Any product that endangers consumers is a bad one. But there's a difference between something you buy because you want to and something you buy because you have to.
From energy-hog major appliances to plastic grocery bags, it all adds up. There's a lot of action in any kitchen,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
We know too little about products so vital Any product that endangers consumers is a bad one. But there's a difference between something... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 30 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
Kiwis coming home are refusing to put their hard-earned British pounds into the local housing market, says a leading international recruitment agency working with top executives coming back from the UK.
"Returnees are no longer... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm
The government's emissions trading scheme will go centre- stage this week as a parliamentary select committee gets down to holding public hearings on the proposals.
The Climate Change (Emissions Trade and Renewable Preference)... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm
The gap between what New Zealand spends overseas and what it earns is shrinking.
High world prices for butter and cheese, and the first flush of oil from the Tui oilfield, gave us a stellar quarter for exports, helping reduce the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm
Battered on the one hand by email and other computer-based communications, the amount of mail sent by Kiwis is falling steadily.
And hit by falling volumes on one hand, New Zealand Post is whacked on the other side of the ledger... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm
Stocks in the US fell yesterday as a profit warning from JC Penney raised worries about consumer spending, while persistent concerns about credit-related problems throttled financial stocks.
JC Penney shares fell 7.5 per cent after... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 5:00 pm
AFP - Germany's consumer protection minister Horst Seehofer has called for a law to regulate gathering information on employees after revelations that discount retailer Lidl had secretly monitored its workers.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson plans to call for extensive, wide-ranging reforms to the way the government regulates financial markets, including proposals to give the Federal Reserve more power and create new bodies to monitor mortgages and other transactions.
Mid-market private equity player Graphite Capital has exited
Gloucestershire-based medical firm Summit Medical, more than tripling its
return on its original investment. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 2:53 pm
You might not be in the market for a house. But this is a good time to be shopping for what goes inside, with furniture at bargain prices - although only for the next few months.
We canvassed the country to find towns with the best mix of business advantages and lifestyle appeal. Check out our 100 top picks and find the perfect place to build your dream.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The financial market crisis could cause losses of up to $600 billion at banks and other financial institutions worldwide, a German magazine reported on Saturday, citing an internal report by German financial watchdog BaFin.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The financial market crisis could cause losses of up to $600 billion at banks and other financial institutions worldwide, a German magazine reported on Saturday,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 2:18 pm
INSTITUTIONAL investors in private equity will turn their backs on large
buyout funds in response to the credit crisis that has forced many firms to
scale back their deal-making activity, according to a survey to be published
this week. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 2:00 pm
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson plans to call for extensive, wide-ranging reforms to the way the government regulates financial markets, including proposals to give the Federal Reserve more power and create new bodies to monitor mortgages and other transactions.
A week ago, Joshua Hager was despondent. Laid off by a mortgage company, he has looked for jobs ranging from bank teller to risk analyst. He was sending out as many as 10 resumes a day but was getting barely a nibble from employers or recruiters.
Reuters - U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers was
defrauded of some $353.1 million after it was caught in a scam
in Japan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on
Saturday, and trading house Marubeni said some of its staff
were involved.
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers was defrauded of some $353.1 million after it was caught in a scam in Japan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday, and trading house Marubeni said some of its staff were involved.
U.S. consumer spending was flat in February after adjusting for inflation, the third consecutive month of weak consumer demand, the Commerce Department reports.
DAMASCUS, MD (MarketWatch) -- Spend a week behind the wheel of either of the new Honda Accords and you can easily see why two very different publications agree on one thing - they are just about the best sets of wheels on the road.
Kuwait has awarded construction of part of a planned 615,000 barrels per day refinery to US engineering firm Fluor, head of the state-owned refiner told the Middle East Economic Survey... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 11:53 am
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Finance Ministry said on Saturday a magazine report that the government wants the Bundesbank to sell some of its gold reserves to help ease pressure on the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 11:45 am
In a move that will bloody a number of its customers, UBS (UBS) will mark down the value of auction-rate securities held by its customers. According to The Wall Street Journal the bank "began on Friday to lower the values of so-called auction-rate securities held by its clients, a move that will be a jolt to customers who had been told they were investing in a "cash alternative." The action could drop the value of some of the paper by as much as 20%. Other banks are likely to follow UBS's example The auction-rate securities has held by individual investors,...
Barry Diller and John Malone went after one another in court over whether Diller could get shareholders in IAC/Interactive (IACI) to approve breaking the company into five piece. Each would be traded as a public company. Malone's Liberty Media (LCAPA) said that the voting rights it had given Diller for its shares did not extend to the level which would allow them to be voted for dismantling the company. The entire matter was pushed into the Delaware courts, and Diller won. According to MarketWatch "Vice Chancellor Stephen Lamb ruled Friday that "Liberty has failed to demonstrate that Diller has breached...
America's Treasury Department will tomorrow put forward plans for a revamp of
US financial regulation in an attempt to curb the lending excesses that
triggered the credit crisis. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 11:05 am
Northwest (NWA) could not get pilots in line for a merger with Delta (DAL), so it is going to try to move forward without them. It can get ready for a pilot's strike that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Northwest and Delta have been talking merger for several months. The pilots at the airlines have not been able to agree on seniority of a combined pool of fly-boys and this has held up the deal. Northwest wants none of that. According to The Wall Street Journal, NWA's "jumpstarted deal wouldn't include terms of a combined pilot...
The price of rice, a staple in the diets of nearly half the worlds population, has almost doubled on international markets. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 10:18 am
Lehman Brothers has been the victim of fraud to the tune of $250 million. According to The Wall Street Journal "swindlers used forged documents from one of Japan's biggest trading companies." The money taken was for loans to a Japanese medical company secured by certificates from Marubeni, a large Japanese trading company. Douglas A. McIntyre
WASHINGTON, March 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is the radio address by President Bush to the Nation: THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. It's not... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 10:06 am
JC Penney slashed its first-quarter profit outlook, sending jitters through Wall Street as it predicted the sluggish shopping environment will persist through the year. Noting that sales through the Easter... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 9:25 am
EA bidElectronic Arts said yesterday it is giving Take-Two Interactive stockholders an extra week to respond to its $2 billion, $26 a share unsolicited hostile take over bid, pushing back the deadline... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 9:25 am
Barry Diller officially - and finally - has the control he's always wanted. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Stephen Lamb yesterday ruled in favor of the IAC/InterActiveCorp boss in his contentious legal... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 9:25 am
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of how the nation's financial industry is regulated. In an effort to deal with the problems highlighted by the current severe credit... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 9:25 am
AMSTERDAM, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Wiet Pot has joined IMC BV ("IMC"), a diversified company engaged in financial markets around the world, as co-CEO. His... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 9:00 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - Investment bank Lehman Brothers was defrauded of around $242 million after it and other investors were caught in a scam in Japan, a newspaper reported on Saturday, with... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 8:15 am
Singapore Saturday expressed optimisim about enhanced economic cooperation with Taiwan as long as issues involving trade are not politicised. A foreign ministry spokesman... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 7:26 am
'It's a Small World' will showcase familiar faces instead of an anonymous cast of characters. The renovation, which some call a 'gross desecration,' sparks a preservation campaign.
Disneyland's "Small World" will soon be getting a little more crowded.
'It's a Small World' will showcase familiar faces instead of an anonymous cast of characters. The renovation, called a 'gross desecration,' sparks a preservation campaign among fans. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
Trading is fairly muted after days of volatility. Consumer spending barely rose last month, the government says.
The stock market finished the week with a decline Friday as the financial health of the consumer came into focus after a government report showed the weakest growth in personal spending in 17 months.
A senator calls the payments to Angelo Mozilo and David Sambol 'perverse.'
The top two executives of beleaguered Countrywide Financial Corp. will pocket $19 million in stock next week, according to a regulatory filing. It's the start of a series of multimillion-dollar payments expected to go to the pair before and after the company's pending takeover by Bank of America Corp.
A plan to be unveiled Monday would give the Fed new power and fold oversight authority now shared by many agencies into three.
The Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory system, combining what is now an alphabet soup of government agencies into three streamlined regulators.
'The Bold and the Beautiful' union tiff is getting ugly
Just as the Screen Actors Guild and its smaller sister union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are jointly preparing to face off against the studios in upcoming contract negotiations, the two actors groups are embroiled in a behind-the-scenes soap opera -- over a soap opera.
Trading is fairly muted after days of volatility. Consumer spending barely rose last month, the government says. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
As Congress prepares to return from recess, lawmakers renew their calls for aggressive federal intervention to help homeowners.
As the economic downturn deepens, congressional Democrats are turning up the heat on the White House and Republicans in Congress to respond more aggressively to the mortgage crisis when lawmakers return next week from their spring recess.
Northwest Airlines Corp. has proposed to Delta that the airlines move ahead with their combination without a prearranged deal with pilots, a person with direct knowledge of the situation... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 6:50 am
AP - Consumers turned in the weakest spending performance in 17 months in February, while their confidence dropped to the lowest level in 16 years, raising further fears of a recession.
BNSF Railway Co., the nation's top hauler of container rail freight, is parking miles of railcars in Montana and elsewhere because there isn't enough freight to keep them rolling. Cars Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 6:42 am
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will keep monetary policy tight for now but recognizes it might need to adjust the strength and timing of policy in response to changes in the global economy, a... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 29 Mar 2008 | 6:33 am
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will keep monetary policy tight for now but recognizes it might need to adjust the strength and timing of policy in response to changes in the global economy, a vice governor of the central bank said.
Reuters - The Bush administration is
finalizing a plan to rescue thousands of homeowners facing
foreclosure by helping them refinance into more affordable
loans, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is finalizing a plan to rescue thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure by helping them refinance into more affordable loans, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department will propose on Monday that the Federal Reserve be given sweeping new powers that would make it chief regulator with authority to require actions to ensure market stability.
Reuters - The U.S. Treasury Department will
propose on Monday that the Federal Reserve be given sweeping
new powers that would make it chief regulator with authority to
require actions to ensure market stability. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 3:09 am
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday's session are H.B. Fuller Co., Riskmetrics Group Inc. and IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Stocks will continue to test the market's newfound resilience next week, as investors look to close the first quarter and cast aside jitters from the credit crisis. However, concerns about the U.S. economy are likely to return amid a slew of key numbers culminating with the employment report Friday.
A reader's sympathy with burnt investors is mixed with a great deal of bewilderment
Although I do feel sorry for people who have lost their life savings via finance companies, Blue Chip apartments and/or dodgy financial advisers,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 3:00 am
Two adjoining lower Queen St properties, dating from the beginning of last century, are being refurbished as attractive character offices.
The Imperial and Everybody's Buildings at 44-56 Queen St have had a colourful history individually... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 3:00 am
CBA
Commonwealth Bank shares have started to recover from a steep slide that started with the US debt crisis, but accelerated when investors perceived the bank to be more vulnerable than some of its peers. However, the banking sector... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 3:00 am
If 30 or more options are available, as in KiwiSaver, we tend to procrastinate
Give a human being two choices and he or she will probably make a decision. If, however, 30 or more are on offer - and there are that many KiwiSaver... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 3:00 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence fell further into recessionary territory in March, hitting a 16-year low, even as other data showed incomes rose and inflation dipped in February, which should support the Fed's efforts to bolster the economy.
Reuters - IAC/InterActiveCorp chief
Barry Diller on Friday won a bitter legal dispute with Liberty
Media Corp's John Malone, paving the way for him to proceed
with efforts to spin off four of IAC's largest units.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Stocks may struggle to make headway next week, with jobs data expected to provide more evidence of recession and more companies likely to revise their guidance as the earnings reporting season approaches.
Reuters - Northwest Airlines Corp has
proposed to Delta Air Lines Inc that they go ahead with
a merger, despite the lack of support from pilots, two sources
with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines Corp has proposed to Delta Air Lines Inc that they go ahead with a merger, despite the lack of support from pilots, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Ask about hops at the American Flatbread brewpub in Vermont, and you’re likely to find yourself in cold storage, in the cellar, with brewer and co-owner Paul Sayler. There, he'll mourn that his supplies are depleted. It's an experience shared by many, if not most, craft brewers.
If you haven’t shopped for eggs lately, get ready for some sticker-shock: A dozen eggs cost $2 or more in most U.S. cities, up about 45% in just eight months.
Firing a volley of short-range missiles into the Yellow Sea is a provocative move by North Korea as its relations with Seoul and Washington are under increasing strain Source: FT.com - US homepage | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:22 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - IAC/InterActiveCorp chief Barry Diller won a bitter legal dispute with Liberty Media Corp's John Malone on Friday, paving the way for him to proceed with efforts to spin off four of IAC's largest units.
A Delaware judge on Friday sided with media mogul Barry Diller, effectively paving the way for the breakup of Internet media giant IAC/InterActiveCorp., according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sir Ken Morrison, the former chairman of Wm Morrison, has reorganised his shareholding in the supermarket chain ahead of next week's changes to the capital gains tax regime. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Jamie Ritblat, chief executive of Delancey's, is well-placed to take advantage of the credit freeze. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Sales at Peter Jones, the department store chain, have continued to slide - with the second consecutive week of double-digit sales decline. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Another of the City's leading fund managers has launched a stinging attack on Marks & Spencer over Sir Stuart Rose's appointment as executive chairman. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Lloyds TSB is searching for a new retail banking chief after Terri Dial, one of the most high-profile women in British finance, was poached by Citigroup to run the embattled US company's consumer division. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
A sharp rise in the price of milk has forced Dairy Crest, the milk and cheese manufacturer, to write off £4.5m from a supply contract with one of its customers. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Pub group Enterprise Inns is in advanced talks with the Government about becoming the first non-property company to convert to a real estate investment trust. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
The rate at which families are saving has slumped to a 48-year low, fuelling fears about people's ability to cushion themselves against the deeper economic downturn. Source: Telegraph Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Marks & Spencer was facing a full-scale investor revolt last night after
Schroders, one of its top ten shareholders, made a devastating attack on the
retailer's plans to give the chief executive, Sir Stuart Rose, the
additional role of chairman. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Doubts over the valuations of social networking websites were assuaged
yesterday after Sir Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s most successful investors,
doubled his stake in Facebook, underlining the site’s implied price tag of
$15 billion ($£7.5 billion). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Welcome Break, Britain’s second-largest motorway services company, has changed
hands for £500 million. The deal means that Investcorp, the buyout firm,
exits an investment that it made more than a decade ago. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Almost £7,000 has been wiped off the value of the average British home since
October, after house prices dropped for a fifth consecutive month, according
to latest survey figures. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Forget the divinity that surrounds Dairy Crest, the owner of St Hubert, St
Ivel and Cathedral City. The devil was in the detail of yesterday's
full-year trading update. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
The chances of a takeover of Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), the embattled
All Bar One and Ember Inns operator, receded yesterday after the withdrawal
of a merger proposal by Punch Taverns. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Thousands of Kenyans scrambled to secure a stake in Safaricom, the country's
largest mobile phone offering, yesterday in a float that is believed to be
the biggest in East Africa. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
The Reserve Bank is comfortable with interest rates at the current level and signalled no rate cuts on the horizon, as domestic inflation pressures outweigh risks from international market turmoil.
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 29 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
The US was forced to send in reinforcements on Friday as Iraqi security forces admitted they were having difficulties subduing radical Shia militants in the south of the country Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 11:26 pm
A courtroom showdown between two of the media's most powerful executives ended as a Delaware judge thwarted John Malone's efforts to prevent IAC chief executive Barry Diller from restructuring the internet group Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 11:20 pm
Hillary Clinton faced calls to drop out of the presidential race as senior Democrats warned that her divisive battle with Barack Obama was harming the party's chances of winning the White House in November Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 11:14 pm
Northwest Airlines has sought to press ahead with plans to merge with rival Delta Air Lines without first securing the support of their pilots, people familiar with the plan said Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 11:08 pm
On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer said he had a speculative biotech stock. His pick in the sector is AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMAG) because of its soon to be approved ferumoxytol, a newer and better intravenous iron treatment for kidney disease patients on dialysis. Cramer thinks there are many reasons to like this one: ferumoxytol should be approved later in the year; he thinks a secondary has put pressure on it, although that gives it more cash to stabilize the stock; has its own strong sales force; was given an untimely and unwarranted analyst downgrade; will perform better...
Major Latin American stock markets close mixed Friday, but a jump in shares of Brasil Telecom Participacoes help cap losses in Brazil's benchmark index.
Investor's Business Daily - Personal spending rose at the slowest pace in 17 months in February despite a bigger-than-expected gain in income, as consumers hunkered down amid worries over a weakening economy, bleak job picture and higher prices. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 28 Mar 2008 | 10:22 pm
British Airways travellers face more disruption this weekend as the airline continues to struggle to overcome problems at its showpiece £4.3bn Terminal 5 at Heathrow Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 10:15 pm
Oil prices fall after it emerges that an attack on an Iraqi export pipeline was not as serious as earlier thought. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Mar 2008 | 10:11 pm
Tess reads your letters. This month: Everest history, "pop economics," investment clubs, fees and commuting in the Middle East. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:52 pm
We all make the occasional terrible money decision. Tess asks Dan Ariely why people are so irrational when it comes to their economic behavior. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:45 pm
Stocks slid Friday, falling for the third straight session, as investors abandoned an early rally attempt as J.C. Penney's profit warning and churning in the financial sector kept economic fears in focus.
Looking for a little money to help you through a rough spot? It may be time for a trip to the pawn shop. We follow Jaime Bedrin on her quest to turn her jewelry box into cash. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:31 pm
Investools Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIM) has filed to sell up to 3,083,178 shares of common stock in an open shelf registration. None of the shares are going to the company as this was filed on behalf of the selling shareholders that were the owners of thinkorswim. This will allow the thinkorswim owners to sell any, all, or none of the shares if they so choose. At today's prices, this would represent north of $33 million. Investools market cap is $730 million. At $11.06 and a $9.29 to $18.23 trading range, this offering is just a small drop in the bucket. We...
After a week of high drama in the Delaware Chancery Court, John Malone has lost his dispute with longtime partner Barry Diller, the chief executive of IAC/Interactive Inc., an internet conglomerate that Diller has built into a $6 billion enterprise with Malone's backing.
Malone and his company, Liberty Media Corp., lost claims that Diller violated contracts with Malone by proposing to spin off IAC into five separate companies with a single-tier stock structure. Such a move would eliminate the supervoting shares Liberty owns in IAC, effectively wiping out its majority control of the company.
Under a proxy agreement in their 13-year partnership, Diller has had the right to vote Liberty's IAC stock. The court ruled that right permits Diller to vote Liberty's shares against Liberty's interests.
"The court concludes that Liberty has failed to demonstrate that Diller breached or threatened to breach any contractual duty he owed to Liberty," Vice Chancellor Stephen Lamb wrote in an opinion issued this afternoon. "In particular, the court rejects Liberty's claim that the proposed single-tier spin-off gives rise to any right of consent on LIberty's part. It follow that the proxy remains in effect."
In his 79-page opinion, Lamb rejected Liberty Media's claim that its "veto" rights, as contained in the governance agreement between Malone and Diller, contained a "sweeping" catchall provision. Lamb concluded that the "only sensible conclusion" for interpretation of the veto right was that it applied to "regulatory matters."
From the outset of the relationship, Liberty was concerned with the Federal Communications Commission's rules on cross-ownership of broadcast companies.
Malone said he left the details to his lawyer, but Diller, on the witness stand, testified that "alarm bells" would have gone off if he thought the Liberty veto applied to more than regulatory matters. Lamb's ruling is a win for Diller's lawyers at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Diller presented well as a witness, and in the end, no one from Malone's team could testify that a "catchall" veto was communicated to the Diller team.
The case boiled down to the parties conflicting interpretations of the veto provision—"the centerpiece of this litigation," in Lamb's opinion.
In that opinion, the vice chancellor examines scenes from the deteriorating marriage between Malone and Diller. Lamb pegs the "deterioration" of that marriage to 2005, a period that coincided with the appointment of former Microsoft executive Greg Maffei as the C.E.O. of Liberty.
Lamb's opinion notes that Diller told Malone that the choice of Maffei for the position was "poor."
The vice chancellor addressed what became something akin to the discovery of infidelity between Diller and Malone: A Wall Street Journal article under the headline "Can This Marriage Be Saved?"
In the article, Malone repeatedly criticized Diller. In his opinion, Lamb pointed out: "The article greatly upset Diller. Diller testified that, combined with Malone's previous negative comments about IAC and it's lack of management, the article was nothing short of an outright attack on his abilities and a thinly veiled threat that Liberty would not fairly negotiate a breakup of IAC."
Lamb also ruled against LIberty's claims that the IAC board, by hearing a proposal on the spinoffs from Diller and his lawyers, had violated their fiduciary duty to shareholders.
The vice chancellor concluded that those claims were "unripe" because the IAC board has given "only general (and ununanimous) approval to the spinoff, but has not considered or acted on any final details of that plan."
"Most importantly," he adds, "the IAC board has not yet made any decision about the voting structure of the spincos."
On this week's a Day in the Work Life, we learn the joy of forecasting sunny skies almost every day as we follow Los Angeles TV weatherman Fritz Coleman. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:24 pm
In this edition of Getting Personal, Chris and Tess talk about IRA rollovers, switching jobs, socially responsible investing and paying for college. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:07 pm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday as a profit warning from J.C. Penney raised concerns about slowing consumer spending while persistent worries about credit-related problems throttled financial stocks.
If you're sitting on a mountain of student loans, doing nothing for a few months might actually be your best move. Tess gets the details from Anna Maria Andriotis. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 9:02 pm
Real estate Web sites were already popular for browsing prices, but as Stacey Vanek Smith reports, people now use these sites to find housing crisis comfort from fellow surfers. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:52 pm
Don't let a downturn squash your business plans. Economics editor Chris Farrell sets the story straight on the opportunities for entrepreneurs during a recession. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:46 pm
What exactly is a recession and what does it take to turn one into a depression? Tess asks Marketplace commentator Robert Reich for some definitions. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:41 pm
It has been almost 160 years since the first California gold rush but, with prices hitting record highs, prospectors are once again flocking to the state's rivers and deserts in search of the precious metal Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:38 pm
The International Monetary Fund
has backed plans to redistribute voting power in the organisation. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:29 pm
Joost, the online television service, is using this weekend's March Madness US college basketball games to test a live streaming technology that it hopes will reduce the financial and technical burdens of broadcasting popular events online Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:24 pm
Confidence in the dollar and the U.S. economy is generally shaky throughout the rest of the world, as the pain from Wall Street's excesses in subprimes continues to spread. Stephen Beard reports on America's least popular export. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:19 pm
The biggest radio company in the nation was supposed to have been bought out by a couple of private equity firms this month for $20 billion. But Clear Channel says the deal might collapse due to the shaky credit markets. Jill Barshay reports. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:19 pm
When a new set of ethics laws goes into effect in Louisiana this weekend, politicians are going to have to start toeing the line. The Bayou State has a long history of questionable relationships between businessmen and politicians. Kate Archer Kent reports that the new governor's trying to change that. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:19 pm
We all know companies often outsource work to contractors to cut costs. Even governments do it. But federal auditors now say the Defense Department counts on outside contractors too much Nancy Marshall Genzer reports. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:17 pm
Zimbabwe has gone from being a net food exporting country to one with a critical food shortage -- all of which will play into Sunday's presidential election. Marketplace's Africa correspondent Gretchen Wilson talks with Kai Ryssdal about the nation's crisis. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:17 pm
Companies that haven't traditionally done much in debt markets are now finding themselves caught up in the liquidity squeeze. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports on how the credit crunch might catch some companies unaware. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 8:17 pm
Maguire (MPG) Possible sale of the company fails. Shares sell down to $12.42 from 52-week high of $38.08. MGIC (MTG) Company closes common stock offering, dilution. Stock off to $9.60 from 52-week high of $67.05. Wellpoint (WLP) Dowgrade from Lehman. Sells down to $43.02 from 52-week high of $90. Apollo Group (APOL) Misses quarterly numbers. Down to $39.41 from 52-week high of $81.68. VCA Antech (WOOF) No real news. Just drifting down. Hits low of $26.55 from 52-week high of $46.23. Douglas A. McIntyre
A solicitor loses her case against BT over "unfair charges" for cash-paying customers. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Mar 2008 | 7:27 pm
Corel Corp. (NASDAQ:CREL) has announced today it has received an unsolicited proposal from Corel Holdings, L.P., which is controlled by an affiliate of Vector Capital Corporation, the holder of 69% of Corel's outstanding common shares. The Vector affiliate has proposed to make an offer to acquire all of Corel's outstanding shares that it currently does not hold at a price of $11.00 cash per share in US Dollars. We would note that before the stock was halted, shares were trading at $10.80 and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $6.94 to $14.37. Vector has stipulated that the offer...
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ" OPTR) has filed an open shelf registration last night with the SEC that will allow it to sell up to $100 million in any of the following types of securities: Common Stock; Preferred Stock; Debt Securities; Warrants; Units. The company is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing anti-infective products, and initial development efforts are to treat gastrointestinal infections and related diseases where current therapies have limitations. The company currently has two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, OPT-80 and Prulifloxacin. OPT-80 is the lead product candidate and is an antibiotic that is currently in two Phase III registration...
Ten days after Barack Obama delivered what many described as a historic speech on race, his relationship with the black community still remains an issue Source: FT.com - US homepage | 28 Mar 2008 | 6:51 pm
Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson chats with host Kai Ryssdal about what happened on Wall Street this week and what may lie ahead. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 6:38 pm
Don't like the political ads you see on television? Then make one yourself. At VoterVoter.com, a website launched today, you create a campaign commercial and they help you get it on TV. Source: Marketplace | 28 Mar 2008 | 5:34 pm
The Fed makes billions of dollars available to banks in an auction hoping to ease credit-crunch concerns. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Mar 2008 | 5:30 pm
A new private sector effort to fix the housing crisis appeared this week as former Countrywide execs announced PennyMac. Ashley Milne-Tyte explains the plan. Source: Marketplace Money | 28 Mar 2008 | 5:30 pm
The Italian authorities withdraw mozzarella cheese linked to dioxin contamination - satisfying the EU. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 28 Mar 2008 | 5:11 pm
There is a new ETF that has launched and it is geared for US investors to invest in Israel. iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EIS) seeks to track the MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index. This index measures the performance of the equity markets in Israel an is designed as a custom, free float adjusted market cap weighted index thats measures broad based equity market performance in Israeli stocks traded primarily on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Underlying Index's three largest industries were health care, financials and materials. There are very few actual closed-end funds...
AFP - Germany's consumer protection minister Horst Seehofer has called for a law to regulate gathering information on employees after revelations that discount retailer Lidl had secretly monitored its workers.
Reuters - U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers was
defrauded of some $353.1 million after it was caught in a scam
in Japan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on
Saturday, and trading house Marubeni said some of its staff
were involved.
AP - Consumers turned in the weakest spending performance in 17 months in February, while their confidence dropped to the lowest level in 16 years, raising further fears of a recession.
Reuters - The Bush administration is
finalizing a plan to rescue thousands of homeowners facing
foreclosure by helping them refinance into more affordable
loans, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition.
Reuters - IAC/InterActiveCorp chief
Barry Diller on Friday won a bitter legal dispute with Liberty
Media Corp's John Malone, paving the way for him to proceed
with efforts to spin off four of IAC's largest units.
Reuters - Northwest Airlines Corp has
proposed to Delta Air Lines Inc that they go ahead with
a merger, despite the lack of support from pilots, two sources
with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.