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Business News
for 12/08/2009

(last updated 7:30am EST 12/08/2009)

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• Japan Puts Forth $80.6 Billion Stimulus ... Japan Puts Forth $80.6 Billion Stimulus Package
12/08/2009
Japan’s governing coalition has announced $80.6 billion in stimulus spending in a bid to buttress the country’s fragile economic recovery. (1 h ago)

• Virgin Galactic Unveils Commercial Space... Virgin Galactic Unveils Commercial Spaceship
12/08/2009
The sleek, bullet-shaped spacecraft is about the size of a large business jet -- with wide windows and seats for six well-heeled passengers to take a ride into space. (1 h ago)

• Europe Praises U.S. Ruling on Greenhouse... Europe Praises U.S. Ruling on Greenhouse Gases
12/08/2009
The European Commission on Tuesday applauded the decision to pave the way for federal limits on emissions. (1 h ago)

• Reporter’s Notebook: Under Banner of Urg... Reporter’s Notebook: Under Banner of Urgency, Delegates Tackle Policy
12/08/2009
Evocations of Judgment Day were an undercurrent in speeches and materials on opening day in Copenhagen. (1 h ago)

• Russia’s Carbon Credits Seen as Barrier ... Russia’s Carbon Credits Seen as Barrier to Warming Curb
12/08/2009
The collapse of industry in Russia put a huge dent in carbon emissions, giving the country control over the trading chits that are seen as vital in the fight against climate change. (1 h ago)

• Climate Talks Open With Calls for Urgent... Climate Talks Open With Calls for Urgent Action
12/08/2009
A meeting of nearly 200 nations seeking what has so far been elusive common ground on climate began Monday. (1 h ago)

• Markets Subdued After Bernanke Comments Markets Subdued After Bernanke Comments
12/08/2009
European stocks rose cautiously after Asia closed lower as market sentiment was subdued by the Federal Reserve’s warning that the U.S. economy will continue to struggle. (1 h ago)

• Back to Business: Debt Raters Avoid Over... Back to Business: Debt Raters Avoid Overhaul After Crisis
12/08/2009
As Washington rewrites the rules of Wall Street, experts say the overhaul of the Big Three credit rating agencies is not going far enough. (1 h ago)

• Nizhny Tagil Journal: In Search of Forme... Nizhny Tagil Journal: In Search of Former Glory, a City Welcomes Its Midas
12/08/2009
An industrial city prepares for a visit from Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, who has been seen as a savior of factory towns for swooping in to boost local economies. (1 h ago)

• Dubai World Is Pressured to Sell Assets Dubai World Is Pressured to Sell Assets
12/08/2009
As Dubai World and its creditors prepare for negotiations, some investors say they have enough support to force the company into default and lay claim to its most prized assets. (1 h ago)

• Google Adds Live Updates to Results Google Adds Live Updates to Results
12/08/2009
Google will supplement its search results with updates posted each second to sites like Twitter and Facebook. (1 h ago)

• Tax Plan Is Meant to Help Indirect Madof... Tax Plan Is Meant to Help Indirect Madoff Investors
12/08/2009
The proposal aims to provide smaller investors who were victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme the same sorts of tax breaks given to affluent investors. (1 h ago)

• Dark Side of a Natural Gas Boom Dark Side of a Natural Gas Boom
12/08/2009
Some environmentalists are concerned that a technology called hydraulic fracturing used to produce natural gas could be leading to pollution. (1 h ago)

• Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Reco... Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show
12/08/2009
More than 20 percent of water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. (1 h ago)

• Chrysler Fights to Regain Lost Ground Chrysler Fights to Regain Lost Ground
12/08/2009
To stem a decline in sales, the auto maker is making changes to its marketing as it awaits potential improvements in car design. (1 h ago)

• A Flush G.M. to Lavish Cash on New Vehic... A Flush G.M. to Lavish Cash on New Vehicles
12/08/2009
During the automaker’s slide into bankruptcy, it had to suspend some of its investments. But the new chief seems eager to play aggressive offense. (1 h ago)

• Census Finds Rise in Foreign Workers Census Finds Rise in Foreign Workers
12/08/2009
The proportion of foreign-born workers is the highest since the 1920s. The analysis also found a higher education decline at the third generation. (1 h ago)

• To Reduce Deficit, Britain Considers Ban... To Reduce Deficit, Britain Considers Bank Bonus Tax
12/08/2009
The government laid out more concrete steps for reducing the country’s budget deficit, but would not say whether it plans a controversial tax on bonuses. (1 h ago)

• Boxee, a Start-Up, to Offer a Device to ... Boxee, a Start-Up, to Offer a Device to Put Web Video on TV
12/08/2009
A partnership between Boxee and the Taiwanese equipment maker D-Link hopes to keep the price of the new set-top box under $200. (1 h ago)

• Itineraries: Airlines Charging More for ... Itineraries: Airlines Charging More for That Sought-After Seat
12/08/2009
Airlines are creating different classes of coach seats, with those offering more room or a faster exit costing more. (1 h ago)

• Answer Desk: Adding up bank bailout loss... Answer Desk: Adding up bank bailout losses
12/08/2009
As the Great Bank Bailout of 2008 appears to be winding down, it's looking like taxpayers will get a lot – but certainly not all – of their money back. The Answer Desk. (1 h ago)

• Citi, Wells Fargo seek to repay TARP loa... Citi, Wells Fargo seek to repay TARP loans
12/08/2009
Citigroup and Wells Fargo are seeking to repay billions in federal bailout aid but so far haven't received permission from the government, sources say (1 h ago)

• Bernanke: Too soon to tell if recovery w... Bernanke: Too soon to tell if recovery will last
12/07/2009
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says it is still too early to declare that the budding recovery will last. (7 m ago)

• Obama to lay out plan to combat joblessn... Obama to lay out plan to combat joblessness
12/07/2009
President Obama will lay out policy proposals to combat double-digit unemployment in a speech on Tuesday tackling a problem that has become a drain on his administration. (12 m ago)

• Ex-CEO says eBay didn't misuse Craigslis... Ex-CEO says eBay didn't misuse Craigslist data
12/07/2009
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman said Monday she was unaware of any attempt by the Internet marketplace to misuse confidential data from Craigslist. (29 m ago)

• Stocks flat after Bernanke eases rate ji... Stocks flat after Bernanke eases rate jitters
12/07/2009
Stocks ended mixed after a brief afternoon gain that came when Fed chair Ben Bernanke said that rates are likely to remain low. (1 h ago)

• Latest Toyota setback: Claims engines st... Latest Toyota setback: Claims engines stall
12/07/2009
Regulators have launched an investigation into complaints of engine stalling on certain Corolla and Matrix models, the latest in a series of safety issues facing the automaker. (1 h ago)

• Transgender teen: McDonald’s discriminat... Transgender teen: McDonald’s discriminates
12/07/2009
A transgender teenager says a McDonald's restaurant in Florida discriminated against her when managers refused to interview her for a job, according to a complaint filed Monday. (2 h ago)

• Industry slams EPA greenhouse gas ruling Industry slams EPA greenhouse gas ruling
12/07/2009
Political, costly, and likely to choke off growth. That's how the energy industry and some companies describe the EPA's announcement that greenhouse gas emissions must be regulated. (2 h ago)

• SEC: Ex-New Century execs misled investo... SEC: Ex-New Century execs misled investors
12/07/2009
Federal regulators on Monday accused three former top executives of collapsed mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. of fraud, saying they misled investors as the company's subprime loan business was failing in 2006. (2 h ago)

• Rich getting richer? Particularly in Con... Rich getting richer? Particularly in Connecticut
12/07/2009
If you're feeling like the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, you may be on to something. Especially if you live in Southern Connecticut. (3 h ago)

• Consumer credit falls for 9th straight m... Consumer credit falls for 9th straight month
12/07/2009
The Federal Reserve says consumers borrowed less for a record ninth straight month in October. (3 h ago)

• Hasbro to make Sesame Street-brand toys Hasbro to make Sesame Street-brand toys
12/07/2009
Toy maker Hasbro says it will make and market toys and games based on well-known Sesame Street characters, such as Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster. (4 h ago)

• Where porn stars sing for their supper Where porn stars sing for their supper
12/07/2009
Porn Star Tuesdays began accidentally when a handful of entertainers dropped by to unwind. They had so much fun singing karaoke they came back the next week. Six years later, they are still coming back. (5 h ago)

• Chicken of the sea? Tuna farming gets a ... Chicken of the sea? Tuna farming gets a boost
12/07/2009
As the world's love affair with raw fish depletes wild tuna populations, long-running efforts to breed the deep-sea fish from egg to adulthood may finally be bearing fruit. (7 h ago)

• Some employers swap parties for charity Some employers swap parties for charity
12/07/2009
Some companies are looking for alternative ways to celebrate the holiday season without spending too much money or appearing ostentatious. (8 h ago)

• Home Depot to sell Martha Stewart paints Home Depot to sell Martha Stewart paints
12/07/2009
The Home Depot Inc. will start selling Martha Stewart-branded paint and cleaning products next year in addition to the home decor and closet organization lines announced in September. (9 h ago)

• Five AIG execs say may quit over pay: re... Five AIG execs say may quit over pay: report
12/07/2009
Five senior executives at AIG told the bailed -out insurer last week they may quit if their compensation was cut significantly by the U.S. pay czar, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. (10 h ago)

• NYT: U.S. forecasts smaller loss from ba... NYT: U.S. forecasts smaller loss from bank bailout
12/07/2009
The new estimates, for a loss of $42 billion out of $370 billion lent to banks, could lower the administration’s deficit forecast for this fiscal year. (18 h ago)

• Think twice before giving the boss a gif... Think twice before giving the boss a gift
12/07/2009
Employees thankful to still have jobs this holiday season may want to show their gratitude by giving a gift to the boss. But adding a manager to your Santa list may not be the best career move. (23 h ago)

• Showtime Adds Weekly Nascar Program to L... Showtime Adds Weekly Nascar Program to Lineup
12/08/2009
Showtime, which last year added “Inside the NFL” to its schedule, will carry a new hourlong weekly program that covers Nascar. (1 h ago)

• Mistrial in Case of Broadcaster Accused ... Mistrial in Case of Broadcaster Accused of Threats to Judges
12/08/2009
A juror said that prosecutors appeared to have presented less evidence than had been expected against Harold C. Turner. (1 h ago)

• Advertising: Groups Far Apart on Online ... Advertising: Groups Far Apart on Online Privacy Oversight
12/08/2009
A round table on privacy and technology held by the Federal Trade Commission showed a heightened awareness of online privacy issues, if not much consensus. (1 h ago)

• Times Company Reverses Its Plans to Sell... Times Company Reverses Its Plans to Sell Worcester Telegram & Gazette
12/08/2009
The New York Times Company informed Telegram & Gazette employees that it would keep the paper, which it had planned to sell with The Boston Globe. (1 h ago)

• Universal, Sony and EMI to Start Music V... Universal, Sony and EMI to Start Music Video Site Called Vevo
12/08/2009
The new Web site will be introduced Tuesday night as three of the four top music labels combine to try new ways to increase revenue. (1 h ago)

• Q & A With Stuart Elliott Q & A With Stuart Elliott
12/08/2009
Q & A With Stuart Elliott. (1 h ago)

• Webdenda: People and Accounts of Note Webdenda: People and Accounts of Note
12/08/2009
Webdenda. (1 h ago)

• If You Can’t Stand the Web Camera, Get O... If You Can’t Stand the Web Camera, Get Out of the Kitchen
12/08/2009
A campaign for a new restaurant in Minneapolis includes at live video feed from the kitchen. (1 h ago)

• Two Reality Shows Stir Publicity and Ang... Two Reality Shows Stir Publicity and Anger
12/07/2009
A show about Italian-Americans has brought accusations of stereotyping, and another about reuniting adoptees with their birth parents has riled adoption groups. (3 h ago)

• NBC-Comcast Deal Puts Broadcast TV in Do... NBC-Comcast Deal Puts Broadcast TV in Doubt
12/07/2009
Despite Comcast’s assurances, employees at NBC have expressed anxiety about the cable giant’s bid for control of NBC Universal. (3 h ago)

• Publisher Lays Out Plan to Save Newspape... Publisher Lays Out Plan to Save Newspapers
12/07/2009
Axel Springer wants Internet companies to work together to create a “one-click marketplace solution.” (4 h ago)

• Zappos Tries a Printed Catalog Zappos Tries a Printed Catalog
12/07/2009
Zappos.com, the online seller of shoes and other merchandise, is mailing 750,000 copies of a printed catalog to consumers. (6 h ago)

• Advertising: The Two-Way Street for Film... Advertising: The Two-Way Street for Film Promotions
12/07/2009
This season’s promotions are putting a new twist on the Happy Meal model of film marketing, with some efforts branching out into unexpected realms. (10 h ago)

• Univision to Make Its Own Telenovelas fo... Univision to Make Its Own Telenovelas for U.S. TV
12/07/2009
For years, almost all of the Spanish-language television network’s soap operas have been imported from other countries. (10 h ago)

• So Much Air in Packages, So Many Explana... So Much Air in Packages, So Many Explanations
12/07/2009
From the plausible to the fanciful, food makers produce reasons for their very spacious packaging. (17 h ago)

• Media Firm Buys Stake in Sports Cable TV Media Firm Buys Stake in Sports Cable TV
12/07/2009
Mariah Media, which has been producing shows for cable television channels, will take a minority stake in the Resorts Sports Network. (17 h ago)

• Portfolio.com’s New Tack Diverts From De... Portfolio.com’s New Tack Diverts From Defunct Magazine
12/07/2009
Under the ownership of American City Business Journals, Portfolio.com is being reinvented as more helpful and earnest. (17 h ago)

• Bloomberg Technology Embraces Baseball Bloomberg Technology Embraces Baseball
12/06/2009
Bloomberg L.P.’s step into player-evaluation software for baseball teams is a natural extension for the company, which manages huge amounts of data to help clients with risk and their investments. (1 d ago)

• In Animated Videos, News and Guesswork M... In Animated Videos, News and Guesswork Mix
12/06/2009
A video that simulates Tiger Woods’s accident has drawn attention to a new world of pseudo-journalism in Taiwan. (1 d ago)

• FTSE 100 falls back on global worries FTSE 100 falls back on global worries
12/08/2009
Leading shares have gone sharply into reverse, as a number of worries rear their heads to spook investors. In Dubai, there are reports of a hefty loss at the troubled Nakheel, not to mention a downgrade on six Dubai-linked businesses by ratings agency Moody's. Greece is also on the bear's radar on concerns about its economy, while news that shares in financial group Fortis have been suspended has also soured sentiment. On top of that, there are poor German industrial production figures. So after an early gain the FTSE 100 is now down 54.40 points at 5256.26, with Royal Bank of Scotland still taking the wooden spoon, down 2.3p to 30.7p. The London Stock Exchange is 30p lower at 710p on Dubai worries. Even the miners which had earlier been in demand have been abandoned, with Antofagasta 13.5p lower at 907p. The US futures are also negative, with an opening fall of 60 points predicted. Royal Bank of Scotland Antofagasta London Stock Exchange Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Manufacturers expect output to fall, say... Manufacturers expect output to fall, says CBI
12/08/2009
Monthly figures show little optimism for the next quarter, dashing hopes that the weaker pound would boost sales Britain's manufacturing firms expect output to fall back again in the next three months, the CBI reported today. The survey will disappoint those who were looking for the weaker pound to boost output in the sector. The latest monthly snapshot comes after the previous two showed firms expecting to raise their output in the following quarter. The figures come hot on the heels of official data for October which showed that both manufacturing and industrial output, which includes utilities and North Sea oil companies, failed to grow at all. The CBI's industrial trends survey showed that 18% of manufacturers anticipate the volume of output will rise over the next three months, while 25% think it will fall. The resulting balance of -7% is the worst since July, when it was -14%. The lack of a sustained pick-up in output reflects the ongoing weakness of demand, the CBI said. A balance of -42% of firms said total order books were below normal, which was a slight improvement on November's reading of -45% and was the best since December 2008. Export order books weakened again, however. A balance of -41% said they were below normal compared to -37% last month. Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, said: "Manufacturing prospects were starting to look up but have dipped again in this latest survey. Output had been edging higher after the rapid stock depletion earlier this year. But with demand moving only slowly in the right direction, order books remain very weak and firms now expect production will fall back slightly in the next three months. "This highlights the fragility of the recovery and the likelihood that economic activity will continue to bump along the bottom early next year." Manufacturers expect that prices will fall in the next three months, and this survey's balance of -6% expecting a fall was in line with the previous two months. Manufacturing data Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Economics Recession Currencies Ashley Seager guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Intermediate Capital jumps after record ... Intermediate Capital jumps after record disposal profit
12/08/2009
Intermediate Capital , the private equity business, has moved sharply higher after reporting its biggest ever profit on a disposal. The company is selling its equity and mezzanine interest in Marken Group, a medical courier business, to fellow private equity group Apax for £170m. ICG will book a £68m profit on the deal, and its shares have soared 10.4p to 286.3p. Noble analyst Nitin Arora said: This has two impacts. It gives us more confidence that ICG has got solid companies in its loan portfolio and ₤170m realized from Marken can be put to work at significantly higher margins thereby significantly improving the risk adjusted returns of the loan portfolio. Given that ICG has clearly said that impairments have peaked and has ₤500m of provisions sitting on the balance sheet we believe that net asset value has troughed. ICG is trading in line with its trough NAV of 286p and yields 6%. Our sum of the parts model where we value the loan book on the return on equity basis and asset management on a PE basis suggests a valuation north of 400p. Intermediate Capital Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Xstrata slides after $2.45bn restructuri... Xstrata slides after $2.45bn restructuring charge
12/08/2009
Xstrata has slipped back after the mining group announced a $2.45bn charge relating to restructuring its nickel and copper operations. Around $1.9bn of the charge relates to a number of closures in its nickel operations, including in Australia, Canada and the Dominican Republic. The rest covers copper, with the company shutting its smeltering site at Kidd in Canada and at Altonorte in Chile. The miner's shares have declined 16p to £10.56 on the news - announced ahead of its second investor day of the month - and Charles Kernot at Evolution Securities said: These impairments highlight the ongoing challenges faced by these businesses, compounded by strong operating currencies in countries such as Canada and Australia. We retain our 820p target price and our sell recommendation on Xstrata. Others in the sector were more in favour. Antofagasta has added 7p to 927.5p after Canaccord Adams issued a buy note with an £11.55 price target, in anticipation of a possible special dividend payout. The broker said: We anticipate the unexpected strength in copper prices since March will provide Antofagasta with better-than-expected full year results. We expect this to be driven by the dual impact of positive adjustments to provisional pricing, which will increase earnings, and the potential for yet another special dividend to be declared. We believe the declaration of a special dividend in the range of 30p-60p a share is possible. It would raise Antofagasta's 2009 dividend yield to as high as 6.7%, compared with the FTSE-100's average dividend yield of 3.5% and the FTSE-350 Mining Index's dividend yield of 1.1%. Although the inventory build occurring in copper markets globally does not align with the recent strength in the copper price, we believe the expectation of a special dividend will lead Antofagasta to trade towards the higher end of our valuation range. Xstrata Antofagasta Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Public sector must rediscover the public... Public sector must rediscover the public | Paul Ormerod
12/08/2009
Much of the huge increase in spending went to employees – the public sector must reconnect with socially desirable aims Much of the increase in public sector debt does have a sound economic basis as the inevitable consequence of a massive financial bailout. It is also true that in a historical perspective, the current level of debt in the UK is by no means unprecedented , as Stephanie Blankenburg points out. Further, in comparison to other developed countries, debt relative to the size of the economy is not massive. Nor does public debt means that Britain is bankrupt. Much of the debt is taken up by British institutions, so the interest payments represent a transfer of income within Britain, from taxpayers to the holders of the debt such as pension funds. So given these sound arguments, why are centre-left parties doing so badly, not just in the UK but in most of the western world? The purely technical macroeconomic points ignore completely the political economy not just of public sector debt but also of public expenditure. To many of those present at the initial New Political Economy group meeting, organised by the Guardian and Soundings magazine , higher public spending is axiomatically a Good Thing. And if this requires higher taxes to pay for it, so be it. The simple fact is that since 1997 much of the massive increase in public spending has gone not on improvements in public services or better consumption of public goods and services, but on increasing the private consumption of those employed in the public sector. There are many low-paid people in the public sector, but there is an even greater proportion in the private sector. Average earnings in the two are roughly similar, the private sector average being boosted by the extremely high earnings of a small number of people. But for the typical worker, public sector pay is 15% higher than in the private sector. If we take the level of pay at which half of the workers get more and half get less, the public sector is 15% better off. When Brown started to throw a wall of money at the public sector in the late 1990s, this outcome was inevitable. Pay increases, re-gradings, extra promotions to manage the huge increase in staff – all these put money into the private pockets of public sector workers. And this is to say nothing of the massive social injustice which has been created by the huge gulf between public and private sector pension provisions. From an egalitarian perspective, this is a scandal even bigger than the bankers' bonuses. In the 1997 budget, Brown wrecked private pensions. Gold-plated public sector ones remain unreconstructed. Millions of workers in the private sector have had to take pay cuts in the recession. Yet they see their public sector counterparts moaning that their increases are not big enough. A whole series of official audits now reveals what most people on the ground have known all along. The improvement in public services that has taken place is completely dwarfed by the increase in spending. Yes, they acknowledge improvements in some areas, but equally they know that some water sticks even in a leaky bucket. Public spending has become associated with waste, inefficiency and the privileges of the nomenklatura on a truly Soviet scale. It needs to reinvent itself completely to reconnect with socially desirable aims. The environmental movement, for example, offers the appeal of local jobs and a potential way of regenerating depressed areas. It probably needs the kickstart of public support to really get it off the ground. This is just a possible example. But however it is done, public spending needs to be seen not as the cushy bureaucratic job, the golden handshake, the petty interference with everyday life, but as something whose primary purpose is to deliver activities that benefit the public at large. Public finance Public services policy Government Borrowing Economic policy Paul Ormerod guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• UK manufacturing sector stalls UK manufacturing sector stalls
12/08/2009
• ONS data confounds hopes of growth Britain's manufacturing sector failed to grow at all in October, confounding hopes in the City that it would record respectable growth, official data showed today. The Office for National Statistics also revised down its estimate of the sector's performance in September. It said that manufacturing and the wider measure of industrial output, which includes North Sea oil and gas output, were flat on the month in October. Both measures had been expected to grow by 0.4%. September's industrial output figures were revised to a fall of 0.9% from an originally estimated drop of 0.8%. The ONS said this would have a small negative effect on third quarter GDP, other things being equal. It is not clear by how much that would counteract the strong upward revision to construction sector output that the ONS made on Friday for the third quarter of the year. Industrial production has now fallen for 18 consecutive months on an annual basis. Within manufacturing there were monthly output rises in four subsectors and falls in the remaining nine. The biggest riser was machinery and equipment which rose by 5.6% on the month. The biggest faller was electrical and optical equipment which fell by 2.7%. Vicky Redwood, economist at Capital Economics, said: "Production in the fourth quarter as a whole should still do better than the 0.9 % drop seen in the third quarter. So industry should still help the overall economy to pull out of recession before the end of the year. "But the recovery clearly looks fragile – remember that the CIPS/Markit manufacturing survey dropped back in November." Ross Walker at Royal Bank of Scotland agreed: "We will probably still get some growth from industrial production in the fourth quarter but it's not going to be spectacular. Whilst it keeps us on track, and the central case is that GDP growth resumes in the fourth quarter, there's not much to suggest it's going to be a vibrant rebound. It's sluggish." The numbers follow a disappointing report from the British Retail Consortium overnight which showed sales up 1.8% year-on-year in November, a sharp slowdown from the 3.8% growth recorded in October. Manufacturing sector Manufacturing data Economics Ashley Seager guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Northern Rock investors will not get com... Northern Rock investors will not get compensation
12/08/2009
Independent valuer says a sale of the lender's assets could not have repaid Bank of England's £25bn loan Thousands of Northern Rock shareholders are being told today that they are not entitled to compensation following the nationalisation of the Newcastle-based lender nearly two years ago. After receiving "several thousand" responses, the independent valuer Andrew Caldwell has published a consultation document today in which he concludes that shareholders should receive "no compensation". Caldwell admits that his investigation has taken longer than he originally hoped because of the difficulties he encountered in obtaining the information he needed – and had been promised – when he was appointed by the Treasury 14 months ago. He did not receive some of the information until last month, further delaying the publication of today's consultation document. Caldwell based his calculation on how much money Northern Rock would have had left for shareholders if it had repaid the £25bn loan from the Bank of England , granted in September 2007 when it experienced funding difficulties during the credit crunch. He concluded that it was "unlikely" Northern Rock could have been sold in its entirety and therefore searched for any assets the lender could have sold to raise the necessary funds. Following a complex analysis, he concluded that the lender would actually have been unable to repay the loan and would have been "in a deficit" of £5.7bn. Caldwell reached this conclusion even though Northern Rock had £106bn of assets on its balance sheet. They would have fallen short of the amount needed because Northern Rock would have required a quick sale which would have forced down their price, he said. Caldwell assumed that £50bn was immediately available for sale to repay the loan – largely mortgages, government bonds and cash – but applied discounts to their values that left a deficit of £2.4bn. This rose to £5.7bn once he assumed an administrator was then appointed and forced to sell further assets at distressed prices. He insists he made "optimistic assumptions". In a letter sent to shareholders today, Caldwell stresses that he is still in a consultation phase and asks for responses by 29 January. Northern Rock Credit crunch Banking Bank of England Banks and building societies Shares Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Halifax: House prices edged 1.4% higher ... Halifax: House prices edged 1.4% higher in November
12/08/2009
• Halifax says house prices rose 1.4% in November • Lack of supply cited as reason for continued increase House prices edged up by 1.4% in November, according to the Halifax house price index published today. The lender said prices are down 1.6% compared with November last year but have risen by 8.5% since the low in April this year. It is the fifth successive monthly increase. Prices had fallen by 23% between a peak in August 2007 and April this year. Since then the average home has increased in price by £13,174, Halifax said. Last week, Nationwide Building Society said house prices were showing signs of slowing , following seven consecutive monthly increases. It said prices had gone up by 0.5% in November, bringing the average price back up to levels last seen in August last year. Meanwhile, the Bank of England said approvals for home loans had increased for the eleventh month in a row in October . Commentators have put the increase in prices down to increased demand and a continued lack of properties for sale. Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: "The recovery in house prices since the spring has been driven by increased demand for property, largely due to the improvement in affordability for existing homeowners and first-time buyers who can raise the necessary deposit." He added: "Somewhat higher demand has combined with a low level of properties available for sale to push up prices. Further ahead, the prospects for the market will depend on how the UK economy evolves and whether there is a significant increase in the supply of properties for sale. Overall, our view is that house prices will be flat during 2010." However, some experts have said the outlook is likely to change in the new year. James Hyman, partner for residential sales at property consultants Cluttons, said: "Halifax's figures suggest sellers are still in the driving seat, as the stock of property for sale remains extremely limited, forcing prices upwards. "I expect to see this change rapidly in the new year as people who have held off selling over the past year or so are encouraged to come to market by rising prices, which could in turn bring about a second dip in property values." House prices Property Housing market Sandra Haurant guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Royal Bank of Scotland dips on tax, Duba... Royal Bank of Scotland dips on tax, Dubai fears
12/08/2009
Royal Bank of Scotland is being hit every which way at the moment, and (non-government) investors are voting with their feet. RBS shares are down 0.945p at 32.055p making them the biggest faller in the FTSE 100. The concerns are legion. First there is the prospect of a windfall tax on bonuses being announced in tomorrow's pre-Budget report. At the same time details have emerged of the range of toxic assets owned by the bank, much of which is overseas. And then there is Dubai. The bank is one of the main creditors who attended a meeting yesterday to discuss the restructuring of Dubai World's $26bn debt. This morning the emirate's finance chief said six months would not be long enough to sort out the conglomerate, but added that it did have enough assets to meet its obligations. Overall the market is edging higher, despite weaker than expected UK industrial production figures. The FTSE 100 is now up 9.25 points at 5319.91. But Brian Myers at odlmarkets.com said: Investors will be asking themselves when the so-called 'Santa Rally' is due to start. The better than expected non farms hasn't really kicked the markets on, and has probably raised more questions than answers in terms of US interest rate policy. One can't help but feel that traders are searching for further clarity. Tesco has slipped back after its sales figures, down 5.1p at 430.55p, while Rentokil Initial is 1p lower at 100p in expectation that it may be ejected from the leading index at this week's reshuffle. The final decision is due tomorrow but is based on tonight's closing prices. Royal Bank of Scotland Tesco Rentokil Initial Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Game Group drops after weaker than expec... Game Group drops after weaker than expected sales
12/08/2009
The City really doesn't like Game Group 's trading update, and its shares have fallen around 14% so far. The computer game retailer said total sales had fallen by 10.8% in the 44 weeks to 5 December. And the slide accelerated with the final 18 weeks of that period showing an 11.3% decline. And the blockbuster releases like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and FIFA 2010 - which broke records in their launch week - could not make up for weak sales of other new releases. Competition is also growing, Game admitted, especially from the supermarkets although it said it had nevertheless managed to edge up its market share. The remaining days before Christmas are key, with around 25% of its business done in the last eight weeks of the financial year. The company maintained it would meet its recent guidance on margins, but warned that it approached the critical Christmas period cautiously. Game's shares have fallen 19.8p to 124.8 and Singer Capital Markets issued a sell note saying: Ultimately the performance over the final eight weeks of the year will be the key determinant of the full year outcome, given the importance of the Christmas trading period, but given the shortfall in the last three months forecasts will be reduced. This year in particular Game will be looking to pick up at least its fair share of Woolworths and Zavvi's video games business (9% or around £350m). The pipeline for software releases in the new year is believed to be strong. Nevertheless we maintain a cautious stance on the shares given (1) our concerns over the threat of increased competition (particularly in the lucrative pre-owned market), (2) pricing pressures on key software titles as rivals, especially mass merchants and supermarkets, cut prices and (3) the longer term structural threats posed by internet retailers and digital distribution. And Altium Securities cut its rating from buy to hold: Management makes the point that, in a normal year, the final eight weeks contribute around 25% revenues. There is therefore everything to play for. However, the major title launches for this season have now passed and like for like sales are nevertheless worse than expected. Even allowing for some benefit to cost lines as a result of lower activity, further downgrades, potentially substantial, appear likely. Game still expects to report 'a solid outturn for the year'. We are increasingly nervous about the prospects, and in anticipation of forecast downgrades, move our target price initially to 150p and our recommendation to hold. Game Group Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Tesco sales growth slows again Tesco sales growth slows again
12/08/2009
• Like-for-like sales growth of 2.8% is weaker than expected • Sir Terry Leahy says Tesco is ready for Christmas • Game Group's UK and Ireland sales down 16.6% The big earning news in the City today is the third quarter interim management statement from Tesco , which has shown weaker sales growth than some analysts were expecting . Britain's biggest supermarket chain reported that UK like-for-like sales rose by 2.8% (excluding petrol and adjusted for lower VAT) in the 13 weeks to 28 November. Analysts were forecasting around 3%. Today's result is also lower than the 3.1% like-for-like sales growth that Tesco achieved in the second quarter of the year. Back in the first quarter of the year, when food inflation was still rising, Tesco's UK sales grew by 4.3%. Overall, group sales were up by 8.8% (excluding petrol) compared with the previous quarter thanks to a stronger performance overseas, and chief executive Sir Terry Leahy insisted that Tesco was coping well with the economic downturn: We are seeing improving customer confidence and encouraging trends in both the UK and our international businesses, although recessionary conditions still exist in a number of markets. As ever, with Christmas approaching, we're doing even more for customers with low prices, great promotions, including on our Finest range, and of course double Clubcard points. But traders are predicting that Tesco's shares could some under pressure today – they fell just over 2% when the stock market opened. Finance director Laurie McIlwee has also told Reuters that while Tesco can cope with the end of the temporary VAT reduction, it would not be happy if VAT rose to 20%. We also have results from Game Group this morning, which continues to find 2009 much tougher than 2008. Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland are now down 16.6% this year . Game had been pinning its hopes on a corking selection of new computer games in the run-up to Christmas, but chairman Peter Lewis indicated that Game may be a bit disappointed: Since the half year, there have been a number of major software releases including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and FIFA 10, which both broke records in their first week of launch. However, the exceptionally strong performance of these titles was in part offset by softer than expected sales of some other releases. In other news … Xstrata will take a $1.9bn hit after writing down the value of its nickel assets. And on a brighter note, FTSE 250-listed Domino Printing has hiked its dividend by 10% after increasing its pre-tax profits by 11% to £28m . Tesco Game Group Xstrata Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Retail sales 'disappointing' as confiden... Retail sales 'disappointing' as confidence 'takes turn for worse'
12/08/2009
'We're the only major economy still in recession. Uncertainty over jobs and future tax increases and government spending cuts is making customers more cautious,' said BRC director general Stephen Robertson Christmas is still "all to play for" after the high street suffered disappointing November trading , the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said today. Like-for-like sales grew 1.8% last month compared with a dire November 2008, when they were down 2.6% as the financial crisis decimated consumer confidence. But the figure marks a retreat from the 3.8% gain seen in October – the best for the month since 2002 – amid a further decline in food inflation. With only 16 shopping days left to Christmas, BRC director general Stephen Robertson said consumer confidence is "fragile and has taken a turn for the worse". "We're the only major economy still in recession. Uncertainty over jobs and future tax increases and government spending cuts is making customers more cautious," he said. "Retailers are hopeful of a better Christmas than last year's dire performance, but it's still all to play for." November sales were expected to have been stronger because of the comparison to the second worst month in 2008. But Robertson said the figure was not as bad as it first appeared, as a sharp decline in food inflation is behind much of the drag on sales. The unseasonably mild weather had a significant effect on shoppers' buying habits. Clothing sales fell back below their already weak levels last year despite discounting and some special sales days. Womenswear was slightly down on the previous November and menswear suffered its worst year-on-year fall since May 2008 as warmer weather hit demand for winter coats and knitwear. Meanwhile, very wet weather helped an uplift in demand for boots. Overall, non-food sales saw an improvement as the festive shopping season got under way. Sales of furniture and floor coverings maintained October's trajectory against sharp falls last year. The BRC said fitted kitchens, upholstery and beds sold well, especially where there were pre-Christmas delivery offers. Discounting failed to boost book sales, which were below those of a year earlier despite an improvement in hardback non-fiction. Toys were popular, particularly traditional lines, while the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 helped boost gaming. In music Susan Boyle's debut album broke the record for first week sales. Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, said the numbers were "disappointing" at first glance, but once the impact of slowing food inflation was removed the numbers actually represent a "solid" start to Christmas trading. "Although regaining ground lost in the early run-up to Christmas is difficult, if not impossible, many retailers will be quietly confident that their performance will not be anywhere near as bad as some may have expected six months ago," she said. Official retail sales volumes have picked up recently, with October's sales shown to be 0.4% ahead of an upwardly revised September figure and 3.4% ahead of the same month last year – the biggest year-on-year rise since May 2008 at the beginning of the recession. Retail industry Consumer spending Christmas guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Google search goes real-time Google search goes real-time
12/07/2009
• Messages from social networks to gain prominence • Image search and translation technologies also unveiled Google has moved to head off some of the threat from young rivals such as Twitter and Facebook by announcing plans to prominently display results from social networking sites in its search pages. The new development, which the Californian technology giant dubs "real-time search", aims to bring users more up-to-date information as they scour the web for information. Over the next few days, anybody searching online using Google will see their traditional search results augmented by a string of constantly updating messages drawn from social networks, news sites and blogs. The move is part of a wider push to make Google's search index even faster and more up to date, as people increasingly use services like Twitter to transmit information about events as they happen. Google executive Amit Singhal said that with more information being put on the web every day, it was vital that the company learned how to give users the most relevant results - and as quickly as possible. "Information is being posted at a pace I have never seen before," he said. "In this information environment, seconds matter." As well as watching for developments on news sites, Google is working closely with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to include updates from their users - and Singhal said he would not rule out any potential source of up-to-the-second information in the future. Though executives were keen to use the launch event - which was held near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California - as a display of power, it was also intended to quieten growing speculation that an inability to conduct real time searches could become Google's achilles heel. Some critics have posited that websites like Facebook and Twitter could eventually rival Google, thanks to their ability to tap into millions of public messages being sent constantly between individuals. That threat comes in addition to more traditional search engines like Microsoft's Bing.com have threatened to forge exclusive deals with some content providers as a way to claw back market share. Instead, Google has acted to bring those services into the fold, though it would neither confirm nor deny whether there was a financial relationship behinds its links with social networking sites. Not everybody thinks the move was make or break for Google, however, even if it gives users more timely information. "There's no doubt that it's good to have," said Danny Sullivan, a prominent observer of Google's activities, writing on his SearchEngineLand website . "It's incredibly difficult to be a leading information source and yet when there's an earthquake, people are instead turning to Twitter for confirmation faster than traditional news sources on Google can provide." The company also used the event to unveil a number of other advances it said were significant technological advances. These included an experimental program called Google Goggles that allows users to take a photograph of an object or product and ask Google what it is, getting a selection of information back just as if they had conducted a web search on the item in question. Vic Gundotra, the company's vice-president of engineering, said there were already more than a billion items stored in the company's systems and that there were fierce ambitions to make this technology - which has eluded experts for generations - as widely available as possible. "Today marks the beginning of this journey," he said. "It's our goal to be able to visually identify any image." Gundotra also showcased a forthcoming translation product which allows users to speak any phrase into a mobile phone and then translate it, almost instantly, into any one of a number of languages. The resulting phrase could then be spoken back by Google through the phone's speaker, potentially allowing travellers to use any high-end handset as a universal translation device. The first elements of the software should be available to the public in the first quarter of 2010. The company said such technologies were possible thanks to improvements in speed and power, but added that there were more plans coming soon - and that the ultimate goal was to make searching for information as fast as physically possible. "It takes one 10th of a second for light to travel around the world," said Singhal. "At Google we will only be satisfied until that is the only barrier between you and information." Google Search engines Internet Social networking Twitter Facebook MySpace Microsoft Digital media Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Darling to announce one-off shock tax to... Darling to announce one-off shock tax to 'break bonus culture'
12/07/2009
Alistair Darling will try to force a "permanent culture shift" in the City as he announces a one-off punitive super-tax of more than 50% on the bonuses of tens of thousands of bankers as the centrepiece of the pre-budget report. The chancellor intends his targeted, one-off levy as a clear message that the City has to "start living in the real world" as the financial sector prepares to lavish hefty payouts on its staff. The new super-tax rate will be aimed at any bonus above a fixed rate, rather than the basic salary of the employee. It is intended to hit many thousands of bankers, but low-paid staff in bank branches will be exempt. The tax will be set higher than the 50% income tax rate coming in from April for those earning more than £150,000 a year, sources indicate. The chancellor has been working on the scheme for several weeks, according to Whitehall sources, who strongly denied reports that Darling had been "bounced" into the plan by Gordon Brown. Darling, not usually regarded as a populist politician, personally decided weeks ago that plans to control bonuses through schemes proposed by the G20 countries would not be enough after he saw plans by Goldman Sachs to set aside £11.4bn for bonuses. A senior Treasury figure said: "Salaries have got out of hand. They have been paying themselves like football stars. We have got to get them to think through the consequences of what they are doing. We are imposing 'a reasonable man' test on some of these salaries given the exceptional circumstances we find ourselves." Darling also feels "it cannot be right to bail out RBS only to see the money pour out at the other end in bonuses". Treasury officials feel they have devised a watertight way to hit bankers' bonuses without large-scale tax avoidance, following advice from leading City lawyers. It is expected they will tax bonuses as an excess sum paid in a month. But City accountants said there was a strong likelihood of a legal challenge against a punitive tax aimed at one sector of the workforce. Bill Dodwell, head of taxation at accountants Deloitte said: "We have had calls from bankers asking about what action they might take under the Human Rights Act. There's never been a precedent." Darling's planned tax raid provoked furious opposition in the City today with the British Bankers' Association claiming such taxes were "populist, political and penal". But the chancellor believes suggestions of a mass exodus of bankers are exaggerated. "We cannot be held to ransom by the banks," one source said. Darling will make it clear on Wednesday that the super-tax will be levied for a limited period, and Whitehall sources said the government wants a "properly supervised and regulated" City to remain successful. "We don't want to cut the City down to size, the City want some certainty and to know the lie of the land. They will be told that," a Treasury source said. Ministers believe public anger at bank bonuses is justified given the heavy economic price of the recession, and the fact that some banks have made excess profits from the selling of government bonds designed to reflate the economy. Darling will reveal on Wednesday that the economy shrank by 4.75% this year, pushing the budget deficit to a record £180bn in the 2009-10 financial year. Opinion polls have shown that the public strongly opposes the six and seven figure bonuses likely to be paid in the City this year. Government sources said some of those working in the financial sector were "living in a different world". Banks needed "to think long and hard" about what they do. The levy, the first windfall tax on the banking sector since Margaret Thatcher imposed a one-off levy in 1981, will apply to bankers in both UK and foreign banks operating in the City, as long as the banker pays tax in the UK. Lord Myners, the City minister, recently identified 5,000 financiers earning more than a £1m in the sector, but the chancellor will spread the net wider in Wednesday's announcement. Some banks have argued they are entitled to pay bonuses by virtue of not receiving any financial support from the government. But Darling will argue that without the government bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, the entire British banking sector would have been at risk of collapse. The chancellor will stick to his forecast that output will expand by 1.25% next year and then by 3%-plus in the following years. City analysts are sceptical about the economy's ability to grow rapidly from 2011 onwards but the Treasury will point to the strong growth achieved in the years immediately after the downturns of the early 1980s and early 1990s. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, is urging quicker action on cutting Britain's record peacetime deficit, but Darling will say the economy remains too fragile to permit the Treasury to start reducing the deficit in 2010. Darling's announcement on Wednesday will include extra help to tackle youth unemployment but will be broadly neutral in its economic impact. VAT will return to 17.5% at the start of next year following the temporary reduction to 15%. There will be tough restraints on public spending, but no offer of a full spending review. "Frontline services" in schools, hospitals and the science budget will be protected, but not the entire budgets in these departments. The health budget is due to grow by 3.2% in the next year. Darling claims the uncertainty in the economy would have made a spending review pointless even if there was no election next year. The chancellor will also spell out tax breaks to encourage company electric car fleets from 2012 worth as much as £1,000 to the employee and £600 to the employer. The measure is designed to stoke production of larger electric cars being built by Nissan and Renault. Pre-budget report Executive pay and bonuses Alistair Darling Economic policy Financial crisis Banking Larry Elliott Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 h ago)

• Windfall tax is not just about the money Windfall tax is not just about the money
12/07/2009
One thing a windfall tax on bankers' bonuses will not do is raise a lot of extra money. Alistair Darling will give his estimate on Wednesday but he may struggle to get much above £1bn if he is committed to targeting only very large individual bonuses. A slice of that sum may even disappear once the City's accountants have performed their dark arts. So do the relatively modest pickings make a windfall tax a pointless piece of symbolism, as some are arguing? No. The symbolism is part of the appeal. It establishes the important principle that taxpayers' support for banks comes with strings attached. It says that an industry underwritten by the public must help to clear up the mess it partly caused. It is, of course, perfectly true, as Angela Knight of the British Bankers' Association says, that "the banking industry did not cause a housing bubble, it wasn't the one setting monetary policy and it wasn't in charge of the regulator." But, come on, when your industry is in receipt of £850bn of support, you can't simply brush questions of basic fairness under the carpet. Taxpayers will be paying for the bailout for many years. It is reasonable to expect those well-paid individuals at the top of banks to share the burden. Bear the "fairness" point in mind if bankers grumble that a windfall tax will damage the appeal of London as a friendly place to do business. It would be silly to dismiss this objection entirely since there must be some risk to the UK in going it alone. But there is also a cost to not imposing a popular tax. Failure to tax bonuses now would make the job of raising revenue via unpopular taxes on Wednesday considerably harder for any government, Labour or Conservative. Eventually, far bigger questions than taxing bankers' bonuses will have to addressed. How should we charge banks for the implicit taxpayer support they enjoy? Vince Cable, for the Liberal Democrats, proposes an annual levy, which is an excellent idea but one that would benefit greatly by being adopted internationally. There is also the parallel problem of how to address the causes of bonuses: the lack of competition in the sector. Again, international co-operation is essential. But, in the meantime, a windfall tax on bonuses is a useful way to remind banks of their obligations. It will be interesting to see how the directors of the big banks react. If they have any sense, they'll accept that £1bn or so is a small price to pay to lower the temperature of public anger. Banking Executive pay and bonuses Alistair Darling Vince Cable Nils Pratley guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 h ago)

• Virgin unveils space cruiser Virgin unveils space cruiser
12/07/2009
• Craft on display for first time in Mojave Desert • $200,000 price tag for two-and-a-half-hour flight • In pictures: Virgin unveils SpaceShipTwo Sir Richard Branson tonight offered the first public glimpse of the aircraft he hopes will become the first commercial vehicle to send passengers into space. The head of the Virgin business empire stood proudly by his latest creation, called SpaceShipTwo, showing it off to a crowd of investors, politicians, would-be passengers and journalists ahead of a lavish theatrical rollout planned for late tonight in the wilds of the Mojave Desert in southern California. The six-passenger craft, a dramatic-looking space-age creature with a sleek fuselage and radically upturned gull wings, could be sending paying customers into orbit just above the earth's atmosphere as early as 2011 – a two-and-a-half-hour experience costing $200,000 (£122,000) a pop. Branson said: "For most of us, escaping the constraint of gravity is something we have only been able to achieve in our dreams – until now." SpaceShipTwo would be carried into the skies by its mothership, a carrier aircraft resembling a large catamaran named WhiteKnightTwo, which was unveiled to the public last year. Once aloft, the spacecraft would be untethered and allowed to shoot up at supersonic speeds to about 62 miles above Earth's surface – beyond the noise and heat of the atmosphere and into the suborbital sphere of weightlessness and utter calm. After just a few minutes in space, the craft would then re-enter the atmosphere using a revolutionary technology that allows the craft to find the right angle without the intervention of either the pilots or computers. Branson said he wanted to "bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and they never dreamed that could happen in the past". The crucial so-called "care-free" re-entry technology is the brainchild of America's leading space technologist, Burt Rutan, who first demonstrated it with his own prototype craft, SpaceShipOne, and won the prestigious Ansari X prize in 2004. Virgin and Branson partnered up with him shortly afterwards. SpaceShipTwo is twice the length of SpaceShipOne – about 60ft (18 metres) long, compared with the old craft's 28ft – and is designed to carry non-astronauts. Passengers would train for three days before the flight and wear space suits enabling them to float about the cabin during the weightless part of the journey. Around 250 people – everyone from Victoria Principal, the actress who starred in Dallas in the 1980s, to Bryan Singer, the film director, to the physicist Stephen Hawking – are reported either to have paid the fee in advance or put down a deposit. Last night's ceremony at the Mojave air and space port promised to be an extravaganza marrying scientific knowhow with old-fashioned Hollywood glitz – despite forecasts of freak rainstorms and cold temperatures. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's governor, was expected to headline the event, taking place at a custom-built arena featuring two huge domes, tents and other structures along with batteries of bright lights. Some of the paid-up future passengers on SpaceCraftTwo were allowed a sneak peek of the craft and its mothership over the weekend. Television crews followed in the early hours of this morning, offering viewers their first glimpse. Branson himself relished his role: part entrepreneur, part marketing guru and part showman. "This will be a trip like no other," he promised. The journey from space dream to commercial reality has not been problem free. An accident in which three engineers were killed in a nitrous oxide explosion in 2007 set back the development timetable. And a packed programme of flight tests and other experiments still lies ahead before the maiden voyage into space – a voyage that Branson and his children will probably be the first to undertake. The pieces are, however, slowly falling into place. In June, Virgin Galactic – as the dedicated company is called – broke ground on a "spaceport" in southern New Mexico, using a design developed in part by Sir Norman Foster's architectural firm. And in July, a group of investors, Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi, came on board with $280m, taking a 32% stake in Branson's company. Space technology Virgin & Richard Branson Space Flights Andrew Gumbel guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Dubai World could sell assets to ease de... Dubai World could sell assets to ease debt
12/07/2009
• Dubai government finance chief says some assets may be sold • Creditors could be forced to accept short and late repayments Dubai World may sell off domestic and overseas assets as it attempts to rescue itself from the burden of $60bn (£36.5bn) debts, the emirate's government said today. The stricken conglomerate, which owns a variety of assets around the world including P&O, the QE2 and a stake in Cirque du Soleil, has played down suggestions that it would have to give up prized assets since it emerged nearly two weeks ago that it was struggling to repay its debts. But today the Dubai government's finance chief, Abdul Rahman al-Saleh, said that some assets could be sold, although he did not say which may be up for grabs. "Like any company that has commitments, part of getting liquidity is selling some assets. Of course, local or foreign assets," he said in an interview aired by al-Jazeera yesterday. In comments that will underscore the emirate's rulers' attempts to distance themselves from Dubai World's problems, al-Saleh said that the assets belonged to the company, not the government. "Part of obtaining finance is selling assets ... belonging to the company and not the government," he said. "There is confusion in the media that the government plans to sell assets." His comments came as it emerged that creditors of Dubai World may be forced to accept a short and late repayment of their debts as the legal battle over the stricken conglomerate's assets threatens to be long and expensive. The lenders, including British banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, were believed to be meeting Dubai World officials tonight to thrash out a deal over the debts. Investors representing at least 25% of a $3.5bn bond due next Monday are believed to be unwilling to accept any standstill, which would then trigger a default. But it is still possible that a standstill agreement with other creditors could be reached, before or after any potential default, leaving Dubai World to deal with the holders of the $3.5bn bond separately. The $26bn restructuring announced by Dubai World last week is likely to take months, people familiar with the negotiations have said. Investors must now assess whether they seize any assets in exchange for their debt, or negotiate better terms, such as higher interest, to compensate for possible delays in payments. Some may need to take a cut or delay in their payments to avoid a legal battle, experts believe. "It's improbable that enforcing creditors will be able to get hold of international assets either quickly or easily," said Mark Andrews, head of the reconstruction and insolvency practice at law firm Denton Wilde Sapte. Any legal battle would be hard to win after Dubai World separated its troubled real estate units from the other well-performing divisions, such as property arm Istithmar World, which hold some of the most attractive assets. Bondholders with claims against the troubled real estate unit would have to go through layers of holding companies to get to the ultimate asset. And afterwards, they would have to take legal action in Dubai, where the courts would be expected to have sympathy for the company, which is ultimately owned by the estate. "I don't think there will be a festival of claims in Dubai – that would require proceedings in Dubai and the Dubai courts are unlikely to move fast," Andrews said. Bondholders representing 25% of the sukuk bond due on 14 December are considering taking legal action against Dubai World. The group is mostly formed by US-based hedge funds, including New York-based QVT. These investors mostly bought their debt at high prices, on the hopes that the perceived support of the Dubai government guaranteed their investment. The bondholders are now furious after the government distanced itself from the holding company that has driven Dubai's astonishing economic expansion. A lengthy battle is guaranteed, as "the assets are likely to be worth less than their liabilities", Andrews said. Dubai World Global recession Dubai Financial crisis Elena Moya guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Shanks receives £536m bid from Carlyle Shanks receives £536m bid from Carlyle
12/07/2009
• Unsolicited offer comes in exceptional slow year for buyouts • British waste management firm holding out for 150p a share The waste management group Shanks has received a £536m bid from the buyout firm Carlyle Group – a rare offer in a year that has seen the lowest volume of private equity backed deals since 1984. In a statement to the stock market today, Shanks said it was in receipt of an unsolicited approach valuing the business at 135p a share. In an unusual move, the company put a figure on the price at which it would be willing to sell: 150p . According to sources close to the companies, the two sides are now locked in discussions. If agreed it would be one of the largest private equity-backed deals this year in a market that has been in the doldrums, as the credit crunch caused banks to become more reluctant to provide debt. According to data from Nottingham University Business School, there were only 31 private equity-backed buyouts completed in the first nine months of the year, with a combined value of £3.6bn. The figure is way below the £18.2bn worth of deals done in 2008 and £43.4bn completed in 2007, at the peak of the market. Carlyle Group, with $87bn (£53bn) under management, is one of the world's largest private equity firms but has not done a deal in the UK since September last year. Its assets in this country include the child seat manufacturer Britax, the bank teller company Talaris, a digital media firm called Mill and Ensus, a bioethanol plant in Teesside. In its statement, Shanks said it had support from its two largest shareholders, Legal & General and Schroders, which together own more than 30%, to hold out for at least 150p a share. Shares in the company had closed at 90.1p on Friday and today rose to 128.5p. People close to Carlyle, however, also suggest that talks with investors have been positive. Carlyle declined to comment. If the deal with Shanks went through at the offer price, it would be the third largest completed this year, after the digital television technology firm NDS and the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Rod Ball, a research fellow at the centre for management buyout research at Nottingham University, described this year as a "write-off" for the private equity industry. "Bank debt became practically impossible to raise for large deals at the start of 2008," he said. "The state of the economy has also left company cashflows unstable, so private equity firms are just sitting back and waiting. There has also been a gap in pricing expectations – vendors haven't yet brought the price of their business down enough to make a deal worthwhile." Shanks is the last remaining independent waste management group in the UK and if the deal is successful would follow rivals Cory and Biffa, which were bought in leveraged buyouts in 2005 and 2008 respectively. In the year to March, Shanks made £34m on revenues of £697m from operations in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Canada. This year the business has suffered from the recession, as both the amount of waste produced and the price of recycled materials have fallen. It launched a £71m rights issue in May to reduce its debt and scrapped its dividend. The company said it had sharpened its focus on three areas: recycling, organic processing and UK PFI initiatives. But Nick Spoliar, an analyst at Altium Securities, said the approach could prompt counter-bids from other waste companies and private equity firms, attracted by the steady returns from a business that often has 25-year contracts: "Businesses such as this have long-term characteristics which are very attractive in terms of generating predictable returns over decades." Top 5 2009 UK private equity deals NDS Group: £1.25bn Wood Mackenzie: £553m Chesapeake: £325m Aurora Fashions: £215m Viking Moorings: £170m Total: 3.7bn (first nine months only) UK private equity-backed management buyouts/buy-ins 2005: £22.7bn 2006: £24.9bn 2007: £43.4bn 2008: £18.2bn Source: Centre for Management Buy-out Research/Barclays Private Equity Shanks Mergers and acquisitions Private equity Investing Recession Credit crunch Legal and General Waste Recycling Biomass David Teather guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Rusal forced to delay $3bn flotation Rusal forced to delay $3bn flotation
12/07/2009
• Hong Kong stock exchange blocks long-awaited IPO • Delay comes as blow to oligarch owner Oleg Deripaska Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer, suffered a humiliating setback today after it was forced to delay its long-awaited $3bn (£1.8bn) share flotation on the Hong Kong stock exchange. In a blow to Rusal's billionaire owner, Oleg Deripaska, Hong Kong's listing committee said today that it was not satisfied with the company's flotation plans. "Based on the company-provided information, the listing committee has not approved the deal ... until the firm can fulfil some conditions," a source confirmed today, according to Reuters. Deripaska has been struggling to restructure Rusal's massive, complex debts against the backdrop of Russia's economic woes. Once Russia's richest man, he is the most high-profile oligarch victim of the financial crisis. Rusal has little choice but to delay its initial public offering (IPO) until the spring. Last night, Russian banking sources close to the IPO plans said the company would not rush to carry out a flotation given that aluminium prices were rising, with prices currently at $2,116 a tonne and expected to hit $2,500 by the first quarter of 2010. Deripaska has been seeking to float his aluminium empire for several years. In April 2008, he indicated that he would prefer to hold an IPO in Hong Kong rather than London, but denied suggestions that he was snubbing the London Stock Exchange because of the long-running political feud between the UK and Russia. The economic crisis wiped 60% off the metal's value and left Rusal fending off numerous international creditors. Lenders have agreed to extend the length of repayments on money owed by the company, in what has been a protracted and complicated refinancing of $16.8bn of debt involving 72 international banks. Despite the crisis, Deripaska can still count on his friendship with Vladimir Putin, Russia's powerful prime minister. Russia's state-owned VEB bank, which has Putin as chairman of its supervisory board, has indicated that it plans to take a $670m "cornerstone" stake when Rusal finally floats. Rusal has also marketed its share offering to Chinese investors. Deripaska also faces other difficulties. They include a legal challenge in the UK high court from former business associate, Michael Cherney. Cherney, a former business associate, claims he is the beneficial owner of 20% of Rusal's stock that, he alleges, Deripaska held in trust for him. Deripaska denies the claim. Today the head of VEB, Vladimir Dmitriyev, played down legal risks from the Cherney case. The delay is the latest setback for IPO plans by a company in Europe, where the market for company flotations remains lacklustre compared with some other regions. Earlier this month, German builder Hochtief AG pulled the public listing of its Concessions unit, although some IPOs have succeeded. Mining Commodities Financial crisis Oleg Deripaska Russia Luke Harding guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Energy watchdog Ofgem tells UK suppliers... Energy watchdog Ofgem tells UK suppliers to reduce domestic charges
12/07/2009
• Cuts contradict announced rise of £4.30 for upgrades • Ofgem chief says power firms are enjoying strong margins Britain's energy suppliers must cut their domestic prices early next year, the energy regulator Ofgem warned today, just hours after it announced it was allowing the six big power companies to put up electricity prices to pay for network upgrades. Issuing these contradictory statements, Ofgem chief executive, Alistair Buchanan, said the big six power firms were enjoying strong margins following a slump in the price they pay for their energy on wholesale markets. His words came as the regulator said it would allow the power firms to increase electricity bills by £4.30 a year on average to pay for upgrades to regional distribution networks. The increases will be pushed through to customers each year between 2010 and 2015 and will free up £7.2bn for investment in the UK's electricity infrastructure. The settlement is more generous to electricity firms than the £3.76 pre-inflation rise announced in August, although companies pushed for even bigger increases. Buchanan said: "Our proposals are tough on inefficiency and poor service but are fair in allowing the companies to invest to replace ageing network assets and in improving the environment." The £7.2bn investment programme – 8% less than the companies asked to spend – also includes a £500m fund for projects to tackle climate change, he said, before going on to attack the power firms' record on passing on wholesale price falls. "At the moment, the effect of companies smoothing prices has been neutral on consumers, but if prices stay unchanged in the new year, then we will see customers losing out," he said. News that Ofgem has allowed the power companies to increase bills on the same day it warned prices are still too high will further infuriate consumer groups, which have increasingly questioned whether the body is fit to regulate the energy market. Last year, the power companies pushed through steep price increases – in one case by 35% – when wholesale prices shot up. However, when they fell back to previous levels, the prices charged to householders largely remained unchanged. Britain's biggest utilities have trimmed energy bills modestly after a slump in wholesale prices this year, arguing that they shielded their customers from a big surge in wholesale prices before the economic crisis. No major utilities have cut energy prices since the first half of the year, except for E.ON, which cut prices in July . The regulator's decision still attracted the ire of some electricity firms pushing for a bigger allowed return to encourage outside investment and fund spending on the network. Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) said the returns allowed were "significantly below" previous settlements from the watchdog. "Moreover, these were all set before the reassessment of risk and the cost and availability of finance that has characterised global financial markets in the past 18 months," the firm added. SSE also complained Ofgem's decision was harsher than the final ruling from water industry regulator Ofwat last month and could lead it to "reassess its appetite for further investment in, and acquisition of, electricity distribution and transmission assets". Utilities Scottish and Southern Energy Energy bills Energy Climate change Household bills Consumer affairs Miles Brignall guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (9 h ago)

• Prices of Chinese cars on average more t... Prices of Chinese cars on average more than in US
12/08/2009
Although China's auto sales and output both top the world, Chinese cars on average are more expensive than American ones, reported Chinese Business News (CBN) Tuesday. CBN data shows that for the same car, the selling price in the US is lower than in China. For example, the Camry, which features 2.4-liter engine, was sold at 149,000 yuan ($21.281) in the US, and 199,800 yuan ($29,261) in China. According to statistics released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) ... (1 h ago)

• RIM pushes for greater presence in China... RIM pushes for greater presence in China
12/08/2009
Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) announced Monday it has reached an agreement with Digital China to sell its BlackBerry smartphones in China, broadening the company's reach in the world's largest mobile market by subscribers. RIM will use China Digital's knowledge of the market to expand the former's presence in the country, the company said in a statement Monday. The Canadian company didn't disclose the terms. According to analysts, RIM sought the agreement as it faces increasing ... (1 h ago)

• Proactive policy, urbanization and consu... Proactive policy, urbanization and consumption: 2010 basic tones (2)
12/08/2009
&$ &$"China would continue to adopt the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy next year and endeavor to improve the economic growth quality."&$ &$ &$ &$Moderately loose monetary policy won't "exit" in 2010&$ &$ The unchanged direction of China's monetary policy eased the market's anxiety, said Wang Tongsan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Uncertainties still exist in the global recovery, ... (1 h ago)

• Proactive policy, urbanization and consu... Proactive policy, urbanization and consumption: 2010 basic tones
12/08/2009
&$ &$"The government would strengthen financial support to sectors including farming, science and technology, education, health care, social security, affordable homes, energy saving and environmental protection in 2010."&$ &$ &$ &$Investment in livelihoods to be secured by the proactive fiscal policy&$ &$ Next year's proactive fiscal policy will focus on support for livelihood projects and social security undertakings, which have been ... (1 h ago)

• Proactive policy, urbanization and consu... Proactive policy, urbanization and consumption: 2010 basic tones (3)
12/08/2009
&$ &$"Emphasis is shifting to promoting consumer spending and private investment — drivers of domestic demand that are seen as crucial for future growth of the country." To help close the huge gap between urban and rural living standards, Beijing's planners endorsed stepping up urbanization and gradually loosening residency restrictions on migration to provincial cities.&$ &$ &$ &$Continued urbanization to stimulate consumption growth&$</b ... (1 h ago)

• Fiscal plan supple to inflation Fiscal plan supple to inflation
12/08/2009
The government's loose monetary policy that helped put the nation back on a solid economic footing will continue next year, but economists said that doesn't rule out any flexibility in the policy to stave off potential problems like inflation. The economic strategy for 2010 was laid out at yesterday's Central Economic Work Conference. Officials at the conference decided that China will continue with its expansive fiscal and eased monetary policies. Researchers, however, have said they ar ... (1 h ago)

• China sets macroeconomic policies for 20... China sets macroeconomic policies for 2010
12/08/2009
China's macroeconomic policies for 2010 were set at the three-day Central Economic Work Conference, which wrapped up on Monday. At the meeting, officials said the country's proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy will still be maintained, which is within previous analysts' forecasts. Economic and social development next year will be of great importance to deal with the impact of the global economic downturn comprehensively. More efforts will be made to promote adjustmen ... (1 h ago)

• Kuwaiti parliament ratifies GCC monetary... Kuwaiti parliament ratifies GCC monetary union agreement
12/08/2009
The Kuwaiti parliament on Tuesday approved the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monetary union agreement, the official KUNA news agency reported. As of now, all the four members among the GCC that in this June sealed a pact to establish a monetary union council, a prelude to the launch of the initiated single Gulf currency, have approved the agreement. &$ &$Source: Xinhua&$ &$ ... (1 h ago)

• Indonesia's PT Lion Air to expand routes... Indonesia's PT Lion Air to expand routes to China, Japan, S Korea
12/08/2009
PT Lion Air, Indonesia's largest domestic airline in terms of passenger volume, planned to expand its international routes to China, Japan and South Korea next year, the Jakarta Globe reported on Tuesday. Edward Sirait, Lion Air's General Director, said that the company is looking at launching new flights to China, South Korea and Japan by mid-2010, "We're currently studying a plan to expand into East Asia carefully," he said. "The plan should be finalized by June or July next ye ... (1 h ago)

• China's methane-burning farmers expect "... China's methane-burning farmers expect "reward" from Copenhagen
12/08/2009
Ai Guangzeng, 60, says the biogas she has been fueling her home with since 2006 is "good stuff." "It's much cleaner burning than coal or firewood," she says, pointing to the blue flame on the stove in her home in a remote village in Guizhou Province. Ai sees only two other significant aspects to the methane gas: it has cut her coal consumption by half and spares her the arduous chore of chopping firewood. However, Ai Xinglong, energy office chief of Guizhou's Kaiyang Coun ... (1 h ago)

• Chinese shares close down 1.06% Chinese shares close down 1.06%
12/08/2009
Chinese equities dropped dived 1.06 percent Tuesday, led by declining financial stocks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 1.06 percent, or 35.24 points, to close at 3,296.66. The Shenzhen Component Index dipped 0.86 percent, or 121.24 points, to close at 13,930.28. Combined turnover shrank to 275.4 billion yuan (40.32 billion U.S. dollars) from 277.3 billion yuan on the previous trading day. Losers outnumbered gainers by 561 to 311 in Shanghai and 4 ... (1 h ago)

• Sentiment down on Japan's Economy Watche... Sentiment down on Japan's Economy Watchers survey
12/08/2009
Sentiment on the economy in Japan has fallen, according to data from the Economy Watchers Survey, which was released by the cabinet office on Tuesday. Sentiment stood at 33.9 in November, down from 40.9 in October. Sentiment has been down over the last month as statistics have shown that the effects of stimulus packages are waning and consumers are spending their money much more cautiously. The survey signals that the impact of stimulus put in place by the government of the Democ ... (1 h ago)

• Australian export prices fall in record ... Australian export prices fall in record slump
12/08/2009
A sharp widening in the current account deficit reflected the continuing impact of the global recession, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Tuesday. The balance of payments for the September quarter indicated widening in the current account deficit to a seasonally- adjusted 16.18 billion Australian dollars (14.78 billion U.S. dollars) from a revised 13.13 billion Australian dollars (12 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous quarter. Economists' forecasts centered on 16.8 bill ... (1 h ago)

• Indexes of Business Conditions shows Jap... Indexes of Business Conditions shows Japan maintaining slow recovery
12/08/2009
Japan's economy is continuing to slowly move away from its downturn, according to the Indexes of Business Conditions released by the cabinet office on Tuesday, which said conditions were "improving." Preliminary figures showed that the coincident index rose by 1.1 points in October to 94.3, where statistics from 2005 are equal to 100. It is the seventh consecutive month in which the coincident index has posted a rise. The index, which compiles data from a number of measures, show ... (1 h ago)

• Chinese shares close lower at midday Tue... Chinese shares close lower at midday Tuesday; banking, steel stocks fall
12/08/2009
Chinese shares closed lower midday on Tuesday, led by banking and steel stocks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.32 percent, or 43.95 points, to close at 3,287.94 points. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.97 percent, or 136.63 points, to 13,914.89 points. The Hushen 300 Index reflecting the performance of the country's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges ended 1.3 percent lower midday at 3620.98 points. Banking shares declined across the board ... (1 h ago)

• Bernanke's Warning Spooks Asian Markets Bernanke's Warning Spooks Asian Markets
12/08/2009
Global Stock Values Fall on Heels of Fed Chief's Remarks Heralding Long, Tenuous U.S. Rebound (1 h ago)

• Bernanke Warns of "Formidable Headwinds" Bernanke Warns of "Formidable Headwinds"
12/08/2009
Fed Chief Says It's Too Early to Declare Economic Recovery Will Last, Vows to Hold Rates Down (1 h ago)

• Video: Tracking Bailout Funds Video: Tracking Bailout Funds
12/08/2009
As many American banks are starting to return the bailout money originally allotted to them as part of the stimulus program, Chip Reid reports that future federal spending has now come in to question. (1 h ago)

• Video: EPA: Greenhouse Gases Harmful Video: EPA: Greenhouse Gases Harmful
12/08/2009
In a monumental first for the U.S. government, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared that greenhouses gases pose a significant health risk. Wyatt Andrews reports on this historic ruling. (1 h ago)

• Consumer Borrowing Falls, Again Consumer Borrowing Falls, Again
12/07/2009
Americans Borrowed Less for Record 9th Straight Month in October (1 h ago)

• Video: D.C. Debates Abortion & Reform Video: D.C. Debates Abortion & Reform
12/07/2009
A congressional showdown is now underway in Washington, as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle debate whether health care reform will provide abortion coverage. CBS News' Joel Brown reports. (2 h ago)

• Branson Unveils New Space Tourism Ship Branson Unveils New Space Tourism Ship
12/07/2009
Public Gets Glimpse of SpaceShipTwo; Virgin Galactic Founder Hopes Flights can Start in 2011 (2 h ago)

• Video: Protests at Copenhagen Summit Video: Protests at Copenhagen Summit
12/07/2009
Amid worldwide protests, a 12-day international summit has been launched in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in order to address global climate change. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata reports from London. (3 h ago)

• Gambler Lost $127M in 2007, Sues Casino Gambler Lost $127M in 2007, Sues Casino
12/07/2009
High Roller Files Lawsuit Saying Harrah's Staff Plied Him With Alcohol, Painkillers to Keep Him Gambling (6 h ago)

• U.S. Expects to Lose $200B Less on TARP U.S. Expects to Lose $200B Less on TARP
12/07/2009
New Estimate Lowers Overall Cost of Financial Bailout, Administration Looking to Use Funds for Job Programs (7 h ago)

• AOL Bids Farewell to Time Warner AOL Bids Farewell to Time Warner
12/07/2009
One-Time Internet Mammoth to Start Again On Its Own — a Debt-Free Business Seeking a New Path (14 h ago)

• Apple Confirms Purchase of Lala.com Apple Confirms Purchase of Lala.com
12/06/2009
Music Site Had Threatened "the End of the MP3" With Fast Song-Streaming Application (1 d ago)

• Video: Temporary Solution Video: Temporary Solution
12/06/2009
New figures recently showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped. Michelle Miller reports whether the rise in temporary jobs will lead to more permanent jobs in the future. (1 d ago)

• Video: Welcome To America's Nightmare Video: Welcome To America's Nightmare
12/06/2009
Ben Stein, a true-blue aficionado of capitalism, is troubled by the bankers Americans bailed out barely a year ago rewarding themselves with obscene bonuses. (1 d ago)

• Video: Small Cars, Bigger Mileage Video: Small Cars, Bigger Mileage
12/06/2009
As car manufacturers roll out their newest models at the L.A. Auto Show, U.S. automakers have a chance to re-introduce themselves to car buyers looking for higher mileage for lower prices. Ben Tracy reports. (1 d ago)

• Photos: 2009 L.A. Car Show Photos: 2009 L.A. Car Show
12/05/2009
Concepts, Hybrids and Alt-Fuel Vehicles (2 d ago)

• Recall of All Slim-Fast Canned Drinks Recall of All Slim-Fast Canned Drinks
12/05/2009
Unilever Says Possible Bacterial Contamination of Diet Drinks Could Cause Diarrhea, Nausea, Vomiting (2 d ago)

• Apple confirms purchase of music site La... Apple confirms purchase of music site Lala
12/06/2009
Apple Inc. has purchased online music retailer Lala.com, a Silicon Valley startup that has threatened "the end of the MP3" with its fast song-streaming application. Apple - Online music store - MP3 - Silicon Valley - Music (1 d ago)

• AOL goes it alone in split with Time War... AOL goes it alone in split with Time Warner
12/06/2009
AOL is shaking loose from Time Warner Inc. and heading into the next decade the way it began this one, as an independent company. TimeWarner - AOL - Access Providers - Business - Member Help and Advice (1 d ago)

• Sponsored By: Sponsored By:
12/06/2009
(1 d ago)

• A Plea to Congress on Jobless Benefits A Plea to Congress on Jobless Benefits
12/08/2009
An appeal is made by state labor officials and worker advocates for the long-term unemployed, whose insurance expires this month and whose health plan premiums are rising. (1 h ago)

• Answers About Unemployment Benefits: Par... Answers About Unemployment Benefits: Part 3
12/08/2009
Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, answers readers' questions about unemployment benefits. (1 h ago)

• Money-Related Disputes and Divorce Money-Related Disputes and Divorce
12/07/2009
The Economix blog covers a new study that backs up what a lot of us have long suspected: Couples who disagree more frequently about finance are more likely to get divorced. (3 h ago)

• Monday Reading Monday Reading
12/07/2009
The growing number of online sample sales, explanations for the extra air in food packages and other consumer-focused items from today's Times. (6 h ago)

• A Different Kind of Wedding Proposal A Different Kind of Wedding Proposal
12/07/2009
Engaged couples appear willing to opt for cash instead of a lavish event, according to a new survey. (6 h ago)

• Secret’s Out: Sample Sales Move Online Secret’s Out: Sample Sales Move Online
12/07/2009
More sample sales are moving online as new private-sale sites have become a thriving corner of online commerce. (6 h ago)

• Patient Money: Knowing What’s Worth Payi... Patient Money: Knowing What’s Worth Paying For in Vitamins
12/07/2009
Vitamin sales in the United States are expected to grow 8 percent this year to $9.2 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal. (8 h ago)

• Strategies: When the Performance Looks a... Strategies: When the Performance Looks a Little Too Good
12/06/2009
Shares of companies with weak balance sheets have been soaring, but the extreme outperformance of more speculative stocks could make them vulnerable. (1 d ago)

• Japanese ready for new C02 economy Japanese ready for new C02 economy
12/07/2009
One country the rest of the world might look to for lessons on carbon control is Japan. When you look at emissions per GDP, Japan is the most energy-efficient country on the planet. Rob Schmitz reports. (5 h ago)

• Is space tourism close to taking off? Is space tourism close to taking off?
12/07/2009
If you've got the money, Sir Richard Branson has the spacecraft to rocket you into space. The long-awaited SpaceShipTwo has finally been unveiled. Bob Moon reports. (5 h ago)

• Why is Apple jumping into Lala land? Why is Apple jumping into Lala land?
12/07/2009
Apple is buying music content provider Lala. CNET.com's Erica Ogg talks with Kai Ryssdal about some of the possible reasons why Apple is buying the company. (5 h ago)

• Tips on self-control for the holidays Tips on self-control for the holidays
12/07/2009
With gifts to buy and holiday parties to attend, December is a tough month to take control of your impulses. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely talks with Kai Ryssdal on how to counteract problematic impulses. (5 h ago)

• Big brands seek to lure customers back Big brands seek to lure customers back
12/07/2009
When the economy was collapsing, grocery stores and pharmacies lured shoppers with lower-priced brands. But as the economy recovers, big household goods companies need a way to get their business back. Alisa Roth reports. (5 h ago)

• EPA: Greenhouse gases a health threat EPA: Greenhouse gases a health threat
12/07/2009
World leaders have criticized the U.S. for failing to pass a law cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But the EPA is giving President Obama at least something to point to. Sarah Gardner reports. (5 h ago)

• Local banks hold onto taxpayer money Local banks hold onto taxpayer money
12/07/2009
With all this talk of redirecting the bank-bailout program, plenty of regional banks aren't ready to pay that money back. Amy Scott reports. (5 h ago)

• TARP money could reduce the deficit TARP money could reduce the deficit
12/07/2009
A lot of the money that was slated for TARP now is probably going to go to funding job creation. Stacey Vanek-Smith talks with Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire, who explains why the money would be better used paying off the national debt. (6 h ago)

• Cutting banks down to size Cutting banks down to size
12/08/2009
Ten years after the Clinton administration did the groundwork for the financial meltdown by repealing the Glass Steagall Act, something I looked at here. US lawmakers plan to bring it back with proposals that force Wall Street behemoths to choose whether they want to be commercial banks or investment houses. Under these proposals mirroring Glass-Steagall, they can't be both. Wall Street Pit says it needs to be done to stop the bank oligopoly. The banks are too big and because they are allowed to play ... (1 h ago)

• Branson push for space travel Branson push for space travel
12/08/2009
The International Air Transport Association has warned that airlines will be losing $9 billion this year but that hasn't stopped unstoppable entrepreneur Richard Branson unveiling a rocket plane for the ultimate piece of travel, right through space.This is for the seriously well-heeled. More than 300 people have already put down deposits or paid the full $200,000 cost of a ticket for future sub-orbital up-and-down flights aboard the new spacecraft.The plane will seat six passengers and two pilots. Branson obviously has a lot of faith ... (1 h ago)

• Millions desert banks Millions desert banks
12/07/2009
The financial crisis has created a shift in consumer banking patterns. About 60 million adults in the United States are now doing their banking at places other than banks, according to this report. Instead, they are turning to check-cashing services, payday loans or pawn shops according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp report.There are some clear patterns here reflecting a deep divide in US society. According to the FDIC, 17 million adults in the US don't have bank accounts at all while another 43 million ... (13 h ago)

• Sovereign wealth funds cash in on the cr... Sovereign wealth funds cash in on the crisis
12/07/2009
There are some winners in the global financial crisis. The sovereign wealth funds have been cleaning up.With reports that Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority, has made a $1.1 billion profit from the sale of its stake in Citigroup, it's worth seeing who else has cleaned up from the misery of the US banking sector. Certainly, Kuwait has done a lot better than Citigroup investors. At the beginning of last year, Citigroup was trading at $15, now it's $4.As the New York ... (14 h ago)

• Tiger Woods: will the sponsors stick? Tiger Woods: will the sponsors stick?
12/06/2009
The carefully crafted image of Tiger Woods continues to crumble with evidence now emerging that his minders paid alleged lover Rachel Uchitel to fly business class to Melbourne last month and mistress number four stepping forward. There are two fascinating aspects about this sordid little story. First, is the number of people now lining up to make money out of it. For example, one of the women Jaimee Grubbs has sold her story to US Weekly. But the more important question is whether those sponsors ... (1 d ago)

• Ready for the fight: PCAOB seeks a bigge... Ready for the fight: PCAOB seeks a bigger handout
12/06/2009
On Friday, I did a blog entry looking at a case starting in the Supreme Court this coming week questioning whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is constitutional. If the case gets up, it could end Sarbanes Oxley.But the PCAOB seems confident it will survive and with it, Sarbanes Oxley. That explains why the PCAOB seeking a 16% increase in its budget to more than $183 million.PCAOB acting chairman Daniel Goelzer claims the economic climate has increased its work load. There ... (1 d ago)

• VW buys 49.9 percent stake in Porsche VW buys 49.9 percent stake in Porsche
12/07/2009
Germany's Volkswagen AG says it has purchased an initial 49.9 percent stake in fellow car maker Porsche AG — carrying out a move that it had been expected to make this week. Volkswagen - Porsche - Automotive industry - Germany - Makes and Models (6 h ago)

• Dubai World may sell assets to raise cas... Dubai World may sell assets to raise cash
12/07/2009
Dubai World, the indebted conglomerate at the heart of this sheikdom's credit problems, may sell off assets it acquired during a multiyear building and buying spree to raise cash. (6 h ago)

• High earners may pay more for U.K. recov... High earners may pay more for U.K. recovery
12/07/2009
The British government is likely to slug high earners with more taxes to pay the cost of economic recovery in a major budgetary report this week. Her Majesty's Government - Business - British government - UK - Services (8 h ago)

• Kuwait sells Citigroup stake for $4.1 bi... Kuwait sells Citigroup stake for $4.1 billion
12/06/2009
Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund said Sunday it booked a profit of $1.1 billion by selling the stake it took in Citigroup less than two years ago when the bank giant was strapped for cash. Citigroup - Kuwait - Sovereign wealth fund - Middle East - Government (1 d ago)

• Swedish store removes N. Korean jeans Swedish store removes N. Korean jeans
12/05/2009
A Stockholm department store removes a new line of North Korean-made designer jeans, saying it wants to avoid courting controversy through ties with the isolated communist nation. Stockholm - North Korea - Department store - Sweden - Clothing (2 d ago)

• Video: Elevator Pitch: Wine bags Video: Elevator Pitch: Wine bags
12/06/2009
Dec. 6: One entrepreneur is hoping our panelists are ready to toast her success. Deborah Ross of Deborah Ross Designs says her decorative wine bags are reason enough to celebrate and invest. (MSNBC) Entrepreneur - Business - Shopping - Recreation - Kiva (1 d ago)

• Video: Small Biz Startup: How to get sta... Video: Small Biz Startup: How to get started
12/06/2009
Dec. 6: Wondering what it takes to build the business of your dreams? Rich Sloan, an entrepreneur and founder of "Startup Nation," has some tips on turning your idea into a success. (MSNBC) Business - Entrepreneur - Small Business - Startup Nation - Business and Economy (1 d ago)

• Video: Business Answers: Projecting your... Video: Business Answers: Projecting your income
12/06/2009
Dec. 6: Erica Duignan-Minnihan, CEO of Healthy Mama Enterprises, and Gene Marks, president of The Make Group, answer viewer questions about startup issues like projecting your income and getting employees to handle the long hours and certain tasks it takes to get a business going. (MSNBC) Business - MSNBC - Ask an Expert - Social Sciences - Small Business (1 d ago)

• Video: Startup Strategies Video: Startup Strategies
12/06/2009
Dec. 6: With unemployment on the rise, many people are taking a chance and staring their own businesses. Meet one woman whose struggle with weight loss turned into a financial gain after launching her own company. (MSNBC) Weight loss - Health - Shopping - Support Groups - MSNBC (1 d ago)

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• Overqualified, but happy to have a holid... Overqualified, but happy to have a holiday job
12/06/2009
Mara Proctor used to design limestone hearths and columns for luxury homes near Kansas City, drawing on her college education and six years of training. Kansas City Missouri - Kansas - United States - Business and Economy - Society and Culture (1 d ago)

• Seen that? - Open office provides free s... Seen that? - Open office provides free software
12/07/2009
Open office provides free software at BootStrapMe While griping recently to an associate about the lack of Microsoft Excel on my Windows XP Home Edition, I was reminded of this site. Open Office, as its name implies, is completely free of licensing fees ... (21 h ago)

• Is a Weaker Dollar Good for Your Busines... Is a Weaker Dollar Good for Your Business Plan?
12/06/2009
© MOmilkman It's a simple truth: a weaker US Dollar can be a good thing for your business if you produce anything that gets exported. As the dollar gets weaker, your products become cheaper overseas. BusinessWeek recently took a look at just what a weaker dollar does for small business. And it's not just that what you make here becomes cheaper in other countries...A weak dollar has given some small businesses the opportunity to revisit their domestic customers, too. These were the people who used to buy ... (1 d ago)

• Seen that? - Illegal Immigration in the ... Seen that? - Illegal Immigration in the EU
12/07/2009
Illegal Immigration in the EU at Global Mobility Report With so much debate in the US about unlawful immigration, we forget this is an issue for other countries too. The new leadership in France has identified this as an important issue for the ... (21 h ago)

• Almost a Billion in Federal Dollars for ... Almost a Billion in Federal Dollars for Clean Coal
12/05/2009
Dow Jones Newswires is reporting that US Department of Energy has awarded $979 million in federal stimulus funds to support carbon-capture and -storage projects at three coal- fired power plants in Texas, Alabama, and West Virginia.The federal funds will be added to about $2.2 billion in private capital to help the greenhouse-gas emission-reduction projects move forward, U.S.â€„Energyâ€„Secretaryâ€„Stevenâ€„Chu said. "By harnessing the power of science and technology, we can reduce carbon emissions and create new clean energy jobs," Chu said in a statement.Carbon capture technology couple become ... (2 d ago)

• News Flash: Democrats Create Jobs Twice ... News Flash: Democrats Create Jobs Twice as Fast as Republicans
12/06/2009
As news of the somewhat improved jobs picture creates some small dregree of hope that the economy may really be improving, I came across this enlighting piece of historical perspective on jobs creation from Blue Virginia.This factoid should be repeated a million times until everyone has heard it and fully absorbed it: "since 1959, the average private sector job growth under four-year Democratic administrations is 11.7%. Under Republican administrations, it's 5.4%." That's right, private sector job growth has been more than twice as fast under ... (1 d ago)

• Seen that? - pricing strategies Seen that? - pricing strategies
12/07/2009
pricing strategies at TJ's Weblog Techdirt runs a good headline on a research paper about pricing strategies. Although I do not share the great concern about privacy issues, pointed out by the author, it gives good insight on how to implement a pricing strategy in consumer markets. A good introduction into pricing from ... (21 h ago)

• Seen that? - About me Seen that? - About me
12/07/2009
About me at China Venture News I have an extensive international writing and financial publishing background. As an itinerant journalist, I have been reporting on emerging markets, especially China and Vietnam for Asia Times Online. As a serial media entrepreneur, I was ... (21 h ago)

• Seen that? - Rule of 72 Seen that? - Rule of 72
12/07/2009
Rule of 72 at The Personal Finance Weblog A: Compound Interest Q: What did albert einstein think was the most powerful force in the universe? Hey, if it works for Al it works for me too. The title of this article refers to ... (21 h ago)

• Good news from near and far boosts stock... Good news from near and far boosts stocks
12/06/2009
U.S. stocks rose last week, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to its biggest gain in three weeks, boosted (1 d ago)

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