U.S. Magistrate Judge James Larson ordered Rageh Al-Musiri to be evaluated by a mental health professional after a defense attorney said that the 28-year-old defendant’s actions may have been prompted by mental illness and not criminal intent.

“Is this just a sad mental health case, or is this the case of a man who may have developed a mental condition and needs help or is this some larger issue,” defense attorney Elizabeth Falk said during a bail hearing for Al-Musiri.

Al-Musiri is charged with interfering with a flight crew for an incident on Sunday aboard American Airlines flight 1561, which was bound for San Francisco from Chicago with 162 people on board.

About 20 minutes before the plane landed, the Yemeni national allegedly tried to open the cockpit door, ramming his shoulder into it until a flight attendant and passengers subdued him, according to a criminal complaint.

At a hearing earlier this week, a prosecutor said Al-Musiri yelled “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is greatest” in Arabic, during the incident.

But Falk said Al-Musiri’s family believes he is suffering from some sort of mental breakdown.

“This behavior completely surprised them,” she said. “They do not believe he is involved in any kind of terrorist activity. Their concern is that he is mentally unstable.”

In ordering Al-Musiri to undergo a mental health evaluation, Larson noted that the defendant had suffered from auditory and visual hallucinations in the past two months.

The judge ordered Al-Musiri held without bail after finding him a potential danger to the community and flight risk.

“There is no doubt that the facts presented by the government raise very serious concerns,” Larson said.

According to prosecutors, Al-Musiri came to the United States in January 2010 on an immigrant visa and lived in California for a few months before moving to New York, where he worked as a convenience store clerk and taxi driver.

A few days before the incident, he quit his job at a New York store after an argument with the owner, prosecutors say.

Al-Musiri faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted of interfering with a flight crew. Larson set the next hearing in the case for May 23.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

Joseph Naso, 77, told Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew Sweet in the northern California city of San Rafael that he could do a better job defending himself than a lawyer, said Barry Borden, Marin County chief deputy district attorney.

Aside from being charged with four California murders that occurred between 1977 and 1994, Naso has been named as a possible suspect in the killings of three girls in Rochester, New York during the 1970s.

Those girls, all aged 10 or 11, also had alliterative first and last names, and one of them, Carmen Colon, even had the same name as one of the California victims. But authorities have not charged Naso in the upstate New York cases.

Authorities said they began investigating Naso in connection with the California slayings last year after a search of his Reno, Nevada, home by a state parole and probation officer turned up evidence tying him to the 1977 slaying of Roxene Roggasch. The 18 year-old woman’s body was found in a rural area near the Marin County town of Fairfax.

Investigators then linked Naso, who worked as a photographer, to the murder of 22-year-old Carmen Colon, whose body was found in 1978 near the Bay-area community of Port Costa. He also is charged in the 1993 killing of Pamela Parsons, 38, and the 1994 murder of Tracy Tafoya, both in Yuba County, California.

The public defenders office determined that Naso, who was charged last month with four counts of murder by Marin County prosecutors, is not eligible for their services because he has funds to hire a lawyer.

The alliterative nature of the California victims’ names drew interest in their possible link to the “double-initial murders” in Rochester of Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza.

Bob Hetzke, chief deputy of the Wayne County, New York, Sheriff’s Department, told Reuters last month that detectives were aware of the California cases linked to Naso, who once lived in Rochester.

Hetzke could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Naso is due back in court on May 27 to enter a plea.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Greg McCune)

Phillip Garrido’s not guilty plea came as a surprise to reporters and court watchers after a lawyer for his wife and co-defendant, Nancy Garrido, had said the 59-year-old defendant would plead guilty under an agreement with prosecutors.

Attorney Steve Tapson, who represents Nancy Garrido, 55, said after the court hearing that a “legal problem” had arisen to scupper the potential plea deal.

“She’s disappointed that it hasn’t been resolved and that she has to sit in jail,” Tapson said of his client.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson declined to comment on plea negotiations with either defendant, who appeared in court wearing orange jail garb.

“Sometimes it is easy to jump the gun and think something is going to happen,” Pierson said in response to questions from reporters outside the courthouse.

“We will do everything within our power to make sure the case is over and done with as quickly as possible, hopefully by the end of summer,” he said.

“My responsibility is to see that these two are held accountable for the enormity of their actions.”

Phillip Garrido’s lawyer, Susan Gellman, meanwhile criticized Tapson for speaking to the press about her client and said she had not reached a deal with prosecutors.

During the hearing, Gellman told Superior Court Judge Doug Phimister that she would challenge the grand jury that indicted the Garridos in September of 2010.

The Garridos are charged with snatching Dugard, then 11, from a street near her South Lake Tahoe home on June 10, 1991 as she walked to catch a school bus. They allegedly held her captive in a squalid compound behind their home near Antioch for nearly two decades.

Authorities say Phillip Garrido fathered two girls with Dugard when she was a teen and kept them concealed until the convicted rapist aroused the suspicion of police while proselytizing at a college campus.

Dugard’s rescue in August of 2009, at the age of 29, made international headlines.

Tapson has said both Garridos had given “full confessions” to El Dorado County authorities and wanted to spare Dugard and her daughters, who are now 13 and 16, from testifying at a trial.

He maintains Nancy Garrido should be shown some degree of mercy from the court because she was under her husband’s sway during the abduction and did not participate in sexually abusing Dugard.

The couple met at the federal prison in Leavenworth, where Phillip Garrido was serving time for rape and Nancy was visiting another prisoner.

(Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jerry Norton)

But Arthur Ting, who performed eight surgeries on Bonds, said at the slugger’s perjury trial that he had no other conversation regarding steroids with Steve Hoskins, Bonds’ old friend and former business partner.

Ting also testified on Thursday that he never discussed Bonds’ use of steroids with Hoskins.

The doctor’s version conflicted with Hoskins’ previous testimony, where he said he discussed his concerns regarding Bonds and steroid use as many as 50 times with Ting.

“Did Stevie ever say to you I need to get the information so I can get it back to Barry so we would know what the effects of the steroids were? Did he ever say that?” asked defense lawyer Cristina Arguedas.

“No,” Ting replied.

Ting also testified that Bonds had a strong dislike of needles and he would first need to inject the slugger with Novocain before giving him larger shots. Ting said he did prescribe corticosteroids to Bonds to help alleviate post-surgery conditions, such as inflammation.

Under questioning from Arguedas, Ting agreed that such steroids could cause acne, bloating and weight gain — symptoms the government contends are consistent with the use of performance enhancing drugs.

The charges in the Bonds case stem from his 2003 appearance before a U.S. grand jury investigating The Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), whose head has pleaded guilty to dispensing steroids to professional athletes.

Bonds told the grand jury he did not knowingly use steroids or growth hormones and said he never questioned the flaxseed oil, vitamins, protein shakes and creams his trainer supplied him.

As a member of the San Francisco Giants, Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s 33-year-old career home run record in August 2007, his last season in Major League Baseball. Three months later a grand jury indicted him for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Bonds has pleaded not guilty.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is United States of America v. Barry Lamar Bonds, 07-cr-732.

(Editing by Dan Levine and Deborah Charles)

“We did discontinue some things that people didn’t buy very often, but were aggravating to a customer to lose,” said Walmart U.S. Chief Operating Officer Bill Simon, speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference, which was broadcast over the Internet.

“Mostly in food and consumables, there were flavors, items, sizes that customers are very accustomed to and like very much and we disappointed them by taking them out.”

As part of its Project Impact U.S. store remodeling program, the retailer has been removing slower-selling items from its shelves, looking to boost sales by replacing them with faster-selling or more popular products.

But Simon said that by not having certain sizes or flavors of food in stock, Walmart missed out on an entire shopping trip from a customer and not just on the sale of that one particular product it no longer sold.

For instance, he said if customers know they cannot find a one-pound bag of brown rice at Walmart and they also cannot afford the two-pound bag of brown rice that it does sell, they will spend their entire grocery budget at another retailer that does carry one-pound bags of brown rice.

“(We) lose an $80 basket or a $60 basket and not just the dollar for the one-pound brown rice,” he said.

The retailer is also now working to improve its remodeling process so sales are not disrupted as much while the stores are being renovated, Simon said.

When Wal-Mart reported fourth-quarter results in February, it said its program to overhaul stores hurt sales as shoppers adjusted to new store layouts and product selections.

Simon also said that when it comes to lowering prices, Walmart is focusing on “rollbacks” — cutting prices for the longer term — instead of shorter-term promotions, such as a month-long promotion on turkeys it offered in November.

Ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Walmart sold select turkeys for 40 cents per pound, meaning a 12 pound turkey could be purchased for $4.80. At the time, Walmart would not comment on whether it was selling the turkeys at a loss.

Simon said customers snapped up the turkeys and also filled their shopping carts with other items.

“But with that relatively short burst … we weren’t able to generate the volume, the sales dollar volume, to offset the price reductions on turkeys and the food deflation that was in the rest of the basket,” he said.

“So rather than investing the dollars on the month-long burst, we’re focusing on … longer-term price reductions on key food and consumable items that the customer wants.”

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri; editing by Andre Grenon)

 Shares of Costco fell less than 1 percent, while BJ's
dropped more than 5 percent. Meanwhile, close-out retailer Big
Lots Inc <BIG.N>, which specializes in sales of excess
inventory, reported higher-than-expected earnings, sending its
shares up more than 2 percent.

 Costco, the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club operator, sought to
win market share during the recession by cutting prices and
delaying price increases.

 While that strategy apparently helped it retain customers,
the company has not improved its margins as quickly as Wall
Street had hoped, said Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Peter
Benedict.

 Costco's gross margins improved by 26 basis points,
Benedict said, while he had expected an increase of 37 basis
points.

 "It's a very low-margin business, so a few basis points
here and there can have an outsized effect" on results, he
said.

 Costco also said February same-store sales rose 9 percent,
including the impact of fuel prices and foreign exchange.

 Excluding a charge for employee benefits, Costco earned 70
cents per share in the second quarter ended Feb. 14. Analysts
on average were expecting 72 cents, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S. [ID:nSGE6220B6]

 Quarterly sales rose 11 percent to $18.36 billion,
excluding membership fees, which rose 9 percent to $386
million. Same-store sales increased 9 percent.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  Graphic on Costco results link.reuters.com/xas23j
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 Warehouse clubs charge customers an annual fee to shop in
their stores and get discounts on items ranging from cartons of
fresh fruit to flat-screen televisions.

 Costco, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's <WMT.N> Sam's Club and BJ's
Wholesale have gained customers seeking low prices on
necessities like groceries or toiletries in the economic
downturn. But falling prices for food and electronics have
pressured the clubs' results.

 On its conference call, BJ's Wholesale said it continued to
be "significantly impacted" by deflationary pressures,
especially for perishable food.

 While demand for discretionary merchandise is "creeping
along," Chief Executive Officer Laura Sen said, she has not
seen any major turnaround in that area.

 BJ's said net profit rose to $55.1 million, or $1.01 a
share, in the fourth quarter ended on Jan. 30 from $52.7
million, or 91 cents a share, a year earlier.

 Excluding one-time items, it earned 95 cents a share,
missing the analysts' average estimate by a penny.

 Sales in the holiday quarter rose 9.4 percent to $2.74
billion, while same-store sales rose 4.6 percent, including
fuel. February same-store sales rose 7.5 percent.

 A calendar shift in the timing of the Super Bowl from
January last year to February this year boosted merchandise
comparable-club sales by 2 percentage points, BJ's said.
However, the impact of severe winter storms more than offset
that benefit.

 For the first quarter, BJ's forecast earnings per share of
40 cents to 45 cents. Analysts on average expect 43 cents.

 BIG LOTS BEATS; OPTIMISTIC ABOUT Q1

 Big Lots said profit rose to $105.4 million, or $1.27 per
share, in the fourth quarter ended on Jan. 30 from $78.8
million, or 96 cents a share, a year earlier. The retailer also
increased the size of its share repurchase program to $400
million. [ID:nSGE6210KT]

 Excluding one-time items, it earned $1.31 a share, beating
the analysts' average estimate of $1.28.

 On a conference call, Big Lots said customers responded
well to its reward points scheme and that February sales
benefited from a special event and a strong President's Day.
[ID:nWEN1163]

 For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of 60
cents to 65 cents a share from continuing operations. Analysts
were looking for 53 cents.

 Big Lots shares rose 2.2 percent to $34.68 in morning
trading. BJ's fell 5.4 percent to $34.51, while Costco was down
0.4 percent at $61.12.
 (Reporting by Nicole Maestri and Dhanya Skariachan; Additional
reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Michele
Gershberg and John Wallace)

The operator of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy apparel
stores also raised its fiscal 2010 dividend 18 percent to 40
cents and authorized an extra $1 billion in share repurchases.
Shares in the company rose 2 percent after-hours.

After a years-long slump, Gap has turned around its sales
through better merchandising, more targeted fashion and
marketing, beefing up its profit margins. It logged a 5 percent
rise in January same-store sales with gains in all store
chains.

Gap Chief Executive Officer Glenn Murphy said the company
has completed the turnaround plan it put in place in 2007. It
is now focused on gaining market share in North America, and
pursuing online and international growth, he said.

“We can now evolve the business and start talking about how
the business is going to grow,” he said on a conference call.

Net income in Gap’s fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 rose to
$352 million or 51 cents per share from $243 million, or 34
cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had been expecting earnings of 50 cents
per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $4.24 billion — just above the
$4.23 billion expected by Wall Street — on a same-store sales
gain of 2 percent. Last year, same-store sales fell 14
percent.

Gap’s operating margin in the quarter was 13.9 percent
compared with 9.8 percent in the year-ago period. Gap called
that its highest fourth-quarter margin in more than a decade.

The company said it expects fiscal 2010 earnings per share
to range between $1.70 and $1.75, above the $1.69 expected by
Wall Street. It sees operating margins growing about 13 percent
for the year.

The results “will temper expectations in the market that
earnings are destined for a sharp slowdown,” wrote Brian Sozzi
of Wall Street Strategies in a research note.

Some analysts have noted that the strong margin gains that
company has achieved over the past year won’t be sustainable.

FOCUSING ON THE GAP

North American same-store sales at its namesake Gap stores
fell 1 percent in the quarter, and declined 2 percent at Banana
Republic. They rose 7 percent at Old Navy.

Recent improvements at Old Navy have had a noticeable and
immediate effect on the chain’s sales, but analysts have
grumbled that changes at the Gap chain have been slower to
resonate with shoppers.

Murphy said to be “completely honest and transparent” he
expected more from the Gap chain but added he had confidence in
Patrick Robinson, head designer for the Gap brand.

“I know he wants to see the brand have a better year in
2010. He knows I feel the same,” Murphy said.

The seller of American-style and casual apparel such as
khaki trousers, jeans and T-shirts said it would open a Gap
store in Milan in late 2010 and a Banana Republic store, its
more upscale brand, next door. Additional stores in Rome and
other Italian cities are set to open in 2011.

It is also on track to open stores in China in the fall.

The company already operates in London, Paris, Tokyo and in
Ireland and Canada, and has franchise agreements for Asia, the
Middle East, Latin America and other parts of Europe.

As previously disclosed, it will launch an online shopping
site for Gap and Banana Republic in the United Kingdom, which
it said also will serve online shoppers in nine other European
countries.

Gap sees capital expenditures of about $575 million in the
fiscal year, up from $334 million in 2009, driven by Old Navy
remodels, store openings abroad and an international launch of
its website.

The company’s shares rose 2 percent to $20.80 after closing
at $20.39, up less than 1 percent.
(Editing by Edwin Chan; editing by Andre Grenon, Matthew Lewis
and Carol Bishopric)

Wal-Mart will reach that goal by having its suppliers reduce emissions involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of the thousands of products it sells in its stores.

The plan to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas from its supply chain by the end of 2015 was announced in a Webcast on Thursday.

Chief Executive Mike Duke said the effort would cut energy use, which in turn would mean lower costs for Wal-Mart and lower prices.

“We do plan and want to continue to build stores. We want to add square footage. That’s the reality of our business,” Duke said. “Yet we know we need to get ready for a world in which energy will only be more expensive, and that there will only be a greater need to operate with less carbon in the supply chain.”

The move is part of broader goals Wal-Mart has outlined to one day use only renewable energy and create zero waste. It has increased its use of solar power and announced plans to roll out an index that will measure the environmental impact of the products it sells in its stores.

The United States is the world’s second-leading emitter, after China, of greenhouse gases that scientists blame for warming the planet. U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels like coal and oil should rise this year and next as the economy recovers, according to the Energy Information Administration.

But corporate announcements of plans to cut those emissions have become more rare as a climate bill in the Senate faces tough opposition from lawmakers in energy dependent states, and as rich and poor countries struggle to share the burden of taking action on global warming.

Experts have said that some companies are afraid to promise reductions because they fear they will not be rewarded for their early action in government-run carbon markets.

Duke said America needs “comprehensive legislative policy that addresses energy, energy security, the country’s competitiveness and reducing pollution.”

But he said companies can take steps now to cut energy use. He said the greenhouse gas emissions it aims to eliminate represent one and a half times Wal-Mart’s estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years.

Wal-Mart, which collaborated with the Environmental Defense Fund on the effort, said it would work with suppliers to focus first on products where it has the biggest opportunity to take carbon out of the system.

For instance, Matt Kistler, its senior vice president of sustainability, said suppliers could make clothes that can be washed in cold water instead of hot water, or accelerate the innovation of fabrics that dry faster.

Wal-Mart is already enforcing stricter quality and environmental standards for its Chinese suppliers, looking at factories’ air emissions, management of toxic substances and disposal of hazardous waste.

Some of Wal-Mart’s actions have been criticized by groups that contend the company is squeezing suppliers who cannot pass on higher prices to offset the investments needed to meet Wal-Mart’s standards.

Wal-Mart said it wanted to pursue projects that are “economically viable” and would reduce costs, not raise them.

(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; editing by Gunna Dickson))

The No. 2 U.S. discount retailer said its shoppers are “increasingly confident” and willing to buy more discretionary items, like clothes or home decor. But it said the current Wall Street estimate for its first-quarter earnings is above its own forecast.

“Clearly the quarter was not a terrific quarter. They beat on the tax rate, and they gave some pretty tepid guidance,” said Telsey Advisory Group analyst Joseph Feldman.

“If you dig a little deeper you’ll see the guidance is somewhat conservative, sales trends are starting to return … and that’s what’s going to help drive earnings this year,” he said.

Net income was $936 million, or $1.24 per share, in the fourth quarter ended January 30, compared with $609 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a lower provision for income taxes, earnings were $1.17 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.16 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 3.7 percent to $19.72 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, rose 0.6 percent. Its gross margin rate increased 1.8 percentage points to 29.1 percent.

Target also said it is on track to post its third consecutive gain in same-store sales in February.

CREDIT CARD BUSINESS IMPROVES

Last year, Target’s quarterly profit fell nearly 41 percent as shoppers avoided buying its trendy wares, forcing it to cut prices to clear holiday merchandise. It also lost money in its credit card segment as shoppers fell behind on payments.

Since then, Target has reduced inventory and begun touting its low prices to win back consumers who stopped shopping in its stores during the downturn. It is also renovating hundreds of stores to add more fresh food and groceries.

Target’s results come less than a week after larger rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> reported higher quarterly profit, but said sales at its U.S. discount stores fell during the holiday quarter and traffic declined.

Target said sales in the holiday quarter were better than it expected, and it expects traffic and sales of discretionary merchandise to improve in 2010.

Its credit card business has also stabilized, posting a profit for the quarter of $39 million, compared with a loss of $135 million a year ago.

The retailer forecast same-store sales for its current fiscal year to be up 2 percent to 4 percent. For the 12 months ended January 30, its same-store sales fell 2.5 percent.

For the first quarter, it said Wall Street’s view for earnings of 76 cents per share could be above its own “middle of the road” outlook.

Full-year earnings per share of $3.62 “is clearly within a potential range of achievability,” it said. Analysts were expecting full-year earnings of $3.64 per share.

Target shares were down 42 cents at $50.22. Wal-Mart shares were down 1 cent at $53.82.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Derek Caney)

Check out

The department store operator also said same-store sales would improve during 2010 — it expects same-store sales to be flat in the first quarter and up in the “low-single digits” for the full fiscal year.

Like many retailers, Penney kept inventories tight to avoid having to slash prices to clear merchandise. That helped to boost its profits even as sales lagged.

Still, the company has underperformed several of its main competitors. Its same-store sales fell 3.8 percent in December and 4.6 percent in January, even as rivals such as Kohl’s and Nordstrom saw their sales shoot up. Penney has been hampered by a higher exposure to malls, where traffic has suffered particularly during the downturn.

But in a promising note, Penney CEO Mike Ullman said on a conference call that while he expects the economy to remain tough in 2010, he was “encouraged” by February and Valentine’s Day sales.

Also in the basket:

Mega Brands seeks U.S. bankruptcy court protection

Nestle sees higher growth 2010 after FY beats poll

Carrefour sees tough 2010, reviewing Belgian unit

The future of McQueen (WWD, subscription required)

(Photo: Reuters)