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Business News
for 01/13/2009

(last updated 7:30am EST 01/13/2009)

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• Japan's lower house passes stimulus budg... Japan's lower house passes stimulus budget plan
01/13/2009
A second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008, aimed at stimulating the economy, cleared Japan's powerful House of Representatives Tuesday, despite the opposition's protests to an unpopular cash handout plan included in the budget proposal. The 4.79 trillion yen (54 billion U.S. dollars) extra budget for the year through March and related bills passed the lower house's plenary session with the backing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner the New Komeito ... (3 h ago)

• HK stocks fall for 6th straight session ... HK stocks fall for 6th straight session on China's worsening exports
01/13/2009
Hong Kong stocks extended its losses to six consecutive sessions and closed 2.17 percent lower on Tuesday on accelerating declines in China's December exports and imports. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dipped 40.73 points, or 0.29 percent, to open at 13,930.27, tracking Wall Street's overnight losses and lower openings in Asia markets. The HSI once reversed losses to reclaim the key 14,000 in the morning session and rallied to the day's highest 14,118.93 before finishing the morn ... (3 h ago)

• China sees first annual growth slowdown ... China sees first annual growth slowdown in forex reserve in 10 years
01/13/2009
China's foreign exchange reserve increased 417.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, 44.1 billion U.S. dollars less than the increase in 2007, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced Tuesday. This is the first time China has seen a decline in the growth of its foreign exchange reserve since 1998. The foreign exchange reserve increased nearly 45 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter to 1.95 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of 2008, the central bank said in a report. ... (3 h ago)

• Taiwan stocks end 1.76% higher Taiwan stocks end 1.76% higher
01/13/2009
Taiwan stocks reversed early losses and closed 1.76 percent higher at 4,532.36 on Tuesday with thinner turnover, according to media reports reaching here from Taipei Tuesday. Tracking Wall Street's overnight losses, the benchmark weighted index opened lower but later moved out of the negative territory as bargain hunting lifted the index from its losses. Turnover shrank to 49.72 billion New Taiwan dollars (1.51 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday's 55.86 billion New Taiwan dollars ... (3 h ago)

• HK stocks close 2.17% lower HK stocks close 2.17% lower
01/13/2009
Hong Kong stocks plunged 302.95 points, or 2.17 percent, to close at 13,668.05 on Tuesday, extending the market's losses to six consecutive sessions. Turnover rose to 47.28 billion HK dollars (6.1 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday's 46.26 billion HK dollars (5.93 billion U.S. dollars). &$ &$Source: Xinhua&$ &$ ... (3 h ago)

• China to consider steel, vehicle support... China to consider steel, vehicle support programs
01/13/2009
China's State Council, or cabinet, is expected to meet this week to discuss a support plan for the steel and vehicle industries, a spokesman of the country's top economic planning body told Xinhua Tuesday. The official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said, without elaborating, that a final government plan for these industries would follow the discussions. According to an article in Tuesday's Shanghai Securities News, the NDRC met with industry association ... (3 h ago)

• Auto giants report rising China sales de... Auto giants report rising China sales despite gloomy global business
01/13/2009
Global auto giants reported rising sales in China, the world's second-largest auto market, despite the gloomy picture in the global market. The Detroit's "Big Three" auto makers -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- experienced double-digit sales declines in the United States last year as the global financial crisis sapped demand. Two, GM and Chrysler, warned of collapses amid the crisis and got 13.4 billion U.S. dollars in government loan aid in December. In contrast, two of t ... (6 h ago)

• Tanzania to expand Dar port to speed up ... Tanzania to expand Dar port to speed up unloading
01/13/2009
The Tanzania Ports Authority has disclosed plans of expanding the Dar es Salaam Port by constructing two more berths in a bid to ease congestion of cargos especially containers at the port. Tanzania Ports Authority Corporate Communication Manager Franklyn Mziray told a local seminar on Monday that there is the need to add two new berths to the existing facilities. "It is clear from a research conducted by consultants from the Netherlands that there is need to construct two new be ... (6 h ago)

• Fuel shortage hits some Dar es Salaam fi... Fuel shortage hits some Dar es Salaam filling stations
01/13/2009
A fuel shortage has hit some Dar es Salaam filling stations over the long weekend which also included a national holiday on Monday when queues of motor vehicles swarmed around these filling stations. English broadsheet Daily News on Tuesday reported that the fuel shortage at these pump stations might end soon in that four oil tankers are now waiting at the Dar es Salaam Port anchorage. "Four oil tankers are at the Dar es Salaam harbor loaded with about 80,000 tons of petroleum p ... (6 h ago)

• Air France takes 25 percent stake in Ali... Air France takes 25 percent stake in Alitalia
01/13/2009
Air France-KLM will pay 323 million euros (431 million U.S. dollars) to acquire a 25-percent stake in Italian airline Alitalia, both companies confirmed Monday. Alitalia, the 62-year-old state-run company, had gone bankrupt. The new Alitalia will be launched Tuesday with Air France as a shareholder along with other Italian investors, bringing the French airline into the Italian air travel market. Air France-KLM said it will underwrite a reserved capital increase, with 19 seats on ... (6 h ago)

• Detroit auto show names car, truck of th... Detroit auto show names car, truck of the year
01/13/2009
&$ &$The Hyundai Genesis is displayed after it won 2009 North American Car of the Year during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 11, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)&$ &$ The Hyundai Genesis was voted the 2009 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit auto show on Sunday, while Ford's redesigned F-150 pickup truck took home top honors in the truck category. The win ... (6 h ago)

• Nicaragua seeks larger comercial links w... Nicaragua seeks larger comercial links with ALBA, China and Russia
01/13/2009
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country is seeking stronger economic links with the nations of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), China and Russia, local media reported Monday. "The liquidity is not anymore in Wall Street neither in London, the liquidity is in Beijing (China), the Persian Gulf and Russia," Ortega said in his annual government report, published Monday by local media. He said the capitalist model is in crisis and labeled the socialism ... (6 h ago)

• Brazil's Lula calls first months in 2009... Brazil's Lula calls first months in 2009 "worrisome" due to financial crisis
01/13/2009
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Monday said the first months of 2009 will be "worrisome" due to the financial crisis. Lula, during his weekly radio show "Breakfast with the President," defended investment as a solution for the crisis in Brazil. "We are going to have a worrying quarter but the government will take all necessary measures to ensure that the crisis affects less Brazilian people," he said. Lula added that the government needs to assure the jobs, wages and ... (6 h ago)

• OECD: Brazil's economic prospect in 2009... OECD: Brazil's economic prospect in 2009 positive despite crisis
01/13/2009
Brazil's economic prospect in 2009 remains relatively sound despite the ongoing global financial storm, says a study by the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released Monday. According to the OECD study, Brazil is among the few nations in the world that will not register a strong economic slump in the next six months. Brazil is the only nation among 34 others analyzed by the study whose Advanced Composed Index, a measurement of a country's economic ... (6 h ago)

• S Korea's household loan growth slows fo... S Korea's household loan growth slows for 3rd month in Nov.
01/13/2009
South Korea's household loan growth slowed in November last year for the third straight month as banks and other financial institutions became increasingly cautious amid the economic downturn, the Korea Times reported on Tuesday. "Household loan growth has eased over the past few months as financial firms reduced lending to cope with a liquidity shortage, brought on by the U.S. subprime mortgage debacle last summer. They also slashed loans to both households and businesses to deal with i ... (6 h ago)

• S Korean gov't to invest $71.2 bln in 3 ... S Korean gov't to invest $71.2 bln in 3 core industries
01/13/2009
The South Korean government announced on Tuesday its plan to invest 97.8 trillion won (71.2 billion U.S. dollars) in three core industries over the next five years. According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the country selected green technology sector, high-tech convergence and value-added industries as the three core industries with 10 underlying projects. "The key industries were selected to allow the country to become a leading player instead of just following in the foo ... (6 h ago)

• New Zealand business confidence at lowes... New Zealand business confidence at lowest since 1970
01/13/2009
Following the global financial crisis, New Zealand businesses were reporting a weak domestic economy and expected the situation to continue to decline with job losses likely, according to a survey on Tuesday. In the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's quarterly survey of business opinion released on Tuesday, 44 percent of firms reported a decrease in their activity in the final quarter of 2008, comparing with a net decline of 32 percent in the previous quarter. A net 43 ... (6 h ago)

• Philippines posts double-digit export dr... Philippines posts double-digit export drop in November
01/13/2009
The Philippines' export earnings in November 2008 fell by 11.9 percent to 3.5 billion U.S. dollars from the year-ago level, the country's statistics agency said on Tuesday. The figure was also 12.0 percent lower than that of October 2008, the National Statistics Office said in a statement. Electronic products, which accounted for 57.7 percent of the aggregate export revenue, posted a decline of 17.0 percent to 2.0 billion dollars from 2.4 billion dollars in November 2007. ... (6 h ago)

• Japan's current account surplus plunge 6... Japan's current account surplus plunge 65.9% in November
01/13/2009
Japan's current account surplus plunged 65.9 percent from a year earlier due to global economic recession and dwindling exports, government statistics said Tuesday. Japan posted a surplus of 581.2 billion yen (6.5 billion U.S. dollars) in November, the broadest gauge of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. The balance of trade in goods and services registered a deficit of 184.2 billion yen, remaining in red for the second st ... (6 h ago)

• Obama set to press for rest of bailout f... Obama set to press for rest of bailout funds
01/13/2009
A week shy of taking office, President-elect Obama already is putting his persuasion skills to a high-stakes test with Congress for the rest of the $700 billion financial bailout fund. (3 h ago)

• Russia: Ukraine is blocking Europe's gas Russia: Ukraine is blocking Europe's gas
01/13/2009
Russia's state gas monopoly accused Ukraine of blocking transit of Russian gas to Europe hours after supplies were restarted, extending the energy crisis that left parts of Europe cold and dark. (3 h ago)

• Wall Street uneasy over weak corporate p... Wall Street uneasy over weak corporate profits
01/13/2009
Wall Street appeared ready to extend its losses Tuesday as investors already uneasy about weak corporate profit reports awaited a reading on overseas demand for U.S. products. (3 h ago)

• Author advocates ‘tough love’ personal f... Author advocates ‘tough love’ personal finance
01/13/2009
Larry Winget doesn't mince words. Take, for instance, people who don't pay their bills on time. "They lack integrity. Period." (3 h ago)

• Once-invincible hedge funds brace for ba... Once-invincible hedge funds brace for bad 2009
01/13/2009
Blind-sided by a colossal market collapse and the widening Bernard Madoff scandal, hedge funds suffered their worst showing on record last year. (3 h ago)

• China's exports, imports fall sharply China's exports, imports fall sharply
01/13/2009
China's trade slump worsened in December as exports fell at their fastest rate in a decade, the government said Tuesday, aggravating a decline that has fueled a wave of layoffs and fears of unrest. (5 h ago)

• Detroit auto show has electric atmospher... Detroit auto show has electric atmosphere
01/12/2009
Automakers at this year’s Detroit auto show are doing all they can to paint themselves as the greenest automakers in town. But don’t believe the hype. By Dan Carney. (15 h ago)

• GM won’t cut more of its sports sponsors... GM won’t cut more of its sports sponsorships
01/12/2009
General Motors Corp.’s top U.S. marketing executive said Monday he does not foresee further big cuts in the automaker’s sports sponsorships. (15 h ago)

• Alcoa says it lost $1.19 billion in four... Alcoa says it lost $1.19 billion in fourth quarter
01/12/2009
Alcoa, the world's third-largest aluminum company, said it lost $1.19 billion during its fourth quarter as prices and demand for the metal plunged in a troubled global market. (16 h ago)

• Obama team: 'Urgent' need for bailout mo... Obama team: 'Urgent' need for bailout money
01/12/2009
Seeking to reassure wary lawmakers, President-elect Barack Obama said he will fundamentally change the way the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout fund is spent. (16 h ago)

• GM may need more money, COO says GM may need more money, COO says
01/12/2009
GM's chief operating officer wouldn’t say Monday whether GM will need all $18 billion in government loans it sought from Congress. (17 h ago)

• Your Career: Working on the 'grandma' tr... Your Career: Working on the 'grandma' track
01/12/2009
Call it the “grandma” track — grandmothers putting aside their own careers or juggling work while trying to raise their children’s kids. (17 h ago)

• Madoff allowed to remain free on bail Madoff allowed to remain free on bail
01/12/2009
A judge has allowed Bernard Madoff to remain free on bail, rejecting a bid by prosecutors to send the disgraced money manager to jail. (20 h ago)

• Wall Street’s New Year’s optimism to be ... Wall Street’s New Year’s optimism to be tested
01/12/2009
Coming off its worst week since November, Wall Street is now wondering if its late 2008 optimism about the economy was misguided — or at least premature. (21 h ago)

• Citi-Morgan near deal to consolidate Citi-Morgan near deal to consolidate
01/12/2009
Citigroup and Morgan Stanley may announce as early as Monday a deal to combine their brokerages, a move analysts say could trigger a wave of consolidation in banking. (1 d ago)

• Bad times are boon for D.C.-area economy Bad times are boon for D.C.-area economy
01/11/2009
When the nation's in pain, Washington often gains. (1 d ago)

• Answer Desk: Bailout likely to shift cou... Answer Desk: Bailout likely to shift course
01/11/2009
With Washington's changing of the guard, Congress is taking up a $350 billion question. Who will get the rest of the money left in the controversial bailout fund? The Answer Desk. (1 d ago)

• Hyundai and Ford take auto show honors Hyundai and Ford take auto show honors
01/11/2009
Hyundai Motor Co. saw its foray into the luxury market rewarded Sunday when its Genesis sedan received the South Korean automaker's first North American Car of the Year award. (1 d ago)

• Cost of gas rises for first time in six ... Cost of gas rises for first time in six months
01/11/2009
The average price of gasoline rose nearly 12 cents in the past three weeks, marking the first price hike after six months of decreases, according to a national survey released Sunday. (1 d ago)

• Small businesses struggle to survive dow... Small businesses struggle to survive downturn
01/11/2009
Times are tough for small business owners, those whom politicians tout as the backbone of America. (1 d ago)

• Northern Rock investors start compensati... Northern Rock investors start compensation fight
01/13/2009
Angry Northern Rock shareholders will begin a high court fight for compensation this afternoon, challenging the government's handling of the bank nationalisation a year ago. They claim the Treasury's valuation of the company at the time it was taken over was incorrect, and that as a result their investments have been effectively rendered worthless. The government stepped in to help Northern Rock in September 2007 after a run on the bank led to its near collapse. It was eventually nationalised last Spring. When shares were suspended last February they were valued at 90p each. The shareholders are not challenging the government takeover, but the valuation of their holdings at the time of the nationalisation. Over the three-and-a-half-day court hearing in London, judges will hear arguments drawing a contrast between the government's conduct in the Northern Rock rescue and its subsequent acquisition of stakes in other banks. Shareholders say the Treasury's share valuation criteria assumed the bank was in administration, that is was no longer a going concern and was no longer receiving financial assistance from the Bank of England or the Treasury when it was nationalised. They argue this was false: Northern Rock was a going concern and was not in administration, and that the terms under which the valuation took place were in breach of the Human Rights Act. An expert appointed by the shareholders claims that applying the false assumption that Northern Rock was in administration led to the shares being valued as worthless, when they were actually worth at least £3 each. The case is being brought by the bank's biggest former investor SRM Global (represented by Lord Pannick QC), RAB Capital (represented by Michael Beloff QC), and around 150,000 private shareholders who held as much as 25% of the company's shares. The private shareholders, including former and existing Northern Rock employees, are backed by the UK Shareholders Association. Spokesman Roger Lawson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the terms set by the government were "a fix" designed to make sure it did not have to pay compensation. "We take many risks as shareholders, but we do not accept the risk normally that the government will confiscate one's property without fair compensation." He added: "We are saying that [Northern Rock] wasn't worthless, that it was actually a significantly valuable property and we should get fair compensation, judged by a proper, independent, normal, commercial valuation." Shares Banks and building societies Investments Northern Rock guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Barclays heads FTSE fallers Barclays heads FTSE fallers
01/13/2009
Barclays is heading the FTSE's fallers today, down around 12%. The bank has announced a trio of departures, headed by deputy chairman Sir Nigel Rudd, who will leave the board at the annual general meeting in April. Two Barclays Capital executives - Jack Malvey, the head of total-return strategy, and Serkan Bektas, the managing director of UK solutions and structured product sales - are also leaving. Barclays shares have fallen 11.6% to 163.2p. All the banks are suffering today, reversing gains yesterday when there was more optimism about what the government might do to provide additional support to the sector. They have also taken their cue from big falls in the share prices of US giants Citigroup and Bank of America last night. Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now 58%-owned by the government, slipped 6.6% to 51.4p amid reports that it is selling its stake in Bank of China. Merger partners Lloyds TSB and HBOS are both down, with Lloyds sliding 6.4% to 131.7p and HBOS losing 6.8% to 78.4p. The two banks will combine to become Lloyds Banking Group next week, with a 43% stake to be held by the government. The FTSE is now down 94.3 points to 4331.89, taking the blue-chip index's losses over the last five days. Barclays Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds TSB HBOS guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Aldi's sales soar as it lures wealthier ... Aldi's sales soar as it lures wealthier shoppers
01/13/2009
Discount chain Aldi has confirmed its position as one of the beneficiaries of the recession, with sales up by a quarter over the last year. The economic downturn has seen wealthier shoppers flock to the stores in an attempt to cut their grocery bills. Total UK sales at the German chain climbed by 14.8% to £2.15bn last year. In December alone, sales were up 22.2%. Like-for-like figures, excluding new store openings, were not available. Aldi opened 41 outlets across the UK and Ireland last year, taking the total to 457. Fast-growing Aldi and Lidl, another German discount chain, have been putting pressure on the big supermarket groups. Tesco , Britain's largest retailer, today reported its weakest Christmas sales since the last recession in the early 1990s. UK sales rose by just 2.5% on a like-for-like basis over the last seven weeks. It has tried to rebrand itself as " Britain's biggest discounter " since the autumn, cutting prices on thousands of goods and launching a range of discount products. Aldi increased its share of the market to 3% by November from 2.6% the year before, according to TNS Worldpanel figures. Apart from selling cut-price food, Aldi has started selling holidays, becoming the first supermarket chain in Britain to do so. Supermarkets Retail industry Recession Aldi guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• House prices fall to two-year low House prices fall to two-year low
01/13/2009
The cost of the average home fell to a two-year low last November, following a drop of 8.6% over the previous 12 months, government figures showed today. According to the communities and local government department the average UK house now costs £199,732, taking prices back to levels not seen since November 2006 when the typical house cost £199,238. Property in Northern Ireland saw the greatest falls, with prices dropping by an average 16.2% over the 12 months to November. In Wales prices took a 10.1% dive, while in England they fell by 8.7%. Falls were at their most shallow in Scotland, where they dropped by 3.9%. The depth of the drop in prices also increased quarter-on-quarter. There was a 4.4% drop in house prices in the quarter leading to November, compared with a 3.6% fall in the quarter ending in August. Average prices only topped the £200,000 mark in London, the east of England, the south-east and the south-west. More recent figures showed the falls continued into December. Earlier this month Nationwide said prices dropped by 15.9% in the 12 months to December , while Halifax said prices fell by 16.2% . Chaos in the market The figures reiterate reports from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) out today. Rics said the last three months of 2008 had shown the weakest performance in the housing market for three decades . Estate agents sold an average of just 10.1 homes over the quarter. Rics said the number of potential buyers inquiring about homes for sale had increased following the large cuts in interest rates implemented since October. However, a squeeze on lending criteria means would-be buyers are finding it difficult to secure a mortgage, meaning the rise in buyer interest has not yet turned into an increase in sales. The number of completed property sales was down by 57% in December compared with the same month in 2007, Rics said. A spokesman called on the government to act to restore order to the "current chaos". Other figures published by the Bank of England yesterday showed that the full benefits of recent interest rate cuts are still not being passed on to borrowers. Despite a 3.75 percentage point cut over the past year, the rate on a 75% tracker mortgage has only dropped by 1.25 percentage points. Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said he expected a further "hefty price fall" in 2009 as borrowers continued to struggle to find affordable mortgages and unemployment continued to rise. "Even if government measures to get banks to step up their lending increasingly take effect, it will clearly take time for confidence to improve and mortgage lending to pick up significantly. "These factors are likely to continue to outweigh the beneficial impact of lower mortgage rates resulting from the Bank of England slashing interest rates, particularly as many buyers with small deposits still face mortgage rates of over 6%, if they can actually get a mortgage." House prices Property Housing market guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Britain's trade deficit widens to new re... Britain's trade deficit widens to new record
01/13/2009
Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widened to a record level in November in a sign that the sharp falls in the pound have so far failed to boost exports as hoped. The Office for National Statistics said the trade gap grew to £8.3bn in November from October's downwardly revised £7.63bn, the biggest since records began in 1697 and nearly a billion pounds worse than economists had expected. The goods trade shortfall with countries outside the European Union countries also hit a record, widening to £5.3bn from £4.4bn. That was also bigger than expected. Total goods exported slumped 6% in November, reflecting the general weakness of the world economy , but imports only fell by 2%. The drop in exports was particularly sharp to non-EU countries, especially the United States, which has plunged into a deep recession with the worst job losses since the second world war. The drop in exports to the US accounted for half the total drop. The Bank of England and Treasury had been hoping that the weaker pound would support British exports during the global downturn and rebalance the economy away from its dependence on domestic consumption. But there is little evidence of this to date. "The pound is now about 30% below its peak. But with global trade flows subdued, this is unlikely to make much difference, at least in the near term," said Paul Dales, economist at Capital Economics. "Overall, with the external sector so weak, policy makers will need to do much more to stimulate domestic activity. We continue to think that UK interest rates will be cut to virtually zero." The ONS said that export prices had not fallen in spite of the weakening pound. Statisticians said this may be because British firms were trying to rebuild their margins or that some had faced rising costs because of high raw materials prices earlier this year. Export and import prices both rose 2%, once the effect of falling oil prices is stripped out. The ONS also said car exports suffered. Britain exports about two thirds of the cars it produces to the rest of the European Union and the US. Exports were down 14% and imports down 17%, reflecting weakness in car markets everywhere , which have suffered huge falls because of the credit crunch. The widening of the goods trade deficit would have been even worse were there not a narrowing in the oil deficit due to falling oil prices, which today were trading as low as $36 a barrel - down from a record high of $148 hit in the summer. The oil deficit shrank to £450m from £580m in October. In the latest three months it narrowed to £1bn from £2.4bn in the previous three months. Colin Ellis, economist at Daiwa Securities, said: "The fact that underlying exports (which exclude erratic items) fell by 6.8% in November should be a cause for concern for the Bank: this is yet further evidence that British exporters are not seeing any fillip to sales from sterling's well-documented decline." The surplus in services trade was broadly steady at £3.9bn in November, meaning the total trade deficit widened to £4.5bn, although that was not a record. Economics Bank of England guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Game warns of challenging year ahead Game warns of challenging year ahead
01/13/2009
Shares in Game Group slipped more than 12% today despite a rise in like-for-like sales over Christmas. The computer game retailer warned of challenges ahead in 2009 and said it would follow a "more cautious" expansion strategy. The group has more than 1,340 stores, with around 700 in the UK and Ireland. "The board is cautious about the outlook for 2009 and is aware that general economic conditions are likely to deteriorate further," said chairman Peter Lewis. "Revenue growth for the group will be challenging and there will continue to be inflationary pressures on costs." Teathers analyst Mark Photiades warned that Game faced greater competition in the "pre-owned" or second-hand market and the potential contraction of the casual gaming market because of the recession. He also said internet retailers and digital distribution posed longer-term structural threats, although the collapse of rivals Zavvi and Woolworths would have helped the group. In the six weeks to 10 January, Game said it had done better in the UK and Ireland than, with like-for-like sales up 10%. However, the international operations - in France, Iberia, Scandinavia and Australia – saw like-for-like sales drop 3%. Across the whole group, like-for-like sales increased by 5.4%. Game said it expected group profit before non-recurring costs and tax for the 53 weeks to 31 January to be "not less than £122m", slightly ahead of market expectations. Shares in the group fell as low as 129.25p, down 12% on last night's close, before rallying to 139p. Game Group guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Timeline: Britain's mounting job losses Timeline: Britain's mounting job losses
01/13/2009
Thousands of jobs are being lost across the economy, from banking to retail, as Britain descends into full-blown recession. Unemployment is likely to rise above 3 million in the current recession, the Bank of England's labour market expert, David Blanchflower , has warned. Nearly 50,000 jobs have either been axed or are at risk across the economy. About 39,000 jobs have already been cut since Christmas, and another 9,600 are under threat: 13 January Merrill Lynch/Bank of America - 1,900 (according to reports) SIG - 100; on top of 900 announced in November 2008 12 January Wincanton - 865 Land of Leather - 850 under threat JCB - 700 Newcastle Productions - 420 under threat Waterford Wedgwood - 367; a further 2,300 under threat AP Driveline - 237 under threat Waterstone's - 200 Financial Times - 80 Christies - "significant staff reductions" 11 January DeVries - 130 under threat 9 January Celebrations - 1,400 Southeastern - 300 Bovis - 200; on top of 400 announced in July 2008 8 January Nissan - 1,200 Barclays - 400 Bank of Ireland - 600 FG Wilson - 250 Fintec - 150 7 January M&S - 1,200 Cattles - 1,000 Miller Brothers - 110 under threat 6 January Woolworths - 27,000 Viyella - 450 under threat Passion for Perfume - 185 5 January Adams - 850; another 2,350 under threat 4 January WPP - several thousand jobs under threat in Western Europe and North America 30 December Olan Mills - more than 100 29 December USC - 300 under threat 24 December Zavvi - 2,500 under threat Recession Retail industry Manufacturing sector guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Nick Bosanquet and Lucy Parsons: Spendin... Nick Bosanquet and Lucy Parsons: Spending must be shifted to the private sector if we are to pull out of recession
01/13/2009
Nick Bosanquet and Lucy Parsons: Helping young, jobless people start their own businesses is the best way to counter falling wages and unemployment (5 h ago)

• The banking crisis - parliamentary heari... The banking crisis - parliamentary hearings live
01/13/2009
There hasn't been a proper parliamentary grilling on the financial crisis since the hearings on Northern Rock and the private equity industry last year. First up a trio of academics from the London School of Economics: Professor Willem Buiter, Professor of European Political Economy, Professor Charles Goodhart, Professor Emeritus of Banking and Finance and Dr Jon Danielsson, Professor of Accounting and Finance. Later, some real business folk. 9:51am: Chairman John McFall kicks off well, asking the pointed question: what is banking for? 9:56am: This is not complicated, concludes the committee: people have been highly paid for relatively little value. 10:03am: If everybody refuses to make loans now, we're all in trouble, points out Charles Goodhart: "What is sensible for the individual banks makes no sense at all for the system as a whole." That seems to be nub of the current crisis. 10:03am: Up now, my favourite doomster Willem Buiter. 10:07am: There is no such thing as a safe bank, says Buiter. They only survive if they have an implicit or explicit guarantee from the ultimate source of liquidity: the central bank. So we need to make sure we don't require all banks to prepare for the worst scenario. Liquidity is a public good. Sounds scary, but actually quite a good thought if you're a banker. 10:15am: Buiter offers support, but an important piece of advice to Brown & Darling: "Zero interest rates and quantitative easing will have to be emulated here as they are in the US, but the reluctance to ring fence bad assets is something to be avoided." Perhaps we need a bad bank after all? 10:19am: You've got to love the matter-of-fact delivery of these academics. Here's Professor Charles Goodhart again: "There were lots of early warning signals. The problem was the lack of willingness to do anything about it. In a boom, everyone loves it, and the idea of a regulator saying you are not allowed to do things runs counter to interests of the lenders, borrowers and virtually every politician. It is not a popular activity." Too true. 10:25am: Do we need regulation or will the market learn its own lessons? What do you think? Buiter is scarily precise: For three years they will withdraw, that is the half life of memory in financial markets. 10:32am: Brown comes out of this much worse than Mervyn King, despite attempts by the MPs to pin the blame on the Bank of England. "I would not fault the Bank (of England) at all for warning about moral hazard," says Buiter. 10:36am: Why don't we end over-the-counter trading of derivatives and put everything through regulated exchanges? Dr Danielsson replies: Banks have an incentive to make things complicated. They lobbied hard to make sure no one understood what they were doing. For some reason, the MPs are losing their temper at this suggestion. (where is your evidence for this? etc) It seems a good summary to me. 10:48am: Suddenly the dry language of finance comes alive when the MPs quote back Buiter: "Banks that don't lend are useless: like tits on a bull." Should this mean the government needs to force banks to start lending again? The answer from Goodhart and Danielsson is no. The one thing worse for allocating capital than the banks is the government. No tits in Downing Street then. 10:50am: Buiter disagrees: "There is nothing wrong with making the banks pay a very high price for government support; after all, they failed. Banks need to be given targets for total lending." 11:04am: Goodhart tips his hat to Gordon Brown: The bank bailout was extremely well done. Only the cost of support to banks was too high. Buiter thinks the banks should have been completely nationalised. Instead, different parts of the government now have different priorities eg. more lending vs repairing profits. 11:06am: Buiter wraps up the first session with characteristic bluntness. Asked about his gloomy prediction that the banks will be at it all over again in three years, he replies: "that's the way the world is. it's been that way ever since banking was invented." Er, ok. 11:08am: Now some business figures and commentators. Richard Lambert, Director General, CBI, and Jon Moulton, Managing Partner, Alchemy Partners, and Will Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, The Work Foundation - and, of course, our very own Observer columnist. 11:09am: "A grotesque failure of every regulation there is" - says Jon Moulton. "The basic thing wrong with the banks is they got too damn complicated." I sense he is going to compete with Buiter for pithy soundbites. 11:13am: Hutton goes one step further in summing up the crisis: "It went beyond regulatory failure. We actively fanned the flames." 11:15am: The CBI's Lambert is already feeling the heat: "It's important to keep things in scale. It is possible to overstate the importance of the financial system." 11:21am: Are hedge funds to blame? Lambert thinks not: "My total preoccupation is with the supply of credit to the economy". Hedge funds are a sideshow Hutton is not so sure. $2 trillion in assets. They contributed to the asset bubble. Their collapse is hitting the banks. It's outrageous that we (I assume he means taxpayers rather than the Guardian Media Group) have emerged as guarantors of bank lending to hedge funds. Moulton insists UK banks were not big lenders to hedge funds. 11:27am: Can the regulators keep up? It cannot be done, says Moulton. We need trustworthy banks or they need to stay in national ownership forever. It doesn't mean we stop innovation, but we have to go back to a simpler model of banking. It is not an accident that this all happened after we liberalised banking regulation. Pretty strong stuff, even for Moulton 11:30am: Hang on a minute says Lambert: "We shouldn't conclude from all this that regulation is impossible. We need to focus on capital adequacy and liquidity. Supervision is very important too." Moulton insists: A large bank with 30 or 40 business lines is too big and complicated to be regulated. 11:34am: More questionable sexual metaphors! Moulton suggests the problem with lending is like the problem with one woman on a desert island; you have to take what's available. Lambert rescues the embarrassing silence with a joke about Moulton's private equity industry not always turning things into gold. (Moulton's firm is called Alchemy, geddit?). 11:43am: Moulton delivers a devastating critique of what is wrong with banking regulation. Lambert calls for new international agreements to control how much capital the banks have to hold. Will Hutton calls them all utopian. How the world has changed. Who would have thought they would each have assumed these roles a year or two ago? 11:49am: The old question of how the media covered this returns. Lambert restates his worry that we don't get carried away and cause bank runs. Hutton says we were all pretty responsible and could have been louder still. I'll pass on this one in the interests of neutrality. 12:04pm: An interesting culture clash moment between business and Westminster: The panel cannot understand why the bail-out for banks had such punitive lending conditions attached. The MPs respond by pointing out that their constituents would happily lynch bankers from lampposts and giving banks apparently free bail-outs is about as popular to the ordinary person in the street as offering them cyanide. Hutton concludes by saying we need a Marshall plan for the banks and Nuremberg trials for the bankers. It might be a bit more feisty than this relatively tame select committee hearing. Where are the teeth? Where is the anger? Banking Economic policy Credit crunch guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• A glitz-free Detroit motor show? Some ca... A glitz-free Detroit motor show? Some carmakers didn't get the memo
01/13/2009
Some car manufacturers clearly didn't get the memo. With America's "big three" motor companies on life support, it was supposed to be a glitz-free, austere Detroit motor show this year in preparation for the possibility of mourning. General Motors and Chrysler are cutting staff salaries and slashing every cost to the bone as they struggle to survive on emergency loans as effective wards of the US state. GM can't even afford to run the escalators at its headquarters during evening hours while Ford has scaled back office cleaning from nightly to weekly, according to the New York Times. So was it appropriate for Mercedes to serve up lobster risotto, merlot and créme brûlée as it launched its new E-class sedan at Detroit's swankiest new hotel – the Westin Book Cadillac? Several swanky sports carmakers – including Porsche and Ferrari - discretely pulled out of this year's show. But Lamborghini flew the flag with a decidedly unreconstructed exhibition stand featuring twig-thin models smiling seductively alongside rich boys' toys masquerading as modes of transport. Then there was Britain's Bentley, which for some reason decided that Detroit would be a good place to launch a £146,100 deluxe convertible featuring massage chairs and a lockable ski cabinet in the boot. Bentley's sales and marketing director, Stuart McCullough, helpfully showed me that the grain on the hand-made wood panelling matched perfectly on both front doors of the Continental GTC Speed. He was engagingly combative when I asked him whether he expected to sell many of the 200mph cars in down-at-heel Detroit. "That's a silly question," said McCullough. "At a Detroit show, you're aiming to put cars on sale for the rest of the world." He pointed out that he'd done interviews with Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern television from the show. Fair enough, I suppose. After all, Bentley provides a livelihood for 4,000 British workers. Over on the Aston Martin stand, salesman Ron Pond was cheerfully chatty. He said the celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who owns an Aston Martin DB9, had popped round earlier for a look at the firm's latest range. When members of the public arrive to gawp at Aston Martin's stand, Pond has a polished technique for deciding who should be allowed beyond a plexiglass barrier to be treated as a serious buyer. "I say to them 'Well, sir, what kind of sports car do you currently enjoy?" Pond explains. "If they say a Mazda MX5, they're not going to spend the money for an Aston Martin." With a dozen or so manufacturers absent from the show this year, China's top carmakers – Brilliance and BYD – were elevated from their previous spot in the basement of Detroit's Cobo convention centre to take stands alongside America's loss-making elite. That meant there was a big gap to fill downstairs. So the organisers came up with a test track allowing visitors to try electric cars through an elaborate impromptu landscape of tropical trees, shrubs and waterfalls. After signing several forms and being rather pedantically breathalysed, your correspondent went for a spin in a Mitsubishi iMiEV – a nifty little plug-in car set to go on sale in Japan this year. I can report that the engine was disconcertingly silent but that the car was comfortable and smooth to handle. At least, that's as far as I could tell - I wasn't allowed to go above 15mph. The company may be teetering on the brink of financial oblivion but Chrysler has come up with some unusual ideas for dashboard gizmos. Chrysler displayed a "concept car" boasting something called "vehicle networking" which allows you to link up with your driving buddies. A map on the dashboard will show the location of "buddy" vehicles and will direct you to them. You can share instant messages, share directions and music and the car will even guide you to them. Then there's a "teen setting" which, in a slightly Big Brother way, allows parents to keep track of young drivers by limiting their speed and their distance from home – and even by alerting mum and dad when their movement becomes erratic. A year ago, Chrysler launched a new Dodge Ram truck at the motor show by herding a bunch of bulls through downtown Detroit. Chrysler's vice-chairman, Jim Press, apologised for the lack of cattle this year: "We had the cows all signed up but they were called to Washington to talk to the cow czar." For good measure, he added: "It's a bear market, anyway." Finally, the least convincing bit of spin at this year's motor show came from Ford's chairman, Bill Ford. "In spite of the many challenges we face, I can honestly say I've never been more excited about our prospects for the future," said the great-grandson of Henry Ford. Has anybody told Bill that Ford has lost $24bn since 2005 – and that US car sales are expected to plunge to a 27-year low this year? Automotive industry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Private equity responds Private equity responds
01/13/2009
A spirited response has arrived to my attack on private equity disclosure from Simon Walker, chief executive of the industry's trade group, the BVCA. His argument (below) is that the failings identified in a review of the disclosure process were largely technical. I suppose either this stuff matters or it doesn't. If it's just technical box-ticking then one has to question the validity of the exercise in the first place. If it's over-zealous monitoring by the review then I suppose that, rather than our reporting of it, is most likely to be the disincentive to genuine tranparency. For what it's worth, I think details such as confirming the independence or otherwise of a company director are quite important. It also seems to me that if private equity companies really took compliance seriously they have more than enough lawyers to make sure they can manage to meet guidelines drawn up by their own industry. I also wonder what proportion of the 80% of transactions are accounted for by the seven that failed to comply satisfactorily? Anyway, read it and see what you think: Dan: I try not to grizzle but I do think your blog about Mike Rake's analysis of compliance with the disclosure regime is less than fair, and a disincentive to the genuine transparency of the Guidelines Review Group. Your line "only half the companies...have met the new disclosure rules" refers to the fact that in an entirely new reporting process, without precedents, half of all companies complied to all requirements in full without any guidance or input from the monitoring group. The initial failures you cite are almost entirely technical: for example, a portfolio company not noting that a director who is the senior partner of its owner was in fact representing that buyout house. Another company specified that it contributed to a particular charity, but failed to specify how much. Two others outlined corporate priorities but failed to describe them as KPIs. It's hardly surprising that some organisations made trivial errors in their first-ever public reports: what is important is that these mistakes were corrected. After advice all have amended or are changing their websites to achieve full compliance. The fact that all but seven companies did meet the social and community reporting requirements seems to me quite creditable given that this is a year ahead of listed companies doing so and in the absence of any precedent. No company declined to report on these issues and their inadequacies - while they need to be addressed – are hardly earth-shattering. And although only a numerical small fraction of the industry may be covered by the guidelines, that "small fraction" accounts for well over 80% of private equity transactions by value. It hardly makes sense to impose the transparency requirements of KKR or Permira on BVCA members like Derbyshire First Investments, with funds under management of £1.5 million, or Birmingham Technology Venture Capital, with £370,000. Far from being arrogant, we've published in full a warts-and-all critique of the first year of the disclosure regime in order to evolve best practice. The Rake Committee (which includes a former senior Communications Workers Union official) describes the results as encouraging and speaks about a high level of support for and commitment to the guidelines. Nonetheless, I think we can do better this coming year, and we're determined to do so. Simon Walker Chief Executive BVCA- The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association Private equity guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Tesco results add to UK economic gloom Tesco results add to UK economic gloom
01/13/2009
Britain's descent into full-blown recession was highlighted today as Tesco reported its weakest Christmas sales since the last slump , and three grim surveys chronicled the savage retrenchment in housing, retailing, manufacturing and services. The UK's biggest supermarket group, which takes one pound in every eight spent in Britain's shops, reported underlying sales growth of 2.5%, its slowest rate since the early 1990s. Its performance contrasts sharply with that of discounter Aldi, which saw its total UK sales surge by more than 20% in December, as cash-strapped consumers traded down in the face of the credit crunch. More than 4,000 jobs came under threat yesterday across the economy, with earth-moving equipment company JCB cutting 700 jobs , almost 1,000 posts going at logistics firm Wincanton and news of significant job reductions on the way at auction house Christie's. Cookers group Aga Rangemaster also warned this morning that trading deteriorated throughout the last six months of 2008, as consumers reined in their spending on big-ticket items and home improvements. Aga has already cut its production of new models and eliminated 400 jobs, or around 12% of its workforce, over the last year in a bid to reduce costs. Amid fears that 2009 could see the biggest fall in output in any year since the war, snapshots released today from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, British Retail Consortium and British Chambers of Commerce plumbed record lows last month. The RICS survey said estate agents sold 10.1 homes on average in the final three months of 2008, the weakest performance in three decades, while the BRC said deep discounting could not spare shops and stores from the grimmest December since it began its survey 14 years ago. David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, called for a national economic recovery plan after the BCC's quarterly report showed record lows for manufacturing sales, orders, job prospects, investment, confidence and cash flow. "These are truly awful results, with the scale and speed of the economic decline happening at an unprecedented rate. We have to focus on holding the productive sectors of the economy together. If we are to climb out of this morass we will need a strong business base." With the BCC warning of a "frightening deterioration" in the state of the economy across all 12 regions of Britain, Frost urged cross-party action. "A clearly defined national recovery plan will need to be rolled out as soon as possible, involving all politicians." The BCC, which has been reporting on the economy since 1989, said there was no evidence that the fall in the value of sterling late last year was helping exporters. "It is clear that the economy is facing a very serious recession, and the downturn is deepening at an alarming pace. The collapse in all the fourth-quarter confidence balances to record lows is particularly ominous." It described the deterioration in the service sector – the mainstay of the economy – as "extremely worrying" after revealing that the largest sector firms recorded their worst-ever performance for domestic sales in the final three months of 2008. Stephen Robertson, the BRC's director general, described retailers' December trading performance as "truly dreadful" after it emerged that the value of sales was 1.4% lower in December than a year earlier. Only the food sector showed annual growth last month. "Non-food retailers had a torrid time in December despite a blizzard of promotions and deals, which would have hit margins," Robertson said, urging ministers to reduce cost pressures. "This is no time for the government to be piling new burdens on a major job-supporting sector. For example, its plans to push retailers' business rates bills up by £1.6bn over the next two years urgently needs revising." The RICS said there was evidence that the sharp fall in interest rates since October had led to an increase in inquiries from potential buyers but the credit crunch meant that had yet to be translated into sales. Completed property sales were 57% lower in December than a year earlier even though new buyer inquiries rose for a second month and at the fastest pace for more than two years. Ian Perry, RICS spokesman, said: "Buyer interest is now at levels not seen since 2006, but without mortgage finance the housing market is at a standstill and transaction levels at an all-time low. First-time buyers and owner-occupiers are now stuck in a market which does not fulfil their aspirations. The government must act now to ensure that order is restored to the current chaos. "A first step would be for the government to provide guarantees for the new issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities. Without this help there is a real danger that homebuyers will be frozen out of the market, transaction levels and prices will fall to new lows, repossessions will increase and negative equity will become commonplace." Data released by the Bank of England yesterday showed that the full benefits of lower borrowing costs are still not being passed on to the public. A new 75% loan-to-value tracker mortgage fell by 0.83 of a percentage point last month even though the Bank cut rates by a full point at the start of December. Over the past year, Threadneedle Street has shaved 3.5 points off bank rate but a 75% tracker mortgage has come down by 1.25 points. Interest rates on credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans are all higher than a year ago. The supermarket sector has managed to dodge the worst of the gloom so far, with Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's all planning to hire thousands more workers this year. But analysts believe 2009 will be tough, with sales and profits expected to shrink. Philip Dorgan of Panmure Gordon, who said Tesco's performance over Christmas was "not good enough", believes the supermarket giant could still outperform its rivals through the downturn. "We think that it is going to get tougher for the food retailers, with like-for-like sales growth set to turn negative as volume growth slows and inflation comparisons toughen ... but Tesco should suffer less," Dorgan predicted. Tesco's sales growth trailed behind both Sainsbury's and Aldi, and will probably be comfortably outstripped by Morrisons when it reports Christmas trading figures next week. "The aggressive nature of cost cutting by its competitors is clearly giving Tesco food for thought at the current time," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown. Recession Tesco Housing market Retail industry Supermarkets Manufacturing sector Credit crunch guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Miners dig hole for the FTSE Miners dig hole for the FTSE
01/13/2009
Another bout of bad sentiment towards mining companies is propelling the FTSE 100 lower this morning. Mining stocks have been under the cosh recently amid fears that the global downturn has weakened demand. Rio Tinto led the fallers, down 6% at £15.10, while Vedanta Resources slipped 4.5% to 619.5p. Also among the fallers is Royal Bank of Scotland, down more than 4% at 52.6p on reports that it has a $3.5bn exposure to the bankrupt US chemicals group LyondellBasell. Overall the FTSE 100 is down 64.65 points at 4361.54, putting the blue-chip index on course for its fifth successive daily fall. Early trading was also hit by market falls in New York and Tokyo. Supermarket group Tesco edged up this morning despite reporting its slowest growth over the Christmas period since the early 1990s. Britain's biggest supermarket chain said UK sales rose by 2.5% in the last seven weeks, on a like-for-like basis. The shares were up 2.7% to 359.6p, making it the FTSE 100's second biggest riser. In the FTSE 250, Northern Foods rose almost 6% to 59p after it said underlying sales were up 3% in the third quarter. FTSE Rio Tinto Vedanta Resources Royal Bank of Scotland Tesco Northern Foods guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Russia claims Ukraine holding up resumpt... Russia claims Ukraine holding up resumption of gas supply
01/13/2009
Moscow again claims stocks being diverted while Kiev blames lack of communication from Gazprom (7 h ago)

• Tesco reports weak sales growth - worst ... Tesco reports weak sales growth - worst performance since early 1990s
01/13/2009
Group is expected to be the worst performing big supermarket chain as it reveals its slowest growth since the early 1990s (7 h ago)

• FDIC GAINS MORE POWER FDIC GAINS MORE POWER
01/12/2009
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will get more authority to protect consumers against bank failures under financial-rescue legislation Congress plans to take up this week. The measure allocating the last $350 billion from the rescue package... (8 h ago)

• DON'T LOOK FOR QUICK RECOVERY DON'T LOOK FOR QUICK RECOVERY
01/12/2009
The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said he expects the US economy to remain extraordinarily challenging in the first half of the year and that he was not expecting a quick turnaround. Lee Scott made the comments at the National Retail... (8 h ago)

• SL GREEN'S DILEMMA SL GREEN'S DILEMMA
01/12/2009
THE investment-sale market for office buildings is so bad - i.e., dead - that every tip and rumor about a possible deal sets off a frenzy of excitement. Maybe this time, the hope goes, a breakthrough will finally get the market going again, even... (8 h ago)

• PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE
01/12/2009
Bill Ford boasted over the weekend that he'd only need Uncle Sam's bailout money if "the world implodes" - but a day later his executives said maybe they'll need those billions after all. The chairman of Ford Motor won wide acclaim from... (8 h ago)

• MARKETS SLUMP ON EARNINGS MARKETS SLUMP ON EARNINGS
01/12/2009
US stocks fell, extending losses from the market's worst week since November, as investors speculated Alcoa will kick off a disappointing earnings season for commodity producers and banks. Alcoa, the aluminum producer that began profit reports... (8 h ago)

• LEWIS, BOFA FACING 4Q LOSS OF NEARLY $3.... LEWIS, BOFA FACING 4Q LOSS OF NEARLY $3.6B
01/12/2009
Bank of America's Ken Lewis is finding there's a huge cost to being the savior of Wall Street. Lauded last year for the economy-saving purchases of both struggling Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch, Lewis may post a gargantuan... (8 h ago)

• CONDé NAST'S WACKERMANN TO OVERSEE ... CONDé NAST'S WACKERMANN TO OVERSEE DOMINO
01/12/2009
Domino Publisher Beth Brenner, whose magazine has lost nearly $40 million over its 3½-year life, is getting a new boss as Glamour Publisher Bill Wackermann assumes the title of publishing director of the Condé Nast-owned shelter title... (8 h ago)

• WB PLANS 10% CUT IN BUDGET WB PLANS 10% CUT IN BUDGET
01/12/2009
Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Time Warner Inc. studio that made "The Dark Knight," is asking its departments to cut their budgets by at least 10 percent, according to people in the company who are familiar with the plans. The cuts, if realized... (9 h ago)

• SLUNG OUT OF ECHOSTAR SLUNG OUT OF ECHOSTAR
01/12/2009
The brains behind Sling Media are leaving the television place-shifting company after butting heads with Charlie Ergen, chief of parent EchoStar Communications. Co-founders Blake and Jason Krikorian, entertainment group heads Jason Hirschhorn and... (9 h ago)

• CREDIT CRISIS TEACHES THE VALUE OF SAVIN... CREDIT CRISIS TEACHES THE VALUE OF SAVING MONEY
01/12/2009
JOHN Templeton is a subver sive who's trying to wreck the US economy. I say that in jest, of course, because Templeton has been dead for six months. But the people who tend to the legendary investor's legacy are doing the unthinkable right now... (9 h ago)

• VIVENDI IS WRITING OFF HALF OF ITS NBCU ... VIVENDI IS WRITING OFF HALF OF ITS NBCU STAKE
01/12/2009
NBC Universal is the latest media company to get hit with a writedown on the value of its assets. Vivendi, the French conglomerate that owns 20 percent of NBCU, said yesterday that it is still assessing the value of its stake but anticipates a... (9 h ago)

• BUSINESS BRIEFS BUSINESS BRIEFS
01/12/2009
Whole Foods US antitrust regula tors battling with Whole Foods Market over its 2007 acquisi tion of former rival Wild Oats asked a judge to halt all integra tion activities. The FTC also said that if the court ruled that the agency had a strong... (9 h ago)

• BONUS POOL IS BACK BONUS POOL IS BACK
01/12/2009
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are looking at setting aside between $2 billion and $3 billion to keep top brokers at the wealth-management shop the two banking giants are close to combining, The Post has learned. The whopping payout would be... (9 h ago)

• Russia Restarts Gas Exports to Europe Russia Restarts Gas Exports to Europe
01/13/2009
Russia began limited exports of gas to Europe on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement with the European Union. (7 h ago)

• Trade Losses Rise in China, Threatening ... Trade Losses Rise in China, Threatening Jobs
01/12/2009
China’s exports and imports shrank at an accelerating rate last month, a trend likely to set off more job losses in the country’s export-oriented coastal regions. (8 h ago)

• Sony and Toshiba Shares Fall Sharply Sony and Toshiba Shares Fall Sharply
01/12/2009
News reports projected that Japan’s leading electronics companies would see an operating loss in the current financial year as plummeting demand and a strong yen take their toll on sales. (9 h ago)

• Germany Is Planning a Bigger Stimulus Pa... Germany Is Planning a Bigger Stimulus Package
01/12/2009
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has resisted a sweeping stimulus plan, but senior members of the government are finishing up a package that could be Europe’s biggest. (9 h ago)

• Alitalia Sells a Stake as It Makes Its R... Alitalia Sells a Stake as It Makes Its Return
01/12/2009
The Italian airline agreed to sell a minority stake to Air France-KLM, cementing ties with the airline just a day before Alitalia takes to the skies as a leaner airline. (9 h ago)

• Japan and Korea Vow Unity on Economic Sl... Japan and Korea Vow Unity on Economic Slump
01/12/2009
The financial crisis prompted South Korea and Japan to set aside historical disputes on Monday and agree to cooperate to meet immediate economic challenges. (10 h ago)

• Lawyer Will Seek Bail for Jailed Satyam ... Lawyer Will Seek Bail for Jailed Satyam Officials
01/12/2009
The brothers who founded the outsourcing company Satyam have been interrogated and jailed, and the Indian government announced a new board for the company. (10 h ago)

• Board Tries to Chart Recovery for Scanda... Board Tries to Chart Recovery for Scandal-Ridden Indian Firm
01/12/2009
The newly appointed board of Satyam is scrambling to get money and new managers while also trying to determine how deep the company’s problems are. (10 h ago)

• Christie’s Cuts Costs as Art Market Slow... Christie’s Cuts Costs as Art Market Slows
01/12/2009
A string of disappointing auctions over the last four months has prompted the auction house to start a cost reduction effort that will include job cuts. (10 h ago)

• A Small Showing, but With Big Dreams A Small Showing, but With Big Dreams
01/12/2009
For the first time, two Chinese carmakers are exhibiting this year on the main floor of the Detroit auto show. (10 h ago)

• Town Mourns Typical Businessman Who Took... Town Mourns Typical Businessman Who Took Untypical Risks
01/12/2009
The suicide of the German billionaire Adolf Merckle shocked the nation as much as it angered his tiny town, where he was eulogized at a service that overflowed the church. (10 h ago)

• Wealth Matters: What to Do if UBS Is Out... Wealth Matters: What to Do if UBS Is Outing Your Secret Account
01/10/2009
A few things to consider if you are part of the group of Americans with undeclared accounts in Switzerland. (2 d ago)

• Korean Carmaker Seeks Receivership Korean Carmaker Seeks Receivership
01/10/2009
Ssangyong Motor Company, the smallest of the five South Korean auto makers, filed for receivership in a bid to stave off collapse. (3 d ago)

• Advertising: Unemployed? Monster.com Wan... Advertising: Unemployed? Monster.com Wants You to Laugh
01/12/2009
As it tries to appeal to job seekers in a new advertising campaign, the parent company of the employment Web site Monster is using a humorous touch. (10 h ago)

• Few in U.S. See Jazeera’s Coverage of Ga... Few in U.S. See Jazeera’s Coverage of Gaza War
01/12/2009
The Qatar-based network Al Jazeera has virtually unlimited access in a war zone where many American journalists are denied entry. (11 h ago)

• Advertising: For the Honda Brand, a Cine... Advertising: For the Honda Brand, a Cinematic Stroke
01/12/2009
Honda is bringing out three short films to be launched online, under the rubric of the “Dream the Impossible documentary series.” (20 h ago)

• Advertising: A Lawyer’s Call for a Great... Advertising: A Lawyer’s Call for a Greater Black Presence in Agencies
01/12/2009
A project announced by the N.A.A.C.P. and lawyer Cyrus Mehri aims to increase the number of black workers on Madison Avenue. (21 h ago)

• Hollywood Finds Headaches in Its Big Bet... Hollywood Finds Headaches in Its Big Bet on 3-D
01/11/2009
Studios have aggressively embraced the technology, but mass market 3-D releases are not tenable without expensive upgrades to projection equipment at the multiplex. (1 d ago)

• CBS Pumps Up TV.com to Create a Destinat... CBS Pumps Up TV.com to Create a Destination
01/11/2009
CBS has redesigned TV.com to showcase new and old television episodes. The site aims to give Hulu, another TV site, a run for its money. (1 d ago)

• The Media Equation: Let’s Invent an iTun... The Media Equation: Let’s Invent an iTunes for News
01/11/2009
If print media outlets want to find a new business model, the music industry is worth studying. (1 d ago)

• Quietly, AOL Becomes an Overseer of Nich... Quietly, AOL Becomes an Overseer of Niche Sites
01/11/2009
Tens of millions of consumers visit some of AOL’s 70 specialty sites, some without even knowing it. (1 d ago)

• Religion Writer Who Copied Work Draws Su... Religion Writer Who Copied Work Draws Support of Readers
01/11/2009
Many fans of Neale Donald Walsch, the author of the best-selling series “Conversations With God,” rallied around him and begged him not to quit blogging. (1 d ago)

• Hearst Looks to Sell or Close Seattle Pa... Hearst Looks to Sell or Close Seattle Paper
01/11/2009
The Hearst Corporation will stop printing The Seattle Post-Intelligencer unless it can find a buyer in the next 60 days, company executives told employees. (1 d ago)

• Democrats Seek Delay in TV Shift Democrats Seek Delay in TV Shift
01/10/2009
The Obama transition team is seeking to delay the Feb. 17 move to digital TV, saying millions of homes aren’t ready. (2 d ago)

• Where Did The Bailout Billions Really Go... Where Did The Bailout Billions Really Go?
01/12/2009
Billions of bailout money - your tax dollars - went to banks to buy up troubled mortgages. So why did so many of the banks that benefitted simply buy other banks? Sharyl Attkisson Follows the Money in an exclusive report. (14 h ago)

• Madoff To Remain Free On Bail In Penthou... Madoff To Remain Free On Bail In Penthouse
01/12/2009
A judge has allowed Bernard Madoff to remain free on bail, rejecting a bid by prosecutors to send the disgraced investor to jail. (14 h ago)

• Hedge Funds Took A Serious Hit In 2008 Hedge Funds Took A Serious Hit In 2008
01/12/2009
Blind-sided by a colossal market collapse and the widening Bernard Madoff scandal, hedge funds suffered their worst showing on record last year. And they're bracing for more pain in 2009. (14 h ago)

• Dodd: Show Me The Bailout Money Dodd: Show Me The Bailout Money
01/12/2009
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd is setting out the conditions necessary for Congress to approve spending the second $350 billion of a roughly $700 billion federal rescue plan. (21 h ago)

• Price Of Oil Drops Below $40 A Barrel Price Of Oil Drops Below $40 A Barrel
01/12/2009
Oil prices fell below $40 a barrel in Asia as investors looked to key U.S. corporate results this week for indications of the health of the world's largest economy and demand for crude. (1 d ago)

• Citigroup, Morgan Stanley To Consolidate Citigroup, Morgan Stanley To Consolidate
01/10/2009
A deal to combine the brokerages of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley - which would give Citi more cash, and Morgan Stanley more manpower - appears just days away. (2 d ago)

• Where To Park Your Cash For A Crunch Where To Park Your Cash For A Crunch
01/10/2009
Ray Martin offered advice on safe places to invest funds you're saving for emergencies (such as a job loss) on The Early Show Saturday Edition. (2 d ago)

• Russia, EU Sign Energy Agreement Russia, EU Sign Energy Agreement
01/10/2009
Russian and European Union officials have signed a deal regarding the deployment of EU officials to monitor Russian gas shipments through Ukraine. (2 d ago)

• Indian Outsourcing Firm Hit By $1B Fraud Indian Outsourcing Firm Hit By $1B Fraud
01/10/2009
Indian police detained the chief financial officer of embattled outsourcing giant Satyam Computers, the third executive to enter police custody in the wake of a massive fraud scandal. (2 d ago)

• Putting financial help into social work Putting financial help into social work
01/12/2009
Hundreds of thousands of people need help with food and rent and medical bills. Social workers often help provide resources. But a growing number want to tackle money issues as well. Reporter Cathy Duchamp looks into the idea of financial social work. (18 h ago)

• In hard times, auto show must go on In hard times, auto show must go on
01/12/2009
Despite the economy, automakers are coming forward with new products at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Host Tess Vigeland talks with The New York Times' Micheline Maynard about how environmental concerns are showing up in the cars on display. (18 h ago)

• AOL dials up a change in structure AOL dials up a change in structure
01/12/2009
AOL is adapting to a changing Internet by consolidating all of its Web 'zines under a single unit. The new strategy could lead to more advertising dollars. Janet Babin reports. (18 h ago)

• Did British banks skirt U.S. sanctions? Did British banks skirt U.S. sanctions?
01/12/2009
Several British banks are under investigation for helping customers in countries like Iran, Libya and Sudan get around U.S. trade sanctions. Marketplace's Europe Bureau Chief Stephen Beard explains to Tess Vigeland. (18 h ago)

• 'Bailout' to healthy banks questioned 'Bailout' to healthy banks questioned
01/12/2009
Many small, healthy banks got some of the first half of the federal government's $700 billion bailout. Critics want to know why they got the cash and what they're doing with it. Tom Banse reports. (18 h ago)

• Is bailout helping fund mega-merger? Is bailout helping fund mega-merger?
01/12/2009
Citigroup is expected to announce a merger of its famous Smith Barney brokerage with Morgan Stanley. But what's Morgan Stanley getting out of the deal? And where's it getting the money to buy Smith Barney? From taxpayers? Sarah Gardner reports. (18 h ago)

• Bills could let judges rework mortgages Bills could let judges rework mortgages
01/12/2009
Two bills making their way through the House and Senate would empower federal bankruptcy court judges to rework the terms of mortgages headed into foreclosure. Lenders have opposed such bills. But these two are gaining momentum. Steve Henn reports. (18 h ago)

• Obama, Bush seek more TARP funds Obama, Bush seek more TARP funds
01/12/2009
President-elect Obama has asked President Bush to request that Congress release the second half of the federal bailout money -- $350 billion. But to get some of it, banks will have to jump through a few more hoops. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports. (18 h ago)

• Video: How To Succeed: Starting your own... Video: How To Succeed: Starting your own business
01/11/2009
Left your job in the corporate world and want to start your own business? Get the "how to's" from Rich Sloan from Start-Up Nation. (MSNBC) (2 d ago)

• Video: Sales Tax Holiday proposal Video: Sales Tax Holiday proposal
01/11/2009
The National Retail Federation is asking President-Elect Barack Obama to include sales-tax holidays in future legislation. Rachelle Bernstein, VP of the Tax Counsel for the NRF gives us the details. (MSNBC) (2 d ago)

• Video: Dollars & Sense: Cutting costs Video: Dollars & Sense: Cutting costs
01/11/2009
Entrepreneurs are looking for ways to trim their budgets without sacrificing quality. To show us a leaner way to conduct business without harming a valuable selling point is Robert Martichenko, President of Leancor. (MSNBC) (2 d ago)

• Video: Business Answers: Culture clash Video: Business Answers: Culture clash
01/11/2009
Workplace Expert and author Larry Winget and Inc. Magazine Sr. Editor Rod Kurtz answer viewer questions about keeping your company's culture intact when experiencing growth and whether background checks are important when hiring new employees. (MSNBC) (2 d ago)

• Video: Design on a Dime Video: Design on a Dime
01/11/2009
One Chicago company used its customers' creativity as an innovative way to ensure sales. (MSNBC) (2 d ago)

• A treaty for the Arctic? A treaty for the Arctic?
01/13/2009
The Arctic has long been neglected in terms of international governance and management but that's likely to change for two reasons. First, there is the prospect of rising tensions with yet to be... (1 h ago)

• Hedging the bets Hedging the bets
01/13/2009
Hedge fund managers are now conceding that Bernard Madoff has probably achieved what the Securities and Exchange Commission's Christopher Cox could never do: usher in strict new regulations for... (1 h ago)

• Compliance challenges Compliance challenges
01/12/2009
What are the main challenges with compliance? With the worst financial crisis in more than a generation, it's a question that will weigh on the minds of corporations the world over.According to a... (1 d ago)

• Fixing the financial system Fixing the financial system
01/12/2009
With Barack Obama taking office next week, the ideas are pouring in on how to get the United States back in order again.One of the most interesting comes from Professor James C VanHorne at Stanford... (1 d ago)

• Bad times are boon for D.C.-area economy Bad times are boon for D.C.-area economy
01/11/2009
When the nation's in pain, Washington often gains. (1 d ago)

• In recession, many see lottery worth the... In recession, many see lottery worth the gamble
01/11/2009
In these tough times, many people appear willing to gamble a few precious dollars in the hope of winning instant deliverance from their economic woes. (1 d ago)

Business

Technology

Sports

Entertainment

This is abundant, look forward to looking into ea...
John gogs :: 12/28/2009

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?...
CocoChanels :: 07/03/2009

Hi, my friends!! I want to get program XRumer 5.0 ...
MagicOPromotion :: 05/03/2009

Where is this money coming from except from the mo...
carl allen :: 04/11/2009

out of control
staystrong :: 02/23/2009

The poor thing! Once so high and mighty and far ab...
leaf :: 02/22/2009

It always amazed me how eagerly people flocked to ...
David :: 12/23/2008

• Russia restarts pumping gas to Europe Russia restarts pumping gas to Europe
01/13/2009
Russia's Gazprom state gas monopoly on Tuesday resumed pumping supplies to Europe via Ukraine after a six-day cutoff, a company spokesman said. (7 h ago)

• More China layoffs mean bolder protests More China layoffs mean bolder protests
01/12/2009
For months, China's Communist Party had been able to deflect anger about factory closings toward the companies themselves. But that strategy is not working anymore. (8 h ago)

• $100 Million Hedge Fund to Liquidate $100 Million Hedge Fund to Liquidate
01/12/2009
According to a Reuters UK exclusive, hedge-fund firm GMB Capital Management, after loosing more than $50 million, is shutting down Boston-based GMB Low Volatility Fund LP. The fund had more than $100... (1 d ago)

• New York Times Shareholders in Trouble New York Times Shareholders in Trouble
01/12/2009
Some analysts are saying that the mighty New York Times might be headed down the same path as the bankrupt Tribune Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, according to one of my... (1 d ago)

• Anticipating Poor Earnings Reports, Inv... Anticipating Poor Earnings Reports, Investors Pull Back
01/12/2009
NEW YORK, Jan. 12 -- Wall Street extended last week's slide Monday as investors worried that the quarterly results companies begin releasing this week will signal the economy is in worse shape than feared. (11 h ago)

• Jobs, Corporate Reports Drag Down Stock... Jobs, Corporate Reports Drag Down Stocks
01/10/2009
U.S. stocks posted the biggest weekly retreat since November after companies cut profit forecasts and rising unemployment spurred concern the recession is deepening. (2 d ago)

• Mortgages: Will Loan Limits Rise? Mortgages: Will Loan Limits Rise?
01/10/2009
If you’re in the market for a new home, especially in an area where housing prices are typically high, it might make sense to wait a few weeks. (2 d ago)

• Mastering Your Money Mastering Your Money
01/12/2009
Adam Pash over at Get Rich Slowly (ht to Lifehacker) had some excellent suggestions earlier this month for ways to keep a grip on your money in 2009. For starters, you should track every penny you... (12 h ago)

• The Place of Loyalty in Your New Company... The Place of Loyalty in Your New Company's Values
01/12/2009
Jack and Suzy Welch over at BusinessWeek had a good article a few days ago on the role of loyalty in corporate culture - especially in hard times. I thought it was useful to consider in the context of... (15 h ago)

• The Effect of Satyam's Revelation The Effect of Satyam's Revelation
01/10/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5721341 As you've all seen by now, Satyam (one of the biggest Indian-based outsourcing companies) is in the midst of an earnings misstatement crisis. Like... (2 d ago)

• Surviving the Recession with Your Startu... Surviving the Recession with Your Startup
01/12/2009
Cassimir Medford had a good piece a few days ago on helping your startup survive the recession - especially if you're in the tech sector.We have entered the tech industry's second major... (15 h ago)

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