Amscan

Today a federal appeals court upheld a $290 million software patent infringement judgement against Microsoft Corp. and issued an injunction that will prevent and prohibit the sale of all currently available versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office. With buyers racing to complete their sales before the expiration of a special tax credit, home sales surged last month to the highest levels in nearly three years. That's the good news.... BUT Unemployment is at record highs and economic growth is weaker than expected. What's more, mortgage defaults are still setting records, lenders are regularly rejecting applications from borrowers and many experts warn that hundreds of thousands of foreclosed properties have yet to even be put up for sale. Stephen Burke, the chief operating officer at Comcast Corp, has been elected to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway board of directors. Burke also serves on the board of JPMorgan Chase & Co Today OPEC agreed to keep supply curbs unchanged but faces a battle to crack down on those in its ranks who are failing to comply with quota restrictions if it wants to drain bulging global fuel inventories. Today American Greetings Corp announced that it has reached a deal with party goods maker Amscan and will stop making its own party goods. American Greetings will close its Kalamazoo, Mich. plant and cut about 225 jobs.