Wall Street Roundup: European worries. Burkle’s IPO off

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Productivity and employment. American productivity grew in the first quarter, but not as fast as during the last quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the number of people filing for unemployment claims fell from a week earlier, but less than analysts expected.

European worries. The European Central Bank did not take any major steps to address the sovereign debt crisis, which resulted in a further decline of European stock indexes.

No IPO for Burkle. A initial stock offering of Ron Burkle’s Americold Realty Trust has been called off because of concerns that the market was not ready for what would have been the year’s biggest IPO.

Buffett’s bungle. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Warren Buffett properly alerted shareholders about his big decision to purchase Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. railroad last year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

AIG sale off? AIG’s move to sell a big insurance division to the British insurer Prudential hit a major roadblock that spells trouble for the $35-billion deal.

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York