come out way ahead with its latest version of the tablet. [CNNMoney]