Nortel Wields Ax Again

Nortel (NT Quote) wowed Wall Street Thursday with yet another decisive swing of the ax.

Taking aim at what it suggests was a pack of crooked execs, the Brampton, Ontario, telecom gearmaker fired seven more top financial officials. The move is the latest development in an accounting scandal tied to the company's overstated first-half 2003 earnings. Thursday's dismissals bring the book-cooking toll in Nortel's executive suite to 10.

The questionable-accounting crowd wasn't the only victim of Nortel's push to clear the decks, though. The company said it would slash 3,500 jobs, or 10% of the workforce, in an effort to bring costs in line with soft sales. Nortel also rolled out what it has called "estimated limited preliminary" first-half results in a move to catch up with years of unfiled financials. ...