U.S. markets waver, then close down

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. markets waffled up and down Wednesday, then ended the day with a fourth consecutive day of losses.

Stocks in Asia and Europe moved lower Wednesday in a correction many predicted. "I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves," Stanley Nabi, vice chairman of Silvercrest Asset Management, told The Washington Post.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 29.93 points, 0.32 percent, to 9,280.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 slid 0.33 percent, 3.28 points, to 994.76. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 0.09 percent, 1.82 points, to 1,967.07.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,159 stocks advanced and 1,836 declined on a volume of 5.8 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 21/32 to yield 3.291 percent.

The euro rose to $1.4264 from Tuesday's $1.4218. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 92.14 from Tuesday's 92.87 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 249.60 points, 2.37 percent, to 10,280.46.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.04 percent, 2.15 points, to 4,817.55.

SEC blew early chances to catch Madoff

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to follow up on significant warnings concerning Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff, a case audit said.

SEC Inspector General David Kotz's report, released Wednesday, said there were no personal tie-ins between Madoff and SEC personal that prompted the SEC to fail in following up on numerous warnings, some of which were available 16 years prior to Madoff's arrest and confession last December.

"The (Office of Inspector General) did not find that former SEC Assistant Director Eric Swanson's romantic relationship with Bernard Madoff's niece, Shana Madoff, influenced the conduct of the SEC," an executive summary of the report said.

However, "the SEC received more than ample information ... including six substantive complaints that raised significant red flags concerning Madoff's hedge fund," the report said.

While warned directly, the SEC also knew of two articles published in 2001 that questioned Madoff's operations, the report said.

The investigations that ensued were lackluster, the report said, using "inexperienced teams," and ending "with numerous unresolved questions." One early tip-off resulted in "a missed opportunity to uncover Madoff's Ponzi scheme 16 years before Madoff confessed."

In short, "the SEC never took the necessary, but basic, steps," the report said.

Wisconsin local faces job, no job vote

FOND DU LAC, Wis., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Union workers at Mercury Marine Inc. in Fond du Lac, Wis., have a last chance to vote yes or no on having jobs, Mercury Marine Inc., executives said.

About 850 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will vote Thursday and Friday on a contract that reduces healthcare benefits, cuts pay 30 percent for new hires and workers brought back after a layoff and freezes wages, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday.

If the union turns the contract down, Mercury Marine has threatened to move production -- 850 jobs, plus about 1,000 jobs at the company's headquarters -- to Stillwater, Okla., where it operates a non-union factory.

The union rejected the concessions by a wide margin in August, but union members petitioned to vote again, claiming crossed-out lines on the first contract made the proposals unclear.

"Hundreds of employees expressed a desire to voice their true feelings, and that's something we can't ignore," said Mercury President Mark Schwabero.

Now, it's down to jobs, one member said.

"I think a lot of people are accepting reality as it is, that you have a job if you vote 'yes,' and you don't have a job if you vote 'no.' That's a pretty strong reality," said Rick Schmidt, a 15-year union member.

Southwest to sell a place in line

DALLAS, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Southwest Airlines Co. kept to its pledge of not following other U.S. airlines with new fees, but said Wednesday it had a new boarding service to sell.

Southwest, which has no assigned seating on planes, said it would sell reserved spots for earlier boarding for a $10 charge, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

Called the "EarlyBird Check-in," Southwest said the fee "automatically reserves a boarding position for customers prior to general check-in, allowing EarlyBird customers to begin boarding the plane after Southwest's Business Select and Rapid Rewards A-List customers."

"With EarlyBird Check-in, you no longer need to watch the clock or set your alarm to be one of the first customers to check in for a Southwest flight," said the airline's vice president of marketing, sales and distribution, Kevin Krone.

To date, Southwest has added a fee of $25 for unaccompanied children ages 5 to 11, but has otherwise avoided tagging familiar services with new fees as other carriers have done.

Industry analyst Robert McAdoo at Avondale Partners said in July the airline could reap $825 million in pre-tax revenue with new baggage fees.

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