Miki Izumisawa's artistic talents result in creations that you're unlikely to find at other restaurants.
Miki Izumisawa isn't your typical sushi chef. If Japanese customers come to her cafe "expecting an ordinary sushi restaurant," she says, "they will be surprised."
It is elevated to fine art, with famous models posing for top fashion photographers.
All little boys had seen them, stuck to pegboards at the back of a garage, the only bursts of color amid the dank light and grime and tools. Girlie calendars were there to sneak a guilty peek at while our fathers were talking to the mechanic about the ping in the family Chrysler. They spoke to feelings boys had but were thought not of a piece with polite middle-class life. Here, among working men and dirt, was where these thoughts belonged, even if the women on the calendars looked as if they were used to much classier surroundings.
Concerns about the impact of the credit crisis and the weak economy will come into sharp focus next week, with investors set for a flood of earnings from ailing financials as well as the technology sector.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund should sharpen its focus on currency exchange rate surveillance, challenges posed by sovereign wealth funds and supporting global financial market stability, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Saturday.
AFP - The International Monetary Fund holds its spring meeting here Saturday amid what officials describe as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression and as the global economy weakens.
Bear Stearns & Co.'s assets under management have shrunk 20 percent since the end of November, and stock and fixed income trading has plummeted to "well less" than half of activity levels Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 9:56 am
HARTFORD, Conn. _ General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt was expected to tell the world Friday how the conglomerate's global strategy had paid off and allowed it to ride out the credit... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 9:41 am
A hamlet near here of wooded gulches, rocky outcrops and views of the snowy tops of southern Colorado's Sangre de Cristo mountains is the perfect escape for retirees and telecommuters... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:58 am
Lehman Brothers is testing the bounds of how far the Federal Reserve will go to dislodge jammed credit markets and unwind bloated bank balance sheets. The New York-based investment bank run by Dick Fuld... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
Wall Street took it on the chin yesterday after conglomerate General Electric shocked the market with its first profit decline in years - and then wreaked further havoc when it lowered its full-year forecast... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
CBS pay CBS CEO Les Moon ves was paid $36.8 mil lion for 2007, a 28 per cent increase from the previous year. His sal ary and bonus rose 16 percent to $23.8 mil lion, according to a fil ing. Chairman... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
A judge in Texas yesterday refused a request by several New York-based banks to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Clear Channel Communications Inc. and two buyout firms trying to acquire the radio operator. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., the US discount carrier that serves 70 destinations from Denver, filed for bankruptcy, becoming the fourth US airline to seek court protection in less than a month. Frontier... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
Washington Mutual Inc.'s 2008 loss will be wider than first estimated, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which recommended selling the shares short. Goldman analysts including James Fotheringham... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:51 am
Wall Street's high-rolling CEOs live a lifestyle that would make Hollywood movie stars jealous _ penthouse apartments, private jets, and paychecks tipping $60 million a year. Corporate Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 8:36 am
Reuters - Finance chiefs from rich nations
offered a gloomier assessment of the global economy on Friday
and vowed to act swiftly on wide-ranging reforms aimed at
moving beyond a credit crisis that threatens world growth.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finance chiefs from rich nations offered a gloomier assessment of the global economy on Friday and vowed to act swiftly on wide-ranging reforms aimed at moving beyond a credit crisis that threatens world growth.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) cannot syndicate its EMI loan, AMD (NYSE: AMD) has lost its CTO, Fedex's (NYSE: FDX) CEO sees a slowdown in the economy, and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) can't sell phones with TVs. Citigroup cannot seem to keep from getting hit with bad news almost every day. Its loan to music company EMI was supposed to be part of a package of debt sold to several private equity firms including Apollo and TPG. As it turns out, EMI is doing so poorly that Citi can't put this paper in the package that it is dumping. The total value of...
Top financial leaders, faced with the biggest crisis to hit the global economy in at least a decade, are pledging to strengthen their regulation of banks and other financial institutions... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 7:59 am
Robert W. Greene, a reporter and editor at Newsday who led investigative teams that won two Pulitzer Prizes and brought together reporters from across the country to uncover corruption in Arizona after... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 7:36 am
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon was met with large protests on Saturday when he toured a new nuclear plant in Japan that was jointly built by the two countries. About... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 7:14 am
American Airlines has canceled 595 more flights, bringing this week's total to nearly 3,100 as inspections continue on the wiring of its MD-80 jets. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
A Beverly Hills billionaire says the firm, an employee and a broker misled him and his wife into buying stock as the company faltered.
Beverly Hills billionaire H. Roger Wang has accused Bear Stearns Cos. of duping him and his wife into buying 150,000 shares of the struggling brokerage's stock -- including 100,000 shares on March 14, the day that federal officials first intervened to keep the firm from tumbling into bankruptcy.
The country is prosperous and confident, and now longer-term loans are a big incentive. Car sales also are rising elsewhere in Latin America. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
The action, which follows similar increases by rivals, comes as the airline finishes up inspections that grounded 300 jetliners.
Beleaguered American Airlines, still coping with thousands of flight cancellations, said Friday that it would raise fares by as much as $30 on round-trip tickets to help offset rising fuel costs.
American Airlines says services should be normal by Sunday, after cancellations over safety fears. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 12 Apr 2008 | 6:58 am
Reuters - Microsoft Corp wants
to stick with its original takeover offer for Yahoo Inc
, but is not ruling out News Corp joining its bid or
other options, a source close to the company said on Friday.
SEATTLE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp wants to stick with its original takeover offer for Yahoo Inc, but is not ruling out News Corp joining its bid or other options, a source close to the company said on Friday.
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp wants to stick with its original takeover offer for Yahoo Inc, but is not ruling out options including News Corp joining its bid, a source close to the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 2:06 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Staff at the Federal Communications Commission are expected to recommend that it review rules on how phone and cable companies can use customer information as they try to take business from each other, an FCC official said on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Staff at the Federal Communications Commission are expected to recommend that it review rules on how phone and cable companies can use customer information as they... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 1:25 am
BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co posted an unexpected 6 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, the biggest shock yet to an American industrial bellwether from the credit crisis and the latest sign the U.S. economy may be in a recession.
Reuters - The rocky ride for the U.S. stock
market may intensify if earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase
, Merrill Lynch , Citigroup and other large
banks and financial services companies rattle investors already
concerned about a U.S.-led economic slowdown.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rocky ride for the U.S. stock market may intensify if earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase , Merrill Lynch , Citigroup and other large banks and financial services companies rattle investors already concerned about a U.S.-led economic slowdown.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rocky ride for the U.S. stock market may intensify if earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase , Merrill Lynch , Citigroup and other large banks and financial services Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 1:17 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Democrats said on Friday their investigation had raised questions about how Merck & Co Inc and Schering-Plough Corp documented a key meeting about a controversial study of their Vytorin cholesterol drug.
Japan’s finance minister says he sees “moderate recovery” in the country’s economy, in comments following a meeting of central-bank governors and finance ministers from the world’s seven richest nations.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tyco International said on Friday it has agreed to pay bondholders $250 million under a preliminary settlement of a widely watched dispute over its restructuring into... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:15 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tyco International said on Friday it has agreed to pay bondholders $250 million under a preliminary settlement of a widely watched dispute over its restructuring into three separate entities last year.
The Group of Seven industrialised nations endorsed plans to force banks to hold more capital to guard against risks that contributed to the credit crisis, as part of an initiative to strengthen the financial system Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:06 am
The top economic officials of the wealthy Group of Seven nations say the global economy faces "a difficult period" with a raft of woes that could cause more trouble in the coming months.
London has attracted yet another major mining float as Fresnillo, the world's largest primary silver miner, said it planned to list in London next month in an IPO that could value it at around £4bn and propel it into the FTSE 100. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Bryony Gordon and Iain Hollingshead posed as first-time buyers to test how the credit crunch is really affecting would-be homeowners Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Stock markets fell sharply after a surprise profits warning from General Electric, as one the world's largest companies and a bellwether for the US economy became the latest victim of the credit crisis. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Finance ministers last night invited the heads of the world's biggest banks to a dinner in Washington to warn them that more regulation is inevitable in the wake of the financial crisis. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
One in three mortgages is now being taken out "on the never never" and interest-only home loans have doubled in popularity during the last five years, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Fitch, the credit ratings agency, has warned that it may downgrade the debt of DSG International to "junk status" following the retailer's profit warning earlier this week. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
Staff at the latest London-based hedge fund to be sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission are alleged to have used names from Harry Potter books and well-known retailers to avoid their allegedly illegal practices being detected. Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
As the next rights to Premiership football come into view there are signs that Sky is no longer the limit Source: Telegraph Business | 12 Apr 2008 | 12:01 am
This was a week of spectacles. One of them was provided by video images of the Olympic torch under siege in London, Paris and San Francisco. Disruptive protests in each city raised hackles in Beijing and eyebrows in other parts of the world. They also put at risk a tradition conceived under the supervision of Adolf Hitler before the 1936 games in Berlin.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slumped on Friday after surprisingly weak earnings from General Electric Co and data showing consumer sentiment at a 26-year low fed fears the economy is in recession.
Reuters - Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc
received U.S. court approval on Friday to operate in Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection, where it sought refuge from financial
pressures of skyrocketing fuel prices and a weakening economy.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc received U.S. court approval on Friday to operate in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, where it sought refuge from financial pressures of skyrocketing fuel prices and a weakening economy.
Jonathan Clements, author of more than 1,000 columns for the Wall Street Journal, is hanging up his pen, but not before sitting down with Tess to talk about the state of personal finance. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:29 pm
With most Americans saving less than 1% of their pay, how are low-income people supposed to save? Peter Granitz introduces us to the individual development account. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:24 pm
Concerns about the impact of the credit crisis and the weak economy will come into sharp focus next week, with investors set for a flood of earnings from ailing financials as well as the technology sector.
The G7 group of most industrialised nations passes a plan aimed at easing the global credit crisis. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:15 pm
This week on CNBC's MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer highlighted how Russia has many very promising prospects for emerging markets investors. He gave many ways to play the country with ADR's of public Russian companies that trade in the U.S. We only wanted to run a single summary since this was his fixed series going all week. Here were his picks this week for Russia: Cramer's Russian pick from Monday was in metals and mining pick of Mechel (NYSE: MTL) for steel demand being driven in Russia, China, and the Middle East. On Tuesday, Cramer picked Russian food producing giant Wimm-Bill-DANN...
Tens of thousands of current borrowers and new buyers will be refused
mortgages this year unless the Bank of England provides greater financial
help to banks and building societies, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)
cautioned yesterday. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:01 pm
The Group of Seven leading economies last night unveiled extensive plans
designed to restore battered confidence in world financial markets shaken by
the credit crisis on the both sides of the Atlantic. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
The timetable for the redevelopment of Heathrow was thrown into doubt
yesterday after British Airways and BAA announced that BA’s planned move of
its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 (T4) to Terminal 5 (T5) was being put
back from April 30 to June. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
Yahoo! held a board meeting yesterday to review how far its discussions with
Time Warner about a white knight rescue were progressing, although any
agreement is still thought to be a fortnight away. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
GE, the American industrial conglomerate and one of the world’s largest
companies, issued a shock profits warning yesterday, saying it would miss
full-year forecasts. The announcement sent markets into a tailspin. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
Banks and governments raised almost €33 billion (£26.5 billion) in the
European bond markets this week in a sign that confidence is returning to
the long-term debt markets for the first time since the credit crunch hit
last summer. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
Lee Kun-Hee, the chairman of Samsung, a tycoon considered by some to be more
powerful than South Korea’s President, has endured a humbling day of
questioning as his sprawling business empire is investigated for alleged
bribery. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
The credit crunch has bitten hard into commercial property values over the
past eight months, but from January to the start of this week share prices
had staged a mini-rally, based on hopes that the slide in share prices was
overdone. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) gains its first Mexican listing next month
when Fresnillo, the world's largest silver miner, seeks a £4 billion IPO,
putting it in the FTSE 100. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 11 Apr 2008 | 11:00 pm
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of the major airlines gain ground on media reports that Northwest and Delta Air Line pilots are closer to reaching an agreement on how to integrate their seniority lists, the last hurdle to a merger for the two companies.
In this edition of Getting Personal, Chris and Tess talk about the Thrift Savings Plan, money merge accounts, 529 plans and choosing a financial services firm. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:49 pm
On this week's a Day in the Work Life, we learn about the joys -- and dangers -- of a life lived among superheroes with comic store manager Brandon Zern. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:49 pm
You've got tax questions, the IRS has answers and we get you connected. We revisit a February segment where Frank Keith of the IRS answered your refund questions. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:49 pm
GE's consumer and commercial-finance units generate strong earnings growth as credit markets boomed earlier this decade. But those businesses have suffered since the credit crunch hit last year and they're now threatening to undermine GE's reputation as a solid growth company, experts say.
The chaos facing air travelers continued Friday as American Airlines grounded 595 more flights, or 25% of its schedule, and stranded tens of thousands of passengers.
How much of our desire to spend, spend, spend is willpower and how much is hardwired? Tess submits herself to scientists at Stanford to try to discover the answer. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:14 pm
Oh how the fortunes of the former Fed chair have changed. Economics editor Chris Farrell sets the story straight on the policies of the last chairman of the Fed, Alan Greenspan. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:10 pm
Tax Day is right around the corner. What should you do if you're afraid you won't be able to pay in full? Tess asks Andrea Coombes for some options. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 10:02 pm
If private mortgage insurance is required in order for homebuyers to put less than 20% down, how come it isn't saving us from the subprime mess? Jill Barshay reports. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:44 pm
Stocks tumbled Friday morning after General Electric's earnings miss amped up worries about how badly the economic slowdown will hurt corporate profits. A steep drop in a key consumer sentiment index added to the early negative tone.
Thousands more passengers endure cancelled flights as American Airlines continues aircraft safety checks. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:35 pm
Journal Register Co. (NYSE: JRC) has been given notice by the NYSE that its shares are slated to get booted off of the prestigious exchange. The NYSE said in its statement that the company failed the 30-day $1.00 average for 30 consecutive days. The exchange even cited its "abnormally low price" in the decision. We have featured this one on numerous occasions via our own "stocks under $10" and the "Old Media / New Media" weekly newsletters as one that was going to buckle under its own weight. We've even started identifying which newspaper stocks might actually be worth buying...
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, will make a rare public appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday in a bid to stop publication of an unauthorised book Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:24 pm
An estimated 300,000 Palestinians have found their way to Lebanon, where they make up 10% of the population. Many have trouble finding jobs and buying property, so they're left to find economic advantages where they can. Don Duncan reports. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
Skyrocketing food prices around the globe are such a concern they're on the agenda for the World Bank's annual meeting this weekend. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a managing director for the Bank. She talks with Kai Ryssdal about what can be done. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
The days of lavish spending with the corporate credit card may be gone with the down economy. Companies are cutting back, and they just got a new way of policing the plastic. Lisa Napoli reports. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
Some of the nation's biggest drug and medical companies say they'll disclose how much money they're giving doctors and health advocacy groups. It's no coincidence Congress is considering rules about improper influences in medical care. John Dimsdale reports. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 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 | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
A federal court is considering a case that would overturn Watergate-era laws limiting fundraising and spending by political groups. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports that the court case is a legacy of the 2004 presidential election. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
West Coast fisheries managers have voted to cancel the Chinook salmon fishing season due to historic lows in the fish's population. They're also hoping the crisis will get public officials' attention. Sarah Gardner reports. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:16 pm
Reuters - General Electric Co posted an
unexpected 6 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Friday,
the biggest shock yet to an American industrial bellwether from
the credit crisis and the latest sign the U.S. economy may be
in a recession.
Uncertainty about EMI's finances is frustrating efforts by Citigroup to reduce its loan exposure to the music company Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 9:02 pm
Jason Bazinet, a media analyst with Citigroup Global Markets, put it nicely in a research note Thursday: "Who, after all, wants to compete as a sub-scale player -- with a less than complete set of Internet assets -- in a world dominated by Google and Microhoo?"
US consumer sentiment is now at its lowest level in 26 years, says a closely-watched survey. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 8:45 pm
Given the state of the economy, maybe it shouldn't have been such a shock when General Electric reported a 6% drop in first quarter profits. But it was. And if there's one thing Wall Street doesn't like it's surprises. Bob Moon reports. Source: Marketplace | 11 Apr 2008 | 8:40 pm
US stocks slumped on Friday and were down for the week after results from industrial bellwether General Electric missed estimates, re-igniting concerns that corporate profits would not escape financial market turmoil. Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 8:34 pm
Brent crude hits yet another all-time end of trading high, as oil prices are again lifted by global economic concerns. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 8:16 pm
Reuters - Home goods retailer Linens 'n Things
is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court
protection, a person familiar with the situation said on
Friday.
These are far from all of the lows, but these are many highlighted stocks that traders will care about. The prices for today are based on the last hour of trading and prior ranges rather than the closing prices for this Friday. AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) hit a new low today on no direct news from a 52-week range of $22.06 to $39.42. Shares were down over 7% late in the day at $20.91. Hmm.. products, services, and maintenance to the airlines. Go figure. Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AVR) down to a new low despite an upgrade by...
Test your financial IQ with the Federal Reserve's personal financial literacy quiz and hear how members of the Marketplace staff faired. Source: Marketplace Money | 11 Apr 2008 | 6:50 pm
British Airways delays moving most of its long-haul flights to Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 6:34 pm
General Electric underlined the depth of the global financial crisis, announcing its worst quarter in five years and slashing full-year forecasts Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 6:04 pm
Auckland International Airport's board is not holding its breath for anyone else wanting a major chunk of the company.
Eighteen months after potential bidders first touched down, ownership of the company is back to where it started,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm
American Airlines cancelled another 595 flights, bringing the week's total to more than 3,000, as safety inspections of the embattled US carrier's Boeing MD-80 aircraft extended to a fourth day Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:48 pm
Amid the sometimes-violent protests over the 2008 Beijing Olympics, no one comes away looking good. But one constituency is weathering the tumult fairly well so far: Olympic sponsors.
Some protest organizers have called for a boycott of the companies sponsoring what critics are trying to brand as the Genocide Games, complete with Olympic rings redesigned as handcuffs. The sponsors this year include McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kodak, General Electric, and Visa.
While multinational companies generally don't enjoy pairing up with dictatorial regimes and human rights abusers, several brand-management and sponsorship experts said the consequences of being affiliated with the 2008 Games in Beijing are likely to be minimal.
Jeff Zucker of NBC said this week that the network had sold 75 percent of its advertising inventory for the Summer Games, showing that advertisers' Olympic appetite remains strong.
And despite the international attention on China's human rights record in Tibet, Sudan, and elsewhere, no sponsor contacted for this article expressed doubt or remorse about its affiliation with the Olympics. Nor did any seem fazed by the protests dogging the traditional torch runs this week in London, Paris, and San Francisco.
"I don't think it's that surprising," says Deirdre Latour, director of public relations and marketing at G.E. "With an event that is that high profile, people are going to try to gain attention for their causes. We just don't think it's appropriate to politicize the Games."
Latour says that G.E. hasn't changed strategies and is relying on the same marketing plans it had in place more than a year ago. Sponsoring the Beijing Games remains a great investment, she adds, because of the size of China and its economy.
If sponsors are immune to pressure from protest groups, they aren't likely to feel the pangs of conscience themselves either. G.E. stands to make $600 million in sales through its role building infrastructure—selling lighting, providing energy and water—in more than 30 Olympic venues in Beijing.
That number doesn't count the return on advertising that the company plans to conduct on-site or intangibles like the benefits of holding companywide contests for Olympic tickets.
Coca-Cola, another Olympic sponsor, declined to comment for this article but provided a formal statement saying that the Beijing Games mark Coke's 80th year of involvement with the Olympics.
"As one of the truly global events," Coke said in its statement, "the Games provide Coca-Cola an unique opportunity to personally connect with fans in the more than 200 countries where we do business."
Longtime Olympic sponsors like Coke have even less incentive to back out than relative newcomers do, because established sponsors are grandfathered in to lower sponsorship rates, says Jim Andrews, senior vice president of IEG, a sponsorship advisory and research firm.
Discounts, of course, don't mean that sponsors are thrilled with the international ruckus. Especially since they have spent as much as $80 million on a four-year sponsorship of the Olympic program or $100 million for a specific affiliation with the Beijing Olympic Committee.
(Those prices, by the way, are much higher than they were in Athens in 2004 or Sidney in 2000, reflecting the premium placed on reaching 3.1 billion Chinese citizens—and potential consumers.)
"If you're paying all this money to associate with all the positive attributes of the Olympics, now there's a negative that's been introduced," Andrews says. And, he adds, those sums don't even include the expense of Olympics-themed ads and promotional events that make purchasing a sponsorship worthwhile.
In any case, it's too late to for sponsors to do much about it, even if they wanted to. The fees are paid, and the commercials have been produced. "From a sheer bottom-line standpoint, shareholders of those companies would be pretty upset if you threw it away," Andrews says.
Besides, while certain companies, particularly visible consumer brands like Coke or McDonald's, may lose educated consumers, at least temporarily, over an issue like sponsoring the Beijing Olympics, "that number is not large enough to affect the consumers who embrace these brands and who couldn't find Darfur or Tibet on the map," Andrews adds.
Nevertheless, no sponsor plans to be taken by surprise in the face of worsening protests or a catastrophic event like a boycott of the Games by major nations.
As unlikely as such eventualities are, sponsors "need to be preparing themselves for crisis situations," says Dean Crutchfield, senior vice president for marketing at Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy. The firm worked with the International Olympic Committee to develop campaigns for the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Games, as well as with G.E., Visa, and other past and present Olympics sponsors.
Crutchfield advises his clients to anticipate the worst that could happen and to develop contingency plans accordingly. His interest in how the brands weather the Games is academic as well as personal: He predicts that the Beijing Olympics will be "an incredible communications exercise" that will be studied for some time.
For now, no one is criticizing sponsors or predicting adverse consequences for their brands.
"Sponsors have taken a moral stance by virtue of offering significant financial support for the Olympics themselves," says Anthony Shore, global director of naming and writing at Landor Associates, a firm that has worked with Samsung to create branding for its Olympics sponsorship.
"They are celebrating the human ideals embodied in the Olympics," says Shore.
Indeed, some observers speculate that the most valuable brand of this summer's Olympics may ultimately be the most vulnerable.
Targeted ads might be a brass ring for the online marketers, but consumers just aren't buying it. According to a recent Harris Interactive survey, 59 percent of Americans take exception to Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo tracking their online activities for marketing purposes.
The nationwide survey was conducted with the help of Dr. Alan F. Westin, Professor of Public Law and Government Emeritus at Columbia. Westin argues that the distrust stems from consumers disbelief of the value proposition offered by marketers.
"Websites pursuing customized or behavioral marketing maintain that the benefits to online users that advertising revenues make possible – such as free emails or free searches and potential lessening of irrelevant ads – should persuade most online users that this is a good tradeoff, said Westin. He added, "Though our question flagged this position, 59 percent of current online users clearly do not accept it."
The trick to winning over younger consumers? Transparency. After four privacy policies were shown to respondents, a majority claimed that they were more comfortable with the sharing of their data for advertising purposes.
Westin offers a couple explanations as to why the older crowd remain skeptical:
The failure of a larger percentage of respondents to express comfort after four privacy policies were specified may have two bases - concerns that web companies would actually follow voluntary guidelines, even if they espoused them, and the absence of any regulatory or enforcement mechanism in the privacy policy steps outlined in the question.
You will see them proudly sitting on the main streets of provincial New Zealand: old-fashioned banks with columns flanking their main entrance, usually the most impressive heritage building in town.
Nowadays they're more likely... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
The property market claimed another victim this week with the suspension of the $242 million Tower MortgagePlus Fund. Tower has joined a long list of major organisations, including ING and Macquarie, with poorly performing funds that... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Employers trying to pay their workers less because they are in KiwiSaver and receive an employer contribution to their savings are being warned they could be breaking the law.
Since April 1, employers have been required to contribute... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
If timing is everything, the Canadian bidders for a chunk of Auckland Airport got it half right.
Their December offer of $3.65 quickly took on an irresistible appeal even to diehard opponents as the sharemarket tumbled over summer.... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Fonterra's forecast payout to dairy farmers has hit a new high with New Zealand's drought bolstering global commodity prices.
Fonterra has lifted the forecast for this season to $7.30 a kilo of milksolids, up from the previous... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
RICHMOND: Overseers of the US and international financial systems need to quickly put reforms in place to restore confidence in markets disrupted by a global credit crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday.
The... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
The tough trading climate has seen a dip in sales for Michael Hill International.
Sales figures for the nine months to March 31 released by the jewellery retailer yesterday showed an overall same stores sales decline of 1.8 per... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Figures out on Tuesday are expected to show inflation went from bad to worse in the first three months of the year.
The median forecast among market economists is that the consumers price index rose 0.8 per cent, propelled mainly... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
Getting financially sorted is something in the back of the mind for most New Zealanders but Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan lives and breathes it - for at least three-and-a-half days every week.
Crossan, in her fifth year... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 11 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm
National City Inc. (NYSE: NCC), has fallen on reports that the Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), the second largest Canadian lender by assets, has offered an minority investment in the troubled bank. National City has written down some $333 million in the fourth quarter, largely due to its exposure to the wonderful Florida and Ohio housing markets. The bank has also been noted recently as being under pressure from regulators to boost its capital and reserves or to find a potential buyer before first quarter results are released this month. Supposedly both KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) and Fifth Third Bancorp...
General Electric - widely viewed as a proxy for the U.S. economy - posted a surprising first-quarter earnings miss Friday, deflating investors' hopes that the conglomerate could rise above an impending slowdown.
If you have followed shares of Revlon, Inc. (NYSE: REV), you already know what a long-term let down this stock has been. Despite years of having top models pedal its wares, it's stock has been a financial disaster. Management has decided to play one of the oldest shell games on Wall Street. Its board of directors just announced a REVERSE STOCK SPLIT with a 1 for 10 ratio. So now 1,000 shares will become 100 shares. management called this an effort to appeal to a broader base of shareholders, comply with NYSE listing standards, and reduction in certain costs. The...
Cadbury Schweppes sees strong sales as it seeks approval to demerge its North American drinks business. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 4:34 pm
Small business owners are being invited to a week of events to help them cope with the continuing credit squeeze. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 3:49 pm
Mortgage lending could be cut by half in 2008 without extra funding, says the head of the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 3:27 pm
The soaring cost of basic foodstuffs and a weakening labour market sent US consumer confidence spiralling to a 26-year low this month compounding the gloomy outlook for the US economy Source: FT.com - US homepage | 11 Apr 2008 | 3:22 pm
US giant General Electric reports large falls in profits at its consumer finance and industrial divisions. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 11 Apr 2008 | 3:02 pm
But one true believer has faithfully stood by them, even doubling its stake in Yahoo to more than 10 percent of the company. Yahoo said on Thursday that Capital World Investors of Los Angeles had upped its stake in the company to 136 million shares at the end of March from 70 million shares three months earlier.
There's more. Capital World has a sister investor called Capital Research Global that owned 85 million Yahoo shares at the end of 2007. That puts the total stake of the parent company, Capital Group, at 16.5 percent of the internet giant.
In December, Capital World and Capital Research were split into separate divisions because the combined entity had grown too unwieldy. But because both manage money in the same family of funds, it's possible the total stake in Yahoo could prove even larger once Capital Research reports its own stake.
"You can't assume the Capital World numbers reflect a diminished holdings on the other side," said Chuck Freadhoff, a spokesman for Capital Group. "All I know is we didn't file a Capital Research filing today on Yahoo."
Often, when a major investor boosts its shareholdings as a takeover grows hostile, it's someone angling for a board seat so he or she can play activist. But this time, the aggressive investor clearly has a different game plan.
Who is this secret admirer of Yahoo? The Capital Group is among the largest investors in the United States, but the average retiree may know it better by the brand name of its flagship fund family, American Funds. It oversees 50 million shareholder accounts and more than $1 trillion in investments, which is up from $360 billion in five years.
American Funds has leaped into the ranks of Fidelity and Vanguard in recent years, quietly so because it's bypassed mass marketing to work with investment advisers. "The advisers in general have been big fans," said Greg Carlson, a Morningstar analyst who follows the Capital Group. "They like the stability and their long-term approach."
Carlson says that approach is grounded in an unusual practice in the industry: deploying several managers for each mutual fund. That makes it harder for one manager to stand out as a star—or to crash and burn after reaching for stellar returns.
So American Funds hardly fits the profile of a Microsoft stooge, or even a closet corporate raider. Which makes its interest in Yahoo that much more intriguing. What is its motive?
Past filings for Capital World Investors' other recent investments turn up an interesting pattern. In January, both Capital World and Capital Research co-invested in Citigroup with Sandy Weill and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, right when the market was down on Citi.
And in February, Capital World disclosed a similarly contrarian 6 percent stake in Countrywide (but unlike fellow Yahoo investor Legg Mason, it seems to have built up its ownership after Countrywide's collapse).
The thinking of Yahoo's biggest fan seems to be this: Bring us your downtrodden, your underdogs, your lowly valued. If they are right, then they're likely betting that Yahoo will end up selling at a higher price from here.
AOL Money & Finance (TWX) moved ahead of Yahoo! (YHOO) Finance in both total visits and page views during March. For the period, AOL had 409 million page views and 85.3 million visits. Yahoo!'s property had 337 million page views and 79.9 million visits. Yahoo! kept a modest lead in unique visitors at 15.8 million to AOL's 14.7 million. The largest change, however, was in the page views category. In January 2007, Yahoo! had a 120 million page view lead. MSN Money continued in third place with 13.5 million unique visitors, 57.9 total visits, and 197 million page views. Dow...
HARTFORD, Conn. -- General Electric Co. reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter profit today and lowered its outlook for the full year, as a slowing U.S. economy sapped its financial services business. Its shares tumbled almost 12% in morning trading
Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) hit a new 52-week low today at $2.45. While The Justice Department gave its plan to merge with XM Satellite (NASDAQ: XMSR) an OK, there has been no news from the FCC. Some powerful members of Congress are still concerned the combination will create a monopoly. Sirius has even deeper problems. The company has over $1 billion in debt on its balance sheet. In an environment were risky debt is poison, investors are clearly concerned about whether Sirius can survive in its present form, especially if a shrinking economy cuts into subscriber growth and widens the firm's...
Washington Mutual is under the gun again. Shares fell 7% in early trading Friday after analysts at Goldman Sachs said the Seattle-based thrift could be looking at $14 billion in additional loan loss provisions this year and suggested that investors go short on WaMu shares.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) poor earnings report may be a shock to most. When you consider that the annual preview was just given one month ago, this flies in the face of the economy and the financial malaise bottoming out around current numbers. So what we wanted to do was come up with a fair market value based upon Jeff Immelt's new guidance for 2008. Immelt put guidance at $2.20 to $2.30. If you take a mid-point of $2.25 and assign a fair market P/E multiple of 15, you derive a new fair value of $33.75 for the stock....
Import prices surged in March and some of the price jumps are a record for modern trading history. Even the Labor Department's reputation for under-reporting inflation statistics can't mask the high inflation. Oil is only part to blame as non-petroleum costs broke many records. Overall import prices rose by +2.8% in March, after increasing an unrevised 0.2% in February. Economists were expecting import prices to be up by +2.1% in March. But it just goes from bad to worse. The year over year readings show that since March 2007, import prices have risen by a whopping +14.8%. Last year's "year...
Goodness gracious, fellow capitalists - I've never seen such a bunch of long faces! Where's that courageous can-do spirit that has forged growth out of fictional developments for so many years?
Old Navy, once the powerhouse in the Gap's stable of stores, has struggled mightily in recent years. On Thursday, the Gap said sales at Old Navy stores open at least a year tumbled an astonishing 27 percent in March.
The Gap has begun an overhaul, but it faces major challenges. Old Navy's previous success centered on its quirky, family-centric vibe (remember the "performance fleece" jingle?) and a strong emphasis on value-price basics.
Of late, however, its offerings have failed to stand up against even more wallet-friendly basics offered at Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco.
So Old Navy is going to have to do more than produce better value-price basics; the brand can't beat the big discount chains in the margin game, and consumers have made it clear that its image and identity are going stale.
"It's too difficult to create enough differentiation in basics, because there are too many alternative places to buy basic apparel," says Jeff Klinefelter, a research analyst with Piper Jaffray.
Gap executives say that part of the problem is that Old Navy has placed too much emphasis on fashion in women's apparel, the Wall Street Journalreports.
But the experience of some "fast fashion" retail chains suggests that perhaps Old Navy really needs to double down and target fashion-conscious twentysomething women, a demographic for whom apparel remains a priority even in hard times.
Even in a sluggish spending environment, retail brands with trendy yet inexpensive offerings have fared among the best.
After conquering Europe, H&M of Sweden entered the U.S. market with enormous success. It reported a 15 percent increase in U.S. revenue in the first quarter of 2008.
Spanish brand Zara is another wildly "cheap chic" entrant; while Zara's parent company Inditex does not break down its sales figures by country, that company has seen a 25 percent rise in overall profit so far in 2008.
Now it's time for Old Navy—better late than never—to see if there's room for one more in the fast-fashion business.
That means pumping up a fashion-forward image, and dramatically shrinking the time between concept and execution for merchandise.
The brand already brought in bold-faced fashion name Todd Oldham as creative director last fall, and earlier this year showed signs of moving in the fashion-forward direction with a snazzy new marketing campaign and merchandise targeted at the twentysomething woman.
Old Navy has already introduced the idea of creating mini "collections" that change in theme monthly. February was an "urban safari" concept; March is bright colors and whites.
Klinefelter of Piper Jaffray believes that the way forward for low-price retailers these days is to grab a piece of consumers' mindshare by providing a differentiated offering.
As for to judging Old Navy's steps so far, it's too early to judge the potential for a big rebranding.
"It's a very difficult time to interpret results of new strategy," says Klinfelder. "It's the wrong time, and it's too soon."
AFP - The International Monetary Fund holds its spring meeting here Saturday amid what officials describe as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression and as the global economy weakens.
Reuters - Finance chiefs from rich nations
offered a gloomier assessment of the global economy on Friday
and vowed to act swiftly on wide-ranging reforms aimed at
moving beyond a credit crisis that threatens world growth.
Reuters - Microsoft Corp wants
to stick with its original takeover offer for Yahoo Inc
, but is not ruling out News Corp joining its bid or
other options, a source close to the company said on Friday.
Reuters - The rocky ride for the U.S. stock
market may intensify if earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase
, Merrill Lynch , Citigroup and other large
banks and financial services companies rattle investors already
concerned about a U.S.-led economic slowdown.
Reuters - Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc
received U.S. court approval on Friday to operate in Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection, where it sought refuge from financial
pressures of skyrocketing fuel prices and a weakening economy.
Reuters - General Electric Co posted an
unexpected 6 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Friday,
the biggest shock yet to an American industrial bellwether from
the credit crisis and the latest sign the U.S. economy may be
in a recession.
Reuters - Home goods retailer Linens 'n Things
is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court
protection, a person familiar with the situation said on
Friday.
