NEW YORK (AP) -- The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff's assets sued the disgraced money manager's wife on Wednesday, asking for nearly $45 million that he says was spent on a "life of splendor."

Trustee Irving H. Picard spelled out his claims in a lawsuit against Ruth Madoff in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Ruth Madoff several weeks ago moved out of a $7 million Manhattan penthouse where she and her husband had lived during their 49-year marriage.

Ruth Madoff's lawyer, Peter Chavkin, said in a statement that Picard's action was "wrong as a matter of law and fairness."

He said the lawsuit was "particularly perplexing and totally unjustified" because his client has already forfeited to the federal prosecutor's office nearly all of the assets described in the lawsuit.

"At the same time, after a thorough and comprehensive investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office determined that Ruth Madoff was entitled to keep property of $2.5 million because that property could not be linked to the fraud," Chavkin said.

Picard said Ruth Madoff for decades lived "a life or splendor" using money that belonged to customers of her husband's investment firm.

He said she had no good-faith basis to believe she was entitled to the money, whether she knew of the

HOUSTON (AP) -- ConocoPhillips became the second oil major in as many days to report plunging profits for the second quarter, saying Wednesday its earnings fell a whopping 76 percent because of the year-over-year fall in oil and gas prices and lousy refining results.

The dismal outcome for the third-largest U.S. oil company followed BP PLC's report Tuesday of earnings 53 percent below the April-June period a year ago, when crude prices were at triple-digit levels.

Profit declines of 50 percent or more are expected to be the norm for producers, but they still could cause a double-take for an industry that only a year ago was notching the fattest profits on record.

ConocoPhillips took a beating in both of its major businesses -- finding and producing oil and natural gas and refining and selling gasoline and other types of fuel.

The company said it still expects full-year production to be up slightly from a year ago, and it stuck by its $12.5 billion capital spending budget announced in January. That's down from Conoco's $19.9 billion outlay in 2008, but the company continues to spend money on drilling and refining projects.

ConocoPhillips' results are likely to be down farther than larger competitors such as Exxon Mobil Corp., in part from Conoco's extensive refining operations, which have been pounded by weak demand.

In recent years, the company also has had to adjust to acquisitions including its $35.6 billion purchase of Burlington Resources in 2006. As recently as the final quarter of 2008, the company was stung by $34

NEW YORK (AP) -- American Express Co. said Wednesday it repurchased outstanding warrants issued to the government as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program for $340 million.

New York-based American Express issued the warrants, which could have been converted to common stock, to the Treasury Department as part of the loan package it received last fall from the government.

American Express was one of hundreds of financial firms that received funds as part of TARP's capital purchase program amid the mushrooming credit crisis that led to the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and a bailout of insurer American International Group Inc.

As part of that program, American Express received $3.39 billion in funding from the government to help bolster its balance sheet as credit markets essentially shut down. In return, American Express issued the Treasury Department warrants to purchase common stock at a set price over the next 10 years and preferred shares that carried a 5 percent annual dividend rate.

In June, American Express repaid the $3.39 billion loan, eliminating the outstanding preferred shares. Since being issued the loan package, American Express paid $74.4 million in dividends to the government.

Between the dividend payment and repurchase of the warrants, the government earned an annualized 26 percent return on its investment.

The repurchase price for the warrants "reflects, in part, the appreciation of American Express' share price

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has finally roped Yahoo Inc. into an Internet search partnership, capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and setting the stage for them to make a joint assault against the dominance of Google Inc.

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the Internet's second-largest search engine audience, beefing up the software maker's arsenal as it tries to better confront Google, which is by far the leader in online search and advertising.

Microsoft didn't have to give Yahoo an upfront payment to make it happen, as many Yahoo investors had been counting on ever since Microsoft dangled $1 billion last summer in an attempt to forge a search partnership then.

Google tried to stop Yahoo from falling into Microsoft's camp. Last year it formed its own proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo, only to be forced to retreat from that alliance after U.S. antitrust officials threatened to sue.

Now the extended reach Microsoft is gaining will let it introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker believes Bing is just as good, if not better, than Google's search engine. Taking over search responsibilities on Yahoo's popular site gives Microsoft a better chance to convert Web surfers who had been using Google by force of habit.

"Microsoft and Yahoo know there's so much more that search could be," said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. "This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."