Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS) is seeing shares down 15% at $55.66 on almost 4-times average trading volume today. This is after the company said it wasn't for sale after it was believed that offers were going to be made to the company. The truth is that offers may have been made or they might have been hinted at, but that doesn't mean they would have been attractive offers. Last week, we went cautious on a high volume alert at VOLUME SPIKE (Vsinvestor.com). While "reviewing offers" sounds good to most, we dug into this one and weren't too excited over the...
You got burned with frequent flier miles, which were nearly impossible to redeem and hardly worth the hassle, so credit card issuers turned to other kinds of incentives to entice you to charge more. But most rewards programs aren't much better, and consumers are still eager to sign up for them despite the same old traps.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual , the large bank and home lender slammed by the mortgage slump, said on Monday that it would strip Chief Executive Kerry Killinger of his title of chairman starting next month.
UK mortgage firm Bradford & Bingley falls into the red and warns of a slowdown as the housing market cools. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 3:32 pm
Cheap exports fuelled by the weak US dollar helped a key gauge of US manufacturing activity improve last month, a new report revealed Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 3:31 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. defense communications and information technology company Harris Corp , breaking its silence after weeks of speculation, said on Monday the company is not for sale and is not pursuing a merger, sending its stock down more than 15 percent.
Stocks tanked Monday morning, starting off June on a sour note, as management shakeups at two major banks overshadowed a pair of better-than-expected economic reports.
Your career is more likely to take you in diverse directions these days than was the case a generation ago, when climbing the corporate ladder pretty much involved a well-worn path that many had trod before. With the job market being on the weak side, you may be asked to travel a road less taken. That doesn't mean, though, that you should jump at every opportunity to relocate, especially if you are a homeowner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Factory activity contracted in May for the fourth consecutive month and inflation pressures surged to their highest since in four years, heightening concerns about the world's largest economy.
Reuters - Factory activity contracted in May for
the fourth consecutive month and inflation pressures surged to
their highest since in four years, heightening concerns about
the world's largest economy.
Reuters - Factory activity contracted in May for
the fourth consecutive month and inflation pressures surged to
their highest since in four years, heightening concerns about
the world's largest economy.
With airlines cutting out extras and charging for things that used to be free -- like checked baggage - passengers are wondering what they'll pay for next.
A key index of manufacturing rose in May, surprising economists, but the purchasing managers' report issued Monday indicated a fourth straight month of sector contraction.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Global sales of semiconductors rose 5.9 percent in April on solid demand for personal computers, mobile phones and products using flash memory, an industry group said on Monday.
Microsoft announces a deal with Hewlett-Packard that it hopes will boost its web search traffic. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 3:17 pm
Britain’s economic picture grow gloomier as mortgage approvals continue to decline and a measure of activity in the manufacturing sector points to a stall in growth.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose more than $1 on Monday, bouncing off support above $125 and receiving a lift from strong natural gas and refined oil products futures.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar gets a lift after better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data, but comes under renewed pressure as stocks slump and oil futures recover from earlier lows.
Wall Street stocks snapped a four session winning streak after high profile departures at two major banks revived fears that the costs and casualties of the credit crisis will continue to mount Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 3:09 pm
Wachovia Corp. chief executive officer Ken Thompson will step down at the request of the bank's board, the company announced Monday, becoming the latest CEO casualty of the credit crunch.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell more than 1 percent on Monday, weighed down by financial shares after the No. 4 U.S. bank ousted its chief executive and a British mortgage lender reported a loss and gave a bleak outlook, reviving fears of more credit market losses.
Reuters - Global sales of semiconductors
rose 5.9 percent in April on solid demand for personal
computers, mobile phones and products using flash memory, an
industry group said on Monday.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures climb, set to recover part of last week’s more than 4% decline but prices are below $900 an ounce in New York as strength in the U.S. dollar dulls investment demand for the precious metal.
Service levels at Heathrow are a "national embarrassment" and the
airport's regulator is the worst in the world, the head of the International
Air Transport Association (IATA) said today. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:59 pm
Ford officially completes the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian conglomerate Tata for £1.7bn. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:57 pm
U.S. manufacturers see their businesses contract further in May but by such a slim margin that it suggests the economy is continuing on a sluggish pace of growth rather than experiencing an outright recession.
Wachovia's Ken Thompson is retiring as chief executive after being asked to leave by the board of directors, mindful of the No. 4 U.S. bank's weak share price.
Stocks seeing active trading Monday include the major railroad stocks, Bradford & Bingley, GM, Harris Corp., Intrepid Potash, Lionsgate, Sunstone and Yahoo.
Shares of financial stocks open slightly lower, as financial services continue to feel fallout in the mortgage and housing markets, with No. 4 U.S. bank Wachovia announcing the ouster of its CEO.
Reuters - Wachovia Corp ousted Ken
Thompson as chief executive of the fourth-largest U.S. bank in
the wake of growing legal troubles and loan losses tied to the
purchase of a big mortgage lender just before the nation's
housing boom went bust.
BANGALORE (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp ousted Ken Thompson as chief executive of the fourth-largest U.S. bank in the wake of growing legal troubles and loan losses tied to the purchase of a big mortgage lender just before the nation's housing boom went bust.
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday defended the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency and said its recent decline was only a small factor behind a surge in oil prices.
Inflation in the eurozone is at "uncomfortably high levels", the International Monetary Fund warns. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:17 pm
Ken Thompson has been ousted as the chief executive of Wachovia after a year
in which losses on high-risk sub-prime mortgages forced the share price of
America’s fourth largest bank down by more than half. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:16 pm
Checked out the bestseller lists lately? In February you would have spotted motivational expert Marci Shimoff's "Happy for No Reason," which claims to teach you "how to experience sustained happiness for the rest of your life." In March came "The Geography of Bliss" by journalist Eric Weiner, a travelogue of places on Earth where people are the happiest. Both of these follow on the heels of "Stumbling on Happiness" by Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert, which has been translated into 20 languages.
Vedanta Resources, the India-focused metals and mining group, is to buy the
operating assets of bankrupt US copper miner Asarco for $2.6 billion ($£1.3
billion). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:06 pm
Financial shares tumbled in London on Monday after Bradford & Bingley revealed profits halved in the first four months of the year and increased the size of its rights issue by a third.By mid afternoon... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:04 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Loan financing for InBev's potential takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc looks uncertain as a tight loan market may not bear such huge acquisition funding, bankers told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.
Reuters - Loan financing for InBev's potential
takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc looks uncertain as a tight
loan market may not bear such huge acquisition funding, bankers
told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.
Wachovia's board has asked chief executive Ken Thompson to retire, replacing him with Lanty Smith, the current chairman. Washington Mutual said separately that chief executive Kerry Killinger would step down as chairman Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:49 pm
Wachovia's board has asked Ken Thompson, its chief executive, to retire and has replaced him with Lanty Smith, the current chairman, after the US bank suffered from big loan losses and an ill-timed purchase... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:49 pm
Yves Saint Laurent, the designer and commercial visionary whose work defined the modern era of fashion, died in Paris at the age of 71. Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, hailed him as 'a creative genius' Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:45 pm
Citing high oil prices and the slowing economy, the International Air Transport Association sharply lowered its industry forecast for 2008, saying it expected a collective loss of $2.3 billion. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:32 pm
The fourth-biggest US bank, Wachovia, is parting company with its chief executive Ken Thompson. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:31 pm
In a bid to boost its Web search traffic, Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced a deal that will make its Live Search the default on Hewlett-Packard Co. personal computers shipped in the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:29 pm
cutting into demand and as a probe into futures trading by a U.S. regulator continued to weigh on the market. Light, sweet crude for July delivery was down $1.81 to $125.54 a barrel in Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:21 pm
DETROIT (Reuters) - Major automakers are expected to post steep declines in U.S. sales for May, as the spike in gasoline prices battered an industry already reeling from weak consumer confidence and tighter credit.
Spanish construction group Ferrovial said Monday it had received the approval of nine banks to restructure the debt of its British subsidiary, the airports operator BAA. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:12 pm
At least six people were killed and up to 20 were injured by a suicide bomb blast outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad in an attack attributed by security officials to Islamic militants seeking revenge for the publication of cartoons of prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers in 2005 Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:08 pm
Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are raided by the Office of Fair Trading over possible price-fixing. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:07 pm
Wall Street stocks were set for a lower start on Monday as investors anticipated the latest economic data, which were expected to show US manufacturing contracting for the fourth month in a row and steep... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 1:05 pm
The airline industry will lose $2.3 billion this year because of hikes in oil prices, the world airlines group said Monday, revising its earlier forecast of a collective industry profit. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:53 pm
Separately, China Telecom and its parent will buy the code division multiple access, or CDMA, network and accompanying business from China Unicom companies for $15.86 billion. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:45 pm
A lot of analysts thought that Cerberus management, usually so clever and sharp, made a buffoon's move when they bought into Chrysler and GMAC. The auto market immediately went South. It turns out the money management firm was not so dumb. According to the FT, "the buy-out firm has sold "significantly" more than half its equity to about 90 investors." That does not say much for the fund's view of the recovery of the auto industry. GM (GM) and Ford (F) shares have been hit recently as high gas prices cut into auto sales. Now, another group of smart funds...
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson assured Gulf investors on Monday that the United States will remain open to sovereign wealth funds and urged oil producers to open their energy sectors... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:41 pm
December 2000: B&B; floats on the London Stock Exchange. The company is valued at 1.7bn with shares costing 247p. There are currently just under one million share holders. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:35 pm
December 2000: B&B floats on the London Stock Exchange. The company is valued at £1.7bn with shares costing 247p. There are currently just under one million share holders. Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:35 pm
Finance chiefs from the 15 euro countries feted the European Central Bank's tenth birthday on Monday with a battle against record inflation ensuring a tough start to its second decade. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:33 pm
The South Korean government said on Monday it was delaying the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, after a request from the governing party and large weekend street protests. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:30 pm
The Nationwide building society is putting up mortgage rates by up to 0.3% as price fluctuations continue. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:28 pm
The South Korean government said Monday it was delaying the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, after a request from the ruling party and large weekend street protests. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:20 pm
There is a complicated merger in the Chinese telecom market, which is part of the government mandate to consolidate a fragmented telecom industry in China. China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU) has formalized a deal that came out over the weekend to acquire China Netcom Group Corp. (NYSE: CN) in a deal that puts the debt and equity value around $56.3 Billion. In a separate deal, China Telecom Corp. (NYSE: CHA) will acquire China Unicom parent's CDMA network for roughly $15.86 Billion in cash. China Netcom will be delisted and will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Unicom. Recently, China's government...
World oil prices weakened on Monday, extending last week's steep falls owing to concerns about lower global energy demand, according to traders. New York's main oil futures... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:07 pm
Ford Motor Co. has completed the sale of its storied Jaguar and Land Rover businesses to India's Tata Motors Ltd. Tata said Monday it has closed on the deal first announced on March ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:02 pm
Ken Thompson, a former investment banker, is known as a dealmaker. He created the nation's fourth-largest bank by the 2001 merger of First Union and Wachovia. His last deal, the $24 billion acquisition of Golden West, has proved to be his undoing.
Wachovia has ousted Thompson following an unexpected loss in its first quarter and amid signs that the second quarter is shaping up poorly as well.
The bank's chairman, Lanty Smith, has been appointed interim C.E.O. Thompson was stripped of the chairman's job early in May.
"No single precipitating event caused the board to reach this decision, but a series of previously disclosed disappointments and setbacks cumulatively have negatively impacted the company and its performance," Smith said in a statement. "The board believes new leadership will help to revitalize and reenergize Wachovia and enable it to realize its potential."
But, clearly, most of Wachovia's woes stem from its purchase of Golden West, a California lender that was a pioneer in adjustable-rate mortgages. It was a much-criticized acquisition, one that was made even as the housing boom was fading.
As a result, nearly half of Wachovia's mortgage lending is in California and Florida, two states with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
Even Thompson acknowledged in February that "With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the timing was poor for this expansion in the mortgage business."
In April, the bank said it would cut its dividend by 41 percent and would raise $8 billion from the sale of convertible preferred stock and common shares.
Since then, some Wachovia shareholders have been calling for Thompson's ouster.
Wachovia has also run into some regulatory problems, facing an investigation involving possible money laundering and paying some $144 million to settle accusations that it allowed telemarketers to use its accounts to rip off customers.
Service at Heathrow is a national embarrassment, the head of the International Air Transport Association says. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 11:55 am
Wachovia's board of directors has asked Chief Executive Ken Thompson to retire. Thompson will be replaced on an interim basis by Lanty Smith. Smith currently serves as chairman of... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 2 Jun 2008 | 11:48 am
Billions of dollars in losses and a falling stock price can cost a CEO his job. Wachovia (WB) announced today that its current Chairman, Lanty Smith, has been appointed interim Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Ken Thompson, who is retiring at the request of the Board. The bank's stock has dropped from a 52-week high of $54.95 to $23.80, near a one-year low. If the firing begins a trend, a number of bank and investment firm chiefs could go this summer. No one should be surprised if John Mack is pushed out a Morgan Stanley (MS) if it has a poor...
The new version of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone should hit Europe next month. It will be much less expensive for consumers to buy because Apple will also cellular providers to underwrite the price of the phone. According to The Times, "Apple is expected by analysts to allow mobile phone operators to subsidise the touch-screen handset, which is likely to use third-generation technology, giving it much faster internet access and download speeds." The combination of low price and the ability to run on a much faster network could push iPhone sales up sharply which would give Apple a new, very large...
A year on from a pioneering deal that saw Associated British Foods add
Patak’s, the Indian food company, to its larder of grocery brands, the
multi-national is at it again. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 11:39 am
These are ten of the analyst calls we are focusing on this Monday morning in pre-market trading: Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) started as Hold at Deutsche Bank. Energy Conversion (NASDAQ: ENER) started as Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers. Infineon (NYSE: IFX) cut to Hold at Citigroup. Laboratory Corp. (NYSE: LH) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Novartis (NYSE: NVS) started as Overweight at JPMorgan. Sovereign Banc (NYSE: SOV) raised to Outperform at KBW. Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) raised to Buy at UBS. Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) cut to Hold at...
In a federal courtroom in Los Angeles this morning, the final scene in the decades-long saga of the law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach—a tale that some in Corporate America might call a horror movie—is set to play out. Melvyn Weiss will appear before Judge John Walter to plead for leniency in sentencing him on his plea of guilty to a federal racketeering charge, for paying illegal, secret kickbacks to people who put their names on securities class-action lawsuits filed by the firm for more than 25 years.
William Lerach, Weiss's former law partner, recently checked into the federal prison at Lompoc, California, to begin serving 24 months—the maximum time allowed under his plea agreement for his part in the conspiracy. Tart to the end, Lerach told Judge Walter in February: "I pleaded guilty in this case because I was guilty, I knew what I was doing was wrong," he said. "It was, as they say, felony stupid."
The firm itself may be nearing a settlement. Nathan Koppel of the Wall Street Journal reports that Milberg L.L.P., which was indicted two years ago, is close to a deal with federal prosecutors that calls for the firm to pay roughly $75 million.
Of the lawyers charged in the long-running criminal investigation, Lerach was the one reviled by corporate titans. They even formed a verb from his name: to be "Lerached."
Yet Weiss, who turns 73 on August 1, faces a much stiffer sentence: Prosecutors are pressing for 33 months, the maximum under his plea agreement, while Weiss and his lawyers are seeking a more lenient 18-month term.
Weiss and Lerach have always been an odd pair, a fact played out by their respective ends. After pleading guilty last fall, Lerach began to shape his eventual comeback, penning op-eds in several national newspapers, spouting about the rights of investors. On the eve of his sentencing, he gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal, saying of the kickbacks, "Believe me, it was industry practice."
Weiss, by contrast, has expressed nothing but shame since pleading guilty March 20. "I deeply regret my conduct and apologize to all those who have been affected, including all of the wonderful and tremendously talented lawyers and other employees of the firm, none of whom had any involvement in any wrongdoing," Weiss said in a statement that day.
The voluminous materials filed by Weiss' defense team as part of the plea for leniency includes a letter from Weiss himself. He begins: "Looking up from the bottom of the deep pit into which I have descended has been painful. I have spent day after day, and sleepless nights, reflecting on how I could have permitted myself to stray so far off course from the hopes and desires I established for my life's work."
A host of impressive personalities have weighed in for Weiss, among them the constitutional law scholar Arthur Miller (who has made a great deal of money serving as a Milberg Weiss consultant), the maverick former federal judge Stanley Sporkin (who was also chief of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission), trial lawyer David Boies, who considered joining Weiss' firm after he left Cravath Swaine & Moore in 1997, and even Arthur Levitt, the S.E.C. chairman.
Weiss spells out his "life's work" in a 125-page document submitted to the court, which tells the story of Mel as we never knew it. (That is just the beginning: There are four volumes in all, to make room for the 250 letters submitted on his behalf.)
Weiss begins with his "humble origins" growing up in the Bronx, the son of an accountant. Weiss, according to the story, rose at 3 a.m. to work with his father, delivering invoices to meat markets and bakeries, "crawling into dusty attics to find client invoices and bills." It was, as the sentencing memo states, "hard, tedious work" for which he was paid $25 a week.
Dear reader, to do justice to the panoply of good works, large and small, of the accused, would be a while in the making. But there is cinema here—some choice spots:
• Weiss had an Erin Brockovich period, in which he signed up a "ragtag group" of "moms" to a California class action in the early 1980s, alleging toxic water in the streets. One testimonial letter from a plaintiff in the case, known as the Stringfellow Acid Pits case, talks of money he gave to the cause, telling a woman, "It's not a loan, Penny, it's a gift—Merry Christmas."
• There is an As Good as It Gets moment, which seems right out of the Jack Nicholas vehicle with Helen Hunt. In this scene, we have a patron trying to order a cocktail from a waitress, not his own—a transaction that transmogrifies from a $20 tip to $100 on "special sneakers."
• Another yet-to-be-shot "Everyone Can Count on Mr. Weiss in Hard Times" moment involves Jim Sheehy, the doorman at the St. Regis Hotel. Sheehy weighs in with a letter about the bad choice he made, sinking all of his life savings in a stock that the owner of the hotel convinced him to invest in. Weiss brought a lawsuit for the doorman, getting him a $135,000 recovery and "never charged me a dime!" according to Sheehy's letter. Weiss handled the arbitration for a co-worker of Sheehy, who was fired from the hotel.
The real-life director Steven Spielberg figured into Weiss' practice. Elly Gross was an Auschwitz survivor whose testimony was taped by the Schindler's List director. Gross, who at the age of 15 arrived at Auschwitz by cattle car, became a plaintiff in one of Weiss' pro bono class-action cases on behalf of Holocaust survivors. Weiss was part of a team of lawyers who obtained settlements totaling $6.25 billion for Holocaust victims and their families from Swiss banks and companies, including Volkswagen, accused of using "slave labor." At the time, Michael Mukasey, then chief judge of the federal court in lower Manhattan and now attorney general of the United States, said of the settlement, "It is a remarkable, remarkable thing.... When lawyers get a bad rap, I will speak up for lawyers on the basis of this, if nothing else."
Gross submitted a letter to Judge Walter on Weiss' behalf. She told two stories about Weiss: One explains that Weiss promised her a book of her poems would be published. (It was, and Weiss wrote the forward.) Another was Weiss' donation of 5,000 beds at a hospital to honor her parents. In the letter, Gross relates that Weiss told her, "Elly, you don't have to worry anymore."
The evidence in support of Weiss' life of philanthropic efforts, especially in the service of Jewish causes, are legend. In fact, the U.S. probation officer, Kelly Watson, describes Weiss' philanthropic work as "impressive," yet recommends a 33-month sentence of imprisonment. While Lerach may have been the main villain among corporations, prosecutors claim the evidence against Weiss is much more severe: They point out that Weiss, unlike Lerach, negotiated with one of the plaintiffs for $1.22 million in kickbacks in 2003, while Weiss and his law firm were under criminal investigation for the plot.
This, the prosecutors say, "reflects a criminal arrogance that makes Weiss significantly more culpable" than Lerach. Prosecutors also point out that Weiss tried to hide a fax evidencing the conspiracy, claiming it was part of his personal records, when in fact it came from the credenza of his partner, David Bershad, who reached a plea agreement and agreed to cooperate last summer.
Compared with Lerach, Weiss has always been the more compelling and complex character, down to the diamond pinkie ring that he will probably be wearing to his sentencing hearing.
The Lerach opus filed in advance of his sentencing described the cookies, made by his wife, served to his household help. On this score, at least, Weiss has his former partner beat: A letter from Zulma LaBoy, who worked as a payroll manager at Milberg Weiss for 29 years, submitted a letter describing the "utmost respect" that Weiss offered his staff. "He is known for taking time from his busy schedule and cooking a matzah brei, a Jewish dish, for everyone in the office. It was a special treat, and we all looked forward to having it during the Passover season."
Two surveys find UK manufacturers are raising their prices as they seek to counter rising costs. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 10:56 am
Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
on Monday defended the dollar's status as the world's reserve
currency and said its recent decline was only a small factor
behind a surge in oil prices.
Central banks are sick of big banks losing money by putting cash into instruments which are poorly understood and financially dangerous. So, why not may it extremely expensive to buy them? According to the FT, "International regulators and supervisors have started drawing up plans to make it far more expensive for investment banks to hold large volumes of complex financial instruments, such as mortgage-linked securities, in their trading books." Banks would have an economic penalty for holding this paper and not circulating it by selling it to other companies. Then, those firms could take the losses. It is very heavy-handed,...
If the smart money is right, the price of oil is going down. According to Bloomberg "Hedge-fund managers and speculators reduced bets on higher oil prices by 80 percent since July as crude futures rose to records and U.S. regulators started investigating trading." If the movement out of crude continues, firms with long bets in oil may start to lose money. As they sell out of their positions, prices should start to move lower. The falling interest in betting that oil will go higher should expose the extent to which real global supply and demand are supporting crude. OPEC continues...
Barack Obama hopes to seal the Democratic presidential nomination soon after the final primaries this week, despite suffering a landslide defeat to Hillary Clinton in Puerto Rico on Sunday Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 10:15 am
The sales of PCs and servers, especially in the US and Europe, is slowing due to market saturation. The same holds true for cellular phones. Chip companies now have to rely on improved sales in emerging markets to drive demand for the products that they power. But, looking for growth in China and India is not sufficient for the likes of Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Nvidia (NVDA). They plan to create chips for a new generation of products and assume that the availability of these chips will force the development of a series of machines that are more than...
The world's leading airlines face a £3bn loss this year unless oil prices fall from their current record levels, the industry was warned today. Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 10:10 am
Record fuel costs will force the global airline industry back into loss this year, the director general of Iata warned at an industry conference Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 10:10 am
There have been rumors that the economy in China might slow. They have gone on for almost a year. Now, the evidence is mounting that the growth of GDP in the big Asia country is actually dropping off. According to Bloomberg, Weaker expansions in economies around the world are cooling demand for made-in-China goods, leading the central bank to last week forecast a ``moderate'' slowing of economic growth this year. Governments around the world are notorious for being too optimistic about their economies. China may be doing worse than the internal figures let on. The drop-off in China is, of...
The number of new mortgages being approved for house purchase hit a new low in April, figures show. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Jun 2008 | 9:54 am
Royal Dutch Shell has secured a slice of Australia’s burgeoning coal-seam gas
sector, signing a preliminary A$776 million ($£375 million) deal today with
the fourth-largest producer. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 8:30 am
Bradford & Bingley was first set up to lend money to people in northern mill towns in the mid nineteenth century. Its first mortgage customer was John Abbey in 1851.y Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 8:23 am
Britain's biggest buy-to-let mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley has secured a £179m investment from US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group as the lender struggles with a downturn in the housing market. Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 8:15 am
Britain's biggest buy-to-let mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley has secured a £179m investment from US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group as the lender struggles with a downturn in the housing market. Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 8:15 am
Shares in Bradford & Bingley (B&B), the UK's biggest buy-to-let
mortgage lender, fell more than 30 per cent today as it announced a shock
profits warning that was first disclosed in The Sunday Times yesterday.
It also confirmed that TPG, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms,
is to take a 23 per cent stake in the group. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Jun 2008 | 7:18 am
Reuters - Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) has inked a
deal to become the investment manager of a U.S. mutual fund
specializing in Japanese issues, marking its full-scale entry
into the U.S. retail mutual fund market. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 6:12 am
Reuters - Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) has inked a
deal to become the investment manager of a U.S. mutual fund
specializing in Japanese issues, marking its full-scale entry
into the U.S. retail mutual fund market. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 6:12 am
Senators will begin a debate in Washington on proposals for climate-change legislation seen as a blueprint for a future carbon-trading programme in the US, the only developed country not to have ratified the Kyoto protocol Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Jun 2008 | 2:00 am
Steven Crawshaw's move yesterday to step down as Bradford & Bingley chief executive ahead of - but apparently not because of - a profit warning today comes as the bank tries to sell the merits of a £300m rights issue. Source: Telegraph Business | 2 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
A confrontation is building up between Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank
of England, and the Treasury over the choice of a new deputy for Mr King. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Apple’s next-generation iPhone could be available in Britain for about £100
next month, as the computer company adjusts its strategy to boost sales. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
As warnings go, it is as chilling as it is, perhaps, predictable. Increase the
tax burden at your peril, Britain, because you will pay a high price if you
get it wrong. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 1 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
International regulators draw up plans to make it more expensive for investment banks to hold large volumes of complex financial instruments in their trading books Source: FT.com - US homepage | 1 Jun 2008 | 10:31 pm
Rich countries must increase their aid to agriculture to $30bn a year to help resolve the global food crisis, according to Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general Source: FT.com - US homepage | 1 Jun 2008 | 9:00 pm
An unusual twist of fate has seen the three property firms involved in building a big Auckland office building return to the block three decades later.
Downtown House, a former Air New Zealand staff hub fronting Queen Elizabeth... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
High profile entrepreneur Peter Maire has been honoured as a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to business.
Maire, 56, founded navigation technology company Navman in his garage in 1987... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
Three years ago only 50 people entered New Zealand's national poker champs to vie for $30,000 and less than half the players were Kiwis.
This year there was more than 150 people, 90 per cent of whom were from New Zealand, and a... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
Marketers are listening to online chat with Nielsen Online's New Zealand research operation launching a search and analysis tool of brands discussed in blogs and message boards.
New Zealand is the fifth country where Nielsen has... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
Improved market returns, operational performance, cost reductions and efficiency initiatives have turned loss into profit at meat processor Affco.
Revenue for the six months ending March 31 was $496.7 million, down slightly on... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
United States ketchup maker HJ Heinz Co is considering making further purchases in New Zealand.
The Pittsburgh-based company that already owns Wattie's in New Zealand is seeking acquisitions of food brands in Australia and New... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
Kiwi bosses have a high awareness of corporate social responsibility compared with global results, according to a survey by IBM.
IBM's third global chief executive study interviewed more than 1130 people, including 69 in the New... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
It just felt right for West Auckland mothers Deb Cairns and Fran Reilly to drop everything and become funeral directors.
Neither had any experience in the field - Cairns was a sign language interpreter and Reilly an assistant in... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
NEW YORK - Wall Street closed out a winning week with a narrowly mixed performance on Friday after the Government reported that Americans' spending rose in April to keep pace with rising costs.
Investors turned cautious after the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
From Dublin to Tokyo, house prices have slumped in the past year as the credit crunch has restricted lending and stunted growth in the biggest economies, new figures have shown.
The world's three biggest financial powerhouses,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 1 Jun 2008 | 5:00 pm
Reuters - Factory activity contracted in May for
the fourth consecutive month and inflation pressures surged to
their highest since in four years, heightening concerns about
the world's largest economy.
Reuters - Global sales of semiconductors
rose 5.9 percent in April on solid demand for personal
computers, mobile phones and products using flash memory, an
industry group said on Monday.
Reuters - Wachovia Corp ousted Ken
Thompson as chief executive of the fourth-largest U.S. bank in
the wake of growing legal troubles and loan losses tied to the
purchase of a big mortgage lender just before the nation's
housing boom went bust.
Reuters - Loan financing for InBev's potential
takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc looks uncertain as a tight
loan market may not bear such huge acquisition funding, bankers
told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.
Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
on Monday defended the dollar's status as the world's reserve
currency and said its recent decline was only a small factor
behind a surge in oil prices.