LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Borders’ Going out of Business Sale is anticipated for Friday for most of its stores (closure list here). Borders’ Going out of Business announcement came after the Borders filed for bankruptcy protection in February. The chain at the time said it would close two hundred of its stores nationally.

By March 17, the news worsened for Borders. It added twenty-eight more stores to be closed by late May. In February, consumers expected sales to begin that month. But today, the WSJ is reporting that Borders’ four hundred stores could start to close this Friday. It may take as long as until September for all of its national locations to shut their doors.

That prompted the WSJ to state today that “Borders said going-out-of-business sales at its remaining 400 stores may start as soon as Friday.”

In a news statement today, Borders Group President Mike Edwards thanked customers for decades of patronage. “Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development”. He added that Borders had tried to seek  “a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now.”

Boarders told consumers today that “under the proposal, liquidation is expected to commence for some stores and facilities as soon as Friday, July 22, with a phased rollout of the program which is expected to conclude by the end of September.”

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CORAL GABLES (LALATE) – Thursday’s “flash crash” of crude oil prices was followed by a rush out of black gold, copper and other commodities, as investors moved into a strengthening U.S. dollar. Silver alone has dropped thirty percent in one week while brent crude fell nearly three dollars Thursday. At points during trade yesterday, crude oil was down nearly five dollars. As news analysts explain this morning, global concerns are driving investors out of commodities as fears of inflation grow.

Zinc, tin, copper, and gold are among the other commodities to plummet. News analysts are predicting one of the biggest drops in commodities since July 2008.

On Thursday, crude oil prices fell under the $100 mark. The drop was in direct response to news that the European Central Bank would not raise interest rates in June that could strengthen the dollar. On Thursday, crude oil prices were down by as much as nine percent at one time, settling in at $98.48. Brent crude fell eleven percent to $109.35.

Phil Flynn PFG Best market strategist issued a news statement yesterday that “We are starting to see the first real signs that high energy prices are beginning to hurt. As if we needed more evidence.” Flynn added “Yesterday’s big drop in the ISM non-manufacturing number and the weak ADP jobs report seems to suggest that high energy prices are starting to really take a toll.

“We are seeing a situation where business may hold back on hiring as they are stunned by the spiraling cost of oil, gas and diesel that continue to rise to a shocking level.”

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NEW YORK (LALATE) – Harry and David has filed for bankruptcy. Harry & David Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. The company says that operations will be business as usual during this reorganization.

Harry & David Holdings Inc. of Oregon says that it was burdened by “substantial debt”. January revenues fell over two percent, the company reported recently.

Kay Hong, the company’s interim CEO, confirmed the news in a statement Monday. “We believe that entering into this agreement provides the best opportunity for Harry & David to restructure its balance sheet on an expedited basis, strengthen its operations and create long-term value, while continuing to provide customers with the highest quality products and service,” Hong said.

Harry & David will reportedly seek $155 million to borrow needed for operation during this reorganization. The case is In re Harry & David Holdings, Inc., 11-10884, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

The company failed to make interest payments due in March on $58.17 million in senior floating-rate notes and $140 million in senior fixed-rate notes.

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – New home sales numbers for February 2011 released today are not promising. New home sales numbers last month fell to the lowest level ever recorded.

New home sales numbers fell again in February for the third straight month. The Commerce Department numbers didn’t meet industry expectations, reporting a 16.9% fall in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 homes. Compared year to date, February 2011 was down twenty-eight percent against February 2010 numbers.

Economists warn the margin of error is nineteen percent. Moreover, January numbers were revised upwards today from 284,000 to 301,000.

Today’s new home sales numbers were also bad news for sellers. The median price of a new home plummeted to $202,100. That marks a 13.9 percent drop, the worse on month drop ever recorded.

How did different regions of the U.S. perform in January?

The Commerce Department tells news that prices of homes fell in all regions, but the worse was fifty-seven percent drop in prices in the northeast, twenty-seven percent in the Midwest, fifteen percent in the west, and only six percent in the south.

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LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Rajat Gupta has been charged by the SEC for allegedly assisting Raj Rajaratnam. Rajat Gupta is the former director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and now serves on the board of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG).

The SEC reportedly claims that Rajat Gupta allegedly passed off insider information to Raj Rajaratnam about company earnings. Raj Rajaratnam allegedly also received from Gupta information about a future Berkshire Hathaway investment,  claims the SEC.

Gupta is a former McKinsey & Co member. The SEC accuses Gupta of allegedly giving Rajaratnam information about Warren Buffett’s $5-billion investment in Goldman. Investigators assert that Rajaratnam made $900,000 profit in a 24-hour transaction on the alleged insider information.

In October 2009, LALATE broke the details of the Galleon Group investigation. That month, investigators announced the arrest of Rajiv Goel (Intel), Anil Kumar (McKinsey), Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland (New Castle Partners), and Robert Moffat (IBM)’s. Raj Rajaratnam was charged with four counts of conspiracy and eight counts of securities fraud.

The other defendants’ corporate positions were the following – Rajiv Goel, director in strategic investments at Intel Corp.’s investment arm; Anil Kumar, a director at global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co.; Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland of New Castle Partners LLC, the one-time equity hedge fund group at Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc.; and Robert Moffat, a senior vice president at International Business Machines Corp.

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