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Business News
for 01/21/2009

(last updated 7:30am EST 01/21/2009)

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• Bangladesh, India to sign deals on trade... Bangladesh, India to sign deals on trade, investment promotion
01/21/2009
Bangladesh and India are set to sign two agreements on bilateral trade and investment promotion and protection soon, the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka said on Wednesday. After meetings with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and State Minister Hassan Mahmud, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty told reporters here that the agreements are likely to be signed during Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Dhaka on Feb. 8-9. Pinak said the ... (3 h ago)

• Official: ASEAN's open market could halt... Official: ASEAN's open market could halt fallout of global recession
01/21/2009
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan has called on Southeast Asian states to open up their markets amid global financial crisis that has seen developed countries tilt toward protectionism, a newspaper reported here Wednesday. The secretary general told a forum on Tuesday that the deepening global recession had forced many nations to resort to protectionism as a short-term solution in a movement that was believed would bring further adverse impact to economic improvement. "ASEA ... (3 h ago)

• Premium income of Chinese insurance indu... Premium income of Chinese insurance industry up 39.1% in 2008
01/21/2009
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) Wednesday announced the industry reported a 39.1 percent growth in received premiums in 2008, the highest annual rise since 2002. The insurance industry in total received 978.41 billion yuan (143.88 billion U.S. dollars) in premiums, CIRC official Wu Xiaojun said. The insurance market had maintained stable and relatively rapid growth in the past year, as the industry strengthened supervision and risk control to cope with the impact ... (3 h ago)

• Gold price closes sharply higher in Hong... Gold price closes sharply higher in Hong Kong
01/21/2009
Gold price surged 233 HK dollars to close at 7,888 HK dollars per tael in Hong Kong on Wednesday, according to the Bank of China (Hong Kong). The price is equivalent to 854.25 U.S. dollars a troy ounce, up 25.26 U.S. dollars at Wednesday's exchange rate of one U.S. dollar against 7.751 HK dollars. &$ &$Source: Xinhua&$ &$ ... (3 h ago)

• Hong Kong stocks close lower following U... Hong Kong stocks close lower following U.S. stocks' plunge
01/21/2009
Wall Street's overnight plunge sent Hong Kong's benchmark index falling to its lowest level in nearly two months on Wednesday, with Chinese insurers leading the decline after China Life said its 2008 net profit may fall more than 50 percent. The Hang Seng Index fell 376.14 points, or 2.9 percent, to 12, 583.63, off an intraday low of 12,439.13. The index's last close below this level was Nov. 24's 12,457. Turnover rose to 47.67 billion HK dollars (6.15 billion U.S. dollars) from ... (3 h ago)

• Taiwan stocks close slightly higher Taiwan stocks close slightly higher
01/21/2009
Taiwan's share prices finished slightly higher Wednesday with the weighted index moving up 5.36 points to close at 4,247.97, according to media reports reaching here from Taipei. The local bourse opened lower at 4,164.68 and fluctuated between 4,265.33 and 4,164.19. A total of 2.58 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of 49.02 billion New Taiwan dollars (1.46 billion U.S. dollars). Four of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with textile stocks moving up t ... (3 h ago)

• China Enterprises Index closes sharply l... China Enterprises Index closes sharply lower
01/21/2009
Major indices tracking the performance of China-related companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange all closed sharply lower on Wednesday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange slumped 275.06 points, or 3.93 percent, to close at 6,730. 82. The H-shares index, initiated in August 1994 and readjusted on Jan. 5, 2009, tracks the overall performance of 43 Chinese mainland registered enterprises listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The ... (3 h ago)

• Intel to shut down factory in Philippine... Intel to shut down factory in Philippines
01/21/2009
Intel announced Wednesday a plan to shut down its more than two-decade-old factory in the Philippines, local media reported. The company made the announcement via email sent to its employees on Wednesday morning, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said in an on-line report. The company has not yet made any official statement. The announcement was half-expected as Intel announced its first batch of lay-offs in November last year, according to the report. The rest of the ... (4 h ago)

• Singapore manufacturing output falls 13.... Singapore manufacturing output falls 13.5% in December 2008
01/21/2009
Singapore's manufacturing output fell 13.5 percent in December 2008 over a year ago, government statistics showed on Wednesday. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, output dipped 11.0 percent in December 2008. Annual manufacturing output for the entire year of 2008 declined 4.1 percent compared with 2007, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said in a statement. The output of biomedical manufacturing cluster expanded 24.5 percent in December 2008, which was largely due ... (4 h ago)

• Tokyo stocks close down 2% Tokyo stocks close down 2%
01/21/2009
Tokyo stocks fell sharply Wednesday with the key Nikkei index closing below 8,000 line, as jittery about the global economic outlook overshadowed optimism over the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 164.15 points, or 2.04 percent, from Tuesday to 7,901.64, finishing below the 8,000 threshold for the first time since Dec. 5. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 17.88 points, or 2. ... (4 h ago)

• Hyundai Motor to cut 20% costs amid sale... Hyundai Motor to cut 20% costs amid sales economic slump
01/21/2009
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's No.1 automaker, announced on Wednesday that it will cut costs by 20 percent this year due to decrease of demand amid a global economic slowdown "At a time when the global business conditions are extremely unclear, Hyundai Motor is adopting the belt-tightening measure," a company official said. The company said that the executives' payment would be lowered 10 percent as part of the cost-cutting program, It added that the plan would also aff ... (4 h ago)

• Hong Kong stocks close 2.90% lower Hong Kong stocks close 2.90% lower
01/21/2009
Hong Kong stocks shed 376.14 points, or 2.90 percent, to close at 12,583.63 on Wednesday. Turnover rose to 47.67 billion HK dollars (6.15 billion U.S. dollars) from 39.58 billion HK dollars (5.11 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday. &$ &$Source: Xinhua&$ &$ ... (5 h ago)

• Chinese shares slightly down with holida... Chinese shares slightly down with holiday recess approaching
01/21/2009
Chinese share prices closed 0.46 percent lower on Wednesday as the Spring Festival holiday recess was approaching. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.46 percent to 1,985. The Shenzhen Component Index was down 0.71 percent to 6,970. Combined turnover rose to 106.39 billion yuan (15.2 billion U.S. dollars) from 85.15 billion yuan on the previous trading day. &$ &$Source:Xinhua&$ &$ ... (7 h ago)

• China's customs revenue faced with chall... China's customs revenue faced with challenges in 2009
01/21/2009
Due to gloomy import and export prospects, China's tariff revenue, which has shown many years of consecutive annual growth, is faced with serious challenges this year, according to the website of China's General Administration of Customs (CGAC). CGAC announced on January 14 that China's total tariff revenue for 2008 was 916.11 billion yuan, up by 157.64 billion yuan or 20.8 percent from 2007. However, tariff revenue experienced a drop in the fourth quarter of the last year due to the impact o ... (7 h ago)

• Fitch Ratings: S. Korean economy to cont... Fitch Ratings: S. Korean economy to contract 2.4% in 2009
01/21/2009
Fitch Ratings announced Wednesday that it expects the South Korean economy to shrink 2.4 percent in 2009, posting the first growth contraction in more than a decade amid ongoing global economic crisis. The estimate of Fitch is far lower than the Bank of Korea's 2-percent prediction and the objective of the South Korean government to attain 3 percent growth. Fitch projected South Korea will face greater economic downturn compared with other Asian countries. The agency proj ... (7 h ago)

• Singapore total trade expects double-dig... Singapore total trade expects double-digit decline in 2009
01/20/2009
Singapore's total trade in 2009 is projected to decline by between 17 and 19 percent, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore said on Wednesday. According to a statement of IE Singapore, the forecast is lower than the previous expect of a decline by between 6.0 and 8.0 percent. The trade promotion agency expected the key non-oil domestic exports (NODX) to decline by between 9.0 and 11.0 percent, down from the previous forecast of between minus 1.0 and plus 1.0 percent. IE Singapo ... (8 h ago)

• Hong Kong's total goods exports contract... Hong Kong's total goods exports contract 7.1% in November
01/20/2009
Hong Kong's volume of total goods exports plunged 7.1 percent in November from the same month in 2007 while the volume of imports sank 9.8 percent, revealed the Census and Statistics Department here Tuesday. The price of total goods exports grew 4.1 percent while the price of goods imports increased 3.1 percent, according to the department. The current global economic downturn has a severe impact on Hong Kong's exports due to its target markets' sharply contraction. Doubl ... (9 h ago)

• China Development Bank to lend 120 bln y... China Development Bank to lend 120 bln yuan for Qinghai infrastructure
01/20/2009
China Development Bank (CDB) signed an agreement with Qinghai Province to provide at least 120 billion yuan (17.65 billion U.S. dollars) in loans to the province before 2015. The funds will be used to support infrastructure projects such as highways, airports, railroads and power facilities, the bank said Monday. Loans will also go to industrial projects that draw on the province's local advantages, such as coal and salt lake, and programs involving living standards such as settl ... (9 h ago)

• Weak economy cuts China's Ansteel 2008 n... Weak economy cuts China's Ansteel 2008 net profit 55%
01/20/2009
China's Angang Steel Co. Ltd. (Ansteel) said Wednesday net profit fell 55 percent last year to an estimated 3.42 billion yuan (about 500 million U.S. dollars) Assteel prices plunged. Ansteel, one of the country's top three steel producers, issued the estimate in an unaudited statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where it is listed. The final figure indicates a loss of 4.83 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, as previous company data show net profits in the first three quarter ... (9 h ago)

• New Zealand wool sector complains about ... New Zealand wool sector complains about overseas buyers' default on payments
01/20/2009
The New Zealand wool industry says a slowing demand for wool-based products is causing buyers to back out of previously agreed contracts, Radio New Zealand reported on Wednesday. The international commodity price for wool has slumped, with New Zealand now exporting almost half the value of wool it did 10 years ago. New Zealand's Wool Exporters Council executive manager Nick Nicholson said falling wool prices and a sliding New Zealand dollar had prompted more buyers to break contr ... (9 h ago)

• Ex-K.G.B. Agent Buys a London Newspaper Ex-K.G.B. Agent Buys a London Newspaper
01/21/2009
The owners of The Evening Standard announced that it would be sold to a Russian tycoon, Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, a former K.G.B. agent. (4 h ago)

• Rob Roy Buckingham, 88, Retired Editor a... Rob Roy Buckingham, 88, Retired Editor at The Times, Dies
01/20/2009
Mr. Buckingham was a former editor-manager of The New York Times News Service, which sent roughly 20,000 words of synopses of Times articles to 50 newspapers a day. (8 h ago)

• Online Video of Inauguration Sets Record... Online Video of Inauguration Sets Records
01/20/2009
Overwhelming demand for live Internet video feeds of the inauguration ceremony caused some providers to experience network problems. (8 h ago)

• The TV Watch: A Day Best Captured by Ima... The TV Watch: A Day Best Captured by Image, Not Narrative
01/20/2009
For many a historic event, being there is the next best thing to watching it on television. The inauguration of Barack Obama was the exception. (8 h ago)

• Google Ends Sale of Ads in Papers After ... Google Ends Sale of Ads in Papers After 2 Years
01/20/2009
The company said it would end a program to sell ads in newspapers because the effort had not been as successful as expected. (9 h ago)

• Advertising: Companies Warm to Sponsorin... Advertising: Companies Warm to Sponsoring Mixed Martial Arts
01/20/2009
Once considered too risky, mixed martial arts is now seen by companies as a way to reach young male consumers. (9 h ago)

• Top Newsday Editors Return to Work After... Top Newsday Editors Return to Work After Dispute
01/20/2009
The return of the newspaper’s top editors ends a period of several days when the newspaper staff did not know whether the editors had been ousted by the paper’s owner. (9 h ago)

• Clear Channel Plans to Trim 1,850 Jobs Clear Channel Plans to Trim 1,850 Jobs
01/20/2009
Hit with the advertising downturn, the company said it was eliminating about 9 percent of its employees, effective immediately. (9 h ago)

• Warner Brothers to Cut 800 Jobs Warner Brothers to Cut 800 Jobs
01/20/2009
Most of the job cuts will come out of the studio’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., in a mix of layoffs, the elimination of open positions and outsourcing. (9 h ago)

• At Sundance, IFC Prepares to Go on a Sho... At Sundance, IFC Prepares to Go on a Shopping Spree
01/20/2009
IFC Entertainment will probably turn out to be one of the most aggressive buyers at the Sundance Film Festival when it comes to the number of films bought, if not the prices paid. (13 h ago)

• Editors and Publishers in a Revolving Do... Editors and Publishers in a Revolving Door
01/20/2009
The cost pressures prevailing in the newspaper business have led to rapid turnover at the top. (19 h ago)

• Endorsement at a Crime Scene: A Book Plu... Endorsement at a Crime Scene: A Book Plugged in ‘Scarpetta’
01/20/2009
Patricia Cornwell, the best-selling crime fiction writer, uses her latest Kay Scarpetta novel to promote “American Rust,” a first novel by Philipp Meyer. (20 h ago)

• Mexican Billionaire Invests in Times Com... Mexican Billionaire Invests in Times Company
01/20/2009
The New York Times Company approved a $250 million investment late Monday night by the Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim Helú. (21 h ago)

• Advertising: Is Star Power Enough to Sel... Advertising: Is Star Power Enough to Sell Beer in Hard Times? Two Brewers Hope So
01/20/2009
Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken are preparing efforts to reach beer drinkers who have been watching their spending since the recession began. (22 h ago)

• Fox News Primes Itself for a Shift Fox News Primes Itself for a Shift
01/20/2009
Far from being subdued by the shift in the country’s mood, the cable news network of choice during the George W. Bush years seems re-energized. (22 h ago)

• Hip-Hop Magazine No Longer Accepts Ads f... Hip-Hop Magazine No Longer Accepts Ads for Lewd Products
01/18/2009
The Source hopes to gain more than it loses by chasing mainstream advertisers that do not want their ads alongside the adults-only kind. (2 d ago)

• Amid Talk of a Departure, CNN Grooms a T... Amid Talk of a Departure, CNN Grooms a Team of Health Experts
01/18/2009
New talent will be handy if CNN’s star medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, becomes the surgeon general. (2 d ago)

• After Steve Jobs Acknowledges Ill Health... After Steve Jobs Acknowledges Ill Health, Doubts for Reporters
01/18/2009
For many months, the media munched on denials from Apple that Mr. Jobs was in poor health, despite visual evidence to the contrary. (2 d ago)

• And How Do I Know You? Oh, the List And How Do I Know You? Oh, the List
01/18/2009
Some parents are using their children’s class lists and school directories as marketing resources. (2 d ago)

• Can CNN, the Go-to Site, Get You to Stay... Can CNN, the Go-to Site, Get You to Stay?
01/18/2009
CNN.com ranks first in news and the site is trying to extend that reach through more experimental forays. (3 d ago)

• Stocks Slip in Europe and Asia Stocks Slip in Europe and Asia
01/21/2009
Stocks fell in Asia and Europe amid concern for the health of the financial system. (5 h ago)

• Edmund de Rothschild, Banker, Is Dead at... Edmund de Rothschild, Banker, Is Dead at 93
01/20/2009
Mr. de Rothschild led the development of a major hydroelectric project in Canada while helping his firm expand globally and opening it to people outside his family. (8 h ago)

• Russia Restores Gas to Ukraine Russia Restores Gas to Ukraine
01/20/2009
Russia and Ukraine said they would quickly resume shipments of fuel to freezing homes and idled factories. (8 h ago)

• As Expected, Canada Cuts Key Rate to 1% As Expected, Canada Cuts Key Rate to 1%
01/20/2009
The central bank predicted a period of falling prices as an economic recession takes hold and signaled that further cuts may be on the horizon. (9 h ago)

• Grandson of Toyota Founder Will Lead Grandson of Toyota Founder Will Lead
01/20/2009
Toyota Motor named Akio Toyoda, 52, to head the company in a widely expected management reshuffle. (9 h ago)

• Company Owned by Saudi Prince Posts Huge... Company Owned by Saudi Prince Posts Huge Loss
01/20/2009
Kingdom Holding Company, owned by the Saudi billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal, posted a $8.26 billion net loss in the fourth quarter, caused by huge drops in the value of some of its assets, like Citigroup. (9 h ago)

• Alliance With Fiat Gives Chrysler Anothe... Alliance With Fiat Gives Chrysler Another Partner and Lifeline
01/20/2009
Fiat said it would take a 35 percent stake in Chrysler, giving it the ability to market its cars through Chrysler’s dealership network. Chrysler will have access to Fiat’s technology. (10 h ago)

• A Fugitive Businessman Settles a Case A Fugitive Businessman Settles a Case
01/20/2009
A Czech businessman wanted in the U.S. on charges of bribing government officials in Azerbaijan, settled a lawsuit filed against him by a hedge fund, Omega Advisors. (14 h ago)

• A County in China Sees Its Fortunes in T... A County in China Sees Its Fortunes in Tea Leaves Until a Bubble Bursts
01/20/2009
After a boom and a bust in the market for Pu’er tea, a region in China’s southwest has learned a lesson about gullibility, greed and speculation. (1 d ago)

• Past Graft Is Tainting New India Past Graft Is Tainting New India
01/19/2009
The billion-dollar scandal at Satyam Computer Services has some Indians questioning the notion of a new India and raised fears that corruption remains endemic. (1 d ago)

• In Europe, New Efforts to Bolster Lendin... In Europe, New Efforts to Bolster Lending
01/19/2009
Governments in Europe and the U.S. are moving to assure that bailed-out banks lend more money to offset the recession that has engulfed both continents. (1 d ago)

• For Peruvians, Baskets for the U.S. Mark... For Peruvians, Baskets for the U.S. Market Bring a New Way of Life
01/19/2009
Women in a remote Amazon village weave baskets for export to the U.S., aiming for “productive conservation” that protects the environment and offers better lives for the weavers and their communities. (1 d ago)

• A Gloomy Forecast for Australian Economy... A Gloomy Forecast for Australian Economy in 2009
01/19/2009
Once considered a relatively save haven, Australia’s mining-led economy “will unwind scarily fast” in part because of slower-than-expected growth in China. (1 d ago)

• Carrying Several Passports? It’s Not Jus... Carrying Several Passports? It’s Not Just for Spies
01/19/2009
Dual nationals who have more than one passport say having a choice can be helpful when traveling. (1 d ago)

• Questions About Timing of Europe’s New M... Questions About Timing of Europe’s New Microsoft Inquiry
01/19/2009
Some legal experts say the European authorities may have a harder time winning the case because Microsoft may be losing market share. (1 d ago)

• Premium Air Travel Fell Sharply in Novem... Premium Air Travel Fell Sharply in November
01/19/2009
The number of passengers buying premium tickets dropped 11.5 percent in November; sales in economy class declined 6 percent. (1 d ago)

• Music Industry Imitates Digital Pirates ... Music Industry Imitates Digital Pirates to Turn a Profit
01/18/2009
Online and mobile services offering listeners unlimited “free” access to millions of songs are set to proliferate in the coming months, according to music industry executives. (2 d ago)

• Société Générale forecasts £1.8bn profit... Société Générale forecasts £1.8bn profit
01/21/2009
Société Générale, the French bank hit last year by rogue trading losses , today reassured volatile markets with a forecast of a €2bn (£1.8bn) net profit for 2008. The bank firmly distanced itself from its UK and German rivals, even though it admitted that its investment bank made losses on equity derivatives trading in the final quarter. The investment bank still came "close to" break-even for the last quarter, which was marked by panic on financial markets in the wake of the Lehman Brothers' collapse in mid-September. SocGen, which lost close to €5bn in late 2007 on the allegedly rogue activities of the trader Jérôme Kerviel, said in a surprise statement today that it broke even in the final quarter of 2008 on a net basis, and its Tier 1 capital ratio was around 8.5%. It said it would draw on the second tranche – worth €1.7bn – of the government's capital injection scheme to "pursue its mission of financing the French economy" in 2009. Christine Lagarde, finance minister, announced the second round of the bailout scheme, worth €10.5bn, last night. She said today she expected swift European commission approval. SocGen, which confirmed overnight that its chairman, Daniel Bouton, and chief executive, Frederic Oudea, would receive no bonus for last year as in 2007, said its loans to the "real economy" jumped 11.7% in 2008. It ascribed its relatively robust performance last year to the resilience of its retail banking division. Separately, Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche, admitted it had lost "low hundreds of millions" of euros at two of its US-based hedge funds. It said last week it had lost €4.8bn overall in the final quarter of 2008 when its losses were around €3.9bn, the first in 50 years. SocGen publishes its full-year results on 18 February, the day before France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, which has been damaged by the near-collapse of the Belgian bank, Fortis, that it plans to take over. Deutsche reports on 5 February. Banking France guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Pound falls further against dollar as ba... Pound falls further against dollar as bank shares suffer again
01/21/2009
Sterling extended its falls today and shares in Lloyds and Barclays were hammered again as the banking crisis continued to escalate. The pound slipped to $1.3716 in early trading on the currency exchanges, down almost 1.5 cents to a fresh seven-and-a-half-year low. Yesterday it dropped seven cents amid speculation that Britain could default on its debts. Against the euro, sterling fell to €1.0642. Banks were again under the cosh. Barclays's shares plunged by 33% to 48p, their lowest level since 1985. Lloyds Banking Group also continued to suffer, down another 12% to 29.3p, after a senior Labour MP called for it to be nationalised. This helped to wipe nearly 2% off the FTSE 100, which was down almost 80 points to 4,016 at midday. Concern has been steadily growing over the effectiveness and affordability of the government's efforts to fight the crisis , following the bail-out announced on Monday. Buying bad assets from the banks and insuring their loans will force the government to take on tens of billions of pounds of debt. The talk in the City yesterday was that the UK's credit rating could be downgraded, or that the IMF might have to step in – a suggestion denied by chancellor Alistair Darling. "People are getting even more concerned about the how the UK will fund its banking bail-out," said Richard Turner at IG Index. He has seen growing interest in short-selling the pound in recent days, as traders anticipate further falls against other currencies. "One of our customers reckons we're heading towards parity with the dollar," Turner added. Peter Rosenstreich, chief market analyst of ACM, warned that the outlook for sterling had gone "from bad to nightmarish". The scale of the UK recession was underlined today by the latest unemployment figures, showing that the number of jobless people has nearly reached 2 million . More than 130,000 workers lost their jobs between September and November. Firms are continuing to shed staff, with wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson axing 5,000 jobs worldwide to cut costs and IT firm TT Electronics cutting 700 jobs today . More than 1,000 UK redundancies were announced yesterday, with Burberry closing a fabric factory and meat-processing firm Vion chopping 820 jobs. Faced with the deepening downturn, the Bank of England is expected to start buying corporate bonds and other assets soon. With interest rates now at 1.5% and tipped to fall further, it is running short of ammunition to fight the lending crisis. Last night Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, paved the way for "quantitative easing" – radical steps to combat deflation and thaw credit markets – by promising to take "unconventional measures" to kick-start the economy. Deputy governor Paul Tucker warned MPs today that the downturn would continue for "quite a few more months" and said he supported the government's latest measures to help the banks. But he told the Treasury select committee: "The financial market developments over the last few days risk overshadowing Monday's package." The government currently owns 43% of Lloyds, newly merged with HBOS, and almost 70% of Royal Bank of Scotland, whose shares are currently worth just 11p. John McFall, the chairman of the Treasury select committee, has called for the complete nationalisation of both Lloyds and RBS . Writing in today's Financial Times, he said the time had come for "radical action". Yesterday, US banking shares plunged as the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst one-day drop since 1 December, slumping by 332 points to 7949. Currencies Banking Recession Lloyds Banking Group Barclays guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Britannia and Co-operative to create 'su... Britannia and Co-operative to create 'super-mutual'
01/21/2009
Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) and the Britannia building society are merging to create a new "super-mutual" that they hope will lure disenchanted customers away from Britain's troubled shareholder-owned banks. The deal, announced this morning, will create a new organisation offering banking, insurance and mortgage services. However, there will be no windfall payout for any existing customers. Neville Richardson, chief executive of Britannia, said that the deal – which is subject to a vote by his members – would create a powerful new player in the UK financial services scene. "Customers want something different to what the shareholder-owned banks are offering," he said. "We will be a fair and ethical business that can be trusted." According to Richardson, the new organisation would have a bigger mortgage business than HSBC and a bigger savings business than Royal Bank of Scotland. CFS chief executive David Anderson argued that many people may be looking to change their bank after seeing the damage caused by the credit crunch. "People have been crying out for a new way of doing business with a financial organisation of substance that truly has their interests at heart. This merger will create that organisation and we'd hope to attract many thousands of new customers as a result," he said. "The time for organisations that are trusted has arrived." Combining Britannia and CFS will create a business with £70bn of assets, nine million customers, 12,000 employees and 300 branches. There is a commitment to making no compulsory redundancies in the branch network, but Richardson said that some head office positions were likely to go – he hoped through natural wastage – as part of a plan to cut annual costs by £60m within three years. Rob MacGregor of the Unite union said the deal appeared to be "a good news story amid all the gloom in finance". The new company will keep trading under its existing brands, but will be part of the Co-operative Group. Richardson will be chief executive of the enlarged organisation, while Anderson will step down. Banking Banks and building societies guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• Toymaker Character warns of half year lo... Toymaker Character warns of half year loss
01/21/2009
Shares in Character Group have slumped 11% after the toy group warned Christmas sales were down 35%, partly due to the demise of one of its biggest UK customers, Woolworths. The company, down 5p to 40p, warned it was likely to make a loss in the first half, and said it was difficult to forecast the outcome for the next few months, given the current banking turmoil and consumer downturn. Character said it had managed to reduce its exposure to Woolworths from £5m in September to £1m by the time the stores closed over Christmas. The company - which has suffered a series of problems including a profit warning in November and the recall of its Bindeez range of bead toys a year or so ago - said it was cash positive and had no borrowings. It has high hopes for a new range of military action figures, designed with advice from the Army and Ministry of Defence, and Doctor Who toys based on the 2010 television series. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• Unemployment leaps closer to 2 million Unemployment leaps closer to 2 million
01/21/2009
Unemployment leapt closer to the 2 million level in the three months to November as 131,000 people lost their jobs, pushing the jobless total to its highest since September 1997. The rise put joblessness up to 1.923 million, and the rate up to 6.1% – the highest since 1999. The narrower claimant count measure, which only counts those drawing benefit, jumped by 78,000 in December alone, marking the 11th consecutive monthly rise in the claimant count and taking the total to 1.157 million. The previous month's total was revised up by 8,000 to show a rise of 83,000. Unemployment has been rising strongly for the best part of a year and is expected by many economists to hit 3 million by 2010 as the recession takes its toll on the jobs market. "The bad news on the labour market is absolutely relentless now as the deepening recession, slumping business confidence and persistent very tight credit conditions exact a heavy toll. Reports of companies laying off workers are becoming more and more prevalent, while an increasing number of companies are folding," said Howard Archer, economist at Global Insight. The figures also showed that the Bank of England's fear last summer that the surge in oil prices would push up wage growth was wide of the mark. Earnings growth in the three months to November slowed to 3.1%, with November alone showing a rise of just 2.7%. The Bank also released a survey of its business agents around the country who reported that the "broad picture remained one of shrinking demand for labour" and that "many contacts had sought to reduce head count". Separate figures also revealed the heavy toll that recession and the bank bail-outs are taking on the public finances. The government ran a current budget deficit of £11.4bn in December, compared with just £4bn for the same month in 2007. The Office for National Statistics calculates that "financial sector interventions" – the rescue packages for Britain's banks – had already cost the Treasury £22bn by the end of 2008. Even without the bail-outs, net government debt has burst through Gordon Brown's "sustainable" ceiling of 40%, breaking one of the cherished fiscal rules that once guided Labour's tax and spending policies. RBS weighs on the public finances The figures also showed a record public sector net cash requirement of £44.2bn last month, swollen by £20bn of costs related to the recapitalisation of Royal Bank of Scotland. The government's preferred measure – public sector net borrowing – came in at £14.9bn - just slightly down from November's record high figure. Separately, the Bank of England said the monetary policy committee voted 8-1 for a half cut point to interest rates to leave them standing at a record low of 1.5% earlier this month, with arch-dove David Blanchflower calling for a full-point cut. Minutes from the MPC's meeting on 7 and 8 January, which were published today, revealed that the policymakers considered keeping rates on hold at 2% in order to give them time to assess the outlook during their February forecasting round. However, they eventually decided against this as they did not want to surprise the market or undermine confidence. "Despite the impairment in the monetary transmission mechanism associated with dysfunctional credit markets, a cut of 50 basis points could still have a significant effect on the income of many businesses and households," the MPC argued. They said the fall in the pound would help support growth and the rebalancing of the economy. But they also noted that if there were indications – perhaps from lower gilt prices – that a weakening exchange rate reflected a loss of credibility in UK policy, then that would be bad news for the medium-term outlook. "However, to the extent that the falls in the exchange rate were a response to real economic developments, then they should act as a shock-absorber, increasing growth by boosting the relative demand for UK output," the MPC said. Jonathan Loynes, UK economist at Capital Economics, said that the minutes "do nothing to undermine the view that further significant monetary policy action is ahead, both in the form of lower interest rates and quantitative easing. "With the news on the economy still deteriorating dramatically and price pressures fading fast, it seems very unlikely that the MPC's job is done," he added. "Overall, then, we continue to expect another 50-point cut in rates in February, with rates then falling to – or very close to – zero in Q2. After that: quantitative easing, here we come!" Unemployment and employment data Recession Economics Redundancy Economic policy Government Borrowing Interest rates Banking 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)

• Upmarket restaurant chain Fishworks goes... Upmarket restaurant chain Fishworks goes into administration
01/21/2009
Upmarket restaurant chain Fishworks has fallen into administration after attempts to raise fresh capital floundered. The company, which has been described as the UK's poshest fish-and-chip chain, called in PricewaterhouseCoopers this morning, putting the future of its 10 branches and 220 staff in doubt. Shares in the company, which made an underlying loss of £2m last year, had been suspended two weeks ago, when it blamed "challenging market conditions" for putting its financial position in doubt. It is understood that a number of bids for some or all of the company are already under consideration, including one from its own management team. Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson has also been reportedly considering a second rescue bid, having bought a £1.5m stake in 2007. A company spokesman said that Fishworks's management had spent the last year trying to raise fresh capital. However, these efforts have been scuppered by the credit crunch. Fishworks was founded 15 years ago by former fishmonger Mitch Tonks. It also runs a cookery school and a home delivery service, as well as its restaurants, which are continuing to trade. Recession 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)

• Commercial property faces 'most challeng... Commercial property faces 'most challenging time in generations'
01/20/2009
Land Securities warned yesterday it would need to sell several properties to shore up its balance sheet following the unprecedented slump in commercial property values at the end of last year. The developer, the UK's biggest, said it would also need to maximise income from its multibillion-pound portfolio of shops and offices around the country. In a statement to investors, the firm's chief executive, Peter Salway, said he had brought forward plans to sell an unspecified number of assets after selling £200m of investment property in the final quarter of last year at 7.8% below book value. "Commercial property has gone through an unprecedented period of readjustment," he said. "The speed of valuation decline allied to rising insolvency rates mean the sector is facing one of the most challenging periods in generations." Land Securities was praised last year, along with rival British Land, for selling commercial property in advance of the credit crunch. Analysts applauded the firms for their foresight and ability to weather much of the financial storm despite Land Securities registering a £889m pre-tax loss for 2007, compared with a £1.98bn profit in 2006. But the commercial property asset bubble has proved bigger than many analysts predicted and the subsequent fall was steeper and more severe. Prices fell 5.8% in December alone, the fastest monthly rate on record. According to the Investment Property Databank, average commercial property values slumped 27% last year. Land Securities said the pace of price decline would slow this quarter, though it failed to give an update on the quarterly value of its London office and UK retail property assets. Salway said: "We're not calling the bottom. It's a much narrower statement that we're making," he said. The focus of the company this year is expected to be maintaining rents when many of its tenants are hard-pressed retailers and other commercial firms starved of credit. Land Securities is often a substantial creditor when one of its tenants goes bust and analysts said it can expect to write off substantial debts this year. Property investor Matthew Oakeshott said falling rents and bankruptcies were the big fear in the commercial property industry. Retailers were using fast-track, pre-pack administrations to escape their rent debts, he said. Oakeshott, who is also a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: "Retailers are playing fast and loose with their tenancies and that poses a real threat to commercial property investors. Pension funds and other investors that invest in commercial property will be the prime losers." Office space prices in the West End of London have also fallen quickly in recent months on the back of the credit crunch and the crisis facing the finance industry. Salway said the sale of Land Securities' Trillium outsourcing unit for £750m would be used to bring down debts. Land Securities guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• French government to pump €6bn into aili... French government to pump €6bn into ailing car industry
01/20/2009
The French government yesterday offered the country's carmakers up to €6bn (£5.5bn) in aid after Carlos Ghosn, Renault's chief executive, warned that without rapid state intervention, Europe's entire auto industry faced collapse. Ghosn, president of the pan-European carmakers' body ACEA, pointed to a "brutal" collapse in sales and squeeze on credit. He said: "The industry faces a crisis that is brutal, global and exceptionally large. We can even talk of the Great Depression of 1929." ACEA, demanding €40bn in aid, fears sales could collapse by up to 20%, with as many as 200,000 jobs at risk. It says EU cash injections so far are paltry compared with the $13bn (£9bn) given to US rivals. Ghosn's comments, at a Paris summit with French ministers, came as the Sarkozy government said it would provide between €5bn and 6bn - provided companies preserved jobs, plants and component suppliers. François Fillon, France's prime minister, said: "There can be no question of the state coming to the aid of a manufacturer which would decide to close, purely and simply, one or more production sites in France. They can't say: We take [the cash] and jump ship elsewhere." Ministers indicated they could force the car companies to suspend dividend payments in return for the aid, which will have to be cleared by the European commission's competition authorities. Paris is already in extensive talks with Brussels about its package, details of which are due in the next few days. Meanwhile, BMW, the German premium car group, said it would introduce short-time working for 26,000 staff at four German plants in February and March, cutting production volumes by 38,000 cars. Overseas plants, including in Britain, are unaffected, though the UK plants have been told they will take fixed holidays this year - a week in February and two weeks in August. Volkswagen said it would put about two-thirds of its employees in Germany - 60,000 workers - on shorter hours for five days in the last week of February. BMW also confirmed that it was considering tapping Berlin's €500bn bank liquidity package for its own finance and leasing arm. France has already offered €1bn to the finance arms of both Renault and Peugeot Citroën, the country's two biggest car firms, while UK-based firms are demanding similar treatment. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat's chief executive, has already forecast there will be only half a dozen global auto manufacturers left within five years, while the French government is talking of six to eight. The Peugeot chief, Christian Streiff, said the risk of a big European firm going bust was "close to zero", but others could disappear or be taken over. Günter Verheugen, EU industry commissioner, said at the talks that some European plants would close as the industry consolidated and cut 20% overcapacity. Western European firms have switched production to eastern Europe where Ghosn said costs per car were €1,400, or up to 12% lower. Ghosn's intervention is the most dramatic plea from Europe's auto industry for aid to match that given to General Motors and Chrysler, with Ford waiting in the wings as President Obama enters the White House. In the UK, Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said the union would fight any further redundancies at Jaguar Land Rover, amid speculation that another 1,300 jobs could be at risk. Jaguar Land Rover said that, together with the trade unions, it was looking at options other than redundancies to cut its cost base. Automotive industry Europe France guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Union attacks plans to part-privatise Ro... Union attacks plans to part-privatise Royal Mail
01/20/2009
Controversial plans for the partial privatisation of Royal Mail risk "nationalising its debt and privatising its profits," MPs were told yesterday. The business secretary, Lord Mandelson, has already given his backing to the recommendations of an independent review into postal services that the government take responsibility for the group's ballooning pension fund deficit and its need to recruit a strategic partner. But Billy Hayes, general secretary of the communication workers union, the CWU, attacked Mandelson's support for bringing in an outside minority shareholder. The government would in effect be removing the pension fund liabilities from Royal Mail's balance sheet, improving the financial health of the company and making it more attractive to an outside investor, Hayes told the cross-party business and enterprise committee of MPs. "Why should we nationalise the debt and privatise the profits?" Hayes said. So far one company, the Dutch mail group TNT, has expressed interest in taking a minority stake, though other companies, including the private equity firm CVC, have also been mentioned. Hayes insisted the government should stick to its manifesto promise of keeping Royal Mail within public ownership. He said the chairman of the review, Richard Hooper, had been looking backwards instead of forwards. "I thought [Hooper] was going to be the new Doctor Who, going back in time to 1998." The union's deputy general secretary, Billy Ward, insisted Royal Mail could be modernised within the public sector and with the current management but insisted the management needed "to commit themselves to the future of the industry". Earlier Hooper had told the committee that his review had put forward three key recommendations: the introduction of a strategic partner with management experience of turning round a postal network; measures to address the pension fund deficit, and transferring regulation from the existing industry watchdog, Postcomm, to Ofcom. "We asked the government not to pick and mix. This was not a la carte but a three-course meal." Coping with the pension fund deficit was already costing £270m a year and Royal Mail would not be able to attract a strategic partner without government measures over the deficit. Hooper, whose report said the Post Office should stay entirely in public ownership, declined to be drawn on how large a stake an outside shareholder should be allowed to take in the rest of the business or how much money was needed for modernisation. It was not for him to tie the government's hands in negotiations over how big a stake to permit, he said. Hooper came under fire from Lindsay Hoyle, Labour MP for Chorley, who said: "I think you are driven by dogma. You don't like Royal Mail - you want to see it broken up." Trade unions Postal service guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Standard Life cash fund was invested in ... Standard Life cash fund was invested in toxic mortgages
01/20/2009
Nearly 100,000 Standard Life investors have been told that a cash fund which many regarded as an ultra-safe alternative to the stockmarket was in reality invested in toxic mortgage debt that has plummeted in value. The £2.4bn Standard Life Pension Sterling fund was the company's sole offering to pension investors who wanted to shelter their savings from market turmoil. But the company is writing to the fund's 97,000 investors warning them their average £19,100 deposit will be cut to £18,200 as a result of losses on mortgage-backed securities held in the fund. The news will dismay many investors who thought they were protected from stockmarket falls. Many were close to retirement and had parked their pension savings into the cash fund before turning it into an annuity. Savers at other pension companies will also be shocked to discover that what they thought were deposit-style funds have fallen in value. Worst hit is Threadneedle's £450m money market fund, which has fallen 16.6% over the past year. Threadneedle blames the unprecedented fall on the fund's holdings of floating rate notes (FRNs) which have fallen in value, with many unable to be converted into cash. Prudential's Cash Haven fund has fallen by 0.3% over the year. It too was invested in FRNs. Standard Life's Pension Sterling fund was 44% invested in asset-backed securities, considered at the time of purchase to be a triple-A rated alternative to cash. Only 12% is in cash itself. The fund's biggest single investment is Lanark Master Issuer, a £3bn pool of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank mortgages, including buy-to-let loans. Its second-largest holding is Brunel RMS, a pool of "non-conforming" mortgages understood to be 28% "self-cert" and 44% buy-to-let loans, rated Aaa at issue. A Standard Life spokesman said: "We have been very clear that the fund was not just invested in deposits but also in floating rate notes and asset-backed securities. "We have had problems valuing the mortgage-backed securities in the fund. It came to light at the end of December that we couldn't put a value on them. We put that right on 14 January , which led to the fall in the fund's value." He said that Standard Life may be forced to make further cuts to the fund's value if market turmoil persists. "It is impossible to predict with certainty when markets will improve and there may be a possibility of further deterioration." Standard Life said it does not believe there is a case for compensation. But it promised to reimburse some savers who put in money between 23 December 2008 and 13 January 2009. Financial advisers said they were outraged at the cut in values. Tom McPhail, pension specialist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "A lot of money market funds have tried to earn that little bit extra by pushing the boat out into asset-backed securities. But they just got the balance wrong. It is inexcusable. "It's true that Standard Life did not say it was guaranteed. But on the other hand, they were marketing it as a secure, safe- haven fund for savers who were worried about equity markets." Standard Life has since opened a new cash fund for investors nervous about markets. The Managed Cash Fund is designed to produce lower levels of volatility and investment returns, before charges, that are closely aligned to deposit rates. Pension risks Cash funds are used as safe haven vehicles, usually by pension savers. Many "park" their pension savings in a cash fund just before retirement. There are two types - deposit-style funds, which are virtually risk free, and funds which try to enhance returns using floating rate notes and asset-backed securities. Until now, that strategy worked, but while there is no market in such securities, it's difficult to put a value on such funds. Few workers in company pension schemes will know if their "cash" option is risky. They can check on websites such as trustnet.co.uk for performance figures. Better still, trustees of company schemes should ensure their cash option is safe. Investment funds Standard Life Pensions Personal pensions Prudential Investments guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Bank of England governor Mervyn King pav... Bank of England governor Mervyn King paves way for quantitative easing
01/20/2009
Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, has tonight cleared the way for "quantitative easing" – radical measures to combat deflation and unblock frozen credit markets – by promising to start buying billions of dollars of corporate bonds and other assets within "weeks, not months". The move is intended to pump cash into the banking system and restart the flow of lending to families and businesses. After sterling took a fresh battering on the foreign exchange markets from investors anxious about the escalating cost of the government's bank bailouts, King used a speech to a CBI dinner in Nottingham to promise that the Bank's monetary policy committee is ready to take "unconventional measures" to kick-start the economy once its standard weapon of interest rate cuts is exhausted. King said the bankruptcy of Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers in September had plunged the world into "an unprecedented and synchronised downturn in business and consumer confidence," and the UK was now in the grip of "a pronounced contraction in spending and output." With interest rates already slashed to 1.5%, he conceded for the first time that a more radical approach might now be necessary. "It is sensible for the MPC to prepare for the possibility – and I stress that we are not there yet – that it may need to move beyond the conventional instrument of Bank rate and consider a range of unconventional measures," he said. These would "take the form of purchases by the Bank of England of a range of financial assets in order to expand the amount of reserves held by commercial banks and to increase the availability of credit to companies," he said. Echoing US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke – who used a speech in London last week to introduce the term "credit easing" as a description of his own approach – King said that, as well as buying government bonds to recharge banks' balance sheets with cash, the Bank was also urgently drawing up plans to buy particular types of assets whose markets were malfunctioning. "It will be a matter of weeks, not days, before a programme of purchases can begin, but it will be weeks, not months," he said. The Fed has already plunged into several markets in an effort to keep credit flowing – buying mortgage-backed assets issued by government-backed mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as "commercial paper", the debt issued by many companies to fund day-to-day operations. As well as setting out the Bank's possible next moves, the governor threw his weight behind Chancellor Alistair Darling's latest rescue package for the financial sector, announced on Monday, describing the measures as being "designed to protect the economy from the banks". Eventually, the governor said, the costly taxpayer bailouts for the financial system would start to take effect, and help the economy to recover. "The banking system is receiving massive support to cope with the need to restructure its balance sheet. That will take time, but time is a great healer, even of banks." Part of Darling's package was a £50bn fund for the Bank of England to buy corporate bonds, widely seen by the markets as the first step towards quantitative easing – but King's more detailed proposals suggest the Bank is ready to go much further. The governor also defended this handling of the economy before and since the onset of the credit crunch, stressing that the Bank had repeatedly warned of the risks of an increasingly complex financial system in the years before the crash, and pointing out that last summer, before the Lehman collapse, inflation was still rising. After Lehman's bankruptcy, however, he said, "our business contacts at home and abroad, and my international counterparts, started to report that orders and confidence had, in the same telling phrase, 'fallen off a cliff'." Some critics, including independent MPC member Professor David Blanchflower, argue that interest rates should have been cut earlier and faster last summer as the deteriorating state of the labour market began to send worrying signals about the wider economy. Credit crunch Bank of England Recession Global recession Economics guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (19 h ago)

• JJB boss Chris Ronnie suspended amid sta... JJB boss Chris Ronnie suspended amid stake transfer investigation
01/20/2009
The chief executive of JJB was suspended yesterday as the beleaguered sports retailer investigated how his stake in the business had been seized by the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing. Chris Ronnie was sent home after a board meeting at the Wigan-based store group, which warned last week that it would slump up to £10m into the red this year as it struggles with dismal sales, plunging profits and a pile of debt. A company spokesman refused to comment on the terms of his suspension but a source close to JJB indicated it was the result of a disagreement between Ronnie and the board over the terms of his exit from the company. The dispute is in the hands of lawyers and the suspension is not expected to last more than a few days. Ronnie acquired a 27% stake in JJB in 2007 for £190m from the JJB founder, Dave Whelan. The stake was owned 50:50 with Icelandic investment group Exista. Ronnie became chief executive shortly after the shares were acquired. However, last week it emerged the stake had now been split into three tranches. Two of them are now under the control of firms of administrators running parts of the nationalised Icelandic bank. The whereabouts of the third trancheis unknown. Ronnie's fellow directors, including new the chairman Sir David Jones, were unaware of the change of ownership until informed by the administrators. It is understood Ronnie and Exista financed the share purchase with a loan from Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander, the UK arm of the Icelandic bank. It now seems that at some point the terms of the loan were breached and the shares passed to KSF. Ronnie has told the board that he "is not aware of the date or place of the relevant transaction or of the price per share in respect of the transaction". JJB's legal advisers, Herbert Smith, are now investigating the share transfer. The sports chain, which has 400 outlets, is in dire financial straits. It has debts of £75m to Barclays, HBOS and Kaupthing. Last autumn, auditors issued a "going concern" warning about the viability of the group, and analysts expect it to make a loss for the next two years. Just five years ago it was turning in annual profits of £100m. On Monday, JJB said its had agreed fees of £8.3m with its lenders to set up a temporary standstill deal on repayments and higher interest rates on its loans. It has key payments due to its lenders in February and April. The shares closed up 1.44p at 7.81p – valuing the business at some £18m, equal to less than a fortnight's sales. JJB Sports guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (20 h ago)

• 99p pint draws drinkers to Wetherspoon 99p pint draws drinkers to Wetherspoon
01/20/2009
JD Wetherspoon today reported a surge in sales after the pub chain slashed the price of a pint of beer to 99p. The company, which has more than 700 pubs, said like-for-like sales in the last two weeks of trading were showing increases of 6.4%, compared with a rise of 2.6% across the first 12 weeks of its second-quarter financial period. Wetherspoon announced this month that it was turning the clock back to 1989, the last time draught beer was available for less than £1. The offer, which includes Greene King IPA and San Miguel lager, has been criticised in some quarters amid fears it could fuel irresponsible drinking and force many traditional pubs to close. Wetherspoon said it was trying to help those caught in the economic slump. Chairman Tim Martin said: "We are probably the biggest pubs company for students and pensioners, and those two groups in particular have been very keen. "People also know that they can buy a lot cheaper in Calais or in supermarkets, so it's a question of whether they come to the pub or not." Despite the recent strong trading, Wetherspoon dealt a blow to shareholders today by revealing that it intended to cancel future dividend payments. With a $140m (£95.3m) debt facility due for renewal in September, Wetherspoon said it would also reduce capital expenditure on new openings. It said: "In normal conditions, a refinancing of the private placement on attractive terms could be relied upon, given our financial performance. "However, in the present economic climate, a refinancing cannot be taken for granted and the board therefore feels that the measures described are prudent in the circumstances." JD Wetherspoon Food & drink industry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Scandal as $350m Florida hedge fund mana... Scandal as $350m Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel goes missing
01/19/2009
The disappearance of a Florida hedge fund manager has raised the possibility of another Madoff-style scandal in the United States, with fears mounting that an estimated $350m (£242m) of investments may have evaporated. Police in Sarasota, a city of 52,000 people south of Tampa, have called in the FBI to help in the hunt for Arthur Nadel, president of Scoop Management, who was last seen by his wife when he left home for work on Wednesday. Nadel's green Subaru car was found at Sarasota's airport on Thursday. The 76-year-old called his stepson that day to try to retrieve a letter interpreted by family members as a possible suicide note. Associates at Nadel's firm have told clients that the company's funds appear to be empty. In a letter to investors, Nadel's business partner, Neil Moody, said the funds "may have virtually no remaining value". The Securities and Exchange Commission, the US financial watchdog, has begun an investigation. Moody said Scoop was facing hefty redemption calls from customers who wanted to take out their money. The case has drawn comparisons with the scandal surrounding the Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, who is accused of hiding losses of $50bn. Scoop's clients include an estimated 300 local residents and non-profit organisations. The local YMCA Foundation had $1.1m invested, originally a gift from Nadel's business partner, given on condition it was managed by the firm. The foundation's president, Karin Gustafson, told the Guardian: "This is a very puzzled community. We're very anxious to get some answers." She said her organisation faced the loss of 13% of its total endowment: "We're assessing the situation. We're sitting back here: we're not rushing to judgment, we're waiting for the facts to unfold." Run out of a store front with a green awning on Sarasota's high street, Scoop Management's six funds have grown from $10m to what clients were told was $350m over the course of a decade, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune newspaper. A former New York jazz pianist, Nadel and his wife, Peg, have been fixtures on Sarasota local social scene and prominent supporters of arts causes including the city's ballet. Scoop began as a club for day traders called "the inside Scoop" before evolving into a hedge fund. In claims which echo the much larger Madoff scandal, Nadel reportedly provided statements to customers showing typical returns of 8% to 12% annually. He claimed to be achieving such success through a complex technique of hedging purchases of stock with "short" positions to minimise the risk of falls in price. In a statement over the weekend, Nadel's family acknowledged all was not as it seemed: "The employees of Scoop Management, which include Peg Nadel, the wife of Arthur Nadel, have just learned that they, along with many others who have invested money with Art, have been victimised by his unauthorised actions." Upheaval in the financial markets has sparked a series of scandals concerning renegade financiers. An Indiana investment adviser, Marcus Schrenker, was arrested last week after faking his own suicide by parachuting out of a private plane. He faced legal claims over millions of dollar of allegedly misappropriated funds. The once buoyant hedge fund industry has been left in tatters by unprecedented volatility. According to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research, 693 funds were liquidated in the first nine months of 2008, a 70% increase on the previous year. In Sarasota, the authorities said at least five people had filed complaints against Nadel over missing funds. Police lieutenant Stanley Beishline told Bloomberg News he believed Nadel was alive: "I think he is, at least until a couple of investors find him." United States Bernard Madoff guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Consumers still splurging on furry frien... Consumers still splurging on furry friends
01/19/2009
Shoppers may be holding back spending on themselves as the economy goes into recession but they are apparently still willing to splurge on their furry friends. The nation's largest retailer of pet products, Pets at Home, said today that it experienced strong sales growth over Christmas, at a time when other retailers were struggling. It sold more than a quarter of a million Christmas-themed cat and dog toys over the festive season and customers bought over 300,000 special Christmas stockings for their favourite animals. Overall the company, acquired by buy-out group Bridgepoint for £230m in 2004, said like-for-like sales were up 10.4% over the six weeks to January 8. As a result, for the financial year to date – the 41 weeks from March 28 – like-for-like sales are up 7.2% and total sales are up 13.4%. "While the economic environment is challenging for all retailers, the continued strengthening of our offer coupled with our store-opening programme and the exceptional talent and dedication of our people gives us confidence for the future," said Pets at Home's chief executive, Matt Davies. The cold winter has also seen strong sales of the company's wildlife range as homeowners worried about their local wildlife start stocking up their bird tables. Sales of foods rich in fat and protein that help birds combat the freezing temperatures have been particularly strong. Pets at Home Retail industry Private equity Recession Animals guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Stimulus: Hard hats say 'bring it on' Stimulus: Hard hats say 'bring it on'
01/21/2009
The construction industry, a workforce battered by layoffs and a 15.3 percent unemployment rate, is ready to get to work — even if it means moving or retraining. (3 h ago)

• Geithner faces tough questions Geithner faces tough questions
01/21/2009
President Barack Obama's choice of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury secretary has to explain how he missed paying $34,000 in payroll taxes earlier in the decade. (3 h ago)

• World markets fall amid bank jitters World markets fall amid bank jitters
01/21/2009
World stock markets dropped Wednesday, with Japan’s benchmark losing 2 percent, amid concern that rising bank losses will cripple the world’s economy. (3 h ago)

• Oil lower amid grim economic news Oil lower amid grim economic news
01/21/2009
Oil prices hovered below $41 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as dismal economic news pointed to deteriorating crude demand. (3 h ago)

• Economists see deeper housing woes in 20... Economists see deeper housing woes in 2009
01/20/2009
A panel of housing experts on Tuesday projected that builders' woes will deepen this year, pushing the prospect of a recovery into 2010 at the earliest. (15 h ago)

• Automakers aim for green nirvana Automakers aim for green nirvana
01/20/2009
Automakers at this year’s Detroit auto show are showing off green cars that promise luxury without all the usual performance and styling compromises. By Dan Carney. (15 h ago)

• Credit card rewards programs getting sti... Credit card rewards programs getting stingier
01/20/2009
Just as interest in cashing in points for the latest iPod model or airline tickets is likely to ratchet up, the banks that issue cards are making it harder to redeem those points. (16 h ago)

• Downturn has pasta sales heating up Downturn has pasta sales heating up
01/20/2009
As struggling consumers turn to casseroles, soup, pasta salad and good old macaroni and cheese to stretch their food dollars, the nation's pasta makers are returning to a rolling boil. (16 h ago)

• FCC fines cable operators over channel c... FCC fines cable operators over channel changes
01/20/2009
The Federal Communications Commission is fining nine cable TV operators for attempting to thwart its investigation of a practice in which analog channels were transferred to a more expensive digital tier, leaving some customers without access. (17 h ago)

• Madoff investors will see little, if any... Madoff investors will see little, if any, money
01/20/2009
Investing a dollar and getting 10 cents back in return is a bad deal even in today's market. But recovering 10 cents on the dollar might be optimistic for investors who gave their cash to the Ponzi scheme that Bernard Madoff ran. (18 h ago)

• Are interest rates still too high? Are interest rates still too high?
01/20/2009
Can an interest rate of zero be too high? Unfortunately, yes, a new analysis by Goldman Sachs concludes. (21 h ago)

• Obama already getting down to business Obama already getting down to business
01/20/2009
Barack Obama's audacious agenda of stimulus, reform and regulation will shake up every business and industry. (23 h ago)

• Fiat taking large stake in Chrysler Fiat taking large stake in Chrysler
01/20/2009
Fiat and Chrysler said they would form a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35-percent stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker and could bring it full control. (23 h ago)

• NEWSSTAND HOLDUP NEWSSTAND HOLDUP
01/21/2009
FOR the nation's magazines, seven is proving to be an unlucky number. Ron Burkle's magazine distribution company Source Interlink Cos. is joining Anderson News in demanding publishers pay an additional 7 cents for each copy of a magazine that it... (5 h ago)

• MCGRAW-HILL'S DELUXE LOUNGE MCGRAW-HILL'S DELUXE LOUNGE
01/21/2009
A new upscale cocktail lounge expects to take the concept to the next level. Dubbed for its location on the W. 48th Street side of the McGraw Hill Building at 1221 Sixth Ave., Forty Eight is owned by Dave Nader and Brian Packin. Packin was with... (7 h ago)

• GOOGLE SPIKES PRINT ADS PROGRAM GOOGLE SPIKES PRINT ADS PROGRAM
01/21/2009
Google is getting out of the newspaper ad business, ending one of its high-profile efforts to expand beyond paid search. The Internet giant is canceling the program on Feb. 28 after the service generated little or no revenue. "While we hoped... (7 h ago)

• UK EYES ASSET BUY FOR CREDIT MARKETS UK EYES ASSET BUY FOR CREDIT MARKETS
01/20/2009
Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King said officials may start buying assets in the next weeks to loosen credit markets as the lowest interest rates since 1694 fail to avert a "marked" recession. The UK central bank may acquire securities such as... (9 h ago)

• PRINCE ALWALEED'S FUND TAKES $8.2B HIT O... PRINCE ALWALEED'S FUND TAKES $8.2B HIT ON CITI STAKE
01/20/2009
Kingdom Holding Co., the investment company controlled by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, reported a fourth-quarter loss of almost $8.26 billion after Citigroup shares plunged in the credit crisis. Kingdom Holding fell 6.8 percent in Riyadh. The... (9 h ago)

• NADEL'S SECOND STRIKE NADEL'S SECOND STRIKE
01/20/2009
The accountant for missing Sarasota, Fla., hedge manager Arthur Nadel was slapped with a cease-and-desist order in 1999 for unlawfully practicing as a certified public accountant, The Post has learned. Michael Zucker, 71, was officially touted as... (9 h ago)

• AUDI LOOKS TO SCORE BIG WITH SUPER BOWL ... AUDI LOOKS TO SCORE BIG WITH SUPER BOWL SPOT
01/20/2009
While most of its luxury rivals retrench, Audi is looking to grab more market share with a stunt-filled Super Bowl spot. After generating buzz with its "Godfather" spoof last year, the German brand is back with an action-packed ad that makes fun... (9 h ago)

• DOLAN CAVES IN NEWSDAY ROW DOLAN CAVES IN NEWSDAY ROW
01/20/2009
Newsday can call off the search parties - Editor-in-Chief John Mancini has been found. After nearly a week of being MIA, Mancini resurfaced yesterday in the Newsday newsroom, as it looked as if a stalemate between the editor and owner Cablevision... (9 h ago)

• NO BANK HOLIDAY NO BANK HOLIDAY
01/20/2009
Citigroup led banking's bad news parade yesterday as it slashed its once-rich dividend to an embarrassing penny while investors raised new alarms that big banks are insolvent money pits. The industry's deepening crisis that President Barack Obama... (9 h ago)

• INVESTORS TURN THEIR BACK ON NEW PREZ INVESTORS TURN THEIR BACK ON NEW PREZ
01/20/2009
Gripped by the weakest economy in decades, Wall Street posted its worst performance ever for an incoming president. Analysts said the global banking crisis rattled investors, sending the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling more than 4 percent... (9 h ago)

• BUSINESS BRIEFS BUSINESS BRIEFS
01/20/2009
Warner cuts Time Warner's Warner Bros. Enter tainment plans to elimi nate about 800 jobs, or 10 percent of its staff, in response to the US re cession and deteriorat ing business outlook. Clear Channel Clear Channel Com munications cut 1,850... (9 h ago)

• Inaugural balls will be less lavish Inaugural balls will be less lavish
01/20/2009
Inaugural balls used to be fancy affairs, but have been scaled back in recent years. This year, some balls will be toned down even further because of the recession. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports. (21 h ago)

• Companies in debt struggle to borrow Companies in debt struggle to borrow
01/20/2009
Nearly $700 billion in corporate debt will be due in 2009, which is sending firms scrambling to refinance. But with banks struggling and investors afraid of lending, many companies will have a difficult time coming up with the cash they need. Steve Henn reports. (21 h ago)

• Amid hope, black homeowners struggle Amid hope, black homeowners struggle
01/20/2009
As African Americans celebrate President Obama's inauguration, a disproportionate number of them are struggling to avoid foreclosures on their homes. Commentator Amelia Tyagi says we should examine the practices that led many of them into this situation. (21 h ago)

• Letters: Countrywide, economy, records Letters: Countrywide, economy, records
01/20/2009
Our listeners weigh in this week on a bevy of topics. From interviews with a marketing executive and management consultant, to stories about vinyls and techies, listeners give us their opinions. (21 h ago)

• U.K. banks get bailout to boost lending U.K. banks get bailout to boost lending
01/20/2009
To help the banking sector and restore lending, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a second financial rescue package. Stephen Beard reports on one of the bailout's main elements -- an insurance scheme. (21 h ago)

• What to do with the troubled banks? What to do with the troubled banks?
01/20/2009
As Bank of America and Citigroup continue their downward slides in the market, calls for a "bad bank" and rumors of nationalization have been growing. Kai Ryssdal speaks with MIT Professor Simon Johnson about what can be done with the banking system. (21 h ago)

• Playing hooky for inauguration Playing hooky for inauguration
01/20/2009
The inauguration ceremony was appointment television for a lot of people, even though it was a workday. So, lots of Americans played hooky. Jeremy Hobson spent some time with people who were watching Obama on a big-screen TV in Harlem. (21 h ago)

• Obama speech: Optimism and economy Obama speech: Optimism and economy
01/20/2009
President Barack Obama's inauguration speech touched on hope for the future and the economic troubles we face. Kai Ryssdal looks at what our new president had to say. (21 h ago)

• Fresh Bank Worries Batter Stocks; Dow Fa... Fresh Bank Worries Batter Stocks; Dow Falls Below 8,000
01/20/2009
Despite widespread optimism about President Obama, the major indexes plunged more than 4 percent on Tuesday. (9 h ago)

• Your Money: Preparing Your Budget for Di... Your Money: Preparing Your Budget for Disaster
01/20/2009
What would happen to your finances if you lost your job tomorrow? (19 h ago)

• For the Brave, the Moment Is Now For the Brave, the Moment Is Now
01/19/2009
Spurred by falling real estate prices and low mortgage rates, first-time buyers are cracking open the piggy bank earlier than planned. Traffic at open houses has stepped up. (1 d ago)

• Mortgages: Loan Fraud Seen on the Rise Mortgages: Loan Fraud Seen on the Rise
01/19/2009
Occurrences of fraud among loan officers, brokers and other industry professionals actually outpaced 2007 levels by 45 percent in the second quarter of 2008. (1 d ago)

• Economic View: How About a Stimulus for ... Economic View: How About a Stimulus for Financial Advice?
01/19/2009
The government should start a major program to subsidize personal financial advice for everyone. (1 d ago)

• Patient Money: Health Care You Can’t Aff... Patient Money: Health Care You Can’t Afford Not to Afford
01/19/2009
As the recession intensifies, more Americans are delaying doctor visits and medical treatments. What can you safely postpone, and what must be treated now? (1 d ago)

• Students Covering Bigger Share of Costs ... Students Covering Bigger Share of Costs of College
01/18/2009
College students are covering more of what it costs to educate them, even as colleges are spending less on them. (2 d ago)

• Mexican mogul Slim raises N.Y. Times sta... Mexican mogul Slim raises N.Y. Times stake
01/20/2009
A Mexican billionaire is expanding his empire in the United States in a deal that could make him one of the largest shareholders of The New York Times Co. (19 h ago)

• Obama's billionaire backers Obama's billionaire backers
01/20/2009
Ever since he ran for the Senate in 2004, Barack Obama has had a wealth of 10-figure tycoons advising — and funding — him. (20 h ago)

• At $3 million, Super Bowl ad time is ...... At $3 million, Super Bowl ad time is ... cheap?
01/20/2009
At a reported $3 million per spot, ad time for the upcoming Super Bowl XLIII is the most expensive ever. But by some measures, it makes sense, and might even be a bargain. (1 d ago)

• Marketers look to cash in on Obama mania Marketers look to cash in on Obama mania
01/18/2009
The guys hawking T-shirts and trinkets on the corners of downtown Washington have some new competition in the selling frenzy building up to the inauguration — Corporate America. (2 d ago)

• Satyam: do we need a global Sarbox Satyam: do we need a global Sarbox
01/21/2009
Satyam, labelled India's Enron, has raised a number of important questions. Not only about Indian corporate governance, which leaves a lot to be desired with The Hindu reporting that India is... (7 h ago)

• Wall Street to Obama: the banks are inso... Wall Street to Obama: the banks are insolvent
01/21/2009
So Wall Street has greeted the new President by plunging 4%, the worst ever performance on inauguration day and beating the previous record set by the hopeless Herbert Hoover.Wall Street is telling... (7 h ago)

• US economy, Pearl Harbor and Barack Obam... US economy, Pearl Harbor and Barack Obama
01/20/2009
On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, Warren Buffett has come out saying that the US is in the grip of an "economic Pearl Harbor", not as bad as World War Two or the Great... (8 h ago)

• Oil price futures Oil price futures
01/20/2009
Don't believe oil prices, they're set to soar.At the moment, they have fallen below $35 a barrel in the face of weakening consumer demand and corporate earnings heading down the toilet.But... (10 h ago)

• Lessons from Siemens Lessons from Siemens
01/19/2009
Siemens is upbeat about its chances of getting its insurers to pay a big chunk of the $1.3 billion it paid to settle corruption probes in the United States and Germany. And that's a worry because... (1 d ago)

• How to make a killing in the crisis How to make a killing in the crisis
01/19/2009
It sounds counter-intuitive but there is money to be made out of debt. If you have the stomach for risk.One of the most fascinating trends of late has been the booming corporate bond market .... (1 d ago)

• General Mills, Kroger pull peanut butter... General Mills, Kroger pull peanut butter items
01/20/2009
Small local companies to national giants even a pet supplies retailer have joined the growing list of companies and retailers pulling items made with peanut butter. (15 h ago)

• Retailers prepare for a new, frugal futu... Retailers prepare for a new, frugal future
01/20/2009
For years, retailers could afford to be sloppy about running their businesses because customers kept buying. No more. (1 d ago)

• EU sees recession being deep and long-la... EU sees recession being deep and long-lasting
01/19/2009
The European Union said Monday it is facing a "deep and protracted recession" and slashed growth forecasts, while Britain announced its second massive bank bailout. (1 d ago)

• U.K. launches second bank rescue plan U.K. launches second bank rescue plan
01/19/2009
Britain threw its troubled banks another multi-billion dollar lifeline by allowing them to insure against steep losses and guaranteeing their debt to stop the credit crunch pushing the economy into a deep slump. (1 d ago)

• Slump casts pall over Chinese New Year Slump casts pall over Chinese New Year
01/18/2009
In China, where many businesses count on a New Years shopping boom for a big share of annual sales, the global slowdown hurts and could further depress its falling growth rate. (3 d ago)

• IBM Makes Shocking Rosy Earnings Forecas... IBM Makes Shocking Rosy Earnings Forecast
01/21/2009
In what promises to be a dismal year for tech spending, IBM Corp. packed a wallop of a surprise with its 2009 profit guidance: the numbers were so far ahead of Wall Street's forecast they were initially met with disbelief. (3 h ago)

• Mexican Mogul Slim Invests In NY Times Mexican Mogul Slim Invests In NY Times
01/21/2009
A Mexican billionaire is expanding his empire in the United States in a deal that could make him one of the largest shareholders of The New York Times Co. (4 h ago)

• Markets Tumble On Obama's Big Day Markets Tumble On Obama's Big Day
01/20/2009
The dawn of the Obama presidency was not enough to shake Wall Street from its dejection over the banking industry's growing problems. (17 h ago)

• Founder's Grandson Named New Toyota Boss Founder's Grandson Named New Toyota Boss
01/20/2009
Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder, was named president of the Japanese automaker Tuesday as it struggles to ride out a slump in the global market that dragged annual sales lower for the first time in a decade. (1 d ago)

• U.K. Tries To Bail Out Banks, Again U.K. Tries To Bail Out Banks, Again
01/19/2009
Britain has announced a new bank bailout to boost lending into a struggling economy and protect banks from the bad assets sinking their balance sheets - an admission that an earlier sweeping rescue plan didn't do the job. (2 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

• The 10 best U.S. cities to find a job in... The 10 best U.S. cities to find a job in 2009
01/19/2009
Having trouble finding a job in, say, New York City or South Florida? You might give Madison, Wis., a try. (1 d ago)

• Your Career: Get severance, and move on Your Career: Get severance, and move on
01/19/2009
After the initial shock of losing a job wears off, some people get angry and assume their former employer is trying to screw them out severance pay or vacations days. (1 d ago)

• Obama: A leader for the ‘we’ generation... Obama: A leader for the ‘we’ generation
01/19/2009
Leaders can learn a lot from President-elect Barack Obama about power that comes from the bottom up, not just from the top down. (1 d ago)

• Tool Kit: Sales Tips for a Tough Economy Tool Kit: Sales Tips for a Tough Economy
01/20/2009
Sift through mounds of advice on how to increase sales and sometimes you find a nugget. (23 h ago)

• Entrepreneurial Edge: Businesses Find a ... Entrepreneurial Edge: Businesses Find a Silver Lining in Inland California’s Downturn
01/18/2009
Universities and nonprofits in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are extending support to small businesses. (2 d ago)

• A Basic How To on Business Plans A Basic How To on Business Plans
01/19/2009
I came across a excellent article at Entrepreneur University today that deserves a shout out. It's designed to answer the question, "What should a business plan look like?" The feature... (1 d ago)

• FAS 157: Is it Killing Investment? FAS 157: Is it Killing Investment?
01/19/2009
On November 15th a new accounting rule went into effect. It's called FAS 157. It regulates how investments are valued by mandating that they be valued "fairly." And the whining and... (1 d ago)

• Underway Now: World Future Energy Summit... Underway Now: World Future Energy Summit, in Abu Dhabi
01/20/2009
TreeHugger pointed out to me yesterday that the World Future Energy Summit is underway at the moment in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Renewable energy has become big business in the UAE.... (14 h ago)

• Giant Online Mall in the Works for China... Giant Online Mall in the Works for China Market
01/19/2009
Asiajin had an interesting story a couple of weeks ago about the online mall that 100 Japanese companies are setting up for shoppers in China.According to the Nikkei, major electronics retailer... (1 d ago)

• Investors Dump Shares As Banking Fears ... Investors Dump Shares As Banking Fears Mount
01/20/2009
NEW YORK, Jan. 20 -- At the dawn of the Obama presidency, the stock market could not shake its dejection over the rapidly deteriorating state of the banking industry. (11 h ago)

• Growing Your Business in the Service Sec... Growing Your Business in the Service Sector
01/19/2009
Matt Rodela over at Small Business Trends had an article recently on strategies for growing your service business.Now is not the time for business as usual. It's time to get creative and think... (1 d ago)

• Due Diligence in the post-Satyam World Due Diligence in the post-Satyam World
01/19/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 7835377 In a recent article published in InformationWeek, Bob Evans offers 10 tips on outsourcing. None of these are new - in fact, they represent perennial... (2 d ago)

• Are You Paying Too Much for Insurance? Are You Paying Too Much for Insurance?
01/20/2009
At the risk of sounding like a Geico commercial, one way to save money in hard times is to revisit your insurance. Think of the policies you have: home owner, life, auto. How long has it been since... (13 h ago)

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