Vivendi SA said Wednesday it will significantly reduce the EUR550 million provision it had made to cover potential damages for a U.S. class action case after a U.S. judge narrowed the size of the class.

The Paris-based company's potential liabilities have been slashed by 80% in light of the court victory, which will free up more cash as the group prepares to buy out Vodafone PLC's minority stake in telecoms operator SFR.

Vivendi made the provision in its 2009 accounts to cover any eventual payout after a jury in January last year found the company liable for 57 misstatements about its financial condition in the two years leading up to its near bankruptcy in 2002.

The damages arising from the ruling in January 2010, which was based on a class involving shareholders outside the U.S., could have totaled more than $9 billion, according to lawyers for the shareholders, although Vivendi's lawyer Herve Pisani rejected the sum as "unfounded."

The ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell that shareholders who bought Vivendi shares outside the U.S. are barred from bringing fraud claims against the company in the U.S., considerably narrowed the overall size of the potential class.

U.S. authorities say the shipping company Horizon Lines LLC has agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices and to pay a $45 million fine.

A Justice Department statement Thursday says the company was accused of conspiring to fix rates and surcharges for freight transportation between the United States and Puerto Rico from May 2002 until April 2008.

Five former executives have been sentenced after pleading guilty in 2008 to charges related to the shipping conspiracy.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company has a fleet of 20 U.S.-flagged cargo ships that carry items including heavy equipment, medicines and consumer goods.

In June 2009, the company agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class action price-fixing lawsuit.

Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of a class (the “Class”) of investors who purchased Broadwind Energy, Inc. (“Broadwind” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:BWEN - News) common stock between the period of March 17, 2010 through August 9, 2010.

The Complaint alleges Broadwind and certain of its officers and directors with violating the federal securities laws by failing to disclose that: (i) Broadwind’s RBA subsidiary was experiencing significant issues with key contracts; (ii) Broadwind was materially overstating its financial condition by improperly delaying the recognition of the impairment of its goodwill and intangible assets related to its RBA subsidiary; (iii) the Company was experiencing a reduction in demand from its customers; (iv) Broadwind’s financial statements were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures; and (v) defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company and its prospects. As a result, the Company’s statements concerning its business prospects and financial performance were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On August 9, 2010, the Company issued a press release announcing its financial results for the second quarter of 2010, the period ending June 30, 2010. For the quarter, the Company reported lower than expected revenues of $36.6 million and a net loss of $14.2 million or $.13 per share.

In a reaction to this news, shares of BWEN common stock fell $0.35 per share to close on August 9, 2010 at $2.50 per share, representing a drop of 12%.

If you purchased BWEN common stock between March 17, 2010 through August 9, 2010 and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must move the Court no later than April 12, 2011. Any member of the proposed class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain a member of the proposed class.

If you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you may contact: Jack G. Fruchter or Arthur J. Chen of Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP toll free at (800) 440-8986, or via e-mail at info@aftlaw.com or achen@aftlaw.com.

Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP has extensive experience in securities class action cases, and the firm has been ranked among the leading class action law firms in terms of recoveries achieved by a survey of class action law firms conducted by Institutional Shareholder Services.

Stocks are mixed in midday trading as investors weighed the impact of President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

Obama unveiled a $3.73 trillion budget Monday that includes a five-year freeze on many domestic spending programs. Republicans and Democrats have argued recently over whether deep spending cuts will slow the economy's recovery.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dropped 1.4 percent after analysts at JPMorgan downgraded the company. Wal-Mart was the weakest stock among the 30 that make up the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow fell 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,255. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,329. The Nasdaq composite gained 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,816.

A class action lawsuit is alleging that Fixodent denture cream may have caused serious problems.

ABC News reported that lawyers for two former denture cream users are accusing Proctor & Gamble of manufacturing a product that made their clients extremely ill.

Mark Jacoby, a 41-year-old construction worker who wore dentures for 20 years, told ABC News that he believes his debilitating neurological illness is due to the high zinc content in his Fixodent.

"I started getting tingling in my fingertips. And then it started happening in my toes," he told ABC News' 20/20 anchor Chris Cuomo, who is the Chief of the Law & Justice Unit. "I started getting weaker and, you know, I couldn't walk right, off balance and I'm at this point now."

He said his doctors searched for years for the cause of his debilitating neurological illness that robbed him of his independence.