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Business News
for 02/08/2010

(last updated 7:30am EST 02/08/2010)

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• Toyota Prius Recall Expected in Japan Toyota Prius Recall Expected in Japan
02/07/2010
Unconfirmed Reports of Pending Recall Over Brake Trouble, But Still No Indication What will Happen in U.S. (8 h ago)

• CIT Group Taps Ex-Merrill Head for CEO CIT Group Taps Ex-Merrill Head for CEO
02/07/2010
CIT Entered Bankruptcy Protection in November, 2009 (9 h ago)

• CEO of Software Maker SAP Resigns CEO of Software Maker SAP Resigns
02/07/2010
Germany's SAP Says CEO Apotheker Has Resigned, Will Be Replaced By 2 Co-chief Executives (13 h ago)

• Video: Chinese Matchmaking Market Video: Chinese Matchmaking Market
02/07/2010
"CBS News RAW": Beijing's "I'm looking for you" supermarket is giving the city's singles a new way to look for love. In their few months of operation, the market has attracted more than 1,000 clients. (21 h ago)

• Toyota Expected to Announce Brake Fix Toyota Expected to Announce Brake Fix
02/06/2010
In Letter to Dealers Automaker Says Plan to Repair Brakes on 270,000 Prius Cars Will Be Announced in Coming Week (1 d ago)

• Video: Fans Create Super Bowl Ads Video: Fans Create Super Bowl Ads
02/06/2010
During the Super Bowl, some viewers actually find the commercials almost as exciting as the game. Now, some ad companies are looking to their fans for creative help. Anthony Mason reports. (1 d ago)

• Video: Prius Hybrid's Faulty Bakes Video: Prius Hybrid's Faulty Bakes
02/06/2010
Toyota is already trying to solve a gas pedal problem in millions of cars, but soon the Japanese automaker will address a new issue, bad brakes on thousands of Prius hybrids. Manuel Gallegus reports. (1 d ago)

• Are Bikini Baristas Getting Too Steamy? Are Bikini Baristas Getting Too Steamy?
02/06/2010
Allegations of Prostitution, Erotic Shows Leveled at Some "Sexpresso" Stands (1 d ago)

• Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans
02/06/2010
Wants Congress to Fund Job Creation Effort, as GOP Chides President on Budget and Debt (1 d ago)

• Jobless Rate Drops Unexpectedly to 9.7% Jobless Rate Drops Unexpectedly to 9.7%
02/05/2010
January Unemployment Rate Down .3% as Number of Employed Americans Rose by 541,000 (2 d ago)

• Video: Toyota's Tough Times Video: Toyota's Tough Times
02/05/2010
Akio Toyoda, the chief of troubled automaker Toyota, offered an apology to customers as the number of consumer complaints continue to grow. Dean Reynolds reports. (2 d ago)

• Video: Unexpected Unemployment Drop Video: Unexpected Unemployment Drop
02/05/2010
The national unemployment rate has fallen to 9.7 percent, as economists say that this could signal a potential rebound for the jobs market and the overall economy. Anthony Mason reports. (2 d ago)

• Goldman CEO Blankfein Gets $9M Stock Bon... Goldman CEO Blankfein Gets $9M Stock Bonus
02/05/2010
News of Bonus Eagerly Awaited by Wall Street; Blankfein Can't Cash Shares for Five Years (2 d ago)

• Wall Street Limps to End of Worrisome We... Wall Street Limps to End of Worrisome Week
02/05/2010
Stock Market Ends Week With Slight Gain Friday Amid Mixed Jobs Report, Debt Worries (2 d ago)

• Vote for Most Memorable Super Bowl Ad Vote for Most Memorable Super Bowl Ad
02/05/2010
Check Out These Ten Classic Commercials and Take Our Poll! (2 d ago)

• Census Spends $2.5M on Super Bowl Ads Census Spends $2.5M on Super Bowl Ads
02/05/2010
McCain, Others Call for U.S. Government to Justify Census Bureau Spending on Advertising (2 d ago)

• Obama: Jobs Report Is "Cause for Hope" Obama: Jobs Report Is "Cause for Hope"
02/05/2010
But President Says Unexpected Drop in Unemployment Rate is Not Cause for Celebration (2 d ago)

• Stocks Slide on Mixed Jobs News Stocks Slide on Mixed Jobs News
02/05/2010
Day after Wall Street Dive, Investors Still Wary Despite Report that Unemployment Unexpectedly Dropped in Jan. (2 d ago)

• Bankers Put on Better Face Before Congre... Bankers Put on Better Face Before Congress
02/05/2010
To Be "Relevant" in Drafting of Financial Overhaul Bill, Execs Sell Banking Industry, Lobby Against Regulations (2 d ago)

• Fed to Banks: Lend to Small Businesses Fed to Banks: Lend to Small Businesses
02/05/2010
Federal Reserve, other Regulators Cite Small Firms' "Important Role" in Economy and "Difficulty" They're Having Getting Loans (3 d ago)

• Tullow looks to China and Total after He... Tullow looks to China and Total after Heritage Ugandan deal
02/08/2010
The long running saga of the Ugandan oil assets jointly owned by Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil seems to be heading towards a resolution. Heritage had put its half share of the fields up for sale and accepted a $1.5bn bid from Italy's Eni, before Tullow stepped in to exercise its pre-emption rights. Much depended on the decision of the Ugandan government - thought at first to favour Eni although now seemingly happy with Tullow. Today Heritage confirmed Eni had withdrawn its offer, clearing the way for the Tullow deal, which is now expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2010. Now this has been sorted out, Tullow will reportedly pass on a stake in the field to either China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) or Total for up to $2.5bn. In a buy note, Phil Corbett at Tullow's broker RBS Hoare Govett said: Heritage has disclosed this morning that Eni has formally revoked the Sale and Purchase Agreement it had signed with Heritage (shouldn't come as much of a surprise to the market given last week's news flow was leaning heavily in Tullow's favour, although should expedite the completion of the sales process). Separately in the Sunday Times, it was reported that Tullow will sell 50% of its enlarged holdings across Blocks 1, 2 and 3A to CNOOC for a $2.5bn consideration (first trailed on Friday) although the story is slightly contradictory in that it goes onto say that talks are also ongoing with Total to become an equal partners with the Chinese (presumably on a 25% basis each with Tullow retaining a 50% share). We think the market would treat any involvement of Total positively. Meanwhile Richard Griffith at Evolution Securities commented: [Eni's withdrawal] clears the path for Tullow to complete its pre-emption of Heritage's licence interests before farming out stakes in all three Ugandan licences to CNOOC and Total. This is very good news for Tullow and if the subsequent CNOOC farm in to all three Ugandan licences for US$2.5bn is correct then Tullow has already recovered the cost of its pre-emption purchase price (US$1.5bn). Upon completion of the pre-emption and any subsequent farm out deals we will review our recommendation and target price but for now they remain unchanged [buy with a £14.50 target]. Tullow has slipped 23p to £11.34 on the news, while Heritage is 2.2p higher at 482.2p. Tullow Oil Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 h ago)

• Video: Connecticut power plant explosion... Video: Connecticut power plant explosion aftermath
02/08/2010
At least five people were killed in a large explosion at a power plant, caused by a leak during a natural gas test (4 h ago)

• Will Toyota's recall put you off buying ... Will Toyota's recall put you off buying a Prius in future?
02/08/2010
Would the car's brake defect and Toyota's handling of the issue put you off buying a Prius in the future? Adam Vaughan (4 h ago)

• St Modwen upbeat despite 20% drop in ass... St Modwen upbeat despite 20% drop in asset value
02/08/2010
It has not been a good year for many property companies and regeneration specialist St Modwen Properties is no exception. The company - whose projects include a college of further education at former Rover site at Longbridge and a development on BP's oil refinery site at Llandarcy - said net asset value had dropped by 20% to 200p a share in 2009. Trading profits fell from £19.5m to £8.4m. But with a £102m equity issue last June, the company says it is in a strong position despite the uncertain property markets and fragile business confidence. Chairman Anthony Glossop said: As yet our portfolio has not seen the resurgence in values experienced in other parts of the property market. But nevertheless I believe that we are now beginning to see important signs of improvement. I am confident that 2010 will see the company returning to growth in profits and net asset value. Buoyed by this confidence, the company's shares have climbed 4.5p to 191pwith analysts at Numis raising their recommendation from add to buy. Meanwhile Keith Crawford at KBC Peel Hunt said The much needed £102m equity issue in June 2009 significantly reduced the financing risk of St Modwen. A reduction in overheads and increased rental income has meant the company managed to return a trading profit of £8.4m. However, cash preservation remains a key focus of the company with no dividend payable in respect of 2009. We are confident the company will restart dividends in the coming year and have factored in a dividend of 3.9p per share. Although the value of the portfolio continued to decline in the second half, we expect that it has now troughed in terms of its valuation and is likely to have improved since November 2009. With the shares trading at a 30% discount to our revised net asset value per share of 268p and management continuing to progress in marshalling/value added opportunities, we remain hopeful of the prospects for St Modwen over the coming year. St Modwen Properties Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• Iceland dumps celebs from TV ads Iceland dumps celebs from TV ads
02/08/2010
Supermarket will use a customer rather than stars such as Kerry Katona, Christopher Biggins and Coleen Nolan Iceland's television campaigns have featured Kerry Katona, Christopher Biggins, Coleen Nolan and Jason Donovan, but now the brand is turning its back on celebrities and launching a nationwide search for a customer to become the face of the supermarket chain. Auditions will be held around the country at the end of next month in front of a judging panel headed by Nolan, the star of Iceland's most recent ad campaign, who announced she was stepping down last week . The winner, who will be chosen in a public vote, will become a "brand ambassador" for the chain and win a regular supply of Iceland shopping, as well as the chance to try out new recipes before they arrive in store. Katona was dropped from Iceland's advertising last year after the News of the World published pictures allegedly showing her taking cocaine . "Coleen is undoubtedly a hard act to follow," said Nick Canning, the Iceland marketing director. "So after long and hard consideration we've decided not to try and replace her and we're turning the spotlight on our customers to give them a chance. At Iceland, our customers are very important to us, especially mums, and we know they have a great deal of affection for our brand." The store has appointed digital agency And Digital to develop a microsite to handle entries, which will be collated through the iceland.co.uk website. Public relations is being handled by Toast PR. Iceland will celebrate its 40th birthday later this year. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Advertising Marketing & PR Supermarkets John Plunkett guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (4 h ago)

• Kirin and Suntory scrap merger plans Kirin and Suntory scrap merger plans
02/08/2010
• Deal would have created world's fifth largest foodmaker • Japanese companies blame each other for failure of talks A deal to create a new powerhouse in the food and drink industry collapsed today after Japan's Kirin Holdings and Suntory Holdings abandoned their plan to merge. Kirin had hoped to become the world's fifth largest foodmaker, bigger than Coca-Cola, by taking over smaller rival Suntory. But after months of negotiations the two sides were unable to agree on the terms of the deal, or on how the combined company would operate. Kirin's alcoholic products include its eponymous beer. It also produces soft drinks and runs restaurant and engineering divisions. Suntory, which bought Orangina last November, sells whiskies , green tea and bottled water. It also distributes Häagen-Dazs icecream in Japan, and operates hundreds of restaurants and fast food outlets in Japan and overseas. The two companies have combined annual sales of $45bn (£29bn) and analysts had predicted that a merged entity would have been powerful enough to challenge the likes of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Both companies claimed today that they had ended the negotiations. Suntory said it had terminated discussions with Kirin because of disagreement over "integration ratio" – or how ownership of the merged company would have been divided up. Kirin, though, said the blame lay with Suntory – which is still mostly owned by descendants of its founder. "Kirin had been negotiating on the premise that the new entity would be managed as a listed company in order to ensure appropriate management independence and transparency. However, it became apparent that Suntory held a different view on this matter, and Kirin determined that even if negotiations were to continue, they were unlikely to result in the establishment of a company that would fulfil Kirin's aim of developing as a leading global company and earn the understanding and approval of Kirin's domestic and overseas customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders," said Kirin in a statement. Shares in Kirin fell by 7.35% today. There are concerns that Japanese food and drink makers need to focus on overseas expansion to address the impact of Japan's ageing and declining population. Food & drink industry Japan Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (5 h ago)

• Randgold and Xstrata provide fillip for ... Randgold and Xstrata provide fillip for mining shares and FTSE
02/08/2010
Mining groups have given the market a bright start to the week after a couple of positive updates and a rebound in commodity prices. Randgold Resources is leading the way, up 315p to £45.24 as the West African gold miner announced a 79% jump in full year profits. It is also bringing forward the target date for the first production from its recently acquired Kibali project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to January 2014. Investec analysts said: These are a strong set of results in our view driven by good progress at all of the exploration and development projects and a solid final quarter of the year during which cash costs per ounce declined by 8% to $525 an ounce. This was principally due to the impact of improvements to the underground Yalea mine at the company's 80% owned Loulo operation in Mali that accounted for 351,000 ounces of Randgold's production. We believe that the shares are oversold at their current level and therefore move from hold to buy and increase our target price from 5162p to 5220p. Xstrata is 48.7p higher at 998.7p after it restarted dividend payments after an expected 41% fall in full year profits and a positive outlook for commodity prices. Anglo American added 48p to £23.22 after its subsidiary Anglo Platinum announced a $1.63bn rights issue to help pay off debt. Miners in general were also lifted by rising metal prices following recent weakness. Copper for example is up around 3% on a combination of a weaker dollar and some bargain hunting. With the help of the miners, the FTSE 100 is now 47.07 points higher at 5107.97. But there is still some nervousness around the state of various European economies. Philip Shaw at Investec said: Attention will still focus on Southern Europe's budgetary problems. In this context, note that Euro area fourth quarter GDP figures are due at the end of the week. In the UK, Wednesday's Bank of England Inflation Report is the key macro event, with last week's announcement by the monetary policy committee appearing relatively downbeat with respect to recovery prospects. Elsewhere International Power has moved 10.9p higher to 324.8p on revived talk of interest from France's GDF Suez. Randgold Resources Xstrata Anglo American International Power Nick Fletcher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Merrill Lynch's John Thain lands new job Merrill Lynch's John Thain lands new job
02/08/2010
• Thain was criticised over bonuses and expensive office refurbishment • New role as head of CIT, troubled US lender, could net him $5.5m in shares John Thain, the former boss of Merrill Lynch, returned to the business world today when he was named as chief executive of troubled US commercial lender CIT Group. The company announced early this morning that Thain had been chosen as its chairman and chief executive with immediate effect. The appointment comes just over a year after Thain was fired by Bank of America, following its controversial takeover of Merrill . CIT is one of the biggest providers of capital to small and medium-sized American companies. It filed for bankruptcy protection last November , having suffered a rise in bad debts as its customers suffered from the economic downturn. Thain, who will receive a salary of $500,000 (£320,000) a year plus $5.5m in shares, said CIT could play a key role in America's economic recovery. "If we're going to get the US economy to continue to grow, if we're going to create jobs, then we need to have this kind of a company do well," he said. The move will give Thain the opportunity to rebuild his own reputation. He has been criticised for the decision to pay bonuses totalling $4bn to Merrill workers in December 2008 , just before the merger with Bank of America was finalised. He also apologised for spending $1.2m refurbishing his office, a bill that included $35,115 for an antique commode . Thain has admitted that he struggled to cope with life beyond Wall Street. In an interview last April, he said he still donned a suit most days , even though he no longer had an office to go to. Thain's appointment also shows that, while the global recession has cost millions of people their jobs, senior bankers can find fresh employment. In the UK Sir Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, took a position with Scottish architects RMJM last month . Adam Applegarth, the ex-chief executive of Northern Rock, is now advising US private equity firm Apollo Management . Merrill Lynch Bank of America Credit crunch US economy Royal Bank of Scotland Northern Rock Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (6 h ago)

• Media Monkey's Diary Media Monkey's Diary
02/07/2010
✒Being in prison is no bar to writing a column. At least, not if you are disgraced press baron Conrad Black, who is filling some time at a Florida jail writing for the Canadian paper he founded, the National Post. Black used a recent column to big up a columnist on another paper he once owned, Boris Johnson, "the most interesting politician in Europe". Black dismisses David Cameron as "an Obama emulator" who "cites only leftists as his intellectual inspiration for what he unpromisingly calls 'the Big Society' (please, not again)". The paper's lengthy blurb about its star columnist omits Black's six-and-a-half year jail sentence for fraud and obstructing justice. ✒Monkey is not big on racing tips, but we'd like to suggest Al Amaan in the Ladies' Charity race at the Cheltenham Festival on 18 March. We're not sure about the horse, but the jockey has shown plenty of form in media circles — it's Elisabeth Murdoch. The Shine Group chairman and chief executive has been riding since she was four and is a keen eventer. It's a flat race, so no jumps – or paywalls – to get over, and she is a 20-1 outsider. It's not often you get to say that about a Murdoch. ✒Get set this summer not only for the last series of Big Brother on Channel 4, but Big Sister, Big Nephew, and Big Great Grandmother. Monkey only mentions this after potential contestants were quizzed about their favourite family members before auditions for the show, which were due to take place at London's Wembley Arena at the weekend. Along with all the usual questions (What are you most passionate about, what is your biggest achievement in life, tell us a secret …), wannabe housemates were asked: "If you could take a family member/s into the house, who would it be and why?" Following the success of its docusoap, The Family, C4 appears to be considering combining the two. Another winner! ✒Sky News presenter Kay Burley said she was "mortified" at having reduced Peter Andre to tears when quizzing him about his children on Sky News, prompting the singer to ask for the interview to be abandoned. It was a sentiment clearly shared by the news channel, given that the interview was made available to satellite viewers on the Sky Anytime catch-up service to watch again and again. Cry Anytime. ✒"Seaside towns see top house prices rise," reported the Financial Times. "Average prices in Wallsend, in Tyne and Wear, rose from £39,381 to £103,893." Wallsend is many things, but "seaside town" it most certainly is not. ✒ITV News did its best to keep up with the tabloid headline writers covering the John Terry story last week. Over to its reporter Geraint Jones. "England's lion heart has a cheating heart, and the England manager may decide that he will no longer be the beating heart of his team." Never let it be said that ITV News doesn't know it's heart from its elbow. Stay classy, ITN! ✒It's barely a week since BBC Radio 5 Live controller Adrian van Klaveren was bemoaning people who still get the name of his station wrong. Still, you can depend on the BBC's chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, to get it right? Alas not. Thomson espoused the joys of "Radio 5 Extra" at the House of Lords communications committee's inquiry into digital TV and radio last week. We think she meant 5 Live's sister station, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. Then Thomson waxed lyrical about "Radio 6". That would be BBC Radio 6Music then. ✒Mystery buzz phrase of the week: "Dances with the fishes." As in Vogue's publishing director Stephen Quinn's unusual take on its rival, Harper's Bazaar. "Fashion upstart Harper's Bazaar dances with the fishes by offering value packs at UK news stands to bolster sales … " Possibly Quinn is a Godfather fan (well, not that much of a fan) and meant "sleeps with the fishes". Possibly he meant something else entirely. SQ, it's over to you. ✒The bad news: Global Slag Magazine is being closed by Surrey-based Pro Publications International. The good news: "Slag will be more than adequately covered as a regular feature section in Global Cement Magazine." ✒To former Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson and his wife Lisa, a baby boy, Ralph Milo. Or, to use the parlance of C4's digital channels, Luke Johnson + 1. Elisabeth Murdoch Channel 4 Big Brother Conrad Black Boris Johnson Sky News David Cameron Peter Andre Luke Johnson Financial Times ITV John Terry Radio 5 Live Radio industry BBC Digital media Digital radio Magazines Newspapers Monkey guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (8 h ago)

• Google spends $5m on Super Bowl ad Google spends $5m on Super Bowl ad
02/07/2010
Google's aversion to advertising its search engine on TV ended with a bang on Sunday night as the company paid an estimated $5m to run a commercial during the Super Bowl. The minute-long spot marks the biggest venture into mainstream advertising for a company that has become notorious growing almost exclusively through word of mouth and online exposure. Indeed, the move is such a remarkable turnaround for the internet giant that it even moved chief executive Eric Schmidt to publish a rare message on Twitter , in which he claimed "someone said 'Hell has indeed frozen over'". Google's "Parisian Love" commercial, which featured a variety of plugs for the company's search engine played out as a virtual love story, was aired during the game's third quarter and lasted a full minute. As one of the world's most-viewed TV events, the Super Bowl is a opportunity for advertisers to reach huge audiences in one swoop - and a notorious cash cow for the NFL. With companies charged around $2.5m for a 30 second spot last year's game, which lasted just over three and a half hours, made $213m from advertising alone. But experts said the decision to spend millions on a highly-visible ad betrays how Google is feeling the heat from competitors - in particular Microsoft's Bing search engine. Danny Sullivan, the editor of SearchEngineLand , said that Microsoft's was almost certainly behind the decision to try and advertise to such a large audience. "This pretty much confirms that Google is absolutely feeling the pressure from Bing," he wrote . "The company has never, ever seriously advertised its core search offerings before in this manner." Running an advert of this magnitude marks a significant turnaround for Google, which has regularly turned its nose up at offline advertising. While is not the first time that Google has ventured into mainstream ads – in recent months the company has promoted its web browser, Chrome and run an international campaign to publicise its web-based software - it has done little or no external marketing of its search engine for most of its life. Indeed, such has been the antipathy towards promoting its basic products through traditional channels that senior executives have even launched attacks on the company's rivals for using advertising. In an interview on Fox Business News last summer, Schmidt railed against Microsoft for trying to spend their way to a market-leading position. "You don't buy it with ads," he said. "You earn it, and you earn it customer by customer, search for search, answer by answer." According to advertising experts, Google's Super Bowl debut was a hit: Tim Calkins, a professor of marketing with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois, said Google's advert proved the most successful during this year's event, according to their tests. "The Google spot laddered up to the emotion but maintained function," Calkins said . Google Advertising Internet Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (9 h ago)

• Merv the swerve? King goes dog sledding ... Merv the swerve? King goes dog sledding at G7 summit in Canada
02/07/2010
Hats off to the Bank of England's governor, Mervyn King, who found the time to go for a ride on a dog sled during the weekend's summit of G7 finance ministers, which Canada hosted in the remote Arctic city of Iqaluit. Above is a picture of Merv, who's tucked up nice and warm and looks like he's having a whale of a time. He declared the experience "wonderful". Ministers at the summit agreed to forgive Haiti's debts, following the Caribbean country's devastating earthquake. And they pledged to continue working together on co-ordinated economic stimulus packages to fight the impact of the recession. But as I reported earlier in the week , the summit's Arctic location meant that the ministers present, including Britain's Alistair Darling, the US treasury minister Timothy Geithner and France's Christine Lagarde, faced a tricky diplomatic challenge on issue of seal hunting, which would be somewhat peripheral to their portfolios in other circumstances. The European Union has banned commercially hunted seal and, although hunting by indigenous communities was exempt from the prohibition, it's a delicate topic. None of the visiting ministers chose to attend a feast on Saturday night, laid on by the local Inuit community, at which raw seal was on the menu. Canada's Jim Flaherty was left to chow down on some seal meat alone. And when a local reporter asked the European ministers about seal hunting at a closing press conference, there was a deafening silence. Canada's Globe and Mail reports that there was a five second silence as Darling and his colleagues avoided everybody's eye. "Don't all go at once," prompted the reporter. A further five second silence ensued according to this transcript, before Flaherty came to the rescue of his visitors: "Listen, you know, the European Union makes a specific exception with respect to the Inuit people who for thousands of years have relied on the seal as part of their survival and that is the view of the European Union and its certainly our view in Canada." Incidentally, Darling was the only one at the press conference who appeared to be wearing a suit. Everyone else kept warm in woolly jumpers, including a particularly attractive snowflake design sported by Flaherty, and a rather startling orange number worn by Japan's finance minister. There's a video clip here . Canada Alistair Darling Mervyn King Bank of England Timothy Geithner Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (14 h ago)

• 15% fall in share dividends leaves pensi... 15% fall in share dividends leaves pensions exposed
02/07/2010
Sector left dangerously dependent on oil, tobacco and drugs firms as banks slump British companies paid out £10bn less in dividends in 2009 compared with the previous year leaving pension and other investment funds dangerously dependent on carbon-heavy oil groups, BP and Shell, for a quarter of all such income, new research shows. A total of £57bn was handed out to shareholders last year, 15% less than in the previous 12-month period, with 202 firms cutting their dividends and 74 paying nothing at all, according to Capita Registrars Research. The data shows the financial crisis led to a £6bn fall in dividends from the banks, leaving drug, tobacco and oil companies to fill some of the gap. "The recession has hit dividends particularly hard because companies have not only had to cope with falling profits, but also massive pressure on their ability to finance themselves. Preserving cash has been a top priority," said Paul Taylor, head of dividends at Capita Registrars, who used data provided by the financial information specialists Exchange Data International to prepare the report. "Much of the banking sector is either in state or foreign hands, while the ability of the remaining independents to pay dividends is severely constrained by the need to rebuild their balance sheets... Among retailers, only the supermarkets have managed to keep the dividends flowing," he added. Capita points out that investors are now "heavily dependent" on just five companies – BP, Shell, HSBC, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline – for 47% of all dividends, giving those businesses enormous clout in the investment markets and around government. Yet Shell faces demands from its own shareholders to move away from its controversial tar sands investments in Canada, while the Co-op's investment arm will today unveil plans to oppose BP's involvement in this area. "The increasing dominance of the oil companies has left investors highly dependent on a few big stocks to provide them with an income," said Taylor. "Oil has fuelled the engine of UK dividends in the last two years. Lower oil prices, tighter refining margins, slower production growth and unfavourable currency trends have put profitability under pressure at the big oil companies and will make it tougher for them to increase their payouts to shareholders. Indeed, the latest news from the oil sector may even mean our forecast for 2010 is optimistic." Shell reported last week a 75% downturn in profits during 2009. It said there would be no further increase in the first quarter of 2010 as the future looked difficult. BP also gave a downbeat assessment of future trading opportunities. Capita believes dividend payments from UK companies should recover with the economy over the next year, reaching an estimated £60bn, 5% up on 2009. Meanwhile, UK companies raised a record £73bn from new equity as banks and other businesses fought to rebuild their balance sheets. "There has been an unprecedented flow of capital from investors to companies," said Taylor. Pensions Shares Banks and building societies Credit crunch Oil Occupational pensions Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Is Ireland a glimpse of Tory-led UK? Is Ireland a glimpse of Tory-led UK?
02/07/2010
Brian Lenihan's spending cuts and tax hikes are sucking demand out of the Irish economy – and threaten to keep the Republic mired in recession alongside Greece Last December, on the same day that Alistair Darling delivered his pre-budget report to parliament, the Irish government announced its own plans for tax and spending. Darling said he would delay Britain's fiscal pain; Ireland's Fianna Fáil finance minister, Brian Lenihan, tackled his country's budget deficit head on . Darling has no intention of being swayed by critics who say that Ireland is showing how deficit reduction should be done. Indeed, he would quite welcome some interest being taken in events across the Irish Sea, for if Greece is the right's nightmare vision of where the UK is heading under Labour, Ireland is Labour's dystopia of a Tory Britain. Unlike Britain, the United States, France, Germany, China and the rest of the G20, Ireland has not rediscovered Keynes . It has spurned counter-cyclical budgetary policy and instead has been raising taxes and cutting spending in a series of budgets and mini-budgets that have sucked demand out of the economy. Lenihan has cut child benefit by 10%, public-sector pay by up to 15%, and raised prescription charges by 50%. One eighth of the working population has no job, yet unemployment benefit is being cut by 4.1%. For the young unemployed, the measures are even more draconian: the dole has been slashed by 50%. The consensus view in the markets is that Ireland will be rewarded for its prudence. Bond yields will come down because investors will grow less anxious about a default. The ratings agencies will think again about downgrading Ireland's credit rating. This, though, is by no means guaranteed. Ireland has experienced near-depression conditions over the past 18 months, and the expectation that budget cuts will lead to spontaneous recovery through which the private sector will compensate for the retreat of the public sector is unproved. Indeed, there is a considerable risk that removing spending power from the economy will lead to more companies going bust and deter the survivors from investing more. Greece, Spain and Portugal – all under pressure to follow the Irish lead – also have to balance the struggle for "credibility" in the markets against the short-term hit to demand. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said Ireland was further down the road with its austerity measures than Greece, having already imposed a squeeze amounting to 5% of GDP in the past year. "Meanwhile, Greece's deficit reduction plans rest heavily on a strong recovery in the economy, which we think is unlikely to materialise. As such, we expect that the deficit will come down rather more slowly," Loynes said. "But these uncertainties are not exclusive to Greece. Indeed, while we expect Greek GDP to drop by around 2% in 2010, we expect Ireland (and Spain) to fare little better. And if Ireland's earlier fiscal tightening ends up keeping the economy deep in recession, that could clearly have an adverse effect both on its fiscal position and its commitment to further deficit reduction." Unlike in Greece , there has been no rioting on the streets. Ireland has a corporatist system of government in which the social partners seek consensus rather than confrontation. The onset of austerity, according to some commentators, has been greeted with a certain stoicism, as if there had to be payback time after the excesses of the boom years. Even so, the fiscal retrenchment is stretching the social fabric to its limits. David Begg, general secretary of Ireland's Congress of Trade Unions, has described the policies of the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition as a "charter for exploitation" that puts "very deep blue water between this government and the majority of Irish people". The options for a young Irish worker, Begg says, "are to take a job at any price or emigrate. Once again, we will see our youngest and best-educated either beaten down by exploitation or forced overseas." The Irish Labour leader Eamon Gilmore described the Lenihan package as "viciously anti-family, fundamentally unfair and socially divisive". The Celtic Tiger years of the 1990s seem a long, long time ago as Ireland accepts real cuts in living standards as the price for keeping the bond market vigilantes sweet. Both Ireland and Greece were enthusiastic founder members of the single currency; they are now painfully discovering the dark side of the euro. Labour and the Conservatives agree that the current pain being imposed on the weaker members of the eurozone emphasises the wisdom of keeping Britain outside the single currency . Ireland's property boom-bust during the noughties was a textbook example of what can happen if a country loses control of its own monetary policy – rates were too low early in the decade, leading to a colossal misallocation of resources away from exports towards construction, whose share of the economy more than doubled from 6% to 14%. Windfall tax receipts from the builders and the bankers financing them provided the government with the false impression that the budget was healthier than it was. When the inevitable bust came, Ireland (like Greece and Spain) found it had no independent tools available. Over-heating in the boom led to a loss of competitiveness, which could only be regained through deflation by diktat. The stability and growth pact decreed that the budget deficit be brought below 3% of GDP within three years. This was precisely the scenario that left-of-centre critics of the single currency warned of when Britain was debating membership of monetary union back in early 2003. Far from being a progressive panacea for Britain's (very real and enduring) economic problems, it was said the euro would cause severe instability. Giving up macro-economic autonomy would leave the government with no alternative but to adjust to an economy shock through cuts in public spending and reductions in real wages. As in Ireland, the burden of that would fall on the weakest members of society. Stephen Lewis, chief economist at Monument Securities, said: "It is surely now evident to all who would see that a 'one-size-fits-all' monetary policy is not well suited to a range of economies as disparate as those that make up the eurozone. Further, the absence of any fiscal counterpart to the monetary union is a recipe for economic instability in the zone's member states. "EU policymakers are presenting the problems of Greece and other peripheral eurozone members as if they were solely financial, to be solved through vigorous budgetary action alone. However, the yawning fiscal gaps in some of the weaker economies reflect fundamental forces that will not be easily ameliorated." Nick Parsons, head of markets strategy at nabCapital, said that while membership of the single currency might make sense for a small country such as Ireland, which risked being picked off by the speculators if it remained outside the single currency, it was a different story for Britain, where the Bank of England failed to prevent a bubble developing in the housing market even with the bank rate at 5% and above. "It shows the advantage of the UK being outside the eurozone. What would it have been like with a 2% interest rate in an open economy like the UK?" Parsons said. It would, of course, have been utterly inappropriate, creating the conditions for a boom-bust that would have put Ireland's in the shade. Which is why the lesson for Britain is not that there should be immediate, swingeing budget cuts – but that staying out of the euro was the best decision Gordon Brown ever made. guardian.co.uk/business/economics Ireland Greece Euro Global recession Green shoots Economics Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Branson: oil crunch by 2015 Branson: oil crunch by 2015
02/07/2010
• Virgin chief and fellow business leaders call for action • Energy crisis threatens to be more serious than credit crunch Sir Richard Branson and fellow leading businessmen will warn ministers this week that the world is running out of oil and faces an oil crunch within five years. The founder of the Virgin group, whose rail, airline and travel companies are sensitive to energy prices, will say that the coming crisis could be even more serious than the credit crunch. "The next five years will see us face another crunch – the oil crunch. This time, we do have the chance to prepare. The challenge is to use that time well," Branson will say. "Our message to government and businesses is clear: act," he says in a foreword to a new report on the crisis. "Don't let the oil crunch catch us out in the way that the credit crunch did." Other British executives who will support the warning include Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy group, and Brian Souter, chief executive of transport operator Stagecoach. Their call for urgent government action comes amid a wider debate on the issue and follows allegations by insiders at the International Energy Agency that the organisation had deliberately underplayed the threat of so-called "peak oil" to avoid panic on the stock markets. Ministers have until now refused to take predictions of oil droughts seriously, preferring to side with oil companies such as BP and ExxonMobil and crude producers such as the Saudis, who insist there is nothing to worry about. But there are signs this is about to change, according to Jeremy Leggett, founder of the Solarcentury renewable power company and a member of a peak oil taskforce within the business community. "[We are] in regular contact with government; we have reason to believe their risk thinking on peak oil may be evolving away from BP et al's and we await the results of further consultations with keen interest." The issue came up at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos where Thierry Desmarest, chief executive of the Total oil company in France, also broke ranks. The world could struggle to produce more than 95m barrels of oil a day in future, he said – 10% above present levels. "The problem of peak oil remains." Chris Skrebowski, an independent oil consultant who prepared parts of the peak oil report for Branson and others, said that only recession is holding back a crisis: "The next major supply constraint, along with spiking oil prices, will not occur until recession-hit demand grows to the point that it removes the current excess oil stocks and the large spare capacity held by Opec. However, once these are removed, possibly as early as 2012-13 and no later than 2014-15, oil prices are likely to spike, imperilling economic growth and causing economic dislocation." Skrebowski believes that Britain is particularly vulnerable because it has gone from being a net exporter of oil, gas and coal to being an importer, and is becoming increasingly exposed to competition for supplies. "This is likely to put pressure on the UK balance of payments and in a world of floating exchange rates is also likely to put downward pressure on the valuation of sterling. In other words, the positive benefits to the valuation of the pound as a petrocurrency are now eroding," he said. The question of peak oil came to centre stage last November when a whistleblower told the Guardian the figures provided by the IEA – and used by the UK and US governments for much of their planning scenarios – were inaccurate. "The IEA in 2005 was predicting that oil supplies could rise as high as 120m barrels a day by 2030, although it was forced to reduce this gradually to 116m and then 105m last year," said the IEA source. "The 120m figure always was nonsense but even today's number is much higher than can be justified and the IEA knows this." But Saudi Arabia launched a counter-strike at Davos, insisting the issue was overblown. "The concern about peak oil is behind us," said Khalid al-Falih, chief executive of Saudi Aramco. Tony Hayward, the BP chief executive, downplayed fears about dwindling supplies in an interview with the Guardian last week. Oil Oil and gas companies Virgin Atlantic Stagecoach Scottish and Southern Energy Gas Oil Energy Fossil fuels Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (19 h ago)

• Toyota poised to recall Prius hybrid car... Toyota poised to recall Prius hybrid cars over brake fault
02/07/2010
Expected recall of flagship green vehicle risks inflicting further damage to reputation of the world's biggest carmaker Toyota is poised to recall hundreds of thousands of Prius hybrid cars to fix a potentially dangerous brake defect, reports in Japan said today. The expected recall of Toyota's flagship green vehicle risks inflicting further damage to the reputation of the world's biggest carmaker, which has already recalled more than 8m cars worldwide because of potential accelerator problems. British Prius owners are likely to have to wait for service. The firm is expected to initially recall and repair around 270,000 of the petrol-electric hybrids in the US and Japan, where drivers have reported momentary brake failure at slow speeds, particularly on bumpy or slippery roads. The recall may later be extended to other countries, the reports said. US authorities are looking into 100 complaints affecting the newest Prius model, which went on sale last May, while Japan's transport ministry is aware of dozens of similar cases. Toyota said the problem was not mechanical, but was due to a software glitch that can be fixed in about 30 minutes. Last week it invited allegations of a cover-up after it admitted it had already started fixing the defect on models assembled since the end of last month. The Prius, the world's most popular hybrid model and the best-selling car in Japan last year, is regarded as pivotal to Toyota's attempts to corner the market in fuel-efficient cars. Toyota has sold more than 300,000 of its third-generation Prius in 60 countries since its launch last May, including 170,000 in Japan, 100,000 in the US and 29,000 in Europe. Speculation that the Prius would be the latest model to fall victim to Toyota's quality control problems rose last week when the transport minister, Seiji Maehara, said he expected the recall to take place and criticised the firm for failing to "focus on the consumer". Toyota had initially decided to offer repairs to Japanese owners under a voluntary service campaign, but later decided on a full recall to try to regain the trust of its customers, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. It said the company had already notified domestic dealers. The Kyodo news agency said Toyota had also informed dealers in the US of plans to begin fixing Prius brakes. In an email sent to dealers on Friday, Bob Carter, a Toyota group vice president, said the firm would announce the details of the Prius repair plan this week. US authorities have launched an investigation into the glitch, which has caused four accidents and two minor injuries. Carter said the brake defect "has prompted considerable customer concern, speculation, and media attention due to the significance of the Prius image. We want to assure our dealers that we are moving rapidly to provide a solution for your existing customers." Toyota can expect even closer media scrutiny at home if it goes ahead with the recall, as it would involve Japanese customers for the first time. The company has attracted widespread criticism for its slow response to the accelerator pedal fault, which forced it to recall 4.45m cars last month, more than 2m of them in the US. Two weeks later, Akio Toyoda, the firm's president, finally emerged to apologise to customers and reassure them that "Toyota vehicles are safe". "I would like to take this opportunity to apologise from the bottom of my heart for causing many of our customers concern after the recalls across several models in several regions," he said on Friday. Toyota Automotive industry Motoring Japan Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (21 h ago)

• Santander may float in UK Santander may float in UK
02/07/2010
Speculation mounts over possible UK flotation by Spanish bank if it buys network that EU is forcing bailed-out RBS to sell Banco Santander could float part of its rapidly growing UK division – which includes the former Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester – if it ends up buying the 300 bank branches of Williams & Glyn's that the Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced by the EU to put up for sale. Other options include seeking finance from the debt markets, through a big loan subscribed by several banks, or through a share exchange with other investors, it is understood. But the process to sell the business-focused RBS branch network – a move forced by the European Union after the government bailout of the taxpayer-owned bank – is still in its "very early days," a source told the Guardian. Neither Santander nor UBS, which is managing the sale, declined to comment. Speculation about a possible deal has been sparked by comments by Santander's chief executive, Alfredo Sáenz, last week in Madrid that "there's still much to be done in Britain". However, Sáenz also said the bank did not have any plans to float its British unit, which is now selling about half of all new mortgages in the UK. Bankers and investors have speculated about a flotation of the UK division after the successful partial stock market listing of Santander's Brazilian unit last year. The sale contributed €1.4bn (£1.2bn) to the bank's €8.9bn profit in 2009, which was also driven by strong growth in the UK, the chairman, Emilio Botín, said in Madrid. Contrary to press reports, it is understood that Santander has not contacted its shareholders to test the idea of a partial flotation of the UK unit. The business posted annual profits of £1.5bn last year, up 30% from 2008, after aggressive expansion and as brand awareness grew through its red logo and sponsorships such as Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton. An average valuation of ten times the company's profits would value the business at £15bn.Buying the 300-strong former Williams & Glyn's branch network would lift Santander's share of Britain's small business market, which stands at about 3%, well behind its stake of about 11% of the residential mortgage market. Santander is now Britain's third-largest bank, in terms of deposits, after RBS and Lloyds Banking Group. The Madrid-based bank, which has rapidly grown in the UK after the acquisition of Abbey National and parts of Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley, has expanded internationally over the past decade, reducing its dependence on Spain, which now only accounts for about 25% of its profits. The country's shrinking economy and 19% unemployment has lifted the bad loans ratio to more than 3% and is expected to continue doing so as the economy still deteriorates. The UK market now provides 16% of the group's profits, the third largest, after Spain and Brazil. The bank expects double-digit growth in Britain this year, pushed by a recovering economy, and through "opportunities that may arise," Botín said. Banco Santander Royal Bank of Scotland Banking Investing Bradford & Bingley Alliance & Leicester Elena Moya guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (22 h ago)

• End tax breaks for polluters to cut budg... End tax breaks for polluters to cut budget deficit, thinktank urges
02/07/2010
Green Alliance says £12bn could be saved by ending support for high-carbon industries such as aviation and building fewer roads Ministers could save £12bn of public spending over four years by clamping down on tax breaks and support for polluting oil exploration, cement, aluminium and transport, according to a report from green campaigners this week. With all three major parties committed to cutting the projected £178bn budget deficit , and to a low-carbon economy, a report by the high-level Green Alliance thinktank argues that many spending cuts could achieve both ends. Perhaps the most controversial suggestion is to halve the £10bn national and regional roads spending budget. Other proposals include ending the zero value-added tax (VAT) rate for aviation and shipping, and reducing tax breaks on oil and gas exploration and the Climate Change Levy for big energy users such as cement and aluminium companies, saving more than £5bn. The report also says government departments should step up energy-efficiency improvements for buildings and vehicles to save £1.5bn over the four years, about one eighth of what they spend on fuel. Chris Hewett, a Green Alliance associate and author of the report, said that apart from pledges to increase energy savings, none of these policies had been explicitly outlined by either the Labour government or the Conservatives, who under David Cameron's leadership have worked hard to position themselves as a much greener party. However, Hewett dismissed suggestions that the recommendations would be too politically controversial, with the risk of upsetting powerful industries and prompting a public backlash if they led to more expensive travel or fuel, or more traffic on the roads. "It's dependent on comparisons to the other options that will be on the table," said Hewett. "Particularly after the [general] election, we're going to have to take difficult decisions, and we're looking at areas of expenditure that haven't been looked at before, whether it's Trident [nuclear missiles for submarines] or public-sector pensions. "We're saying, let's look at expenditure which goes to support a high-carbon economy – often a lot of the expenditure is not consistent with a low-carbon economy." The challenge of meeting government efficiency savings was also revealed last week by the latest figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change showing that public-sector emissions rose 6.5% in 2008 , despite a 2% fall nationally. The three major environment and conservation charities that commissioned the report – WWF, the The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Greenpeace – argue that it would be "reckless" to ignore the report. Doug Parr, Greenpeace's chief scientist, said: "Britain can be a world leader in renewable technologies and low-carbon transport but only if we stop bailing out the dirty industries of the 20th century." David Norman, WWF's head of campaigns, said: "The hole in the country's finances means, inevitably, that measures to support the environment and tackle climate change will come under pressure. This report is a grown-up response to this dilemma, and demonstrates that with a clear vision and sense of purpose the UK and move toward a low-carbon economy without profligate spending. Not to do so would cost us too much in the long run." Carbon emissions Energy Economics Tax and spending Budget Conservatives Labour Energy efficiency Greenpeace Climate change Economic policy Oil Oil Transport policy Pollution Travel and transport Thinktanks Juliette Jowit guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Goldman cuts Blankfein's bonus to $9m Goldman cuts Blankfein's bonus to $9m
02/06/2010
• Mundane sum by Wall Street standards compares with $69m payout two years ago • JP Morgan inherits mantle as highest-paying bank Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has sought to defuse outrage over pay at the top echelons of the industry by handing its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, a far lower than expected bonus of $9m (£5.8m) for a year in which it bounced back from financial crisis to make record profits. Although an enormous payout in any other walk of life, $9m is a relatively mundane bonus by Wall Street's standards, and is a paltry amount in terms of Goldman's history. Two years ago, Blankfein scooped a record breaking $69m, and some reports earlier this week had suggested that he might get as much as $100m for 2009. The bonus, revealed late on Friday in a document filed with US regulators, means Goldman is no longer the top paying bank on Wall Street. Rival firm JP Morgan Chase disclosed that its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, would receive $17m after keeping his firm profitable throughout the financial crisis. Critics of Wall Street in political and union circles had been keenly waiting to see how Goldman would handle an outpouring of public anger over huge bonus payouts in an era of high unemployment and ongoing difficulty for small businesses seeking bank loans on the high street. A Goldman spokesman said: "The firm produced very good results for 2009, but the environment is very difficult and the board was mindful of that difficult environment in making decisions about executive compensation." Blankfein, a 55-year-old former gold trader from the Bronx, has led Goldman since 2006 and has become a lightning rod for anger over Wall Street pay. His firm has been picketed by union activists and has been attacked for selling toxic mortgage-related securities to its clients while at the same time using its own capital to take trading positions betting on the collapse of the housing market. Under fire, Blankfein apologised in November for Goldman's involvement in "things that were clearly wrong". But he irritated critics the same month by remarking that his staff were doing "God's work" – a comment subsequently characterised by his public relations advisers as an attempt at humour. After announcing profits of $13.4bn last month, Goldman tried to improve its image by making a $500m donation to charity. Senior colleagues of Blankfein, including its chief financial officer, David Viniar, and chief operating officer, Gary Cohn, will also receive $9m. The bonuses are being paid in reserved stock units, rather than cash, and cannot be sold until 2015, in an effort to encourage a long-term outlook. In a reaction to Alistair Darling's special tax on bonuses, staff at Goldman's offices in London have had their bonuses capped by the bank at £1m. Pay experts expressed surprise at the sums. Alan Johnson, a Wall Street remuneration consultant, said he had expected the payouts to be far higher: "This just shows what public pressure can do." He said the figures created a curious anomaly in which Goldman's senior executives earned less than star traders lower down the ranks: "This isn't sustainable long term because you've got people two or three levels lower taking home more." Although less profitable than Goldman, JP Morgan has emerged from the credit crunch as a competing powerhouse. It had sufficient financial strength to salvage the remnants of two collapsing competitors – the Wall Street brokerage Bear Stearns and the Seattle-based high street bank Washington Mutual. JP Morgan's chief executive is getting $8m in stock, a further $8m in share options and a salary of $1m. A politically astute operator, Dimon, 53, has close links with the White House but has been a staunch defender of Wall Street's ways. He told the US financial crisis inquiry commission last month that although there have been "quite legitimate" concerns over banking pay, JP Morgan was not guilty: "I believe our compensation policies have been and remain appropriate." Executive pay and bonuses Goldman Sachs JP Morgan Banking United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Browne reveals plan for BP-Shell merger Browne reveals plan for BP-Shell merger
02/05/2010
• BP board in Williamsburg squashed proposals in 2004 • Ex chief claims merger could have been worth $9bn a year • Tie-up with Yukos rejected after 'untoward' encounter with Khodorkovsky Lord Browne took BP to the brink of a mega-merger with Royal Dutch Shell six years ago only to be thwarted at the last minute by opposition from a handful of his own board members, the former chief executive has claimed. "We missed the boat" argues Browne in his autobiography, which is published on Monday. The Shell deal would have involved selling off the whole of BP's downstream refining business – an operation that is currently struggling to make money . "We estimated that a merger could create synergies of around $9bn [£5.8bn] a year in three to five years' time. It also would have been a significant boost to the oil industry outside of the US," he argues in Beyond Business, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. There was much speculation at the time that BP and Shell had held casual talks but the oil companies denied it had been anything other than early soundings that quickly led nowhere. But Browne, who stepped down in 2007 in favour of his head of exploration Tony Hayward , planned to put detailed proposals to the BP board at a meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia. Browne claims he had the support of his own executive team, which would have included Hayward. "On the plane there I knew the answer even before the meeting started. The sentiment was 'why rock the boat'. The Shell merger was not discussed. It was not going to be done and that was that... In the end we did not rock the boat; we missed it," he says. Browne also revealed how he also thought about buying into Yukos rather than TNK as his entrance point to Russia . But he claims a meeting at his house in Cambridge with the now-imprisoned Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky put him off because the Russian talked about his political influence in that country. Browne said: "It is easy to say this in hindsight but there was something untoward about his approach." BP Royal Dutch Shell Oil and gas companies Oil Russia Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Church of England sells Vedanta stake ov... Church of England sells Vedanta stake over human rights concerns
02/05/2010
Controversial plans for open-cast mine on Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, India, force church to abandon shares worth £3.8m The Church of England said today that it has sold its £3.8m stake in Vedanta Resources, the controversial mining company, over concerns about its human rights record. The church has been under mounting pressure over the past year to disinvest in the FTSE 100 company after it continually refused to back down on its plans to construct an open-cast mine on Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa, India . Activists believe it will destroy the area's ecosystem and threaten the future of the 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribe, who depend on the hills for their crops and water and who believe the mountain and surrounding forest to be a sacred place. "We are not satisfied that Vedanta has shown, or is likely in future to show, the level of respect for human rights and local communities that we expect," said the church in a statement, adding that maintaining investments in Vedanta "would be inconsistent with the church investing bodies' joint ethical investment policy". Although Vedanta was the second biggest riser on the FTSE 100 index last year, it has been hit by a succession of public relations problems. In June, an environmental award was withheld at the last minute when details of the mine in the eastern state of Orissa were brought to the jury's attention. The following month, protesters including celebrities such as Bianca Jagger picketed the annual meeting in London over the Orissa project and the campaign to force the church to disinvest began in earnest. In August, India's environment minister admitted the project should never have been approved. Stephen Corry, director of the charity Survival International, said: "The church's unprecedented and very welcome decision sends a strong signal to companies that trample on tribal peoples' rights: we will not bankroll your abuses. Anybody that has shares in Vedanta should sell them today if they care about human rights." Meredith Alexander, head of trade and corporates at ActionAid, said the church's announcement was a "massive setback" for Vedanta. "Vedanta's planned bauxite mine in the holy mountain of Niyamgiri is a social and environmental disaster. It will destroy the sacred homeland of the Kondh tribes and ruin a pristine environment forever. "The Kondh tribes who live around the mountain have been doing everything they can to stop the mine, but it hasn't been enough. They have now found a powerful ally in the Church of England. I hope that the Church's decision helps Vedanta to make the right choice and drop plans to mine." The church is not the first organisation to disinvest from Vedanta on ethical grounds. In 2007 the Norwegian government sold its $13m stake, saying: "There is little reason to believe that the company's unacceptable practice will change in the future." In addition, Martin Currie Investment Management sold its £2.3m stake last year, and BP's pension fund reduced its holdings in Vedanta because of "concerns about the way the company operates". A Vedanta spokesperson said: "We are disappointed by the Church of England's decision to sell their holding in Vedanta. Vedanta remains fully committed to pursuing its investments in a responsible manner, respecting the environment and human rights. We work with a number of NGOs and with the authorities in India, the world's largest democracy, ensuring all our projects are conducted in compliance with the law and international best practice. "We will continue to engage closely with the Church of England to address the concerns they have raised." Vedanta Resources Anglicanism India Mining Ethical business Mining Kathryn Hopkins guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (3 d ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (2)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2010 shows a Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States.(Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$ &$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?i ... (19 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (3)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Customers sit beside a Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States, on Feb. 5, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$ &$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/NewsView. ... (19 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota (4)
02/07/2010
&$ &$Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2010 shows the logo of the Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid car at a car dealer in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Xin)&$ &$&$ 【1】【2】【3】 <a href="/cms/template/ ... (19 h ago)

• Prius recall case may severely damage re... Prius recall case may severely damage reputation of Toyota
02/07/2010
&$ &$People walk past a car dealer of Toyota Motor Corp. in New York, the United States, on Feb. 5, 2010. The Japanese automaker Toyota has decided a mandatory recall of 270,000 units of its third-generation Prius hybrid car, which some consumers have reported has a brake problem, local media reported on Friday. Toyota, which has had a reputation for safety for many years, is likely to see a huge dent in its sales as media ... (19 h ago)

• Australian mining magnate secures coal e... Australian mining magnate secures coal export deal with China
02/07/2010
Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer said Saturday his company has secured Australia's largest coal export deal with China. The Resourcehouse chairman said the company had reached a 20-year agreement with one of China's largest power companies, China Power International Development, the flagship company of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI). "This deal with CPI is Australia's biggest ever export contract," Palmer said in a statement. "This is Australia's largest single, non-syn ... (21 h ago)

• European debt concerns drive dollar high... European debt concerns drive dollar higher during past week
02/06/2010
The dollar rose against most major currencies during the past week as concerns over European sovereign debt problems boosted safety haven demand for the greenback. Investors worried that the debt crisis may spread from Greece to other countries, threatening major economies of the eurozone. This is the toughest test for the euro since the single currency was launched in 1999, analysts said. The Greek public deficit is tipped to reach 12.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009, far ... (1 d ago)

• Petrobras loses 6.84% of market value in... Petrobras loses 6.84% of market value in one day
02/06/2010
Brazil's state-run oil and gas giant Petrobras has lost 6.84 percent of its market value when Ibovespa, the index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, experienced its severest fall in four months. Petrobras' market value shrank by 11.9 billion U.S. dollars, the biggest loss of all companies in Latin America and the United States, to 162.7 billion U.S. dollars on Thursday, said Economatica, a large consulting company. Petrobras' preferential stocks fell by 5.11 percent during the day, closing a ... (1 d ago)

• IDB offers financial support for social ... IDB offers financial support for social projects in L. America
02/06/2010
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has offered financial support to social projects in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Argentina, said the bank on Thursday. The IDB said it will provide a conditional credit of 100 million U.S. dollars to the Dominican Republic to build schools, lengthen school day and improve reading, writing and math skills of students. Under the program, 34 secondary schools will be built, each with an average of 14 classrooms. The funds will also be used to ... (1 d ago)

• SAIC posts soaring sales in January SAIC posts soaring sales in January
02/06/2010
SAIC Motor, the listed arm of China's auto giant Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), said Saturday its car sales totaled 307,384 units in January, up 89.8 percent from a year earlier. January's output stood at 296,685 units, up 90.2 percent year on year, said the automaker in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange website. Its subsidiary Iveco Hongyan Commercial Vehicle Co. posted the strongest sales gain in January, up 548.5 percent from a year ago to 2,088 units wh ... (1 d ago)

• China passenger car sales up 84% in Janu... China passenger car sales up 84% in January
02/06/2010
China's passenger car sales rose 84 percent in January from a year earlier, heavily boosted by minivans, China Passenger Car Association said on Friday. A total of 1,218,722 cars, sport-utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans were sold in January, an increase of 84.2 percent year on year and 5.1 percent from December, Saturday's China Daily quoted Rao Da, the association's secretary-general, as saying. The sales boost was largely driven by the minivan segment, which jumped 88 ... (1 d ago)

• U.S. consumer credit falls for 11th mont... U.S. consumer credit falls for 11th month in December 2009
02/06/2010
U.S. consumer credit dropped for the 11th month in a row in December 2009 as Americans cut their borrowing in the economic uncertainty, reported the Federal Reserve on Friday. The Fed said that total borrowing in December dropped by 1.8 billion dollars from 2,458.6 billion dollars in November to 2,456. 8 billion dollars. It is far less than the revised 10.6 billion dollars decline for November. It also was well below the 9 billion dollars drop analysts had expected. The previous record of ... (1 d ago)

• OECD posts stronger recovery signals OECD posts stronger recovery signals
02/06/2010
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) composite leading indicators (CLIs) for December 2009 gave out Friday stronger recovery signals than last month. CLIs for 29 developed countries rose to 103.1 in December, 1.1 point higher than the previous month and 10.1 points higher than a year ago, OECD said in a newly released report. CLIs for the G7 economies, namely Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, United States and United Kingdom, as well as China, India, Ru ... (1 d ago)

• Canada's unemployment rate down to 8.3 p... Canada's unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent in January
02/06/2010
The Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada on Friday showed that Canada's unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage points to 8.3 percent in January, with jobs increased by 43,000. This was the fourth employment gain in six months. However, employment still remained 280,000 below the level of October 2008. Employment gains in January were driven by women aged 25 to 54 and youths. This was the first notable increase for youths since the start of the employment downturn in the fall o ... (1 d ago)

• U.S. unemployment drops to 9.7% in Janua... U.S. unemployment drops to 9.7% in January
02/06/2010
The U.S. unemployment rate in January fell unexpectedly to 9.7 percent from 10 percent, a Labor Department report said on Friday. The report says a survey of employers found they cut 20,000 jobs last month, the same figure as in December 2009. However, a separate survey of households found the number of employed Americans rose by 541,000. In January, employment fell in construction, transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade added jobs. The departm ... (1 d ago)

• In Secret, Nations Work Toward Crackdown... In Secret, Nations Work Toward Crackdown on Piracy
02/08/2010
Negotiators, under intense pressure from media companies, luxury brands and other corporate victims of piracy to complete a deal, are facing criticism over the process. (4 h ago)

• European Central Bank in a Squeeze European Central Bank in a Squeeze
02/08/2010
As alarm about Greek debt increases, a weakness of the European monetary union has been exposed: its lack of a strong political arm. (5 h ago)

• Asian Markets Fall Amid Weak Recovery Fe... Asian Markets Fall Amid Weak Recovery Fears
02/07/2010
Asian stock markets extended their slide Monday, after Wall Street notched its fourth straight weekly drop, amid worries over risks from debt troubles in Europe. (8 h ago)

• Toyota Is Expected to Add 2010 Prius to ... Toyota Is Expected to Add 2010 Prius to Recalls
02/07/2010
The decision to recall at least 311,000 2010 Prius cars will be announced early this week, adding to the automaker’s woes after recalls of other models. (8 h ago)

• The Caucus: Obama’s Balancing Act on U.S... The Caucus: Obama’s Balancing Act on U.S. Trade Policies
02/07/2010
Facing pressure from Democrats and Republicans, not to mention labor unions, the administration’s message is one of ambivalence. (9 h ago)

• Reuters BreakingViews: An S.& P. Scoop W... Reuters BreakingViews: An S.& P. Scoop Was a Blunder
02/07/2010
Standard & Poor’s got ahead of a bit of inside news, apparently inadvertently. (9 h ago)

• Asia Sails Smoothly Through Debt Waters Asia Sails Smoothly Through Debt Waters
02/07/2010
The Asian financial crisis of 1997 led many countries to be more conservative about borrowing and spending than Western nations. (9 h ago)

• Chief of SAP Steps Down After 7 Months Chief of SAP Steps Down After 7 Months
02/07/2010
The German software maker said the departure of Léo Apotheker was by mutual consent, and that it would split its leadership with two chief executives. (9 h ago)

• Some Toyota Owners Voice an Eroding Loya... Some Toyota Owners Voice an Eroding Loyalty
02/07/2010
The recall of millions of Toyota cars and trucks for problems with their accelerator pedals is giving Toyota loyalists second thoughts. (9 h ago)

• Kirin Ends Merger Talks With Suntory Kirin Ends Merger Talks With Suntory
02/07/2010
Japanese beer makers Kirin Holdings and Suntory on Monday abandoned a plan to create one of the world's largest food and beverage makers. (11 h ago)

• Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push ... Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge
02/07/2010
The bank’s demands for billions of dollars from the insurer bled it of cash, which the government later provided. (19 h ago)

• Is Greece’s Debt Trashing the Euro? Is Greece’s Debt Trashing the Euro?
02/07/2010
Greece’s problems, and those looming over its neighbors, have laid bare the dangers of divergent fiscal and political policies in the euro zone. (1 d ago)

• Metrics: Paying for the Olympics: The To... Metrics: Paying for the Olympics: The Toughest Course
02/06/2010
The flow of money through the United States Olympic Committee shows its challenges in advancing its cause while keeping its relationship with the Olympic body. (1 d ago)

• Off the Shelf: Terrorism and the Pocketb... Off the Shelf: Terrorism and the Pocketbook
02/06/2010
To fight terrorism effectively, a new book says, governments must understand its economics — and cut off its revenue streams. (1 d ago)

• Paragon Envy: Oh, What a Feeling: Watchi... Paragon Envy: Oh, What a Feeling: Watching Toyota Flunk for Once
02/06/2010
After years of leading the class, Toyota has finally slipped up. Please excuse America while it gloats. (1 d ago)

• The Count: A Globe Still in Need of Stee... The Count: A Globe Still in Need of Steel
02/06/2010
The steel industry, though buffeted by crises in past decades, remains a core part of the economy. (1 d ago)

• Euro Debt Crisis Is Political Test for B... Euro Debt Crisis Is Political Test for Bloc
02/06/2010
Anxieties about the euro go to the central dilemma of the European Union: the grip of states over economic policy. (2 d ago)

• Greece Needs Tougher Measures, Former E.... Greece Needs Tougher Measures, Former E.U. Central Banker Asserts
02/06/2010
Otmar Issing, former chief economist of the European Central Bank, said the International Monetary Fund would be a better rescuer, if needed, than Brussels. (2 d ago)

• Labor Market Shows Signs of Rebirth in N... Labor Market Shows Signs of Rebirth in New Data
02/06/2010
Growth in manufacturing and part-time employment raised hopes despite the loss of 20,000 more nonfarm jobs in January. The jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent. (2 d ago)

• Stocks & Bonds: Wall Street Takes a Dip ... Stocks & Bonds: Wall Street Takes a Dip and Then Comes Back
02/05/2010
Shares were mixed in the last hour, with Wall Street indexes bouncing back after being down more than 1.5 percent. (2 d ago)

• Toyota to decide about recalling Priuses... Toyota to decide about recalling Priuses soon
02/08/2010
Toyota said Sunday that it will soon announce plans to deal with braking problems in its prized Prius hybrid amid reports it has decided to issue a recall for the vehicle in Japan. (3 h ago)

• Super Bowl ad showdown Super Bowl ad showdown
02/07/2010
(8 h ago)

• Super Bowl spot unites Leno, Letterman Super Bowl spot unites Leno, Letterman
02/07/2010
Super Bowl viewers were rubbing their eyes at the sight of a TV spot pairing CBS late-night host David Letterman with longtime NBC archrival Jay Leno, plus media magnate Oprah Winfrey. (11 h ago)

• Tebow Super Bowl ad strikes light-hearte... Tebow Super Bowl ad strikes light-hearted tone
02/07/2010
Even the long-awaited Super Bowl ad from conservative group Focus on the Family came with a punchline Sunday night. (15 h ago)

• Risk of double-dip recession low, Geithn... Risk of double-dip recession low, Geithner says
02/07/2010
The risk the U.S. economy will slip back into recession is lower now than at any time in the past year, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday. (19 h ago)

• Cost of gas off nearly six cents in last... Cost of gas off nearly six cents in last two weeks
02/07/2010
The average price of regular gasoline in the United States fell 5.76 cents over a two-week period to $2.67. (19 h ago)

• Investors worry about Downturn: The Sequ... Investors worry about Downturn: The Sequel
02/07/2010
The threats seem to be coming from all directions. (20 h ago)

• States weigh getting out of the liquor b... States weigh getting out of the liquor business
02/07/2010
Thousands of cases of whiskey, vodka and rum zip along three miles of conveyor belts inside a massive distribution center in industrial south Seattle, the sole location for shipping booze to liquor stores across Washington state. (20 h ago)

• Even in its hometown, Toyota faces quest... Even in its hometown, Toyota faces questions
02/07/2010
Even in its hometown, the great automaker has lost some of its mystique. (21 h ago)

• NYT: Toyota has been slow to respond on ... NYT: Toyota has been slow to respond on safety
02/06/2010
NYT: Toyota’s recalls and disclosures in recent months are part of a lengthy pattern in which the automaker has often reacted slowly to safety concerns. (1 d ago)

• Toyota recall spurs questions on auto ra... Toyota recall spurs questions on auto ratings
02/06/2010
Massive recall of Toyotas shows that even trusted car testers can fail to spot serious safety issues. (2 d ago)

• Debt crisis unsettles European economy Debt crisis unsettles European economy
02/06/2010
Leaders across continent vow fiscal austerity in response to loss of confidence that is pummeling the euro and rippling across global markets. (2 d ago)

• Stocks pull out of slump but end week lo... Stocks pull out of slump but end week lower
02/05/2010
A battered stock market recovered from a sharp drop in late trading Friday but still posted its fourth straight weekly drop. (2 d ago)

• Ray of hope clouded by 8.4 million joble... Ray of hope clouded by 8.4 million jobless
02/05/2010
The government’s report on the January job market offered fresh hope that the economy is pulling out of its worst downturn since the Great Depression. But it will be a long climb. (2 d ago)

• Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent
02/05/2010
The outlook for jobs became a bit less bleak with January's unexpected decline in the unemployment rate, which fell to 9.7 percent from 10 percent as more people said they had jobs. (2 d ago)

• Ex-Merrill boss Thain to lead CIT Ex-Merrill boss Thain to lead CIT
02/08/2010
John Thain has been chosen to run lender CIT, after a year in which he was ousted from Merrill Lynch and the business lender teetered on the brink. Thain will start as chairman and chief executive immediately, CIT said late yesterday, replacing interim head Peter Tobin. Thain, 54, led Merrill... (4 h ago)

• Chill factor Chill factor
02/08/2010
Top music downloads 1. Down, Jay Sean 2. I Can Transform Ya, Chris Brown 3. Money to Blow, Birdman 4. Da Da Da, Lil Wayne 5. Bad Romance, Lady Gaga 6. Paparazzi, Lady Gaga 7. TiK ToK, Kesha 8. Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z 9. Sweet Dreams, Beyoncé 10. Tie... (6 h ago)

• Hardware stories Hardware stories
02/08/2010
Though it might not quite feel that way, spring isn't all that far off -- which means it's not too early to start planning (or just fantasizing about) this year's renovation projects. We perused a selection of DIY and home magazines, to see what they offer the... (6 h ago)

• Business briefs Business briefs
02/08/2010
G-7 fixes G-7 finance ministers and central bankers pledged yesterday at a meeting in Iqaluit, Can ada, to press ahead with economic-stimulus mea sures even as investors in tensify their focus on mounting budget deficits. Governments face a di lemma as they seek to for tify recoveries from last year... (6 h ago)

• Lionsgate may spurn MGM and pounce on Mi... Lionsgate may spurn MGM and pounce on Miramax
02/08/2010
Lionsgate, the movie studio home of Tyler Perry and "torture porn" horror franchises "Saw" and "Hostel," intends to submit an "aggressive" offer for Miramax even as it advances to the second round of bidding for MGM, according to sources inside or close to Lionsgate. While Lionsgate isn't considered a... (6 h ago)

• Playing to win Playing to win
02/07/2010
When Fidelity Investments sacked four employees recently for playing fantasy football on company time, the hapless workers weren’t the only ones feeling the heat. For many a cubicle dweller, males in particular, the idea of toiling through an entire day without a quick read of a fantasy message board... (10 h ago)

• Case of Case of
02/07/2010
No modern structure has been as maligned as the office cubicle. You can tack up a few posters on its gray walls, even throw in a houseplant, but when it comes to making that three-walled corporate tomb inviting, it’s as hopeless as spraying air freshener on a garbage dump... (10 h ago)

• 60 seconds with Costas Panagopolous 60 seconds with Costas Panagopolous
02/07/2010
You say the statewide political races this year are good news for job-seekers. What kinds of jobs are we talking about? Over the past few decades, campaigning has grown increasingly complex and increasingly specialized. There’s much more demand for specialized skills across a wide array of areas that include... (10 h ago)

• Anthony Bozza Anthony Bozza
02/07/2010
You might call Anthony Bozza a rock ’n’ roll “keyboardist.” As in QWERTY, not the Hammond kind with black and white keys. As the go-to guy for co-writing rock-star autobio-graphies, the 38-year-old former Rolling Stone writer is living the “Almost Famous” life — backstage with Eminem, talking late into the night... (10 h ago)

• Go to Greg Go to Greg
02/07/2010
Q I was interviewing for two jobs through two different recruiters. I was offered both jobs and when I declined one of them the recruiter got angry when he discovered that I was interviewing for another position and hadn’t told him. I fear I may have burned a bridge... (10 h ago)

• Some Some
02/07/2010
Before you e-mail your resume in response to an ad or post it on a job site, it’s essential that it be in top shape. So consider the following: Spelling and grammar impeccable? Check. Experience laid out in easy-to-read format? Check. Margin loaded with subliminal text invisible to the... (10 h ago)

• Courting success Courting success
02/07/2010
Want to land a job using the same principles you’d use to land a man? For a workaholic way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, @work asked “Girl On Top” author Nicole Williams how she turned a gift basket full of dating guides she received as a depressed divorcee into... (10 h ago)

• Advertising: In Super Bowl Commercials, ... Advertising: In Super Bowl Commercials, the Nostalgia Bowl
02/08/2010
Madison Avenue played it safe, dusting off characters like Sock Monkey and calling in stars of yore like Abe Vigoda. (7 h ago)

• Accounts, People & Miscellany Accounts, People & Miscellany
02/08/2010
Accounts, people and miscellany in advertising. (7 h ago)

• Media Cache: Free vs. Paid, Murdoch vs. ... Media Cache: Free vs. Paid, Murdoch vs. Rusbridger
02/08/2010
The head of News Corporation and the editor of The Guardian are facing off over whether newspapers should charge for content on the Web. (7 h ago)

• Link by Link: Super Bowl Merchandise and... Link by Link: Super Bowl Merchandise and the Bets Behind It
02/07/2010
A Web site selling licensed Super Bowl merchandise mines the Web — and maybe a sports bar — and finds greater interest in the Saints. (9 h ago)

• Media Talk: For New and Healthy Recipes,... Media Talk: For New and Healthy Recipes, a Magazine Turns to Leftovers
02/07/2010
The editor of Health said cost concerns did not drive the decision to recycle recipes from Real Simple. (9 h ago)

• Media Talk: Kindle Books in Snack Sizes Media Talk: Kindle Books in Snack Sizes
02/07/2010
FT Press is selling stripped-down, 1,000- to 2,000-word versions of books, for $1.99, and a new series of essays of about 5,000 words, for $2.99. (9 h ago)

• The Media Equation: Plentiful Content, ... The Media Equation: Plentiful Content, So Cheap
02/07/2010
Demand Media pays $15 to $20 on average for an article — videos are about $30 — but the company has no trouble finding steady contributors. (10 h ago)

• Sports Business: Not Quite Saying ‘Super... Sports Business: Not Quite Saying ‘Super Bowl,’ but Cashing In on It
02/07/2010
Advertisers who are not among the authorized Super Bowl sponsors have long relied on euphemisms to link themselves to the “Big Game.” (21 h ago)

• Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned ... Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned for Variety of Roles
02/06/2010
Sarah Palin, who headlines a national Tea Party convention on Saturday, represents a new breed of unelected public figures in an environment where politics, news and celebrity are fused as never before. (2 d ago)

• In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults... In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults Fox News
02/06/2010
This week on “The O’Reilly Factor,” the comedian delivered one of the most sustained criticisms of the cable channel ever heard on one of its programs. (2 d ago)

• Advertising: An Advocacy Ad Elevates Int... Advertising: An Advocacy Ad Elevates Interest in All the Ads
02/05/2010
The spot, featuring the college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, has been the subject of one of the most intense tugs of war over an ad in many years. (2 d ago)

• Fundamentally: Is the Market ‘Priced for... Fundamentally: Is the Market ‘Priced for Perfection’?
02/06/2010
It may be unrealistic to expect stocks to repeat the kind of advance seen in the last 10 months of last year. (1 d ago)

• Describe Your Experience With Disability... Describe Your Experience With Disability Insurance
02/06/2010
Bucks readers describe their experiences with buying and using disability insurance and comment on the "Your Money" column on the odds of becoming disabled. (1 d ago)

• Wealth Matters: Index Funds, Dowdy to So... Wealth Matters: Index Funds, Dowdy to Some, Get a Notable Endorsement
02/06/2010
Burton G. Malkiel sees index funds as a way for the wealthy to avoid much of the volatility and high fees of other investments. (1 d ago)

• Patient Money: Fighting Denied Claims Re... Patient Money: Fighting Denied Claims Requires Perseverance
02/06/2010
Following a few steps can make the process of appealing insurance denials easier and increase the likelihood of success. (2 d ago)

• Your Money: The Odds of a Disability Are... Your Money: The Odds of a Disability Are Themselves Odd
02/05/2010
The disability insurance industry would love for you to buy a policy and has the scary numbers to sway you. (2 d ago)

• Questions to Ask Before Buying Disabilit... Questions to Ask Before Buying Disability Insurance
02/05/2010
A reader annotated guide to the questions you should ask before buying disability insurance coverage. (2 d ago)

• The Challenge of Pricing Surgery Ahead o... The Challenge of Pricing Surgery Ahead of Time
02/05/2010
According to a new paper, it's challenging and often impossible to get prices for surgeries before going into the hospital. (2 d ago)

• One More Reason for Denials of Loan Modi... One More Reason for Denials of Loan Modifications
02/05/2010
Some troubled homeowners are being denied loan modifications for reasons that violate the Treasury Department's rules, a new report says. (2 d ago)

• Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Lo... Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Loans
02/05/2010
An aggressive lobbying by large student lenders has imperiled a plan to end subsidies to private lenders. (2 d ago)

• Execs go incognito to review workplace Execs go incognito to review workplace
02/05/2010
A new reality TV series features bosses from the likes of 7-Eleven and Churchill Downs working entry-level jobs to find out what really goes on in their companies. Amy Scott reports. (2 d ago)

• In New Orleans, Saints vs. candidates In New Orleans, Saints vs. candidates
02/05/2010
David Hammer, a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and life-long Saints fan, talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the Super Bowl is overshadowing The Big Easy's mayoral election. (2 d ago)

• Will oil field pump up Dubai's economy? Will oil field pump up Dubai's economy?
02/05/2010
Officials in Dubai say they've found a fresh oil field. But some experts find the timing of the announcement a little curious. Bob Moon reports. (2 d ago)

• PIGS spells problems for euro PIGS spells problems for euro
02/05/2010
The acronym for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain is being used to designate those countries, whose weak economies and debt are causing concern around the globe --- but especially in Europe. Stephen Beard reports. (2 d ago)

• Who's applying for census jobs? Who's applying for census jobs?
02/05/2010
A massive campaign is now underway to hire more than a million census workers. Jeff Tyler reports on the head-counting campaign in Los Angeles. (2 d ago)

• Weekly Wrap: Economic indicators Weekly Wrap: Economic indicators
02/05/2010
Fortune Magazine's Leigh Gallagher and Clusterstock's John Carney talk with Kai Ryssdal about what's happening with the U.S. labor market and Europe's debt problems. (2 d ago)

• What do the jobless numbers mean? What do the jobless numbers mean?
02/05/2010
The January unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 9.7%, yet 20,000 jobs were lost. What do the latest numbers say about where we are headed with this economy? John Dimsdale reports. (2 d ago)

• Is Europe headed for a Depression? Is Europe headed for a Depression?
02/08/2010
With the the debt load of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) out of control, Europe is on the brink of financial catastrophe, writes Simon Johnson. He makes the point that the stronger European powers like Germany and France, the ones that can pay their debts, can call in the International Monetary Fund but they're unlikely to do so and in any case, the IMF might not have enough cash to back stop the PIGS (actually, it's PIIGs if you include Ireland). And ... (7 h ago)

• Will Toyota recover? Will Toyota recover?
02/07/2010
If you own Toyota shares, sell now. These problems are long term.So Toyota is about to recall 270,000 Prius models. According to Japanese newspapers, it has told dealers it will bow to pressure and inspect the braking systems of these cars after owners complained that the brakes were failing on bumpy roads.The recall follows Toyota already recalling cars after accelerator problems. A pattern has been established. And Toyota's reputation has been shot.As Frank Ahrens writes in the Washington Post, Toyota's fortress like reputation has ... (8 h ago)

• Record demand for food stamps Record demand for food stamps
02/06/2010
At the end of January, I looked at how one in five Americans were now saying they were going hungry. It's inevitable with one in four American children on food stamps.Now we have reports that a record 38.2 million Americans were enrolled in the food stamp program at latest count. That's up 246,000 on the previous month and happening right now in the richest country in the world.All this should put the so-called recovery in perspective. Don't believe it. While the last reports have US ... (1 d ago)

• How long will it take to restore trust? How long will it take to restore trust?
02/06/2010
Earlier this month, I did a blog entry on how trust in banks has eroded completely.Now, columnist Jason Zweig from The Wall Street Journal says it might take some time before that trust comes back.Most of us have the delusion that good guys finish first and the system isn't rigged. It's a delusion that helps make short term set backs bearable. But a meltdown of this proportion destroys that illusion.As Zweig says, it might have an impact that lasts well after the market recovers. ... (1 d ago)

• Will EMI survive? Will EMI survive?
02/05/2010
Nearly three years after EMI, whose artists include Robbie Williams and the Beatles, was bought by private equity firm Terra Firm for £4.2 billion ($US6.5 billion) including debt, it looks like the company is about to go bust, the first high profile casualty of the music industry shakeout.The Financial Times reports that EMI's auditors have expressed concern about the company's ability to continue as a going concern because of the enormous debt load. Guy Hands, Terra Firma's founder and chairman,has to go cap in ... (2 d ago)

• More big bonuses on Wall Street More big bonuses on Wall Street
02/05/2010
Those US bankers just don't get it. Goldman Sachs has stunned everyone by giving its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein a $9 million year end bonus. It's no cash, just stock. But with the Goldman Sachs share price sitting at over $154, he's really raking it in.All this is in contrast to the pay for ordinary workers with BusinessWeek reporting their wages have been flat for nearly 20 years, rising only 0.1% from 1979 to 2007. And that was before the economic crisis hit.Now Goldman ... (2 d ago)

• US to lose Aaa rating? US to lose Aaa rating?
02/05/2010
US debt is running out of control with the Us House of Representative voting to increase the US government's borrowing limit by $1.9 trillion, taking the debt load up to a mind-boggling $14.3 trillion.With the US economy going nowhere fast, how the hell will this be repaid? It's unsustainable.Which is alarming because we now have reports that ratings agency Moody's is on the verge of downgrading the USA's credit rating from the perfect Aaa ranking.Steven Hess, senior credit officer in the sovereign risk group ... (3 d ago)

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It always amazed me how eagerly people flocked to ...
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• PayPal halts Indian ‘personal payments’... PayPal halts Indian ‘personal payments’
02/07/2010
The online payments service PayPal has taken the unusual step of suspending many transactions in India for more than a week. Sponsored By: Comcast Business Class Look at your bill and find out how much your business can save with Comcast Business Class. Internet, Phone & TV for $99. Learn More Ads by Pheedo PayPal - India - Business - Asia - Financial Services (1 d ago)

• Banker in supermodel blunder keeps job Banker in supermodel blunder keeps job
02/05/2010
An Australian banker who became an internet sensation after he was caught on live television viewing images of a scantily clad supermodel on his computer will keep his job. Australia - Television - Miranda Kerr - Business - YouTube (2 d ago)

• Europe’s financial crisis intensifies Europe’s financial crisis intensifies
02/05/2010
Fears of another crisis spiral for the world economy deepened after a Portuguese austerity plan was defeated, triggering concern that the crisis in that country and in Greece could worsen. Greece - World economy - Financial crisis - Travel and Tourism - United States (2 d ago)

• Newsweek: Crisis will only make the euro... Newsweek: Crisis will only make the euro stronger
02/05/2010
Speculators have begun betting on an early euro-zone exit by Greece, and the European Commission has warned that it could risk the very existence of the euro itself. That's wrong: Currency unions don't collapse because weaker members leave them. European Commission - Eurozone - European Union - Greece - Government (2 d ago)

• NYT: World markets fall on Europe fears NYT: World markets fall on Europe fears
02/05/2010
Just as America’s recession begins to ebb, trouble is brewing in Europe that may prolong a downturn and ricochet through the global economy as it struggles toward a recovery. United States - Recession - World economy - Recreation - Travel (3 d ago)

• Restructuring CIT taps ex-Merrill chief ... Restructuring CIT taps ex-Merrill chief as CEO
02/07/2010
Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain is taking over as chairman and CEO of CIT Group as the commercial lender continues to restructure following a time in bankruptcy protection. Sponsored By: Comcast Business Class Look at your bill and find out how much your business can save with Comcast Business Class. Internet, Phone & TV for $99. Learn More Ads by Pheedo Merrill Lynch - John Thain - CIT Group - Business - United States (8 h ago)

• JPMorgan CEO gets $16 million pay packag... JPMorgan CEO gets $16 million pay package
02/05/2010
JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reported $11.7 billion in profit in 2009, awarded Chief Executive Jamie Dimon a compensation package worth about $16 million. JPMorgan Chase - Jamie Dimon - Chief executive officer - Business - United States (2 d ago)

• Senator: Financial reform is at an ‘impa... Senator: Financial reform is at an ‘impasse’
02/05/2010
Efforts to tighten financial regulation ground to a halt in the Senate on Friday, casting one of the top domestic policy priorities of the Obama administration in a stark political light. Republican - Politics - United States - Parties - Democratic (2 d ago)

• Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig settle over... Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig settle over ad
02/05/2010
Weight Watchers International Inc. said Friday that rival Jenny Craig will end a controversial advertisement campaign as part of a legal settlement between the two weight-loss companies. Jenny Craig - Weight Watchers - Weight loss - Health - Shopping (2 d ago)

• Obama urges more loans for small busines... Obama urges more loans for small businesses
02/05/2010
Seeking to create more jobs, President Barack Obama on Friday asked Congress to temporarily expand two lending programs for the owners of small businesses. Barack Obama - Small business - President of the United States - Business - United States (2 d ago)

• Running a business despite a chronic ill... Running a business despite a chronic illness
02/05/2010
Lisa Disbrow's doctors urged her to slow down. Could the entrepreneur find a way to manage her illness and her business? Business - Entrepreneur - Health - Small business - Venture capital (2 d ago)

• Why You Must Budget to Save Money Why You Must Budget to Save Money
02/07/2010
© alancleaver_2000Many people find that if they do not have a specific plan for budgeting, then not a lot of money will actually get put away. Setting up a specific amount of money in your family budget for savings is essential in order to build up a sizable amount. Another thing that is important is to ensure that you do put it into some form of savings account. If you keep your savings under the mattress or in a jar at home, it becomes ... (13 h ago)

• Saving Money with Bank Accounts Saving Money with Bank Accounts
02/06/2010
© Philippe PutLately, these articles have mentioned much about saving money. Some of you have started saving money - which is good. Hopefully, though, you have also thought about how to save money and get the best interest rates. Banks right now are very competitive on their interest rates. In order for you to get the best, you will need to keep an eye on the rates in your area. Face it, if you have had a savings account at a bank for a ... (2 d ago)

• Stocks fall for the week on concerns ove... Stocks fall for the week on concerns over euro-zone economies
02/06/2010
U.S. stocks fell for a fourth straight week, the longest streak since July, as concern grew that widening budget deficits in Europe will slow the economic recovery. A 167-point rally in the Dow Jones industrial average during the final hour of trading Friday failed to erase losses. (1 d ago)

• Marketing Your Home Business through Mul... Marketing Your Home Business through Multimedia
02/05/2010
© Annie Mole Video creates a stronger connection with consumers than any other type of media. That's why, as we've discussed multiple other kinds of marketing, I choose multimedia, the most powerful for last. When you work from home you might not get to interact face to face with clients as much as you did before and so being able to connect with them via voice or video can give your business that extra personal touch. Multimedia can be split into two main categories: ... (2 d ago)

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