UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. stocks mixed on OPEC speculation

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were up and flat Monday after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said OPEC would consider increasing output to ease surging crude prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 55.28 or 0.42 percent to 13,098.02 in late-morning trading. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 3.69 or 0.25 percent to 1,457.39.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was flat, up just 0.25 or 0.01 percent to 2,628.19.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index finished down 386.33 points, or 2.48 percent, at 15,197.09.

The U.S. bond market was closed for the Veterans Day holiday.

The U.S. dollar rose to 109.77 yen from 110.67 yen in New York late Friday. The euro fell to $1.4541 from $1.467.

IBM to buy Cognos software maker for $4.9B

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- IBM Corp. said Monday it would buy Canadian business-software maker Cognos Inc. for $4.9 billion as part of its information-on-demand strategy.

The $58-a-share, all-cash deal -- 9.5 percent more than Cognos's closing price Friday -- "will enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence," the companies said in a statement.

Business intelligence refers to technologies, applications and practices to improve business decision making through fact-based support systems.

Cognos President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Ashe said the deal provided Cognos, which has about 4,000 employees and more than 25,000 customers, "with the ability to expand our vision as the leading (business-intelligence) and performance management provider."

IBM said it chose Ottawa's Cognos, the 23rd IBM acquisition in support of its information-on-demand strategy, "because of its industry-leading technology that is based on open standards," IBM Software Group Senior Vice President Steve Mills said.

IBM intends to integrate Cognos into its Information Management Software division and appoint Ashe to lead the group, IBM said.

The acquisition will contribute to earnings-per-share growth through 2010, IBM said

Software is IBM's smallest business by sales but its biggest profit-growth driver.

Sweden OKs Bourse Dubai's OMX takeover

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Swedish regulators Monday approved Bourse Dubai's $4.9 billion bid for Nordic and Baltic stock exchange OMX AB, clearing the way for a friendly takeover.

Financial markets regulator Finansinspektionen said Bourse Dubai fulfilled the requirements to own the exchange.

Bourse Dubai said in September it wanted to buy OMX and then transfer ownership to New York's Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. in a complex deal that would see Bourse Dubai take a 20 percent stake in the combined group.

Finansinspektionen approved Nasdaq as a potential OMX owner Sept. 27.

Nasdaq and Bourse Dubai, initially rivals to take over OMX, launched a combined bid for OMX and said in late September they jointly secured 47.6 percent of the Nordic exchange operator's shares through direct ownership, option agreements and irrevocable undertakings.

Bourse Dubai and Nasdaq can now officially launch a friendly takeover of OMX, The (Stockholm) Local newspaper reported.

Controller slip led to businessman's death

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- An air traffic controller's error and severe weather led to a small plane crash that killed a New York businessman, a federal report said.

Michael Zinn, 52, who founded alternative-energy company Besicorp Development LLC, of Kingston, N.Y., died Oct. 19, 2005, when the Cessna 337 he was piloting plunged into a house in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The plane was en route to Myrtle Beach, S.C., from Boca Raton, Fla., where Zinn had a home, the (Kingston) Daily Freeman reported.

Another pilot in the area heard Zinn screaming for help and yelling he was going to die, a National Transportation Safety Board report said.

Zinn, an experienced pilot, had told air traffic controllers at Palm Beach International Airport, near West Palm Beach, Fla., he was changing course to get around a storm and asked if his course change was clear of bad weather, the NTSB report said.

"The controller's display was showing moderate and heavy and extreme weather in that direction," the NTSB said. "The controller did not advise the pilot of the depicted weather as required by the FAA."

A short while later, the controller didn't respond to Zinn's calls for help, the NTSB said.

The plane then "entered a rapid descent" and a pilot flying nearby said "somebody's yelling for help, that they are going to die," the NTSB said.

The NTSB didn't identify the controller or say if the incident resulted in any discipline.