Comic book sells for $1.5 million

March 30, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

NEW YORK

The record price for a comic book, already broken twice this year, has fallen again.

A copy of the 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1 sold Monday for $1.5 million on the auction Web site ComicConnect.com. The issue features Superman’s debut and is widely considered the Holy Grail of comic books.

The same issue sold in February for $1 million. That number was quickly bested when a 1939 comic book featuring Batman’s debut sold for $1 million and change.

Annual report will be late, GM says

DETROIT

General Motors Co. says that it will be late in filing its 2009 annual report as it works through accounting issues related to its bankruptcy reorganization last year. GM said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will not meet a March 31 deadline to file its 2009 10-K with the regulatory agency.

GM says it is working to determine the fair value of the assets and liabilities of the “new” GM that emerged from bankruptcy in June, a task it said was made difficult by the sheer size of the largest U.S. auto company.

CEO of Kohl’s got $9 million in 2009

NEW YORK

An Associated Press analysis shows Kevin Mansell, head of the department-store chain Kohl’s Inc., received compensation last year valued at $9 million.

That’s down 22 percent from the year before. The bulk of Mansell’s $11.6 million pay package in 2008 came as stock options that were granted when he was promoted to CEO.

Mansell got a base salary for the fiscal year ended Jan. 30 of about $1.2 million, up from just under $1.1 million the year before. He also received a performance- related bonus of $2.6 million.

Ex-IBM exec pleads to securities fraud

NEW YORK

A former IBM senior executive pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges arising from what prosecutors call the largest insider-trading case in hedge-fund history.

Robert Moffat, 53, of Ridgefield, Conn., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud, charges that carry a potential penalty of 25 years in prison. A plea agreement, though, contained language indicating he may end up serving six months in prison or less.

Moffat, once considered a candidate for chief executive officer at IBM, was considered the highest-level executive arrested in a case that resulted in 21 arrests.

Boeing: Tests on 787 are ‘positive’

NEW YORK

Boeing Co. said the results of a key airworthiness test for its long-delayed 787 are “positive,” but it will be weeks before the aircraft maker can say whether it’s a success.

The aircraft maker said Sunday the test involved flexing the jet’s wings while applying loads to the frame to replicate 150 percent of the most-extreme forces the airplane could experience in flight.

Boeing has been testing the plane and its systems for more than three months, after production delays and problems with carbon-fiber composite materials used in the plane put it nearly three years behind schedule. The first test plane made an unplanned landing last month after an engine lost thrust.

Associated Press