Late word is that Dell (DELL) may team up with interests in the Middle East to buy several companies in the region including a mobile phone company. According to Reuters Tecom in Dubai "said it expects to make up to three acquisitions in the Middle East and Africa this year, including in a mobile phone firm." Why Dell would want to be involved when it is still having trouble with its core PC business is anyone's guess. Douglas A. McIntyre
A deadline from Electronic Arts for shareholders in Take-Two to accept a $1.9bn takeover offer passes. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 18 May 2008 | 9:35 am
Australia's third largest bank Westpac refused Sunday to rule out increasing its merger offer for St George Bank Ltd as it moves to create the country's largest financial services group. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 9:20 am
The massive earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province last Monday has now killed 30,000 or more people, and a new aftershock struck on Sunday, news services reported on Sunday.
US car parts firm Delphi takes legal action against an investment group over its withdrawal from a deal. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 18 May 2008 | 9:02 am
ZURICH (Reuters) - The end of the credit crisis is getting closer and the U.S. real estate market should recover in the second half of the year, Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann said in a newspaper interview.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp Ltd , which has bid $17.6 billion for St George Bank in the biggest banking takeover ever in Australia, is bracing for rival offers to emerge that could push the price tag even higher.
Aid is slowly reaching the millions of victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and international diplomats have been urging the country’s ruling generals to enable more assistance, Reuters reported.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Tecom Investments, a telecom investor owned by the ruler of Dubai, is mulling a joint venture with Dell Inc. and said it expects to make up to three acquisitions in the Middle East and Africa this year, including in a mobile phone firm.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Tecom Investments, a telecom investor owned by the ruler of Dubai, is mulling a joint venture with Dell Inc. and said it expects to make up to three... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:56 am
US President George Bush holds further talks with Arab leaders ahead of a speech to the World Economic Forum. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 18 May 2008 | 7:23 am
Nice Systems Ltd. said that it lost a round in a patent-infringement case brought against it by a unit of Verint Systems and was ordered to pay $3.3 million in damages.
US workers are facing a nearly unprecedented belt-tightening as real wages are likely to fall for the eighth straight month in May while declining home values and a lackluster jobs market have cut off... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
Raymond Mignone, a financial planner in Little Neck, has a client whose daughter needed $40,000 for a down payment on a house. Without any other choice and not wanting to disappoint her daughter, mom dipped... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
WINNERSTERRY LUNDGRENCEO of Macy's sees stock get boost from better-than-expected results, deal with FAO Schwarz.JAMES KEYESTurnaround continues at Blockbuster as CEO outguns Wall Street estimates.MARY... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
There's a little something extra on sale at the Ann Taylor Loft store on 34th Street beside the madras plaid halter dresses and patent-leather sandals - the entire 20,136-square foot store near Fifth Avenue,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
Dear John: The mortgages I am familiar with require an additional payment if the borrower puts down less than 2 percent of the home's value. Seems like all of the subprime borrowers should have been paying... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
WHICH species is more threatened - the polar bear or the principled lawmaker who will make tough decisions in the face of his or her own political interests? If you picked the latter, you'll get an ear... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
A string of donations by railroad giant CSX Corp. to organizations linked to key lawmakers is raising questions about whether the company is using political connections to fend off a band of deep-pocketed... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
There's a power struggle brewing at Bloomberg LP. The media and financial data company, which has grown into a $5.4 billion powerhouse chiefly through the leasing of its must-have computer terminals,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit is so committed to his controversial vision for keeping the banking giant united that he's telling everyone - even people who don't likely care. Citi's credit card customers... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
THE battle over the bankrupt TVT Records intensified last week after creditors claimed a financing deal between owner Steve Gottlieb and hedge fund D.B. Zwirn was aimed at diverting assets from the creditors... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 7:02 am
Dear Liz: My wife and I were bombarded with offers for special credit card rates. Now, for absolutely no reason on our part, our credit card issuer has notified us that the rates on our accounts are about to skyrocket from 1.99% and 3.99% to the prime rate plus 23.99%, or nearly 30%. The issuer also lowered our credit limit to equal our balance. I'm not aware of any derogatory information on our credit reports that could explain this change. We initially used the low rates for purchases on which we could have gotten a fixed-rate, conventional loan.
Americans aged 19 to 29 who are about to be dropped from their parents' insurance policies needn't go without.
Elaine Farrell deals with insurance forms and rules every day at the dental office where she works. But she recently found out that she's as much a novice as anyone else when it comes to general health insurance. ¶ Her oldest daughter, Kristen, turned 23 last week and was booted off her parents' medical plan. The insurance company had mailed a notice about the impending change in status only a month earlier, sending Mom into panic mode. ¶ "I never had to do anything like this before," Farrell said. "There were so many things to think about." ¶ Farrell's daughter, a full-time Cal State Long Beach student who had a severe case of asthma as a child, uses inhalers and takes medication. ¶ That would be enough for many companies to deny coverage altogether, especially in California, where state law won't allow insurers to issue policies that exclude most preexisting conditions. The Long Beach residents got their share of rejection letters until they finally found a bare-bones policy -- no dental, no vision, high co-payments, three doctor visits annually -- for $126 a month.
Reuters - Westpac Banking Corp Ltd , which
has bid $17.6 billion for St George Bank in the
biggest banking takeover ever in Australia, is bracing for
rival offers to emerge that could push the price tag even
higher.
Wealthy Singaporean investors may force ethnic Malays from a Malaysian state being touted as a key economic zone, former premier Mahathir Mohamad has warned. Malaysia... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 6:12 am
Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) overwhelmingly approved new labor agreements with General Motors and Chrysler, rounding out the year's contracts with North America's Big Three auto producers,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 6:04 am
Sen. Edward Kennedy was rushed on Saturday from the family compound in Hyannisport, Mass., to a hospital after suffering a seizure, but it appeared he would recover, news reports said.
Reuters - A top shareholder in Daewoo Shipbuilding
and Marine Engineering Co Ltd (042660.KS) said on Sunday it had
withdrawn from talks to have Goldman Sachs manage the
sale of the South Korean shipbuilder. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 18 May 2008 | 5:10 am
SEOUL (Reuters) - A top shareholder in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd said on Sunday it had withdrawn from talks to have Goldman Sachs manage the sale of the South... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 5:10 am
SEOUL (Reuters) - A top shareholder in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd said on Sunday it had withdrawn from talks to have Goldman Sachs manage the sale of the South Korean shipbuilder.
South Korean military intelligence officials will monitor the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the world's third largest shipyard, a report said Sunday. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 4:48 am
It was to have been a marriage made in heaven. When Austrian Airlines and would-be investor, Saudi billionaire Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, announced they were tying the knot... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 4:13 am
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company will be transformed from an impenetrable bureaucratic giant into a real privately run company when restructuring is completed next year, says... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 3:51 am
Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. has agreed with Enel SpA to jointly set up solar power plants in Italy, a newspaper said Sunday. Sharp, one of the world's largest... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 2:58 am
VIENNA (Reuters) - The chief executive of Austrian Airlines was quoted on Saturday as saying he would be open to a majority takeover of Austria's national carrier if that were needed for it to prosper amid soaring fuel costs.
VIENNA (Reuters) - The chief executive of Austrian Airlines was quoted on Saturday as saying he would be open to a majority takeover of Austria's national carrier if that were needed for... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 18 May 2008 | 2:53 am
US investors are defying the weak dollar and going on a European spending spree, write Ben Harrington and Louise Armitstead. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The chairman of Taylor Nelson Sofres has a fight on his hands fending off a hostile bid – and he isn’t used to losing, writes Richard Northedge. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Two of the five shareholders in Camelot are planning to offload their stakes in the operator of the National Lottery, paving the way for the biggest shake-up in its ownership since its launch nearly 15 years ago. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The boss of one of Britain's largest privately-owned industrial companies has joined the growing throng of businesses to issue a warning over the punitive impact of Government tax hikes. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The B&B chief is under pressure to stand down over his rights issue U-turn and his failure to diversify the bank's mortgage book. Katherine Griffiths reports. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Under pressure from main backer Citigroup, Guy Hands' company has won itself three more months to turn the record label around. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
WH Smith's chief executive Kate Swann is considering a £50m bid for the stationery chain Paperchase - the latest in a string of acquisitions -despite facing a downturn on Britain's high street. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The bosses of Britain's biggest bookmakers will this week take the stand in the High Court in a case that could change the face of the British betting industry. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
I was in Ukraine last week - just as a nasty scuffle broke out in the country's parliament. Hobbled by the illogical constitution created after the 2004 Orange Revolution, its politics lurches from crisis to crisis. Source: Telegraph Business | 18 May 2008 | 12:01 am
THE chat is gloomy these days on channel 123.45, the radio frequency that lets
airline pilots talk to each other as they whizz between Europe and America
high above the North Atlantic. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander is defending the media against real estate industry accusations that it is to blame for the housing market slump.
Last week Alistair Helm, chief executive of realestate.co.nz, the website owned... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Alistair Darling will this week offer an olive branch to multinationals in an attempt to head off a threatened corporate exodus from Britain. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The top 50 greenest companies in Britain are unveiled today in the inaugural
Sunday Times Green List. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The high-street giant Marks & Spencer is likely to announce it has made
profits of more than £1 billion – last seen a decade ago – when it reports
annual results this week. However, the board directors, led by Sir Stuart
Rose, will miss their bonus. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The retail entrepreneur Harold
Tillman has asked advisers to look at his options for selling his stake
in the Jaeger fashion chain. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
British Airways plans to ground part of its fleet from October to cut costs
and stem potential losses caused by the crippling price of fuel. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Sombre – there is no other word for it. One good measure of the seriousness of
the economic situation is that the Bank of England governor has stopped
making jokes. Gone are the quips about disco dancing or the true meaning of
Christmas not being clear until Easter (as far as retail-sales statistics
are concerned). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The embattled pub operator Mitchells & Butlers is preparing to bring its
biggest shareholder, the property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, on to its board
as it tries to rehabilitate itself in the eyes of investors after losing
£390m in a failed property venture. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of British Energy, has been warned by some of
the company’s biggest shareholders that they will reject any takeover offer
for the nuclear power group unless it offers a “significant” premium to the
current share price. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Kiwis are awash with debt to the tune of $12.669 billion, but the tightened credit environment hasn't affected the readiness of credit and store charge-card providers to keep lending - on high interest terms.
As credit card transactions... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 10:00 pm
Sen. Edward Kennedy is rushed from the family compound in Hyannisport, Mass., to a hospital after reportedly suffering a seizure, but it appears he will recover.
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday's session are Devon Energy Corp., Biovail Corp. and E-Trade Financial Corp.
E-Trade says it is selling its stake in the India-based IL&FS Investsmart financial services organization to HSBC in a deal expected to net $145 million for the company.
Sen. Edward Kennedy is rushed from the family compound in Hyannisport, Mass., to a hospital after reportedly suffering a seizure, but it appears he will recover.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen's ninth (and probably last) budget will not bring home the electoral bacon for Labour.
That is, unless his colleagues and some frightening political poll results have persuaded him to throw in a... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
A surge in house-buying last week has prompted warnings that first-home buyers holding out for a bargain should get in before they miss out.
This follows predictions major banks will lower interest rates and the official cash rate... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Stocks in the US finished little changed yesterday, as surging oil prices lifted energy shares and offset data that showed consumer confidence sank to its lowest in 28 years.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose more than 1 per cent each,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
What is it called and what sort of savings product is it?
Viking Capital Bonds are fixed investment options.
What is the company behind it?
Viking Capital is a subsidiary of NZAX-listed Viking. This is the company run... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Grant Brenton, general manager of personal client services at Guardian Trust, talks about wealth management.
What is the state of the wealth management business at present?
While everyone is aware of the global credit crisis,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Yesterday was a more than interesting day for Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). The stock rose more than 6% to $17.05 after funds disclosed stakes in the coffee retailing giant. Activist investor Nelson Peltz disclosed that he had taken a stake of more than 842,000 shares via his Trian Partners as of March 31, 2008. Starbucks' problems go back farther than that and shares were at $17.50 on that date. This stake is worth a little more than $14 million after Friday's gain. Another hedge fund called Maverick Capital had taken a stake of about 12.5 million shares, which is a...
Reuters - U.S. exports have been helped by a
weaker dollar and this is providing a boost to an otherwise
weak economy, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis
Lockhart said on Saturday.
DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc reached a tentative contract agreement late Friday aimed at ending an 11-week-long strike that had triggered thousands of layoffs and cost General Motors Corp at least $1 billion.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. exports have been helped by a weaker dollar and this is providing a boost to an otherwise weak economy, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said on Saturday.
With gasoline prices hitting record levels, it seems everyone has a tip on how to save fuel. Much of the advice is well-intentioned, but in the end, much of it won't lower your gas bill.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - American International Group Inc plans to establish a global shared services and data centers in Malaysia through one of its subsidiaries, the insurance giant said on Saturday.
Drowning in a mortgage you can't afford? Whether or not you get a new one will be decided by someone you've probably never met at a company whose role is barely visible: the mortgage servicer.
Demand for new homes collapsed last year. Next up could be a similar drop in the rest of the construction market -- and that could be the latest drag on an already sputtering U.S. economy
The government said Friday that it would halt deliveries to the strategic oil reserves in July, a move many lawmakers have been calling for in an attempt to boost oil supplies and bring down gas prices.
AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday that financial markets are "considerably calmer" now than they were two months ago. He predicted the economy will be rebounding by the second half of this year.
Saudi Arabia will increase oil production by 300,000 barrels a day, a significant jump. The price of crude should drop sharply when the market opens. According to the FT "Analysts said it was likely that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which have spare production capacity, would follow the Saudi lead and raise output." If other OPEC members follow, oil could be pressured back toward $100 as supply increases and speculators move out of the market and cover bets on prices moving above $130. The leading OPEC members are almost certainly worried about the incredible run oil has had to...
Banks will post much better earnings as the year goes on. Most of their write-offs are behind them. What else is there on their balance sheets to revise down in value? That thinking is a colossal example of delusional thinking. It has been spread, due to excess optimism or mediocre analysis, by bank and brokerage CEOs. The matters of fact are that housing prices continue to fall, default rates on ARM subprime mortgages continue to rise, and inflation in the costs of food and gas suck the spending power of the lower middle classes to zero. Reuters makes the point...
Late news out of the economy track system is that the buildings are collapsing all around. After Goldman Sachs (GS) panicked and said that oil would rise to $141, crude immediately spiked to $128 as traders jumped on the railroad of self-fulfilling prophesies. It will get worse. US refineries reported that they are making more diesel and less gas. Look for the pump to read $5 a gallon by Labor Day. In Ann Arbor, the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment dropped to a 17-year low with a figure of 59.5. According to Bloomberg, this "compared with an...
Economic data, oil prices cause volatile week for stocks Wall Street closed higher Monday, as the U.S. dollar rose and oil prices fell. However, Monday’s gains were lost on Tuesday as, despite a better-than-expected retailers report, Wal-Mart reported a cautious outlook for 2008. Wednesday’s consumer price report delivered good news, raising the Dow from Tuesday’s low. Weak reports on manufacturing and jobless claims didn’t keep Wall Street down on Thursday, as oil prices fell. The TSX started the week at a record high on news from EnCana and RIM, but by Tuesday had lost those gains on weak energy stocks,...
Reuters - Westpac Banking Corp Ltd , which
has bid $17.6 billion for St George Bank in the
biggest banking takeover ever in Australia, is bracing for
rival offers to emerge that could push the price tag even
higher.
Reuters - U.S. exports have been helped by a
weaker dollar and this is providing a boost to an otherwise
weak economy, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis
Lockhart said on Saturday.
AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday that financial markets are "considerably calmer" now than they were two months ago. He predicted the economy will be rebounding by the second half of this year.