DIGEST
Cosco, a maker of children's furniture, settled two Consumer Product Safety Commission lawsuits alleging that it failed to report dozens of incidents of children becoming trapped in the headboards or footboards of its toddler beds. The company said it paid a $725,000 civil penalty "to avoid protracted and expensive litigation." Beds involved in one lawsuit were recalled in April 1992. Guard rails in the second suit were recalled in June 1994.</br></br>The National Association of Securities Dealers was sued for $10 million by a former examiner who alleged that she was harassed as she investigated accusations against municipal bond dealers. Theresa Carr "refused to go along with the NASD corporate culture to look the other way," said her lawyer, Jacob H. Zamansky, whose New York firm has filed other successful challenges to the NASD, Wall Street's biggest self-policing body and the parent of the Nasdaq Stock Market. NASD said it believes the allegations are meritless and that it will defend itself in court.</br></br>Mortgage rates rose this week. The interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 8.34 percent this week from 8.09 percent the previous week, according to a national survey by Freddie Mac. Rates on 15-year fixed mortgages averaged 7.88 percent, up from 7.60 percent; and the average initial rate on adjustable-rate loans increased to 5.85 percent from 5.75 percent.</br></br>The U.S. thrift industry earned a record $1.89 billion in the second quarter, which saw the industry's best profit margin in 37 years, the Office of Thrift Supervision said. Bank regulators credited the strong performance of the U.S. economy for the record earnings.</br></br>Jobless benefits claims fell by 15,000 last week, the Labor Department said, an unexpectedly large decline that provided further evidence of the economy's strength. Labor said new applications for unemployment benefits totaled 316,000 last week, pushing the claims level to its lowest point since early August.