Stockbroker set $60 floor for Stewart, witness says

NEW YORK (AP) — Weeks before Martha Stewart sold her ImClone stock, her stockbroker mentioned his desire to get rid of her shares before they fell to $60, a Stewart business manager testified Monday.

The testimony by Heidi DeLuca undercuts the government's charge that Stewart and the broker dreamed up the $60 price floor later as a cover story.

DeLuca, testifying for the defense, said that stockbroker Peter Bacanovic told her on Nov. 8, 2001, that he could "set a floor price of $60 or $61" for Stewart's ImClone shares.

"He said he would speak to Martha about it personally," DeLuca said. The conversation would have been long before Stewart dumped her shares on Dec. 27, 2001.