NEW YORK - US STOCKS ended mixed on Monday in choppy trading as blue chips succumbed to profit taking ahead of a plethora of corporate earnings data to be released.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 26.76 points (0.33 per cent) to 8,056.62 in final trades, pulling back from a sharp fall in early trading as the market opened after a long Easter weekend.

WASHINGTON - NINETY-NINE companies made it onto a list of the 'world's most ethical companies' picked on Monday by the Ethisphere Institute, a US based think tank.

Among those in this year's list, compiled since 2007, are 22 first time recipients, including PC maker Dell, global news agency Thomson Reuters, retail giant Best Buy and telecom giant T-Mobile.

NEW YORK - IN A move to ensure that all of jailed swindler Bernard Madoff's personal wealth is used to pay his defrauded customers, some investors filed court papers on Monday to force him into bankruptcy.

Their lawyers have argued that making Madoff bankrupt would make it easier for victims to recover any Madoff-linked assets that have been transferred to family members or third parties.