Exchange Commission

Baltimore's Millennial Media Inc., one of the dominant companies in the rapidly growing field of mobile advertising, plans to raise $75 million in a public stock offering — money it will use to expand its operations overseas and go head-to-head against Google and Apple, according to a securities filing Thursday. Founded five years ago, Millennial Media's revenues have grown steadily, and it has attracted $65 million in venture capital to fuel its early expansion. Millennial's revenues grew from $1.5 million in 2007 to $69 million in the first nine months of 2011, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Baltimore's Millennial Media Inc., one of the dominant companies in the rapidly growing field of mobile advertising, plans to raise $75 million in a public stock offering — money it will use to expand its operations overseas and go head-to-head against Google and Apple, according to a securities filing Thursday. Founded five years ago, Millennial Media's revenues have grown steadily, and it has attracted $65 million in venture capital to fuel its early expansion. Millennial's revenues grew from $1.5 million in 2007 to $69 million in the first nine months of 2011, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NEW YORK -- A Rhode Island food vendor was sentenced to home detention yesterday on charges that he bought shares of U.S. Foodservice after he was secretly tipped about a takeover of the company by Dutch supermarket chain Royal Ahold NV. Brady Schofield, who was president of Seafood Marketing Specialists Inc., was given six months' home confinement and three years' probation and fined $13,000 by U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York. Schofield admitted in June that he bought shares in Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice in 2000, after he was tipped to the takeover by a company executive.

Economy heightens retirement worry DES MOINES, Iowa : Rising costs and uncertainty about the economy have workers less confident in their ability to save enough money to retire comfortably, say the authors of a study released Tuesday. Even though workers are saving more and expecting to work longer to improve their chances of a happy retirement, there's still a disconnect. The survey shows many are failing to plan appropriately and making incorrect assumptions about retirement income. The new survey by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute reveals only 13 percent of U.S. workers say they're very confident they'll have enough money to retire comfortably.

There are two possible ways to interpret the temporary or permanent departure of four top executives and two traders from securities brokerage Ferris Baker Watts. One: Maybe the company is bending over backward to cooperate with a federal investigation that will turn out - for Ferris - to be a minor problem of paperwork and procedures. Two: Maybe the disruption signifies that Ferris Baker abetted an alleged $50 million Ponzi scheme. In either case, there is only one label for the way the Baltimore firm has handled disclosure of the situation.

Stake bought in Baltimore BancorpA New York financier has purchased a 5 percent stake in Baltimore Bancorp Inc., which announced in late January that several potential buyers are examining its books. Leon Cooperman, of Omega Advisors Inc., purchased 838,100 shares in January and February for $15.69 to $17.19 a share, according to yesterday's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.@

WASHINGTON -- Schult Homes Corp. of Middlebury, Ind., filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell about $20 million of common shares to the public.The company, the nation's oldest producer of factory-built homes, filed to sell 1.45 million common shares.Schult Homes will use the proceeds to expand its production and sale of modular homes and possibly to develop a consumer financing capability, the company said.

Iacocca sells shares for $56 millionLee Iacocca, who pocketed tens of millions of dollars in salary and stock bonuses during his 13-year reign as chairman of Chrysler Corp., is selling almost half his stake in the automaker.The retired chairman said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he is selling 1.2 million shares for approximately $56.5 million. Iacocca gave no reason for the sale. The sale was to have taken place last week.

J. Carter Beese Jr., a principal at Baltimore-based Alex. Brown & Sons Inc., was nominated by President Bush yesterday to be one of five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that sets disclosure rules for publicly traded companies.Mr. Beese, 35, would fill a seat on the Securities and Exchange Commission that was left vacant during the summer by Philip R. Lochner Jr., who returned to his former employer, Time Warner Inc.If confirmed by the Senate, he would serve a five-year term set to expire June 5, 1996.

LEXINGTON, Mass. - Raytheon Co. Chief Financial Officer Frank Caine resigned yesterday and was immediately replaced by Controller Edward Pliner, two weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned Caine for violating a rule barring selective disclosure of financial information. Pliner, 44, was a partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Raytheon's auditor, before joining the defense contractor in April 2000. Caine, 52, will remain with the company awhile to assist Pliner, Raytheon said.

How might investment adviser Bernard L. Madoff have stolen $50 billion over more than two decades without being caught? Mr. Madoff confessed last week to running what may be the largest Ponzi fraud ever. It's a con that attracts gullible investors by offering high returns. Early investors are paid off with income provided from later investors, building an investment bubble that eventually bursts when the con man departs with a large sum of money. The scale and long success of the Madoff scheme have raised fundamental questions about the quality of the nation's securities regulatory system and offers yet another reminder of the dangers of greed.

Nation Retailing Starbucks cutting 1,000 non-store jobs Starbucks Corp., which already plans to shut 600 stores, said yesterday that it was also cutting almost 1,000 non-store jobs as part of its bid to re-energize the brand and boost its profit by cutting costs. In a letter to all employees, Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said the gourmet coffee chain is reducing the number of positions and partners across the country. The jobs being cut are in addition to the layoffs from the store closures.

An Ohio investment manager who used brokerage accounts at Baltimore's Ferris Baker Watts to carry out a stock manipulation scheme pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of securities fraud and agreed to cooperate in a continuing federal probe. The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, calls for David A. Dadante to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison - more than former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow is serving for his role in that company's collapse - and make restitution to about 100 investors.

How can you be sure your financial adviser will be on your side? Two truths to remember, says Sheryl Garrett, head of an international network of financial advisers, the Garrett Planning Network. First, "nobody will watch out for your backside." And, "everyone wants to part you from your money." A few questions you should ask: How are you paid and how much? Advisers are compensated either through a fee paid by you or a commission paid by a company for selling its product. An adviser can receive a combination of fees and commissions.

There are two possible ways to interpret the temporary or permanent departure of four top executives and two traders from securities brokerage Ferris Baker Watts. One: Maybe the company is bending over backward to cooperate with a federal investigation that will turn out - for Ferris - to be a minor problem of paperwork and procedures. Two: Maybe the disruption signifies that Ferris Baker abetted an alleged $50 million Ponzi scheme. In either case, there is only one label for the way the Baltimore firm has handled disclosure of the situation.

NEW YORK -- A Rhode Island food vendor was sentenced to home detention yesterday on charges that he bought shares of U.S. Foodservice after he was secretly tipped about a takeover of the company by Dutch supermarket chain Royal Ahold NV. Brady Schofield, who was president of Seafood Marketing Specialists Inc., was given six months' home confinement and three years' probation and fined $13,000 by U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York. Schofield admitted in June that he bought shares in Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice in 2000, after he was tipped to the takeover by a company executive.

Storage USA Inc. of Columbia said yesterday it plans to sell 3.5 million shares of stock in an offering scheduled for early June.Based on the company's stock price yesterday, $28.625, the offering would raise about $100 million.The real estate investment trust owns or operates 152 self-service storage warehouses in 24 states and Washington, including locations in Baltimore, Pasadena, Annapolis, Essex and Columbia. It was founded in 1985 and went public last year.Storage USA President Thomas E. Robinson said he can't comment on what the company plans to do with the money because Storage USA has not yet made all the required disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NEW YORK -- May Department Stores is likely to make a major acquisition in the next several months, analysts say."May wants to buy something, and they've probably been looking around the country for the best possible department store chain," said Peter Siris, an analyst at UBS Securities. "The problem is finding something that's available."May is the largest U.S. operator of "conventional" department stores, with 318 stores. The stores are split among 12 divisions, including Lord & Taylor and Hecht's.

Sanjay Kumar, who went from living in a mud-floored home in Sri Lanka to being chairman and chief executive officer of Computer Associates International Inc., pleaded guilty yesterday to orchestrating a sweeping fraud to keep the company's stock afloat and lying about his actions to federal investigators. Pleading guilty with Kumar in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn was Stephen Richards, a New Zealand native with a fondness for racing sports cars, who was executive vice president for worldwide sales for the Long Island company.