SECURITIES

Investors File New Suit Against Prudential: Prudential Securities Inc. investors have filed a derivative lawsuit against the brokerage firm seeking damages estimated at up to $100 million for allegedly excessive charges in the sale of energy partnerships. The suit, filed on behalf of 137,000 investors, said the New York firm charged excessive prices, fees and commissions that prevented the partnerships from being profitable. The complaint, filed in federal court in New Orleans, is a spinoff of an earlier suit filed last fall on behalf of much of the same group, many of whom were elderly investors. That suit led to a $100-million settlement proposal between Prudential and investors that has been tabled by a federal judge.