If you are having difficulty reading the conflicting signals coming out of the
American economy, you are not alone. Consider this: a Los Angeles
Times/Bloomberg poll shows that 78% of Americans think we are in an economic
recession. A virtually simultaneous CBS News/New York Times poll found that
72% of Americans rate the financial situation of their households as “good”. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 25 May 2008 | 3:51 pm
THIS is a time for celebration in euroland. The European Central Bank (ECB)
will celebrate its 10th anniversary next Sunday with its reputation — and
that of the single currency — riding high. The euro will be a decade old in
January, having surprised the sceptics simply by virtue of its survival. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 25 May 2008 | 3:33 pm
Pay is back as a big issue and will remain so for some time. In a challenging
market, like the one we are entering, boardroom compensation will be an
emotive issue. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 25 May 2008 | 3:07 pm
Stocks could use a holiday during the coming Memorial Day-shortened week from the escalating energy prices and inflationary data that have dogged the equities market, fueling persistent worries about the ailing U.S. economy.
China’s Sichuan province was hit by a major aftershock on Sunday, the death toll from the May 12 earthquake passed 62,000, and dozens of dams damaged by the temblor were in danger of bursting, wire service reports said.
Who is to blame for the subprime mortage mess which has effectlively locked up much of the global credit markets and pushed the US economy into recession. It is the banks. Period. If they had been responsible in their home lending practices, most of the thrashing of the economy could have been avoided. Thus says Warren Buffett as he tours Europe like a king. According to Reuters "The banks exposed themselves too much, they took on too much risk .... It's their fault. There's no need to blame anyone else," he said. Buffett may be right, because a number of...
Anheuser-Busch (BUD) is anticipating a $46 billion buy-out offer from huge beverage company InBev. The US company's shares hit $58 on the rumor, a 52-week high. That is up from a low of just below $46. In other word's, it would be a pretty good deal. The Busch family and their minions don't like the thought of being rich but out of work. They think they have found a way to keep BUD from being gobbled up. To make that work, Anheuer-Busch would buy the part of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it does not already own. The plan just...
Just a week after having been on the brink of civil war, Lebanon is in a euphoric mood as parliament is set finally to name army commander General Michel Suleiman as the new president – a post that has been vacant for six months Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 May 2008 | 10:34 am
MADRID (Reuters) - Blame for the sub-prime crisis lies at the feet of banks who took too many risks in mortgage lending, U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett told newspaper El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.
MTN Group Ltd., the South African cellular-service provider, is now holding merger talks with India's Reliance Communications Ltd., people familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal. Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel Ltd. called off merger negotiations with MTN Group on Saturday, citing differences over the structure of the deal.
Sounding a gong couldn't have made it clearer. Federal Reserve officials are putting out the word that further interest rate cuts are unlikely. Fed Governor Kevin Warsh ditched the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 9:12 am
Sounding a gong couldn't have made it clearer. Federal Reserve officials are putting out the word that further interest rate cuts are unlikely. Fed Governor Kevin Warsh ditched the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 9:06 am
An Indian telecommunications company has called off merger talks with South Africa's largest mobile phone network operator, MTN Group Ltd., a company statement said. Bharti Airtel Ltd. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 8:19 am
Reuters - Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony
Corp (6758.T) said on Sunday it has developed dye-sensitized
solar cells with an energy conversion efficiency of 10 percent,
a level seen necessary for commercial use. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 25 May 2008 | 7:46 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corp said on Sunday it has developed dye-sensitized solar cells with an energy conversion efficiency of 10 percent, a level seen necessary for commercial use.
An entrepreneur is trying to cover the Earth with Web access, one hot spot at a time. But his big idea is encountering equally big obstacles. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 7:35 am
South Korean police on Sunday detained 37 protesters during a rally here against the government's decision to resume importing US beef, officials said. The detentions came... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 7:13 am
Vaalco Energy Inc. settled a proxy fight and legal dispute with Nanes Delorme Partners, which controls 8% of the Houston oil producer, the companies said.
Warner Bros. is hoping sex really does sell. The Time Warner-owned film studio suddenly has a lot riding on the box office performance of "Sex and the City" after the disappointing numbers posted by "Speed... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 6:47 am
Reuters - When CEO Takeo Fukui says he would spend
$10 billion to rack up a Formula One victory for Honda, you get
the sense that he really means it. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 25 May 2008 | 5:57 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - When CEO Takeo Fukui says he would spend $10 billion to rack up a Formula One victory for Honda, you get the sense that he really means it.
France's small shopkeepers, long celebrated for their baguette bread, roasted chickens or quaint selection of shoes, are waging a fierce fight against a government bill that would allow... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 5:41 am
Spanish airlines are facing growing pressure on their domestic routes from the expansion of the country's high-speed railway network, which the government says will be the world's most... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 4:47 am
The revised estimate of output of goods and services in the first three months of the year, to be released next week, will likely support the sense of optimism that pervades the market -- optimism that is not shared widely by economists.
Business at Cannes' billion-dollar market was morose this year, dampened by too many films on offer and a grim global economic climate, organisers said. Participation in the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 3:00 am
An Australian low-cost airline and a Canadian luxury resort and casino developer have launched two ambitious projects that aim to revolutionise Vietnam's fast-growing tourism industry. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 2:55 am
World leaders looking for ways to ease global food shortages may have found one answer in warehouses dotted around Japan where a rice mountain is standing idle. The United... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 25 May 2008 | 2:50 am
Marine Sgt. Jimmy Spence had to weigh the pros and cons of wartime against a sluggish economy when he considered re-enlisting last year. In the end, the military won.
Timothy Carron Brown, the company director behind the collapsed television production house Iostar and the £43m dotcom disaster Efdex, is due to go on trial for cheating the public revenue and forgery. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The Co-operative Group, the sole bidder for the Somerfield supermarket chain, is in early talks with rival supermarkets, including Asda and Wm Morrison, about selling on a raft of Somerfield stores if its bid for the retailer is successful. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
AS I'VE said before, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was dead right to hold interest rates at 5 per cent at the beginning of this month. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Britain's leading internet entrepreneurs see the dominance of Google as the biggest threat to their business and would like to see Yahoo! acquired by Microsoft to help counter the threat. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Reliance Communications, India's second-largest mobile phone group, is poised to table a £20bn bid for African mobile telecoms giant MTN after rival Bharti Airtel withdrew from takeover talks this weekend. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
The sale of London's loss-making Walthamstow greyhound track has added to fears about the sport's future in Britain, write Jonathan Sibun and Graham Roddick. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Investors are waiting for the opportunity to swoop on the depressed London commercial property market, says Jonathan Russell - but not until values fall further still. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Creditors led by Lloyds TSB are expected to lose as much as two-thirds of the £123m they lent to beleaguered telecoms group Vanco. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
Wolseley, the FTSE100 builders' merchant, has asked a trio of heavyweight City advisers to defend it against a potential takeover approach. Source: Telegraph Business | 25 May 2008 | 12:01 am
SOME TIME in 1998, doll designer Carter Bryant was driving past Kickapoo High
School in Springfield, Missouri, when he had a revelation. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
SIR RICHARD BRANSON has done just about everything to promote his products -
ballooning, jumping off buildings, dressing up as a woman - but he’s never
been shot before. Until now. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
TATE & LYLE, the sugar and sweeteners group, is looking at a possible sale of its £870m pension scheme. The firm has been conducting an unofficial auction for several weeks, according to industry sources. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The troubled telecoms carrier Vanco is expected to be sold this weekend as it
studies at least three takeover offers. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
ARUN SARIN, the chief executive of Vodafone, will tell shareholders this week he will not be drawn into bidding for MTN after the African mobile-phone operator abandoned plans to merge with Bharti Airtel of India this weekend. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
ADAIR TURNER, one of Labour’s most favoured government advisers, is in pole
position to be named as the new chairman of the Financial Services Authority
(FSA), the City watchdog. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
FIVE directors at HSBC could share a £120m jackpot over the next three years
in a controversial pay scheme to be debated at a shareholders’ meeting this
week. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 24 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
India's largest mobile operator has broken off talks with South Africa's MTN, dashing hopes for a deal that sought to forge one of the world's biggest emerging market telecoms alliances Source: FT.com - US homepage | 24 May 2008 | 9:07 pm
Stocks could use a holiday during the coming Memorial Day-shortened week from the escalating energy prices and inflationary data that have dogged the equities market, fueling persistent worries about the ailing U.S. economy.
Boston Properties announces it has reached a deal to buy the General Motors building and three other Midtown skyscrapers from high-profile New York developer Harry Macklowe for $3.95 billion in cash and debt.
Angry students hurled molotov cocktails at police after Indonesia hiked the cost of gasoline by 33 percent Saturday to rein in subsidies that are exploding along with world oil prices. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 24 May 2008 | 8:00 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Officials of BAE Systems Plc have told a U.S. court that a shareholder lawsuit charging illegal bribes were paid to win a Saudi arms deal worth up to $80 billion should be heard by a British court, not the U.S. court.
Reuters - Officials of BAE Systems Plc have
told a U.S. court that a shareholder lawsuit charging illegal
bribes were paid to win a Saudi arms deal worth up to $80
billion should be heard by a British court, not the U.S. court. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:36 pm
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The chief executive of European aeronautics and defense group EADS , Louis Gallois, called on the state to help it compete against arch rival Boeing .
Within a year, Auckland will host its first Dubai career expo - a recruitment drive for the rapidly growing United Arab Emirate, where salaries are tax-free and it costs less than $20 to fill your petrol tank.
Last year, more than... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Enjoy your tax cuts - you will probably pay for much of them through fiscal drag.
That's the reality for many higher income earners as Finance Minister Michael Cullen "all but" admitted to me on Friday.
Over the past eight years,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
The property market's spectacular run of capital growth is over for now and yields have been squashed by high prices and interest rates - but to many investors the local share market is a less-than-alluring alternative.
The newly... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Budgeting is back in vogue and spending volumes are shrinking as consumers tighten their belts in the wake of the credit squeeze.
Retail spending volumes shrank in the first quarter and ASB data shows spending on big-ticket and... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Stocks on Wall St fell yesterday to round out the worst week in three months as worries about high oil prices hammered energy-sensitive sectors and left investors on edge about inflation.
Economic bellwethers United Technologies... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
Jacqui Thomas, the founder of get.ahead.co.nz, talks about an initiative committed to helping Kiwis get ahead financially.
What is Get Ahead and who is it for?
www.getahead.co.nz is an online hub covering four key areas -... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
The credit crunch has hit home for thousands of New Zealanders as debt collection agencies report up to a 500 per cent increase in workload over the past few months.
Debt collectors who have been in the industry for more than 15... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 24 May 2008 | 5:00 pm
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Italian carmaker Fiat has held talks with U.S. rival Chrysler in recent weeks over various forms of cooperation, Alfa Romeo brand chief Luca de Meo told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche in a story published on Saturday.
Stocks could use a holiday during the coming Memorial Day-shortened week from the escalating energy prices and inflationary data that have dogged the equities market, fueling persistent worries about the ailing U.S. economy.
Reuters - Italian carmaker Fiat has
held talks with U.S. rival Chrysler in recent weeks
over various forms of cooperation, Alfa Romeo brand chief Luca
de Meo told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche in a story
published on Saturday.
U.S. stocks finish with losses for the day and tumble sharply on the week, as crude oil surges above $130 a barrel, putting pressure on a market beseiged by worries that inflation will crimp consumpation and further weaken the economy.
Warren Buffett has decided not pull his punches about how bad things are going to get in the US. Speaking of the economy, Reuters quotes him as saying "But the people are already feeling the effects. It will be deeper and last longer than many think." Buffett's name gets added to those of people like George Soros who have strong concerns about the next several quarters. The stock market is supporting their views. GM (GM), GE (GE), airlines, and many companies in the financial sector now trade at 52-week lows. The Fed has revised its forecast for GDP down. Many...
In late 2005 and early 2006, GM's (GM) stock hit multi-year lows, dropping below $20. Ford's (F) shares also sold down on fears that both companies could face Chapter 11. Their costs were far too high and their pieces of the US market were being lost to Toyota (TM) and other competitors. The UAW had become the worst enemy of GM. Costs of maintaining health benefits and pensions had become back-breaking for the company. Now GM has eliminated many of those labor costs through a new UAW contract and employee buy-outs. The largest immediate problem at the US automaker is...
Stocks fluctuate on oil prices, Fed reports, inflation fears Wall Street started the week mixed, with the Dow ending higher but the Nasdaq down. Tuesday and Wednesday saw the Street fall as worries about inflation held investors back and the Fed reported a pessimistic outlook for the next two years. The Dow managed to close slightly higher Thursday when oil prices finally pulled back. The TSX started a shortened week off with a bang on Tuesday when it went over the 15,000 mark for the first time, driven by the high price of oil. However, the rise was short-lived as...
Reuters - The United States is already in a
recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many
people expect, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said in an
interview published in German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.
BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States is already in a recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many people expect, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said in an interview published in German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will issue three licenses for high-speed third-generation mobile phone services and called for a merger of China Unicom and Netcom, two of its four biggest telecoms providers, in a long-awaited industry revamp.
Reuters - Italian carmaker Fiat has
held talks with U.S. rival Chrysler in recent weeks
over various forms of cooperation, Alfa Romeo brand chief Luca
de Meo told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche in a story
published on Saturday.
Reuters - The United States is already in a
recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many
people expect, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said in an
interview published in German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.