Coming back

US housing starts rose to a six-month high in Janu ary and industrial output increased, pointing to an economic recovery that was taking a firm hold and respectable first-quarter growth.

Goldman sues

Goldman Sachs Group sued seven former mem bers of its private-wealth management division who resigned this month to join a unit of rival Credit Suisse Group AG. Credit Suisse Securities USA of fered the group of invest ment managers “tens of millions of dollars” to leave Goldman Sachs in an act of “pirating,” according to the complaint.

Martha’snet

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported net profit of $20.8 million, or 37 cents a share for the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $8 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago and a loss of $12.1 mil lion or 22 cents per share in 2009’s third quarter.

Readers files

Readers Digest Associ ation, the British subsid iary of the Readers Di gest Association, has filed for administration — the British equivalent of federal bankruptcy. The filing removes the pension liability from its books and the parent company now said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy in the US.