Answers Corporation (NASDAQ:ANSW) has entered into agreements for a private placement to raise cash up to $13 million via the sale of convertible preferred stock and warrants to Redpoint Ventures. Thomas Weisel Partners LLC acted as lead-placement agent and Canaccord Adams acted as co-placement agent for the offering. The transaction was listed as yesterday and consisted of $6 million of series A convertible preferred stock, convertible into 1,333,333 shares of common stock at a conversion price of $4.50 per share, with 50% warrant coverage at an exercise price of $4.95. Redpoint was also issued a second tranche warrant, exercisable over...
Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has
nearly completed a long-awaited rescue of a $7 billion
structured investment vehicle, sources said, just as it adjusts
to the credit crunch by laying off hundreds of bankers.
LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has nearly completed a long-awaited rescue of a $7 billion structured investment vehicle, sources said, just as it adjusts to the credit crunch by laying off hundreds of bankers.
British consumer inflation rises at an annual pace of 3.3% in May, requiring Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to explain why price increases are running well ahead of the government’s 2% inflation target.
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England on Tuesday all dampened expectations for aggressive interest rate rises to counter rising inflation, sending global stocks and bonds surging in relief.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Tuesday on news reports that the Federal Reserve is not likely to lift interest rates in the near term.
These aren't going to be the only impact analyst calls this Tuesday morning, but these are ten of the calls we are focusing on very early this morning: BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) Started as Neutral at UBS. Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) cut to equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR. CME Group (NYSE: CME) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) started as Overweight at Lehman Brothers. Double Hull Tankers (NYSE: DHT) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan. Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer. Hovnanian Enterprises...
Britain's business travellers are trading swanky hotel rooms for budget hotel stays as their expenses allowances are slashed in the wake of an economic downturn. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:06 am
AP - German investor confidence tumbled in June amid soaring food and oil prices and expectations of an upcoming interest rate rise, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:04 am
European equities jumped higher on Tuesday, as banks rebounded while Germany's Daimler said it will resume share buybacks.The luxury carmaker said it plans to spend up to 6bn on 10 per cent of its stock... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:04 am
Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, has warned that inflation could climb above 4 per cent by Christmas, as food, oil and household bills all continue to climb. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 11:00 am
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday’s session are the media stocks in Europe as well as Adobe, Allergan, Cost Plus, Daimler, Elan, Esmark, Kraft, La-Z-Boy, Radian Group and SkyePharma.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission, a thorn in Microsoft's side for its antitrust campaigns against the software giant, is falling short in its own internal attempt to promote more competition in the technology sector.
European stocks climbed on Tuesday morning, as reports suggested that U.S. interest rate hike expectations have been overplayed, miners advanced and lower oil prices supported airlines and automakers.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday after surging to an all-time high near $140 a barrel in the previous session while corn and soyabeans traded close to record levels. Nymex July West Texas Intermediate fell $1... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:48 am
London equities held steady on Tuesday after UK inflation rose by more than expected in May and outstripped the government's target by more than 1 per cent.The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 3.3 per... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:46 am
Inflation has soared to a 16-year high, climbing to 3.3pc, as the full effects of higher food, utility and petrol prices hit home. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:42 am
Inflation has soared to a 16-year high, climbing to 3.3pc, as the full effects of higher food, utility and petrol prices hit home. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:42 am
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Daimler on Tuesday said it would buy back up to 6 billion euros ($9.3 billion) of its own stock, as the Mercedes-Benz owner returns cash it doesn't need now that Chrysler is mostly in private-equity hands.
Oil prices eased a day after hitting a trading record of nearly $140 a barrel as investors weighed increased production from Saudi Arabia against the ability to supply developing... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:32 am
Reuters - Daimler AG will resume share buybacks
after a temporary pause, the German carmaker said, outlining
plans to spend up to 6 billion euros ($9.31 billion) to
repurchase 10 percent of its stock.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler AG will resume share buybacks after a temporary pause, the German carmaker said, outlining plans to spend up to 6 billion euros ($9.31 billion) to repurchase 10 percent of its stock.
Apple (AAPL) has agreed to license "visual voicemail" technology from Klausner Technology. The introduction of the new Apple iPhone is unlikely to hurt profits at Research-In-Motion (RIMM), according to Alley Insider. As a matter of fact, RIMM may raise its forecasts. The new iPhone should help the fortunes of Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), and Yahoo! (YHOO) all of which have products or services which work on the handset. Barron's writes that RBC Capital expects “massive” shipments of iPhones in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter ending September. Apple's decision to sell the iPhone in over seventy countries is expected to sharply...
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says rising healthcare spending may harm the US economy. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:16 am
A spiralling dispute between British oil giant BP and its Russian partners should end in a "civilized way" and will have no effect on the investment climate, a senior Russian minister said... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:13 am
Société Générale gains access to wealth American clients with Rockefeller alliance, the first significant deal for the French bank since January's rogue trading scandal Source: FT.com - US homepage | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:09 am
Socit Gnrale and Rockefeller & Co, the US-based wealth management firm, have formed a private banking alliance giving France's second-largest bank access to wealthy American clients and Rockefeller... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:09 am
In the UK, inflation was up enough in May to put the annual run-rate at 3.3% The Bank of England promptly took a look at those numbers and said inflation in the second half could be 4%. The economy in the UK could start to look like that of Brazil fifteen years ago. According to MarketWatch, "Prices for goods leaving the factory gate hit an annualized 8.9% in May, while the costs of inputs that manufacturers pay soared by 27.9%, the fastest rise since the mid-1970s." No matter how much the Fed wants to insist that the current upward price...
Nigeria suspends the head of its oil watchdog amid a probe into licences awarded under a former national president. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:03 am
DUBLIN, Calif. and HYDE PARK, N.Y., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A new collaboration between the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Consulting Services Group and The National Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:00 am
BLOOMINGTON, Ill., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- In a counterpoint to the current economic environment, the COUNTRY Financial Security Index(SM) jumped 1.5 points to 69.3 in... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:00 am
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FNDS3000 Corp (OTC Bulletin Board: FDTC) (Frankfurt: "FT4," A0MWLG) announces that it was approved as Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:00 am
The pound slipped from a one-week high against the dollar on Tuesday as a higher-than-expected rise in UK inflation raised concerns over the health of the UK economy. Figures showed UK consumer price inflation... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:51 am
Reuters - French bank Societe Generale
and U.S. wealth manager Rockefeller Financial Services have
formed an alliance in private banking, an area which has
remained relatively resilient to the global credit crunch.
PARIS (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale and U.S. wealth manager Rockefeller Financial Services have formed an alliance in private banking, an area which has remained relatively resilient to the global credit crunch.
U.S. stock futures rose on Tuesday after multiple newspaper reports that investors have priced in rate rises too aggressively, with results on Goldman Sachs also in the spotlight as investors wait to see if the brokerage that has historically topped analyst earnings estimates can do so this quarter as well.
Belgian newspaper De Standaard has reported that Warren Buffett is prepared to throw the Busch family under the bus and support the InBev offer to buy Anheuser-Busch for $46 billion or $65 a share. More than any other trait, it is Buffett's good sense that has made him the world's richest man. BUD can't do anything to get the price of its stock up. It already owns 50% of the US beer market and does well overseas. Its plan to buy the part of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it does not already own will simply pile on debt of...
After some deals in Asia overnight, Yahoo! now claims that its search feature is on 600 million phones. According to Reuters, "the mobile advertising market is expected to rise to $16.2 billion in 2011 up from $1.5 billion in 2006." Some Yahoo! shareholders may not want to wait until 2011. Yahoo! also has too much competition in the mobile market. Its new best friend Google (GOOG) has a major initiative there. So does Microsoft (MSFT). In the world's largest cellular and internet market, search is dominated by Baidu (BIDU), the local favorite. If, by some stretch of the imagination, Yahoo!...
A strike by fuel tanker drivers ends, with talks aimed at averting further industrial action set to resume. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:36 am
SHENZHEN, China, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vestasia Limited announced today that it has hired Glenn I. Henricksen, Jr. as the company's Chief Financial... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:32 am
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AZZ incorporated (NYSE: AZZ), a manufacturer of electrical products and a provider of galvanizing services, will... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:30 am
Jeff Nellett Named National Advertising Director MCLEAN, Va., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY announces the formation of a dedicated, national advertising sales... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:30 am
Britain's business travellers are trading swanky hotel rooms for budget hotel stays as their expenses allowances are slashed in the wake of an economic downturn. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:29 am
Britain's business travellers are trading swanky hotel rooms for budget hotel stays as their expenses allowances are slashed in the wake of an economic downturn. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:29 am
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Internet media firm Yahoo Inc said on Tuesday that its mobile search service will be offered by six more telecom companies in Asia.
Christmas savings firm Park Group says sales are recovering after the failure of hamper firm Farepak. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:24 am
Disney (DIS) has recruited another clueless child, whose parents are undoubtedly surfeited with the idea of becoming multimillionaires, to be its next multimedia star. The new member of Disney's stable is Demi Lovato, who is 15 but looks 27. She joins Miley Cyrus, who is also known as "Hannah Montana" to make records, movies, and TV shows. According to The Wall Street Journal, "For Disney, there are few more crucial tasks than finding and developing talent that appeals to 8- to 12-year-olds." The moves may be good for Disney, but who remembers childhood stars Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears. Spear...
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's inflation rate rose more than expected in May to its highest since the Labour government came to power in 1997 and the Bank of England will now have to explain how it will bring prices back under control.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's inflation rate rose more than expected in May to its highest since the Labour government came to power in 1997 and the Bank of England will now have to explain... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:06 am
Mining group Rio Tinto said on Tuesday it was looking at spending $1bn to expand its Australian bauxite production and take advantage of strong growth in demand for aluminium.Rio is the world's largest... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 9:03 am
Asian shares were broadly but weakly higher on Tuesday with no clear theme emerging across the region. Oil stayed volatile, spiking to a record of $139.89 a barrel in New York, before dropping back sharply... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 8:48 am
London equities held steady on Tuesday after UK inflation rose by more that expected in May and outstripped the government's target by more than 1 per cent.The consumer price index, rose to 3.3 per cent... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 17 Jun 2008 | 8:40 am
Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, today admitted that his letter
to the Chancellor Alistair Darling explaining soaring inflation is likely to
be the first of many as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is forecast to reach
above 4 per cent this year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 Jun 2008 | 8:33 am
Wine, meat and bananas have all becomes victims of surging prices due to a combination of rising fuel costs, poor harvests and weak currency. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 8:20 am
Whitbread, owner of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, today warned that revenue
growth could deteriorate if consumer spending is hit hard by a faltering
economy, after reporting a rise in like-for-like sales of 7.1 per cent. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 17 Jun 2008 | 7:53 am
Accoriding to MarketWatch, Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports that Warren Buffett support a takeover of Anheuser-Busch (BUD) by InBev. According to Reuters, economists think the PPI will rise 1%. Reuters writes that a key Yahoo! (YHOO) executive has left for a venture capital firm. Reuters reports that Adobe (ADBE) posted disappointing earnings. The Wall Street Journal writes that the Fed is likely to keep rates unchanged. The Wall Street Journal reports that hedge funds are going though a major shake-out with smaller firms having hte most trouble. The Wall Street Journal reports the flood in the Midwest could drive food...
China's yuan is at its highest level since July 2005 as US and Chinese officials begin a two-day meeting. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 7:49 am
Markets in Asia were mostly lower. The Nikkei fell a fraction to 14,348. Mazda fell 3.5% to 584. NEC rose 2.5% to 583. The Hang Seng dropped .4% to 22,947. China Netcom (CN) rose 2.3% to 22.55. China Petroleum (SNP) rose 2.5% to 7.70. The Shanghai Composite fell 2.8% to 2,796. Data from Reuters Douglas A. McIntyre
Reuters - Record-high crude oil costs sent
wholesale inflation soaring in May, but a key gauge of
underlying price pressures likely moved ahead at a slower pace
than the month before, according to a Reuters poll.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Record-high crude oil costs sent wholesale inflation soaring in May, but a key gauge of underlying price pressures likely moved ahead at a slower pace than the month before, according to a Reuters poll.
US software firm Adobe reports a 41% jump in second-quarter profit thanks to international markets. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 17 Jun 2008 | 6:36 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States probably wants to leave
open the option of dollar-buying intervention as a tool to
temper inflation, since it could be hard to raise interest
rates as the economy slows, Japan's former currency tsar said
on Tuesday.
The sharemarket top 50 benchmark index today fell to its lowest level since March 2006 as bearish market factors piled into a stack.
The NZSE-50 fell to 3377, 18 points below this year's low set on March 27, although in afternoon... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 4:25 am
Is reading someone's genetic code the same thing as practicing medicine? That issue has always loomed over the nascent direct-to-consumer genetic-testing industry, which includes such well-known names as 23andme, Navigenics, and DeCodeMe.
It has become very real now that California public-health officials have ordered 13 online companies to immediately stop offering their services in that state.
The companies offer genetic tests that look for DNA mutations associated with a higher risk of developing heart trouble, dementia, or other maladies. Some critics have said that the science behind some of these tests is relatively new and may be incomplete.
Others say the tests are dangerous because they can identify risk factors for some conditions that have no treatment, such as Alzheimer's disease.
The California Department of Public Health contends the services violate medical-testing rules that require a physician's involvement and proof that tests produce a valid medical result.
The real issue, however, may be as much about turf and how society will react to this new technology as patient safety.
Companies offering the tests have made a point of sidestepping doctors, insisting that consumers have a right to know the information coded in their genes. They also have said that the results they deliver are informational, not diagnostic.
Bypassing traditional medical outlets is an important issue for these companies, since much of the medical establishment hasn't yet embraced widespread genetic testing. Traditional health-care providers tend to be skeptical of the usefulness of the results.
That skepticism would not bode well for a business model that depends on them to be the gatekeepers for ordering these tests. Requiring a doctor's approval also seems overly paternalistic to many believers of the Web 2.0 ethos of free access to personal information.
In the past, the state public-health department has laid out five criteria for direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies:
Is there a California licensed physician involved?
Are tests being authorized by a California licensed physician?
Does testing include pre- and post-test counseling?
Are tests being conducted at CLIA Certified [federally approved] labs?
Are the tests validated?
The answers to these questions vary by company, and some of the questions are being debated as to exactly what they mean.
All three of the biggest providers—23andme, Navigenics, and DeCodeMe—conduct their tests in labs that have been federally certified, for instance, but do not offer counseling. One, Navigenics, says it uses doctors to process orders.
The question of what is meant by a "validated" test is also open to debate. The tests are all "valid" in that they usually provide accurate information about one's genetic makeup—that is, whether one has a particular base (adenine, cytosine, guanine, or thymine) at a particular spot in their genetic code.
But most of the tests have not yet been through rigorous testing with human trials to confirm their accuracy and validity as predictors of risk factors for disease.
California's move comes several weeks after its health department said it was investigating consumer complaints against online-testing sites. Karen Nickel, chief of laboratory field services for the California Department of Health, recently told Forbes: "The tests have not been validated for clinical utility and accuracy, and they are scaring a lot of people to death."
New York State has also written to several online genetic-testing firms warning them they are not in compliance with similar laws in that state. The companies have suspended operations there as they hold discussions with authorities.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services plans to hold hearings in Washington next month to investigate online genetic testing. The hearings could lead to federal regulations.
As society sorts through the promise of this technology, doctors, hospitals, and other powerful economic and political stakeholders are likely to join the debate. Public-health bureaucracies also will continue to weigh in if they feel that these tests are a danger to the public.
Eventually, the stakeholders will come together, as they should, to forge a new mandate. What exactly this new DNA regime will look like will depend on all parties working together to insure what I believe should be three criteria for genome-wide genetic testing:
Individuals have freedom of access to their personal genetic data.
A system of trials and approvals be implemented that insure the validity of genetic tests and risk factors.
Doctors and other experts have a vital role in the analysis of disease-oriented information and should use it as part of an overall diagnosis for a patient's health.
Balance is the key here, as in so many debates about markets. Overregulation can squelch innovation; under-regulation may lead to commercial abuse, consumer confusion, and distrust of these tests.
At Los Angeles' gay pride parade June 8, a local radio station had a float emblazoned with a banner that read, "Welcome to the hell that is marriage." The message was a cheeky nod to the May 15 California Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage for same-sex couples, but it typified how quickly some segments in the business community are gearing up for same-sex nuptials, which began Monday evening.
Gay and lesbian couples are sure to be ecstatic on their wedding days, but the ones shedding the most tears of happiness may be California's wedding and honeymoon vendors. Will a change in law mean a bull market for big fat gay weddings? The Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law thinks so. The think tank released a study June 9 showing California's $6 billion-a-year wedding industry will get an infusion of $683 million over three years in direct spending by same-sex couples.
Based on numbers in Massachusetts, where it has been legal for resident gays and lesbians to marry since 2003, the Williams Institute estimates roughly half of California's 102,000 domestic partners will get married, while another 68,000 couples from outside the state are expected to come and celebrate their nuptials. The Institute thinks same-sex marriage should generate 2,200 jobs in California, bring in $8 million in marriage-license fees, and increase sales and occupancy tax revenues by $55 million. A 2005 study showed that if same-sex marriage was legalized nationally, the wedding industry could generate another $2 billion annually.
That's peanuts for the overall industry, since 2.4 million straight couples get married each year and spend on average $20,000, racking up a total of $72 billion, according to bridal website theknot.com. But the potential for a deep-pocketed, underserved market coming online in an economy where more straight couples may be thinking of pulling back their spending is undoubtedly attractive to vendors.
The impact on California and the rest of the country could be significant, says Betsy Stevenson, an assistant professor at the Wharton School who studies the tax implications of marriage. She compared marriage in the Golden State today to Nevada 60 years ago, when that state's lax divorce laws made it a destination for couples looking to split. The revenue Nevada brought in encouraged other states to change their divorce laws. "Once California starts making money, other states will want to get into the game," Stevenson said.
San Francisco first saw the economic potential back in 2004. Thousands of same-sex couples were married out of City Hall around Valentine's Day before the state put the kibosh on the renegade licenses and began litigation that ultimately led to this year's decision. Businesses in the city, which for years have catered to informal commitment ceremonies, were struck by a "Flowers from the Heartland" phenomena, a movement in which well-wishers ordered wedding flowers for same-sex couples they didn't know. Thousands of bouquets were distributed randomly to the throngs of couples waiting to get married, a boon to florists in the city.
But this time around, the feeling is that marriage will be more lasting, said Joe D'Alessandro, the president and C.E.O. of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. He and his partner of nearly six years are planning a 75-person wedding for Labor Day, with a budget of about $10,000. "That's the ballpark we've talked about," he explained. "It's easy to run up. You can go through that in a flash."
Expanding existing business without alienating the mainstream is a common theme, even if you're taking out full-page newspaper ads that seem to be congratulating same-sex couples. Less than two weeks after the California court decision, Macy's made headlines in San Francisco and Los Angeles touting its gift-registry program in an ad that read, "First comes love. Then comes marriage. And now it's a milestone every couple in California can celebrate." Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski resisted any suggestion Macy's was taking a stand on same-sex marriage, since all the company was doing was innocently running an "inclusive" ad that promotes its registry, which has been open to same-sex couples for 15 years. "The fact that we are advertising a wedding registry is not at all unusual," he said. "In the wedding business, everything is new business."
For businesses rushing out to buy rainbow-colored paraphernalia and bride-bride cake toppers in bulk in a bid to attract cookie-cutter gay nuptials, cool your heels, since same-sex couples are likely to be as individualistic as their straight counterparts, said Tegan Firth of San Francisco's Hornblower Cruises & Events. Her company has served same-sex couples for years, and in the first 10 days after the court decision got inquiries from 15 couples, half from outside California.
"Commitment ceremonies and now same-sex weddings are going to be similar to other kinds of social celebrations in the sense that it is a very unique experience for the individual," Firth said. "A lot of times the requests we receive are very specific to the couple."
Joie de Vivre Hotels is offering a promotion that is designed to appeal to socially conscious gay and lesbian couples. The boutique hotelier's Silicon Valley property Hotel Montgomery will donate 10 percent of any group block rate for same-sex marriage bookings to the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights advocacy group that is gearing up to fight a statewide constitutional amendment initiative in November seeking to overturn the marriage decision.
The hotel group is also preparing an information packet for couples that includes courthouse times and other specifics visitors may not know, such as the requirement that you must be in California for at least 24 hours before getting married.
Susan Wilcox, the vice president of communications for the California Travel and Tourism Commission, put out a press release June 3 promoting venues beyond the traditional gay favorites that are also waiting to serve the happy groom and groom, such as locations in Yosemite and the Cascades.
Figuring out if estimates are correct that marriage is a financial gain for California is premature. "It's kind of hard to say what that will net out as," Wilcox said, noting economic impact numbers are "elusive statistics." But in this case, there will be a paper trail.
"At least with marriage numbers we'll be able to tell who came and what they did," she said. "We will know from the marriage licenses. All of those statistics will be very telling."
There's an upside to New Zealand's faltering equities markets, according to one of the country's niche superannuation providers, Eosaver.
"When share prices are down, you can buy a lot more shares with investors' savings. At the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 2:30 am
The use of coal to produce electricity soared in the first three months of the year as dry weather conditions put the squeeze on hydro generation, new figures show.
That pushed CO2 equivalent emissions from electricity generation... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 2:00 am
South Canterbury Finance has closed its secured bond issue, raising $125 million which included $50 million of oversubscriptions.
Strong support from across the investment sector had resulted in the offer closing fully subscribed,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 1:30 am
When he was running the eponymous supermarket chain, Sir Ken Morrison had little time for the annual meeting. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
Consumer interest in the 3G iPhone is almost four times more than interest in its 2G predecessor, according to O2, Apple's exclusive UK network partner for the device. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
Credit fund BlueBay Asset Management issued a profits warning yesterday after agreeing performance fee cuts with investors in return for a lock-in at its distressed hedge fund. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
Housebuilders' share prices surged by up to 13pc yesterday despite predictions from experts that activity in the sector is set to fall to the lowest level since the end of the Second World War. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
Saudi Arabia's offer of a further increase in production to halt the oil price spiral failed to have any impact yesterday on markets more preoccupied with the shutdown of a North Sea oil and gas field, the weakness of the dollar and the renewed surge in product prices. Source: Telegraph Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:01 am
Continuing strong demand from tenants and increasing rents are expected to maintain good returns for commercial property investors, despite a predicted softening of returns in the remainder of 2008.
Latest available Property Council... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
Gold exploration company Glass Earth Gold has started drilling at a site in Central Otago.
Last year Glass Earth carried out an airborne geophysics survey targeting gold over 1.3 million ha in Otago. Teams on the ground then carried... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 17 Jun 2008 | 12:00 am
The sharemarket top 50 benchmark index today fell to its lowest level since March 2006.
The NZSE-50 fell to 3395.858 at 10.44am today, marginally beating the previous year low of 3395.859 set on March 27. The index was down 10.439... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:34 pm
Robert Willumstad, the new chief executive of American International Group
(AIG), did his best to reassure his hapless investors yesterday that he
would take dramatic action to end the insurer's woes by insisting that
“nothing is off the table”. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
First thing yesterday morning - along, I imagine, with many journalists - I
received an e-mail from the PR at Primark announcing that the chain is to
stop buying clothes from three factories that it currently uses in southern
India, all of which were found to be breaking Primark's code of conduct. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Faced with prices rising on all fronts, from petrol pumps to the supermarket
checkout, those tempted to drown their sorrows were handed a further case of
bad news yesterday. Inflation, Majestic Wine announced, is creeping into the
wine cellar and prices are about to jump by up to 10 per cent over the
coming weeks. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Primark, the cut-price fashion chain that has transformed Britain's high
streets, said yesterday that it had been buying clothes from suppliers who
use child labour. Primark said that it was dropping three Indian companies
that make thousands of clothes for its stores after discovering they had
sub-contracted work out to companies that, in some cases, used children for
embroidery work. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
At least Barclays has finally admitted that it does have a problem and wants
to raise money by issuing shares. Now all it has to do is find someone
willing to buy them. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Bananas have joined the ranks of dairy, meat and wheat products among
foodstuffs whose prices are set to surge because of the sharp rise in fuel
costs. Chiquita, one of the world’s biggest banana groups, said yesterday
that the price of Britain’s most popular fruit had risen 36 per cent last
month against the same period a year ago. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Land of Leather, the struggling furniture chain, is expected this week to
announce the first rights issue in the retail sector for four years as part
of a £18 million rescue fundraising. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Oil prices surged to a record high of nearly $140 a barrel yesterday as
traders brushed aside a decision by Saudi Arabia to start pumping crude at
its fastest rate since 1981.$ Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 16 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
US mortgage lenders will have 45 days to decide whether they are willing to renegotiate the loan of a struggling borrower, according to a set of guidelines to be released by the Hope Now Alliance, an industry group created last year to deal with the foreclosure crisis Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 10:55 pm
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) announced after the close that it has signed a $1 Billion (one billion dollars) framework agreement for 2008 with China Mobile where it will provide mobile communication equipment and services to Chinese mobile giant. The agreement was secured through Alcatel-Lucent's flagship company in China, Alcatel Shanghai Bell. Alcatel-Lucent will provide China Mobile with the following: mobile core network solutions, wireless network solutions, TD-SCDMA equipment, applications, transmission & IP router equipment, and the related services. As far as $1 Billion and how that relates to 2008, First Call has estimates for the telecom equipment company projected north of...
Goldman Sachs is close to finalising a plan to restructure a $7bn investment vehicle formerly run by London-based hedge fund Cheyne Capital, a move that may usher in a crucial new phase in the credit turmoil Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 10:30 pm
Financial markets are in danger of getting carried away with their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate increases, some senior Fed officials believe Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 10:15 pm
The slump in the housing market is now rippling out beyond Auckland into the smaller cities, data from the latest interest.co.nz survey of mortgagee listings show.
Total mortgagee listings hit a record 332 by Monday June 16, up... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 16 Jun 2008 | 10:00 pm
Oil prices hit a record $139.89 a barrel in trade in New York, despite a Saudi pledge to increase output. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:59 pm
Germany's shortage of engineers has become so acute that some leading companies are turning to nursery schools to guarantee future supplies Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:45 pm
The Government has again ruled out cutting GST on petrol saying it wouldn't make any difference.
The Automobile Association, business groups and others have called for the move here while across the Tasman the Australian federal... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:30 pm
Reliance Communications' chairman, Anil Ambani, is considering buying more than 40 per cent of MTN, Africa's biggest wireless company Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:22 pm
Power company TrustPower is warning its profit outlook is being hurt by low hydro lake levels.
The company said today that overall production from its hydro and wind assets for April, May and, as forecast for the remainder of June,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 16 Jun 2008 | 9:00 pm
Bob Willumstad, American International Group's new chief executive, extended an olive branch to Hank Greenberg in an effort to mend a three-year feud between the troubled insurer and its former leader Source: FT.com - US homepage | 16 Jun 2008 | 8:30 pm
Hank Greenberg's corner office, high in the Park Avenue tower that houses the headquarters of Citigroup, is physically near the heart of the financial world. Until recently, it wasn't obvious that its occupant was near it as well.
Yet Greenberg, at the age of 83, an age when most other former public C.E.O.'s are out on the golf course, has emerged as a central player in the two biggest dramas now playing out in American finance: the shake-up at his former company, insurance giant American International Group, and the battle being fought by Lehman Brothers to remain a thriving independent Wall Street firm.
As A.I.G. stumbled, reporting two consecutive quarterly losses and watching its stock price slide, his guiding spirit and example inspired a shareholder revolt that led to the ouster of Martin Sullivan—Greenberg's one-time protégé—as chief executive.
At the same time, Greenberg's C.V. Starr is among the investors that bought $6 billion of Lehman Brothers' common and preferred stock that is giving the firm—and its embattled chief, Richard Fuld—a badly needed shot in the arm.
Lehman, Greenberg told Dow Jones, "is a great franchise overall," giving a clear sign of support for Fuld.
The prominence of Greenberg's role, and the downfall of some past adversaries, most spectacularly his nemesis Eliot Spitzer, must give the insurance titan immense satisfaction even if he won't acknowledge that publicly.
The recent developments involving A.I.G. and Lehman show that while he may no longer have the perks and the huge supporting apparatus of a global public corporation at his disposal, he can still push the levers of power.
"You don't tell the rank of a general by the size of his tent," Greenberg told BusinessWeek in a 2006 interview.
To be sure, the exile of Hank Greenberg has been unlike that of any other departing C.E.O. He has not ridden off into the sunset to tend to his philanthropic causes and his memoirs.
When Greenberg resigned as chief executive and chairman of A.I.G. in March 2005, in the face of investigations by the New York attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission, he held the reins of C.V. Starr, a holding company for four insurance agencies with more than $400 million in annual revenue.
And Greenberg has control of some 12 percent of A.I.G.'s shares, giving him more clout than the company's institutional shareholders.
The war against the company he had built began soon after his departure, as A.I.G. and C.V. Starr squabbled and sued each other. It escalated into public criticism of Sullivan and A.I.G. management, even though many of them were once Greenberg's deputies.
In May, Greenberg wrote in a regulatory filing that "A.I.G. is in crisis."
"I am as concerned as millions of other investors as I watch the deterioration of a great company," he said.
It was Sullivan's misplaced confidence in the firm's valuation of credit investments in its portfolio, the subsequent $20 billion in write-downs, and a sinking stock price that led to his ouster on Sunday.
Yet it is also easy to believe that even if Sullivan had not stumbled in the credit crisis, and if he had somehow, after resolving the insurance giant's regulatory problems, been able to push its stock price back up to its pre-Spitzer levels, Greenberg might still be grumbling.
As a self-made man who built A.I.G. into a global giant in insurance over the course of four decades, it is understandably difficult for Greenberg to let go. (He has said, however, that he does not want to return to A.I.G. as an officer or director.)
The legendary drive of Greenberg is matched only by his feistiness. This World War II and Korean War veteran is famous for being a taskmaster, shouting at executives even when they were his sons.
And he has not stayed quiet, even when it was in his best interest to do so. He has been outspoken about A.I.G.; the New York attorney general still has a lawsuit against him; and the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating his role in two transactions at A.I.G.
After the A.I.G. board meeting on Sunday, the new chief executive, Robert Willumstad, reached out to Greenberg, the Wall Street Journalreports, but did not speak with him.
The Rolling Stones' lengthy run on the EMI label could come to an end soon, with the band planning to sign with concert-promoter-cum-record-label Live Nation, which has already lured Madonna and Jay-Z onto its roster, according to The Observer.
Aside from having recorded some of the best rock songs of all time, the Rolling Stones are the kings of the live music industry, with some tours grossing nearly three quarters of a billion dollars. Under terms of the deal, according to The Observer, Live Nation would run those tours in addition to handling the band's recorded music business.
Not only would the deal involve future albums and tours, but could also encompass the group's back catalog, according to The Observer, which misreported on Sunday The Rolling Stones' EMI tenure as being 31 years. Listening Post learned that EMI acquired the band's post '71 catalog in the early '90s when it purchased Virgin, which had itself acquired the catalog in the late '80s. The New York Times speculates that the albums, which typically earn EMI about $3 million per year, would stay with EMI if the deal is signed.
However, The Rolling Stones denied through a spokesman on Monday that it is in recording contract negotiations with Live Nation. "We are not in talks with Live Nation in connection with any record deal," said Bernard Doherty. Instead, the band could be pursuing a merchandise and touring deal with Live Nation, similar to the one the company struck with U2 in March.
Live Nation gave Madonna $120 million for a ten year deal, while Jay-Z's Live Nation deal amounts to $150 million, also for a ten year period. U2 inked a 12 year deal with the company for merchandise, digital distribution and branding rights, though it is still signed to Universal Music Group for physical distribution. That deal is thought to have been in the $100 million range.
The Rolling Stones deal could be higher than any of these, given the band's ability to pack stadiums full of baby boomers willing to pay an average of well over $100 per seat.
Live Nation,for its part, has already become a major force to be reckoned with. Its focus on all-encompassing, 360 degree deals means it only stands to benefit as touring threatens to unseat recording as the largest sector of the music business.
(When the company's contract with TicketMaster runs out next year, it will hopefully bring more competition to the online ticketing market, though we're not holding our breath.)
Talks aimed at ending a pay dispute between fuel tanker drivers and their employers are adjourned until Tuesday. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 6:56 pm
Companies are so focused on the present that they often forget about the past. In an effort to fix that, many companies are opening up showcases that highlight their products through history. Cash Peters takes us inside. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Cities have tried a variety of tax breaks and incentives to lure new businesses. Commentator Paul Brophy says it's time for them to try things that will actually get results. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Large housing projects were all the rage three years ago, but the mortgage crisis has left towns across the country littered with half-built developments. Ashley Gross reports. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Following in the footsteps of the Nasdaq, the NYSE has plans to offer everyday investors access to real-time stock quotes. Jill Barshay has more. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Most of a movie ticket's price goes to the studios, so theaters are looking for ways to generate more income from their captive audiences. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
The Americans With Disabilities Act is about to get an update, promising increased access to everything from courtrooms to swimming pools. John Dimsdale looks at the cost of the upgrades. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Between high fuel prices and modernization efforts, utilities are feeling the squeeze and are beginning to pass those increased costs on to consumers. Jeff Tyler has the story. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:24 pm
Congress is calling regulators to task for runaway oil prices. Host Kai Ryssdal talks with former commodity regulator Michael Greenberger about ways to keep tabs on speculation. Source: Marketplace | 16 Jun 2008 | 5:23 pm
AFP - The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed lower on Monday with investor confidence knocked by oil prices hitting fresh highs and record-high eurozone inflation.
The US investment bank Lehman Brothers posts a loss of $2.8bn, the first since it went public in 1994. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 3:37 pm
Japanese car maker Honda begins the first commercial production of a hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 16 Jun 2008 | 2:15 pm
A slightly revised script, with two different players, has produced strikingly different reviews.
In a conference call today on Lehman Brothers' second-quarter loss, its C.E.O., Richard Fuld, was finally center stage, taking responsibility for the firm's stumbles and pledging greater transparency.
"We really didn't react quickly enough" to an eroding market, Fuld said.
"We made a decision to build out our best-in-class mortgage origination and distribution platforms. We made active decisions to deploy our capital, some of which, in hindsight, were poor choices."
That acknowledgment and Fuld's confidence in the firm's businesses played much better than the conference call last week, when Lehman said it expected to report a $2.8 billion loss for the second quarter. Shares of Lehman plunged afterward.
Today, shares of Lehman are up 7 percent.
A week ago, Erin Callan, then the chief financial officer, sought to play down fears that there would be additional bombshells to come. But she also cautioned again and again that the results could change materially when the full results were released. As Megan Barnett said at the time, "That kind of disclosure is perfectly acceptable, but her emphasis on it almost had the effect of neutralizing her confidence."
Shares fell sharply for four consecutive says. On Thursday, Callan and chief operating officer Joseph Gregory were out of their jobs. On Friday, Lehman shares rose 14 percent.
Callan had been the public face of Lehman as it navigated a storm of rumors and questions about its balance sheet and even fears about whether it might become the next Bear Stearns.
Early on, she won praise for her ability to exude confidence and competence, but a steady drumbeat from skeptics, most prominently David Einhorn, whose hedge fund has had a short position on Lehman, grew louder and she became less effective.
So today, Fuld stepped out from behind the curtains to take the microphone. "This is my responsibility, and I wanted you to hear a few things from me directly," he said.
Fuld did praise his former executives who took the grenade for him, calling Callan "wonderfully talented" and speaking of his three decades with Gregory. His departure, Fuld said, "was one of the most difficult decisions that he and I had to make together."
The firm's new chief financial officer, Ian Lowitt, took investors and analysts through an usually detailed tour of the second-quarter numbers.
As it turned out, there were no surprises in Lehman Brothers' second quarter.
For the quarter, Lehman recorded a loss of $2.8 billion, or $5.14 per share, compared with $1.27 billion, or $2.21 per share, in the quarter a year ago. It was Lehman's first quarterly loss as a public company since it was spun off from American Express in 1994.
The firm has also reduced its exposure to mortgages and real estate. Gross leverage fell to 24.3 times equity, down from the 25 times equity it forecast last week, and down from 31.7 times equity in the first quarter. Lehman said on the call that it was done deleveraging for the moment and planned to start putting some of the $6 billion it has raised in new capital to work.
The recent capital raising by Lehman and other Wall Street firms, however, may be giving investors a sense of false confidence, contends Jesse Eisinger in the latest issue of Condé Nast Portfolio.
"Think the investors who are pouring money into financial institutions know something special? They don't," Eisinger says. "Since the banks and insurers don't really know the value of their own books, neither do outside investors."
The collapses of two Bear Stearns hedge funds last year were the first crashes in the credit crisis' yearlong slow-motion highway pileup. The funds, which at one point had more than $20 billion in assets, largely securities that were tied to mortgages, lost its investors $1.6 billion.
After a long investigation, federal prosecutors in the Brooklyn are now close to seeking indictments in their investigation of the funds' collapse, Kate Kelly of the Wall Street Journalreports.
According to lawyers with interest in the case, the former managers of the fund, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, could be charged with securities fraud within the next week, Kelly reports.
The investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn is part of a nationwide effort by the Justice Department, F.B.I., and Internal Revenue Service into whether crimes were committed when the subprime-mortgage market collapsed.
One of the main fronts of the inquiry is disclosure and whether there was any intentional deception along the food chain in the selling and securitizing of mortgages and in investments tied to those securities.
In the case of the Bear funds, their implosion came weeks after their managers had given an upbeat outlook.
But it is hard to see how the managers' rose-tinted glasses, or even incompetence, can be criminal, absent evidence of tampering with investors' funds. That hedge funds take big risks and can blow up should be no surprise to anyone. There were no criminal investigations into Amaranth Advisors and Long-Term Capital Management.
And as the collapse of Bear Stearns itself showed, a slowness to react to the credit crisis was not limited to just its hedge fund managers. (For a narrative on how Bear collapsed in March, click here.)
So the criminal inquiry may be one-upmanship by federal prosecutors, trying to be the first with a headline-generating big case.
Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism says for that reason, it should be Bear (now part of J.P. Morgan Chase) that should be investigated:
"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence. Although the details may prove otherwise, I find it plausible that Cioffi and Tannin were slow to recognize that subprime was terminal, and Bear did an incompetent job of supervising them. And if that's the case, it's Bear, and not the two managers, who should be the focus of the investigation."
Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has
nearly completed a long-awaited rescue of a $7 billion
structured investment vehicle, sources said, just as it adjusts
to the credit crunch by laying off hundreds of bankers.
Reuters - Daimler AG will resume share buybacks
after a temporary pause, the German carmaker said, outlining
plans to spend up to 6 billion euros ($9.31 billion) to
repurchase 10 percent of its stock.
Reuters - French bank Societe Generale
and U.S. wealth manager Rockefeller Financial Services have
formed an alliance in private banking, an area which has
remained relatively resilient to the global credit crunch.
Reuters - Internet media firm Yahoo Inc
said on Tuesday that its mobile search service will be
offered by six more telecom companies in Asia.
Reuters - Record-high crude oil costs sent
wholesale inflation soaring in May, but a key gauge of
underlying price pressures likely moved ahead at a slower pace
than the month before, according to a Reuters poll.
AFP - The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed lower on Monday with investor confidence knocked by oil prices hitting fresh highs and record-high eurozone inflation.