A number of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council aim to introduce a single currency by 2010, the group's secretary-general said, according a Reuters report.
Reuters - U.S. buyout firm J.C. Flowers is working
on a sweetened bid worth around 3.5 billion pounds ($7 billion)
for British insurer Friends Provident Plc , the Sunday
Times said. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 1:25 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm J.C. Flowers is working on a sweetened bid worth around 3.5 billion pounds ($7 billion) for British insurer Friends Provident Plc , the Sunday Times... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 1:25 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm J.C. Flowers is working on a sweetened bid worth around 3.5 billion pounds ($7 billion) for British insurer Friends Provident Plc , the Sunday Times said.
Switzerland's banking commission head expressed hopes in comments published Sunday that the situation at UBS may now be stabilising after the bank's recent substantial writedowns. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 1:10 pm
Skybus Airlines is shutting down, as the low-cost airline blames the “insurmountable” pressures of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment.
A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed Sri Lanka's highways minister and at least 11 others on Sunday in a powerful blast near the capital, the government said Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:53 pm
Jerry Yang and other Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) management have said that the portal company will make its forecasts for Q1 08. But, those numbers fall within a range and are not based on a single set of figures. Wall St.'s consensus forecast, based on 27 analysts polled by First Call, is a figure of $1.33 billion (excluding traffic acquisition) in revenue, up from $1.18 billion in the same quarter a year ago, But, the low estimate among the group is $1.29 billion. The EPS consensus from the group is $.11 compared to $.10 in the 2007 quarter. The low estimate...
Reuters - Alitalia (AZPIa.MI) union leaders said
they were willing to resume collapsed takeover talks with Air
France-KLM to avert the Italian airline's bankruptcy,
but warned that any possible deal would take time.
ROME (Reuters) - Alitalia union leaders said they were willing to resume collapsed takeover talks with Air France-KLM to avert the Italian airline's bankruptcy, but warned that any possible deal would take time.
ROME (Reuters) - Alitalia union leaders said they were willing to resume collapsed takeover talks with Air France-KLM to avert the Italian airline's bankruptcy, but warned that any... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:21 pm
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) has been trying to get investors in Take-Two Interactive NASDAQ:(TTWO) to view its takeover bid of $26 a share as the best deal in town. TTWO is making the case that the offer is much too low. Sales of its newest game "Grand Theft Auto IV" could considerably buttress it argument that the company has a value well above the ERTS bid. According to The New York Post, "Gaming analyst Mike Hickey, after reviewing pre-sales of the game, anticipated shipments and other data, predicted "GTA4" would sell 5.8 million units in the first seven days after...
US president George W. Bush and Russia's Vladimir Putin said they were interested in creating a joint defence system with Europe against missile threats - although Russia warned it still opposed plans for a US-run missile shield in central Europe Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Apr 2008 | 11:51 am
Late Friday there was an interesting form "RW" filed with the SEC for a "withdrawn securities registration." There was an original filing to bring Templeton Russia/Eurasia Fund public via an initial public offering in what was probably a closed-end mutual fund. What is odd is not the withdrawal of a closed-end fund. It is the date: originally filed with the Commission on October 6, 1997. As per the filing: The Registrant believes that withdrawal of the Registration Statement would be consistent with the public interest and the protection of investors because: 1) the filing was prepared in connection with a...
British Gas parent Centrica talks to European firms about a possible joint bid for British Energy, say reports. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Apr 2008 | 11:44 am
CR Acquisition Corp. is another special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that has filed on Friday after the market close to come public via an initial public offering of $150,000,000 via the sale of 15,000,000 Units. Each unit will consist of one common share and a warrant to purchase one share of common stock with a $7.00 strike price. Its units will be listed on the American Stock Exchange, although no ticker has been applied for. As far as underwriters, Deutsche Bank Securities is the lead book-runner with co-managers listed as Jefferies & Company as well as Cowen and Company....
If the US government is counting on help from OPEC, the can forget it. The current Administration has gone to the desert on hand and knee and begged for an increase in production is the hope of pushing prices below $100 a barrel. High gas costs are helping fuel a sharp economic downturn. According to Bloomberg "OPEC has no plans to hold an extraordinary meeting before September because oil supplies are sufficient,the group's secretary general said in Tehran." The member nations of the cartel are making hundreds of billion of extra dollars on the amount which the price of crude...
KARRATHA, Australia (Reuters) - Woodside Petroleum Ltd, operator of the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture in Australia, said it has completed the installation of a A$1.6 billion ($1.48 billion) gas platform which will underpin an expansion of the LNG project.
KARRATHA, Australia (Reuters) - Woodside Petroleum Ltd, operator of the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture in Australia, said it has completed the installation of a A$1.6... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 10:45 am
If Alan Greenspan was a visionary at any point in his life, those days are behind him. According to Reuters, the aging former Fed chairman says there is more than a 50% chance that the US is in recession. The fact that the economy has been failing for several months has escaped him. Douglas A. McIntyre
ZURICH (Reuters) - Beleaguered Swiss bank UBS might be back on a more stable track after billions of dollars in writedowns and capital hikes, the president of the Swiss banking regulator... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 10:43 am
ZURICH (Reuters) - Beleaguered Swiss bank UBS might be back on a more stable track after billions of dollars in writedowns and capital hikes, the president of the Swiss banking regulator EBK was quoted as saying on Sunday.
DOHA (Reuters) - Several members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that includes Saudi Arabia are determined to meet a 2010 target to introduce single currency, the council's secretary general said on Sunday.
DOHA (Reuters) - Several members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that includes Saudi Arabia are determined to meet a 2010 target to introduce single currency, the council's Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 10:35 am
Reuters - Europe will press the G7 group
of industrialized economies next week to demand more disclosure
from banks on their securitization activities and the exotic
securities behind the global credit crunch. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 10:28 am
BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) - Europe will press the G7 group of industrialized economies next week to demand more disclosure from banks on their securitization activities and the exotic... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 10:27 am
BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) - Europe will press the G7 group of industrialized economies next week to demand more disclosure from banks on their securitization activities and the exotic securities behind the global credit crunch.
Reuters - There is more than a 50 percent chance
the United States could go into recession, former Federal
Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an
interview published on Sunday.
Reuters - There is more than a 50 percent chance
the United States could go into recession, former Federal
Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an
interview published on Sunday.
MADRID (Reuters) - There is more than a 50 percent chance the United States could go into recession, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark arrived here Sunday on an official visit during which she will sign a free trade agreement, state media reported. The official Xinhua... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 9:36 am
A lot of drivers probably thought they were finally getting a break when then-California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced in 2005 that he was requiring insurers to stop using ZIP Codes as a main factor in determining car-insurance rates.
A lot of drivers probably thought they were finally getting a break when then-California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced in 2005 that he was requiring insurers to stop using ZIP Codes as... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
When Marlene Christine Hurd was young, education wasn't her top priority. She dropped out of college and went to work. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
Dear Liz: I think I'm being pursued illegally for a debt I don't owe. I visited a hospital in June 2007. It took my health insurer about six months to process the claim. Shortly after I received my benefits statement from the insurer, I received a call from a collection agency saying I had to call back immediately and give my credit card number to pay this debt. Instead, I called the doctor's office the next day. The receptionist told me my account was still open and had not been turned over to collections. I gave them my address and they sent me a bill, which I paid. A month later, I got another call from the collection agency, once again telling me I had to pay that very same day and that I had to call back with my credit card information. My requests to be faxed a bill have been ignored. When I asked that a bill be mailed to my home, the woman I talked to said the address I gave her was false (it wasn't). I just received another call, and the caller threatened to put this debt on my credit report if I don't pay. What is going on here? Is this fraud? I get really nervous with these calls, and I'm not sure what's going on here.
Kudos to state Senate committee members for approving a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) that would force phone companies in the state to stop charging for an unlisted phone number on land-line... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
A miserable quarter closes with some hopeful signs.
No, it wasn't your imagination. The first quarter of 2008 was the worst three months for stock mutual funds in 5 1/2 years. Even the ones that managed to stay above the sea of red ink -- gold funds, for example -- were taking on water by quarter's end.
Here are ways to make your portfolio safer without giving up on growth.
Amid the stock market's sharp losses and wild volatility in the first quarter, some investors may have discovered their true threshold for pain. ¶ So what do you do if that threshold turned out to be a lot lower than you'd thought? ¶ There are steps you can take to reduce your risk of serious portfolio losses should stocks be headed for something worse than what they've already experienced. ¶ Of course, paring back on equities is a knee-jerk reaction many people have when prices fall. And when emotions rule investment decisions, the odds go up that you're making the wrong decision for your long-term financial health. ¶ For all anyone knows, the stock market already has hit bottom, ending a decline that began last fall. ¶ Still, some investors may have legitimate reasons for wanting to lower the risk in their portfolios, given the uncertainty facing the economy and the markets.
Ira Jackson was used to the big budgets and clout of places like Harvard. But the Claremont management school's ethical purpose clicked with him. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
Kudos to state Senate committee members for approving a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) that would force phone companies in the state to stop charging for an unlisted phone number on land-line phones. ("Panel OKs ban on phone fees," April 2.)
Dear Liz: I think I'm being pursued illegally for a debt I don't owe. I visited a hospital in June 2007. It took my health insurer about six months to process the claim. Shortly after I received my benefits... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
Here are ways to make your portfolio safer without giving up on growth. Amid the stock market's sharp losses and wild volatility in the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
New Yorkers may be better educated and think of themselves as more hip than fly over America, but they trail the rest of the country when it comes to being better prepared for retirement, a recent survey... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 6:41 am
The European Central Bank should hold firm on interest rates when governors meet here Thursday, with record inflation a greater concern than slowing economic activity, analysts say. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 6:09 am
Deutsche Telekom will be in the dock from Monday in a case already rewriting German legal history, brought on behalf of 16,000 shareholders who feel cheated by the former public phone... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 6 Apr 2008 | 6:00 am
A lack of key U.S. economic data in the week ahead will give economists free rein to focus on statements from the Federal Reserve, which has avoided calling the current slowdown a “recession,” even as signs mount that the economy is shrinking.
BEIJING - New Zealand will sign up to its biggest bilateral trade deal in 25 years in a ceremony in Beijing tomorrow.
The trade agreement with China is described by diplomats as momentous and matching the CER deal with Australia... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 2:11 am
The Bank of England's banknote printer, De La Rue, is accelerating plans to break itself up by shortlisting a handful of bidders for its £450m cash systems business. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
European rival set to secure £350m deal for one of Scotland's largest companies, write Mark Kleinman and Ben Harrington. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Mervyn Davies, chairman of Standard Chartered, has emerged as one of the key investors of a private equity fund that is looking to raise up to £500m Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
In the week his £760,000 pay-off was announced, Adam Applegarth has gone to ground, writes Katherine Griffiths. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
All eyes are on the Bank of England this week as the Monetary Policy Committee meets to decide interest rates. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Visitors to B&Q, Starbucks or Carphone Warehouse today probably have no idea how much effort goes into selecting the background music that is piped into the stores and aisles in an attempt to lull you into relaxing your purse strings. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
The Duke of Westminster, one of Britain's richest men, is facing a further setback on his £1bn Liverpool shopping centre development, due to open next month. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Bloomsbury's Nigel Newton knows it is futile to invent another wizard now that JK Rowling has moved on. He hopes a move into educational publishing will work magic instead, writes James Hall. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
The fashion entrepreneur Linda Bennett has become the latest in a string of British entrepreneurs to transfer the ownership of her business to avoid the rise in capital gains tax which came into effect last night. Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
As a country with deep-rooted commercial - and cultural - links to the UK, is Ireland running out of economic luck? Source: Telegraph Business | 6 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Microsoft gives Yahoo a three-week deadline to respond to its offer to buy out the internet company. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:57 pm
Reuters - Yahoo Inc has three weeks
to accept Microsoft Corp's $31-a-share cash-and-stock offer or
Microsoft may lower its bid and take its offer to Yahoo
investors, Microsoft said on Saturday.
SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has three weeks to accept Microsoft Corp's $31-a-share cash-and-stock offer or Microsoft may lower its bid and take its offer to Yahoo investors, Microsoft said on Saturday.
FOREIGN utility groups have approached Centrica, the parent company of British
Gas, about a possible £10 billion-plus joint bid for British Energy. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
I DON’T subscribe to the view that last week’s rights issues from Lehman
Brothers and UBS, the American and Swiss investment banks, marked the end of
the credit crunch. It may have put some closure round the mess that UBS has
found itself in, following its huge exposure to America’s sub-prime mortgage
crisis, but there is still a lot more pain to come. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
THE Wales-based new media whizzes Craig Morrison and Joel Cockrill are in the
middle of building a second world in cyberspace. In the meantime they are
having to negotiate this one. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
DEBENHAMS has held secret talks about mounting a takeover of the menswear chain Moss Bros, it emerged this weekend. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
THE property entrepreneur Gerald Ronson has amassed a £1 billion fund to take
advantage of opportunities that could emerge as other companies run into
trouble. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
THE ROLLING STONES have rejected a call from EMI to extend talks with the
music publisher. The Stones are deciding whether to switch labels, taking
their back catalogue with them and ending a 31-year relationship. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
PUBLISHER Dorling Kindersley promises to turn over a new leaf this week, launching what it claims to be the greenest book range on the market. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
ONE of Britain’s biggest road contracts will be awarded this week when the Highways Agency chooses a contractor to widen 63 miles of the M25. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
THE government is to assemble a high-powered team of executives and entrepreneurs from the British life-sciences sector to promote the industry on the world stage and encourage inward investment into the country. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
BRITISH AIRWAYS’ 3,000 pilots will this week launch a scathing attack on
Willie Walsh, the airline’s chief executive, accusing him of “arrogance” and
urging top shareholders to force a change in management in the wake of the
Terminal Five fiasco. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
Stocks will seek to continue their recent recovery, with the market hoping that a likely U.S. recession will remain shallow, and with investors looking to the upcoming earnings season for an outlook on corporate profits.
Microsoft ended its waiting game and moved to turn up the heat on Yahoo, promising an all-out hostile takeover battle before the end of April Source: FT.com - US homepage | 5 Apr 2008 | 8:44 pm
Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer says his company may take its case to acquire Yahoo directly to shareholders if the two firms can’t come to a deal within the next three weeks.
Yesterday we noted that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be close to either lowering its bid or taking other actions in its attempt to acquire Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Now the facts are out. Steve Ballmer sent a letter to the Yahoo! board of directors and discussed the 62% premium offer to Yahoo! January 31, 2008. Ballmer noted that there has been no meaningful negotiation to conclude an agreement while the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened. He also noted that public indicators suggest that Yahoo!'s search and page view shares have declined. Ballmer set the deadline to reach...
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The market is supplied with enough oil and OPEC is not under pressure to raise output, the organization's secretary general was quoted as saying on Saturday during a visit to Iran.
The head of Samsung Group, Lee Kun-hee, faces 11 hours of questioning regarding the ongoing probe into allegations of corruption at the conglomerate, news reports say.
Skybus became the latest US airline to close its doors. Over the last week Aloha Airlines and ATA have also shut down. Northwest (NYSE: NWA) announced that it would raise passenger fares in the hope of offsetting rising fuel costs. The move is not likely to work because consumers and businesses will be slowing travel to help deal with the faltering economy. Higher ticket prices will not help that situation. According to The Wall Street Journal "Skybus said it regretted the decision. "Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet-fuel costs and a slowing economic environment," the company said...
Some of New Zealand's most powerful businesswomen have called for companies to improve diversity on their boards after a blighting report from the Human Rights Commission showed a dearth of female directors.
There are only 45 female... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Times are tough and getting tougher for finance companies in New Zealand. But one analyst says those who keep their heads off the chopping block are making good money lending in a market where rivals continue to go to the wall.
Listed... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Three women who took on discrimination in the male-dominated world of American finance have won a US$33m ($42m) legal settlement that will compensate thousands of underpaid female workers and marks another step in the fight against... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
The city of London faces a severe recession and the UK economy is set to follow the US into a sharp downturn, according to a gloomy prognosis from the billionaire financier George Soros.
Faced with over-valued houses, mountains... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
More Americans than ever before are pessimistic about the state of their country and its economy.
Eighty-one per cent of them now believe "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," a dramatic rise from the 69... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Shares in the US were little changed yesterday as fears about more bank losses and the biggest monthly decline in the jobs market in five years overshadowed earlier optimism that the credit crisis may be easing.
The Nasdaq, however,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
The major free-trade deal New Zealand will ink with China tomorrow needs to be put into some context.
China is undergoing a rapid transformation. By most estimates it will overtake the United States as the world's major growth... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Falling markets haven't dented a good year for sharemarket operator the New Zealand Exchange.
NZX shareholders should be smiling at the company's fifth annual meeting next Thursday - in February, the company lifted its dividend... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
A glance at his long, spindly legs sticking out of baggy shorts and his unshaven face and you could dismiss Julian Robertson as a dear old dad come to see a loved one off at the airport.
But the Gulfstream V jet out on the tarmac... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 5 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Skybus Airlines is shutting down, as the low-cost airline blames the “insurmountable” pressures of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment.
Stocks will seek to continue their recent recovery, with the market hoping that a likely U.S. recession will remain shallow, and with investors looking to the upcoming earnings season for an outlook on corporate profits.
WATFORD (Reuters) - Centre-left leaders from around the world called on Saturday for urgent reform of global financial institutions to prevent a recurrence of the credit crisis.
President Hugo Chavez says the country's cement industry will be nationalised with immediate effect. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 Apr 2008 | 3:06 pm
The world faces "the first truly global financial crisis", the prime minister tells a meeting of world leaders. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 Apr 2008 | 3:04 pm
Zimbabwe's opposition accused President Robert Mugabe of deploying militias and planning a war to reverse the result of last weekend's election Source: FT.com - US homepage | 5 Apr 2008 | 3:03 pm
DAMASCUS, MD (MarketWatch) -- Mercedes took the major overhaul tool to its introductory line for 2008 and came up with a petite sedan that is comfortable, fun to drive, and elegant.
Reuters - Alitalia (AZPIa.MI) union leaders said
they were willing to resume collapsed takeover talks with Air
France-KLM to avert the Italian airline's bankruptcy,
but warned that any possible deal would take time.
Reuters - There is more than a 50 percent chance
the United States could go into recession, former Federal
Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an
interview published on Sunday.
Reuters - Yahoo Inc has three weeks
to accept Microsoft Corp's $31-a-share cash-and-stock offer or
Microsoft may lower its bid and take its offer to Yahoo
investors, Microsoft said on Saturday.