The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • B6

B6 Orlando Sentinel FRIDAY, BUSINESS Applicants are weeded out based onthe strength of their applications. About 35 are invited to participate in each combine, many of them recent graduates with degrees in sales. The cost, $395, does not include lodging or airfare. Irwin and Sutton insist the combination of experience and exposure that participants receive is well worth the cost. Sutton said that, typically, about half of the participants are hired at the conclusion of the event, and many more find work later due in part to what they learned at the combine.

While finding hirable people is a perk available to all the teams in attendance, for the host team there is an added field Sutton said. In addition to being able to show off the facilities, the Magic will get to keep the profits from the tickets sold by combine participants. According to Sutton, those sales have ranged from $5,000 to $17,000 at past combines. Atlanta Combine success story Members of the current Magic sales team alreadyhave a combine success story in their Kinikles, now a ticket-sales representative for the local team, attended the Atlanta Sports Sales Combine last year. combine, on several levels, changed my she said.

Kinikles among those hired at the end of that combine, she said, but she credits the experience and networking opportunities she gained there as a major factor in her finding a job with the Magic. definitely believe how I was able to make my way she said. Even for those who hired at the conclusion, Sutton said, the event offers all comers an opportunity to network, to be seen and to get a glimpse at what a life in sales would be like. case, they learn how to sell Sutton said. Jeff Weiner can be reached at 407-420-5447 or COMBINE FROM PAGEB5 Even for those who hired at the conclusion, the event offers all comers an opportunity to network, to be seen and to get a glimpse at what a life in sales would be like, Bill Sutton said.

of Administrative Hearings. If a case proceeds to the courts, the charges can result in athird-degree felony conviction punishable by a prison term of up to five years and a fine not to exceed $5,000. Cardwell specifically cautioned people against paying any upfront fees whatsoever for loan modifications, as that is illegal. your broker asks for any money upfront, simply turn and walk Cardwell advised. Mary Shanklin can be reached at 407-420-5538 or LOANS FROM PAGEB5 Is the ratings grip of WFTV-Channel 9 slipping? CBS affiliate WKMG-Channel 6 won the 11p.m.

news ratings race for the January period, which ended Wednesday, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. think WKMG General Manager Skip Valet said of the victory. relationship we have with viewers is paying off. We have a dynamic anchor team at 11. We focus on every petty crime.

Our newscast reflects what life is like in Central He said the win was a shot in the arm for WKMG, which has faced viewer criticism for dropping it 5 p.m. newscast. ratings tell us a lot viewers think we are on he said. Valet argued that WFTV is no longer dominant. win the most important of he said, referring to 11p.m.

At 11p.m., WKMG averaged 109,200 total viewers to 95,800 and WESH-Channel 93,300. Yet ABC affiliate WFTV continued to be strong in nearly every other news slot, and on Thursday it announced it had extended the contract of longtime anchor Bob Opsahl. is a horse race. work WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt said. She noted that at 11p.m., three sta- tions were within spitting distance in the 25- to-54 age group the key demographic to news advertisers.

WKMG had 36,600 viewers in the age group to 35,400 and 34,800. going to work hard to be totally dominant as soon as we can Bartelt said. She cited her clear margin of victory in the morning and early evening. In total viewers at 6 a.m., WFTV averaged 85,100 to 56,100 and 35,700. WOFL-Channel 35 had 18,300.

WESH simulcasts its 6 a.m. news on sister station WKCF-Channel 18, where 7,700 additional viewers watch, and the NBC affiliate stressed its growth in the time period. At 6 p.m., WFTV averaged 169,300 total viewers to 123,200, 40,600 for an hour newscast and 37,500. WFTV news director Bob Jordan specific about extension. Would duties change? no, no, no.

the Jordan said. wish stay here Hal Boedeker can be reached at Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/tvguy. WKMG breaks news dominance at 11 By Hal Boedeker ORLANDO SENTINEL TELEVISION CRITIC Bob Opsahl: WFTV anchor gets contract extension. NEW Bank of America Corp. and its former chief executive, Kenneth Lewis, were accused of fraud Thursday for allegedly failing to disclose huge losses at Merrill Lynch before the brokerage was acquired by the giant bank in January 2009.

The bank and Lewis misled not only its shareholders but also the government about the size of the losses at the height of the financial crisis, according to a civil suit filed in New York state court by the attorney general, Andrew Cuomo. The purchase of Merrill Lynch has been a long legal headache for Bank of America. The complaint said the bank purposely understated Merrill losses to win shareholder approval of the acquisition. A week later, the suit said, the bank overstated the same losses to secure $20 billion in additional funding from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. conduct of Bank of America, through its top management, was motivated by self-interest, greed, hubris and a palpable sense that the normal rules of fair play did not apply to the complaint said.

Mary Jo White, a lawyer for Lewis, called the lawsuit badly misguided decision without support in the facts or the simply is no basis for any case against Mr. Lewis or any other in the case, she said in a statement. Joe Price, who was chief financial officer at the time of the deal and is now head of consumer banking division, also is named as a defendant in the litigation. Lawyers for Price said the attorney allegations were contrary to the Cuomo announced the suit shortly after the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was settling its litigation against Bank of America over the payment of $5.8 billion in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees shortly after the acquisition closed. Bank of America agreed to pay $150 million to shareholders to settle the SEC charges.

The agreement still needs the approval of U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. In September, the bank and the government agreed to a $33 million settlement only to have Rakoff reject the deal. Bank of America spokesman Robert Sticklersaid, are disappointed and find it regrettable that the NY AG has chosen to file these charges, which we believe are totally without merit. evidence demonstrates that Bank of America and its executives, including Ken Lewis and Joe Price, at all times acted in good faith and consistent with their legal and fiduciary obligations.In fact, the SEC had access to the same evidence as the NY AG and concluded that there was no basis to enter either a charge of fraud or to charge In a statement about the settlement with the SEC, the company said SEC staff has determined that no one acted with any intent to The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A New York lawsuit says then-Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, right, and Bank of America failed to disclose huge losses at Merrill Lynch before the brokerage was acquired. CHUCK PHOTO BofA, ex-CEO Lewis are accused of fraud By Nathaniel Popper TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS Rise in U.S. jobless claims, European debt woes yield worst day since April The Dow Jones industrial average closed in on 10,000 on Thursday from the wrong direction. Stock markets around the world plunged on concern over mounting debt problems of several European governments as well as an unexpected rise in U.S. jobless claims.

The Dow tumbled more than 260 points, coming within three points of closing below the 10,000 mark that it retook in October during its long climb back from the financial crisis. In the final minutes of trading, the blue-chip gauge was briefly below 10,000, falling as low as 9,998.03. It ended the day down 268.37points, or 2.6percent, at lowest close since Nov. 4 and its biggest one-day point slide since April 20. It was the ninth time in 14 days that the Dow has moved by more than 100 points.

Investors were spooked in part by a Labor Department report showing that claims for first-time jobless benefits rose by 8,000, to week, exceeding the 455,000 that economists expected. The number seemed to discourage investors who hoped that the January unemployment report to be released Friday would point to an improving job picture. Analysts expect the report to show that employers added 5,000 jobs in January. The news reminded investors that the global economic recovery remains tenuous. It also raised questions about whether the market can resume its rebound from 12-year lows it hit in March.

Major European markets plunged more than 2 percent, with shares in Spain sinking nearly 6 percent, as investors worried that the growing budget woes that have hammered Greece were spreading to Spain, Portugal and other nations. reality is that countries with budgets that are out of control or seriously compromised need to do much more to fix their budgets, which means taking actions that will exacerbate the recessions going on all around said Adolfo Laurenti, an economist at Mesirow Financial. Worries about Greece, Portugal and Spain set off broader concerns that governments will have difficulty containing rising debts and borrowing more money to help revive their economies. market is becoming aware that the wall of cash that lifted it last year is coming to an said Jon Merriman, chief executiveof financial services firm Merriman Curhan Ford. Prices of oil, gold and other commodities also slumped as investors fled to what they perceived to be safer havens, including the dollar and Treasury securities.

The euro hit a seven-month low against the dollar. The Dow is off 6.7 percentsince hitting its recent peak of Jan. 19. The broader Standard 500 sank 3.1percent Thursday, to 1063.11,and the Nasdaq composite index lost 3percent, to 2125.43. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 20.98, or 3.4percent, to 589.68.

The Chicago Board Options Volatility Index jumped 20.7 percent. An increase in the VIX, which is known as the fear gauge, is a sign that investors predict more big moves in stocks. Charles Norton, portfolio manager of the Long-Short Fund, said renewed questions about foreign ability to finance their deficits are a sign that investors have been too optimistic in predicting a recovery in the economies. Norton said signs of improvement in the U.S. economy are less impressive than they first appear.

The government said last week that the economy grew at an annual rate of 5.7percent during the fourth quarter. A big part of that gain came from companies rebuilding inventories. are the only sources of economic activity that seen so Norton said. both likely to wane over the course of this year. Then news and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wall Street giving up retaken high ground By Walter Hamilton TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS Dow Jones industrial average, One-minute intervals How now, own Dow? SOURCE: Bloomberg TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS Wednesday close: 10,270.55 Thursday close: 10,002.18 10,000 10,100 10,200 10,300 3:0012:009:00 The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years, and complaints about it for nearly as long, it seems: too messy, too small, too hard to open. Now, ketchup giant H.J. Heinz Co. is unveiling the first major packaging change to the to-go condiment. The new design has a base more like a cup for dipping and also a tear-off end for squeezing, plus it holds three times as much ketchup than a traditional packet.

packet has long been the bane of our said Dave Ciesinski, vice presidentof Heinz Ketchup. biggest complaint is there is no way to dip and eat it on the Heinz has long struggled to find a design that lets diners dip or squeeze ketchup that could also be sold at a price acceptable to its restaurant customers. For this effort, it bought its design team a used minivan two years ago to test if their ideas really worked while eating on the road. Heinz sells more than 11million cases of its ketchup packets in the U.S. every year, and it will continue to sell the traditional packet.

The new packet is in test markets in the Midwest and Southeast and will roll out at select restaurants in the fall. Heinz is still working out prices with customers but said packets will cost a little more than regular packets. Will they catch on? hard to tell, but the news may cheer some ketchup fans like Matt Kurtz, a 22-year-old student who finds the problems are as ubiquitous as the packets themselves. The self-proclaimed ketchup aficionado became so annoyed two years ago after spilling ketchup on his jeans, he started one of hundreds of anti-ketchup packet groups on Facebook. He dubbed it as a gentle poke at Heinz, saying it is to to the shortcomings.

said, has to be a better said. Press Torn over ketchup packet design Dip Squeeze ketchup packet has a base like a cup for dipping and holds three times more than a regular packet. H.J. HEINZ CO. PHOTO Product: OSBroadsheet PubDate: 02-05-2010 Zone: FLA Edition: ROP Page: MONEY2 User: dbreen Time: Color:.