Business Highlights

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4 years in, Madoff trustee still pursuing assets

When he was first told in 2008 about Bernard Madoff's epic Ponzi scheme, attorney David Sheehan had a response that now sounds inconceivable. "Who," he wondered, "is Bernie Madoff?"

Since then, a trustee appointed to recover funds for Madoff victims and a battalion of lawyers headed by Sheehan have spent long days untangling the fraud. On the fourth anniversary of the financier's arrest, it's an international effort that shows no signs of slowing.

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Report: Managers at Fannie, Freddie earned $200K

A government report finds median pay for nearly 2,000 senior managers at government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exceeded $200,000 last year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the two mortgage giants, also did an inadequate job monitoring pay, according to the report released Monday from the inspector general for the FHFA.

Those managers represent nearly 17 percent of the roughly 11,900 total employees at the two bailed-out companies. Compensation for senior managers at the companies cost about $455 million in 2011, according to the report.

Taxpayers so far have paid roughly $170 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, which suffered huge losses from risky mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis.

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McDonald's November sales figure rises

McDonald's Corp. said Monday that a key sales figure rebounded in November, as U.S. customers snapped up the world's biggest hamburger chain's breakfast offerings and limited-time Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwiches.

The increase follows a decline in October, the first drop in McDonald's key monthly sales gauge in nearly a decade.

The company, based in Oak Brook, Ill., said that its global sales at restaurants open at least 13 months rose 2.4 percent for the month ended Nov. 30. The figure is a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.

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