Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 16

MONEY MARKETS DOLLAR CLOSED: 91 .45 yen usmess BUSINESS EDITOR: KEVIN RICHARDSON, (601) 961-7163 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009 THE CLARION-LEDGER CURIONLEDGER.COM DOW OIL GOLD '10641 ''ttM i I i CLOSED: CLOSED: CLOSED: 8,063.07 $41.17 $913.60 DW Bob DooM mm U1 claflonledger.com Madoff case has range of investors tional funds had relayed investments to Madoff in Europe and that the managers of these "feeder" funds may have ignored signs of the massive fraud scheme. He plans to present his V- scores of others who called an investor hotline set up by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. While many of those listed likely lost money with Madoff, it is not clear that all of those on the list were victims, or that all of the ment to the sweeping nature of Madoff's alleged fraud. The 162-page list includes Madoff's relatives, prominent business people, celebrities, and charitable institutions. Each page carries 84 PDF: Court document listing Madoff's known clients Madoff Markopolos findings to the Securities By Larry Neumetater The Associated Press and Exchange Commission's inspector general Thursday.

If proven, they would substantiate the assertions of many analysts that the alleged fraud was far too large for Madoff to have conducted alone. House lawmakers on Wednesday also sparred with SEC officials, accusing them of impeding their probe into how the agency failed to uncover the alleged fraud. Prosecutors say Madoff admits he lost more than $50 billion belonging to investors. Defense lawyers say he has See MADOFF, 8B victims have been identified. Many of the people who lost money with Madoff did so through investment "feeder" funds, who turned that money over to the New York money manager.

Their names would not have been listed individually in Madoff's books, and would only be included in the court's list if they have stepped forward to make claims. The client list was released shortly after a whistleblower in the case, Harry Markopolos, told House lawmakers at a hearing that he had discovered that addi- single-spaced lines. Some customers are listed multiple times, presumably because they had multiple accounts. The list does not say how much money the customers may have lost, nor does it spell out their specific connection to Madoff. The list, compiled for a court-appointed trustee in the Madoff case, includes thousands of people and entities listed in the money manager's records as account holders during the 12-month period leading up to his arrest in December.

It also includes NEW YORK Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Broadcaster Larry King. World Trade Center developer Larry Sil-verstein. All three have at least one thing in common: Their names appear on a list of several thousand clients of disgraced financial wizard Bernard Madoff. The list has been made public in a court filing in U.S.

Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The list emerged late Wednesday, testa gefl digital Treasury finalizing plan for bailout i Farmers markets on Extension list Mississippians can find their local farmers market through a new service provided by the Mississippi State University Extension Service. A list of 49 markets includes those that opened last year and those certified by the state Agriculture Department. The listing can be viewed at http:msucares.comcrops market. Webcast offered by Sanderson Sanderson Farms Inc.

will provide a Web simulcast at 10 a.m. Feb. 19 of its annual meeting of stockholders, the company announced Thursday. The meeting will be held at the company's corporate offices in Laurel. People can access the broadcast in the investors relations section of the company Web site, www.sanderson-farms.com or at www.

earnings. com. People without Internet access may listen to the meeting at (877) 74 Sanderson Farms produces and markets chickens and other food products. Jobless claims highest since '82 New jobless claims jumped far more than expected last week in an already dismal labor market, and there's no relief in sight for workers as mass layoffs persist. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of newly jobless workers seeking benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 626,000, from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 591,000.

The latest total is far more than analysts' expectations of 583,000. That's also the highest since October 1982, when the economy was in a steep recession, though the work force has grown by about half since then. Toxic toys ban starts next week The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission can't let toys containing toxic manufacturing chemicals remain on store shelves after a ban takes effect next week, a judge ruled Thursday. U.S.

District Judge Paul Gardephe said the commission, whose role is to protect the public from dangerous goods, must eliminate a loophole that lets the substances remain in toys made before the ban is in place Tuesday. Manufacturers have said they would have to pull hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of products from store shelves to comply, but consumer advocates called the ruling a victory for children's health. CPSC spokesman Joe Martyak said the commission decided not to appeal the ruling, which relates to phtha-lates, chemicals used to soften plastics. From staff and wire reports By Martin Crutsingor The Associated Press WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other top officials are putting the finishing touches on a plan to overhaul the government's $700 billion financial rescue program. A Treasury official said Geithner will deliver a speech on Monday outlining the new plan.

But Treasury officials would not comment on a report Thursday that the administration is considering changes to the current accounting standard that requires banks to carry assets such as mortgage-backed securities on their books at fair value, a process known as "mark to market." Critics of this process contend that it has made Paul Sakuma The Associated Press Digital TV converter boxes are displayed at Best Buy in Moun- four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from tain View, on Wednesday. Congress is giving consumers analog to digital television broadcasting. Some TH stations dropping analog now 0 the current financial crisis worse by forcing banks to slash the value of assets that are currently depressed because of mar By Gary Pettua gpettusclarionledger.coni Geithner June 12 WAPT-Channel 16 WLBT-Channel 3 Unsure WJTV-Channel 12 Local stations will switch to broadcasting only in digital: Completed WRBJ-Channel 34 Feb. 17 Mississippi Public Broadcasting WDBD-Channel 40 WUFX-Channel 35 could not be reached for comment Despite Congress' decision to delay the nation's switch to digital TV, some Missis-sippi broadcasters will stick to this month's original deadline. Some will observe the postponement, but others are still deciding what to do, said Jackie Lett, president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters.

"It's so up in the air now," she said on Thursday. On Wednesday, the House voted to postpone until June 12 the mandatory transition from analog to digital signals, extending by four months the original, Feb. 17 deadline. The Senate had already approved the measure last week. It awaits the signature of President Barack Obama, who had urged Congress to pass it.

Stations may proceed with the changeover on Feb. 17, but must reapply by Monday to the FCC for approval, Lett said. Low-power stations, such as Jackson's WXMS-Channel 27, do not have to convert to digital. In the Jackson area, WLBT-Channel 3 ket conditions. Treasury officials said the administration's plan was not yet complete and would be revealed in Geithner's speech in Washington next week.

The idea of modifying the current rules on marking down bank assets is being considered by some key lawmakers as a possible way to address the banking crisis. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said he was in favor of exploring a modification to the mark-to-market requirements that would give banking regulators more discretion so banks would not face the need to cut lending as a consequence of following those standards. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, said Thursday in an interview that he wanted to consider See BAILOUT, 8B and WAPT-Channel 16 will wait until June 12 to switch, Lett said. "We're going to fulfill the spirit of the law, which says there are a lot of folks who aren't ready yet," said Stuart Kellogg, WAPT's general manager. That's the reason Obama had asked for the delay; studies show he may be right.

The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households with analog TV sets aren't ready for digital "In the 24-county area comprising the Jackson TV market, there are 6,191 households on the waiting list for coupons," Kellogg said. The $40 coupons, limited to two per household, can be used toward the purchase of digital converter boxes for people who own analog sets. Money for those coupons has run out, "but my guess is the government will allocate more money for them," Kellogg said.

Households that subscribe to most satellite or cable TV services, including Comcast, will automatically receive the new digital signals. Viewers who have a newer TV with a digital tuner also will not be affected. About 50 percent of Jackson-area viewers who need to make adjustments haven't done so, Kellogg said. That is, viewers See DIGITAL, 8B Google can help you 'find yourself with new location technology frequently and what your top searches are. If this location service technology takes off and you choose to participate, it'll also know where you are at any given moment.

So I figured 111 try it right away, before any- Earnest Hart name was listed under a Google map alongside a gray silhouette image of a person that doesn't look like me. My status was listed as "unknown location." It occurred to me that I also needed Google Latitude on my iPhone, where it would use the GPS features to pinpoint my general location. So it's off to google.comlatitude on my mobile phone to download a new version of Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. That's when I got the message "coming soon" and found out the iPhone is not supported at this point. Family fun? Or, nosy? Even though I struck out with the iPhone, owners of most BlackBerry devices and mobile phones that run Windows Mobile, Symbian or Android nology.

Or it may choose to roll out its own version of a "where are you?" application. Google is not the first to dabble in social mapping technology. Other companies have a head start, such as Loopt, which is available on for the iPhone, T-Mobile and several other carriers. You also have Verizon's Chaper-one service and Sprint Navigation. Depending on the carrier, you may have to cough up around $3 to $10 per month, while Google will be pitching its technology as being free.

As for me, my locations will remain unknown for a while longer. Earnest Hart is assistant managing editor for online. To contact him, call (601) 961-7269 or e-mail ehart clarionledger.com. I tried to find myself on Google's new location service the other day. It's not that I was lost, but I wanted to see where Google thought I was.

I just happened to be at work in downtown Jackson, but even if I were on the move, Google would keep the spotlight on me and let everyone on my approved list of snoopers know that I had left the office. Privacy issues remain The search engine giant has plans to wow us with its Google Latitude location service, which was announced on Wednesday, as red flags shot up about privacy concerns. Google already knows more than you think about us, as its search engine feature crovides trends on your Web activity, such as which sites you visit most operating systems should be ready for location duty. If you can get your friends and family to cooperate, you'll have a good idea of where they are at anytime. Google has a vision of you looking at a map on your mobile phone or computer, seeing their location and contacting them for lunch with a call, text message or e-maiL Or just to be nosy.

On the same day of Google's Latitude announcement, Garmin Ltd. announced its anticipated smartphone, which will be called the Garmin-Asu nuvifoneG-60. It'll run on a proprietary operating system that may or may not work with Google's location service. But since Garmin is already in the location and navigation business, I can't imaging it not being a player with Google's tech one else finds out about it and starts tracking me. I visited google.comlatitude and signed up for the Latitude location feature.

When I got back to Google's home page, the Latitude package was already there, waiting for me to find myself. Then I went to my contacts list and added myself as a friend to the Latitude service and enabled "share my location." Before you could say shazam, my.