Cuomo investigates short selling in market

New York state is launching an investigation into whether some traders used illegal tactics to drive down the stock price of several Wall Street firms. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told reporters yesterday his office has received a “significant number” of complaints about short sellers, or investors who hope to profit by placing bets that a financial company’s stock will fall.

Short selling is not illegal. But Cuomo said he will focus on whether short sellers engaged in conspiracy or spread bad information to influence the stock prices of Lehman Brothers Holdings, American International Group and other firms that have been hammered in the ongoing financial crisis.

“I want the short sellers to know today that I am watching,” Cuomo said. Short selling has been blamed for steep drops in the stock price of several companies, most recently Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley.

Britain’s Financial Services Authority said yesterday it is temporarily banning short selling of shares in publicly traded financial companies.

FM Global unit in Johnston goes greener

Johnston-based middle-market commercial property insurer Affiliated FM, a member of the FM Global Group, has introduced a new “green” coverage endorsement to its all-risk property policy. The green endorsement provides flexible coverage for the additional costs of repairing, replacing or rebuilding damaged property using environmentally responsible practices, green alternatives and to whatever level of green standards a policyholder chooses. The endorsement limit, which has no built-in sub-limits, also covers the potential increased time and associated business interruption that may occur when undertaking green, sustainable practices and securing third-party certification from green authorities.

KVH Industries picks up Asian contract

KVH Industries, of Middletown, has received a new contract from a Southeast Asian customer for the purchase of military vehicle navigation systems and displays. The contract has a total value of about $1.3 million with shipments starting late this year and extending into early next year. The company is a manufacturer of systems to provide access to live mobile media for vehicles and vessels as well as a leading source of navigation, pointing, and guidance solutions for maritime, defense and commercial applications. The products are based on the company’s proprietary mobile satellite antenna and fiber optic technologies.

CVS gives $250,000 to Red Cross

The Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Charitable Trust is donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund to support the organization’s relief work, including the current efforts in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. “The American Red Cross is performing an outstanding job providing relief in communities impacted by the recent hurricanes,” said Eileen Howard Dunn, company senior vice president of corporate communications and community relations. “We are pleased to support their efforts with a donation to the National Disaster Relief Fund from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust.”

LivPure water bottle is free of BPA

MEDport, LLC, of Providence, has confirmed that its full line of Fit & Fresh brand of healthy living products, including its LivPURE filtered water bottle, are manufactured without Bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. The company said that unlike many water bottles on the market today, its containers are made of a soft substance called low-density polyethylene, a BPA- and phthalate-free plastic that is 100-percent safe for consumers. Leaving BPA out of the products means no BPA ends up in landfills, which keeps contaminants out of the water and air supply, the company said.

Senators push for Navy facility

New Hampshire and Maine’s U.S. senators say the Senate has approved a defense bill that authorizes $20.7 million to build a new dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The new dock would assist the Kittery, Maine, shipyard in repairing and maintaining the Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarines. The funds are included in the 2009 Defense Authorization bill. New Hampshire’s Judd Gregg and John Sununu and Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins say they will continue to fight to make sure the dock is included in the final bill when it reaches the president.

Mass. firm testing flywheels for power grid

Beacon Power Corp., a Tyngsboro, Mass.-based company that designs and develops advanced products and services to support stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation, announced that it has built and tested an integrated matrix of 10 high-power flywheels that supply a full megawatt of electricity. The system will be the first of up to five megawatts of flywheel-based capability that will be produced this year and commercially deployed to generate revenues. Over the next few weeks, the company will begin system testing in conjunction with ISO New England, the operator of the regional power grid, under an alternative-technologies pilot program scheduled to start Nov. 18. That program received formal approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Sept. 15.

Northern N.H. site targeted for wind farm

A company hoping to build a wind farm in far northern New Hampshire has asked the state for permission to erect 33 turbines. The Coos County wind farm proposed by Granite Reliable Power, an affiliate of Nobel Environmental Power of Connecticut, could potentially power 33,000 homes. The company wants to put the $247-million project in Dixville and Millsfield. It could create up to 210 jobs and begin operating in 2010, the company says. The power could help the state achieve its goal of having 25 percent of its total energy use come from renewable sources by 2025. Another New Hampshire wind farm is being erected in Lempster by Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish company subsidiary, and is to have 12 turbines. Nobel Environmental has about 3,850 megawatts of wind power under development in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming.

Vermont Yankee reports water leaks

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is suffering from another problem with its cooling towers, officials said Wednesday, with leaks of more than 60 gallons of water a minute attributed to faulty packing in pipe joints. Spokesmen for Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the leaks were in sections of the plant’s east cooling tower and not considered key to safety. Vermont Yankee said the investigation of the leak discovered that three vertical support columns for the cooling tower had degraded and needed to be replaced while the packing in the pipe joint was being replaced. Entergy spokesman Robert Williams said the facility was operating at 60 percent of its capacity as a precaution while repairs are made.