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Business News
for 01/30/2009

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

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• NEC Plans to Lay Off 20,000 Workers NEC Plans to Lay Off 20,000 Workers
01/30/2009
The Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said it would cut 20,000 workers worldwide as it tried to stanch widening losses from semiconductors and other business. (4 h ago)

• Honda Lowers Profit Forecast for 4th Tim... Honda Lowers Profit Forecast for 4th Time
01/29/2009
Honda lowered its profit forecast for the fourth time this year, foreshadowing what is expected to be a dismal earnings season for Japanese automakers. (8 h ago)

• Shares in Nintendo and Toshiba Plunge Af... Shares in Nintendo and Toshiba Plunge After Industry Losses Posted
01/29/2009
Sony and Toshiba reported losses for the last quarter and Nintendo lowered its profit forecast as the earnings season revealed the extent of the erosion in demand. (9 h ago)

• Global Worries Over U.S. Stimulus Spendi... Global Worries Over U.S. Stimulus Spending
01/29/2009
The long-term fallout from increased borrowing by the U.S. government seems to getting more attention in Davos than in Washington. (9 h ago)

• High & Low Finance: High & Low Finance:
01/29/2009
The recession in the U.S. has revealed a downside to globalization, and poorer countries fear their access to credit will be stymied. (9 h ago)

• Shell Posts a Quarterly Loss of $2.8 Bil... Shell Posts a Quarterly Loss of $2.8 Billion as Oil Falls
01/29/2009
A sharp drop in oil prices and the global economic crisis led to the first quarterly decline in 10 years for Royal Dutch Shell. (9 h ago)

• Canadian Auto Workers to Reopen Talks Canadian Auto Workers to Reopen Talks
01/29/2009
The union, which has long resisted offering concessions, said Thursday that it would begin special contract talks with the automakers based in Detroit. (10 h ago)

• Financial Crisis Dims Hopes for Giant Cr... Financial Crisis Dims Hopes for Giant Cross-Border Banks in Europe
01/29/2009
Because of the financial crisis, banks are retrenching and refocusing on their home markets, all but abandoning ambitions of banking on a Continental scale — or bigger. (10 h ago)

• As Bailouts Mount, Monetary Fund Weighs ... As Bailouts Mount, Monetary Fund Weighs Issuing Its Own Bonds
01/29/2009
The International Monetary Fund, which has become a major source of financing for emerging-market nations, is expected to borrow $100 billion from Japan. (10 h ago)

• Britain Looks to Expand Broadband and Li... Britain Looks to Expand Broadband and Limit Piracy
01/29/2009
The British government outlined plans to bring broadband to every home in Britain by 2012 and crack down on online piracy. (10 h ago)

• Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian A... Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian Agenda
01/29/2009
Vladimir V. Putin has long built his strategy for the rebirth of Russia around the export of natural resources. (23 h ago)

• Russia and China Blame Capitalists Russia and China Blame Capitalists
01/29/2009
At the World Economic Forum, the leaders of the former bastions of the Communist bloc rebuked the U.S. and other capitalist countries for dragging the world into crisis. (1 d ago)

• Santander Offer Pressures Rivals to Matc... Santander Offer Pressures Rivals to Match It
01/29/2009
Banco Santander offered to pay $1.8 billion to reimburse private banking clients for money lost in Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme. (1 d ago)

• Europe Ponders Its Next Step in Intel In... Europe Ponders Its Next Step in Intel Inquiry
01/29/2009
Intel’s decision to defy European antitrust investigators raised questions about how to handle the remainder of the investigation. (1 d ago)

• Breakingviews.com: China and U.S. in Cur... Breakingviews.com: China and U.S. in Currency Spat
01/28/2009
A war of words is flaring between China and the United States that could leave both sides losers. (1 d ago)

• Siemens Profit Drops 81%, but Revenue Is... Siemens Profit Drops 81%, but Revenue Is Up
01/28/2009
The falling profits were caused by the sale last year of one of Siemens’s businesses, but the sale helped boost the company’s revenues. (1 d ago)

• European Court Refuses to Delay Intel In... European Court Refuses to Delay Intel Inquiry
01/27/2009
European regulators have been investigating Intel’s business practices since the start of the decade, after a complaint by a rival, Advanced Micro Devices. (2 d ago)

• Japan Moves to Take Stakes in Ailing Com... Japan Moves to Take Stakes in Ailing Companies
01/27/2009
The country outlined a plan to inject state funds into ailing companies in exchange for stakes in them, a move that echoes the partial nationalization of some troubled financial firm in the U.S. and Europe. (2 d ago)

• Britain Offers $3.2 Billion in Aid to It... Britain Offers $3.2 Billion in Aid to Its Carmakers
01/27/2009
After months of pleas from unions and executives of Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors’s Vauxhall, Britain joined other governments bailing out their auto industries. (2 d ago)

• W.T.O. Finds China Copyright Law Lacking W.T.O. Finds China Copyright Law Lacking
01/27/2009
China was found to have failed to protect and enforce copyrights and trademarks on a wide range of goods. (2 d ago)

• U.S. durable goods down for fifth straig... U.S. durable goods down for fifth straight month
01/29/2009
Orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled 2.6 percent in December 2008, the fifth straight monthly decline, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The December decline in orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years, followed a 3.7 percent plunge in November and was bigger than the expected 2 percent decrease. However, demand for transportation equipment, which accounts for more than one quarter of total durable goods orders, rose ... (9 h ago)

• Starbucks to cut 6,700 jobs, 300 stores Starbucks to cut 6,700 jobs, 300 stores
01/29/2009
Coffee shop retailer Starbucks will close 300 stores and eliminate 6,700 jobs as the premium coffee outlet finds it hard to thrive in the struggling economy, the company said Wednesday. Some 200 of the store closures will take place in the United States with 100 more facing closure overseas, said the Seattle-based company, which estimated that the cuts will save it 500 million U.S. dollars this year. The move comes after the company announced the closing of more than 600 stores in ... (9 h ago)

• U.S. new home sales drop to lowest level... U.S. new home sales drop to lowest level on record
01/29/2009
New home sales in the United States plunged 14.7 percent in December 2008 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 331,000 units, the lowest level on record, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The December sales were 44.8 percent below the year-earlier level. Regionally, new home sales fell by 28.2 percent in the Northeast last month and were down 20.2 percent in the West. In the Midwest, meanwhile, sales dropped by 5.6 percent. Sales in the South also declined by 12.1 per ... (9 h ago)

• Canadian gov't to meet opposition's dema... Canadian gov't to meet opposition's demands for budget changes: official
01/29/2009
Canada's Conservative government will meet the opposition Liberal Party's demand for budget amendment one day after the biggest opposition party set out their conditions for support, an official said Thursday. Industry Minister Tony Clement told CTV television that the government planned to meet the Liberals' requirement of providing regular updates on budget implementation, calling the demand "reasonable." On Wednesday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said the budget contained ... (9 h ago)

• Ford not to seek federal loans after hea... Ford not to seek federal loans after heavy quarterly loss
01/29/2009
Ford Motor Company on Thursday reported a fourth quarter net loss of 5.9 billion U.S. dollars, compared with a loss of 2.8 billion dollars in the same period of 2007. "Ford and the entire auto industry faced an extraordinary slowdown in all major global markets in the fourth quarter that clearly had an impact on our results," said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally in a statement. The second-biggest U.S. automaker posted a total loss of 14.6 billion dollars in 2008. Based on ... (9 h ago)

• Brazil's industrial production in fourth... Brazil's industrial production in fourth quarter hits decade-low
01/29/2009
Brazil's industrial production in the fourth quarter of 2008 hit decade low, according to a study released Thursday by the National Industry Confederation (CNI). The index for the industrial production in the quarter was only 40.8 points, 17 points less than the third quarter of 2008 and 18.2 points lower than the figure for the same period of 2007. When the index comes under 50 points, it indicates a reduction in the industrial activity. The fourth quarter's utilization ... (9 h ago)

• Wall Street tumbles on economy worries Wall Street tumbles on economy worries
01/29/2009
Wall Street tumbled on Thursday as a series of economic data and earnings reports suggested the economic conditions are deteriorating. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims increased 159,000 to 4.78 million during the week ending Jan. 17, the highest on records since 1967 and much worse than economists' expectations of 4.65 million. Meanwhile, the number of initial jobless benefit claims in the week ending Jan. 24 was only 1, ... (9 h ago)

• Dollar mixed against major currencies Dollar mixed against major currencies
01/29/2009
The dollar rose against the euro but fell against the pound on Thursday as U.S. jobless claims hit record high and expectations rose for further rate cut in the euro zone. Initial claims for jobless benefit rose to 588,000 in the week ended in January 17, which exceeded economists' expectations of 575,000 claims. The number of continued claims rose 159,000 to a higher-than-forecast 4.78 million, the highest reading since its records on this series began in 1967. Sales of new one- ... (9 h ago)

• Crude prices retreat on gloomy economic ... Crude prices retreat on gloomy economic data
01/29/2009
Crude prices retreated on Thursday as gloomy economic data stirred concerns on energy consumption. The International Monetary Fund predicted global economic growth will slow down to just 0.5 percent in 2009, a sharp decline of 1.7 percentage points from its November prediction of 2.2 percent. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims increased 159,000 to 4.78 million during the week ending Jan. 17, the highest on records since 19 ... (9 h ago)

• Philippine economy slows down, interest ... Philippine economy slows down, interest rates cut by 0.5%
01/29/2009
The Philippines' economic growth slowed down to 4.6 percent in 2008 amid the financial crisis which gripped the economies worldwide, pushing the government to cut the interest rates by 50 basis points the second time within two months. Last year's growth rate was lower than the 7.2-percent hike posted in 2007 when the economy grew at its fastest pace in more than 30 years. For the fourth quarter 2008 alone, the gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and s ... (10 h ago)

• Indonesia to increase stimulus funds for... Indonesia to increase stimulus funds for infrastructure
01/29/2009
The Indonesian government will increase stimulus funds allocated for the infrastructure sector from 6 trillion rupiahs (about 600 million U.S. dollars) to 10.2 trillion rupiahs (about 1.02 billion dollars) to afford further extension. "Infrastructure project is not of short term, such as one year accomplishment, but there is always an extension to develop the program further," the Indonesian Sindo daily on Thursday quoted the Head for National Development Planning Board Paskah Suzetta a ... (10 h ago)

• Singapore's leading bank says CEO diagno... Singapore's leading bank says CEO diagnosed with leukemia
01/29/2009
Singapore's DBS Bank said its chief executive officer Richard Stanley has been diagnosed with leukemia, local media reported on Thursday . According to Channel newsasia's report, the bank said Stanley is expected to take three to six months of medical leave and commence medical treatment in Singapore immediately. DBS chairman Koh Boon Hwee will cover Stanley's role in his absence. The broadcaster said analysts do not expect the bank's business to be affected since the bank has go ... (10 h ago)

• Indonesia, Malaysia join hands to boost ... Indonesia, Malaysia join hands to boost tourism industry
01/29/2009
Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to cooperate in tourism industry to lessen the deepening impact of the global economic downturn on the sector, ministers of the countries said here Thursday. The global financial crisis is predicted to slump tourist spending and flatten the number of foreign visitors to Indonesia this year, the country's Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has said. Wacik on Thursday met with visiting Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Azalina Othman. The two countries ... (10 h ago)

• S Korea's current account posts $6.41 bl... S Korea's current account posts $6.41 bln deficit in 2008
01/29/2009
South Korea's current account deficit amounted to 6.41 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, which was the first annual current account shortfall since 1997, the country's central bank said Friday. In 2007, South Korea's current account posted a surplus of 5.88 billion U.S. dollars, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said. According to the BOK, the goods balance posted a surplus of 5.99 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, sharply down from the surplus of 28.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2007. The BOK attribu ... (10 h ago)

• Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade hit over $2... Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade hit over $2 bln in eight months of 2008-09
01/29/2009
Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade hit 2.21 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of the fiscal year 2008-09 ending March, the local Weekly Eleven journal reported Friday. Thailand stands first in Myanmar's foreign trade partner line-up, followed by China, Singapore, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam. In 2006-07, Thailand and Myanmar bilateral trade including both normal trade and border trade amounted to 2.7 billion dollars, while in 2 ... (10 h ago)

• Japan's industrial output nosedive 9.6% ... Japan's industrial output nosedive 9.6% in December
01/29/2009
Japan's industrial output plummeted at the fastest pace on record in December as global recession deepens and the country's export suffered serious losses. The 9.6-percent fall was the second decline for two straight months, following a revised 8.5 percent fall in November. It is the steepest monthly fall since February 1953, when comparable figures first became available. Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said it was "impossible to predict" when the Japan ... (10 h ago)

• Singapore's overall unemployment rate re... Singapore's overall unemployment rate reaches 2.3% in 2008
01/29/2009
Singapore's overall unemployment rate averaged 2.3 percent in 2008, up from 2.1 percent in 2007, the country's Ministry of Manpower said on Friday. Resident unemployment rate stood at 3.2 percent in 2008, up from 3.0 percent in 2007, the ministry said, adding that this is the first time that the annual average unemployment rate has increased since 2003, when it peaked at 4.0 percent for overall unemployment and 5.2 percent for resident unemployment. For the whole of 2008, some 13 ... (10 h ago)

• ROK central bank vows to pump liquidity ... ROK central bank vows to pump liquidity into financial system
01/29/2009
Bank of Korea (BOK) governor Lee Seong-tae said Friday the central bank will more actively pour liquidity into the financial system when necessary. "If the intermediary role of the financial market in making funds smoothly flow is sharply weakened, the BOK will draw up measures to pump in more liquidity," Lee said. Since September last year, the central bank has pumped over 19 trillion won (13.8 billion U.S. dollars) into the financial system to promote bank loans. &$ &$ So ... (10 h ago)

• Tokyo stocks open sharply lower on corpo... Tokyo stocks open sharply lower on corporate earnings
01/29/2009
Tokyo stocks opened sharply lower Friday after a number leading companies announced dismal corporate earnings projections Thursday. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 234.56 points, or 2.84 percent, from Thursday to 8,016.68. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 21.68 points, or 2.65 percent, to 796.79. The Second Section also lost ground. &$ &$ Source: Xinhua&$ &$ ... (10 h ago)

• Toshiba, NEC in talks to integrate semic... Toshiba, NEC in talks to integrate semiconductor business
01/29/2009
Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. have begun talks to integrate their troubling semiconductor operations to combat plummeting chip prices and dwindling global demand, local media reported Friday. Fujitsu Ltd. may also participate in the deal in the future since it is also looking for a tie-up partner for its semiconductor unit, which was spun off in March last year, Kyodo News said, citing sources familiar with the matter. Industry insiders believe if the three-way integration realized ... (10 h ago)

• Advertising: Upbeat but Sympathetic: A F... Advertising: Upbeat but Sympathetic: A Fine Line for Super Bowl Ads
01/29/2009
Advertisers for the Super Bowl are walking a tightrope this year, trying to entertain and sell products, while not appearing insensitive to the economic environment. (9 h ago)

• A Former MTV Executive Will Lead Oprah N... A Former MTV Executive Will Lead Oprah Network
01/29/2009
Christina Norman, a 17-year veteran of MTV Networks, will be chief executive of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. (10 h ago)

• Disney’s TV Unit Will Cut 400 Jobs Disney’s TV Unit Will Cut 400 Jobs
01/29/2009
The move is part of a cost-cutting effort to deal with what it called “a weakening economy.” (10 h ago)

• At Reader’s Digest, Layoffs Are Part of ... At Reader’s Digest, Layoffs Are Part of ‘Recession Plan’
01/29/2009
The company said it would lay off close to 300 people, as well as put employees on unpaid furloughs and suspend contributions to their 401(k) plans. (10 h ago)

• Washington Post’s Book World Goes Out of... Washington Post’s Book World Goes Out of Print as a Separate Section
01/29/2009
The Washington Post has decided to shutter the print version of its Sunday stand-alone book review section and shift reviews to space inside two other sections of the paper. (16 h ago)

• James Brady, Columnist Chronicling the P... James Brady, Columnist Chronicling the Power Elite, Dies at 80
01/29/2009
Mr. Brady helped start the Page Six gossip column at The New York Post, chronicled the doings of the New York power elite and wrote a gripping memoir of his combat experience in the Korean War. (16 h ago)

• Promising Fans at Game a View From the C... Promising Fans at Game a View From the Couch
01/29/2009
In football, the best seat in the house may be in the living room, not at the game. Now sports officials are trying to bring the screen to the stadium, not the other way around. (20 h ago)

• Digital TV Beckons, but Many Miss the Ca... Digital TV Beckons, but Many Miss the Call
01/29/2009
For viewers who still use set-top rabbit ears, the switch to digital television has often proven a bewildering and cumbersome burden. (22 h ago)

• YouTube Said to Be Near Hollywood Deal YouTube Said to Be Near Hollywood Deal
01/29/2009
The deal between YouTube and the William Morris Agency would place the company’s clients in made-for-the-Web productions. (1 d ago)

• Times Co. Results Reflect Ad Slump Times Co. Results Reflect Ad Slump
01/29/2009
The company posted fourth-quarter income of $27.6 million, down 47.5 percent from a year ago. For the year, the company lost $57.8 million, after more than $300 million in non-cash charges. (1 d ago)

• Domino, Shopping and Decorating Magazine... Domino, Shopping and Decorating Magazine, Closes
01/29/2009
The three-year-old Conde Nast magazine will publish its final issue in March. (1 d ago)

• Advertising: NBC Making the Most of Its ... Advertising: NBC Making the Most of Its Super Bowl Coverage
01/28/2009
NBC will get $30 million of free promotional time during the Super Bowl, but it is also banking on the opportunity for more than a temporary advertising jolt. (1 d ago)

• ABC Said to Consider ‘Kimmel’ in ‘Nightl... ABC Said to Consider ‘Kimmel’ in ‘Nightline’ Slot
01/28/2009
The network has held discussions about moving its comedy star to compete directly with Conan O’Brien. (1 d ago)

• Congressional Quarterly Is for Sale Congressional Quarterly Is for Sale
01/28/2009
The move by the owner of the St. Petersburg Times is an attempt to separate the most profitable part of the business from the more troubled flagship newspaper. (1 d ago)

• Advertising: Advertisers Change Game Pla... Advertising: Advertisers Change Game Plans for Super Bowl
01/28/2009
Advertisers that have purchased commercial time on networks during the Super Bowl are pondering changes to the ads they plan to run in those spots on account of the economy. (1 d ago)

• Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay ... Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab
01/28/2009
Companies that charge writers to publish are growing while many mainstream publishers are losing ground. (1 d ago)

• For Iraqi Journalists, Free Press vs. Fr... For Iraqi Journalists, Free Press vs. Free Land
01/28/2009
Iraq’s land-for-journalists program illustrates the challenges democratic principles face when they clash with entitlements that were never before questioned. (2 d ago)

• Film Channel Has Name, but No Network Ca... Film Channel Has Name, but No Network Carrier
01/27/2009
Epix, backed by Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate premium movie channel, will launch online in May, having not yet found a television distribution deal. (2 d ago)

• New Analysis: Change at Union May Re-ene... New Analysis: Change at Union May Re-energize Hollywood Talks
01/27/2009
The firing of Doug Allen, the executive director of the Screen Actors Guild, could mean a return to long-stalked talks on a labor contract. (2 d ago)

• Movie Production Incentives Are Said to ... Movie Production Incentives Are Said to Help New York
01/27/2009
The revenues yielded by New York’s tax incentives for film and television production more than cover their costs, a study found. (2 d ago)

• Wireless Savior: Cells Keep Industry Ali... Wireless Savior: Cells Keep Industry Alive
01/29/2009
Two of the nation's largest Internet service providers are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry in battling illegal file sharing, three sources told CNET News. (18 h ago)

• OPEC Poised For More Oil Production Cuts OPEC Poised For More Oil Production Cuts
01/29/2009
OPEC is readying to make further production cuts if prices don't rise in the coming weeks, its secretary-general said. (21 h ago)

• Madoff Paper Trail Leads To NYC Warehous... Madoff Paper Trail Leads To NYC Warehouse
01/29/2009
The paper trail in the Bernard Madoff fraud case has led investigators to a warehouse containing boxes and file cabinets stuffed with documents that could reveal more clues about the $50B Ponzi scheme, an official said. (21 h ago)

• New Home Sales Slow At Record Pace New Home Sales Slow At Record Pace
01/29/2009
The hobbled homebuilding industry posted its worst annual sales results in more than two decades. (23 h ago)

• Jobless Claims For Americans Hit Record Jobless Claims For Americans Hit Record
01/29/2009
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy. (1 d ago)

• Ford Posts $5.9B Loss, But Won't Seek Ai... Ford Posts $5.9B Loss, But Won't Seek Aid
01/29/2009
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter as auto sales slumped, but it has no plans to seek federal aid unless economic conditions worsen. (1 d ago)

• If Money Is Cheap, Why Can't I Get A Loa... If Money Is Cheap, Why Can't I Get A Loan?
01/28/2009
Even after the banks have been given more than half-a-trillion dollars in bailout funds, the Fed said Wednesday that credit conditions "remain extremely tight," reports Anthony Mason. (1 d ago)

• Japan Airline Boss Sets Exec Example Japan Airline Boss Sets Exec Example
01/28/2009
He's out to set an example: a Japanese airline CEO who takes no corporate perks. Barry Petersen meets the executive who rides the bus, eats in the cafeteria, and even cut his own salary. (1 d ago)

• The Impossible-To-Track Bank Bailout The Impossible-To-Track Bank Bailout
01/28/2009
It's been impossible to track what the banks are doing the federal billions of tax dollars they got from the bailout, as Sharyl Attkisson found out when she tried to follow the money. (1 d ago)

• Fed Keeps Rates Near Zero, Vows More Mov... Fed Keeps Rates Near Zero, Vows More Moves
01/28/2009
The Federal Reserve says the economy has weakened further and signaled it will keep a key interest rate near zero for quite "some time" to cushion the fallout. (1 d ago)

• GM To Cut Controversial "Jobs Bank" GM To Cut Controversial "Jobs Bank"
01/28/2009
General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that its "jobs bank" program will end Monday, following a similar move at Chrysler LLC that helps satisfy the conditions the government imposed when it lent the automakers $17.4 billion late last year. (1 d ago)

• Boeing Posts Loss, Slashes 10,000 Jobs Boeing Posts Loss, Slashes 10,000 Jobs
01/28/2009
Boeing Co., the world's second-largest airplane maker, swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss, hurt by a labor strike that disrupted deliveries. It also announced job cuts totaling 10,000 and forecast 2009 earnings that missed analyst expectations. (1 d ago)

• Time To Buy House May Be Approaching Time To Buy House May Be Approaching
01/28/2009
An expert explained her thinking, and offered some buying strategies, on The Early Show. (1 d ago)

• Toyota Announces Recall Of 1.3M Cars Toyota Announces Recall Of 1.3M Cars
01/28/2009
Toyota is recalling 1.3 million vehicles worldwide due to a seat belt defect. The recall includes more than 130,000 Yaris models sold in the U.S. (1 d ago)

• Dire Warnings Hang Over Davos Dire Warnings Hang Over Davos
01/28/2009
The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression cast gloom over the opening of the World Economic Forum with warnings against creeping protectionism and expectations that government bailouts alone will restore the world's economies. (2 d ago)

• Treasury Weighs Hard Choices To Save Ban... Treasury Weighs Hard Choices To Save Banks
01/28/2009
President Obama's top advisers are in the final stages of debating several perilous options to right the financial system, all of which are likely to prove unpopular and in some cases carry a significant risk of failure. (2 d ago)

• Starbucks Stops Brewing Decaf After Noon Starbucks Stops Brewing Decaf After Noon
01/27/2009
Starbucks customers who are used to getting their decaf grande mochachino after lunch will have to wait a little longer than usual to get their fix. (2 d ago)

• Treasury Doles Out $386M To 23 Banks Treasury Doles Out $386M To 23 Banks
01/27/2009
The Treasury Department said Tuesday it has distributed another $386 million to 23 banks, the first awards from the federal bailout fund since President Barack Obama took office. (2 d ago)

• Yahoo Swings To Loss, But Beats Street Yahoo Swings To Loss, But Beats Street
01/27/2009
Yahoo handily cleared Wall Street's pessimistic earnings expectations for a grim fourth quarter and matched anticipated revenue, but charges swung the Internet pioneer to a net loss for the quarter. (2 d ago)

• Missing Hedge Fund Mgr. Surrenders To Fe... Missing Hedge Fund Mgr. Surrenders To Feds
01/27/2009
A Florida hedge fund manager who disappeared after agreeing to an independent audit turned himself in to authorities to face securities and wire fraud charges. Arthur Nadel is accused of bilking investors of over $300 million. (2 d ago)

• Jessops shares drop after debt restructu... Jessops shares drop after debt restructure
01/30/2009
Camera retailer Jessops admitted this morning that it needs a major restructuring of its debt after posting ballooning losses. The shares dropped by more than 16% to 2.3p on the news. Executive chairman David Adams said Jessops' long-term debt is likely to be reclassified as short-term debt this year. The retailer's debt has increased to £57.4m from £46.9m in 2007. "In order to avoid any uncertainty during the coming year we are actively engaging with our advisers and HSBC to put the business on a more stable footing for the future," Adams said. "It is highly likely that this exercise will involve a fundamental restructuring of our debt." The company warned that it would breach its covenants under its existing banking facilities, which means that the entire bank debt would be repayable on demand at the option of the lender. HSBC extended Jessops' banking facilities to 2011 in September and the bank now holds warrants over 15% of the retailer's shares. The retailer made a loss of £19.1m before tax and one-off items in the year to September 30, up sharply from £9.3m in 2007. Sales on a like-for-like basis, which excludes new stores, were down 6.5% over the year – a small improvement from the previous year when they fell 8.6%. In the past two months, like-for-like sales were up 3.8%, but the increase was only achieved with price promotions which damaged profit margins. Jessops said the digital camera market grew by 7.9% in volume last year but was flat in value terms as customers went for cheaper models and retailers discounted heavily. "This is the first time for many years that the digital camera market as a whole has seen such a slowdown," the firm said. Jessops specialises in more expensive cameras costing £228.98 on average, compared with the market average of £132.95. In a desperate attempt to turn itself around , Jessops is refitting its stores. It has opened a shop in the new Westfield shopping centre in west London, which serves as the blueprint for the refurbishments and future new stores. The shop's performance so far has been described as "very encouraging". Retail industry HSBC guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Strikes spread across Britain as oil ref... Strikes spread across Britain as oil refinery protest escalates
01/30/2009
A series of unofficial strikes broke out across Britain today over plans by a major oil company to give jobs to construction workers from Portugal and Italy. The contractors were to work on the giant £200m Lindsey oil refinery at North Killingholme, Lincolnshire. Workers at refineries and power stations in various parts of the UK walked out, some holding placards quoting the words of Gordon Brown: "British jobs for British workers". The wildcat strikes mark the latest in a series of protests over the use of foreign rather than domestic labour by large companies in the UK. More than 700 BP and INEOS workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland walked out this morning after an 8am union meeting. Police were called to the Aberthaw power station, near Barry, South Wales, and 400 workers at a refinery in Wilton near Redcar, Teesside, have also downed tools. Workers walked off the site at Total's Lindsey oil refinery on Wednesday, after weeks of discontent over the contract to build the plant's HDS-3 de-sulphurisation unit. The plant's owners put the contract out to tender with five UK firms and two European contractors bidding for the work. The Italian company IREM won the contract and supplied its own permanent workforce, accommodating them in large, grey housing barges moored off Grimsby docks. It is understood 100 Italian and Portuguese workers are already on the site and 300 more are expected next month. Asked about the refinery strikes at a news conference in Davos today, the prime minister said: "I understand people's worries about their jobs. I understand people's anxieties about employment across the country. But we are doing everything we can both to get economic growth moving in our country and to help people who are unemployed, to help them into new jobs." Brown also stressed that protecting jobs was one of his key political aims. He said: "I came into politics to help people out of unemployment, to help people who were poor by building an economy that was confident and strong to weather this storm. I believe that the action we have taken to help people in work stay in work, to help people who lose their jobs get jobs again ... is the way to do it." Protesters at the Lindsey refinery ended their action at around 10am, but vowed to be back on Monday morning. Bobby Buirds, a regional officer for Unite in Scotland, said the workers at Grangemouth were striking to protect British jobs. "The argument is not against foreign workers, it's against foreign companies discriminating against British labour," he said. "If the job of these mechanical contractors at INEOS finishes and they try and get jobs down south, the jobs are already occupied by foreign labour and their opportunities are decreasing. This is a fight for work. It is a fight for the right to work in our own country. It is not a racist argument at all." Around 500 workers walked out at Scottish Power's Longannet power station, and just over 100 at its Cockenzie power station, while around 80 stopped work at British Energy's Torness facility. In Lincolnshire, several hundred protesters gathered in a car park opposite the sprawling Lindsey refinery. Clutching placards and banners, two of which read "Right to Work UK Workers" and "In the wise words of Gordon Brown UK Jobs for British Workers", they listened as union leaders called on them to stand together in their protest. Unite union regional officer Bernard McAuley addressed the men from a flat-bed truck. "There is sufficient unemployed skilled labour wanting the right to work on that site and they are demanding the right to work on that site. Our general secretary of Unite and the GMB have called upon the prime minister to call an urgent meeting with the heads of industry in the engineering and construction industry to clients and the trade unions to get round the table," he said. "We want fairness. We want the rights of our members to have the opportunity to be employed, not just on this job but on all jobs around the United Kingdom." In heated exchanges, some protesters called on their colleagues to march on Downing Street to protest at the situation. Shop steward Kenny Ward addressed the crowd and told them they had to stand together and take on the "greedy employer". He said: "This is what it's about, it's about collective strength. I'm a victim, you are a victim, there are thousands in this country that are victims to this discrimination, this victimisation of the British worker." He said colleagues across the country in Scotland and Wales were "standing shoulder to shoulder" with the protesters here. Total issued a statement about the Lindsey strike this morning. It said: "We recognise the concerns of contractors but we want to stress that there will be no direct redundancies as a result of this contract being awarded to IREM and that all IREM staff will be paid the same as the existing contractors working on the project. "It is important to note that we have been a major local employer for 40 years with 550 permanent staff employed at the refinery. There are also between 200 and 1,000 contractors working at the refinery, the vast majority of which work for UK companies employing local people. "On this one specific occasion, IREM was selected, through a fair and competitive tender process, as the most appropriate company to complete this work. We will continue to put contracts out to tender in the future and we are confident we will award further contracts to UK companies." Oil and gas companies Trade unions Economic policy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• We must not resort to protectionism, war... We must not resort to protectionism, warns Brown
01/30/2009
The international community must not resort to protectionism as it tries to find solutions to tackle the global financial crisis, Gordon Brown said today. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos, the prime minister said policymakers had three priorities: to prevent further bank collapses, to use fiscal and monetary policy to stimulate economies and to boost lending to businesses and individuals. He said recapitalisation of banks around the world amounted to around $900bn, while countries had underpinned their banking systems with $7tn of guarantees. Governments had agreed a joint $1.5tn of fiscal stimuli to boost their economies. Brown said was not the time for countries to retreat from globalisation into protectionism. "Protectionism protects nobody," he said. "This is a time not just for individual, national measures to deal with the global financial crisis. This is the time for the world to come together as one." He expressed concern at a collapse in lending by commercial banks to emerging markets, which he said had fallen from $1,000bn last year to around $150bn, and said he hoped that international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank could help to fill the gap. "I hope countries will move forward with these proposals. The international institutions must be more proactive, he said. Brown said the world needed to establish a proper early warning system for future crises, replace the largely national mix of financial regulation with a global system with clear accountability and responsibilities, and to reform global institutions. "We have to take the necessary action immediately. Not to make a decision, the policy of doing nothing, will allow this crisis to start a retreat from globalisation with huge implications for prosperity in every part of the world in the years to come," he said. Brown rejected accusations that Britain was worse placed than other countries to withstand the credit crunch, insisting that the UK's national debt was lower than most other countries. The IMF said earlier this week that Britain would suffer the biggest contraction in its economy of any major country. "We have been better placed because of our low debt, low interest rates and low corporate debt," said Brown. Speaking alongside the prime minister, UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon said it was crucial the world did not forget about climate change or extreme poverty as it battled the financial crisis. "Now more than ever we need to keep our eyes on the big picture – climate change, hunger and extreme poverty. We need to stand in solidarity and redouble our efforts," he said. He added that the financial crisis could be "turned into an opportunity" to "kill two birds with one stone" by converting to green, low-carbon economies, thereby creating jobs and boosting growth. He repeated his call for a "green new deal" to turn aspiration into reality. "Scaling up green technologies to make low carbon economies is the best investment we can make," he said. Gordon Brown Davos Global recession Recession United Nations World Bank Economic policy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• Japan heads for worst recession since th... Japan heads for worst recession since the second world war
01/30/2009
Japan could be heading for its worst recession since the second world war after figures released today showed industrial output fell almost 10% last month and unemployment rose at its fastest pace for more than 40 years. Production fell 9.6% in December, the trade ministry said, surpassing November's huge drop by more than one percentage point. The global recession has sent shock waves through Japan's economy, forcing once-powerful exporters to rein in production, slash jobs and close factories in response to plummeting demand for cars and consumer electronics. NEC, the computer chip maker, announced it would make 20,000 workers redundant worldwide as it struggles to cope with falling demand, while carmakers Toyota and Honda said their losses would worsen this year. Today's figures, however, offered evidence that the malaise had spread to the domestic economy. Unemployment rose to 4.4% in December, its biggest monthly rise for 42 years, from 3.9% a month earlier. The jobless total has risen over the last year by 390,000 to 2.7 million, as the spectre of deflation and flat consumer spending returned to haunt companies and their employees. Household spending fell by 4.6% in December, the 10th consecutive monthly fall, while core consumer inflation edged up a mere 0.2%. "Companies are not only cutting production but also cutting employment, which is deeply unsettling for households," Martin Schulz, senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute, told guardian.co.uk. "We are now looking at a domestically driven recession. The domestic economy is at risk of falling apart, and if that happens we are looking at a really deep, long recession. Even if that doesn't happen, things are already bad enough." With Japan's non-regular employees, who now comprise a third of the workforce, at increasing risk of being laid off, families are refusing to spend, and analysts say the government's much-derided handout of ¥12,000 (£94) for every individual is unlikely to have any impact. Predictions of further falls in production in the coming months are making prime minister Taro Aso's boast that Japan will be the first to emerge from the recession look increasingly hollow. The economics minister, Kaoru Yosano, admitted the economy was "in a very grave situation". "Japan is being hit by a wave of weakening global demand," he said. The plight of Japan's exporters was underlined yesterday when Toshiba forecast record annual losses. Toyota, meanwhile, could be heading for an operating loss - its first for more than 70 years - of about ¥400bn for the year to the end of March, reports said today, while Sony is bracing itself for record losses this year. Although factory production is at its lowest level for 20 years, cuts in output have barely dented bloated inventories, prompting speculation there could be more reductions. Exporters' desperate attempts to climb out of the crisis are being hampered by the strength of the yen, which gained 23% against the dollar and 29% against the euro last year. Economists predict that fourth-quarter GDP figures, due out next month, would show the world's second biggest economy shrinking at a double-digit annual rate. In addition, the International Monetary Fund warned that Japan's GDP would contract by 2.6% this year, the gloomiest prediction of all the G7 countries except Britain. If the IMF forecast is correct, it would be the worst contraction since the end of the second world war. "As output adjustments continue, weakness in the overall economy will persist from January to March, and the degree of worsening depends on how exports turn out," said Tatsushi Shikano, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. "It is already a consensus view that core consumer inflation will turn negative soon, but we must watch if a worsening of the economy pushes Japan into a deflationary spiral, even though the Bank of Japan sees no signs of that happening right now." The gloomy data stopped in its tracks a three-day rally by the Nikkei, sending the benchmark index tumbling 3.1% in Tokyo. Nintendo shares sank 12% after the video game maker cuts its earnings and sales forecasts. The company, which had enjoyed huge sales of its DS and Wii game consoles, said yesterday that annual operating profit would fall by 16%. Honda, Toyota, Sony and Toshiba were also down. The Nikkei has lost more than 10% this year after shedding more than 40% last year. The Bank of Japan is buying up corporate debt and recently brought interest rates down to just above zero, while the government this week passed a $53bn stimulus package and launched a $16.7bn fund to buy shares in struggling firms. But Schulz said Japan's financial authorities were running out of options to save the economy from a deeply damaging recession. "The government has few tools left to deal with this. Japan managed to shield failing companies during the last recession – the so-called zombie firms – but you cannot protect companies from a breakdown in demand in the domestic economy." Global recession Japan guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Honda shuts UK factory in Swindon for fo... Honda shuts UK factory in Swindon for four months
01/30/2009
Japanese carmaker Honda will shut its British factory for four months this evening, after a slump in sales. Production at the plant in Swindon, Wiltshire , will be halted at the end of today's shift until 1 June. The 4,200 workers will receive full basic pay for the first two months, falling to 60% for the rest of the shutdown. Honda has stressed its commitment to retaining its Swindon workforce until the autumn, when a new Jazz model is due to go into production. A number of British car factories have cut production and laid off thousands of workers, which has had a knock-on effect on supplier firms. Carmakers around the world have been hit hard by the recession. Storage areas and docksides are packed with vast numbers of unsold cars as demand plummets. In Britain, the number of cars rolling off production lines nearly halved to 53,823 last month, with many manufacturers on extended Christmas shutdowns. The British car industry has been lobbying the government to help improve the availability of credit to boost demand. Honda Automotive industry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (7 h ago)

• Henderson prepares £115m buy-out of aili... Henderson prepares £115m buy-out of ailing New Star
01/30/2009
Fund manager Henderson has unveiled the terms of a £115m deal to buy troubled rival New Star Asset Management, founded by John Duffield. Henderson today offered to pay 2p in cash for each New Star share, which values the firm's ordinary shares at £21.6m. A year ago, the shares were worth 240p. New Star shareholders will receive about £5.4m, with the bulk of the money going to its creditors. The firm had already warned investors that they would get very little from any deal. Henderson is paying off £20m of New Star's remaining debt. The company's previous heavy debt burden of £240m forced it into a radical restructuring last month. A debt-for-equity swap left a consortium of banks led by HBOS with control over New Star. Other investment houses including Schroders had also approached New Star. New Star was forced to suspend dealings in several unit trusts after investors made huge withdrawals, and saw its shares plummet over the past year, taking the firm's stockmarket value to under £8m. Andrew Formica, Henderson's chief executive, said: "Very rarely will you find an opportunity to significantly enhance your strategic position at compelling financial terms. New Star presents such an opportunity for Henderson and enables us to expand our footprint in our key markets notably the UK retail market." Following the acquisition, Henderson is expected to become the fifth-largest retail fund manager in the UK, with more than £15bn of funds under management. "Henderson Group is an excellent partner for New Star offering strong support and certainty to New Star's clients and staff in these times," Duffield said. "This deal will join together two managers with a similar culture and investment approach." Henderson is today placing up to 72.3m shares - amounting to nearly 10% of its existing shares - with investors to help fund the deal. Henderson New Star Asset Management Investments guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (7 h ago)

• Companies warned: no new cash unless boa... Companies warned: no new cash unless boardroom pay cut
01/29/2009
Companies asking shareholders to back multimillion-pound cash calls are being warned by one of the most powerful investors in the City that they will need to moderate executive pay and even change their management teams to win support. In a stark warning to the increasing numbers of companies asking shareholders to shore up their finances, Legal & General wants boardroom pay packets to show "moderation, alignment [to shareholders' interests] and a longer time scale". At a time when investors are being accused by the government of failing to exert their influence, Tim Breedon, chief executive of L&G, said: "There'll be something to pay for new capital - better governance, better risk management and better management in certain cases." Executive bonus schemes usually run for three years but Breedon has indicated that the fund management arm of the insurance company will be expecting longer-term pay deals for the bosses at the companies asking for new funds. L&G is regarded as one of the most influential investors on the stockmarket. It owns around 5% of the FTSE 100 and can help to sway sentiment because of the number of votes it holds. Last November, for example, it backed the controversial £7bn fundraising by Barclays - which tapped Middle Eastern governments for cash - because had it not done so, the scheme might have been voted down by shareholders, which would have destablised Barclays. Earlier this week L&G sought to defend investors against criticism by Lord Myners, the City minister, that they had not done enough in the run-up to the credit crunch. L&G told the Treasury select committee that it had repeatedly asked for the resignations of Royal Bank of Scotland chairman and chief executive Sir Tom McKillop and Sir Fred Goodwin but neither would quit. The government eventually forced out the pair as part of its £20bn capital injection. Aviva Investors, the fund management arm of the insurer Aviva, is also demonstrating its determination to seek change in companies. It has written to the lawyers and consultants who devise pay deals for executives to demand a "moratorium on pay rises" and "considerable restraint and prudence" towards bonuses. Lloyds Banking Group, formed after Lloyds TSB rescued HBOS, has already been forced to rethink a new pay deal for its executives after shareholders expressed concern. Big City investors are braced for attempts by other companies to force through executive pay rises and earlier this month vetoed the bonus scheme for executives at housebuilder Bellway. Breedon did not provide any update on L&G's intentions towards its dividend as the insurer published new business figures showing a forecast-beating rise in sales last year. The shares, which have lost half their value in 12 months, were off 9% at 60.7p on disappointment that L&G had not updated its capital position. Breedon said information about the dividend and the capital position would be announced with the profits due in March. By repeating its estimate, first published in October, that its capital surplus of £2.9bn would fall to £2bn if the FTSE 100 index fell 30%, the insurer was attempting to reassure the market. L&G's sales in the UK, which were up 3%, were driven by retail investment products and buyouts of company pension schemes. Worldwide sales were £1.5bn in 2008, up from £1.4bn. Legal and General Executive salaries Banking guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Private equity group shares plunge as ch... Private equity group shares plunge as chief quits
01/29/2009
Shares in private equity group 3i fell yesterday by more than a quarter to a record low of 185p as investors digested news of the departure of the firm's chief executive Philip Yea and a plunge in the value of its investments over the past quarter. The firm, whose portfolio includes lingerie brand Agent Provocateur and laser eye correction business Ultralase, came under sustained selling pressure throughout the day before recovering to 210p by the close. Investors expressed concern at the prospect of a rights issue to offset the 21% decline in the value of the firm's top 50 investments, equal to £682m. With net debt of £2.1bn, the firm could be forced into an emergency cash call - following the example of SVG Capital, a quoted investment vehicle invested mainly in the funds of another private equity group, Permira. 3i, which has seen 73% wiped off its share price in the past 12 months, attempted to ease concerns with a series of announcements detailing share purchases by senior directors. Among these, the chair of the company, Baroness Hogg, and non-executive director Lord Smith of Kelvin, the former boss of investment bank Morgan Grenfell, bought 5,000 shares at 213p, while non-executive director Robert Swannell bought 4,000 shares at 210p. However, while the buying spree dragged the share price back up, analysts said the prospect of further gloomy economic data would add to pressure to raise more funds. "It looks like yesterday's news is now sinking in a bit. The International Monetary Fund saying Britain will be the worst hit economy in Europe hasn't helped either, so people seem to be getting rid [of 3i shares]," a trader told Reuters. One analyst pointed out that the consensus view of the firm's net asset value was between 640p and 680p, but this was unlikely to shift sentiment, which was running against firms in the leveraged buyout market. A spokesman for the company said it had already raised cash through a series of asset sales and given £2.2bn back to shareholders. He said: "Clearly the change of leadership caught the headlines yesterday, but in our trading statement for the third quarter we realised £345m, when everyone said it would be a quarter when there would be no mergers and acquisitions activity." Yea will be replaced by Michael Queen, who steps up from being managing partner of 3i's infrastructure funds. The plight of 3i is further evidence of how the leveraged buyout boom has run into the sand. Analysts believe the firm has badly timed disposals and carries too much debt at a time when there are cheap buying opportunities. 3i Private equity guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Obama lets rip at banks over executive p... Obama lets rip at banks over executive pay
01/29/2009
President Barack Obama let rip at troubled Wall Street banks yesterday for paying out billions of dollars in bonuses to staff, accusing them of displaying "the height of irresponsibility" and of letting down the American people. In a sign that the new administration intends to take a far tougher line on financial excess than the Bush regime, Obama expressed outrage that banks spent $18.4bn (£12.8bn) on bonuses last year despite receiving emergency bail-out funds from taxpayers to avert bankruptcy. "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful" said Obama after a meeting his new treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner. "Part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline, show some sense of responsibility." Figures published by New York state's comptroller general on Wednesday showed that although bonuses fell by 44% the total payout on Wall Street was still the sixth largest ever, with bankers typically receiving $112,000 each. "They have to start acting in a more responsible fashion if we are going to get this economy moving again," Obama said. "There will be a time for them to make profits and there will be a time for them to get bonuses. Now is not that time." He singled out Citigroup for criticism, attacking the bank for trying to buy a $50m executive jet after receiving $45bn in rescue money from the Treasury's troubled asset relief program (Tarp). "Secretary Geithner has already had to pull back one institution that was going ahead with a multimillion-dollar jet purchase at a time when it was receiving Tarp money. We should not have to do that." He added: "The American people understand that we've got a big hole we've got to dig our way out of. But they don't like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they're being asked to fill it up." Banks argue that their staff get relatively small basic salaries and bonuses are essential in retaining key talent. But critics say this explanation is hard to swallow after a year of large-scale layoffs in the financial industry, leaving precious few opportunities for bankers to seek better compensation at rival firms. Goldman Sachs yesterday estimated that it could cost as much as $4tn to restore the financial industry to health. The sum would be needed to buy up bad assets if the US treasury presses ahead with plans to create a "bad bank" to cleanse balance sheets by swallowing up toxic financial instruments. Executive salaries Banking Obama White House US economy Credit crunch guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (17 h ago)

• Bank of England to use £50bn of taxpayer... Bank of England to use £50bn of taxpayers' money to ease credit crunch
01/29/2009
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has been given the green light to spend £50bn of taxpayers' money, buying company debts and other assets, in the clearest signal yet that Britain is moving towards the desperate recession-busting tactics of "quantitative easing". In an exchange of open letters with King, made public today, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, set the rules for the £50bn "asset-purchase facility" he announced as part of the Treasury's latest bank bail-out plan last week. He made it clear that the same approach could be used to turn on the cash taps once interest rates get close to zero. "This facility provides a framework for the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England to use asset purchases for monetary policy purposes, should the [committee] conclude that this would be useful for meeting the inflation target," the chancellor said. King and his colleagues have already slashed borrowing costs to 1.5%; another rate cut is widely expected when the nine-member monetary policy committee meets next week. Both King and the chancellor want to send a powerful message to financial markets about not yet having run out of weapons. Darling also indicated that he was preparing to keep King on a close rein, as the boundaries between government spending and monetary policy blur in the coming months. Full-blown quantitative easing would mean buying billions of pounds of government bonds to pump cash into fragile banks and drive down interest rates. If the MPC decides on this, King will have to go back to No 11 Downing Street, and ask for specific permission. Details of the plans emerged as David Blanchflower, the maverick outgoing MPC member who voted for rate cuts throughout 2008, issued a stern critique of economists – including those inside the Bank's headquarters in Threadneedle Street – who failed to see the crisis coming. In a speech in Nottingham, the labour market expert warned that the downturn could well be worse than that of the 1980s recession; he pointed out that even once the credit crunch was under way last summer, the Bank failed to grasp the seriousness of its potential consequences. "There was no mention at all of the word 'recession' in the monetary policy committee's August 2008 inflation report. The central projection was for output to be 'broadly flat over the next year or so, after which growth gradually recovers'," he said. The governor defended the Bank's handling of the crisis in a speech last week, pointing to the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September as the key shock that drove the world economy over the brink. But Blanchflower stressed that, "of course, economic output in the UK, and in many other economies, had started to contract long before" Lehman went bust. Blanchflower made it clear that he would be voting for another rate reduction at February's MPC meeting, saying: "I believe monetary policy needs to be loosened further and quickly." The Bank is expected to release more details of exactly what it will buy under the £50bn asset purchase scheme as soon as next week. It will set up a new, arms-length company to hold the assets and report quarterly to the Treasury about how the scheme is going. Business groups have warned that large companies are struggling to finance their day-to-day operations, as banks rein in lending and rebuild their shattered balance sheets. By buying corporate bonds, and the "commercial paper" some firms use to borrow funds, as well as asset-backed securities, the Bank hopes to unlock the frozen markets for these assets and make it easier for firms to borrow. King will have to agree the list of eligible assets he can buy under the scheme with the Treasury, and refer any changes to officials. "Asset transactions by the Bank could increase liquidity and trading activity in some UK financial markets, and could stimulate issuance by corporate borrowers and the resumption of capital market flows," the chancellor says in his letter. For the moment, the scheme will be funded by issuing government bonds. That means the government will not be "printing money" but raising it in the financial markets. Graham Turner, of the consultancy GFC Economics, said that by insisting on only buying the highest quality corporate bonds, the Bank would be protecting taxpayers' money – but at the risk of the policy being less effective. "High-quality assets are not where the problem is," he said, pointing out that corporate bond yields have actually risen since the £50bn facility was first announced. Britain's approach echoes that of the US, where the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, has coined the phrase "credit easing" for his multibillion-pound spree in the financial markets. The Fed has bought asset-backed securities, commercial paper and a range of other hard-to-sell securities in an effort to get lending flowing again. Credit crunch Bank of England Economic policy Recession Banking Economics guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (18 h ago)

• Fresh round of job cuts Fresh round of job cuts
01/29/2009
The global economy suffered a fresh series of job losses today as companies from pharmaceuticals to photography and the law to London Underground announced cutbacks. The drug maker AstraZeneca said it was extending its rationalisation programme with the loss of 6,000 jobs over the next four years in addition to 9,000 which have gone over the last two years. Chief executive David Brennan, whose company employs about 65,000 people including a number in Britain, said the job reductions were "not a reaction to the recession" but the group admitted it was facing tougher conditions. Japanese glass maker NSG, which bought St Helens-based Pilkington in 2006, said its decision to cut 5,800 jobs over the next year was a direct response to the global downturn. The company said all three of its business units had been hurt by the credit crunch, with its automotive division taking the worst hit. It was also scaling back production of float glass – the process used to make large sheets of glass – removing the equivalent of two production lines in Europe and a 15% cut in capacity elsewhere. In the US, photography group Eastman Kodak said it was cutting up to 4,500 jobs this year after a slump in demand for digital cameras and commercial printing equipment. The company had said it would shed up to 1,500 jobs this year but raised the total after a fourth quarter loss from continuing operations of $137m. British-based industrial materials company Cookson said it was cutting 1,250 jobs – some 7% of its staff – and axing its dividend as it called on shareholders for £240m through a deeply discounted rights issue. Cookson, which supplies products used in the steel and ceramics industries, said its key markets had fallen by a quarter over the last two months. Electrocomponents, which trades as RS Components and is based in Corby, Northamptonshire, blamed the downturn for 430 job cuts. It said the redundancies were part of £15m of cuts worldwide. The job losses would hit its warehouse in Corby and small outlets nationwide, it said. Entertainment store Zavvi – formerly Virgin Megastore – shed 295 staff today as administrators failed to find buyers for another 15 stores. There was better news for the steel industry with the announcement that Corus has reached a preliminary agreement to sell a majority stake in its Teesside plant to the Italian family-owned company Marcegaglia and Dongkuk Steel. The two companies are members of a four-firm consortium which already buys the Teesside plant's output. The deal is subject to due diligence. Last night Antonio Marcegaglia, chief executive officer of Marcegaglia, said the aim was to invest in the plant over the longer term. "In principle we would look to retain the people and secure the future of Teesside." Solicitors Linklaters said the firm was cutting its UK staff by 100-120 lawyers and up to 150 business services staff. Managing partner Simon Davies said: "There have been significant changes in the financial markets and the wider economy. This has affected the clients we serve." London Underground plans to cut 1,000 jobs this year in non-operational areas such as finance and administration but said no tube drivers or other frontline staff would be affected. E.ON, one of Britain's big six energy suppliers, became the latest utility to announce job cuts. The company said it was reducing its workforce by 450. Paul Golby, chief executive, said: "These redundancies are part of an ongoing process that we started last year to ensure that we have a sustainable retail business in the UK." Another utility, Southern Water, said that to avoid job losses it was looking at a pay freeze for its 1,600 staff. Credit crunch Zavvi Transport Recession Global recession guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (18 h ago)

• Global recession - where did all the mo... Global recession - where did all the money go?
01/29/2009
The global financial pyramid scheme explained (21 h ago)

• Shell makes first quarterly loss in a de... Shell makes first quarterly loss in a decade
01/29/2009
Shell has slumped to its first quarterly loss in 10 years on the back of plummeting oil prices, but the Anglo-Dutch oil group was still able to report the biggest annual profit in UK corporate history, of $31.4bn (£21.9bn) – the equivalent of £2.5m an hour – leading to renewed calls for a windfall tax. The union Unite expressed anger that the petrol supplier was still raking in record profits while motorists and others suffered. "Shell is still feasting while the rest of us face famine," said joint general secretary Derek Simpson. "A compelling case still remains for a windfall tax on the greedy energy companies. Working families are struggling in the face of the recession; the redistribution of windfall profits would help support Britain through these difficult times." Shell's profits were made when oil prices were soaring last year, reaching a record high of $147 a barrel last July – the price has since fallen to below $50. The energy group, which is the second biggest publicly quoted oil company in the world, reported a net deficit of $2.8bn for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with an $8.5bn profit during the same period 12 months earlier. "Combined cycle" earnings – the ones most watched by City analysts – fell 28% to $4.7bn in the three-month period, but Shell's full-year figure of $31.4bn was up 14% on the year before. Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief executive, said industry conditions remained "challenging" and that the company would slow down some of its projects, such as the controversial tar sands operation in Canada. But he added that shareholders were still benefiting, with the dividend raised for both the last and the forthcoming quarter. "Our strategy remains to pay competitive and progressive dividends, and to make significant investments in the company for future profitability. Industry conditions remain challenging and we are continuing the focus on capital and cost discipline," he said. The tar sands business, which has attracted huge criticism from green groups because of its heavy carbon footprint, made a $30m quarterly loss. Van der Veer refused to admit that investing in tar sands was a mistake, saying it was a long-term business that would become profitable when global crude prices recovered. Shell admits the tar sands business needs crude oil prices of $70-$80 a barrel to make money. James Marriott, a partner at environmental group Platform, said: "The tar sands are a disaster and should be abandoned. They are making a substantial financial loss for Shell while taking an even bigger toll on the environment." Shell did not announce job cuts today, but the company did say it expected to spend slightly less on capital investment this year than last, as it balances its "commitments to projects under construction and growth with the more challenging economic landscape in 2009". The City was split over the results and the share price dipped during the day but the "A" shares ended 25p up at £18.01. Andy Lynch, who runs the Schroders European Dynamic Growth Fund, welcomed the results, and Gordon Gray of broker Collins Stewart said the dividend increase showed Shell could ride out the downturn. "We are not that positive on the major oils as a group, but think Shell has the balance sheet to take it through this period of peak investment and weak pricing." There had been speculation that the Anglo-Dutch group would reveal significant cutbacks in its 2009 exploration and production budget and could make job losses. The results should keep Shell ahead of main rival BP, which will report next Tuesday and is expecting full-year profits of $26.5bn. BP is expected to produce a final-quarter profit of $2.98bn, which would be flat on the same period 12 months ago – a comparison flattered by the difficulties following the Texas City fire. Royal Dutch Shell Oil and gas companies Oil Energy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Airlines suffer mass slump in passengers... Airlines suffer mass slump in passengers and cargo
01/29/2009
Airline passenger growth nearly ground to a halt last year as the latest industry figures registered a "shocking" 22.6% drop in air cargo in the last month of 2008. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said passenger numbers grew 1.6% last year, down from an increase of 7.4% in 2007. International passenger traffic tumbled by 4.6% in December, however, as the downturn took hold. IATA said international cargo traffic fell by 4% across 2008 but slipped into a marked decline in December as it decreased by 22.6%. Giovanni Bisignani, the IATA chief executive, said the cargo decline exceeded the aftermath of the 11 September attacks and underlined the severity of the global downturn. "The 22.6% freefall in global cargo is unprecedented and shocking," he said. There is no clearer description of the slowdown in world trade. Even in September 2001, when much of the global fleet was grounded, the decline was only 13.9%." IATA says air cargo accounts for about a third of the value of goods traded internationally. Business travel is also suffering, according to the IATA data, with an 11.5% drop in the number of premium tickets issued in November. The decline in business-class sales will contribute to a projected industry loss of $2.5bn (£1.7bn) this year, bringing the total loss over 2008 and 2009 to $7.5bn. The latest 2009 estimates are based on a 3% fall in passenger numbers. A record oil price contributed to the bankruptcy of more than 30 airlines last year, including Silverjet and XL Airways in the UK, but a decline in fuel costs has been offset by a global downturn that has hit demand. "This is shaping up to be one of the toughest years ever for international aviation," Bisignani said. "The 22.6% drop in international cargo traffic in December puts us in uncharted territory and the bottom is nowhere in sight. Keep your seatbelts fastened and prepare for a bumpy ride and a hard landing." Airline industry Global recession guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Nintendo slashes profit forecast as Wii ... Nintendo slashes profit forecast as Wii sales slide
01/29/2009
Nintendo has slashed its profit forecast in another sign that the strength of the yen is wounding Japan's exporters. The Japanese computer games giant said it expects to sell 1m fewer Wii consoles this financial year than last, down from 27.5m to 26.5m. Its overseas earnings have been eroded by unfavourable exchange rates, as well as the drop in consumer demand. It slashed its profit forecast for the 12 months to the end of March by 16% to ¥530bn (£4.15bn), down from ¥630bn. Nintendo had enjoyed buoyant demand for both the Wii – whose wireless controllers appeal to a broad audience – and its DS handheld game player. Some analysts had expected the company to announce that it would sell more Wiis than expected, thanks to the popularity of games such as Wii Sports and Mario Kart Wii. Other Japanese technology companies are also suffering from the strong yen, which has risen by 20% against the dollar in the last year. Toshiba warned today that it expects to post its first operating loss in seven years, having suffered a slump in demand for its computer chips and electronic devices. It is cutting 4,500 jobs worldwide. And Sony reported a 95% plunge in quarterly net profits earlier today, with sales slipping by 25% in the last three months of 2008. It has seen a rapid deterioration in demand for core products such as flat-screen TVs and digital music players. Analysts had expected very poor numbers from Sony, which last week said it expects to post a record operating loss for the year to March . Nintendo's warning, though, was a surprise. Earlier this week Goldman Sachs had predicted it ought to grow profits next year. "The DS cycle may be on the wane but we believe it is only beginning to reap rewards on high-priced Wii software," its analysts said. On a brighter note, Nintendo did say that it expects to sell 31.5m DS consoles this financial year, 1m more than previously forecast. The wider Japanese economy is also suffering from the twin threat of a strong currency and a global economic downturn. Exports have been falling for months, and tumbled by 35% in December . The yen has strengthened from ¥113 to the dollar at the start of 2008 to less than ¥90 to the dollar today, making Japanese-made products more expensive overseas. Global recession Nintendo Sony Japan Profit warnings guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Starbuck's closes 300 more shops in US a... Starbuck's closes 300 more shops in US as recession hits coffee market
01/28/2009
Thousands of baristas are to lose their jobs as Starbucks shuts stores to cope with dwindling sales of lattes, cappuccinos and frappuccinos as cash-strapped consumers lose their thirst for coffee. The Seattle-based chain tonight revealed a 70% slump in quarterly profits to $64.3m and announced that it intends to shed 6,700 employees this year. It is closing 300 stores, two thirds of which will be in the US, on top of 660 shutdowns last year. As the global economy turns sour, appetite for Starbucks' premium-priced drinks appears to be waning. Like-for-like sales fell by 10% at American stores and dropped by 3% elsewhere in the world - including a decline in the UK during the three months to December. Starbucks' chief executive, Howard Schultz, is joining in the belt-tightening by asking the company's board to cut his basic salary from $1.2m to $10,000. Schultz, 55, dropped off Forbes' list of the world's billionaires last year as the value of his stake in Starbucks plunged. In a statement, Schultz blamed the "weakening global consumer environment" for Starbucks' problems. He said the company was following a "well developed plan to strengthen our business through more efficient operations and by preserving the fundamental strengths and values of our brand". Starbucks' share dropped 2.5% in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The architect of Starbucks' growth during the 1980s and 1990s, Schultz returned as chief executive a year ago to try reignite flagging momentum. He has made a series of changes including improving customer loyalty cards, reviving in-store coffee grinding and axing hot sandwiches which obscure the aroma of coffee in stores. In another money-saving ruse reported this week, Starbucks' US stores will stop brewing decaffeinated coffee during the afternoons unless a customer specifically asks for it. Analysts say Starbucks' market has been eroded by improved coffee offerings at fast-food stores such as McDonald's which typically charge much lower prices. Starbucks has 16,875 stores globally. It once boasted of an ambition to have 20,000 outlets in the US and a further 20,000 overseas, although expansion plans have since been radically scaled back. Starbucks Retail industry Global recession United States guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Spanish police arrest six over £420m Lan... Spanish police arrest six over £420m Langbar fraud allegations
01/28/2009
Spanish police have arrested six people in connection with a $600m (£420m) alleged fraud involving the falsification of assets of a company on the London Stock Exchange's junior market. Police in Barcelona confirmed today they had arrested five Spaniards and an Argentine at the request of Britain's Serious Fraud Office, which has spent three years investigating allegations of fraud at Langbar International, formerly known as Crown Corporation. Officers from City of London police and staff from the Serious Fraud Office travelled to help their Spanish colleagues when the arrests were made and the six men were interviewed last week. "Six people were arrested and interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation into certain inviduals previously associated with Crown Corporation Limited," an SFO spokeswoman confirmed. She said the search and arrest operations had been carried out at four homes and two business addresses in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante. A Barcelona police spokesman told the Guardian the six men had appeared before an investigating magistrate but had not being remanded in custody. The operation had been sparked by their inability to produce International Certificates of Deposit to prove their right to £370m of bank deposits, Spanish police said. The SFO would not comment on whether it would try to extradite the men, who are aged between 56 and 76. Corporate governance Spain guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Santander offers to compensate private b... Santander offers to compensate private banking clients in Bernard Madoff case
01/28/2009
Santander has offered to compensate private banking clients who lost €1.38bn (£1.3bn) in the alleged fraud by US broker Bernard Madoff to try to ward off a class action lawsuit and rebuild its tarnished reputation. Spain's largest bank is the first institution to make such an offer. Investors in its Optimal Strategic fund are thought to be some of the biggest victims and Santander said it had made the move "on the basis of purely commercial reasons" to help "maintain its business relationships with those clients". Spanish legal firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo has teamed up with America's Labaton Sucharow to represent victims. Both filed a class action lawsuit on Monday in a district court in southern Florida. "The putative class seeks a recovery of billions of dollars in damages," the law firms said. Javier Cremades, a partner at Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, reportedly said last night that the Santander offer "went in the right direction". Santander counts some of Spain's richest people as its private clients, as well as a high number of Latin American investors. The offer will not apply to institutional investors. It means Santander's private clients will only lose the interest they expected to have accrued through Madoff's funds. They will be able to exchange their investments in Optimal for preference shares in Santander, with an annual coupon of 2%. The move will cost the bank €500m – a figure that will be absorbed in last year's results, which will be announced next Thursday. The Spanish bank previously announced that Optimal had a total exposure of €2.33bn to Madoff's alleged $50bn fraud while Santander itself only lost €17m . Santander shares rose 1.4% this morning. Reports from Spain have shown that many small Spanish investors put their savings into Madoff Securities via Optimal, including a retired school teacher who put half her savings in the fund, and a street vendor who invested more than $400,000 in lottery winnings in the fund. Victims who lost money investing with Madoff range from financial firms to charities and celebrities around the world. The latest to emerge was Hungarian-born actor Zsa Zsa Gabor, who has lost about $7m. US regulators now believe Madoff may never have made a single trade . He is accused of running a massive pyramid scheme, using cash from new investors to fund payments to earlier clients. He is still on bail in New York and wore a bullet-proof vest on his last court appearance. Bernard Madoff Banco Santander Banking Spain guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Industry accused of abusing EU's carbon ... Industry accused of abusing EU's carbon trading scheme
01/27/2009
Britain's biggest polluting companies are abusing a European emissions trading scheme (ETS) designed to tackle global warming by cashing in their carbon credits in order to bolster ailing balance sheets. The sell-off has helped trigger a collapse in the price of carbon, making it cheaper to burn high-carbon fossil fuels and leading to a fall in the number of clean energy projects. The moves were seized on by environmentalists and other critics who have previously criticised the European Union's ETS for delivering more windfall profits for business than climate change. "This [ETS] was not designed as a scheme to give corporates cheap short-term funding options in the face of a credit crunch meltdown where banks are not lending, but that appears to be what's happening," said Mark Lewis, a carbon analyst at Deutsche Bank. Steel, concrete and glassmakers are believed to be the main sellers along with financial speculators such as hedge funds. The sell-off of the pollution permits has led to carbon prices plunging 60% – from over €30 to around €12 per tonne. The EU's emissions trading scheme was set up as a market solution to cut greenhouse gas pollution from industry. Polluters were issued with permits that can be traded between companies and countries as a way of encouraging an overall reduction in carbon output. However, companies are now cashing them in for their own financial benefit. Up to €1bn-worth of carbon emissions permits are said to have been sold off in recent months as industrial companies see an opportunity to bring in funds at a time when their carbon output is expected to fall due to lower production. Environmentalists expressed anger last night about the way the ETS was being used. "The ETS has bowed to corporate self-interest at every stage of its design and implementation, so there is no surprise that it is now being used as a cash cow to see firms through a difficult financial phase," said Oscar Reyes, a researcher with Carbon Trade Watch. Point Carbon, an information provider and consultancy, claims the sell-offs are only one of a number of factors that are influencing prices and argues it is "rational" for companies to be selling off credits at this time. The falling price of oil – from $147 per barrel last summer to less than $40 now – has dragged down the cost of gas, making it relatively cheap to burn in power stations, it argues. "Recession in Europe is bringing a slowdown in manufacturing meaning less production and less emissions. Companies are doing exactly what is the rational thing to do in these circumstances which is to sell if they are long on credits. It is right that if they are emitting less then they do not need the credits so much and the price of carbon will fall," said Henrik Hasselknippe, global head of carbon at Point Carbon. But the price collapse brings echoes of 2006 when it emerged that EU states had given industry too many carbon credits, creating a glut that made them almost worthless. Since then the European commission has amended the scheme and some of the credits have been auctioned rather than given away. A study commissioned by the WWF environmental organisation from Point Carbon, published in March last year, estimated that "windfall profits" of between €23bn (£21.4bn) and €71bn would be made under the ETS between 2008 and 2012 on the basis that the price of carbon would be between €21 and €32. Up to €15bn could be made by British companies that were given credits they did not need. Analysts said it was very hard to identify on an individual basis which companies were selling their credits but easier to say which sectors they came from such as cement, whose production is expected to drop 20% this year and steel where volumes could fall by 15%. Lafarge, the world's biggest cement maker and owner of Blue Circle Cement in Britain, said last night that it had only sold a small number of credits on the open market. "We mainly sell our credits from one country to another, for example if we have too many in France then we might sell them to Romania if we don't have enough there. Very few credits are being sold on the [open] market," said a spokeswoman at its Paris headquarters, while steelmaker Corus was unavailable for comment. The collapse in the price of carbon has also caused a slowdown in clean energy projects in developing countries against which western firms can gain credits. The price of Clean Development Mechanism (CDMs) offsets has slumped by nearly 30% over the last couple of weeks. CantorC02e, a broker in the field, says it is scaling back its operations. The emissions trading firm has no immediate plans to cut its 40 staff, but says this cannot be ruled out while EcoSecurities, a stock-listed carbon offsetting company, has seen its share price collapse from £1.50 to less than 30p. The low price of UN-approved offsets, known as Certified Emissions Reductions, is slowing the number of clean energy projects being developed in China. "I'd say there is half the number of players now than there was a year ago. Banks have cut back considerably," said a small Chinese project developer. James Thompson, finance director of EcoSecurities, says he is confident that the price of carbon will rebound along with a wider economic recovery in 12 or 18 months' time. "The short-term price will also recover when the flow of credits stop coming on to the market and long-term pressure will come from governments realising they need a strong carbon price for environmental reasons." Emissions trading Climate change European Union Pollution Carbon emissions guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Electronics giant NEC to cut 20,000 jobs Electronics giant NEC to cut 20,000 jobs
01/30/2009
Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said it will cut 20,000 workers worldwide as it tries to stanch losses from semiconductors and other businesses. (3 h ago)

• For economy, January proves cruel For economy, January proves cruel
01/29/2009
Over the past month, Americans have been inundated with a seemingly daily drumbeat of massive layoff announcements. No sector seems to be safe. The biggest names have been hit. (15 h ago)

• Airlines see losses continue to pile up Airlines see losses continue to pile up
01/29/2009
Deep capacity cuts, checked bag fees and aggressive fare sales couldn't stop the airline industry's bleeding from the impact of bad bets on fuel hedges and the drop-off in demand. (15 h ago)

• Chicken wing panic turns out to be basel... Chicken wing panic turns out to be baseless
01/29/2009
Buffalo's football team won't have a place in this year's Super Bowl hoopla, but don't worry, its chicken wings will. (15 h ago)

• Obama slams Wall Street on bonuses Obama slams Wall Street on bonuses
01/29/2009
President Barack Obama said it is irresponsible and shameful for Wall Street bankers to be paid huge bonuses while the American public is dealing with economic hardship. (15 h ago)

• Amazon beats Wall Street estimates in fo... Amazon beats Wall Street estimates in fourth
01/29/2009
Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 9 percent and beat forecasts. Those results sent its shares soaring nearly 10 percent in extended trading. (16 h ago)

• Fresh economic fears hammer stock market... Fresh economic fears hammer stock markets
01/29/2009
Two glaring signs that the economy remains in a deep slump sent stocks reeling Thursday. (16 h ago)

• When it comes, recovery will be slow, we... When it comes, recovery will be slow, weak
01/29/2009
As the government advances historic measures to revive growth, analysts say the recovery — when it comes — will likely be weak and slow. (17 h ago)

• Oil falls on housing, industry, job numb... Oil falls on housing, industry, job numbers
01/29/2009
Oil prices dropped as layoffs spread, orders for big-ticket manufactured goods evaporated and the U.S. homebuilding industry posted its worst annual sales in more than two decades. (19 h ago)

• Record number getting jobless benefits Record number getting jobless benefits
01/29/2009
The government says the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time high as layoffs spread throughout the economy. (20 h ago)

• Obama seeks GOP help for recovery bill Obama seeks GOP help for recovery bill
01/29/2009
The president 's stimulus legislation is headed for the Senate after a surprisingly partisan vote in the House in which Republicans united in opposition and 11 mostly conservative Democrats defected. (20 h ago)

• Kodak posts loss, plans up to 4,500 job ... Kodak posts loss, plans up to 4,500 job cuts
01/29/2009
Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday it is cutting 3,500 to 4,500 jobs, or 14 percent to 18 percent of its work force, as it posted a fourth-quarter loss of $137 million on plunging sales. (21 h ago)

• Madoff paper trail leads to NYC warehous... Madoff paper trail leads to NYC warehouse
01/29/2009
The paper trail in the Bernard Madoff fraud case has led investigators to a warehouse containing boxes and file cabinets stuffed with documents. (21 h ago)

• The most infamous Super Bowl ads of all ... The most infamous Super Bowl ads of all time
01/29/2009
Sometime tacky and sleazy works. And then there are those nasty other times. (21 h ago)

• Ford reports $5.9 billion fourth-quarter... Ford reports $5.9 billion fourth-quarter loss
01/29/2009
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter and burned through $5.5 billion in cash as sales slumped. (22 h ago)

• New home sales at slowest rate on record New home sales at slowest rate on record
01/29/2009
Sales of new homes plunged to the slowest pace on record last month as the hobbled homebuilding industry posted its worst annual sales results in more than two decades. (22 h ago)

• Durable goods orders fall for fifth mont... Durable goods orders fall for fifth month
01/29/2009
Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell for the fifth straight month in December, closing out a dismal year in which demand dropped sharply. (1 d ago)

• ConsumerMan: FTC busts Suntasia scam ConsumerMan: FTC busts Suntasia scam
01/28/2009
The Federal Trade Commission says Suntasia Marketing of Largo, Fla. used this trick to deceive nearly a million people out of approximately $172 million. (1 d ago)

• KODAK TO CUT UP TO 4,500 KODAK TO CUT UP TO 4,500
01/29/2009
Eastman Kodak Co. said it will eliminate as many as 4,500 jobs and restructure after reporting a fourth-quarter loss and sales that missed analysts' estimates. The shares fell to their lowest in at least 35 years. The company will take 2009... (9 h ago)

• CASH4GOLD HAS A SUPER PITCH CASH4GOLD HAS A SUPER PITCH
01/29/2009
Cash4Gold, best known for its cheesy, ubiquitous TV ads asking people to mail in their baubles for cash, is leaving the ranks of late-night advertisers behind and joining the big leagues. The direct marketer, whose business is one of the few to... (9 h ago)

• WHOLE FOODS STARTS TALKS WITH FTC WHOLE FOODS STARTS TALKS WITH FTC
01/29/2009
Whole Foods Market, the largest US natural-foods grocer, has begun talks with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve the government's antitrust review of its $565 million purchase of Wild Oats Markets Inc. The FTC agreed to a company request to... (10 h ago)

• TW CABLE FREEZES PAY TW CABLE FREEZES PAY
01/29/2009
Time Warner Cable Inc., the second-largest US cable operator, will forgo raises for top executives this year as subscriber growth slows, hurt by the deepening recession. No raises will be given to employees at the vice-president level or above... (10 h ago)

• TANKS RUN ON EMPTY TANKS RUN ON EMPTY
01/29/2009
Reeling from its worst performance in 105 years, Ford Motor has enough cash for about eight more months but says it would rather borrow from banks than take government-bailout money. Ford yesterday posted its worst annual loss, totaling $14.6... (10 h ago)

• LAW BIG DREIR INDICTED LAW BIG DREIR INDICTED
01/29/2009
Marc Dreier, the jailed New York law-firm founder, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for cheating hedge funds and other investors of more than $400 million. The indictment, made public yesterday in Manhattan federal court, follows... (10 h ago)

• BIG BUCKS FOR SEC BOSS BIG BUCKS FOR SEC BOSS
01/29/2009
US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro was to receive $5 million to $25 million in benefits when she resigned from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to join the government. Schapiro had a $2.75 million salary as... (10 h ago)

• AMAZON-LIKE NUMBERS LIFT BEZOS & COMPANY AMAZON-LIKE NUMBERS LIFT BEZOS & COMPANY
01/29/2009
Online retailer Amazon.com yesterday defied the laws of retail gravity, posting a robust jump in fourth-quarter profit at a time when most peers are swooning or shutting down altogether. The world's largest Internet store reported an eye-popping... (10 h ago)

• NOT OK! FOR BROWNRIDGE NOT OK! FOR BROWNRIDGE
01/29/2009
AFTER yesterday's shake-up at OK! magazine, it'll take a microscope to find any trace of the mark left by Kent Brownridge. He, along with Editor-in-Chief Susan Toepfer, are out after Richard Desmond, CEO of magazine owner Northern + Shell... (10 h ago)

• AN 'A' FOR IMMELT: WELCH AN 'A' FOR IMMELT: WELCH
01/29/2009
General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt gets an "A" for fourth-quarter performance and any decision on the company's continued support of a dividend and AAA rating is up to him, said his former boss, Jack Welch. "He did a... (10 h ago)

• HOME-SALES CARNAGE DRAGS MARKETS DOWN HOME-SALES CARNAGE DRAGS MARKETS DOWN
01/29/2009
Even bargain mortgage rates can't help pull housing out of its quicksand. New-home sales dived in December to close the worst yearly showing ever, while the glut of unsold new homes swelled to record levels. The year-over-year results tumbled... (10 h ago)

• FULL-PRICE FOLLIES FULL-PRICE FOLLIES
01/29/2009
The owner of Barneys New York is struggling to face a painful markdown. Istithmar - the investment arm of the Dubai government that ponied up nearly $950 million to buy the luxury chain in September 2007 - has launched a haphazard effort to sell... (10 h ago)

• BUSINESS BRIEFS BUSINESS BRIEFS
01/29/2009
Starbucks Starbucks' debt rat ings may be lowered by Moody's Investors Service after the coffee chain said yesterday it will cut 6,700 addi tional jobs and close 300 more stores. Schwab cuts Charles Schwab said it will cut as many as 600 jobs... (10 h ago)

• Starbucks to cut 6,700 jobs, close 300 s... Starbucks to cut 6,700 jobs, close 300 stores
01/28/2009
Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that it would cut as many as 6,700 jobs as it closes hundreds more stores and eliminates more positions at its corporate headquarters. (1 d ago)

• Postal service considers cutting deliver... Postal service considers cutting delivery day
01/28/2009
Postmaster General John Potter says the massive deficits facing the post office could force the agency to cut out one day of mail delivery per week. (1 d ago)

• Even Super Bowl not recession-proof Even Super Bowl not recession-proof
01/28/2009
In years past, the Super Bowl was so much more than a game. It was an outright orgy of football, glitz and gluttony, a celebration of excess where too much was never enough. (1 d ago)

• AOL axing 700 jobs in cost-cutting move AOL axing 700 jobs in cost-cutting move
01/28/2009
Time Warner Inc.'s AOL business is cutting up to 700 jobs, or about 10 percent of the Internet unit's work force, in a bid to cut costs. (1 d ago)

• Dark side of Wall Street at center stage Dark side of Wall Street at center stage
01/28/2009
The dark side of American business was on full display Tuesday as four men accused of defrauding investors were arrested, investigated, surrendered or sentenced. (2 d ago)

• Target to cut jobs, close distribution c... Target to cut jobs, close distribution center
01/27/2009
Target said on Tuesday that it will cut roughly 600 jobs at its headquarters, leave another 400 positions unfilled and close a distribution center that employs 500 workers. (2 d ago)

• SEC regulators on defense at Madoff hear... SEC regulators on defense at Madoff hearing
01/27/2009
Government and industry regulators were on the defensive Tuesday at a hearing over their failure to uncover the multibillion-dollar fraud allegedly carried out by Bernard Madoff. (2 d ago)

• The wealthy turn stealthy as economy wea... The wealthy turn stealthy as economy weakens
01/27/2009
Call it stealth wealth. As the economy weakens, the wealthy and the businesses that cater to them say it's chic to scale back extravagant spending and play down affluence (2 d ago)

• Chastised Citigroup grounds plans for pl... Chastised Citigroup grounds plans for plane
01/27/2009
Citigroup Inc. has no plans to take possession of a new $50 million business jet aircraft, a spokesman said after the bank's plan to take delivery of the plane raised political hackles. (2 d ago)

• AP: 9 in 10 execs at bailout banks keep ... AP: 9 in 10 execs at bailout banks keep jobs
01/27/2009
At banks that are receiving federal bailout money nearly nine out of every 10 of the most senior executives from 2006 are still on the job, according to an Associated Press analysis of documents. (2 d ago)

• Even Dilbert gets the boot Even Dilbert gets the boot
01/29/2009
Life in the cubicle for comic strip character Dilbert has been chronicled for years in newspapers worldwide. But even Dilbert isn't immune to the recession. Creator Scott Adams speaks with Kai Ryssdal about why Dilbert is joining the unemployment line. (21 h ago)

• Portland realtor deals in tough market Portland realtor deals in tough market
01/29/2009
Home sales continue to plunge, which must be pretty frustrating for real estate agents who depend on commissions from home sales. Mitchell Hartman spends time with one of them in Portland, Ore. (21 h ago)

• 4 seasons not on orchestra's program 4 seasons not on orchestra's program
01/29/2009
In winter the Cleveland Orchestra wings it to Miami, Fla. Not in search of warmer weather, but rather for revenue it can't find in its hometown's frozen economy. Dan Grech reports. (21 h ago)

• California running out of cash California running out of cash
01/29/2009
California is $40 billion in debt, and lawmakers can't agree on how to balance the budget. If the state can't scrounge up the money to pay off looming bills, things could get a whole lot worse. Marianne Russ reports. (21 h ago)

• Panel pushes for more TARP regulation Panel pushes for more TARP regulation
01/29/2009
The Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP says lack of regulation is a key cause of the financial crisis. Elizabeth Warren, the panel's chair, speaks with Kai Ryssdal about the new regulations it is urging the government to implement. (21 h ago)

• FICO changes its score FICO changes its score
01/29/2009
Fair Isaac Corp. announced that TransUnion is the first credit bureau to offer its new FICO 08 credit score to lenders. What do these changes mean for consumers? John Dimsdale reports. (21 h ago)

• Unemployment cuts across classes Unemployment cuts across classes
01/29/2009
Nearly every industry is seeing sweeping layoffs in this recession. The job cuts aren't limited to the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, either. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports. (21 h ago)

• Rupert Murdoch's downturn blues Rupert Murdoch's downturn blues
01/30/2009
Rupert Murdoch is blaming the spending binge for the crisis, and warns that it will probably take some time until we emerge from it.But the reality is that his News Corporation has been hit hard by... (1 h ago)

• Winter of discontent: will the Paris rio... Winter of discontent: will the Paris riots spread?
01/30/2009
Paris has broken out in violent protests over the French government's handling of the economic crisis with 65,000 demonstrators joining a march from the Place de la Bastille towards the center of... (1 h ago)

• Wall Street bonus time, despite recessio... Wall Street bonus time, despite recession
01/29/2009
The recession has not hurt the bankers. Not one bit. The New York Times reports that despite all the losses and taxpayer-funded bailouts, financial companies in New York collected an estimated $18.4... (9 h ago)

• CEO pessimism CEO pessimism
01/29/2009
Chief executive officers are a glum lot. According to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, most CEOs around the world are expecting a long and hard recovery. The survey found that only 15% of... (9 h ago)

• Ponzi schemes proliferate Ponzi schemes proliferate
01/28/2009
When the Bernard Madoff scandal broke, it was inevitable more Ponzi schemes would come to light. For a good reason too. With every bubble there is fraud. Look behind every bubble and you'll find... (1 d ago)

• Sarbanes-Oxley: It's crunch time for sma... Sarbanes-Oxley: It's crunch time for small companies
01/28/2009
It looks like the honeymoon is over for small companies.Incoming Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Schapiro says she wants small public businesses to start complying with the... (1 d ago)

• The axe man cometh: get ready for a shor... The axe man cometh: get ready for a shorter working week
01/27/2009
It's the year of the axe with companies axing more than 75,000 jobs, led by Caterpillar which is sacking 20,000. For a good breakdown, check this little table from the Financial Times.The news... (2 d ago)

• What Red Ink? Wall Street Paid Hefty Bon... What Red Ink? Wall Street Paid Hefty Bonuses
01/29/2009
Despite crippling losses in 2008, financial employees in New York collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year. (14 h ago)

• Phone Smart: Free Internet-Calling Servi... Phone Smart: Free Internet-Calling Services Join the Cellphone App Market
01/29/2009
Telephony providers like Skype and Fring make themselves available as apps. (1 d ago)

• It’s the Economy, Girlfriend It’s the Economy, Girlfriend
01/28/2009
A group called Dating a Banker Anonymous offers support to women whose romantic relationships have suffered from the economic downturn. (1 d ago)

• Relief Seen for Jobless and States in He... Relief Seen for Jobless and States in Health Care Plan
01/28/2009
For Democrats, the stimulus bill is also a tool for rewriting the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed. (1 d ago)

• Annuities: What You Need to Know Annuities: What You Need to Know
01/27/2009
Annuities are a basic staple of modern portfolios, the financial equivalent of a backstop to guarantee a minimum of income in retirement. (2 d ago)

• Start Saving Money on Heating This Winte... Start Saving Money on Heating This Winter
01/30/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 3940432 Hopefully by now you have already taken some steps to save money on your heating bills. If you haven't, it is not too late to do something now.... (3 h ago)

• Tips On How to Save Money Right Away Tips On How to Save Money Right Away
01/29/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 3425801 Being able to save money is something that you must make up your mind to do. While this has already been said, it needs to be repeated. Otherwise - it... (1 d ago)

• More Tips On Saving Money On Your Food B... More Tips On Saving Money On Your Food Bills
01/28/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 3000673 One thing that a lot of us love to do more than about anything is to eat. We love to eat and we love to eat a lot. It's definitely easier, too, to... (2 d ago)

• Saving Money on Food Tips Saving Money on Food Tips
01/27/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 1589114 When you fall into the habit of spending money regularly, it does not take long before you begin to ignore it altogether. Even worse, it becomes possible... (3 d ago)

• Bush war on cheese raises stink in Franc... Bush war on cheese raises stink in France
01/29/2009
The United States has declared war on Roquefort cheese. In its final days, the Bush administration imposed a 300 percent duty on Roquefort, in effect closing off the U.S. market. (1 d ago)

• IMF slashes global economic growth outlo... IMF slashes global economic growth outlook
01/28/2009
The world economy will essentially come to a halt this year as more than $2 trillion of bad assets clog the financial system, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. (1 d ago)

• 6 held over $600 million stock fraud 6 held over $600 million stock fraud
01/28/2009
Spanish police have arrested six people in connection with a $600 million fraud on the London Stock Exchange, Spain's Interior Ministry said Wednesday. (2 d ago)

• The world’s most valuable pro sports tea... The world’s most valuable pro sports teams
01/27/2009
This may be hard to believe: In 2003, no pro sports team in the world was worth a billion dollars. By the end of 2008, there were 24. (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

• Forecasters see historic drop in retail ... Forecasters see historic drop in retail sales
01/27/2009
The nation’s retailers had a rough 2008, but this year will likely be even scarier, according to a sales forecast released Tuesday from the world’s largest retail trade organization. (3 d ago)

• Your Career: More companies using furlou... Your Career: More companies using furloughs
01/29/2009
Many companies, universities and governments across the country are forcing their workers to take time off. There’s one catch — no pay. (20 h ago)

• Congress sends Obama pay discrimination ... Congress sends Obama pay discrimination bill
01/27/2009
Congress sent the White House its first legislation of Barack Obama's presidency Tuesday, a bill that makes it easier for women and others to sue for pay discrimination. (2 d ago)

• Rough ride but worth it for the self-emp... Rough ride but worth it for the self-employed
01/28/2009
As Perry Weaver fixes problems beneath the hood of a customer's pearl white 1968 Corvette, his biggest worry is the country's financial engine. (1 d ago)

• A health care headache A health care headache
01/28/2009
Your Biz blog: It’s getting ugly out there for small business owners struggling to keep on paying high health insurance premiums for themselves and their workers. (1 d ago)

• Financing, With Strings Attached Financing, With Strings Attached
01/28/2009
Small business owners should think carefully before accepting an investor’s offer of cash. (1 d ago)

• All Dressed Up Like Art Galleries All Dressed Up Like Art Galleries
01/28/2009
Monica Serra showed at Mina, a boutique, after her gallery closed.Artists and merchants across the country are becoming more flexible in their attitude about where art should be sold. (1 d ago)

• Focus on Strength Focus on Strength
01/27/2009
Black in Business ran in encouraging piece earlier this month on how to develop a positive outlook on your business activities. It's a simple message. Manage your weaknesses; we all know that. But... (2 d ago)

• Obama's Aunt Has Immigration Hearing in ... Obama's Aunt Has Immigration Hearing in April
01/27/2009
Her name is Zeituni Onyango. She is the half-sister of President Obama's late father and she has been living in the U.S. illegally since for about four years now. In April she will get a hearing... (2 d ago)

• Profit Reports Give Wall Street a Lift Profit Reports Give Wall Street a Lift
01/27/2009
NEW YORK, Jan. 27 -- Some of Wall Street's earnings anxiety eased Tuesday after companies including United States Steel and American Express managed to post profits in a difficult recession. (2 d ago)

• Hedge Fund Manager Surrenders to Police Hedge Fund Manager Surrenders to Police
01/29/2009
Missing hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who disappeared last week along with an estimated $350 million of investor's money, turned himself in to the FBI yesterday. The Sarasota resident, 76,... (22 h ago)

• A Conversation with Larry Guevel of Unis... A Conversation with Larry Guevel of Unisys
01/29/2009
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 3294058 A few days ago, I had the opportunity to chat with Larry Guevel, Vice President of Strategic Business Planning for Unisys Global Outsourcing and... (18 h ago)

• Is Your Business Mentor or Idol on Twitt... Is Your Business Mentor or Idol on Twitter? How 'Bout your Competitors?
01/28/2009
Twitter has gotten a lot of hype and free press over the last few weeks. Some was good (it seems to have passed social bookmarking site Digg in market share) and some of it bad (a few dozen celebrity... (1 d ago)

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