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Technology Stocks : Oracle Corporation (ORCL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JakeStraw who wrote (17526)	9/13/2002 6:07:21 PM
From: Qualified Opinion	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19079

Oracle Shareholder Suit Over Executive Stock Sales Dismissed By Karen Gullo San Francisco, Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp. doesn't have to face a shareholder suit claiming that the third-largest software maker misled investors about its 2001 third-quarter earnings so Chairman Larry Ellison could sell shares at a premium. U.S. District Court Judge Martin J. Jenkins granted Oracle's request to dismiss the case, saying the shareholders didn't provide specific evidence that Oracle knew information given to investors was false or misleading. Oracle shares tumbled 21 percent on March 2, 2001, the day after the database-software maker said profit in its third quarter missed analyst estimates because customers canceled orders. The shares have declined 54 percent since that announcement a year and a half ago. Local 144 Nursing Home Pension Fund and other Oracle investors who sued in March 2001 in San Francisco didn't provide details ``that Oracle was aware of any facts that would compromise its predictive statements,'' said Jenkins in an order signed on Wednesday. Sanford Svetcov, a partner at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP who represented shareholders, said in a voicemail message that he didn't have time to comment on the ruling. Jennifer Glass, an Oracle spokeswoman, didn't immediately return a message left on her voicemail. State Suit Remains Oracle still faces a $1 billion shareholder suit filed in California state court over the 2001 third-quarter statements and executives' stock sales. Shares of Oracle rose 25 cents to $9.73 at 4:00 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The pension fund sued Oracle, Ellison, Jeffrey Henley, Oracle's chief financial officer, and Sandy Sanderson, former executive vice president in federal court after the company said it missed 20001 third-quarter forecasts because of a weak U.S. economy. The shareholders said the company had repeatedly stated in the two months leading up to the announcement that it would hit estimates to keep the company's stock artificially high. The complaint said Ellison and the others benefited from the fraud by selling $925 million in stock two months before the announcement. The suit also said Oracle misrepresented the prospects of Oracle 11i, an Internet-ready suite of 100 business programs introduced in May 20001. Access More Information and Services Above Link:http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APYJWqxY7T3JhY2xl