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Patel Engg sees fin closure of power project by SeptEngineering and construction firm Patel Engineering expects to achieve financial closure of its 1,200 mw, Tamil Nadu thermal project in the second quarter of FY11, a top official said on Wednesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 6:23 am Is BSNL ready for an IPO?Last week, the government told CNBCTV18 how it is looking at listing Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in the coming fiscal. But is the company ready to go public yet?Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 6:12 am Will bailouts create a future financial crisis?Governments the world over have spent or committed a staggering USD 14 trillion to prop up the financial system.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:54 am BofA to keep, grow Merrill Asia property fund: SourcesBofA to keep, grow Merrill Asia property fund sourcesSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:54 am Watch documentaries for freeYour window to documentaries from around the world.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:08 am More CEOs plan to hire than fire in 2010: Survey!Business confidence is bouncing back after the sharpest drop in economic activity since World War Two, prompting more industry leaders to start hiring again, according to a survey on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am India Info buys Orient Global`s stake in 2 arms for $80 mn!India Infoline on Wednesday said it has raised its holding in two of its subsidiaries after buying Singapore-based Orient Global`s stakes in the companies for USD 80 million (about Rs 370 crore).Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am Sensex falls by 188 points on weak global cues!Sensex on Wednesday fell by 188.51 points, or 1.10 percent, in opening trade on selling by foreign funds driven by weak trends in the overseas bourses.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am Japan exports log first rise in 15 months!Japan`s exports rose for the first time in 15 months in December as demand from China and other parts of Asia surged, official data showed Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am Geithner, NY Fed defend actions on AIG payments!Timothy Geithner denied any role in disclosures about American International Group`s payments to banks and defended his decisions as New York Federal Reserve chief to pay full price to retire AIG credit default swaps.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am After a controversial merger, govt now plans AI-IA demerger!With the Maharaja reporting huge losses, the government is now mulling over separating Air India and Indian Airlines, which were merged in August 2007 despite widespread criticism, an Indian daily reported on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am Lanco Infratech wins Rs 56.75 bn ordersLanco Infratech wins 56.75 bln rupees ordersSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 4:32 am IMF sharply raises global ecomomic growth forecastThe International Monetary Fund sharply raised its global economic growth forecast, casting developing countries in a leading role while rich nations struggle with high unemployment and government debt.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 4:05 am Moneyflows into emerging markets a concern, says IMFThe rapid flow of money into emerging markets is beginning to raise concerns about asset prices overheating, and policymakers cannot afford to be complacent, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 4:05 am Swaraj Mazda board meet on Jan 29 to discuss rights issueSwaraj Mazda board meet Jan 29 on rights issueSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 4:04 am Gold falls by Rs60 on weak global cuesMarketmen said trading sentiment in gold turned bearish as the precious metal fell by 0.4% to 1,093.11 dollar an ounce in London.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 3:23 am Adani Enterprises Q3 profit surges two-fold to Rs 303 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 3:10 am Sensex falls 500 points; Tata Steel, M&M, SBI down - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 3:06 am Rupee extends drop tracking shares; dollar gains - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am BSE Sensex extends fall to more than 3 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex extended losses to more than 3 percent on Wednesday afternoon, with financial stocks leading the fall on the back of a slide across Asia and Europe.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:55 am Property IPO wave risks investor indigestionMUMBAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investors are more likely to choke on a glut of India property IPOs set to hit the market this year than gobble them up.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:53 am Facebook may \'lock in\' its Internet dominanceCollege senior Alyssa Ravasio gave up MySpace on the day she got a Facebook account and never looked back.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:50 am China's largest bank says some loans not rolled overBEIJING (Reuters) - China's largest bank, ICBC, said on Wednesday it has stopped rolling over some loans to slow credit growth after a surge at the start of the year, offering the latest evidence of a government-directed clampdown on lending.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:38 am Cummins Q3 net up, sees domestic rev growing ahead - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:35 am Initial results show Sri Lankan President leadsColombo: Early results on Wednesday showed Sri Lanka’s incumbent President ahead of his former army chief in their bitter race to win the country’s first postwar election, while government troops surrounded the ex-general’s hotel in a sign of sky-high tensions. The former allies, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his challenger Sarath Fonseka, both are considered heroes by the country’s Sinhalese majority for their leading role in defeating the Tamil tigers in their quarter-century fight for an independent Tamil state. But their presidential election contest has been acrimonious from the start, with the general accusing his former boss of entrenched corruption and the president branding Fonseka a dictator-in-waiting. Initial results on Wednesday showed Rajapaksa leading with 1,125,297 votes compared to 752,850 for Fonseka. But the race was still up for grabs, with millions of votes not tallied. There are some 14 million registered voters, and the overall turnout during Tuesday’s polling was around 70%. On Wednesday, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, had gathered inside along with Fonseka, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. “We don’t know what’s their motive and as a protective measure, we have deployed troops around the hotel and people who go in and come out are being checked,” Nanayakkara told The Associated Press. He said that there were no plans to arrest Fonseka. Jehan Perera, a political analyst in Colombo, called the military’s move “absolutely unprecedented.” “It reflects the suspicion and the level of mistrust,” Perera said. Attempts to reach Fonseka at the hotel were not immediately successful. In an election day surprise, the government announced on Tuesday after the polls closed that it would seek court action to disqualify Fonseka because his name was not on voter registration lists, and the candidate himself was prevented from voting. However, the country’s electoral commissioner later issued a statement saying that Fonseka’s status on the voter rolls was irrelevant to his candidacy. No major violence was reported during Tuesday’s polling in an election that was seen as a first step in an attempt at recovery after decades of conflict. State media interspersed reports of initial returns on Wednesday with songs and programming featuring Rajapaksa, and information minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told broadcaster Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corp. that the results so far show the President “heading for a historic victory.” Rights groups have accused Rajapaksa of misusing state resources _ including monopolizing coverage on state TV, to bolster his campaign, while the opposition has expressed fears of vote rigging. While voting among the Sinhalese majority appeared to be strong, turnout was sparse in some northern Tamil areas, where the most intense fighting drove hundreds of thousands from their homes. The minority community had been expected to support Fonseka and play a possibly pivotal role in the results. Rajapaksa campaigned on his war record and his promises to bring development to the nation. Fonseka promised to trim the powers of the presidency and empower parliament . Some observers fear that a possible dispute over the results could lead to street protests and violence. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:29 am Worst is over, says Premji - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:28 am Business warns regulation may crimp recoveryDavos (Switzerland): Global business leaders warned Western governments on Wednesday that a populist crackdown on the financial industry could crimp a fragile recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. The worried response to US President Barack Obama’s plans to tax and curb big banks, came on the opening day of the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of some 2,500 business leaders and policymakers in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Surveys produced for the annual conference showed global economic confidence on the rise after deep gloom in 2009 and a cautious return to hiring, especially in emerging markets. But the spectre of heavy-handed regulation and government intervention in the economy was the biggest cloud on many business leaders’ horizon. “It would be unfortunate if regulatory reforms that will be forthcoming were based on a populist message,” said Dennis Nally, global chairman of accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Obama jolted markets on 21 January with proposals to force commercial banks to cut ties with hedge funds and private equity funds and stop proprietory trading, and to make the financial sector pay for a massive taxpayer bailout. “Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a number of actions that have taken place very much on a country-specific basis,” Nally told Reuters, warning of possible “unintended consequences”. “You’ve seen it in the US, you’ve seen it in the UK, you’ve seen it in parts of Europe. It’s not surprising because there is a lot of emotion around all of this and people want to see action taken,” he said. Barclays president Bob Diamond challenged Obama’s effort to limit the size of big banks, telling a forum session: “I have seen no evidence ... that shrinking banks is the answer. “If you step back and say too big is bad ... the impact of that on global trade, on the economy, could be very negative.” Confidence Rebounds A PwC study showed business confidence bouncing back after the sharpest drop in economic activity since World War II, prompting more industry leaders to start hiring again. The survey of 1,200 chief executives in 52 countries found 39% of industry bosses aimed to hire extra staff in 2010, while 25% planned more job cuts, down from nearly half who slashed jobs last year. But recruitment will be on a modest scale and mostly in booming emerging economies such as China and India, rather than in the developed world, the report showed. Obama’s proposed curbs on Wall Street drew guarded support from European governments but officials said the European Union does not plan to follow his lead. That could complicate efforts to build a global consensus on financial regulation in the G20 grouping of major economies. European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet played down transatlantic differences, telling the Wall Street Journal the proposed US reforms were “relevant and interesting” and shared the same aims as European measures. “They go in the same direction of our own position, namely ensuring that the banking sector focuses on financing the real economy, which is its key role,” he said. But he called for coordination to avoid creating loopholes in the integrated international financial system. Klaus Schwab, the German founder of the Davos forum, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, told Reuters Insider governments had done a great job in preventing the economy falling off a cliff last year, but a hard task lay ahead. “We have to go much more into a more stakeholder type of capitalism, we have to redesign our system and we have to rebuild our institutions and that’s what we want to do here,” he said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a champion of regulation and state industrial policy who has demanded a “moralisation of capitalism”, was to give the keynote address later on Wednesday. Against a backdrop of public outrage over bumper bonuses for bankers whose institutions were saved by taxpayer intervention, aides said Sarkozy would insist there must be no return to the excesses of financial speculation and deregulation. Some of the most high-profile bankers, including Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, have pulled out of this year’s Davos meeting. But the CEO’s of two major bailed-out U.S. banks -- Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit and Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan -- were due to attend. They may be in for a rough ride not only from politicians but also from some fellow business leaders. Joergen Ole Haslestad, CEO of Norway’s Yara International ASA, one of the world’s biggest fertiliser producers, told Reuters: “I think greed took over in the last few years. At some of the financial institutions there was too much money flowing to too many young people doing to little value-added.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:24 am Oracle Corp plans to hire 2 000 people reportSoftware maker Orcale Corp is planning to hire 2,000 people in sales and engineering department, as the company is near to close its long-delayed acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc, says a media report.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:21 am Vedanta's Q3 profit soars, meets forecastLONDON (Reuters) - Indian-focused mining group Vedanta posted a jump in third-quarter core earnings in line with analyst expectations as metal prices rebounded and record amounts of iron ore and aluminium were churned out.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:19 am Yahoo s 4Q progress brightens 2010 outlookComing off its best quarterly performance since hiring Carol Bartz as its chief executive a year ago, Yahoo promised late on Tuesday to deliver even more meaningful progress this year.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:16 am ECB's Trichet - U.S. bank reforms go in right directionDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Proposed U.S. bank reforms are a step in the right direction, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was quoted as saying on Tuesday, although international coordination is also important.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:13 am Gold buying continues; rupee weighsMumbai: India gold traders continued to pick bargains on Wednesday afternoon as the yellow metal traded below the $1,100 an ounce level, but a weaker rupee weighed on sentiment, dealers said. “There is good demand in the market, traders are finding these prices of Rs16,700 per 10 grams and $1,093 (an ounce) attractive,” said a dealer with a private bullion dealing bank in Mumbai. International spot gold was trading at $1,092.10/1,092.90 an ounce, as against the previous close of $1,097.25/1,098.05 an ounce. “I have orders lined-up in the range of $1,075-1,085,” said another dealer with a Mumbai-based state-run bank. A weak rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset expensive, weighed on traders’ sentiments. The Indian rupee slipped to its lowest level in more than three weeks as the local sharemarket played catch-up with the slide in the rest of the world after trading resumed following a holiday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 2:07 am RBI set to raise banks' reserve requirements - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:59 am Rupee extends drop tracking shares; dollar gainsMumbai: The Indian rupee extended its slide to a new three-week low on Wednesday afternoon, tracking a sharp fall in local shares and weighed by gains in the dollar versus major units overseas. At 2:45pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.40/41 per dollar, weaker than its previous close of Rs46.1250/1350 on Monday. The unit dropped as low as Rs46.44 earlier, its weakest since 4 January. Indian shares were down 2.5%, led by losses in financial stocks as the market caught up with the fall in world stocks on Tuesday as trade resumed after a holiday. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.3%. Dealers are awaiting the Indian central bank’s quarterly monetary policy review on Friday, with markets expecting an increase in banks’ reserve requirements. The outcome of the US Fed’s two-day FOMC meeting, which began on Tuesday, will also be watched but is expected to yield little in terms of a policy shift. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at Rs46.28 and Rs46.2825 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $4.6 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:59 am Business warns regulation may crimp recoveryDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Global business leaders warned Western governments on Wednesday that a populist crackdown on the financial industry could crimp a fragile recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:54 am Toyota suspends U.S. sales of 8 models in recallTOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will suspend U.S. sales of eight models subject to a massive safety recall, an unprecendented move that sent its shares tumbling and raised questions about the timing of its earnings recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:47 am Oil slips below $75 as firm dollar offsets US inventoriesSingapore: Oil fell slightly on Wednesday to stand near $75 as a firm dollar offset a surprise drop in crude stockpiles in top consumer the United States. Concern that a global economic recovery is cooling propped up the US dollar and the yen, while commodity-related currencies, including the Australian dollar, faced pressure from investors unwinding risky trades. “Over the last few days, the dollar has been stronger because people are trying to get risk off their portfolio,” said Keichi Sano, general manager of research at SCM Securities in Tokyo. “People now are in the mood of risk off, not risk on.” US oil for March delivery fell 4 cents to $74.67 a barrel by 1:31pm, after touching a five-week intraday low of $73.82 on Tuesday. London ICE Brent for March settlement shed 7 cents to $73.22. The Fed’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday will conclude a two-day meeting that is expected to yield little in terms of a US monetary policy shift. “I don’t think FOMC will give us any hint of higher interest rates soon,” Sano said. “For now, we might struggle to go lower than $70,” a barrel, he added. The drop in U.S. crude supplies came as imports fell by 1.5 million bpd to 8.31 million bpd, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly report. Inventories were expected to have gained 1.4 million barrels, a Reuters poll showed. Some analysts attributed the drop in crude imports to weather-related disruptions that slowed offloading along the US Gulf Coast. US inventories of distillates, a fuel category that includes heating oil and diesel, fell by 2 million barrels versus forecasts of a 1.7 million-barrel decrease. Gasoline stocks grew by 916,000 barrels, compared to expectations for a 1.1-million gain. Traders also awaited the release of government inventory statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) at 1600 GMT on Wednesday. On Tuesday, China enforced stricter reserve ratios for selected banks, triggering a wave of concern that tightening measures will restrain energy demand. And last week, US President Barack Obama proposed tightening trading rules for banks. “Possible financial restrictions on hedge funds, that is also a concern for participants in the commodity markets,” Sano said. The phase-out of stimulus measures in China, the world’s second-largest oil user, could jeopardise a rebound in global oil demand. Forecasters including Goldman Sachs have highlighted the importance of emerging markets in Asia to drain unseasonably-high oil inventories. But the return of positive global oil demand growth “may not be enough to put upward pressure on oil prices in 2010,” the Center for Global Energy Studies, a London-based think-tank said in a report dated 25 January. The glut should subside in the first quarter of this year, increasing the risks of a spike in crude prices and a move into backwardation at the end of the second quarter, JPMorgan said in a monthly report published on Tuesday. Crude stocks have fallen sharply from their peak at the second quarter of last year, with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) land-based storage back to the middle of the five-year range and floating storage possibly as low as 20 million barrels, JP Morgan said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:47 am Sail sees March quarter output, sales improvingThe company also expects steel prices to climb because of rising cost of raw materials, but no sharp increase is likely.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:45 am RBI set to raise banks' reserve requirementsREUTERS - 24 of 25 economists expect 50 bps increase in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) , or the proportion of deposits banks must keep with the Reserve Bank. That would take the level to 5.5 percent.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:35 am Oracle plans to hire 2,000 workers: ReportOracle Corp, which is near to closing its $7-billion acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc, plans to hire 2,000 sales and engineering employees, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:34 am KEC Intl Q3 net surges 85% to Rs 46 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:33 am Asia stocks fall on China jitters, yen gainsSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell for the ninth straight day on Wednesday on fears that China's heightened efforts to rein in soaring credit growth could hamper the global economic recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:23 am US market slips as caution offsets earningsNew York: US stocks slipped late on Tuesday due to trepidation over churning political and regulatory developments, offsetting solid earnings and improved consumer confidence data. Gains faded late as investors turned cautious before the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement and President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Wednesday night. The Fed’s Open Market Committee began a two-day meeting on Tuesday against the backdrop of a Senate debate over Chairman Ben Bernanke’s reconfirmation. The meeting is expected to yield few policy shifts, with a Fed statement on the economy and interest rates expected on Wednesday. “Most people expect the FOMC to leave rates unchanged. They are not expecting a big statement at this time just because Bernanke still hangs on the cliff,” said Kenneth Polcari, managing director of ICAP Equities in New York. “People are much more interested in what the president is going to say -- how his presentation is going to come across, does it look like he is changing the message, is he going to remain true to the values that he ran on, is he succumbing to more of a populist vote?” The Senate is expected to vote this week on confirmation of Bernanke for a second term as Fed chairman. Bernanke has been criticized for the Fed’s handling of the financial crisis, but Senate leaders predict he will be confirmed. US stocks fell 5% in a three-day span to close out last week after the Obama administration proposed new restrictions on large banks. After a lower open, stocks rose on data showing consumer confidence rose for a third straight month in January to its highest level since September 2008, easing concerns about individual spending. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 2.57 points, or 0.03%, to 10,194.29. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 4.61 points, or 0.425, to 1,092.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 7.07 points, or 0.32%, to 2,203.73. After the closing bell, Yahoo Inc reported fourth-quarter earnings in line with Wall Street expectations and forecast first-quarter revenue flat to slightly higher than the year-ago period. The Internet company’s shares gained 1.9% to $16.30 in after-hours trading. Verizon Communications Inc was the second biggest drag on the Dow after saying it faced a slower-than-expected recovery. Its shares fell 1.6% to $30.17. But a number of companies turned in positive report cards. Travelers was the top boost on the Dow, up 2.7% to $50.23, after the property-casualty insurer posted a profit that beat Wall Street’s estimate. Apple gained 1.5% to $205.94, a day after reporting strong quarterly results and on growing anticipation over its tablet product launch on Wednesday. The iPhone maker provided the biggest lift to the Nasdaq, followed by Microsoft Corp, up 0.7% to $29.50, which is scheduled to report results later this week. Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.12 billion shares changing hands, below last year’s estimated daily average of 2.18 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 2.4 billion shares traded, above last year’s daily average of 1.63 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:08 am Indian bond yields ease as rate rise concerns fade - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:05 am Worst over for global economy: Azim PremjiThe outlook for global economy has turned positive this year and the worst is over even though the road ahead is full of challenges, Wipro Chairman and a co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Azim Premji has saidSource: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 27 Jan 2010 | 1:04 am Sri Lanka President wins re-electionColombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won a second term in office, state-run Rupavahini television reported on Wednesday. “The President has recorded a remarkable victory, with a more than 1.8 million vote majority,” Rupavahini said. Official final results were not due for another three hours, but polling showed the incumbent with a powerful lead over his chief opponent, former army commander General Sarath Fonseka. The two war victors turned to foes in a bloody campaign that culminated in a largely peaceful election on Tuesday, with turnout that independent observers placed at between 70 and 80% of the Indian Ocean island’s 14 million registered voters. Fonseka, a political neophyte, delivered an election day shock by admitting he was not registered to vote, after saying he may have done so but did not want to say where for security reasons. The winner will take the reins of a $40 billion economy, which has enjoyed a partial peace dividend, and is on the path to recovery with big Chinese and Indian investments into infrastructure and plans to put $4 billion into development. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:56 am Toyota suspends sales of 8 models in recallTokyo/ Detroit: Toyota Motor Corp said it will suspend sales in North America of eight models involved in recall, a move that could throw the timing of its earnings recovery into doubt and one that pushed its shares 2% lower. Toyota also said it would halt production of the models at plants in the United States and Canada in the first week of February. Last week, the world’s biggest automaker announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles in the United States to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals, its second massive recall in four months in the US. “The recall itself won’t be a big problem for Toyota’s earnings, but suspending production and sales could have a big impact depending on how long it lasts,” said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan. Toyota has forecast a ¥350 billion operating loss for the year to March - a projection widely regarded as conservative. It was expected to post a operating loss of around ¥47 billion in the year to March 2010, before rebounding to a 599 billion yen profit in 2011, according to 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. “There is a chance that Toyota could swing to profit this business year, but this sales and production suspension may have a certain impact,” Endo said. The sales suspension and recall includes Toyota’s top-selling vehicle in North America, the Camry, for model years since 2007. Also included are the 2009-2010 model year RAV4, Corolla and Matrix, the 2008-2010 model year Sequoia, the 2007-2010 model year Tundra, the 2005-2010 model year Avalon and the 2010 model year Highlander. Annual combined sales of these models are 1 million cars in North America, more than half of Toyota’s annual sales there last year, according to Advanced Research’s Endo. “In this highly competitive market, no automaker, not even Toyota, can afford to stop selling its cars and trucks for long, but perhaps Toyota is banking on the idea that customers will appreciate the priority of their safety in this decision,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com. Bob Carter, Toyota US group vice president, said the world’s No.1 automaker is taking the actions to ensure safety and restore confidence in Toyota among consumers. “This action is necessary until a remedy is finalised,” Carter said in a statement. “We’re making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible.” Shares of Toyota fell 1.9%, compared with a 0.3% rise in Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average. The plants where the models are made are located in Indiana, Texas, Kentucky, and in Ontario. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:34 am Toyota suspends sales of 8 models in recallTokyo/ Detroit: Toyota Motor Corp said it will suspend sales in North America of eight models involved in recall, a move that could throw the timing of its earnings recovery into doubt and one that pushed its shares 2% lower. Toyota also said it would halt production of the models at plants in the United States and Canada in the first week of February. Last week, the world’s biggest automaker announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles in the United States to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals, its second massive recall in four months in the US. “The recall itself won’t be a big problem for Toyota’s earnings, but suspending production and sales could have a big impact depending on how long it lasts,” said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan. Toyota has forecast a ¥350 billion operating loss for the year to March - a projection widely regarded as conservative. It was expected to post a operating loss of around ¥47 billion in the year to March 2010, before rebounding to a 599 billion yen profit in 2011, according to 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. “There is a chance that Toyota could swing to profit this business year, but this sales and production suspension may have a certain impact,” Endo said. The sales suspension and recall includes Toyota’s top-selling vehicle in North America, the Camry, for model years since 2007. Also included are the 2009-2010 model year RAV4, Corolla and Matrix, the 2008-2010 model year Sequoia, the 2007-2010 model year Tundra, the 2005-2010 model year Avalon and the 2010 model year Highlander. Annual combined sales of these models are 1 million cars in North America, more than half of Toyota’s annual sales there last year, according to Advanced Research’s Endo. “In this highly competitive market, no automaker, not even Toyota, can afford to stop selling its cars and trucks for long, but perhaps Toyota is banking on the idea that customers will appreciate the priority of their safety in this decision,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com. Bob Carter, Toyota US group vice president, said the world’s No.1 automaker is taking the actions to ensure safety and restore confidence in Toyota among consumers. “This action is necessary until a remedy is finalised,” Carter said in a statement. “We’re making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible.” Shares of Toyota fell 1.9%, compared with a 0.3% rise in Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average. The plants where the models are made are located in Indiana, Texas, Kentucky, and in Ontario. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:34 am Vedanta Q3 profit soars, meets forecastLondon: Indian-focused mining group Vedanta posted a huge rise in third-quarter core earnings on Wednesday, in line with analyst expectations as metal prices rebounded. The London-listed firm said in a trading update that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased to $662.5 million in the three months to end-December from $10.1 million a year ago, when the sector was hit by sliding metals prices amid the economic downturn. Sales rose 64% to $2.145 billion. This was largely in line with expectations of a rise in Ebitda to $653.4 million and revenue to $2.10 billion, according to the consensus of forecasts from seven analysts polled by the company. Third-quarter output of refined zinc, Vedanta’s most profitable product, fell 2.6% to 148,000 tonnes and production of iron ore increased 35.7% to 5.4 million tonnes. Vedanta posted a steep fall in first-half profits in November due to weaker metals prices. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:07 am NPAs may come down below 3% after 2-3 qtrs: SBI - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:03 am Indiabulls Real Estate (Rs 191.3): SellWe recommend a sell in the stock of Indiabulls Real Estate from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts that the stock had been on an intermediate-term uptrend from its March 2009 low of Rs 83 till it encountered key resistanceSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Britain out of recession, but not out of troubleBritain finally emerged out of recession on Tuesday, after six quarters of negative growth, and six months after neighbours, Germany andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Prices and Mr PawarAfter the 2009 elections to the Lok Sabha and, even more so, the elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Mr Sharad Pawar, the Agriculture Minister, has been acting in a strange manner, his statements adding to inflationarySource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am ‘We must broad-base our trade ties with India'The newly-appointed Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr Peter Varghese is optimistic about trade relations between India and Australia growing in the yearsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Swelling provisioning for bad loans erodes banks' Q3 profitsThe overall asset quality of banks deteriorated with gross non-performing assets (GNPA) as of December 2009 increasing 27 per cent over the same time last year, an analysis of the results declared by banks recently reveals. The net NPA (NPAsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Road project bids back on tweaked normsThe National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited and accepted bids for 17 projects to widen over 1,350 km at an estimated cost of Rs 14,000Source: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Tech Mahindra to clear freshers backlog in 4 monthsTech Mahindra will complete the process of bringing on board campus recruits from the previous two academic years within the next fourSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading Guide(Note: The analysis and opinion expressed in these columns are based on the technical analysis of the past price behaviour. Opinion and price targets are based on the Elliott Wave Analysis. The stop-loss level provided with the recommendation isSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am HUL net rises 5.4% on one-time gainHindustan Unilever's third quarter net profit rose 5.4 per cent due to exceptional gains from property disposal. Excluding the mark-to- market impact from forex exposures, the profit after tax was flat, a company statementSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Another racy quarter for auto cosAn extended festival season demand, series of noteworthy launches and, importantly, a low base in December 2008 have helped auto companies deliver yet another set of impressive earnings numbers in DecemberSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Sensex tanks 337 points Nifty below 4 900 levelThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell by 188.51 points, or 1.10 per cent, in opening trade on selling by foreign funds driven by weak trends in the overseas bourses.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:53 pm Canon Q4 profit jumps, sees further recoveryTokyo: Japan’s Canon Inc said its fourth quarter profit more than doubled as brisk digital camera sales more than offset sluggish demand for copiers, and forecast its first annual profit growth in three years. October-December operating profit at Canon, the world’s largest digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp, was ¥92.13 billion ($1.03 billion) versus ¥35.83 billion a year earlier. It was the company’s first year-on-year profit gain in nine quarters. Canon enjoyed strong sales of its single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, a high-end model with interchangeable lenses, but demand for copiers and printers has yet to strongly revive as businesses worldwide curb spending on office machines. For 2010, Canon said it expects its operating profit to rise 52% to ¥330 billion, beating the consensus for a profit of ¥319.8 billion in a poll of 21 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Shares in Canon, which competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co Ltd in copiers and printers, closed down 2.8% before the announcement. The Tokyo market’s electrical machinery index fell 1.6%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:44 pm Rupee down 15 paise at 46.27 a dollar in early tradeDealers said increased capital outflows by foreign funds from equity markets and some dollar demand from importers weighed on the rupee's sentiment.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:35 pm Noon: Markets extend fall to 2%; financials leadMumbai: Indian shares extended losses to 2% on Wednesday as they caught up with a global slide in markets, with financial stocks leading the losers. At 12.10pm, the 30-share BSE Index was down 1.87% at 16,465.13 with 28 components declining. It fell as much as 2 percent to a two-month low of 16,442.57. The 50-share NSE Index was down 2.09% at 4,903.30 points. Markets dropped more than 1% in the morning morning, on track for a sixth straight loss as the market caught up with a slide in global shares as trade resumed after a holiday, with financial shares leading the fall. Sector leader State Bank of India fell as much as 4.2% to a four-month low as investors worried about its outlook and asset quality after it reported December quarter results on Monday evening. State Bank said it expected steady loan growth for the full year but warned that surplus deposits and higher bad debt could impact profits in the March quarter. In a report, Deutsche Bank said State Bank’s asset quality was still not comfortable though not alarming, and said the bank was likely to face back-ended profit pressures in the process of raising provision coverage to the mandated level. The bank maintained a “sell” rating on State Bank. “When bad news is already around, more bad news just adds to the woes. Positives are ignored for a while,” said Daljeet Kohli, head of research for private client group at Emkay Global. “It is fear psychology which is playing right now,” added Kohli. At 10:03am, the 30-share BSE Index was down 1.07% at 16,600.81, with only six of its components advancing. The 50-share NSE index was down 1.2% at 4,947.40. It has fallen 4.9% over the previous five sessions, and traded at its lowest in two months on Wednesday morning. State Bank was down 3.7% to Rs2,015 while top private lender ICICI Bank had fallen 2.5% to 810.Rs45. Software companies extended losses, on fears US President Barack Obama’s plan to limit risk-taking by banks might hurt their order flow. Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services declined nearly 1% and 0.1% respectively, while Wipro shed 0.8%. In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers in a ratio of 2.1:1 in a volume of 89 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:25 pm Did McGraw-Hill CEO spill Apple’s tablet secret?San Francisco: The McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.’s CEO spoke on CNBC on Tuesday and appeared to confirm speculation that Apple Inc. will indeed unveil a tablet computer running on iPhone software during a highly anticipated media event on Wednesday. Harold McGraw, the company’s chief executive, was discussing his company’s earnings on the cable television business news channel. When asked about the tablet, McGraw said Apple will “make their announcement tomorrow on this one” and that “the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system.” His comments, though brief, sounded authoritative and several Apple-themed blogs reported the incident as if McGraw had accidentally beaten Apple CEO Steve Jobs to the punch. McGraw-Hill spokesman Steven Weiss would not confirm that the CEO was describing Apple’s actual product. “There has been lots of speculation and we are as eager as anyone to see how the new device can be used to advance education and business information platforms,” Weiss said. McGraw’s comments on CNBC appeared to be an abbreviated version of remarks made during a conference call with Wall Street analysts earlier in the day. According to a transcript supplied by Weiss, McGraw sounded confident that the tablet would soon become a reality. But as for technical details, he said only that “many expect that the Apple device will use the iPhone operating system.” McGraw-Hill is a major developer and publisher of educational materials and textbooks, and some of its college texts are already available for reading on Apple’s iPhone. If Apple’s tablet is based on the iPhone system, the investments McGraw-Hill and other publishers have already made in e-books would still be relevant on the new device. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:21 pm Did McGraw-Hill CEO spill Apple’s tablet secret?San Francisco: The McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.’s CEO spoke on CNBC on Tuesday and appeared to confirm speculation that Apple Inc. will indeed unveil a tablet computer running on iPhone software during a highly anticipated media event on Wednesday. Harold McGraw, the company’s chief executive, was discussing his company’s earnings on the cable television business news channel. When asked about the tablet, McGraw said Apple will “make their announcement tomorrow on this one” and that “the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system.” His comments, though brief, sounded authoritative and several Apple-themed blogs reported the incident as if McGraw had accidentally beaten Apple CEO Steve Jobs to the punch. McGraw-Hill spokesman Steven Weiss would not confirm that the CEO was describing Apple’s actual product. “There has been lots of speculation and we are as eager as anyone to see how the new device can be used to advance education and business information platforms,” Weiss said. McGraw’s comments on CNBC appeared to be an abbreviated version of remarks made during a conference call with Wall Street analysts earlier in the day. According to a transcript supplied by Weiss, McGraw sounded confident that the tablet would soon become a reality. But as for technical details, he said only that “many expect that the Apple device will use the iPhone operating system.” McGraw-Hill is a major developer and publisher of educational materials and textbooks, and some of its college texts are already available for reading on Apple’s iPhone. If Apple’s tablet is based on the iPhone system, the investments McGraw-Hill and other publishers have already made in e-books would still be relevant on the new device. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:21 pm Edelweiss to acquire Anagram Capital for Rs 164 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:13 pm LG Elec sees Q1 recovery, but shares downSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Electronics Inc forecast sales and profits would improve in the first quarter as the global economic recovery prompts consumers to spend more on TVs, phones and other electronic appliances.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 10:55 pm Did McGraw Hill CEO spill Apple s tablet secretMcGraw-Hill's CEO thinks Apple's mystery device is a tablet powered by iPhone software. Apple plans to unveil its "latest creation," widely thought to be a tablet computer, at an event on Wednesday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 10:22 pm Apple tablet can t save print on its own analystsPublishers have high hopes that Apple Inc's highly anticipated tablet computer will attract new readers and boost revenue, but few expect that it will by itself reverse the fortunes of a beleaguered industry.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 9:54 pm Sensex falls 188 points on weak global cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell by 188.51 points, or 1.10 per cent, in opening trade on selling by foreign funds driven by weak trends in the overseas bourses.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 9:54 pm Rupee down 15 paise at 46.27 a dollar in early tradeThe rupee on Wednesday depreciated by 15 paise against the US currency in early trade on continued capital outflows by foreign funds from equities.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 9:50 pm Apple shares jump on results tablet hypeApple Inc's strong quarterly results and mounting excitement over its product launch on Wednesday pushed shares of the iPhone maker sharply higher on Tuesday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 9:49 pm Sensex tanks 337 points; Nifty below 4,900 levelMarketmen said trading sentiment remained bearish in line with subdued global markets on reports that China may impose further measures to squeeze money supply.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 8:47 pm Koreas exchange fire near sea borderA South Korean ship was pockmarked with bullet holes, and a North Korean vessel limped back to port in flames after the firefight.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 8:08 pm One piece Apple Tablet computer out todayWith the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer at an event here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine — a chance to undo past mistakes. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 12:23 pm Finance ministry moves for AI-IA demergerWith a rehab plan for Air India proving to be a fraught task, a proposal to undo the decision to forge Air India and Indian Airlines into a single entity has been mooted by the finance ministry.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 12:18 pm Reality shows enter online gaming platformNew Delhi: Want a kiss from actress Rakhi Sawant? Log on to the online game based on her reality television show Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. Catching a smooch or a ring or a garland fetches you a high score—but beware of the rolling pins, brooms and eggs that she also throws at you. Or, you can try out the gaming version of Pati Patni Aur Woh, another reality show on NDTV Imagine, and feed and clean up crying babies online.  Expanding reach: Screen grabs of online games based on reality shows ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamvar’ and ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’. “Games based on reality shows are a good way to attract new viewers to general entertainment channels, especially young people who are not so much into television,” said Nikhil Madhok, vice-president of marketing and communications at NDTV Imagine. “They are more active online and gaming is an excellent option.” Corporate consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Media Outlook 2007–11 projects the gaming sector growth at 11.4%, faster than that in films (5.3%), music (5.5%) and television (6.6%). Colors started Abhishekaaramclasses.com even before its reality show Bingo, hosted by actor Abhishek Bachchan—although the website did not exactly allow visitors to play the game. “We will soon be launching an online game based on earning points and building a house for the players,” said Rameet Arora, the channel’s marketing head. Star Plus has launched its television shows such as Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain across platforms—including Internet, cellphones, and interactive television. The channel’s pilgrimage reality show Mahayatra is even available as a board game. Anupam Vasudev, the channel’s chief marketing officer, said reality shows were fast-paced and short-lived. Besides, competition in the space had increased and getting people to participate and watch shows had become more difficult than before. “Games have become important to enhance audience interaction.” Online gaming platforms such as Indiagames Ltd and Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s gaming vertical Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd are eager to ride the trend. Games are a cost-effective way for a television channel to promote its shows, said Arun Mehra, chief operating officer of Zapak. “On an average, it takes Rs3-7 lakh to create a game around a reality show,” Mehra said. “It reaches the right audience and is the most cost-effective medium today.” Zapak has devised games around MTV’s Roadies and The Fast and the Gorgeous shows, Sony’s Dus Ka Dum and NDTV’s Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and Pati Patni Aur Woh. “Each of these games has done exceptionally well. Rakhi Ka Swayamvar featured among the top five game list on Zapak.com in just four days of its launch,” said Mehra. Vishal Gondal, founder and chief executive of Indiagames, said reality shows lend themselves to gaming as viewers are keenly involved with the storyline and the characters. “We did (Sony’s) Bigg Boss on mobile, which was lapped up by the hardcore fans of the show. We are working on a number of TV show ideas which you will be seeing on mobile, online and on (social) networks like Facebook,” he said. Indiagames also launched an arcade game based on Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain, which was set up at gaming parlours, shopping malls and other spaces where young people congregated. Television executives and industry watchers agree there is a limit to online gaming’s impact. Arora of Colors said gaming for reality shows was, in the end, just a mode of promotion. The slow speed of Internet access in many areas isn’t conducive to the growth of high-level gaming in the country. Meanwhile, it will be some time before gaming starts generating revenue for television channels, said Smita Jha, media and entertainment analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “At present gaming is a medium for promotion and not revenue,” Jha said. “It is an added touch point for advertisers, but still very niche to actually convert into a revenue-generating venture.” However, Deepak Dhar, managing director of international production house Endemol India Pvt. Ltd, which has made shows such as Bigg Boss, Khatron Ke Khiladi and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, is optimistic about the future of online gaming. “There has been a phenomenal response to this medium,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time” before it turns into “a revenue stream for the shows”. ishita.r@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 12:06 pm ILO report warns of a jobless recoveryDavos: Around 27 million people around the world lost their jobs in 2009, the UN labour agency said, warning of a jobless recovery in a report released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum. About 12 million of the newly unemployed were in North America, Japan and Western Europe, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said. The jobless jumped by nearly four million in both Eastern Europe and Latin America, while unemployment rates were more stable last year in Asia, Africa and West Asia. The figures point to the need for a “global jobs pact” to boost employment around the world, the labour body said. “Avoiding a jobless recovery is the political priority of today,” ILO chief Juan Somavia said. “We need the same policy decisiveness that saved banks now applied to save and create jobs and livelihoods of people.” The Geneva-based agency said it expected unemployment to remain high through 2010, with perhaps an additional three million in the rich world losing their jobs or unable to find employment as they enter the job market. Not all the unemployed were fired from jobs. ILO said youth unemployment has increased by over 10 million in the last two years, the worst surge since the agency began compiling global statistics in 1991. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 12:04 pm Quick Edit | A medal for everyoneWhat should be the criterion for national civilian awards, the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan? If this question were to be answered on the basis of this year’s awards, then some of the possible answers could be: performing an operation on the prime minister (successfully, of course) or being close to a former US president and his wife. No one can argue with choices such as Y.V. Reddy, Zohra Sehgal, A.R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja or even those such as Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan, or Virender Sehwag (giving enjoyment to millions of people is definitely worthy of a national award). To recognize business executives for simply doing their jobs, and in the process enriching themselves, however, is not on. And to recognize a lobbyist with a shady past is definitely not on. The growing tendency to recognize friends and well-wishers in the national honours list can only serve to dilute the awards, and may even force all right-thinking awardees to refuse or return the awards. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 12:00 pm AI set to get fresh equity in 2 installmentsThe high-powered empowered group of minister (EGoM) panel decided on infusion of fresh equity in loss-making carrier Air India before end of the current financial year in two instalments.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:59 am New strategy: Mutual funds turn focus on retail investorsThe Mutual fund industry is passing through testing times, with assets dwindling owing to withdrawals by banks and investors showing little faith in the long-term prospects of MFs.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:54 am There's more to Orissa than PoscoLaxmi Mittal pulling out his 12-million tonne steel plant from Orissa will be a big blow to the state. Ditto, if it happens, for the 12-million tonne plant from Korean giant Posco that was to cost Rs 54,000 crore. But it would be foolhardy to write off investment in Orissa.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:53 am MTNL revives bid to enter overseas marketsGrowing competition and declining revenues in India have prompted state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to revive plans to enter overseas markets.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:51 am With Apple tablet, print media hope for a paydaySan Francisco/New York: With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine—a chance to undo mistakes of the past. Almost all media companies have run aground in the Internet Age as they gave away their print and video content on the Web and watched paying customers drift away as a result.  Priced content: Sports Illustrated’s mock-up of its magazine translated for a tablet computer. The New York Times By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era. This opportunity, however, comes with a sizable catch: Steven P. Jobs. Jobs, the chief executive, made Apple the most important distributor of music by imposing its own will on the music labels, bullying them into accepting Apple’s pricing and other terms. Apple sold lots of music, but the music labels claimed that iTunes had destroyed the concept of the album and damaged their already deteriorating bottom lines. With the new tablet, media companies could be submitting themselves to similar pricing restrictions and sacrificing their direct relationship with customers to Apple. For now, at least, the technology and media industries are looking at the brighter side. Part of the media industry’s high hope for the tablet comes from descriptions of the device from analysts and others who have been briefed on it. It will run all the applications of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have a persistent wireless connection over 3G cell phone networks and Wi-Fi, and will be built with a 10-inch colour display, allowing newspapers, magazines and book publishers to deliver their products with an eye to the design that had grabbed readers in print. Their optimism for the tablet also stems from consumers’ willingness to spend money using mobile devices. In the last decade, while people downloaded music illegally to their desktop computers, they happily paid small amounts of money on their cellphones to download ring tones and send text messages. The iPhone has provided further proof that the economics of mobile devices are unique: the Apple App Store is expected to generate an estimated $1.4 billion (Rs6,468 crore) this year, according to an analysis by Piper Jaffray. “The iPhone was a harbinger,” said Trip Hawkins, a founder of Electronic Arts who is chief executive of Digital Chocolate, which makes games for cellphones. “When you have a device that is this convenient and fun for consumers to use, you can get a lot more people interested in paying for and engaging with the content. Big media companies should be all over this like a cheap suit.” Indeed, they already are. The New York Times Co., for example, is developing a version of its newspaper for the tablet, according to a person briefed on the effort, although executives declined to say what sort of deal had been struck. Two magazine publishers, Condé Nast and Time Inc., have also created mock-ups of their magazines for tablets, even before such devices have hit the market. “Apple upended the smartphone market with the introduction of the iPhone, and it’s likely that they will, if they enter the tablet market, lead the pace there,” said Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director of Condé Nast. He said that “2010 is going to be the year of the tablet, and we feel we are in a very good position for it”. To successfully sell their material on the coming wave of tablets from Apple and other hardware makers such as Hewlett-Packard Co., media companies may first have to adjust other parts of their digital strategies—so consumers don’t simply use the tablet’s browser to get the same content free on the Web. Such shifts are under way. In October, The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp., began charging for access for certain elements of its iPhone application. Esquire and GQ have taken steps toward charging for digital content, offering iPhone versions of their magazines for $2.99 for each issue. The December issue of GQ was downloaded from the app store almost 7,000 times, and twice as many times for its January issue. Last week, The New York Times announced plans to begin charging, by next year, frequent website visitors who are not also newspaper subscribers to read the online version. Media companies may have to swallow hard before tethering their futures to any high-tech company, let alone Apple. Many publishers believe their economic health depends on finding a direct line to their customers, and it is not clear whether Apple—and other aggregators of Internet content— will allow that. Magazine publishers, for example, maintain sophisticated databases about their customers, which lets them cross-sell products, renew subscriptions and entice advertisers with statistics about their wealthy readers. A big part of the business is automatic renewals charged to credit cards. But when magazine publishers sell applications through the iTunes store, they do not get credit card information or even the name of the buyer. However, Apple, which makes most of its money selling devices, not content, has shown itself in some cases to be a more benevolent warden of online content, than, say, Amazon.com. Unlike Amazon with the Kindle, Apple allows application makers to set their own prices; some, such as The Financial Times, give away applications for the iPhone, but then bill customers directly for repeat use. Nevertheless, concern over preserving the customer relationship is one reason, late last year, that major publishers including Time, Condé Nast, Meredith, News Corp. and Hearst announced they had formed a consortium, called Next Issue Media, that plans to run its own online store selling digital issues and collecting consumer information. “It’s fundamental to the business model of publishers,” John Squires, the interim managing director of the consortium, said last month. “We’ve always enjoyed an opportunity to know exactly where our consumers are, and be able to market other products to them. It’s a very key issue for the founding members of this business.” One branch of big media whose fortunes may not be lifted by an Apple tablet, at least initially, is the television business. Apple has also talked to television networks about offering access, for a monthly fee, to a selection of their hit shows, bypassing traditional distributors. But perhaps smarting from their experiences with Apple, many of the old-line media companies—NBC Universal, Viacom and Discovery among them—shrugged at (or totally dismissed) Apple’s plans for a TV subscription package, according to executives briefed on the talks. A person briefed on Apple’s plans confirmed that such a subscription video option was not part of any immediate offering. ©2010/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Richard Perez-Pena contributed from New York and Brian Stelter from Las Vegas. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:50 am Interest subsidy for exporters may be extendedThe government is likely to extend the 2 per cent interest subsidy given to exporters on rupee export credit from March 31 to December 2010. The announcement is expected in the upcoming Budget.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:50 am With Apple tablet, print media hope for a paydaySan Francisco/New York: With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine—a chance to undo mistakes of the past. Almost all media companies have run aground in the Internet Age as they gave away their print and video content on the Web and watched paying customers drift away as a result. Priced content: Sports Illustrated’s mock-up of its magazine translated for a tablet computer. The New York Times By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era. This opportunity, however, comes with a sizable catch: Steven P. Jobs. Jobs, the chief executive, made Apple the most important distributor of music by imposing its own will on the music labels, bullying them into accepting Apple’s pricing and other terms. Apple sold lots of music, but the music labels claimed that iTunes had destroyed the concept of the album and damaged their already deteriorating bottom lines. With the new tablet, media companies could be submitting themselves to similar pricing restrictions and sacrificing their direct relationship with customers to Apple. For now, at least, the technology and media industries are looking at the brighter side. Part of the media industry’s high hope for the tablet comes from descriptions of the device from analysts and others who have been briefed on it. It will run all the applications of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have a persistent wireless connection over 3G cell phone networks and Wi-Fi, and will be built with a 10-inch colour display, allowing newspapers, magazines and book publishers to deliver their products with an eye to the design that had grabbed readers in print. Their optimism for the tablet also stems from consumers’ willingness to spend money using mobile devices. In the last decade, while people downloaded music illegally to their desktop computers, they happily paid small amounts of money on their cellphones to download ring tones and send text messages. The iPhone has provided further proof that the economics of mobile devices are unique: the Apple App Store is expected to generate an estimated $1.4 billion (Rs6,468 crore) this year, according to an analysis by Piper Jaffray. “The iPhone was a harbinger,” said Trip Hawkins, a founder of Electronic Arts who is chief executive of Digital Chocolate, which makes games for cellphones. “When you have a device that is this convenient and fun for consumers to use, you can get a lot more people interested in paying for and engaging with the content. Big media companies should be all over this like a cheap suit.” Indeed, they already are. The New York Times Co., for example, is developing a version of its newspaper for the tablet, according to a person briefed on the effort, although executives declined to say what sort of deal had been struck. Two magazine publishers, Condé Nast and Time Inc., have also created mock-ups of their magazines for tablets, even before such devices have hit the market. “Apple upended the smartphone market with the introduction of the iPhone, and it’s likely that they will, if they enter the tablet market, lead the pace there,” said Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director of Condé Nast. He said that “2010 is going to be the year of the tablet, and we feel we are in a very good position for it”. To successfully sell their material on the coming wave of tablets from Apple and other hardware makers such as Hewlett-Packard Co., media companies may first have to adjust other parts of their digital strategies—so consumers don’t simply use the tablet’s browser to get the same content free on the Web. Such shifts are under way. In October, The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp., began charging for access for certain elements of its iPhone application. Esquire and GQ have taken steps toward charging for digital content, offering iPhone versions of their magazines for $2.99 for each issue. The December issue of GQ was downloaded from the app store almost 7,000 times, and twice as many times for its January issue. Last week, The New York Times announced plans to begin charging, by next year, frequent website visitors who are not also newspaper subscribers to read the online version. Media companies may have to swallow hard before tethering their futures to any high-tech company, let alone Apple. Many publishers believe their economic health depends on finding a direct line to their customers, and it is not clear whether Apple—and other aggregators of Internet content— will allow that. Magazine publishers, for example, maintain sophisticated databases about their customers, which lets them cross-sell products, renew subscriptions and entice advertisers with statistics about their wealthy readers. A big part of the business is automatic renewals charged to credit cards. But when magazine publishers sell applications through the iTunes store, they do not get credit card information or even the name of the buyer. However, Apple, which makes most of its money selling devices, not content, has shown itself in some cases to be a more benevolent warden of online content, than, say, Amazon.com. Unlike Amazon with the Kindle, Apple allows application makers to set their own prices; some, such as The Financial Times, give away applications for the iPhone, but then bill customers directly for repeat use. Nevertheless, concern over preserving the customer relationship is one reason, late last year, that major publishers including Time, Condé Nast, Meredith, News Corp. and Hearst announced they had formed a consortium, called Next Issue Media, that plans to run its own online store selling digital issues and collecting consumer information. “It’s fundamental to the business model of publishers,” John Squires, the interim managing director of the consortium, said last month. “We’ve always enjoyed an opportunity to know exactly where our consumers are, and be able to market other products to them. It’s a very key issue for the founding members of this business.” One branch of big media whose fortunes may not be lifted by an Apple tablet, at least initially, is the television business. Apple has also talked to television networks about offering access, for a monthly fee, to a selection of their hit shows, bypassing traditional distributors. But perhaps smarting from their experiences with Apple, many of the old-line media companies—NBC Universal, Viacom and Discovery among them—shrugged at (or totally dismissed) Apple’s plans for a TV subscription package, according to executives briefed on the talks. A person briefed on Apple’s plans confirmed that such a subscription video option was not part of any immediate offering. ©2010/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Richard Perez-Pena contributed from New York and Brian Stelter from Las Vegas. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:50 am Security nod: BSNL to miss MNP deadlineThe state-owned BSNL has informed the DoT that it may miss even the March 31 deadline for implementing the mobile number portability (MNP) regime if it does not get the security clearance for importing the needed equipment at the earliest.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:41 am India to grow 7.7% as global recovery picks pace: IMFWith the global recovery off to a stronger start, Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.7 percent in 2010, 1.3 percentage points higher than forecast earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:40 am SpiceJet plans to hire 150 employeesThe leading low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday said it is planning to hire about 140-150 employees to meet the manpower requirements for the four new aircraft it would add this year, besides flying abroad.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:39 am Centre opposes states' two-rate GST structureAgainst the two-rate structure proposed by the empowered committee of state finance ministers for Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Centre has said that the new indirect tax structure should have a single rate as two rates would pose problems.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:35 am US budget deficit to hit 1 35 trillion dollars in 2010 CBOThe US government's budget deficit is expected to fall slightly to 1.349 trillion dollars in 2010 but accumulating deficits could double public debt to 15 trillion dollars in a decade, estimates by Congress showed Tuesday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:32 am HCL lags peers on account of high base HCL’s shares fell by 6.4% on the National Stock Exchange after the results were announced. The firm’s revenue was flat in rupee terms, compared with a growth of 2.9% reported by TCS. And while TCS and Infosys reported an increase in operating margins, HCL’s margin fell last quarter, leading to an 8.1% drop in earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit). In comparison, TCS’ Ebit rose by 7%.  Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint Also, to be fair to HCL, its performance is coming off a relatively high base. Its growth was at the top end of the range for top-tier IT firms in the September quarter and was far ahead of the rest in the June quarter. There is evidence of this in the year-on-year (y-o-y) growth rates of the company. Its revenue growth on a y-o-y basis was 22.8% last quarter. TCS’ revenue growth was just 5.1%. Among the positives for HCL last quarter was the 4.6% growth of the enterprise application services business in constant currency terms. In the September quarter, revenue from this segment had dropped by 5%, which had raised concerns about the integration of the Axon Group Plc business it acquired in 2008. The return to growth in the segment is, therefore, heartening. Besides, while cash flow generation was weak at $10 million (Rs46 crore today) in the September quarter, it was rather strong at $117 million in the December quarter. HCL’s shares have outperformed its peers since its strong June quarter results, and its returns have continued to be higher than the sector, although the degree of outperformance has narrowed. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:25 am Hero Honda benefits from higher volumes But Hero Honda’s volume growth was lower than the industry growth of 39%. The firm maintains that its market share is 59%, just a bit lower than the 60% figure in the year-ago period. But analysts estimate it to have lost market share by around three percentage points during the December quarter to 57%. Quite in line with the preceding two quarters, Hero Honda cut costs during the third quarter too, resulting in higher operating profit margins. Raw material costs were down from 60% to around 58% of net sales. As a result, its operating profit margin rose to around 17%, from around 15% in the corresponding previous period. On a sequential basis, however, margins were a bit lower. The operating profit at Rs661 crore was nearly 52% higher from a year ago. Also Read | SBI’s core operational growth remains strong  Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint Will Hero Honda be able to sustain profitability at the current levels? Both the company and analysts state that there could be pressure on operating margins in the ensuing quarters. Raw material prices (steel, aluminium and rubber) have all been on the upswing in the past six months. Besides, given the buoyant motorcycle market, most peers in the industry too have lined up a flurry of new products and variants, which will offer stiff competition for Hero Honda. If market growth is high enough to accommodate everyone, the impact may be limited, but if fierce competition results in lower realizations, then margins may not be sustainable at these levels. Despite these challenges, analysts’ consensus is that net profit expansion for 2009-10 will be around 70-75% over the 2008-09 figure of Rs1,281 crore. Though Hero Honda’s results did impress markets, it was not enough to take its share price up. Given that the results were on predicted lines, the stock closed around 1.5% lower at Rs1,618 on Monday, compared with a 0.6% decline in the Nifty. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:20 am Wall Street goes to DavosNo one would be surprised if executives at big financial firms have forgotten what commercial airlines look like. After decades of corporate jets and other toys, austerity is to bankers what oil is to water. But this week at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, this persecuted tribe—having endured 16 months in the wilderness of a populist backlash since Lehman—will be rediscovering the virtues of austerity. In appearance, at least. Last year, bankers just disappeared from Davos—a conference whose tenor, which in yesteryear included extolling cross-border capital flows and financial deregulation, has anyway flattened post-crisis. Wall Street is now making a comeback, with some precautions.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Perhaps bankers noticed a WEF poll released last week that showed that, out of 130,000 respondents from across the world, two-thirds thought the crisis to be one of values. Only one-fourth thought multinationals “apply a values-driven approach” to their business. So if everyone hates you as you seem too greedy, then the simplest solution is to stop seeming too greedy. Who needs risk managers and regulators when you have good public relations managers? Little surprise, then, that inquiries—such as one the US Congress started this month—are beginning to be more about apology and remorse than about finding out what went wrong. It’s not just that bankers are concentrating on an austere appearance while they reap record profits. Politicians, too, are only looking to score populist points. But when naked populism dominates the financial agenda, as it did in 2009, nothing gets done. Politicians spewed vitriol against banks (targeting bonuses), but banks just responded by modifying their appearance (increasing base salaries instead of bonuses). Politicians and regulators have an earnest opportunity to start off 2010 by focusing on real regulation. Following a proposal to tax bank liabilities, US President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed prohibiting deposit-taking banks from trading with their own money. We can quibble over details, but this gets at the heart of moral hazard: Banks can’t both take on too much risk and expect to get bailed out.It also gets at the heart of solving economics problems where we’re tempted to offer black-and-white answers—such as “greed is bad”. More than finding out what is ethical, we need to find out how incentives can be retooled. Are ethics and values at the heart of the financial crisis? Tell us at views@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:19 am Another 60th birthday partyIt was a birthday party with a difference. The “kid” has behaved better than its parents. The homework has not been easy. And even when completed in time, no candy has been handed out. Now that surely calls for a cake. On Monday, the Election Commission of India (EC), an institution a day older than the Republic, turned 60. There was all-round praise. Politicians, who have often accused EC of bias, were all praise for it on Monday. Its success in keeping democracy in running order is unquestionable. Two factors, institutional and human, have worked in its favour. To begin with, India’s founding fathers wisely entrusted the task of conducting elections to a non-partisan, apolitical body. Had that not been the case, political events in India would have taken a very different turn. Pakistan provides a contrasting example. The first election in that country, for the Punjab legislative assembly, witnessed blatant misuse of state machinery and administrative intervention on behalf of select candidates. That undermined the credibility of elections there from the start. In India, the rot began much later and never reached levels that could imperil democracy. The second, equally vital, ingredient in this process has been human. From the time of Sukumar Sen, the first chief election commissioner (CEC), EC has been manned by persons of ability and integrity. There have been some slip-ups, no doubt, but these are aberrations that have never threatened the edifice. What of the future? EC’s role and the environment in which it works is that of constitutional comfort, beyond the whims of capricious representatives it helps elect. With political coalitions being the flavour of the time, it is unlikely that this institutional order can be changed in a way that can harm democracy. Governments are often tempted to appoint “their” men to man the commission. But constitutional guarantees ensure that CECs turn out to be nobody’s fools. That game will continue, but the results are also clear: It will be a person of very poor quality who will turn partisan when he or she adorns the office of CEC. The challenges to democracy lie beyond the portals of the commission. ECI: a successful institution in a bleak institutional landscape? Tell us at views@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 11:18 am IMF says global economy to grow 3 9 per cent in 2010The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that the global economy was poised to grow more strongly than previously anticipated this year, by 3.9 per cent.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 10:08 am India to grow 7 7 as global recovery picks pace IMFWith the global recovery off to a stronger start, Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent in 2010, 1.3 percentage points higher than forecast earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jan 2010 | 9:52 am Apple’s Mac sales shine, iPhone lags Street viewSan Francisco: Apple Inc posted better-than-forecast Mac sales and strong growth in Asia and Europe, but iPhone shipments came in just below Wall Street’s somewhat heightened expectations. The stock edged 1 percent higher in after-hours trading, building on a 2.7% rise on Nasdaq during the day, and provided Apple a boost heading into Wednesday, when it is expected to launch a highly touted tablet computer. International sales made up nearly 60% of Apple’s revenue in the quarter, with sales more than doubling in the Asia Pacific and rising 40% in Europe. Apple said on Monday it shipped 8.7 million iPhones in the holiday quarter, double the year-ago figure but just short of the Wall Street target of roughly 9 million. Apple’s iPhones compete with Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and other smartphones. But Mac sales continued to show momentum, rising 33% from a year ago to 3.36 million units versus analysts’ average estimate of about 3 million. “Mac sales were very strong, which more than offset what might be perceived as a ho-hum iPhone number,” said Bill Kreher, an analyst with Edward Jones. “Maybe some on the Street were getting a little euphoric with their expectations on the iPhone.” Gross margin rose to 40.9% from 37.9% a year ago on a continued shift toward higher-margin products like Macs and iPhones. Apple said its margins benefited from more favorable component costs, higher revenue and better leveraging of its fixed costs. “Margins appear very solid, and it seems like iPhone (results) were OK — normally it’s a blowout. That was my only disappointment,” said Sushil Wagle, vice president of the technology group at Riversource Investments. Big week begins As Wall Street looks ahead to Apple’s new product announcement on Wednesday, the holiday-quarter results have provided the company with a strong start to the week. Apple, which has surpassed Wall Street targets for earnings per share by at least 15% in the past four quarters, adopted new accounting standards for its fiscal first quarter that generated some initial confusion among investors, as they rendered Wall Street’s estimates for the period unusable. The company posted net income of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share in the fiscal first quarter ended 26 December, up from $2.26 billion, or $2.50 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue surged 32% to $15.68 billion from $11.9 billion. Under new accounting standards that affect products that combine software and hardware, Apple will be able to recognize substantially all of the revenue from the iPhone and Apple TV when they are sold. Such revenue was previously recognized over two years. Apple forecast earnings for the current quarter of $2.06 to $2.18 a share on revenue of $11 billion to $11.4 billion. Its expected gross margin of 39 percent will be impacted by less favorable component costs, the company said. Apple’s stock has more than doubled over the past 12 months and hit an all-time high of $215.59 on 5 January on mounting excitement over its new product. Analysts expect it to be a 3G-enabled, 10-inch touchscreen device good for consuming all sorts of media. On a conference call with analysts, Apple was coy about the product. “I wouldn’t want to take away your joy of surprise on Wednesday when you see our latest creation,” chief operating officer Tim Cook said. Growth in iPods, one of the Apple’s three main products line, has been slowing for some time and the company hopes the tablet can help pick up some of the slack, analysts say. “The iPod is getting a little long in the tooth so they need to find another hot new product to hang their hat on,” said Gartner Research analyst Van Baker. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 5:50 am Investor Warren Buffett builds $1 billion stake in Munich ReBuffett is already a major player in the world's reinsurance market with his Berkshire Hathaway Inc unit, the world's third-biggest reinsurer.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 4:26 am Toyota sees 2010 sales up 6%; to keep No.1 spotTokyo: Toyota Motor Corp expects its global auto sales to rise 6% in 2010 as the industry recovers from its worst ever downturn, likely maintaining its lead over Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co as the world’s biggest automaker. Toyota, the maker of the Prius gasoline-electric hybrid and flagship Corolla, forecast group-wide sales to rise to 8.27 million vehicles in 2010, still well short of the record 9.37 million units it sold in 2007. “All in all, it’s probably an achievable target,” said Christopher Richter, auto analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. He said he expected total global vehicle sales to grow around 3-4% this year, meaning Toyota would expect to slightly outperform the market. Excluding units Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, Toyota expects to sell 7.4 million vehicles worldwide, up 6%, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Toyota is counting on brisk growth in Japan, where it expects sales of Toyota and Lexus cars to jump 9% to 1.5 million vehicles after government subsidies to replace older cars were extended by six months to the end of September. It also expects its parent-only overseas sales to grow 5% to 5.9 million vehicles, driven by a sharp rise in the United States, its single biggest market, and China, which overtook the US as the world’s biggest auto market last year. Toyota had been growing rapidly in the lead up to the financial crisis, adding production capacity and expanding its line-up of vehicles, leaving it badly exposed when markets turned and demand dried up. Hammered by plunging sales, falling prices and over-capacity, Toyota said it November it expected to post an operating loss of ¥350 billion ($3.9 billion) for the year to March. More recently, the company has been caught up in two massive US vehicle recalls that threaten to damage its reputation for safety and reliability. Last year, Toyota sold 7.813 million vehicles as a group, down 13%, while Volkswagen sold a record 6.28 million vehicles in 2009. GM, bailed out by the US government last year, has not disclosed its 2009 sales tally. Shares of Toyota closed down 2.5% ahead of the announcement, having rallied 40% in the past 12 months, lagging the sector’s 58% rise. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jan 2010 | 3:20 am Ford to build Explorer in Chicago, add jobsFord already builds the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS sedans at the Chicago plant, which currently has about 1,300 hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers union.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 2:08 am Toyota sees 2010 sales up 6% at 8.27 million vehiclesToyota Motor Corp said it expected its group-wide sales to grow 6% to 8.27 million vehicles in 2010, likely giving it a comfortable lead over Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 2:03 am With AIG, US taxpayers in for long waitAmerican International Group Inc, which is trying to pay back the government after being propped up by a $182.3 billion aid package, is in talks to sell its American Life Insurance Co.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jan 2010 | 2:01 am
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