  |  | Jobs, housing data show economy has some muscle | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington. | |  |  |  | SAC lawyers met with prosecutors to argue against charges: sources | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for SAC Capital Advisors called a meeting with U.S. prosecutors and FBI agents in April to argue that there should be no insider trading charges filed against the $15 billion hedge fund or its founder, Steven A. Cohen, according to sources familiar with the matter. | |  | | Goldman Sachs banker settles SEC 'pay-to-play' charges | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs banker Neil Morrison agreed to pay $100,000 to settle charges for his role in a pay-to-play scheme involving a Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign, the largest such penalty paid by an individual, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday. | |  | |   |  | Icahn seeks up to $7 billion for Dell bid | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc have initiated talks with banks and asset managers to line up commitments for as much as $7 billion in bridge loans to back their leveraged recapitalization proposal for Dell Inc, banking sources told Thomson Reuters LPC on Thursday. | |  | |   |  | Sears posts bigger-than-expected loss as cold weather bites | (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Sears Holdings reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss as cooler weather hurt sales at its department stores and said it was considering a sale of its protection agreement business to shore up liquidity. | |  | |   |  | Pentagon sees slight drop in F-35 acquisition costs: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's annual report to Congress shows a decline of $4.5 billion, or just over 1 percent, in the projected development and acquisition cost of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet program, sources familiar with the data said on Thursday. | |  | |  |  |  | A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. 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