Penalty shootout

Greece v Argentina in financial and football tussles
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 4:11 am

SocGen pegs Greek exposure, trumps Q1 estimates

PARIS (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale pegged its exposure to Greek sovereign debt at 3 billion euros ($4 billion) for the first time on Wednesday after weeks of market fears over the debt-stricken country.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 4:07 am

Spain does not need financial bailout: EU (AFP)

AFP - Spain does not need the kind of financial bailout package which has been offered to Greece, the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Wednesday, damping down market expectations.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 4:06 am

Indications: U.S. futures inch higher after Tuesday's battering

U.S. stock futures lean higher Wednesday after the previous session’s battering, as traders pause after the euro-zone fears that jarred markets in the prior session.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 4:06 am

Nokia & Microsoft Go After Apple & RIM

One its face, it would seem to be a mismatch. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), two huge global firms which have been notoriously unsuccessful in the smartphone market up against the two companies that the market believes have already won the business-Apple (NASDAQ; AAPL) and Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM). Microsoft has tried for a decade to make [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 5 May 2010 | 4:03 am

Gulf oil spill yet to affect consumers' gas choice (AP)

AP - Motorists steadily fill up at BP's environmentally correct showcase gas station in Los Angeles even as the company's crude oil stains 2,000 square miles of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 4:01 am

Europe Markets: Rebounding miners outweigh weak banks in Europe

European shares extended sharp losses from the previous session Wednesday as sovereign debt worries continued to weigh on the banking sector, offsetting gains from BMW and Prudential.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 4:01 am

General strike paralyses Greece

Greece is braced for a day of mass protests as angry workers stage a general strike over planned austerity measures.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:58 am

The future looks brighter for UK tech firms

Sage Group announced an 11 per cent rise in underlying first-half pre-tax profits today as several of Britain’s leading technology companies reported improved results.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 May 2010 | 3:57 am

Contagion fears send euro to fresh lows

The euro sank to a fresh one-year low of $1.293 today as investors fretted over which country would be the next to follow Greece in succumbing to a full-blown debt crisis.$


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 May 2010 | 3:54 am

Greek economy 'to shrink by 3%'

The European Commission says it expects the Greek economy to shrink by 3% this year, amid continued market jitters.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:50 am

Google enters digital books war

Search giant Google plans to open a digital bookstore called Editions by the end of the year, the company confirms.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:41 am

Oil's hidden costs visible, but will it matter? (AP)

AP - America is seeing the usually hidden costs of fossil fuels — an oil spill's potential for huge environmental and economic damage, and deaths in coal and oil industry accidents.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 3:40 am

How Safe Is BP From The Cap On Oil Spill Costs

BP plc (NYSE: BP) will benefit from a law passed after the Exxon Valdez incident which capped the liability for oil spills at $75 million. BP says it will still bear the costs of the clean-up which its says costs $6 million a day. But, the cap is its financial salvation. The Oil Pollution Act will [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 5 May 2010 | 3:36 am

Prudential delays $21bn cash call

Prudential delays publication of details of its $21bn rights issue to help fund its $35.5bn acquisition of AIA in Asia.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:33 am

European stocks extend losses, euro hits 1-year low (AFP)

AFP - Global stock markets dropped further and the euro struck a new one-year dollar low on Wednesday as markets feared that Greek's severe debt problems could spread to other eurozone nations.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 5 May 2010 | 3:33 am

Stocks set for rough open

U.S. stocks were poised for a rough open Wednesday as fears of debt contagion in Europe continued to hang over investors.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 3:32 am

General strike hits indebted Greece over new cuts (AP)

AP - Flights to and from Greece were grounded, trains and ferries suspended their routes and public services were paralyzed Wednesday as angry Greek workers went on strike to protest harsh new spending cuts aimed at saving their country from bankruptcy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 3:31 am

Wetherspoon 'cautious' on outlook

Pub group JD Wetherspoon reports a decline in recent sales and says it is cautious about the outlook for the next financial year.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:26 am

As Europe Sovereign Debt Fears Grow, US Will Have An Easier Time Funding The Deficit

The risk, at least in the minds of bond and currency traders, is that the financial chaos Europe is sliding into has been getting worse each day despite the bailout of Greece. The Greek population is rebelling against austerity conditions. The country’s air traffic controllers have walked off the job which could eventually hurt the [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 5 May 2010 | 3:22 am

Drowning in debt as home prices dive

A transfer in 2005 landed Air Force major Richard Hallbeck, his wife, and two kids in Southern California smack in the middle of the real estate bubble. Home prices in the area had doubled in the past five years and were still climbing. So the Hallbecks swallowed hard and bought an $845,000 four-bedroom in a suburb of Long Beach.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 3:22 am

Confidence in Pru's management is draining away at high speed

Confidence is draining away from Prudential and its management.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 3:19 am

EU tries to calm market fears over debt crisis (AP)

AP - The European Commission on Wednesday said an EU bailout for debt-laden Greece would help stop the crisis spreading to other European countries because the Greek case is "unique."
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 3:18 am

Statoil posts more than doubled Q1 profit (AP)

AP - Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA said Wednesday that its first-quarter profits more than doubled, with increased production and rising oil prices offsetting a weak natural gas market.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 3:16 am

Telenor reports 36 pct drop in Q1 profit (AP)

AP - Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ASA reported Wednesday a 36 percent drop in first-quarter profits, due to a weak performance in Asian and Central European markets.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 3:16 am

'Profound' decline in fish stocks

Over-fishing means UK trawlermen now have to work 17 times as hard for the same fish catch as 120 years ago, a study shows.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:13 am

Improved sales lift BMW profits

Carmaker BMW reports a return to profit compared with a year earlier and gives an upbeat forecast for sales.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:12 am

Greek tremors continue to rock markets

09:25 BST. The tremors from the Greek debt crisis continued to cow markets on Wednesday as investors sought succour from evidence that economic recovery was still on track. The FTSE All-World equity...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 3:09 am

Greek tremors continue to rock markets

Global Markets Overview: FTSE All-World equity index falls 0.7% to a two-month low, and the euro hits its weakest level against the dollar since April 2009
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 5 May 2010 | 3:09 am

The Safe American Stocks To Own If Europe Crisis Grows

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) sold off on news of trouble in Europe. The region is critical to the tech company’s sales.  Citigroup (NYSE: C) shares also lost ground. There are concerns about how much European sovereign debt the bank holds. A large number of mega-cap American companies will be hurt if the continent’s financial problems spread [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 5 May 2010 | 3:05 am

Chinese markets slide as jitters take hold

Worries over a contagion of sovereign debt crises in Europe and creeping uncertainty over the solidity of China’s recovery sent Asian markets into an early-morning tailspin today.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 May 2010 | 3:04 am

Indonesia minister to World Bank

Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati set to resign after being appointed managing director of the World Bank.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 3:02 am

Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprises

A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 3:01 am

London Markets: Next, Prudential decline in lower FTSE 100 index

British shares declined on Wednesday, extending steep losses from the previous session, as investors sold selected banking firms as well as retailer Next and insurance group Prudential.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 2:57 am

US company buys Poundland chain

The West Midlands-based discount retailer Poundland is bought by an American private equity firm for an estimated £200m.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 5 May 2010 | 2:49 am

Catalogue division pushes up sales at Next

Next continued its turnaround in the first quarter with a 4.1 per cent increase in total sales, leading the retailer to revise its forecasts upwards.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 May 2010 | 2:47 am

Prudential delays $20bn rights issue

The UK insurance group delays publication of the prospectus for its $20bn rights issue designed to fund its acquisition of AIA after talks with the FSA drag on longer than expected
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 5 May 2010 | 2:45 am

Making the BlackBerry a lot more fun

More business users may be switching to Apple's iPhone, but RIM CEO Jim Basillie still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 2:44 am

Societe Generale swings to profit in first quarter

French banking giant Societe Generale on Wednesday says it swung to a profit in what it called a “satisfactory” first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates as it predicted a “sustainable rebound” this year.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 2:40 am

Bear Stearns execs say firm's collapse unavoidable (AP)

AP - As a special panel delves into the financial crisis, the executives who led Bear Stearns Cos. before the big Wall Street firm's implosion two years ago are saying they did all they could to keep it afloat before it fell victim to an unstoppable run on the bank.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 2:33 am

BMW returns to profit, as revenue grows 8%

Rising demand for premium cars helped BMW return to profit in the first quarter, with the German firm confirming Wednesday that it expects a sharp increase in earnings for the full year.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 2:26 am

Chinese stocks hit pre-recovery low

China's benchmark stock index fell to its lowest level in seven months on Wednesday as investors fretted about a series of government measures to cool the property market and a flood of new bank shares...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 2:19 am

Goodbye, stimulus. Hello, state budget cuts

Think states have made deep spending cuts? You ain't seen nothing yet.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 2:13 am

AeroTurbine Opens New Sales and Material Distribution Center Close to London Heathrow Airport

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 2:13 am

Stock index futures point to mixed open

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent, futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1 percent, pointing to a mixed open on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 2:04 am

Stock index futures point to mixed open

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent, futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1 percent, pointing to a mixed open
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 2:04 am

Stock index futures point to mixed open (Reuters)

Reuters - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent, futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1 percent, pointing to a mixed open on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 5 May 2010 | 2:04 am

Gulf of Mexico oil spill: should we blame ourselves, not BP?

It is striking how both BP and Goldman Sachs find themselves vilified by America with other nations queuing to join the stoning.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 2:00 am

FSA blocks Pru's $35bn buyout plan of AIA$

Prudential’s record $21 billion ($£14 billion) rights issue is in grave danger this morning after the financial regulator blocked the deal.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 5 May 2010 | 1:59 am

China Everbright Bank in rush for IPO: WSJ

China Everbright Bank Co. is seeking a initial public offering in Shanghai before the end of June, a move that would enable it to tap the market ahead of Agricultural Bank of China, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 1:58 am

World stocks sink on Europe debt concerns (AP)

AP - World stocks slid Wednesday, following a plunge in U.S. equities as concerns spread that the bailout for debt-laden Greece won't stop the crisis spreading to other European countries.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 5 May 2010 | 1:57 am

Media Digest 5/5/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   Calm water is helping manage the Gulf oil spill. Reuters:   April retail sales should be up in a sign of consumer recovery. Reuters:   The US is questioning Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) claims about Tylenol. Reuters:   Gold prices are under pressure as the dollar rises Reuters:   Key senators are in partial agreement on the [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 5 May 2010 | 1:57 am

Prudential plc delays $20 billion stock sale

U.K. insurer Prudential plc on Wednesday delays a plan to sell $20 billion of shares to investors to fund a deal to buy an Asian unit from American International Group as it tries to win approval from Britain’s securities regulator over its financial health.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 1:57 am

Goldman clients staying put

It has been nearly three weeks since the federal government stunned Wall Street by bringing civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 1:55 am

FTSE opens higher (AFP)

AFP - London's leading stock exchange rose marginally in opening deals on Wednesday after heavy losses a day earlier linked to fears that Greek's debt woes will spread across the eurozone.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 5 May 2010 | 1:50 am

Picasso fetches record $106.5 million

Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 1:48 am

InterMune stock plunges 80% after-hours

Shares of InterMune Inc. plunged nearly 80% after-hours Tuesday following the Food and Drug Administration's rejection of the biotech company's application for Esbriet, a drug designed to treat a fatal lung disease.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 1:48 am

FDA slams Tylenol factory conditions

A scathing report released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration slammed conditions at the factory that produced the children's Tylenol, Motrin and other over-the-counter drugs that were recalled over the weekend.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 5 May 2010 | 1:45 am

Lingering sovereign debt fears keep FTSE under pressure

London equities steadied on Wednesday, as traders sought bargains in the mining sector after the previous session's sharp losses looked overstated. But ongoing worries about the potential spread...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:45 am

Greece debt contagion fears batter euro, stock markets

Single currency slides and share sell-off continues for second day on jitters over Europe debt crisis as Greek workers hold national strike.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 1:44 am

Sushil Wadhwani: eurozone will face recurring debt crises

The eurozone faces the danger of further debt crises because of the delay in bailing out Greece, Sushil Wadhwani, a former Bank of England policy maker has said.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 1:41 am

Picasso painting sets new auction record

Pablo Picasso regains the title as the world’s most expensive artist after one of his paintings fetches $106.5m – smashing the previous record made just three months ago
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 5 May 2010 | 1:19 am

Prudential forced to delay $21bn rights issue

City regulator forces Pru, led by Tidjane Thiam, to delay a record-breaking fundraising to pay for its takeover of AIA.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 1:09 am

B&B 'free' to charge $1600 - and risk scaring tourists off

Tourism Auckland CEO Graham Osbourne says a Mt Eden bed and breakfast is free to charge as much as it likes during next year's Rugby World Cup, but warned that "reckless" prices could drive business away from the city.Jacqui Marsden...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:04 am

Business Bullet: Asia, Euro, Next, JD Wetherspoon

The latest news on: Asia, Euro, Next, JD Wetherspoon
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 1:04 am

Nokia, Microsoft launch new mobile software

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia and Microsoft unveiled on Wednesday the first result of their new software collaboration aimed at breaking the dominance of Research in Motion's BlackBerry in...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:02 am

Nokia, Microsoft launch new mobile software

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia and Microsoft unveiled on Wednesday the first result of their new software collaboration aimed at breaking the dominance of Research in Motion's BlackBerry in wireless services for corporations.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 1:02 am

Wis. legalization of raw milk seen as benchmark

Advocates of raw milk hope legalization of sales in Wisconsin will lead to broader acceptance of unpasteurized milk and approval of sales in other states. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:01 am

Asian stocks sink on Europe debt concerns

Asian stocks slid Wednesday, following a plunge in U.S. equities as concerns spread that the bailout for debt-laden Greece won't stop the crisis spreading to other European countries. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

FDA orders Baxter International to recall and destroy faulty hospital pumps

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered Baxter International Inc. to recall 200,000 of the company's Colleague brand pumps, escalating its scrutiny of infusion pumps used primarily in hospitals to...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

IPhone raid puts high-tech enforcement squad in spotlight

Little is known outside the tech world about REACT, the task force that searched the home of a Bay Area blogger who had acquired a missing iPhone prototype. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

FDA finds bacterial contamination in children's medicine ingredients

Raw materials used to make over-the-counter infant's and children's medications, which are subject to a massive recall, tested positive for bacterial contamination, according to a Food and Drug Administration...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

California utilities fell short of energy-savings goals, watchdog says

Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas should be penalized for receiving bonuses while falling short of goals, the PUC's watchdog...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

BJ's takes a bigger slice of casual-dining market

The Huntington Beach-based chain's vast menu and modest prices are helping it thrive after a tough few years for the restaurant industry. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

As China tries to rein in economy, stock exchange stumbles

The Shanghai composite index slides 1.2% on news that the central bank will again hike the amount of capital that banks are required to hold in reserve. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

Bankers trot out tired, old arguments against financial overhaul

Opponents of the bill before Congress sound like those who tried to derail the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and automobile safety standards in the 1970s.

Every time I hear a big industry crab about how some new set of government regulations will mean the end to life as we know it, bring the economy crashing down around our heads, or burden the consumer with more passed-on costs, I think of the smartest words Ronald Reagan ever spoke.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

FDA orders Baxter International to recall and destroy faulty hospital pumps

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered Baxter International Inc. to recall 200,000 of the company's Colleague brand pumps, escalating its scrutiny of infusion pumps used primarily in hospitals to deliver fluids to patients.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

On Location: California film tax credit helping keep Hollywood at home

Producers of films costing up to $75 million are offered a tax credit of 20% of qualified expenses if they film locally. Steve Carell's latest movie, for one, is getting a $5-million credit. ...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

On Location: California film tax credit helping keep Hollywood at home

Producers of films costing up to $75 million are offered a tax credit of 20% of qualified expenses if they film locally. Steve Carell's latest movie, for one, is getting a $5-million credit.

Steve Carell's latest romantic comedy was originally set in a nondescript suburb in New York or New Jersey.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

IPhone raid puts high-tech enforcement squad in spotlight

Little is known outside the tech world about REACT, the task force that searched the home of a Bay Area blogger who had acquired a missing iPhone prototype.

When a top-secret prototype of Apple Inc.'s new iPhone went missing recently, the computer giant summoned Silicon Valley's version of the cavalry -- an elite squad whose main mission is investigating crimes against high-tech companies.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

Ex-tomato magnate pleads not guilty to antitrust charges

Frederick Scott Salyer is accused of conspiring to fix prices or rig bids on tomato products sold by his company, SK Foods.

Former tomato executive Frederick Scott Salyer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to antitrust charges filed by the federal government alleging a wider conspiracy to inflate prices for tomato products.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

Global Sources scheduled to report first quarter 2010 results on May 19, 2010

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

BJ's takes a bigger slice of casual-dining market

The Huntington Beach-based chain's vast menu and modest prices are helping it thrive after a tough few years for the restaurant industry.

It's happy hour at the new BJ's in Culver City, and Eric Gordon is sitting at the restaurant's packed bar section, taking big bites of a barbeque chicken pizza and glancing now and then at the Angels game on a massive flat-screen TV overhead.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

FDA finds bacterial contamination in children's medicine ingredients

Raw materials used to make over-the-counter infant's and children's medications, which are subject to a massive recall, tested positive for bacterial contamination, according to a Food and Drug Administration inspection report released late Tuesday.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

As China tries to rein in economy, stock exchange stumbles

The Shanghai composite index slides 1.2% on news that the central bank will again hike the amount of capital that banks are required to hold in reserve.

China's leading stock exchange continued its long slide Tuesday, tumbling to its lowest close in seven months after the central government introduced another measure over the weekend to try to slow the nation's surging economy.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 5 May 2010 | 1:00 am

AB InBev sees flat year for beer in 2010 (AP)

AP - The world's largest brewer and maker of Budweiser said Wednesday its first quarter profit fell 34 percent to $475 million as global beer sales remained stagnant and were not forecast to rebound in 2010.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 5 May 2010 | 12:59 am

AB InBev sees flat year for beer in 2010

The world's largest brewer and maker of Budweiser said Wednesday its first quarter profit fell 34 percent to $475 million as global beer sales remained stagnant and were not forecast to...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 12:59 am

Greek bailout leaves market cold

A super-sized €110bn (£95bn) bailout was supposed to calm markets, but investors seem to be as frantic as ever.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 12:40 am

Cellcom Israel LTD. Announces Israeli MOC Considering Interconnect Tariffs Reduction

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 12:37 am

Oil falls to near $82 as US crude supplies rise

Oil prices fell to near $82 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, extending big losses from the previous day as a report showed U.S. crude supplies rose more than expected last week. Benchmark...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 5 May 2010 | 12:34 am

NZ shares drop amid global rout

The New Zealand sharemarket fell 1.492 per cent today as a global equity market rout continued in this time zone.On a day in which Westpac reported a rise in profit and said the New Zealand economy was turning around, investors...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 5 May 2010 | 12:20 am

Shop prices pushed higher by rising petrol costs

Annual shop price inflation hit its highest level since January last month as soaring petrol costs pushed up food prices, figures revealed on Wednesday.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 5 May 2010 | 12:12 am

Asia Markets: Asian currencies, stocks hit by debt debris

Major Asian indexes traded sharply lower, as sovereign debt concerns fuel broad weakness among most Asian currencies and deal a hit to regional resource stocks, among others.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 12:06 am

Caixin Online: China's 'tier two' banks short of capital

China's five joint-stock banks -- the second rung of lenders after the five biggest state-owned banks -- have revealed that behind the rapid growth in net profits, capital adequacy ratios have fallen. Some banks have dipped below the regulatory capital requirement, Caixin Online reports.

Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 5 May 2010 | 12:01 am

NZ dollar falls over Greece worries

The New Zealand dollar traded about a US cent lower than yesterday as investors sought shelter in the United States currency amid fears that aid for Greece may not prevent debt crises in other euro zone countries.A rout of global...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 11:37 pm

Global shares tumble on Greece debt fears

Asian markets follow US and Europe down as tens of thousands of Greek workers walk out in protest at austerity measures.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 4 May 2010 | 11:35 pm

Fonterra boss warns farmers of 'volatile world'

The global outlook for dairy remains strong, but New Zealand dairy farmers must shore up their businesses against possible future volatility, Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said."Our future as dairy farmers in New...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 11:19 pm

New Report: Illinois' Poorest Pre-Recession Hit First, Hardest By Economic Downturn; On Slowest Path To Recovery

Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 May 2010 | 11:01 pm

Noteholders request WaMu’s liquidation

Funds holding $2.3bn of Washington Mutual securities asked a bankruptcy judge to liquidate the bank as its reorganisation was on the ‘verge of unraveling’ due to the tactics of shareholders
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 10:51 pm

Retail data: Consumers 'took a breather' in April (AP)

AP - Consumers bought less clothing and footwear in April than they did in the same month last year but opened their wallets for electronics, major appliances and status goods, purchase data released Wednesday show.

Source: Yahoo! News: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 10:49 pm

April retail sales seen up, clues sought on economy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warm weather and a desire to refresh wardrobes should have helped retailers increase sales in April, showing consumers are willing to spend a little more in an improving economy.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 10:27 pm

Momentum stalls in April clothing sales: SpendingPulse

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronics and luxury items were the fastest-growing U.S. sales categories in the retail sector in April, but weakness in apparel suggests that a sustained recovery in overall retail may be too soon to call, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 10:26 pm

Will Private Student Loans Get Safer? (Education and Your Money)

Legislation could increase protections for borrowers, but might turn off lenders.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

The Road to Tax Reform Starts Here (The Tax Guy)

Why "targeted" tax breaks that benefit favored constituencies are bad policy.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

3 Companies With Surprisingly Strong Sales (Screens)

Hough: These firms recently exceeded Wall Street's revenue forecasts.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

5 Bargain Summer Rental Spots (Deal of the Day)

Vacationers looking for summer-rental deals have many choices this year.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

J&J a 'Buy' Despite Recall

The health-care giant should weather a product recall for pediatric Tylenol and other liquid medications.

Source: SmartMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

WaMu noteholders want company liquidated

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Noteholders of Washington Mutual Inc asked a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to liquidate the company as its reorganization was on the "verge of unraveling" due to "scorched earth" tactics by shareholders left nothing in the plan.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 9:53 pm

Consumer groups call for reviews of insurers' pending rate hikes

The move comes after errors are found in how health insurer Anthem Blue Cross calculated proposed premium increases for policyholders in California.

After serious errors led health insurer Anthem Blue Cross to cancel a massive increase in health insurance premiums last week, consumer advocates are calling for a review of pending rate hikes by other big insurers in California.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 May 2010 | 9:07 pm

RWC B&B shock quote - $1600 a night

A Yorkshire woman was horrified to discover she had been quoted NZ$1600 for a one-night stay in a Mt Eden bed and breakfast during next year's Rugby World Cup.Jacqui Marsden said she was shocked at the quote, which she was given...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 9:00 pm

Europe debt fears hammer financial markets (AFP)

AFP - Stock markets worldwide suffered heavy losses Tuesday amid fresh fears that a massive Greek bailout will not be enough to stop its debt crisis spreading to Spain and Portugal.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 9:00 pm

Auckland house sales dip last month, prices rise

Auckland house sales fell last month, coming off a stronger track in March, suggesting property investors are becoming tentative ahead of the 2010 budget, which will curb tax breaks.The volume of sales fell 27.6 per cent to 671...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 8:30 pm

NZ, Australian share markets slump

New Zealand and Australian share prices have been hit today after US and European markets slumped overnight on concerns about the Greek debt situation.The benchmark NZX-50 index is down 1.5 per cent, having fallen 50 points to...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 8:00 pm

News Corp profit up on Avatar, but outlook disappoints

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp's quarterly profit beat expectations thanks to the 3-D blockbuster "Avatar" and strong cable networks, but the media conglomerate's shares fell 4 percent after its outlook disappointed some investors.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 7:28 pm

US reform bill debate queries $50bn fund

Senators and regulators moved to narrow the power to wind down large interconnected financial companies in an effort to neutralise Republican concerns that it could be used for ‘endless bail-outs’
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 6:38 pm

Goldman Sachs: Berkowitz In! Blankfein, Out? (GS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) has become thought of as Darth Vader’s Empire for the public of late.  Still, investors are torn over whether to Buy or Sell Goldman Sachs’ as a stock.  If you are a star-chaser, meaning you chase the investment ideas of star portfolio managers as a piggy-back ride, then half [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 May 2010 | 6:21 pm

Free Schools

On the plaque on the famous black door of 10 Downing Street, the inscription gives the full title of the resident there: First Lord of the Treasury. That little-used job description has never seemed so apt. The task before the winner tomorrow will be to get to grips with Britain’s bloated public spending.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

The hard-working poor deserve a better deal

Have you calculated your mansion tax? They have in Notting Hill. If you add together the white stuccoed house in a garden square and the rectory in Gloucestershire, it’s painful.


Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

Overblown BP sell-off may damage industry

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a tragedy — for the families of those who died, for the environment and for local communities.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

Air passengers face a summer of disruption from Icelandic volcano

Airline passengers can expect disruption from the volcanic ash cloud throughout the summer, aviation regulators warned yesterday, after continued eruptions in Iceland grounded hundreds of flights once again.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

Britain ready to supply its last line of defence to fight oil spill

Half of Britain’s emergency stockpile of the chemical dispersants used to combat oil spills could be flown to the Gulf of Mexico under an emergency government plan.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 May 2010 | 6:01 pm

Nissan recalls cars over airbag fears

Nissan has recalled 134,000 cars in the US over concerns that the airbags may not deploy in a crash.
Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 4 May 2010 | 5:52 pm

Greek debt crisis drags down stocks worldwide

The Dow dives 225 points in a sell-off fueled by fears that the EU's $146-billion bailout plan for Greece won't be enough to keep instability from spreading to other countries.

After largely ignoring a recent escalation of Greece's debt crisis, the U.S. stock market tumbled Tuesday in a global selloff caused largely by Europe's fiscal woes.

Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 May 2010 | 5:32 pm

Global plot blamed for Times Square bomb

The US said a global terrorist plot was behind the weekend’s failed bomb attack in New York’s Times Square, after a Pakistani American was detained as he sought to leave the country and Pakistan authorities made arrests
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 5:22 pm

Murdoch considers cash pile options

The box office success of Avatar, James Cameron’s 3D science fiction epic, helped propel a 19 per cent jump in News Corp’s revenues as growth continued at Fox News and newspaper advertising rebounded
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 5:19 pm

Shadow Banking Has A Moment In The Sun

By Jacob Goldstein

Shadow banking, the subject of some high-profile hearings in Washington this week, is not nearly as shadowy as its name suggests. Basically, it's the way big investment banks and other finance companies borrow money.

The system is largely unregulated. And, before the crisis hit, it was huge. Corporations and other big institutions with lots of cash loaned out trillions of dollars.

During the crisis, the shadow banking system led to old-fashioned bank runs on Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns; lots of the institutions who lent to the investment banks asked for their money back all at once. Banks generally can't survive when that happens.

The runs on Bear and Lehman didn't come out of the blue, says Phil Angelides, who chairs the commission that's holding the hearings.

There was "some pretty clear evidence that this was a very fragile system ready to come apart at any moment," he says in an interview on All Things Considered.

For every dollar it had in equity, Bear Stearns borrowed another $40. In all, the bank borrowed about $400 billion. What's more, about $50 billion of that was in loans that the bank had to renew every day, Angelides says.

He compares Bear's situation to a family that has $50,000. The family borrows an additional $2 million, including $300,000 in loans that come due every day. It's easy to imagine the system falling apart.

Bear Stearns's former CEO, James Cayne, will testify tomorrow, along with two former SEC chairmen. Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner, among others, will testify on Thursday.

Gary Gorton, a Yale finance professor I spoke to a while back, said the finance bill being debated in the Senate is unlikely to prevent future runs on the shadow banking system.

Runs on commercial banks happened again and again in this country in the 19th and early 20th centuries; they only ended after the federal government created deposit insurance, after the Depression. But applying that solution to shadow banking wouldn't work, because the sums of money used to insure deposits would have to be too vast, Gorton said.

"The tidal wave of this kind of crisis is so big that any pool of money you have is like a small useless war chest," he said. "It's never going to be enough."

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 4 May 2010 | 5:16 pm

AT&T Customer Satisfaction Dives As Dropped Calls Surge

By Jeff Reeves, Investor Place Wireless telecom provider Verizon (BYE: VZ) has been trouncing AT&T (NYSE: T) for months in surveys of customer satisfaction and loyalty. But a recent survey by ChangeWave Research shows dropped calls are a growing problem for AT&T. Even Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile — a subsidiary of Deutsche Telecom [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 May 2010 | 5:02 pm

John Langley: PM's copter crash decision short-sighted, irresponsible

I was recently part of a 90-person New Zealand delegation to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states. These states include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. They have about 40 million...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 5:00 pm

Goldman set to beef up legal team

Goldman Sachs is aiming to beef up its team of high-powered legal advisers as it steps up talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations of fraud
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 4:51 pm

Guess president to co-head Restoration Hardware

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The president and chief operating officer of Guess Inc , Carlos Alberini, will resign from the apparel maker to become co-CEO of Restoration Hardware, the companies said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 4:49 pm

Wall Street Reform: What’s in This Bill? And What Isn’t?

By Chris Lombardi Last week’s Congressional votes have opened the door for both houses of Congress to finally take up the bill developed by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The next two weeks will be spent, the New York Times‘ Carl Hulse observed, with both parties competing to amend the bill [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 May 2010 | 4:47 pm

Write-Offs: 05.04.10

$$$ Cayne Said to Blame `Irrational’ Market for 2008 Collapse of Bear Stearns “The market’s loss of confidence, even though it was unjustified and irrational, became a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Cayne said in written testimony to be presented to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington tomorrow, according to the person who declined to be identified since the remarks aren’t public until delivery. Cayne will also tell the panel his company had a “strong culture of risk management,” the person said. [Bloomberg]

$$$ Citadel Senior Executive Has Left The Firm [WSJ]

$$$ If anyone has noticed the soaring share price of Priceline.com, it’s an easy bet that Canadian actor William Shatner had something to do with it. Unofficial word on Wall Street is that Shatner, who was initially paid in Priceline shares when he became pitchman for the Internet travel website startup in 1997, is now worth a cool $600 million. [Toronto Sun]

$$$ Chanos Says Long-Term Government Bonds Are Bad Bet [BW]

$$$ Bill Ackman: Let’s Have a Public Registry for Stock Opinion [Barron's]
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Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 4:45 pm

Paulson assures investors over Goldman fallout

John Paulson, whose hedge fund profited from the transaction at the heart of the civil fraud charges filed in the US against Goldman Sachs, has pledged to his investors that he will bear the costs of any litigation brought against his company in the matter
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 4:36 pm

NZ sperm quality ad complaint upheld

The Advertising Standards Authority has weighed in on a debate over the quality and quantity of New Zealand men's sperm.An advertisement for Menevit male fertility treatment featured on a Family Health Diary informercial drew...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 4:30 pm

MediaWorks owner reveals $314m loss

Private equity company Ironbridge has finally revealed the parlous state of TV3 operator MediaWorks, releasing accounts that show a mammoth $314 million loss for the year to August 31, 2009.After being loaded with debts when bankers...
Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 May 2010 | 4:30 pm

There Are People Who Like Lloyd Blankfein

He signs their paychecks but, damn it, this still counts. (I love the li’l fella myself but chose to express my feelings in other ways, rather than making a big show of it.) Also, you will be pleased to hear that not unlike a certain Duke lacrosse squad, Team GS is banding together to prove they did nothing wrong and that bitch is full of shit. I mean…the SEC– I mean–I — I’ve said too much.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s employee morale remains good and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein received a standing ovation from partners at an April 20 earnings call, analyst Brad Hintz told clients. According to the firm, “employees are pulling together like a team under pressure,” Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a note to clients today after a meeting with five senior executives at Goldman Sachs. “The partnership has closed ranks, too, and at Goldman’s April 20, 2010, managing directors earnings call, Lloyd Blankfein received a standing ovation from his partners.”

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 4:22 pm

Oil frenemies unite to clean up spill

BP unleashed a financial and environmental disaster when Deepwater Horizon, the offshore drilling rig it leased from Swiss company Transocean, caught fire and finally sank in Gulf of Mexico on April 24. But BP and Transocean aren't the only oil companies scrambling to clean up after the disaster.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 4:20 pm

Molson Coors profit disappoints

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Molson Coors Brewing Co posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by higher expenses and falling sales volume, but its shares pared losses with the announcement of a new venture in China with a local brewer.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 4:14 pm

Stocks tumble as new doubts about Greek aid emerge (AP)

AP - Stocks plunged around the world Tuesday as fears spread that Europe's attempt to contain Greece's debt crisis would fail. The euro fell to its lowest point against the dollar in a year.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 4:00 pm

Fear index spikes on Greek woes

Wall Street's key index of volatility hit its highest level in more than two months Tuesday as worries about Greece's spreading debt crisis topped the already long list of investors' concerns.
Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 4 May 2010 | 3:34 pm

The Tuesday Podcast: Planet Money, Honey

On today's Planet Money:

When we heard a while back that CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo had let go of her trademark on "Money Honey," her nickname, we sensed opportunity.

We wanted to be the Money Honey.

So we applied for the trademark. Our dream: a line of Planet Money Money Honey products.

You can read our application here, on the Web site of the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. There are all these different categories for trademarks; our application includes caps and visors, as well as "headbands against sweating."

We were super excited -- until we talked to a few intellectual property lawyers. They told us that a trademark isn't enough.

As it turns out, there's this whole other thing called a "right of publicity." Basically, that means that people can sue (and win) if you use, say, their nickname -- even if they don't have a trademark.

Lindsay Lohan recently sued E-Trade over one of those talking-baby ads that included a reference to a milkaholic baby named Lindsay.

In another famous case, Vanna White sued -- and won -- after a Samsung ad showed a robot in blond a wig and evening gown, posed next to a game board like the one on Wheel-of-Fortune.

In a dissent in that case, Judge Alex Kozinski wrote that the decision subject advertisers to ...

claims often made by people with a wholly exaggerated sense of their own fame and significance. Future Vanna Whites might not get the chance to create their personae, because their employers may fear some celebrity will claim the persona is too similar to her own.

(Here's more on the right of publicity from James Boyle, a Duke law professor who we spoke to, and who agrees with Kozinski.)

To make matters worse, some people we talked to in the garment business told us visors aren't the way to go. Try T-shirts instead, they suggested.

So we gave up on the Money Honey thing. We gave up on the visors.

But another dream was born: Planet Money T-shirts.

Shirts that we plan to follow from cotton field to factory, with input from marketing gurus and our listeners and readers. We'll have more on the t-shirt dream soon.

Download the podcast, or subscribe. Music: Lady Gaga's "Money Honey" and Elvis Presley's "Money Honey." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Flickr.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly referred to the "right of publicity" as the "right of privacy." Thanks to the commenter who pointed out our error.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 4 May 2010 | 3:33 pm

How the major stock indexes fared on Tuesday (AP)

AP - Stocks plunged around the world Tuesday as fears spread that Europe's attempt to contain Greece's debt crisis would fail. The euro fell to its lowest point against the dollar in a year. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 225 points, its biggest drop in three months. The slide erased a 143-point gain from Monday. The Dow and broader indexes each fell more than 2 percent. Treasury prices rose on increased demand for safe investments.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 3:32 pm

China, Commodities, Oil Tankers and Services: Taking Stock

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 3:16 pm

Pending home sales at 5-month high

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pending sales of previously owned homes hit a five-month high in March as buyers rushed to sign contracts before a tax credit expired, while a jump in factory orders underscored manufacturing strength.

Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 May 2010 | 2:49 pm

Galleon Still Cashing In

Raj Rajaratnam may be facing jail time, but his investments are still paying off. Yesterday, ReachLocal, an online advertising company in which Raj’s Galleon Group owned about 7 percent, priced an initial public offering.

Galleon didn’t sell any shares in the offering, but the firm appears to have doubled its investment in a little over two years. Not bad for Raj. Galleon owns about 1.6 million shares, which it bought in a VC deal for around $9.20 a share in Sept. 2007.

ReachLocal priced its shares at $19 yesterday. It plans to begin trading on Nasdaq under the symbol RLOC. Also big winners were accounts associated with former Galleon managing partners Krish Panu and Kris Chellam, who both bought into ReachLocal at $9 a share in May 2009.

Panu has been accused by the government of tipping off Raj about merger negotiations between PeopleSupport, an outsourcing company, and Essar Group of India. Panu, at the time, served as a director on the PeopleSupport board of directors. He has not been charged criminally.

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 2:42 pm

Acropolis stormed as European stocks dive (AFP)

AFP - Demonstrators stormed the Acropolis in Athens on Tuesday ahead of a general strike against austerity cuts, as the euro plunged and stock markets tumbled on fears that the Greek debt crisis could spread.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 2:38 pm

Airline Value Questions (CAL, UAUA, LCC, AMR, LUV, JBLU)

Maybe it is the Iceland volcanic ash clouds, maybe it was the market, but more likely than not it was the state of airline mergers that crushed airlines today.  Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: CAL) closed down 10.2% at $20.53 and UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) closed down 10.6% at $19.77.  The ‘other merger candidate’ of US [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 May 2010 | 2:24 pm

Oil prices slump as dollar strengthens (AFP)

AFP - World oil prices shed more than three dollars Tuesday as traders took their cue from a stronger US currency and falling stock markets amid stubborn jitters about Greece.

Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 2:12 pm

Europe Also Screwing The Caymans

Not only is Europe’s debt problems bludgeoning the U.S. markets today, but the continent is also on the verge of dealing a huge blow to the hedge fund industry and its favorite tax havens.

Lawmakers in the European Union are close to passing legislation that would prevent European investors from putting money into a hedge fund domiciled in certain offshore tax havens. The proposal would create a “black list” of countries that would be off-limits to EU investors and the Caymans appears to be a prime candidate for the list.

As expected the hedge fund industry is outraged. By some estimates, nearly 80 percent of all U.S. funds have a registered entity in the Caymans.

[Via WSJ.com]

“It would be pretty sensational if the Cayman Islands were on the black list, because then you would be closing the entire British hedge fund-industry,” said one hedge-fund lobbyist, who asked not to be named.

To avoid the black list, countries must have regulations against money laundering and terrorism financing, a deal to share information with EU regulators, laws ensuring access for EU-based depositories and tax agreements with EU nations based on conventions developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 1:33 pm

Redeker, Ross, Clifton, Logsdon, Feroli: Bloomberg Surveillance

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 1:13 pm

Jesup’s Becker, Bloomberg's Gilbert: Bloomberg On the Economy

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 1:10 pm

Parking rates go up, cities make bucks

Nobody likes paying for parking, but with city budgets tightening more municipalities are eying the parking meter as a source of new funds. Andrea Bernstein reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:04 pm

FDIC goes after holding firms for cash

When a bank fails the FDIC comes in to clean up the mess, and it's a costly proposition. So the FDIC is looking for new ways to recoup funds. Dan Bobkoff reports on a new solution in an Ohio courtroom.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

More cuts expected for educators, staff

State budget cuts are hitting public schools hard. Education Secretary Arne Duncan predicts up to 300,000 teachers and other public school staff could lose their jobs. Amy Scott reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

Oil clean-up volunteers seek paycheck

BP is recruiting volunteers for training to clean up beaches along the Gulf. Hundreds of people turned up at a makeshift training center in Waveland, Miss. Kate Archer Kent reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

Eurozone shaken by debt worries

The euro fell to its lowest level in a year despite recent news of a Greek debt rescue package. Spain was the main focus of worries as rumors swirled it was seeking a bailout. Stephen Beard reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

Weighing costs, benefits of oil safety

Some critics say the federal agency overseeing offshore drilling has been too lax. They argue that BP and others involved in the Gulf Coast oil spill should have taken more precautions. But deciding how much precaution to take versus how big a risk isn't always so easy. Sarah Gardner reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

Are banks really lending again?

A survey from the Federal Reserve says so far this year, banks aren't tightening their lending standards. And in some cases even easing them. Alisa Roth reports.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:02 pm

What's driving gains in auto sales?

April auto sales were up 24% over last year. Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl talks with Tess Vigeland about where the gains are coming from, and whether we can celebrate an auto industry turnaround.
Source: Marketplace | 4 May 2010 | 1:02 pm

Charlie Gasparino Is Not Faking It On TV

The raw emotion, the cursing, the threats to rip the face off, just a for instance, Dylan Ratigan. None of it’s an act. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you. Ask Jimmy, ask Snakes, ask Greg Valentino. Call up the people he used to work with at the Journal and they’ll confirm they still have nightmares about him coming back to the office after a lunchtime workout, arms hanging out of his Champion sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off like two lethal weapons. They’ll tell you.

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 12:55 pm

SIRIUS XM Breather Set-Up, With A Twist (SIRI)

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is one of those stocks that you either love it or you love to hate.  The company’s earnings showed $157.8 million in adjusted operating income and CEO Mel Karmazin and friends backed $550 million in pro forma adjusted income for all of 2010, as well as revenue of $2.7 [...]

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Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 May 2010 | 12:01 pm

Goldman plans settlement talks with SEC: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc may enter talks to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges as soon as today, Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino reported.
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 May 2010 | 11:42 am

Senator Brown on Financial Legislation: Political Capital

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 11:26 am

Presented By:

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 11:15 am

Dear Wynnefield Investors. . .

Investors in Wynnefield Capital (Oscar Tang, Michael Steinhardt, Chuck Royce, Stephen Schwarzman, Larry Leeds, Michael Kassen, Walter Stern, Edward McAree) are up 17 percent year-to-date. But an insider trading case brought by the SEC nearly four years ago is still hanging over the firm. The small-cap fund filed a motion for summary judgement in the case last November.

[Wynnefield Capital Q1 Letter to Investors]

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 11:15 am

Lipton Discusses SEC's Case Against Goldman Sachs: BLAW

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 11:11 am

Social Media: The Politician’s Best Weapon

This is a guest post by UK-based ICLP.

In case you have been under a rock lately, the internet has become a formidable force for promoting goods and services to the right people. Almost overnight, the word ‘digital’ has become a key component of the marketing mix. ‘Web2.0’, ‘crowd sourcing’ and ‘user generated’ have all become synonymous with online promotion.

While some companies are still missing the boat, the changes have been long spotted by hawked-eyed campaign advisors. They saw the mileage the can it blend phenomenom got on Youtube. They watched as Levar Burton racked up over 1.6 million followers on Twitter. They checked out Myspace and saw that the Marilyn Manson page had over 47,000 friends.

Over at Facebook, Britney Spears had 2 million fans. So it wasn’t long before we got the first social media president.

The Obama PR machine was the first to take advantage of the massive influence of social media and the result was simply amazing.

After witnessing the role social media played in sweeping Obama into office, the UK political parties quickly followed suit. The aim is to simply duplicate Obama’s recent success.

The table below shows how the UK political battle is currently being waged in social media land. If recent history is any thing to go by, the party with the most social influence will win the war.

Penetration per social network

The conservatives are clearly ahead across all three social media networks. This is not really surprising as the out of the three main parties, they are the only ones who have tried to push the social media envelope. Take for instance their new social media site called Cash Gordon (a word play on Flash Gordon), which uses Facebook and Twitter to further advance their campaign objectives. Labour and the Lib Dems so far have done very little in the way of getting a viral campaign going. This is one of the reasons why they are almost level across the networks.

How the latest polls stack up against the social media figures

According to the latest UK poll, conservatives are in the lead on 38 per cent, with Gordon Brown’s Labour party at 32 per cent. Trailing is the Lib Dems on 19 per cent. The order of the race clearly mimics that of the social media sphere. With a little less than two months to go, all the surveys and polls suggest that the conservatives will form the next government on May 6th 2010. If this happens, the politicians and media pundits will no doubt pay closer attention to social media metrics in the future.

This is a guest post by ICLP, which provides loyalty marketing solutions to help businesses create, retain & grow profitable relationships.

Source: Business Pundit | 4 May 2010 | 11:08 am

Hedge Fund Investor Relations Girl Loses Suit Against Boss For Dumb Blonde Jokes, Lap Dances, Alleged Murder Attempts

Remember Jordan Wimmer and her boss Mark Lowe, manager of UK-based Nomos Capital? For those of you who (shamefully) need a recap, last fall Wimmer, a former investor relations girl who made £577,000 a year, sued Lowe for £4million, making a host of claims that included Lowe:

* Making jokes about the intelligence of blondes:

She said that Mr Lowe made derogatory ‘dumb blonde’ comments and would email ‘a series of offensive jokes’ to the whole team at Nomos. ‘They portrayed women, particularly blonde women, as objects and having no intelligence.’

* Employing unorthodox pick-up lines:

She claimed Mr Lowe…told her he did not find her attractive. However, she said he would still ‘invade her space’ and tried to kiss her at a hotel in Milan.

* Hiring prostitutes:

Miss Wimmer said her boss used the services of ‘high class prostitutes’ who he brought to business meetings. Describing one meeting in Hong Kong, she said: ‘Ling wore hot-pants that barely covered her buttocks, stilettos and no stockings.’

* And implying that the job of hooker and IR gal are basically interchangeable:

Miss Wimmer said she felt demeaned by Mr Lowe creating the impression that Ling ‘was part of the Nomos outfit’ and did the same job as her.

* The matter of having to be present while Lowe (the specimenat left) got a lap dance:

Miss Wimmer claimed that in 2005 she was made to watch Mr Lowe have a lap dance in a Paris burlesque club with ‘Charity Wanju’, an Oriental prostitute. They went to the Crazy Horse Cabaret which was ‘full of suited men’ and ‘women in nothing but G-strings’, Miss Wimmer said. She added: ‘To say that [colleague] Carol Teng and I looked out of place would be an understatement. ‘Ms Wanju engaged Mark in a private lap dance. This involved straddling Mark facing towards me and Carol. She began thrusting her hips in a fast motion.’ Mr Lowe then went on to have another lap dance with a waitress who rubbed her breasts in his face it was claimed. ‘It was wrong on so many levels that I cannot even begin to articulate it. Mark knew Carol and I would hate it and that we were not in a position to say anything for fear of losing our jobs,’ Miss Wimmer said. ‘We felt completely soiled.’

Trying to have her killed:

Wimmer said she believed her boss Mark Lowe 59, the firm’s founder, had hired a Russian hit man or enlisted a family member to attempt to murder her. Miss Wimmer told how she was left fearing for her life after an incident in which a car tried to run her over six times near the King’s Road in Chelsea.

Central London Employment Tribunal heard how Miss Wimmer, who is claiming sexual discrimination and constructive dismissal, told a psychiatrist “they” were trying to “hurt her” after she quit her job. The medical notes read at the tribunal told how Miss Wimmer ran into a restaurant and asked them to call 999 because a man who looked like her boss was trying to run her over after she left a gym in Chelsea in May this year.

* Making jokes about putting your lady-friend in trunk of a car:

A selection of the emails Mr Lowe sent to Miss Wimmer and other women staff were read to Central London Employment Tribunal. One email from May 7, 2008, titled ‘Who is your real friend?’ read: ‘Put your dog and your girlfriend in the boot of your car for an hour and then see who is happy to see you.’ When asked by Alisdair Simpson, for Miss Wimmer, if he thought the joke was demeaning to women, Mr Lowe disagreed and said he thought it was ‘funny, but not especially’. Mr Simpson replied: ‘You don’t think putting your girlfriend in the boot of your car is demeaning?’ Mr Lowe said he had never put a girlfriend in the boot of a car, adding the joke was ‘not especially demeaning’. Lowe [also] said: ‘I thought they were funny. They weren’t brilliantly funny, but they amused me.’

* Offering career advice that involve “face-fucking” people:

Lowe admitted that the phrase was “not very polite” but denied that it was “highly inappropriate” and “sexually explicit material”. He used the words in response to an email from Ariane Gordji, who was doing work experience at his firm Nomos Capital, in which she included a Latin passage from St Paul which talks about “love your enemies”.

Mr Lowe, 59, who lives in Switzerland and has a reported wealth of 100million pounds, replied with the phrase “irrumabo vos et pedicabo vos” from the poet Catullus. He disputes the translation offered to the tribunal sourced from Wikipedia of “I will face-f*** you and b***** you”.

He claims instead that it meant that he would “screw and b*****” those who criticised him. He said: “It is burlesque, it was always light-hearted in the first century and it still is now. It’s a more robust and more pagan response to love your enemies which is what St Paul says but I say screw and b***** you.”

Anyway! A court has ruled against JDubs, with employment judge Sara Woffenden saying: “We did not find the claimant a persuasive witness.” While the panel “admitted the jokes were in poor taste…with some being sexually explicit, sexist or offensive about Muslims, the Welsh and transsexuals,” Wimmer apparently should’ve complained if she really didn’t like them. The judge also added that Wimmer never said anything about not wanting to go to the strip club in Paris and that she could have left.

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 10:20 am

US Congress turns up heat on BP

The US Congress is turning up the heat on BP and Transocean over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, holding the first in a series of hearings investigating the cause of last month’s rig explosion
Source: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 May 2010 | 10:05 am

Caption Contest Tuesday

[Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

[Cavorting at a Bloomberg cocktail party before the White House Correspondents' Dinner]

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 9:40 am

Confidential To Bank of America: We’ve Found You A Food Eating Contestant Who Will Potentially Restore Pride To The BAC Name

Retired NFL player Bryce Fisher is a University of Chicago Booth School of Business student who will graduate next year. This summer he’s interning in Bank of America’s LevFin group. He’s 6′3, 265 pounds and whereas his fellow interns would probably pass out at the sight of a stack of Double Downs, hundreds of oysters or the entire contents of a vending machine, all he sees is a light lunch. Think about it.

Source: Dealbreaker | 4 May 2010 | 9:28 am

Feds Interested in Apple Antitrust

Image: Motivated Photos

The US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are discussing whether to launch an antitrust inquiry at Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apple’s recent changes to its developer licensing agreement piqued regulators’ interest. The WSJ has more:

Apple recently revised the terms to forbid developers from using software tools other than Apple’s tools to build their programs. It also banned apps from transmitting certain technical iPhone data to third parties.

Apple’s new language forbidding apps from transmitting analytical data could prevent ad networks from being able to effectively target ads, potentially giving Apple’s new iAd mobile-advertising service an edge, executives at ad networks say.

The FTC has also taken an interest in iAd in the context of the agency’s investigation of Google Inc.’s $750 million purchase of mobile-ad company AdMob Inc. Several developers said they have been contacted by the FTC about the Google-AdMob probe, with two saying they were told that the agency was also looking into the iAd service.

Apple’s business model has remained closed, with owners only able to download apps from its iTunes App Store. Some critics contend Apple is now engaging in the kind of tactics that got Microsoft Corp. in trouble with antitrust enforcers in the 1990s. “Apple is playing right out of Microsoft’s playbook—and it’s one they complained about a lot,” said David Balto, a former FTC official now at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems has a good summary of Microsoft’s monopoly playbook.

(Microsoft created an) “applications barrier to entry”(that) stems from two characteristics of the software market: (1) most consumers prefer operating systems for which a large number of applications have already been written; and (2) most developers prefer to write for operating systems that already have a substantial consumer base. This “chicken-and-egg” situation ensures that applications will continue to be written for the already dominant Windows, which in turn ensures that consumers will continue to prefer it over other operating systems.

(Also,) Microsoft saw a serious potential threat in the form of so-called “middleware” products. Middleware products are software products that, like Windows, expose application programming interfaces (“APIs”) that software developers can use in writing other applications. Microsoft recognized that, if any middleware product gained widespread popularity, “developers might begin to rely upon APIs exposed by the middleware for basic routines rather than relying upon the API set included in Windows.” Microsoft has therefore crushed middleware threats.

Microsoft’s “embrace, extend, and extinguish” strategy has three phases: First, Microsoft “embraces” a competing product by developing software or implementing standards that are compatible with the competing product.19 Microsoft then “extends” its own offering by creating features or standards that are interoperable only with Microsoft’s proprietary technologies. Finally, when Microsoft’s proprietary software or standards have achieved widespread adoption, Microsoft “extinguishes” its competitors by dropping any remaining pretense of compatibility.

Some of these practices sound familiar. Only allowing developers to use Apple tools is only one symptom. Apple recently nixed Flash; before that, it disabled Google Voice and prevented iTunes from syncing with certain non-Apple mobile devices.

Apple is now the third-largest smartphone vendor in the world. The company is big enough, and has enough questionable practices (though still not nearly as many as Microsoft) to spur regulator interest.

My hunch is that regulators won’t find enough to launch a serious investigation. Their probes so far have been mostly informal. They’ll stay that way until Apple gives them enough evidence to get serious.

Source: Business Pundit | 4 May 2010 | 9:14 am

How Much Would You Pay for an Internship?

Interns recently paid as much as $42,500 for a chance to labor for nothing at vaunted media institutions like Vogue magazine. Yahoo News has more:

Want to “jump-start your career in the blogosphere” by way of the Huffington Post? That’ll cost $9,000. How about spending a couple weeks strolling the rarefied halls at Vanity Fair? Try $2,900. Or maybe you’d rather get some face time with Anna Wintour at Vogue? Well, you’ll have to dig $42,500 out of the bottom of your Hermes Birkin bag for that one.

Those are a few of the winning bids from a recently closed auction to support the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

While dropping $9,000 to work — for free! — at the Huffington Post is certainly a lot of money, it’s actually down from last year’s winning bid of $13,000. Other winning bids this year: A week at Esquire went for $1,000, while internships at Black Enterprise and Niche Media brought in $550 and $500, respectively.

For other media-related auctions, the winners don’t have to work at all, instead getting the opportunity to meet cable news personalities, such as Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly ($8,000) and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” roster of hosts ($3,250). However, as usual, the cable star system can’t compete with the network queen of daytime talk. The chance to commune with Oprah Winfrey fetched a cool $35,000.

Intern-paid internships? I hope this is one idea that never spreads.

Source: Business Pundit | 4 May 2010 | 9:07 am

Apple iPad Goes Platinum; Feds Take An Interest

By Jacob Goldstein

Apple said yesterday that it had already sold a million iPads. And the papers reported that antitrust regulators are interested in the rules Apple sets for apps developers.

The news is a reminder that part of the burden of being World's Hottest Media Company is dealing with antitrust issues, as regulators try to figure out what's fair competition in the fast-changing technology/media universe.

In the 1990s, the government launched its big antitrust case against Microsoft. In 2008, Google pulled out of a potential deal with Yahoo after the justice department said the deal would "likely have denied consumers the benefits of competition." And just a few days ago, Bloomberg News reported that the Federal Trade Commission may challenge Google's acquisition of a company that sells ads on mobile phones.

Their feds' interest in Apple is very, very preliminary. The FTC and the justice department haven't even figured out who would take the lead, and no formal investigation has been opened, the Financial Times reports.

The regulators may look into the fight over Apple's decision to make iPhones and iPads incompatible with Adobe's Flash. Whatever the details, the broader subtext seems clear: The wild success of Apple's mobile devices means it will face ongoing scrutiny from antitrust regulators.

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Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 4 May 2010 | 8:07 am

Campbell on Stocks, Greece; Schenker on Oil: First Word

Source: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 4 May 2010 | 7:43 am

Another Versatile iPad Feature

Image: Form

Source: Business Pundit | 4 May 2010 | 4:52 am