Google turns up heat on Microsoft with Chrome's global debut

Mousetrap weblog: Will Internet Explorer 8 cost Google dear? | All about Google Chrome
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Sep 2008 | 8:29 pm

Media Diges 9/3/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, oil fell another $1 to $109.

Reuters writes that Coca-Cola (KO) will pay $2.5 billion for Chinese juice maker Huiyuan,

Reuters writes that Google (GOOG) believes the its new browser will replace desktop software.

Reuters reports that HSBC (HBC) and a Chinese bank may be interested in putting money into Lehman (LEH)

Reuters writes the Kraft (KFT) will focus on only ten brands overseas.

Reuters writes that Morgan Stanley (MS) is raising a $10 billion property fund.

Reuters writes that if oil drops below $100, OPEC may make production cuts.

Reuters reports that Rupert Murdoch would like to buy The New York Times (NYT),

The Wall Street Journal writes that the IMF said the world's largest sovereign-wealth funds reached a "preliminary agreement" to follow principles for commercial investment.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Chinese funds have cut their position in Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE).

The Wall Street Journal reports that US companies are helping China's new jet maker.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple (AAPL) is hinting it will bring out new versions of its iPod.

The Wall Street Journal reports that top talent at Motorola (MOT) is leaving.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dell (DELL) plans to offer a "netbook" with limited features.

The Wall Street Journal reports that top Russion carriers will begin to sell the Apple iPhone.

The New York Times reports that drops in oil prices are doing little to help consumers.

The New York Times reports that Boeing (BA) is waiting for the results of a union vote to strike.

The New York Times writes that protests have kept Tata Motors from opening its plant set to build the cheapest car in the world.

The FT writes that $100 oil is on the horizon.

The FT writes that Abu Dhabi will put another $1 billion into movie production partnerships.

Bloomberg reports that British consumer confidence is at a four-year low.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:55 am

Coca-Cola buys Chinese juice maker for $2.5 billion (Reuters)

Reuters - Coca-Cola Co will pay $2.5 billion for Chinese juice maker Huiyuan (1886.HK), triple its value, strengthening the world's leading drinks maker's hold on a booming market in the biggest foreign takeover in China.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:51 am

Coca-Cola buys Chinese juice maker for $2.5 billion

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co will pay $2.5 billion for Chinese juice maker Huiyuan , triple its value, strengthening the world's leading drinks maker's hold on a booming market in the biggest foreign takeover in China.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:51 am

Costco August same-store sales up 9%, helped by gas-price rise

Costco Wholesale Corp. reports that for August, comparable-store sales rose 9%, and total sales rose 12% to $5.41 billion from $4.84 billion in the year-earlier period.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:51 am

KDB sent offer to Lehman, Korean banks deny role

SEOUL (Reuters) - State-controlled Korea Development Bank (KDB) proposed buying 25 percent of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers for up to $5.3 billion, a newspaper reported, but Korean banks rumored to be joining a bid consortium denied they were involved.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:42 am

Oil slides $1 to below $109 on economy fears

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil dropped more than $1 to below $109 on Wednesday, deepening this week's sharp fall as traders looked past Hurricane Gustav to focus on a wobbly global economy and the gloomy outlook for energy demand.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:41 am

Pound sinks 10% on the dollar in a month lifting costs for industry

The pound today continued its slide against the dollar today, falling to $1.77 in early trading after the UK was singled out by an influential think tank as the only leading western economy forecast to slump into recession this year.$
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:40 am

Sterling's slump deepens as recession looms

Labour's sterling crisis has intensified with the pound slumping to a new 16-year low. The fall was triggered by an OECD warning that Britain is already in recession and the Government's pledge to spend £600m bailing out the housing market.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:30 am

Asia Markets 9/3/3008

Markets in Asia were mixed.

The Nikkei rose .6% to 12,690. Mitsubishi Corp lost 4.6% to 2695.

The Hang Seng fell 1.8% to 20,661. China Huiyuan moved up on Coca-Cola bid news

The Shanghai Composite fell 1.2% to 2,277.

Data from Reuters.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:26 am

Abu Dhabi to put $1 billion into film venture: reports

DUBAI (Reuters) - The government of Gulf Arab oil state Abu Dhabi will invest $1 billion in a media firm that will produce eight feature films a year in ventures with Hollywood, Bollywood and local producers, media reported on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:24 am

Ospraie fund to close after August hit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Ospraie Management LLC will close its flagship fund after it plunged 27 percent in August on losses in energy, mining and natural resources equity holdings, in one of the biggest ever closures of a commodities-focused hedge fund.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:23 am

Ospraie fund to close after August hit (Reuters)

Reuters - Hedge fund manager Ospraie Management LLC will close its flagship fund after it plunged 27 percent in August on losses in energy, mining and natural resources equity holdings, in one of the biggest ever closures of a commodities-focused hedge fund.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:21 am

HSBC 'interested in buying' Lehman Brothers

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) is said to be negotiating to buy a 25 per cent stake in troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers but the deal could be blown apart by the emergence of HSBC as a potential bidder, a major Korean newspaper reported today.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:17 am

Hanna expected to move over the Bahamas

A day after sending Haitian families scrambling onto rooftops to avoid flooding, Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to begin moving over the Bahamas on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Hanna added...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Google launches Internet browser Chrome

The browser aims to challenge Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer

Google Inc. reignited the Web browser wars Tuesday, releasing a competitor to Internet Explorer nearly a decade after Microsoft Corp. used its monopoly powers to win control of the market.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Google's Chrome browser: This baby flies

The new rival to Explorer and Firefox, now available for testing in Windows, makes up in exceptional speed for any minor shortcomings. And it's got a nice array of features.

Google's much-anticipated Web browser, Chrome, arrived Tuesday like a shiny new sports car: It's streamlined, has some great new features and is very, very fast.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Wilmington, N.C., ready for switch to digital TV

The FCC has swarmed Wilmington to prepare it for next week's roll-out, but February's nationwide changeover looms as a much larger task.

The future of broadcast television is set to premiere in this quaint seaside city next week. And the federal government is working hard -- too hard, some say -- to make sure it's a hit here.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Weekend box office

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Hollywood protests LAPD effort to take over security on location sets

A coalition of labor and industry groups tries to block a plan to replace so-called movie officers, many of whom are retired cops, with off-duty active police officers.

Hollywood's production community is yelling "cut!" to a plan by the LAPD to take over the jobs of handling security -- many of which are filled by former cops -- on film sets.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Tribune TV stations downplay affiliation with CW network

Some websites, including that of KTLA-TV Channel 5, are being redesigned to drop the CW brand and instead focus on local identity.

The CW television network launched its new fall prime-time season with some of its highest ratings Monday night, but not before its TV station partner, Tribune Co., took steps to downplay its association with the youth-oriented network.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Oil prices dive as Gustav passes

With production and refining facilities in the Gulf of Mexico escaping major damage, weak demand rules oil markets.

The biggest repercussions from Hurricane Gustav's brush with the Gulf Coast oil complex played out in energy markets Tuesday instead of at refineries and oil rigs, as reports trickled in that damage to key facilities was mostly minor and oil prices plunged below $110 a barrel in response.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Supplement makers need stricter FDA oversight

When I read about the founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals being sentenced last week to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers with dubious herbal remedies, I asked myself yet again: Why doesn't the government regulate this stuff?

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

More workers cracking their 401(k) nest eggs

Workers are jeopardizing their future by raiding their retirement savings to take care of immediate needs.

Six months ago, Ivan Sanchez was optimistic about his future. He had recently earned a bachelor's degree in business management and was writing a book about growing up among gangs and guns in the Bronx.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am

Punch Taverns scraps dividend to preserve cash

Punch Taverns shocked the market today by scrapping its final dividend, delaying its conversion to a real estate investment trust (Reit) and wanting to repay debt early to shore up its balance sheet.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:57 am

Coca Cola in $2.5bn Chinese deal

Drinks giant Coca Cola is to pay $2.5bn to buy Chinese juice company Huiyan, to tap into demand for healthier drinks.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:56 am

Coca-Cola bids $2.4 billion for China Huiyuan Juice

Coca-Cola offers up to $2.4 billion to buy China Huiyuan Juice, a premium of about three times the Chinese company's market value.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:53 am

Venezuelan President leaves SAfrica after energy deal: official

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has left South Africa after inking a raft of energy agreements with Pretoria, a senior government spokesman said Wednesday. "He left late...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:52 am

Morgan Stanley raising $10 billion property fund, eyes China

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley is raising $10 billion for a global property fund and plans to put $1.5 billion or more of that into China, shrugging off concern about a property market downturn, a banking source said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:51 am

Crude oil price drops below $109

Crude oil prices slip further after Hurricane Gustav fails to disrupt output and on concerns slowing world growth will dent demand.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:39 am

Australian state mulls uranium mining ban

Australia could lose the chance to become the world's biggest uranium producer if a threatened ban on mining yellowcake in a key state is imposed, an industry lobby group said Wednesday.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:19 am

Argentina to pay back $6.7bn debt

Argentina pledges to repay the entire $6.7bn of defaulted debt still owed to foreign investors after the 2001-2002 crisis.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Sep 2008 | 6:12 am

Morgan Stanley raising $10 billion property fund, eyes China (Reuters)

Reuters - Morgan Stanley is raising $10 billion for a global property fund and plans to put $1.5 billion or more of that into China, shrugging off concern about a property market downturn, a banking source said on Wednesday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:50 am

Morgan Stanley raising $10 billion property fund, eyes China

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley is raising $10 billion for a global property fund and plans to put $1.5 billion or more of that into China, shrugging off concern about a property...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:50 am

Currency: NZ plunges as US dollar rises

The New Zealand dollar fell down the proverbial elevator shaft today, shedding nearly two United States cents since yesterday's close. A bout of selling hit the currency in late afternoon trading when it had already been eroded...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:49 am

Murdoch yearns to buy New York Times: report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch yearns to buy the New York Times and toyed with acquiring a sizable minority stake in Bloomberg News, Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff reports in an October 2008 article.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:43 am

Asia Markets: Airlines jump, energy stocks slump in mixed region

Asian markets advance, with airline and automobile stocks such as Honda and Air New Zealand moving higher on a sharp fall in crude-oil prices.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:20 am

Mark Hulbert: Still not enough pessimists to satisfy contrarians

An intraday wipe-out could point to short-term bearishness but long-term bullishness, writes Mark Hulbert.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:05 am

Oil falls in Asia on global demand concerns

Oil prices dipped toward $109 a barrel Wednesday as investors shifted attention to concern over slowing global demand for crude after Hurricane Gustav left oil installations in the Gulf of...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:00 am

Mergers & Acquisitions Surge May Spur Markets

America's mergers and acquisitions craze a major market catalyst that virtually vanished about a year ago amid the rapidly expanding credit crisis may be mounting a comeback, Wall Street pros say. ...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:00 am

How Utility Stocks Became Risky

With senators McCain and Obama in a virtual dead heat in the presidential race, the direction of economic regulation over the next four years is a big question mark. What are investors to do? Can they...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 5:00 am

Lehman jumps after KDB confirms deal talk

Korea Development Bank says it is in talks to buy a stake in troubled Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers as part of a consortium of banks in the region.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:50 am

Bush hails McCain's security credentials

President George W. Bush invoked the September 11 attacks at the Republican convention, hailing John McCain as a president in waiting who would prevent such attacks before they occurred
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:26 am

Canadian miners see bright future in Mongolia

At a remote outpost in the Gobi Desert, hundreds of kilometres from any paved road, Keith Marshall is poring over satellite images, geological surveys and sheets of statistics, literally...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:10 am

Dancing with the Stars, Hillary's funeral drive TVNZ's profit up

State owned broadcaster TVNZ says it has increased its profits by more than $25 million from last year, announcing today a full year profit of $19.4 million, built on the back of hit shows like Dancing with the Stars . Last year...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:05 am

Abu Dhabi Puts More Cash on the Line in Hollywood

Abu Dhabi Media, flush with oil cash, is adding to the $1 billion deal it announced with Warner Brothers last year, and is putting another billion in a new movie business.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:04 am

Ray Beauchemin's Letters from Abu Dhabi: Retail banking among the sheikhs in the UAE

It's a long way from the Aldenville (Mass.) Credit Union to personal banking in the United Arab Emirates, observes columnist Raymond Baeuchemin.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:01 am

Todd Harrison: Traders ready for a September to remember

With football season upon us, our collective attention now turns to the metaphorical line of scrimmage in the markets. Tensions are high and the stadium packed, for the winner of the September battle could run the schedule into year-end.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:01 am

DNA Police

In the 1997 film Gattaca, DNA police could identify a person using just a fleck of discarded skin, or a single hair.

This was a huge boon for catching bad guys, but also meant that no one's genetic information was private.

Last week, the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix said that a team of scientists led by David Craig had developed a method for identifying an individual using only a smidgen of their DNA, even if it is mixed with hundreds of other people's DNA.

The breakthrough will greatly improve police forensics that uses DNA from crime scenes to hunt down lawbreakers, and will help identify victims of disasters such as plane crashes and terrorist bombings with greater accuracy.

It also can be used to search for individual genetic signatures in the huge public databases at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere. These repositories store thousands of people's DNA—which is supposed to stay anonymous—that were used in studies looking for genes that influence or cause disease.

The N.I.H., the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium in Britain, and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were among the organizations that responded to the study's release by shutting down public access to DNA repositories.

This comes just a few months after Congress passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act to protect individuals from insurance companies and employers who would use their DNA against them.

The new law, however, is slim on protections from searches and potential abuses by law enforcement and the government, gaps that need to be addressed immediately by the new Congress in light of these new technologies.

Translational Genomics, often referred to as TGen, revealed its new method in a study published on August 29 in the open-sources journal, PLoS Genetics, published by the Public Library of Science.

"It is now possible to know with near certainty that a particular individual was at a particular location, even with only trace amounts of DNA and even if dozens or even hundreds of others were there, too," Craig, the paper's senior author, said in a press release issued by the institute.

The breakthrough comes because of new "gene array" technologies from companies such as Illumina and Affymetrix that can quickly test for up to a million genetic markers, as opposed to current police forensics labs that test for only about 20 markers. That is often not enough markers to make a positive match.

 This technology is the same used by direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies such as 23andme and deCodeme. At the moment, running a million genetic markers on an array is pricey for police work, costing several hundred dollars per individual compared to about $50 for the 20-marker tests.

Any lab that can analyze DNA using an Illumina or Affymetrix platform could run the test. As costs go down, many are likely to start offering this service.

According to the TGen press release, Commander Brent Vermeer of the Phoenix Police Department crime lab said that DNA evidence is often "rendered useless because of contamination, and that to eventually put the TGen theoretical research into a cost-effective police practice 'would be an amazing asset'.''

To protect patients in studies who had been promised that their data would remain anonymous, the N.I.H. said it has removed the appropriate data of individual gene studies from public viewing.

This should forestall "the unlikely but concerning scenario" that police or F.B.I. agents could compare DNA from a crime scene with an N.I.H. database, Johns Hopkins University bioethicist Kathy Hudson wrote in an email to the GenomeWeb Daily News website.

"While a fairly remote concern, and there are some protections even against subpoena, N.I.H. did the right thing in acting to protect research participants," Hudson wrote.

The data is still available to researchers who apply for access and agree to protect its confidentiality.

The N.I.H. worked closely with the Craig to develop its new policy, and knows of no breach to date.Related Links
Do Some Men Have a Commitment-Phobia Gene?
Gene-Sequencing Warrior
Sequencing at the Speed of Lightning


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 3 Sep 2008 | 4:00 am

MarketWatch First Take: Republicans still can't get started

The Republican convention was supposed to really get going Tuesday, but the second day lacks any real red meat for GOP supporters.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:57 am

Wage Gaps for Women Frustrating Germany

Despite having a woman as head of government, Germany has one of the widest gender wage gaps in Europe.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:51 am

Report: KDB seeking 25 percent of Lehman Brothers

State-owned Korea Development Bank has made a proposal to acquire 25 percent of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers for as much as 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion), a newspaper reported...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:46 am

GOP pays tribute to McCain on convention's second night

The Republican National Convention returns to full force with President Bush giving party candidate John McCain a strong endorsement, telling delegates the country needs the Arizona senator to protect it from a dangerous world.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:40 am

English Soccer Club Sale Reveals Emirates Rivalry

Soccer may not yet compare with blue chip stocks. But the intense interest in the soccer club Manchester City illustrates the appeal of these visible assets for foreign investors.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:38 am

K. K. Birla, a Leader of Indian Business, Dies at 89

Mr. Birla established one of Indias biggest business conglomerates, with interests in industries like sugar, fertilizers, chemicals, heavy engineering, and many others.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:31 am

Auckland prices hold but sales slow - report

Auckland real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson says house prices held up during August, despite a continued slump in sales volumes. The company sold 502 properties last month, low when compared to a monthly average of 900 during...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:27 am

Protests Halt Indias Plant for Cheapest Car

Tata Motors said that violent political protests over land had compelled it to stop building a plant in eastern India where it was to manufacture its much-awaited Nano model.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:22 am

Coca-Cola offers to buy Huiyuan in $2.5B deal

The Coca-Cola Co., the world's biggest beverage company, has offered to buy major juicemaker China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. in a deal worth as much as $2.5 billion in cash, the companies...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:19 am

World Business Briefing | Americas: Mexico: Grupo Mexico Cleared

A U.S. judge has cleared the Mexican copper mining company Grupo Mexico of fraud in the 2003 transfer of a stake in a Peruvian mining company from Asarco, a group unit at the time.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:17 am

World Business Briefing | Americas: Canada: Deere to Close Ontario Factory

Deere & Company, the farm machinery manufacturer, said it would close its Welland, Ontario, plant next year, a decision that would eliminate 800 jobs.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:17 am

Coke to Acquire Firm in China

The Coca-Cola Company said it would buy a leading Chinese juice maker, the China Huiyuan Juice Group, for $2.3 billion.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:17 am

Full text of former Sen. Fred Thompson's speech

ST. PAUL, Minn. (MarketWatch) -- Here are the remarks of former Sen. Fred Thompson, as prepared for delivery on Tuesday to the Republican National Convention.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Sep 2008 | 3:00 am

KDB sent offer to Lehman, Korean banks deny role

SEOUL (Reuters) - State-controlled Korea Development Bank (KDB) proposed buying 25 percent of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers for up to $5.3 billion, a newspaper reported, but Korean banks...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 2:32 am

Oil dips 0.5 pct to $109, economy back in focus

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil dipped half a dollar to near $109 on Wednesday, deepening this week's sharp drop as traders looked past Hurricane Gustav to focus on a wobbly global economy and...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 3 Sep 2008 | 2:18 am

Kiwi retail spend should grow this year, says global forecast

Food and petrol costs have soared and the economy has been squarely in recession this year, but a new global spending index is forecasting New Zealand retail spending to grow 2.5 per cent in the second half of this year. The MasterCard...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 2:00 am

Google sees new browser displacing desktop software (Reuters)

Reuters - Google Inc is challenging Microsoft Corp with its own Web browser that lets users run many applications that once worked only when installed on local PCs, executives said on Tuesday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 1:51 am

Google sees new browser displacing desktop software

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - Google Inc is challenging Microsoft Corp with its own Web browser that lets users run many applications that once worked only when installed on local PCs, executives said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 1:51 am

Ospraie's flagship fund to be shut down

Ospraie Management, the US hedge fund firm run by commodities trader Dwight Anderson and part owned by Lehman Brothers, is to shut down its flagship fund and return money to investors after the fund suffered heavy losses in August
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 3 Sep 2008 | 1:08 am

KiwiSaver loophole law change passes

Parliament has passed law to ensure employers pay contributions to their employees' KiwiSaver accounts and putting workers' rights to rest, and meal breaks and infant feeding breaks into law. The Government took the unusual step...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 1:00 am

HSBC, China bank also interested in Lehman: report

SEOUL (Reuters) - Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings and an unidentified Chinese bank are among potential buyers of Lehman Brothers, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a financial industry source.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:28 am

Kleinwort Benson name may live on

Commerzbank is considering retaining the illustrious Kleinwort Benson brand for its UK private banking activities but will ditch the Dresdner Kleinwort name as part of the agreed €9.8bn (£7.9bn) takeover of its German rival.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Alert over Tory IHT threshold proposals

Homeowners were warned not to neglect inheritance tax planning in the wake of reports that the Tories would raise the tax threshold to £2m.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Jobs market getting worse, says Hays

Hays, Britain's largest recruitment company, has warned that the job market is deteriorating - likening the current economic slowdown to that seen in the "late 1980s and early 1990s".
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Recruitment firm Hays has a job on its hands

Last year, 80,000 people took the next step in their careers thanks to Hays.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Lonmin invites suitors to the table

Lonmin chairman Sir John Craven said yesterday that his was not an "independent at any price" company and urged any potential bidder to "come forward and put their best offer on the table".
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Builders make strong gains on Government's stamp duty changes

Shares in housebuilders rallied strongly yesterday after the Government lifted the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £175,000 and unveiled plans to help stimulate the housing market.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Abu Dhabi deal gives tradition a kicking

Football club takeover shows Gulf is growing, reports Rowena Mason.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

City news (Mon-Fri)

City news (Mon-Fri)
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

MPs slam BBC Lonely Planet link

Repeated plugs for the Lonely Planet brand on the BBC's website and television channels have prompted fresh accusations that the licence fee is being used to promote the corporation's commercial activities.
Source: Telegraph Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:01 am

Wellington Drive gets US Govt energy tick

Local maker of energy efficient motors Wellington Drive Technologies has been recognised by a United States government energy efficiency labelling programme. The company can now use the Energy Star mark as a service and product...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 3 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am

Toyota pulls plug on plug-in hybrid deposits

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:48 pm

HSBC, China bank also interested in Lehman: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) and an unidentified Chinese bank are among potential buyers of Lehman Brothers , South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a financial industry source.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:46 pm

Commodity and tech shares lead market lower

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday, as a steep decline in the price of oil and other commodities hammered energy and materials companies while tech shares fell amid jitters a global economic slowdown would crimp technology spending.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:44 pm

Taking a pounding

Sterling's decline hits key shares in the BBC Global 30
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:19 pm

Sharp slide in the UK jobs market

A slide in the UK economy is being blamed for a sharp decline in the number of permanent jobs - the worst since November 2001.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:13 pm

Oil price of $100 a barrel on horizon

Oil prices sank to a five-month low of just more than $105 a barrel as traders turned their sights on signs that slower growth was spreading beyond the US
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:03 pm

Google launches internet browser

Google is to release its own internet browser in what amounts to its most direct attack yet on Microsoft's dominance of PC software
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:01 pm

Iran calls for production cuts as oil price plummets

The price of crude oil tumbled yesterday in the futures markets as the destructive force of Hurricane Gustav dwindled.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Dick Cheney in Georgia: Europe has weak hand in game of power

Where there is oil and where there is trouble, you can expect to find Dick Cheney - and the US Vice-President arrives today in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for a brief tour of the Caucasus, taking in Georgia as well as Ukraine, three states in the front line of the West's struggle for Asian energy supplies.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Lonmin says 'no' to Xstrata bid, for now

Lonmin, the platinum miner, said yesterday that it would be willing to open talks with Xstrata about a possible takeover, but only if the £5 billion offer price was raised.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Asian central banks step in as turbulence buffets region

Asian central banks embarked on a day of intervention in foreign exchange markets yesterday as inflation, social unrest and plunging stock markets weighed heavily on currencies.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Oil prices plunge as Gustav fades

NEW YORK - Oil prices plunged to the lowest level in five months Tuesday, falling to within sight of $US100 a barrel on signs that Hurricane Gustav only grazed US energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Light, sweet crude...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

Economy takes its toll on construction and City job markets

The deteriorating economy is beginning to inflict a toll on the jobs market, in which recruitment has fallen at its fastest rate for seven years, according to new figures. The number of permanent jobs filled fell in August at the sharpest rate since November 2001, while temporary placements declined at a survey-record pace, according to KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) latest Report on Jobs. The data, collected from recruitment consultancies, reflected the experience of Hays, the staffing company, which said yesterday that it has detected a fall in demand for permanent staff, particularly in the construction sector and in the City of London. A growing pool of people seeking has meant that pay rose only modestly in August, according to KPMG/REC. Hays, which yesterday reported results for its year to June 30, said that demand for permanent workers was lower than this time a year ago. The group reported a 25 per cent increase in profits overall, buoyed by its international business, but at home second-half operating profits fell 10 per cent. Full-year operating profits for the UK and the Irish Republic fell 3 per cent to £137.3 million in the year to June 30, with figures hit largely by a slowdown in the construction and property and accountancy and finance sectors. Alistair Cox, the chief executive of Hays, which has shed staff and cut costs, said that there were “clear signs of tightening economies in the latter part of the year”. Mr Cox said: “The market has gone from being pretty buoyant to quite tough in just six months. We are turning our resources towards the government sector, which is still growing, but it doesn’t account for the dramatic fall-off in anything to do with construction or the financial sector.” The construction and housebuilding industry has experienced the brunt of job losses in recent months. According to industry estimates, 10,000 permanent jobs have been lost so far this year and probably as many casual jobs. Estate agents have also been hit hard. Other industries have suffered. Several airline collapses, including those of Zoom and Silverjet, the transatlantic carriers, have led to hundreds of cabin staff losing their jobs. Yesterday 155 jobs at Dunlopillo, the pillow maker, were put at risk when Dunlop Latex Foam, its parent company, was placed in administration. In the City, UBS is in the process of shedding 900 staff, while Commerzbank is expected to cut at least a 1,000 jobs as a result of its merger with Dresdner Kleinwort. The Centre for Economics and Business research predicted in April that the City would suffer almost 20,000 job cuts this year and next. That figure, which is due to be updated next month, is thought to have worsened because of the impact of the credit crunch on the financial services industry. Last month, the British Chambers of Commerce said that the economic slump would lead to unemployment soaring by between 250,000 and 300,000 in the next two to three years and that total unemployment of more than two million, the same level as when Labour came to power in 1997, could not be ruled out. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose at its fastest rate for 16 years in July, the latest month for which figures are available, rising by 20,100. The total number of people out of work is 1.67 million, according to official figures.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

As sterling sinks, so price rises spread ever further

After record petrol prices, energy bills and the ever-higher cost of the supermarket basket, consumers now face the biggest price increases on non-food items such as T-shirts, shoes and sofas for more than a decade.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm

NZ Shares: Market flat as Telecom drops

The sharemarket was flat early with top stock Telecom falling while some other stocks gained and as commodity prices tumbled and the New Zealand dollar hit a year-low against the greenback. Around 10.10am the benchmark NZSX-50...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:44 pm

Google's browser gamble

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:36 pm

Abu Dhabi takes fortunes to Hollywood

Fresh from buying into English Premier League football, Abu Dhabi will on Wednesday set out plans to become one of the world's largest film producers, with $1bn to invest in productions to be made in Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:31 pm

Kiwi assets losing lustre for overseas investors

Overseas appetite for New Zealand business declined slightly in the first half of this year but the biggest deal of 2008 has just been cleared. The Overseas Investment Office released its July decisions and said the purchase of...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:30 pm

Bare-bones BlackBerry knockoff

The Peek doesn't make calls, take photos or text, but for $20 a month it offers unlimited e-mail.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:26 pm

Activist funds pressure Deutsche Börse

Atticus Capital and The Children's Investment Fund, the activist hedge funds that are the two biggest investors in Deutsche Börse, warned the stock exchange group to take urgent action to boost shareholder value
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:14 pm

UK recession this year, OECD says

The OECD says the UK economy will fall in recession in the second half of 2008 and sharply cuts its growth forecast.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:13 pm

Boeing machinists voting on contract

If International Association of Machinists members reject the new contract proposal, a strike could cost Boeing $100 million a day and delay delivery of work for the government. Danielle Karson reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:11 pm

Rural Equities enjoys boom

Soaring rural property values have lifted profit at Sir Selwyn Cushing's Rural Equities more than 10-fold. Record net profit at the rural property investment and management company for the year ending June 30 was $32.4 million,...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:00 pm

Hybrid savings: Winners and losers

Consumer Reports crunches the numbers on hybrid vehicles that pay back the fastest and some that don't make dollar sense.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:00 pm

Stocks slump on slowdown fears

Stocks tumbled Tuesday, erasing earlier gains, as relief about plunging oil prices turned to worry about the implications for a global economic slowdown.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:43 pm

What price Lehman Brothers?

One of the most compelling dramas in New York's theater district this summer hinges on Lehman Brothers' courtship of a Korean bank.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:32 pm

8 Stocks With Modest P/E, P/S and P/CF Ratios (Stock Screen)

These eight stocks exhibit modest P/E, P/S and price/cash-flow ratios.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:30 pm

Small-Batch Bourbons Make It Big With Smooth, Sweeter Styles

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:19 pm

Betting on a Palin withdrawal

Now the Democrats aren't the only ones who can try to capitalize on the negative buzz growing around Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the prospective Republican VP candidate.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:16 pm

Retailers slash prices, but at what cost? (AP)

AP - In a bid to pull hesitant shoppers into their stores, retailers are slashing prices on everything from jeans to dinnerware. But those fat discounts will likely come at a big cost for the companies.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:04 pm

VIX Index of U.S. Stock Option Prices Advances 6.5% to 21.99

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:04 pm

Top 5 Inexpensive Ways to Boost Your Home's Value (Consumer Action)

Inexpensive ways to put a little more cash in your pocket if you sell your home.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:04 pm

Housing crash casualty: Your retirement

You already know that the housing crisis has wreaked havoc with the economy and financial markets, not to mention the lives of millions who've lost or could lose their homes. But there may be a less obvious casualty too: your retirement prosperity.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:02 pm

Kathy Boyle of Chapin Hill Advisors Uses Inverse ETFs

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:01 pm

Why Google jumped into the browser wars

Subtle shifts in the search war ignited the full-blown browser battle between Google and Microsoft.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:59 pm

Google-Microsoft browser war

The search giant takes on Microsoft by unveiling Chrome, a "streamlined and simple" web browser.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:56 pm

Energy stocks drag Wall Street down

Energy stocks dragged Wall Street into the red as tumbling oil prices greeted investors returning from their Labor Day holiday. Crude oil fell as much as $8 a barrel before paring early losses
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:51 pm

Energy ETFs Sell Off After Minimal Storm Damage (Daily ETF Wrap-Up)

Natural resources ETFs sell off as hurricane does less damage than feared.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:50 pm

Super-Fast $70,000 Nissan Hugs Curves, Gulps Gas, Isn't Pretty

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:35 pm

Gossip Nation

Fresh off summer vacation, Gossip Girl—the CW's hit show featuring pretty, pampered teens at a Manhattan private school—looks to have returned bigger and gossipier than ever.

Monday night's season two premiere scored 3.4 million viewers, making it the show's second-most-watched episode ever, trailing only last September's series premiere, according to the network.

PromoModuleTonight, the CW may have an even bigger test: trying to get people to watch the second generation of 90210—a new show that's crucial to rounding out the network's empty-caloried but oh-so-yummy programming.

For now though, making Gossip Girl’s dominance even sweeter for the executives at the CW—the network formed in 2006 as a joint venture between CBS and Warner Bros.—is that it's happening in prime time, and not online.

Last season, online episodes of the show that viewers could stream and watch at any time did so well executives feared they were cannibalizing the show's prime-time viewership.

The network went so far as to cancel the streamed episodes, hoping that the show's average audience of 2 million would rise accordingly.

Later, the word slipped out that the online episodes would, after all, be back this fall. And although the online version of the series premiere won't be available until later this week, strong appetite for the premiere on the small screen probably translates to strong demand online, where every broadcast network is trying to cultivate a base of avid, engaged, young fans.

With Gossip Girl, the CW can, it seems, have its Diet Coke and drink it too.

Gossip Girl’s audience on Monday was especially impressive given that the season opener aired during a holiday weekend, presumably before many of its target audience members—late teens and twentysomethings—had settled back into their fall routines.  

Combined with ratings for the start of the sixth season of One Tree Hill, the CW's long-running teen drama, the Gossip Girl premiere helped deliver the CW's best Monday night numbers ever, with a 2.3 rating among adults 18 to 34, and a 3.3 among women 18 to 34, the network's key demographic. It won the night for female viewers in that bracket.

All of which is good news for a network that has yet to deliver a megahit during its first two seasons on air. The next chapter for the CW unfolds tonight, when the reinvented version of 90210 airs.

If that premiere tanks, despite Monday night's success, the network's future could well come under renewed scrutiny. And that's gossip too juicy for the CW to ignore.

Related Links
'New York' Happy to Run 'Bad' 'Gossip Girl' Ad


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:30 pm

Oil plunges to near 5-month low

Oil futures on Tuesday tumbled to levels not seen since early April on a strengthening dollar and concerns that an economic slowdown has crippled demand for energy.

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:29 pm

Warren Buffett's Best Man (SmartMoney Magazine)

Warren Buffett might not be where he is today without Charlie Munger.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:17 pm

Rally Reversed

An early rally faded in afternoon trading, as a decline in oil prices weighed down the energy sector.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:16 pm

David Axelrod Discusses Obama's Convention Speech

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:14 pm

Next U.S. President's No. 1 Job Is Supreme Court Appointment

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:00 pm

Acupuncture touted for low-cost care

A possible solution to high health-care costs might be coming from an unlikely source -- an alternative form of treatment that's been around for centuries. Joel Rose reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:00 pm

Google has shiny new Chrome browser

The Internet search giant is adding a browser to its mix of products. Rafe Needleman of CNET.com was at Google's announcement today. He shares the details with Kai Ryssdal.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:59 pm

Schools use 4-day week to cut costs

Rising fuel costs are affecting virtually every school district in the nation, according to a new survey. Some schools are keeping classes in session longer, but only four days a week. Jeremy Hobson reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:59 pm

McCain must focus on the payroll tax

Commentator Reihan Salam says some Republicans have lost touch with the economic anxiety of average Americans. He offers a suggestion for self-improvement.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:59 pm

The 52-Week Low Club 9/2/1008 (CDE)(NFX)(MDR)(INGN)(HERO)(FLEX)

Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) Bad day for commodities stocks. Drifts down to $1.62 from 52-week high of $5.18

Newfield Exploration (NFX) Crude down $6. Bad day for oil exploration stocks. Falls to $39.98 from 52-week high of $69.77.

McDermott International (MDR) Oil and gas equipment supplier. Drops to $31.14 from 52-week high of $67.14.

Introgen Therapeutics (INGN) FDA turns down treatment application. Falls to $.50 from 52-week high of $4.85.

Hercules Offshore (HERO) Caught by collapsing oil prices. Sells down to $19.80 from 52-week high of $39.47.

Flextronics (FLEX) Concerns about rising short interest? Drops to $8.45 from 52-week high of $13.60.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:59 pm

'90210' is next to woo young viewers

The remake of the popular 1990's show "Beverly Hills 90210" debuts tonight. It's the latest try at getting young viewers to spend a little less time in front of You Tube and a little more time in front of that other tube. Janet Babin reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:59 pm

Rodgers & Hammerstein up for auction?

The iconic songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein may soon be on the auction block. Their catalog could fetch a couple of hundred million dollars. Amy Scott reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:58 pm

NOLA businesses weather evacuation

Even though Hurricane Gustav wasn't as severe as expected, it still left billions in property damage behind it. But a bigger cost to business might turn out to be living with frequent mass evacuations. Dan Grech reports.
Source: Marketplace | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:58 pm

Eisenbeis Calls Mishkin an `Accomplished' Economist

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:52 pm

Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin Steps Down

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:50 pm

3 Stocks to Watch: GOOG, CCL, XTO (Market Movers)

Google browses for market share. Carnival cruises higher. XTO runs out of gas.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:50 pm

S Korea's KDB confirms talks with Lehman

Korea Development Bank confirmed that it was in talks about a possible investment in Lehman Brothers, the beleaguered US investment bank that is under pressure to raise more capital before it reports its earnings later this month
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:49 pm

Oil down sharply on Gustav relief

Crude oil prices fall sharply after oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico were spared by Hurricane Gustav.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:41 pm

Work stopped at Nano car factory

Work on the Indian factory where the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, is to be made is suspended amid local opposition.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:27 pm

Retirement account rules catch many by surprise (AP)

AP - There's some sentiment that a government rule that forces retirees to withdraw money from their IRA and 401(k) accounts when they turn 70 1/2 may need to be changed. That's because people are living longer and need to keep as much of their retirement money for as long as possible, said several financial advisers and a leader of the Senate Finance Committee.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 2 Sep 2008 | 7:19 pm

Study Harvard's Endowment for Investing Tips (Common Sense)

You don't need a Harvard MBA to mimic the returns of the university's endowment.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 6:49 pm

Fannie and Freddie: Buy the Debt, Skip the Stock (Common Sense)

The mess that is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provides investing opportunities and dangers.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 6:34 pm

War Is Hell, The Markets Turn Down Mid-Session (LEH)(MER)(INTC)(CSCO)(AAPL)(EBAY)(RIMM)

With a $6 a barrel drop in oil prices, this was supposed to be one of the best days of the year for the stock markets. The Nasdaq opened up 55 points at 2,402 and then reversed itself to trade down .5% at 2 PM. The S&P 500 moved up almost 20 point in early trading and then swung down .2%.

The market has made a simple decision. The economy is not getting any better. It is getting worse. Oil at $110 will not help enough to offset falling personal income, rising unemployment, a tough housing market, and attrition in corporate spending.

Tech was supposed to be the last sector to fall in a GDP pull-back. Today, Intel (INTC), Cisco (CSCO), Apple (AAPL), RIM (RIMM), and Ebay (EBAY) are all off. If the market does trade based on its view of the state of companies six months in the future, tech earnings will be mauled by year-end.

Wall St. also turned against the weakest members of the financial sector. Rumors that the Korea Development Bank would take a stake in Lehman (LEH) encouraged traders to believe that the company still had some partially hidden value. Lehman's stock moved down over 2% despite what should have been viewed at a positive development. Merrill Lynch (MER) sold down as well. The thin line of traders who believe that the worst in write-offs is over has been breached.

It is becoming harder and harder for investors to see rallies as built on anything other than sand.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 6:21 pm

Chesapeake Drilling for Cash? (CHK, BP, PXP)

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) announced today that it will create a joint venture with the US division of BP plc (BP) that will give BP a 25% stake in Chesapeake's Fayetteville Shale assets in exchange for $1.9 billion. Following the transaction, BP will own about 135,000 net acres of Chesapeake's current 540,000 net acre leasehold.

As part of the deal, BP pays $1.1 billion up front, in cash, at closing, and the remaining $800 million by funding drilling and completion expenses through the rest of 2008 and into 2009, until the money runs out. But that's not the best part for BP. If Chesapeake acquires any future leaseholds in the Fayetteville Shale play, "BP will have the right to a 25% participation in any such additional leasehold."

Chesapeake's CEO noted that the company has now off-loaded about $2.5 billion in drilling and expenses to new partners. In July, Plains Exploration (NYSE:PXP) coughed up $1.65 billion for a 20% share of Chesapeake's Haynesville shale leasehold and BP ponied up another $1.7 billion for all of Chesapeake's interests in 90,000 net acres in the Arkoma Basin. All told, since the beginning of the third fiscal quarter of 2008, Chesapeake has raised $4.2 billion in cash.

In August, Chesapeake moved about $2.25 billion in senior notes off its books and onto the books of a host of new subsidiaries. The company paid a consent fee to noteholders of $3.75/$1,000.

All this is an effort to shore up the company's share price, after a nasty loss last quarter due to about $2.1 in mark-to-market hedging losses. But since volatility is the name of the game in energy markets, the company noted in its quarterly results that for the first 25 days of the third quarter, its hedges had gained $4.7 billion in value.

Unfortunately, commodity hedges don't figure in much when it comes to investors' actions. Selling off assets gets peoples' attention. Chesapeake stock is down nearly 5% in early trading this morning.

Paul Ausick

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 5:55 pm

Alcatel-Lucent new chief vows to heal rifts

Ben Verwaayen, the new chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent, pledged he would not "take any prisoners" in his battle to end the cultural and management rivalries that have dogged the Franco-American telecoms equipment supplier since its ill-fated merger two years ago
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 2 Sep 2008 | 5:54 pm

Market Stats Point to Election Honeymoon (Tradecraft)

The history of presidential elections favors stocks, before and after the vote.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 3:37 pm

Almost Family to Uncle Sam (Stock Screen)

The savviest suppliers of home care are flying high and feeling no pain.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 2 Sep 2008 | 3:36 pm

Sfakianakis Says Gulf Currencies' Dollar Peg to Stay

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 3:22 pm

Google to Microsoft: Game On

The "browser wars" should be renamed the "browser battles."

In its boldest move yet to secure tech dominance on the internet, Google today released a Web browser aimed squarely at the market dominated by Microsoft—but the bigger target is the operating system, and Microsoft's Office software suite, a cash cow for Microsoft totaling $15 billion.

"Google really believes that the internet is the new operating system," said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, a technology news and analysis website. "Google wants to provide the applications that people use on the Web, and the best way to do that is to make them compatible with its own browser." (Google spread word of the new browser via a comic-book explaining the back story. Click here for Portfolio.com's slightly different version.)

This new battleground is much broader than others over internet software—including search—because it is a war for control over computer software, and suggests that Google's larger target is Microsoft Office, and even Windows itself.

But unlike the Windows or Vista operating systems, a Google operating system is expected to be one native to the Web, instead of residing on individual computer desktops.
 
Some experts believe that Chrome, when combined with Google's growing suite of Web-based applications, including Gmail and Google Docs, could pose a challenge to Microsoft's domination of computer operating systems and its highly profitable Office software suite.

"Chrome is a double threat to Microsoft," said Sullivan. "It's not just about the browser threat to Internet Explorer. It reinforces the threat to Microsoft on the application front as well."

In a blog post, Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president for product management, sought to portray Chrome as not just a browser, "but also a modern platform for webpages and applications."

Prior to the advent of "always connected" broadband internet, most computer software was either for offline use, like word processing and spreadsheets, or for online use, like Web browsers. But Google is clearly pushing for a new model, one that integrates all software into a Web-based platform centered around a Web browser.

 Google is not so much trying to replace Microsoft Windows as render the traditional idea of the desktop-based operating system obsolete, a vision it can't realize as long as Microsoft controls the Web-browser market with Internet Explorer.
 
Although Google dominates Web search, one of the most basic internet functions, it has not yet found a way to crack the stranglehold Microsoft has long held on the browser market with Internet Explorer, which owns 75 percent market share. Google has tried to parry Microsoft's dominance by supporting Firefox, the open-source browser, but Chrome represents a new, frontal assault on Internet Explorer.

Microsoft, fresh off its stinging failure to acquire Yahoo as a way to attack Google's search position, isn't sitting on its hands.

Just last week, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8, which includes a feature that makes it harder for websites—including Google (and Microsoft)—to track users' activities, a potential threat to Google's highly profitable targeted advertising. In a statement, Microsoft responded to the release of Chrome.

"The browser landscape is highly competitive," said Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft's general manager for Internet Explorer, "but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse, and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online."

Google's entry into the Web-browser market has been widely anticipated.

As Google has matured, its torrid growth rate has slowed, putting the company under pressure to find new sources of revenue. As a result, in recent years Google has increasingly expanded beyond its Web-search roots into Microsoft's territory with Web-based applications for word processing, email, spreadsheets, and visual presentations.

But Google's track record building software has not matched its success in Web search—Google applications have yet to catch on broadly and have shown reliability issues—which is why the company faces an uphill battle if it wants to make a dent in the Web-browser market.

Chrome's debut should definitely worry Microsoft, said Rob Enderle, president of the Silicon Valley-based tech consultancy Enderle Group, but the onus will be on Google to show why people should switch from Internet Explorer, especially because most users don't really think about their Web browser as long as they can access websites smoothly.

"People typically don't switch browsers unless they are really unhappy with the one they are using, and Microsoft owns this segment," Enderle said. "Google will need to provide incentives to get people to not only try their browser, but [to] keep using it."

Related Links
Chrome: Why Google Fears Microsoft
Google Extends Web Search Lead
Microsoft's Supreme Search Screw-up


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 2 Sep 2008 | 3:00 pm

Venezuela and S Africa sign deal

Venezuela and South Africa sign an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the countries' oil and gas industries
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 2:39 pm

Xerox Rated `Buy' in Assumed Coverage at Citigroup

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 2 Sep 2008 | 1:58 pm

New job for former boss of BT

The former chief executive of BT, Ben Verwaayen has been appointed as the new boss of the loss-making telecoms company Alcatel-Lucent.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 2 Sep 2008 | 1:57 pm

24/7 Wall St. Exclusive Interview With Sprint (S) CEO Dan Hesse

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 1:26 pm

More Blight For Merck (MRK)

Merck (MRK) and Schering-Plough (SGP) make two of the most widely sold drugs in the world. One is cholesterol drug Zetia. Another is a related drug called Vytorin. The sales of the treatments topped $5 billion last year.

Zetia and Vytorin are more examples of how little the FDA cares about the health of the general population.

The two drugs do not seem to be terribly effective. Worse, according to The New York Times, scientists are debating whether there is a link between the products and cancer.

A treatment that does little or nothing for the patient other than bring potential harm should not be on the market at all.

The FDA has become a fairly ineffective agency and that has been of benefit to many pharma companies. If Zetia were pulled from the market, Merck's financials would be significantly damaged. Merck's shares trade at just over $35, which is near a 52-week low. But, any investor buying in now faces the risk that the government will knuckle under to protests about Zetia and severely limit the drug's use.

It is an odd brew. If patients using the Merck drug are helped by limits on Zetia's prescriptions, Merck's shareholders will be massacred.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 1:11 pm

The Lehman Deal That Won't Die

There may still be some translation issues, but after seemingly going back and forth on the question, the Korea Development Bank has confirmed that it is in talks with Lehman Brothers over a possible investment, Reuters reports.

A major stake by the deep-pocketed state-run bank would be a huge boost for Lehman, which has been under pressure to raise capital as it prepares to report what are expected to be dismal quarterly results.

Two weeks ago, K.D.B. had been reportedly close to taking a 50 percent stake in Lehman, but the talks broke down over price.

Then a spokesman for the bank said it was still interested in Lehman, but South Korean officials sought to pour cold water on the idea, indicating it was opposed to a large investment.

(K.D.B. was created by the government in 1954 to foster development as South Korea was emerging from war. It is on track to be privatized by 2012.)

It is unclear what, if anything, has changed that could make a deal doable. Lehman clearly would like to attract a major investor. It has also been talking to Citic Securities of China and sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Qatar, the Daily Telegraph says.

K.D.B. may see an opportunity in Lehman's distressed share price. Presumably, its chief executive has a better window into the firm than other investors, having led Lehman's operations in South Korea until earlier this year.

Much is at stake, contends Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism:

"Failure to cinch a deal with K.D.B. or a K.D.B.-led group would be a serious blow, since it would suggest either that Lehman's price expectations were unrealistic, that K.D.B. made some due-diligence discoveries that changed its view or valuation, or that Lehman would not give the reps and warranties that K.D.B. sought."



Related Links
Daily Dose of Lehman Conjecture


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 2 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm

$100 Oil (Return Flight)

Futures prices for crude oil are sliding back toward $100 a barrel. The threshold sent off alarms when it was broken at the start of the year.

Today's pullback is over relief that Hurricane Gustav did not wreck oil rigs and refineries by the Gulf of Mexico. Yet it will reignite the debate over whether the long rally in energy has been justified by fundamentals. Is the retreat a sign that the speculative froth in the market is now coming off?

Also on Portfolio: Crude Realities A look at the leading producers and consumers of oil. Pumping for Answers Why reporters are not asking the right questions about energy.

In New York, the near-month futures contract for light, sweet West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.55 percent, to close at $110.21. That is its lowest level in almost five months, Bloomberg News said.

In London trading, price fell further. Crude oil for October delivery fell nearly 9 percent, to $105.46. That is the lowest it has been since April 4, Bloomberg reports. The decline came amid signs that energy companies were preparing to resume operations in the Gulf.

Crude oil, which had been heading toward $150 a barrel this summer, has fallen back as the dollar has strengthened and amid growing signs that global demand is slowing. Even the Russian invasion of Georgia, home to major pipelines of oil from the Caspian Sea region, caused only a minor blip in the market.


"The market continues to be weighed down by worries of a global economic downturn and slowing oil demand in developing markets," Victor Shum, an energy analyst with the consulting firm Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, told the BBC.

But don't expect a return to the days of cheap energy. The economies of China and India may be slowing a bit, but they are still growing and their per capita consumption of energy is a fraction of that of Americans. Demand will only increase.

And production is not going to increase anytime soon. Members of OPEC meet next week in Vienna, and they are expected to hold the line on current output quotas. One member, Iran, has been calling for a cut in production, citing the recent slide in oil prices.

Related Links
The Oil Rush
Leap Day for Oil and Euro
Crude Awakening


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 2 Sep 2008 | 11:30 am

Commerzbank And A Big American Bank Merger (JPM)(BAC)(WM)(WB)

The Commerzbank buy-out of Dresdner Bank was not a shotgun wedding. Neither institution was failing. The severe balance sheet problems facing may other global money center banks were not an important consideration.

The Commerzbank decision was based simply on added scale and eliminating costs. Media reports are that at least 9,000 people will be cut out of the new company. But, the action does add a level of preparedness if the credit markets get much worse.

The damage done to large US banks, especially from mortgage-related securities is far from over. Other credit debt is beginning to default and should push earnings at financial companies down further. The need to marry weak banks with stronger ones has become acute in America and the efficiencies of the Commerzbank deal makes them more plausible.

If US bank balance sheets do get worse, the weakest institutions will have to be married off with stronger ones. Wachovia (WB) is the most likely to go. Banks of America (BAC) or JP Morgan (JPM) are the most likely to pick it up. Washington Mutual (WM) will be taken out if the credit climate deteriorates. It will almost certainly get pushed together with a stronger firm as well.

Commerzbank's deal for Dresdner is prophylactic. It protects the new entity by pulling out expenses which, in turn, makes its a better candidate for weathering an ongoing storm.

American banks would do well to take the merger as a template. The market does not need as many big banks as it has. Mergers make for stronger, more efficient companies and that is what a recession calls for.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 10:14 am

Gustav And Oil Pricing's New Calculus

Earlier this year, it did not take much to disrupt the price of oil and send it rocketing up. The market was inclined to believe that almost all news about crude was bad news. OPEC was aligned against US interests. Demand in China was insatiable. Speculators were making hundreds of millions of dollars manipulating prices higher to profit from their long positions.

Most of that has clearly changed, but the evidence from Gustav's run through the Gulf shows that it has changed more than expected and that the alterations may be nearly permanent.

As recently as June, news of a supply interruption would move crude up a few dollars. A broken pipeline in Canada did it and so did concerns about storms in the North Sea and political unrest in Nigeria. Oil would move to $200 and nothing was likely to stop it.

In the case of Gustav, oil prices dropped $4 to $109 before the damage from the storm could even be assessed. Some companies made statements that there had been no devastation, but not one could state with certainty that they had not lost some capacity.

In just three months, the psychology of oil prices have moved from one of neurosis to one of normality.

The market cannot look to a unique event which may have turned thinking on crude 180 degrees. Traders do believe that speculators have been pushed out of the market. Falling prices hurt their calls on $150 levels. A threat of government regulation may have sent some into deep caves.

More important, Wall St. is willing to have faith that supply and demand are the critical drivers of price and demand is falling. American car owners and airlines have cut use. Anecdotal information from Asia is that consumption from emerging markets is dropping as their economies slow. The administration said it was willing to open the Strategic Oil Reserve if Gustav had done much to cut supply.

Falling crude prices may be one of the few examples of the sum of the parts being worth more than the whole. The long-term trend is almost certainly that oil supply will fall. OPEC ministers have said they do not propose to increase supply at their meeting next week.

But, for the time being, oil traders simply believe that the worst of high pricing is behind them and trading against that trend is dangerous.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 9:33 am

Companies That Slash R&D In Tough Times Hurt Shareholder Returns

In his latest column for The New York Times, Mark Hulbert discusses a study that shows that companies that invest aggressively in research and development tend to reward shareholders with strong returns over the long-term. He writes that ". . . when times are tough, beware of companies that cut their spending on research and development. The stock market tends to punish such businesses and reward those with a commitment to R.& D. — often years before long-term projects reap benefits."

But it's very tempting for companies to slash R&D expenses when times are tough because it can provide a short-term jolt to earnings because it reduces expenses without reducing sales in the short-run. It often takes years for sales and earnings to reap the benefits of R&D investments so it's always a tempting place to cut costs during lean times. But in the long run, that's the exact opposite of what companies that build long-term value do.

It's tempting to just think about this study in the context of research and development, but I think the ramifications are broader: companies that make major changes in their business model in response to the vicissitudes of the macroeconomic environment are often not making the decisions that drive long-term shareholder value. Last month some investors worried about that in the context of Whole Foods Market's (WFMI) decision to try to attract more value-oriented shoppers, in spite of the premium price strategy that has driven its growth over the decades. And yet far too many companies make this mistake: banks lent aggressively when times were good and, now that the housing market has weakened, they've reined in their lending, perhaps too much.

When evaluating companies for investment, investors might do well to focus on companies that focus on long-term value, and are willing to put up with short-term earnings weakness in the pursuit of longer-term strategic goals. Because investors may punish these stocks for lower earnings, you might have a great opportunity to buy well-managed comanies at bargain prices.

Zac Bissonnette

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 2 Sep 2008 | 8:50 am