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Business News
for 03/13/2010

(last updated 7:30am EST 03/13/2010)

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• FDIC Shuts 30th Bank for 2010 FDIC Shuts 30th Bank for 2010
03/12/2010
Regulatory Agency Reports Bank Failures in New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana (11 h ago)

• Video: Text Messages That Self-Destruct Video: Text Messages That Self-Destruct
03/12/2010
Shira Lazar talks to Jeffrey Evans who began Tiger Text, a texting application that allows the sender to control the lifespan of their text messages. (13 h ago)

• Video: Baby Sling Safety Warning Video: Baby Sling Safety Warning
03/12/2010
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating at least 14 deaths involving baby slings. Safety officials warned parents of the potential danger of carrying infants in them. Elaine Quijano reports. (15 h ago)

• Calif. Prosecutor Sues Toyota Over Defec... Calif. Prosecutor Sues Toyota Over Defects
03/12/2010
Orange County District Attorney Files Lawsuit in Civil Court, Accuses Car Maker of Deceptive Business Practices (16 h ago)

• How to Win Your March Madness Pool How to Win Your March Madness Pool
03/12/2010
Moneywatch.com: Sure-Fire Strategies to Outsmart Your Rivals and Claim Victory in the Office NCAA Brackets Pool (16 h ago)

• Court OKs TV Rules for Cable Court OKs TV Rules for Cable
03/12/2010
Federal Court Upholds FCC Access Rules For Cable Programming That Comcast, Cablevision Opposed (21 h ago)

• Boys and Girls Club Execs' $1M Pay Probe... Boys and Girls Club Execs' $1M Pay Probed
03/12/2010
GOP Senators Query Salaries, Travel and Lobbying Fees at Charity Benefiting Clubs (23 h ago)

• February Retail Sales Up 0.3 Percent February Retail Sales Up 0.3 Percent
03/12/2010
Largest Single-Month Advance Since November Surpassed Expectation; Decline in Auto Sales Depressed Higher Sales Overall (1 d ago)

• Video: Banning Certain Earmarks Video: Banning Certain Earmarks
03/11/2010
Following a series of recent scandals for the Democratic Party, Nancy Cordes reports Congressional leaders are aiming for ethical reform by banning earmarks for private companies. (1 d ago)

• Mexico's Carlos Slim World's Richest Man Mexico's Carlos Slim World's Richest Man
03/11/2010
Shopkeeper's Son Becomes 1st from Latin America, 1st from Developing Nation to Wear Forbes' Cash Crown (1 d ago)

• Obama Touts Effort to Double U.S. Export... Obama Touts Effort to Double U.S. Exports
03/11/2010
President Outlines Five Year Plan in Speech to Export-Import Bank conference, but Doubts Persist (1 d ago)

• U.S. Net Worth Up for 3rd Straight Quart... U.S. Net Worth Up for 3rd Straight Quarter
03/11/2010
Value of Homes, Checking Accounts, Investments Rose 1.3 Percent at End of 2009 But Nowhere Near Pre-Recession High (1 d ago)

• 10 Richest Americans 10 Richest Americans
03/11/2010
Bill Gates Continues to Top The List But He Is Not The Richest in the World (2 d ago)

• New Jobless Claims Drop to 462K New Jobless Claims Drop to 462K
03/11/2010
Second Straight Week of Declines, but Four-Week Average Climbs 25,000 (2 d ago)

• Foreclosures: Smallest Uptick in 4 Years Foreclosures: Smallest Uptick in 4 Years
03/11/2010
Expert says Housing Crisis Not Over Yet, and Numbers Could Turn, But There's New Reason for Hope (2 d ago)

• Prius Panic Drives Fear, Real and Imagin... Prius Panic Drives Fear, Real and Imagined
03/11/2010
Experts on Consumer Psychology Say Negative Media Attention May Cause Drivers to Mistake Minor Glitches for Major Ones (2 d ago)

• GMAC Bailout May Add $6.3B to Public's T... GMAC Bailout May Add $6.3B to Public's Tab
03/11/2010
Report: Treasury Department's $17.2 Billion Handout to Automaker Lacks Exit Strategy (2 d ago)

• HSBC Swiss Bank Accounts Data Stolen HSBC Swiss Bank Accounts Data Stolen
03/11/2010
British Bank says Personal Information of 15,000 Customers Hijacked, Could Lead to Tax Evasion Charges (2 d ago)

• Less Tropicana O.J. For Your Buck Less Tropicana O.J. For Your Buck
03/10/2010
PepsiCo to Raise Orange Juice Prices, Shrink Container; Cites Florida Crop Damage From Cold (2 d ago)

• Video: Bowling for Employment Video: Bowling for Employment
03/10/2010
Losing a job in this recession can be traumatic, but for some it is an opportunity to follow a dream. Ben Tracy shows us one man whose dreams of professional bowling came true. (2 d ago)

• Eurozone ministers to finalize bailout p... Eurozone ministers to finalize bailout plan for Greece: report
03/13/2010
Finance ministers of eurozone countries were expected to finalize a bailout plan for Greece at their meeting next week, a news report said on Friday. The Guardian said that eurozone countries have broadly agreed to the bailout plan after Germany finally bowed to pressure despite domestic opposition, citing unnamed sources in Brussels. Finance ministers of the 16 countries that use the euro were scheduled to finalize details of the rescue when they meet on Monday, the British newspaper said ... (1 h ago)

• German FM favors euro zone rescue fund c... German FM favors euro zone rescue fund combined with heavy penalties
03/13/2010
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday fleshed out his idea for setting up an International Monetary Fund-style fund in the euro zone that would help bankruptcy-threatened states as the last resort, but stressed that any emergency aid should come with heavy penalties, including a possible expulsion from the euro zone. "Eurozone members could also be granted emergency liquidity aid from a "European monetary fund" to reduce the risk of defaults. Strict conditions and a prohibitive ... (1 h ago)

• Harper says too early for Canada to decl... Harper says too early for Canada to declare sound economic recovery
03/13/2010
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that it's too early for Canada to declare that it has successfully surpassed the global economic recession, saying many "possible potholes in the road ahead." "Today, we are emerging from the global recession," Harper said in the House of Commons. "Our domestic demand is strong. But our export markets remain uncertain, and so, we are recovering slowly, though with a growing sense of optimism." Harper was reacting to the throne speech del ... (1 h ago)

• Lawsuit filed against Toyota Motor Sales... Lawsuit filed against Toyota Motor Sales USA
03/13/2010
A lawsuit was filed on Friday against the Los Angeles-based Toyota Motor Sales USA, which is suspected of allegedly selling defective vehicles and deceptive business practices, prosecutors said. The lawsuit, jointly filed by the Orange County District Attorney and a private Newport Beach law firm, claims that Toyota Motor Sales USA knowingly sold and leased hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks with defects that cause uncontrollable acceleration, according to District Attorney Tony Rackauc ... (1 h ago)

• Russia expects 6-percent growth of meat ... Russia expects 6-percent growth of meat production in 2010
03/13/2010
Russian meat production is expected to surge 6 percent to reach 10.5 million tons, said the Ministry of Agriculture in a Friday report. The Russian government has increased its funding on domestic meat producers, particularly on poultry meat producers, said the report, aiming to meet domestic demand while realizing meat exportation. Some 4.7 billion rubles (around 160.5 million U.S. dollars) from federal and regional finances has been used to spur poultry meat production, statistics showed ... (1 h ago)

• "Bush legs" back to Russian market: repo... "Bush legs" back to Russian market: report
03/13/2010
After rounds of consultations, U.S. poultry meat will soon return to Russia under the conditions set by Moscow, a Russian daily newspaper reported on Friday. Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko announced on June 2, 2008 that starting from Jan. 1, 2009, the content of chlorine in the solutions used for poultry carcasses should be no higher than that in the drinking water. After one year of delay, the decree officially came into force on Jan. 1 this year, said the RBK daily. ... (1 h ago)

• Shanghai GM to recall Chevrolet Captiva ... Shanghai GM to recall Chevrolet Captiva off-road vehicles due to faulty steering systems
03/13/2010
Shanghai GM would recall the Chevrolet Captiva 2006, 2007 and 2008 off-road vehicles due to ineffective steering systems in the Chinese mainland starting on Friday, the country's top quality watchdog said. The vehicles were produced by GM Daewoo, a unit of U.S. carmaker General Motors based in the Republic of Korea (ROK), and were imported by the China-based Shanghai GM, said a statement posted on the official website of the regulator, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspec ... (1 h ago)

• Gold falls amid unexpected rise in U.S. ... Gold falls amid unexpected rise in U.S. retail sales
03/13/2010
Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Friday as U.S. retail sales posted a surprising gain in February. Sliver and platinum both dropped. The most active gold contract for April delivery dropped 6.5 U. S. dollars, or 0.6 percent, to finish at 1,101.7 dollars per ounce. Retail sales in February rose by 0.3 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday, despite the job concern and the fierce snowstorm which crippled large parts of the U ... (1 h ago)

• Crude prices retreat after mixed data Crude prices retreat after mixed data
03/13/2010
Crude prices retreated on Friday as mixed economic data brought back investor concerns about energy demand. The University of Michigan said on Friday that its preliminary reading on March consumer sentiment dipped to 72.5 from 73.6 in February, lower than market anticipation. The U.S. Commerce Department said sales at retailers unexpectedly increased 0.3 percent in February despite the fact that blizzards made it difficult for consumers to get to the malls, showing Americans were more will ... (1 h ago)

• Wall Street trades flat on mixed economi... Wall Street trades flat on mixed economic data
03/13/2010
The U.S. stocks were largely flat on Friday as investors were struggling to sort out direction amid mixed economic data. Wall Street moved modestly higher after opening, boosted by an unexpected rise in February retail sales. The Commerce Department said in a report that sales at retailers unexpectedly increased 0.3 percent in February despite the fact that blizzards made it difficult for consumers to get to the malls, showing Americans were more willing to spend money. Sales excluding ... (1 h ago)

• Martin Rowsn on seven days of BA strikes Martin Rowsn on seven days of BA strikes
03/13/2010
More than half a million travellers to be hit by strikes on successive weekends from 20 March Martin Rowson (6 h ago)

• Bring on the Robin Hood tax | Polly Toyn... Bring on the Robin Hood tax | Polly Toynbee
03/13/2010
Everyone but the rich is outraged by the financiers' billowing wealth. At the budget, Labour can tip the balance back to the people The budget is 10 days away and yet already the chief secretary, Liam Byrne, appears to have ruled out any new tax rises to deal with the deficit. That is a deeply alarming prospect – and as a political stand, a blunder. If the election squeezes out any honesty about the cuts to come soon, then voters need to know the choices. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns the likely cuts will wipe out virtually all the extra spending of the Labour era – an unimaginable blow. Unless taxes rise to mitigate that disaster. Whether or not Byrne really meant it, why was he pretending tax rises were off the agenda? Last week Gordon Brown warned of " bumps in the road " ahead. The man who denied the looming crunch doesn't say such things lightly. Economists warn that Britain is wobbling on a tightrope over a second recession where spending cuts would precipitate more unemployment and risk sinking the economy into a downward spiral. Mortgage lending figures just plunged, house prices are predicted to fall and export and manufacturing figures were dreadful. Growth figures for this year's first quarter may have fallen backwards – and they will emerge two weeks before election day. Blame the January snow for lack of shopping – but the outlook could be grim. The chancellor should be listening to the group of 80 MPs and economists calling for another fiscal stimulus to keep the economy afloat: Britain is one of only two G20 countries withdrawing the stimulus this year. To invest in housing, transport and clean energy with growth and jobs is the Rooseveltian way out of recession and debt. The cabinet debates how to use a windfall from the bank bonus tax and lower than expected unemployment. With an abyss gaping below, of course it must be put back into investment. And this is no time to rule out tax rises. So far Labour has failed to find the words to express public outrage at the financiers' billowing wealth while the Treasury is drained. Only weeks since launching, the campaign for a Robin Hood tax on all financial transactions has gathered extraordinary support. It hasn't been hard, so profound is the untapped public anger at the bankers. This week the European parliament voted for it overwhelmingly – 536 to 80 – supported by the social democrats and the majority conservative EPP grouping: opponents were the ECP rump rightwingers the Tories belong to. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel support it. Vince Cable will put it into the Lib Dem manifesto. Gordon Brown supports it but, as ever, he wants US support, which is unlikely . Backed here by some 100 organisations from Oxfam to the Salvation Army, Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University came to London this week to promote the tax, urging the EU to go it alone. Rarely has a campaign gathered such momentum in so short a time: 140,000 have joined and more gather by the day, besieging MPs ( RobinHoodtax.org.uk ). In this budget, campaigners want a sterling transaction tax, to come in at once. Imposing just 0.005% on every sterling deal is within Britain's sole control, raising £4bn. If the EU agrees a wider financial transactions tax, it would bring Britain another £4bn – one estimate is £100bn across Europe, to be used at home, in foreign aid and on climate change. Money must be raised, but deficit panic has become a tulip mania in reverse, a group-think stoked up by those with a strong interest in no change. Frighteners about loss of credit rating are absurd: British debt is borrowed long, without need to refinance for some 12 years, and interest rates are low. But the Conservative's City friends are good at scaring the public about imminent bankruptcy and they lean hard on the Treasury. Look at the budget demands of the Institute of Directors: cut public spending by 35%, (but ringfence cash for roads, rail and airports). Cut corporation tax on companies to 15%, reverse national insurance and 50p tax rises and cut the protections for agency workers. Make the rich richer and the poor poorer – so who are the real class warriors? Labour has failed to cash in politically on public fury at the rich who brazenly resist fair tax. HSBC's information has been stolen on 24,000 private accounts in Switzerland and now it frantically assures clients the contents won't reach tax authorities: HMRC hopes it does, but where is the Labour tub-thumping? Swiss and Liechtenstein bank doors are jemmied open by theft, but why does the EU tolerate any tax haven secrecy? General De Gaulle sent troops to surround Monaco over hiding tax fraud, and cut off its water: they relented. Meanwhile "respectable" consultants with government contracts advise top earners on avoiding the 50p tax rate by describing income as capital gains, or giving interest-free loans to be written off once the Tories get in and the tax is cut. PricewaterhouseCoopers tells the Financial Times it recommends paying dividends out before 1 April – their corporate social responsibility boasts somewhat at odds with denying cash to the state at a time of national emergency. Where is the shame? The threat is that top people will flee to tax havens, but HMRC has finally toughened rules for residency. Do the rich relish the life of Guy Hands, the private equity head of Terra Firma who loves his money more than his school-age children and parents he can no longer visit from his Guernsey refuge, avoiding that 50p? What we face here, which Labour has yet to find words to express, is a war between those who control the money sucked up into their own pockets, against the great majority who are the losers. This is the tidal pull of inequality that Labour tried and failed to swim against. This budget is the time to tip the balance on reward and tax towards the people. The reason the Robin Hood campaign is galloping forward so fast is that everyone but the rich wants that tide reversed. This is a totemic tax: many others are needed too. The budget should lay out the facts – the country is still in great economic peril. If the deficit were paid off by cuts alone, that means a cut of 17% in every department except schools and aid – unthinkable and unnecessary. Money must be raised: it would be a positive social good to raise it from those still making fortunes out of easy processing and skimming of our money in these hard times. Put the case to the voters and see what they think. Labour has little to fear on this. If this is class war, the other side declared it – so let's fight it. Public finance Tax and spending Tobin tax Financial crisis Banking Budget General election 2010 Polly Toynbee guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (7 h ago)

• Gordon Brown misses his Rosebud moment a... Gordon Brown misses his Rosebud moment as publisher shelves study
03/12/2010
Suzie Mackenzie shadowed PM for most of his period in No 10 but believed her book should also cover election An in-depth and intimate study of Gordon Brown during the past two and a half years was this week shelved by its publishers, Bloomsbury. After shadowing the prime minister for most of his period in No 10, the journalist Suzie Mackenzie told the publishers this week she would not be handing in the manuscript to meet their March deadline and Bloomsbury terminated the lucrative contract. Mackenzie had been due to publish before the general election, but she said she had always told the publishers she believed the book should include time spent with the prime minister during this year's election. Mackenzie told the Guardian: "I had said all along I didn't think it should be published before June because the book should include the election and that's what happened. That deadline just didn't feel right. No 10 staff were always extremely helpful." A No 10 aide, alluding to the childhood sledge which was key to Citizen Kane's character, said: "It is very sad. We know she had extraordinary material. Really good stuff about his mother and father and maybe a 'Rosebud' moment." Mackenzie was picked by Downing Street to write the book after writing an interview with Brown for the Guardian in 2004, which they felt was an accurate representation of his character. She was afforded intimate access and travelled with the prime minister through all the tribulations of his premiership, including the negotiations in the run up to the G20 summit and as world leaders grappled with the economic downturn. In their spring catalogue the publishers said Mackenzie's work was going to be the most "definitive" account of the prime minister. "Mackenzie does not aim to judge his success as prime minister – or, not only that. Instead she produces an extraordinary , multi-faceted portrait of the growth – political, intellectual, psychological – of Britain's most intriguing politician." After Mackenzie indicated she was not going to be able to meet the March deadline, Bloomsbury were said to be further concerned when her material appeared to have been plundered by the publication of Andrew Rawnsley's book, The End of the Party, and the prime minister appearing on Piers Morgan's ITV chat show. Downing Street has already been in touch with Mackenzie to ask what she intends to do with the material and she is reported to have said she has no plans until after the election. Two weeks ago Mackenzie went public with a recording of Brown's foreign policy adviser Stewart Wood, which supported Rawnsley's allegation – at that time being rubbished by Downing Street – that Brown intimidated staff. Mackenzie's recording featured Wood saying Brown has once pushed him aside on the stairs inside No 10. Gordon Brown Politics General election 2010 Publishing Bloomsbury Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (9 h ago)

• Royal Mail may face fines over rigged te... Royal Mail may face fines over rigged test deliveries
03/12/2010
Postal watchdog says some managers may have received bonuses based on phoney mail delivery times The postal watchdog is considering taking action against Royal Mail after allegations that service quality tests were rigged by workers. Postcomm received an insider tip-off last year that the names and addresses of recipients of test deliveries were circulated among staff, including senior managers, "for a number of years". Workers could therefore ensure that post for those people – which were meant to be subject to independent testing – were delivered on time. The abuse is thought to have being going on for "several years" and involved countless staff across the country from delivery workers to senior managers. Senior staff, including Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's chief executive, have been paid tens of thousands of pounds in bonuses based on the company's "service quality" figures, which include data on delivery times. Although there is no evidence that senior executives were aware of what was going on, Postcomm said some managers "may have received bonus payments to which they were not entitled", since they were "based on recorded levels of quality of service which were incorrectly monitored and recorded". The watchdog said it was "minded" to find that Royal Mail had breached licence conditions relating to quality of service. In a preliminary report from 17 February, published in the Daily Telegraph, it found that Royal Mail had failed since July 2006 to meet those conditions. If found guilty the company could face a six-figure fine. As part of its licence conditions the Royal Mail was obliged to use the market research firm Research International to monitor the standard of its service. Part of this clause also meant Royal Mail should make sure that the 22,000 volunteer panellists used to send test mail to each other remained anonymous. Postcomm said postal workers were identifying the test mail by feeling envelopes for a microchip they contained. However, the rigging did not make a "material difference" to the firm's published quality of service figures, Postcomm said. During Royal Mail's own investigation into the allegations a number of staff were suspended. Postcomm is expected to make a final decision on whether to take action against Royal Mail in May. Royal Mail Postal service Regulators Anil Dawar guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (14 h ago)

• Entente cordiale: Sarkozy speaks warmly ... Entente cordiale: Sarkozy speaks warmly of Brown at Downing St
03/12/2010
French president says Britain needed 'bang in heart of Europe' and tells Cameron he doesn't understand Tory euroscepticism Coming from opposing ends of the ideological spectrum, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown aren't supposed to be political brothers in arms. However, at a Downing Street press conference yesterday the French president chose to lavish praise on the prime minister, coming close to siding with him on the issue of Europe and saying Britain was needed "bang in the heart of Europe", while expressing regret at David Cameron's decision to quit the European People's Party. "If you ask me whether I would prefer the Tories to remain within the EPP, the answer is yes. The EPP is a good bunch of people. Opening up to others is a very good thing," Sarkozy said. He went on to meet the Tory leader later at the French ambassador's residence in London, but the Conservatives said he only pressed the point of their decision to quit the EPP in passing. The meeting between the two sides had been very warm, the Conservatives said. Brown and Sarkozy said they had made progress on bridging their differences on the future regulation of off-shore hedge funds, and they hoped a compromise agreement on a directivecould be reached in time for an EU finance ministers meeting next Tuesday. The Americans are opposing adirective that means US hedge funds – or funds operating from London, but registered for tax outside Europe – would need authorisation from each of the EU countries. Sarkozy spoke warmly of the prime minister, saying: "I have found in Gordon Brown a convincing and convinced reformer, and hand in glove we have tried to find the right answers when the economic and financial crisis almost swept us all away." He added: "I know we have differences: he is British and I am French. He is a socialist and I am not. That is not as serious as the first point. We have always worked in a spirit of partnership and trust." The French have been building contacts with the shadow cabinet in a series of meetings, but remain perplexed by Tory scepticism, saying they cannot find the intellectual basis for this criticism. Nicolas Sarkozy Gordon Brown David Cameron European Union Hedge funds Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Unthinkable? Hiring more tax inspectors ... Unthinkable? Hiring more tax inspectors | Editorial
03/12/2010
Improve the public finances in a fairer and more imaginative manner than slashing spending. What's not to like? Bingo! A particularly unpopular notion at an especially unlikely time. For the popular image of tax inspectors, one could do worse than turn to Lennon and McCartney's song-cum-professional assassination, Taxman : "If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat / If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet." And it is true that eye-watering cuts in public services lie ahead. Yet hiring more inspectors would be a smart move in these straitened times – the kind of spending that could pay for itself. Most companies see the men and women who bring in revenue as being vital to their business. But at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs there is a chronic shortage of staff, which has got far worse in the cuts. The Guardian's Tax Gap investigation last year quoted an HMRC source's estimate that there were "less than 100 inspectors actually tackling avoidance, against thousands of professionals advising companies on how to do it". Which is precisely the point: the government is outnumbered and under-resourced compared to the City accountancy firms that help businesses and wealthy individuals to reduce their tax bills. Inspectors still in public service know that they could almost double their salaries by turning private-sector poacher. Hiring more tax inspectors is about improving the public finances in a fairer and more imaginative manner than merely slashing spending. Governments often talk about getting more cash by tightening up on tax collection; but they can't do that without the people. Tax and spending Tax Economic policy Economics guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (15 h ago)

• Where's Irene? Cadbury's chief vanishes Where's Irene? Cadbury's chief vanishes
03/12/2010
Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld has been conspicuous by her absence since Cadbury's takeover by the US food group She's named after a Greek goddess and stands astride a $50bn sales colossus but Irene Rosenfeld, the boss of Kraft Foods and new owner of Cadbury, is nowhere to be seen. Whispers started in the anxious days that followed the Cadbury board's capitulation to an £11.9bn offer from the maker of Ritz crackers and Dairylea. When would the American businesswoman, ranked sixth in Forbes magazine's female global power list, pitch up at the company's home in Bournvillle and tell them what the future holds for the 186-year-old company? The chorus grew louder when Rosenfeld broke her first promise to the Cadbury workers she had welcomed to the "Kraft Foods family" just days earlier by announcing that she planned to close its Somerdale plant in Somerset after all. There will also be an Irene-shaped hole at Tuesday's meeting of the House of Commons select committee which is looking at takeover rules in the wake the buyout. Kraft says she cannot attend due to "other engagements" but Unite deputy general secretary Jack Dromey, who is giving evidence, says he will make a point of asking: "Where's Irene?" On the day Kraft made an offer Cadbury couldn't refuse, Rosenfeld said: "I warmly welcome Cadbury employees into the Kraft Foods family and look forward to meeting many of them in the days and weeks ahead." Six weeks on, her absence from Bournville has been noted by workers. It is said to be at the behest of PR minders who advised against such a trip for the time being, given the level of ill-feeling. "No she has not been to Bournville yet but she is looking forward to it," said a Kraft spokesman. Kraft's decision to renege on an early promise to grant Somerdale a reprieve has fuelled mistrust of its faceless new US owner in a workforce used to its special brand of "philanthropic capitalism" that dates back to the confectioner's Quaker founders. The pledge, made at the outset of the five-month takeover battle, was designed to win their confidence but is now viewed by union officials as a cynical attempt to manipulate public opinion and mask the Maxwell House-to-Philadelphia-cheese group's reputation for being a rapacious cost-cutter. The Takeover Panel is as keen as the MPs on the business, innovation and skills (BIS) committee to get to the bottom of why Rosenfeld says one thing, only to do another. "It would be better if Irene Rosenfeld was coming in person but she has decided not to," said Peter Luff, the BIS committee's chairman. "We will be asking Kraft about the past and the future as well as the decision to close Somerdale. It is in their interests for the committee and the wider world to be satisfied by their answers." Although Rosenfeld frequently flies around the world in the company jet, Kraft has put forward three executives including one of its PR men, Marc Firestone, the executive vice-president for corporate and legal affairs, to face the music. Michael Osanloo, the director of strategy at Kraft who is in charge of integrating Cadbury, will also be absent. "The team we are putting up is best-placed to answer the questions the committee wants answered," said Kraft. "Marc was a core member of the deal team and has day-to-day responsibility for many of the areas it is interested in." Luff said the committee was not a "one-day wonder" and would not let the matter rest if it felt it had not been told the whole story. The sour taste left by the takeover battle has fired up Unite to campaign for a "Cadbury law", essentially a public interest test to guard British companies against hostile foreign takeovers. "Kraft deliberately misled workers at Somerdale," said Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for the food and drink sector. "They started to believe their jobs would be safe. It is an outrageous way to treat people and they don't care." "If Irene doesn't turn up on Tuesday it shows complete disdain for the UK workforce, government and regulatory authorities," she said. Formby said Kraft had reneged on promises made to the Swedish authorities and workers at chocolate brand Marabou, which it acquired in the early 1990s. "There is a pattern of behaviour where Kraft has taken companies over and then stuck two fingers up." Lord Mandelson was given no advance warning that Kraft was to break its word on Somerdale and in a recent speech to City bosses he said there was a need to "throw some extra grit" at the country's mergers and acquisitions' regime. The business secretary said directors should be "stewards" rather than just "auctioneers", adding, "if this requires restating the 2006 Companies Act then so be it". "The open secret of the last two decades is that mergers often fail to create any long-term value, except perhaps for the advisors and those who arbitrage the share price," said Mandelson. Kraft Cadbury Mergers and acquisitions Trade unions Zoe Wood guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (20 h ago)

• Tories accused over vulture funds bill Tories accused over vulture funds bill
03/12/2010
Development secretary writes to David Cameron after mystery of who derailed private members' bill designed to protect poorest countries Douglas Alexander, the development minister, has written to David Cameron accusing the Conservatives of deliberately scuppering a private members' bill to prevent so-called vulture funds preying on the world's poorest countries. Amid tumultuous scenes in the Commons today, a Conservative MP objected to the bill, preventing it from passing to its third reading, despite a commitment from the party's front bench to support it. Sally Keeble, the Labour MP who was involved in drafting the bill, claimed that the handful of Conservative front-benchers present covered their mouths with their hands, so that it was impossible to tell who had shouted "object" at the crucial moment - but Tory sources insisted no one from their front bench was involved. In his letter to Cameron, Alexander said: "I find it incredible that Conservative MPs in the chamber – who had pledged their support to the bill – then objected to it and refused to admit who was responsible." He urged the Conservative leader to "come clean" on whether the Bill was blocked on instructions from the shadow cabinet. David Gauke, the Conservative front-bencher who piloted the party's response to the bill at the committee stage, categorically denied that there had been any co-ordinated effort to sink the legislation. "I really think it's a pity trying to turn this into a matter of simple party politics on the basis of a baseless accusation," he said. "All of us want to help developing countries, all of us have been carefully examining the arguments to ensure that this bill is carefully targeted." But a furious Keeble said: "What makes me so cross is that the Tories claim to be interested in international development, and this is a very simple little bill. We dealt with all the concerns they had, and they still went and scuppered it." Gauke said the Conservatives would now decide their own approach to tackling the problem of vulture funds in a new parliament. "What we have said is that we recognise that there's an issue with these vulture funds, and we will seek to address it in a way that doesn't have unintended consequences for developing countries in making it harder for them to borrow in future," he said. Vulture funds are investors that buy up the debts of poor governments at a fraction of their face value, and then try to win the money back in courts around the world, regardless of whether the country in question has secured international debt relief. The bill would have prevented such cases being brought in London, and would also have applied retrospectively. That could have protected Liberia, which lost a $20m (£13m) case against two investment funds in the UK late last year. Keeble said she would now argue for another slot to debate the bill next Thursday, but has not yet been able to secure the agreement of parliamentary business managers. Alexander suggested it now has little chance of becoming law. Nick Dearden, director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, said: "It is an outrage that one MP has taken it upon himself to effectively kill a bill which has the support of the vast majority of the House of Commons. This action has destroyed the hopes of many people across the developing world that we might put an end to the appalling practice of vulture funds. This move will mean many of the poorest countries in the world will continue suffering at the hands of reckless and unethical investors." Labour is urging members of the public to sign up to Alexander's letter to Cameron, at http://www.globalpovertypromise.com/letter Debt relief Liberia Douglas Alexander David Cameron Heather Stewart guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (20 h ago)

• Linklaters defends Lehman deals Linklaters defends Lehman deals
03/12/2010
Report for United States Bankruptcy Court says City law firm approved off balance sheet transactions that disguised true state of Lehman Brothers' finances Linklaters, one of London's premier law firms, is battling to defend its reputation after a US report into the failure of Lehman Brothers showed it approved controversial deals that shifted billions of dollars of debt off the balance sheet in the years before the bank collapsed. The hard-hitting report found that the crucial deals, which were also sanctioned by Lehman's auditors, Ernst & Young, were described as "window dressing" by bank staff and masked the precarious state of its finances while it was under scrutiny from regulators and investors. Linklaters is expected to come under intense pressure to reveal the full extent of its dealings with Lehman in the run-up to the bank's crash in September 2008. The firm is one of the "magic circle" of solicitors operating in the City, which in recent years have expanded rapidly to compete with US rivals. The impact of the bank's crash has been described as incalculable by some economists after governments around the world were forced to implement trillion-pound bailouts for their own banks caught up in the disaster. Investors are preparing lawsuits against the bank and are expected to turn their fire on lawyers and auditors advising it. The report, for the United States Bankruptcy Court by examiner Anton Valukas, claims Lehman booked fund transfers as sales and failed to disclose them in regulatory filings in the US. Valukas alleges that Lehman turned to Linklaters after New York law firms said that they were unable to approve the deals under US law. It was common practice to use so-called "Repo 105" agreements at Lehman to sell and buy back funds, but their frequent adoption in the two years before its collapse amounted to balance sheet manipulation, the report said. Linklaters dismissed suggestions that it played a central role in disguising Lehman's mounting debt pile. A spokesman confirmed that the firm gave opinions on several transactions, but said it was not aware of any "facts or circumstances that would justify any criticism". He also pointed out: "The examiner, who did not contact the firm during his investigations, does not criticise those opinions or say or suggest that they were wrong or improper." Valukas said that the part played by auditors Ernst & Young was also crucial to hiding the fund transfers, and amounted to professional negligence. UK regulators came under scrutiny in the report for their role during Lehman's collapse. While Hector Sants, the Financial Services Authority chief executive, refused to give evidence directly to the US investigator, he published written evidence that showed a series of transatlantic telephone calls during which the US authorities begged the UK to help facilitate a possible takeover by Barclays. The FSA's evidence claims that Christopher Cox, then chairman of the US regulator the securities and exchange commission, was still lobbying the FSA at 3pm on Sunday 14 September – hours before Lehman called in administrators. Cox wanted the FSA to waive rules that required Barclays to hold a shareholder vote before the deal could take place. Barclays later bought Lehman's US businesses from the administrator. Lehman Brothers Law Barclays Financial crisis Credit crunch US economy Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (21 h ago)

• Barclays breaks ground with 18,000-seat ... Barclays breaks ground with 18,000-seat basketball stadium in Brooklyn
03/12/2010
• Bob Diamond and rapper Jay-Z at ground-breaking ceremony • British bank hopes $300m deal will promote its image in America Seated alongside rap star Jay-Z, Barclays president Bob Diamond beamed cheerfully as a soul rendition of the US national anthem was partially drowned out by the din of circling helicopters and noisy protesters. In a marquee on a disused rail yard in the New York borough of Brooklyn, hundreds of dignitaries including the city's mayor gathered to watch a ground-breaking ceremony for an 18,000-seat basketball stadium to be named the Barclays Centre under a naming deal that has cost the British bank more than $300m (£200m). The stadium will house the Nets, an NBA team owned by Jay-Z, and will be part of a broader $5bn development including shops, offices and 6,400 homes on a desolate site described by a local religious leader as "rodent-infested and garbage-strewn". For Barclays, the arena is a key step in a path to building its brand in the US public consciousness. Ever since snapping up the American assets of defunct Lehman Brothers for a bargain $1.75bn in 2008, the bank has had a none-too-subtle ambition to be a top tier player on Wall Street. "It's helping us brand Barclays with our clients, customers, future clients and future customers," said Diamond, who added that contributing towards urban development could be a small step in repairing the battered public reputation of banks. "That's not why we're doing it, but if it plays a small part in improving the image of the industry, that's good." Barclays was recently ranked number one in fixed-income trading on Wall Street, a shade ahead of JP Morgan. The bank is strong in commodities and currencies but remains smaller in traditional investment banking operations such as equities and corporate finance for mergers and acquisitions. Recent reports have suggested that Barclays is considering buying a high-street bank in the US to bolster its position. Diamond played this down as "speculation", though he admitted that Barclays wanted to build certain consumer businesses, including the credit card brand Barclaycard. The new Barclays Centre is intended to be a rival concert venue to Manhattan's Madison Square Garden and the bank was warmly praised for its involvement by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and by the governor of New York state, David Paterson. Property developer Bruce Ratner, whose Forest City Ratner group is spearheading the project, said Barclays had been a loyal backer through several delays since signing on to naming rights in 2007: "We'll never forget how, through difficult times, Barclays stood with us through thick and thin." But Barclays' brand-building efforts have not been universally welcomed. One New York City councillor, Letitia James, has suggested the bank's involvement is unwelcome in an area of ethnic diversity because it did business in South Africa during the early 1980s despite that country's regime of apartheid. And some community activists have railed against the compulsory purchase of properties to redevelop Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. Protesters outside the ground-breaking ceremony waved placards reading "stop the rape of Brooklyn" and heralding "the destruction of Brooklyn's soul day". However, Al Sharpton, a prominent black civil rights leader who stood alongside Diamond to support the new stadium, remarked: "You can't have a baby without labour pains." Barclays Bob Diamond Banking US economy Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (21 h ago)

• £3bn coal power plant will test environ... £3bn coal power plant will test environment rules
03/12/2010
New plant in Scotland will have to prove that carbon capture technology works The first application to build a coal plant in Britain since energy secretary Ed Miliband introduced tough new environmental rules will be submitted next week, the Guardian has learnt. UK-based conglomerate Peel Group is pressing ahead with the £3bn project to build a 1.6GW plant at Hunterston in Scotland, which will partially fit experimental carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Its former partner, Dong Energy, dropped out last year, citing the recession. The application, which is expected to be submitted to the Scottish government on Monday, signals Peel's confidence that the unproven technology can work. Hunterston is likely to become the UK's first CCS plant, ahead of the controversial Kingsnorth project in Kent , which E.ON still hopes to build. Miliband announced that Kingsnorth, and Scottish Power's project at Longannet, will move into the final stage of a government-funded competition to build what it had said would be the UK's first pilot CCS plant. But no winner will be announced until next year, making Peel's project the most advanced. The technology is supposed to allow coal plants, which emit twice as much carbon as gas plants, to capture and store their emissions underground, but the technology has not been proven on a large scale and the government is relying on it working to meet its carbon targets. Last year Miliband announced a radical new policy to force all new coal plants to be partially fitted with carbon capture technology. The government hopes the technology will be technically and commercially proven by 2025, by when all existing plants that have partially fitted the technology would have to use it to capture and store all emissions. But ministers have not spelt out what happens if the technology does not work or cannot be fitted to the whole plant. Environmental groups such as Greenpeace are concerned that if this happens, plants like Hunterston built under the new policy will remain open and end up emitting vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Greenpeace has campaigned for an "emissions performance standard" which would restrict the operation of coal plants that had not fully fitted the technology. A coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and rebel Labour MPs narrowly failed to include the provision in the government's energy bill in a recent vote. Joss Garman, climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: "This application is a worrying sign that the government has failed to shut the door completely on dirty coal in the UK. Despite huge uncertainties over their ability to pay for carbon capture and storage technology, [Peel subsidiary] Ayrshire Power has decided to go ahead with these plans and call Labour's bluff. "It will take a brave minister to shut down a functioning plant in the future, even if it has failed to deliver the clean coal technology it promised in 2010. That's why an emissions performance standard is needed from the start, to warn companies they face tough legal consequences if they fail to keep their promises." Peel Group, which is backed by Saudi investors, owns airports, ports and a 28% stake in UK Coal. It is run by John Whittaker, 28th in last year's Sunday Times Rich List with £1.3bn. Coal Energy Energy Carbon capture and storage (CCS) Kingsnorth Energy industry Energy monitoring Ed Miliband Tim Webb guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (21 h ago)

• Superdry fashion group to float at 500p Superdry fashion group to float at 500p
03/12/2010
Flotation on course to yield about £80m windfall for Julian Dunkerton the entrepreneur behind Supergroup fashion chain The man behind the fast-growing Superdry fashion label is set to bank nearly £80m when the company joins the stockmarket later this month. Julian Dunkerton, who started out in the fashion business with a market stall in Cheltenham, will also retain a 33% stake in the business, worth another £130m at the 500p flotation share price. The Superdry label, which specialises in street-style clothing and is aimed at 18-23 year olds, was launched only six years ago but sales have soared, reaching £119m last year - more than double the UK sales of US giant Abercrombie & Fitch. The brand's Supergroup parent company said today its offer of shares to institutional shareholders had been "heavily oversubscribed" – an impressive achievement in the wake of several much bigger firms, including fashion chain New Look, being forced to abandon their own float plans as a result of market uncertainty and investor reticence. Unlike New Look, however, Supergroup has no debt. On Monday Supergroup starts a retail offer to allow small investors to buy a slice of the business. It will be the first retail offer since 2007. The Supergroup float will value the business at £395m and raise £125m, of which more than £100m will go to the group's owners. Only £15m will be used to fund expansion, with 20 new outlets, including a flagship London store, planned. Only around 32% of the company will be floated. James Holder, a designer hired by Dunkerton and the man who came up with the Superdry concept, and international sales head Theo Karpathios, will also receive multimillion-pound windfalls and retain stakes in the company. Dunkerton's success was built on a £40-a-week grant under Margaret Thatcher's Enterprise Allowance scheme, designed to encourage entrepreneurs in the 1980s. A market stall turned into a chain of fashion boutiques, called Cult, and they are also part of Supergroup. Holder, who had previously dreamed up the Bench young fashion label was brought in during 2003 and came up with Superdry. The trademark orange label has won celebrity fans such as David Beckham and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio, even though Supergroup does not pay famous faces to endorse its clothes. The group now employs 1,000 staff. It opened 17 new stores last year, taking its total to 40 and also has 54 concessions in House of Fraser, where it is one of the department store group's fastest-selling labels. The Superdry brand is sold in 30 countries and the group also has wholesale and online operations. Dunkerton believes there is scope for 120 UK stores within five years. Dunkerton said the high level of demand for Supergroup shares ahead of the float showed that "the institutions are as excited as we are by the success and growth prospects for SuperGroup." He said the retail offer, which opens on Monday for a week, will "allow customers, friends, family, business partners and the general public an opportunity to invest alongside institutions and the Board in the growth of SuperGroup." The shares are due to start trading on March 25th. The last big retail float in the UK was Sports Direct, which turned its owner Mike Ashley into a billionaire. Ashley, however, refused to play by the City's normal rules and keep investors informed of developments. Profit warnings followed and the shares have never returned to anywhere near their 300p flotation price. Retail industry Investing Fashion New Look Julia Finch guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (22 h ago)

• FSA promises early intervention to preve... FSA promises early intervention to prevent mis-selling scandals
03/12/2010
FSA boss Hector Sants said the regulator would conduct mystery shopping exercises and visits to financial firms to try to prevent future mis-selling scandals The culture and attitudes of society and financial firms need to be overhauled to avoid a repeat of the banking crisis, the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority said today as he outlined a new approach to regulation that is intended to end the wave of mis-selling scandals which have hit the industry. Hector Sants said the regulator would conduct mystery shopping exercises and on-site visits to financial firms in an attempt to identify products which might lead to industry-wide scandals such as those caused by pensions and payment protection insurance. "We will now seek to proactively intervene earlier in the product chain to anticipate consumer detriment and choke it off before it occurs," said Sants. While the regulator does not intend to approve products before they are sold, Sants was outlining a major change to the current approach to consumer regulation adopted by the FSA, which has until now been concerned about the way products are sold – and the advice customers are given – rather than the actual structure of the products themselves. As a result, the City has been investigated for scandals over the way personal pensions, endowment policies and payment protection insurance have been sold. Sants said the FSA would look at products when they were "at the design stage" and would intervene to change the incentives offered to the sellers of the financial products if an industry-wide problem was found to be emerging. Acknowledging that the previous system - which led to consumers being handed redress after large-scale investigation - did not work effectively, Sants said: "Fines and past business reviews are proven not be a sufficient deterrent". "Essentially our process has been too late in the product life cycle to ensure that we identify potential issues early enough to prevent consumer detriment," he added. He said the FSA would also "improve the framework and delivery of redress to consumers, including a review of the complaint-handling standards of all the major banking groups". Sants was beginning to add detail to the pledge made in the regulator's financial risk outlook on Wednesday "to do more to detect and prevent risks before they cause significant consumer detriment". However, with an election expected on 6 May, the FSA's plans may be thrown off course if the Conservatives win and follow through their pledge to close down the regulator. Without referring to this directly, Sants admitted that the current tripartite system - including the FSA, Bank of England and the Treasury - had "deficiencies". "But what matters here is that we have the right people making the right decisions, and the right policies and rules in place to support that process". Sants also addressed the "ethics" of the financial system which has been locked in a crisis for more than two years. "Poor risk management was a key driver of the crisis," Sants said. "My personal view is that if we really do wish to learn lessons from the past, we need to change not just the regulatory rules and supervisory approach, but also the culture and attitudes of both society as a whole, and the management of major financial firms," Sants said. "At the heart of the challenge is the need to restore trust. In particular society's trust in the regulatory authorities and financial market participants," he said. Financial Services Authority (FSA) Regulators Payment protection insurance Personal pensions Consumer affairs Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (22 h ago)

• Greece debt: EU agrees bailout deal Greece debt: EU agrees bailout deal
03/12/2010
Exclusive: Germany plays pivotal role in potential eurozone rescue package for Greek debts The eurozone has agreed a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece as part of a package to shore up the single currency after weeks of crisis, the Guardian has learnt. Senior sources in Brussels said that Berlin had bowed to the bailout agreement despite huge resistance in Germany and that the finance ministers of the "eurozone" – the 16 member states including Greece who use the euro – are to finalise the rescue package on Monday. The single currency's rulebook will also be rewritten to enforce greater fiscal discipline among members. The member states have agreed on "co-ordinated bilateral contributions" in the form of loans or loan guarantees to Greece if Athens finds itself unable to refinance its soaring debt and requests help from the EU, a senior European commission official said. Other sources said the aid could rise to €25bn (£22.6bn), although it is estimated in European capitals that Greece could need up to €55bn by the end of the year. Germany, the EU's traditional paymaster, but the most reluctant to come to the rescue of a fiscal delinquent in the current crisis, has played the pivotal role in organising the rescue package, the sources added. "There have been quite intensive preparations under the eurogroup. We have the ways and means to do it," said the senior official, asking not to be named because of the subject's sensitivity. "It will be a co-ordinated approach of bilateral contributions [between EU governments] … A bilateral contribution can be a loan or a loan guarantee. The guarantees will facilitate the kind of funds potentially needed in this context." The rules governing the operation of the single currency proscribe a bailout for a country on the brink of insolvency. Berlin, in particular, has been worried that any bailout of Greece could be challenged in its constitutional court. The senior official said the agreement – which will not involve any contribution from the UK taxpayer – had been tailored to respect the bailout ban and avoid a supreme court challenge in Germany. Alongside the financial relief package for Greece, the European commission is rushing through tougher rules for the eurozone, using powers conferred by the recently enacted Lisbon treaty to try to establish a system of rigorous "budgetary surveillance" of all 16 participating countries. The aim is a new regime of "reinforced economic policy co-ordination" in the EU. "This is the essential lesson that has to be learned from the Greek case," Olli Rehn of Finland, the new commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, told the Guardian (and four other European papers). "The Greek case is a potential turning point for the eurozone," said Rehn in the interview. "If Greece fails and we fail, this will do serious and maybe permanent damage to the credibility of the European Union. The euro is not only a monetary arrangement, but a core political project of the European Union … In that sense, we are at a crossroads." While ready to bail out the Greeks if only on terms of "rigorous conditionality", European leaders are hoping that the rescue will not be needed, that the draconian package of austerity measures announced by Prime Minister George Papandreou will be enough to calm the markets and stabilise the euro. EU leaders are to rule next week on whether Papandreou is doing enough to slash the 12.7% budget deficit by four percentage points this year, part of his ambition to cut the deficit by 10 points over three years. Rehn said he would unveil new proposals next month, enshrining a new single currency regime of "rigorous surveillance of national budgets" and that Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, would need to be given formidable new auditing powers over the books of eurozone member states, a demand that may be resisted by EU governments. "That's the hard core of our proposal. [The surveillance] should be automatic," said Rehn. "We have an immediate corrective instrument for the Greek case, plus another framework to prevent new Greek crises." Inside the commission, officials are confident that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, supports the tough new regime being plotted. Schäuble, who uses a wheelchair and is currently in hospital, and will not attend key meetings in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. Schäuble enjoys a longstanding reputation as a European integrationist and is said to have played a central role in shaping the Greek bailout plans despite widespread hostility to any such moves in Germany. Over the past week, he has sparked a major debate by calling for a European Monetary Fund to underpin the currency, and yesterday stoked more controversy by proposing that serial sinners in the eurozone could be expelled from the single currency club. The EMF concept is for the long-term and a new rule enabling expulsion from the euro club would require the Lisbon treaty to be re-opened, a nightmare for most after labouring over it for almost nine years. While senior figures in Brussels believe that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Schäuble are intensely serious about establishing an EMF, they also suspect they are using the idea to assuage hostile public opinion in Germany and "prepare a short-term fire brigade operation for Greece". Greece European Union Global economy Global recession Germany Currencies Europe Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (23 h ago)

• Aga profits reduced by 97% Aga profits reduced by 97%
03/12/2010
• Aga saga took sad turn as recession hit demand • But company says sales of upmarket cookers are hotting up Aga Rangemaster has seen its annual profits almost wiped out after running up big reorganisation costs and a sharp drop in demand for its traditional cast iron stoves during the recession. Not surprisingly, sales fell off a cliff at the height of the downturn, but the upmarket cooker maker said markets improved as the year progressed. Demand slumped in the first half of last year, before levelling out and, in some areas, strengthening later in the year. Chief executive William McGrath is optimistic that sales will pick up in coming weeks. The cold weather should give the company a boost , highlighting the benefits of the firm's all-in-one cookers and boilers, with more people keen to become less reliant on the grid. McGrath is also pinning his hopes on the company's continental and North American operations. Aga's European sales have benefited from the pound's weakness against the euro. It hopes to make greater inroads into the American market by launching "punchily priced" products and pushing its self-cleaning cookers that carbonise dirt. "The right thing to do last year was to hammer down on costs and to go for cash. This year we can be more expansive," McGrath said. The group makes a third of its sales outside the UK, of which 20% comes from France, Holland, Belgium and Germany, but wants to raise the overseas share to half of overall revenues. He also hopes to turn around the loss-making Fired Earth division, and noted that its new tile range is attracting an "unprecedented level of interest". A new generation of "smart control" is also in the pipeline, which will tie together various energy sources like solar collectors and boilers to come on the market in the summer. Trying to improve its green credentials, Aga is also bringing out a new Rayburn cooker-boiler this spring as part of its A-rated condensing boiler range. Profits plummeted to £500,000 last year from £14.4m in 2008, while revenues fell to £245m from £279m. Stripping out one-off costs related to factory mergers and management reorganisations, pre-tax profits halved to £12.6m. The company has streamlined its operations; for instance, in Canada it now sells directly to dealers. Aga Foodservice Food & drink industry Food & drink Recession Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• BA strike: Passengers face seven days of... BA strike: Passengers face seven days of walkouts
03/12/2010
More than half a million travellers to be hit by successive weekend walkouts, with the first beginning on 20 March More than half a million British Airways passengers face strike disruption this month after the Unite trade union announced walkouts over two consecutive weekends, prompting BA to withdraw a last-ditch peace offer. Unite has called a series of strikes by up to 12,000 flight attendants, beginning with a three-day walkout on 20 March and then a four-day stoppage from 27 March. Further strike action will take place after 14 April if there is no deal by then, the union added. Gordon Brown intervened in the dispute this afternoon, calling on both sides to reach agreement. "I hope they will do so [resume talks] but I remind them of the danger and risk to the British economy of disruptive strikes going ahead," he said. Brief hopes of a reprieve for the 525,000 passengers affected by the strike action were extinguished this afternoon when the BA chief executive, Willie Walsh, withdrew a compromise offer after hearing that Unite had set dates for the airline's first cabin crew strike in 13 years. BA said the offer, which included a partial repeal of staffing cuts, was conditional on Unite not setting strike dates. Walsh told the BBC that the two sides were "not close at all" to reaching an agreement and described Unite's counter-offer of a 2.6% pay cut for staff as "morally wrong". He said passengers already booked on to flights from 19 March to 31 March could apply for a refund or reschedule their journeys. A BA spokesperson said: "Our offer to Unite was conditional on the union not naming strike dates. Because strike dates have been announced, Unite has invalidated the offer. It is no longer on the table." BA's move means strikes are certain to go ahead next Friday unless the tentative lines of communication between both sides, described as "slender" by one source close to the talks, yield a new compromise. This morning Unite said it would put the BA proposal out to a consultative ballot with the result due next Wednesday. However, the simultaneous announcement of strike dates angered BA, which said it had offered Unite an extension to its strike mandate. Speaking before BA's move, Len McCluskey, Unite's chief negotiator and assistant general secretary, said he was willing to keep talking. "There are no negotiations [planned] but of course we remain open to meeting with BA anytime, anywhere." McCluskey later added that the withdrawal of the BA offer "beggars belief". The two sides are haggling over a £62.5m target for cost savings in the annual cabin crew budget, which BA has achieved by unilaterally cutting staffing levels on flights by at least one person. This followed a voluntary redundancy programme that saw 1,100 flight attendants leave the company. Unite wants the majority of those positions reinstated and has offered a 2.6% pay cut this year to help fund the move. The industrial action has been timed to cause maximum disruption to BA, with the airline facing a struggle to reinstate a normal timetable between strikes. BA normally carries about 75,000 passengers a day on 650 services. Walsh has said he hopes to operate a substantial proportion of the airline's Heathrow airport long-haul operations and a good number of short-haul flights during the strikes. The airline has admitted that there will be cancellations and hopes to announce a revised flight schedule on Monday. The airline has pledged to break the strike with 1,000 volunteer flight attendants drawn from the ranks of its non-cabin-crew workforce, and is preparing to hire 23 aeroplanes complete with their own trained crew. BA said today that it will only be able to offer hot meals to first-class passengers on affected flights, with no specialist meals such as kosher and halal dishes, while the remaining passengers will have cold meals. BA has said it will operate its entire schedule from London City airport during the industrial action and has claimed more than two-thirds of its Gatwick-based crews will work normally. Informal channels of communication are still open between BA and Unite, via the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber. According to BA's withdrawn offer, the airline was willing partially to repeal the staffing cuts at the heart of the dispute and would consider putting around 184 cabin crew positions back on its 239-plane fleet. However, Unite wants 700 positions returned to BA aircraft and has proposed about £60m worth of cost savings to fund the proposal. BA says the figures are significantly short of its cost-cutting target. Unite is also threatening to hold a consultative ballot over proposed changes to baggage handlers' contracts. If union members vote against BA's proposals an industrial action ballot will be held, although that move is several weeks away. Unite argues it has been bypassed by BA despite holding talks about the baggage handler contracts. Steve Turner, the Unite national officer for civil aviation, said: "It is hugely concerning that BA feel that management by imposition is their preferred approach. Very soon no worker at the airline will feel that either their job or their terms and conditions are safe. This instability cannot be healthy for the airline." A BA spokesman said: "We are consulting with our ground-handling staff at Heathrow about potential changes to improve the way in which we work. Any talk of a ballot for industrial action is speculative and premature." British Airways Airline industry Air transport Transport Trade unions Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Mortgage approvals fall by half Mortgage approvals fall by half
03/12/2010
Just 32,000 mortgages were approved in January compared to 62,800 in December, the CML said, as first-time buyers deserted the market The number of mortgages approved for house purchases fell by almost half in January, as the reintroduction of stamp duty on homes costing more than £125,000 hit the market, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said today. A total of 32,000 homebuyer loans worth £4.7bn were approved during the month, a fall of 49% on December's figure of 62,800. The biggest fall was in first-time buyers, with the number of purchasers entering the market down 54% on December at 11,300. The CML said this reflected the fact that a high proportion would usually be buying homes costing between £125,000 and £175,000, on which stamp duty was reintroduced at the end of last year . Its figures for December showed first-time buyer numbers at a two-year high, suggesting many had rushed to complete before the end of the month. Remortgage activity also fell in January, with the number of loans dropping 15% to 24,000 and the value of those mortgages down 12% at £3bn. This is 47% down on January 2009's figure and is the lowest for remortgages in the eight years for which the CML has data, and suggests borrowers are still opting to remain on their lenders' standard variable rates at the end of a deal to take advantage of current low rates. Although lending to homebuyers slumped in January, it remained much higher than last January when the housing market was in the doldrums. The number of loans approved was up by 38% on January 2009's low of 23,000. The CML's director general, Michael Coogan, said it had been a quiet start to the year. "Lending volumes in January were low, but we had predicted this would happen due to the end of the stamp duty holiday distorting December's figures," he said. "When December and January data are taken together they show little change in underlying market conditions compared with recent months, with activity still slow but well up on the lows of a year earlier. "We expect lending over the coming months to remain weak as uncertainty over of the state of the economy and the upcoming election are likely to continue to hold back housing market activity." Figures released earlier this week by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggest the fall in buyers at the start of the year has resulted in the supply of properties outstripping demand, and could have a knock-on effect on house prices. Last year's surprise turnaround in the housing market was widely attributed to a lack of homes coming up for sale, and commentators have suggested that a reduction in the number of would-be buyers could push prices down again. Mortgages Property First-time buyers Mortgage lending figures Hilary Osborne guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Liberty says it has received bid approac... Liberty says it has received bid approaches
03/12/2010
A deal for the London department store would end months of speculation Liberty , the London department store, said this morning that it has received bid approaches. A deal would end months of speculation over the future of the Liberty store, which was put up for sale last July by its majority shareholder, property firm MWB. Liberty said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange: Further to the recent press speculation, the board of Liberty confirms that it has received approaches which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company. At this stage, it is too early for the Board to determine whether or not these discussions will result in any formal offer being made for the xompany. Over the past six months Liberty has been examining and assessing a range of options and initiatives that would enable it to build upon its success since the launch of the Renaissance of Liberty in February 2009. This has included seeking investors who could bring capital and expertise to help develop and grow the business both within the UK and internationally. According to reports , Marco Capello, the former managing director of Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, is close to buying Liberty through his investment fund BlueGem Capital Partners. Capello is expected to pounce on the luxury retailer, which also has a wholesale fabric business, in a fortnight's time, when Liberty should have completed a £40m sale and leaseback of its Tudor-style building on Great Malborough Street. Other suitors are thought to include the luxury investor and Sirius Equity founder Robert Bensoussan and global supplier Li & Fung, but Capello, who was involved in the privatisation of Debenhams during his time at Merrill Lynch, has reportedly outbid them. Liberty had a market value of £63m last night. Liberty said overall revenues climbed 20% last year, with its London flagship store posting 16% revenue growth. Online sales enjoyed a particularly strong Christmas. Also this morning, Aga Rangemaster saw 2009 profits before tax plummet to £500,000 from £14.4m the previous year. The upmarket cooker maker suffered a slump in demand for its traditional cast iron stoves during the recession, but expects sales to pick up again this spring. William McGrath, the chief executive, said: The generation of cash was the big achievement of 2009 and that remains the focus given the caution needed in the current market. Our lead indicators, however, are positive and after a slow order intake at the start of the year, the prospects are encouraging heading into the spring. Night club operator Luminar admitted today that its business has been "severely affected" by poor weather across most of the UK in the last two months of its financial year, which ends on 25 February. The group is still trading within its debt covenants and continues to generate cash to reduce its borrowings. Debts have been cut by £49m to £93m. Luminar has appointed Simon Douglas as chief executive to supervise a "rigorous cost reduction exercise". Liberty International Aga Foodservice Luminar Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Sir Brian Pitman, former Lloyds chairman... Sir Brian Pitman, former Lloyds chairman, dies aged 78
03/11/2010
Tributes paid to highly respected banker who spent half a century at Lloyds bank Tributes were pouring in tonight after the sudden death of Sir Brian Pitman, one of the most highly respected bankers of his generation and best known for his half-century career at Lloyds. The 78-year-old died early this morning after suffering a heart attack earlier this week when he was admitted to St George's hospital, Tooting, south London. Despite being past retirement age, Pitman had maintained a passion for banking – and during the recent crisis fronted a bid by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money for Northern Rock before the troubled Newcastle-based lender was nationalised. In January this year, Pitman was formally named chairman of Virgin Money and only last month was giving evidence to a commission on the future of banking, at which he lamented the decisions by banks to pay "incentives to staff for selling loans". Branson tonight described him as a giant of his profession. "Everyone who knew this gentle giant will miss him enormously," he said. A keen trombonist and golfer, Pitman joined Lloyds in 1952 and worked his way through the ranks to spend 14 years as chief executive and four as chairman, before retiring in 2001. Knighted in 1994, Pitman built Lloyds through a series of ground-breaking acquisitions – including those of building society Cheltenham & Gloucester and the Trustee Savings Bank, to create what became Lloyds TSB. Towards the end of his tenure, the bank's star in the City was falling, after it bought insurer Scottish Widows and failed to convince the competition authorities to permit it to take over Abbey National, which was later sold to Santander. Pitman's reputation as a deal-doer also meant he was known for cutting costs rather than investing for growth. He became an adviser to investment bank Morgan Stanley International, where chairman and chief executive Walid Chammah said: "Those of us who had the privilege of working with him will remember him as modest, thoughtful, and worthy of our respect and admiration." Lloyds TSB became Lloyds Banking Group after the controversial rescue takeover of HBOS during the 2008 banking crisis. Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds, said Pitman was "warm and engaging".He said: "He cared deeply about Lloyds and everything it stands for. He was a towering figure in our industry and was involved in many of the major changes that have shaped the banking sector." Married for more than 55 years, Pitman had two sons and a daughter and was proud of his roots in Gloucestershire. His father died when he was a baby and he said this was one of the factors that helped to motivate him. Banking Lloyds Banking Group HBOS Virgin & Richard Branson Banco Santander Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (1 d ago)

• Developing nations storm rich list as Me... Developing nations storm rich list as Mexican named world's wealthiest
03/10/2010
Developing nations storm Forbes rich list as America Movil's Carlos Slim beats Microsoft's Bill Gates to top spot • Datablog: Forbes rich list - ten years of top tens • In pictures: the world's wealthiest The old order is under threat at the world's billionaires club. Traditionally dominated by Americans and Europeans, the top ranks of the world's richest people have been infiltrated by scores of ultra-rich entrepreneurs from the developing world – capped by the Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim. Today, Slim, the titan of mobile phones in Mexico, criticised as a ruthless monopolist, was crowned as the richest person in the world by Forbes magazine , which calculated his net worth at $53.5bn (£35.7bn). Bolstered by a surge in the share price of his America Movil empire, Slim's wealth edged ahead of the $53bn fortune amassed by the Microsoft boss Bill Gates, making the portly cigar-smoking 70-year-old the first non-American to hold the top spot since 1994. In third place was the legendary Nebraska-based stockpicker Warren Buffett with $47bn, completing a triumvirate that has occupied the top three positions for five successive years. Britain's top entrant into the global rich list, the Duke of Westminster, could only muster 45th position as his vast landownings gave him a net worth of $12bn. Below the top few individuals, however, the lower ranks of Forbes's closely watched annual list showed a substantial shifting in the sands of wealth, with Asian entrepreneurs catapulted into remarkable riches by a swift bounceback in emerging financial markets. The number of billionaires from Asian and Australasian nations leapt from 130 to 234 last year, with the net worth of the region's super-rich doubling from $357bn to $729bn. "Asia is leading the comeback," said Forbes's editor-in-chief, Steve Forbes. "There are remarkable changes taking place in the global economy." He pointed out that as the number of billionaires in the world swelled from 793 to 1,011, the proportion of Americans dropped from 45% to 40%: "The US still dominates but it's lagging. It's not doing as well as the rest of the world in coming back from the financial crisis." Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, became the fourth-richest person on the planet with $29bn, as his textiles-to-petrol Reliance Industries empire prospered. Pakistan also produced its first billionaire, banking magnate Mian Mhammad Mansha, and the number of Chinese billionaires leapt by 27 to 64. Among those enjoying an upsurge in fortunes was Robin Li, founder of the Chinese internet search engine Baidu, whose wealth reached $3.5bn as his company prospered on Google's abrupt withdrawal from China, due to censorship concerns. Another Chinese tycoon, property magnate Wu Yajun, has emerged as the world's richest self-made woman with $3.9bn from her Longfor Properties empire, which spans apartments, townhouses, luxury villas and commercial property across China. The upsurge in the number of super-rich individuals from less affluent nations went beyond Asia. The number of billionaires from Russia almost doubled from 32 to 62. The owner of the Evening Standard, Alexander Lebedev, re-entered the ranks with $2bn, after threatening to sue Forbes a year ago for claiming that losses in the financial crisis had stripped him of his billionaire status. And Alisher Usmanov, a shareholder of Arsenal, often touted as a future buyer of the football club, enjoyed a lucrative year at his metals conglomerate with his net worth surging from $1.7bn to $7.2bn. Turkey saw its legion of billionaires swell from 12 to 28. And from South America, a commodities tycoon, Eike Batista, became the first Brazilian to make the world's top 10 for wealth. Batista, 52, a college dropout who made his fortune from gold, oil and diamonds, and has been an enthusiastic cheerleader for Rio's 2016 Olympics, is ranked eighth in the world with $27bn. Economists say that a rapid rise in super-wealthy individuals from the developing world reflects the pace of globalisation, with cross-border stockmarkets allowing international investors to pump funds at the touch of a button into major corporations in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. "It's symptomatic of the spread of globalisation, the spread of market economies and the maturing of financial markets in these countries," said Homi Kharas, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "These are paper billionaires. The values being placed on their companies have shot up and that's a result of stock exchanges in these countries being a bit better developed and being able to gain foreign investment." But, Kharas added, it also points to a widening in inequality between the "haves" and the "have nots" in poorer parts of the world. "In India, for example, you see some particularly conspicuous consumption and when that's juxtaposed against the grinding poverty of the rest of the nation, it surely does have an effect on social stability," he said. In British terms, little changed among the ranks of the super-rich. Behind the Duke of Westminster came property developers David and Simon Reuben, the Top Shop boss Sir Philip Green and Virgin supremo Sir Richard Branson. Two new British names joined the billionaires' club – financier Alan Howard, who runs the hedge fund Brevan Howard, and China-based property developer Xiu Li Hawken of Renhe Commercial Holdings, who holds British citizenship. For the newly crowned richest person on the planet, topping the rich list cements a rapid rise to global fame. A spokesman for Carlos Slim offered no comment, although in the past, the Mexican tycoon has disdained such competitions. However, he is only top thanks to the generosity of a rival – if Bill Gates had not chosen to hand a huge chunk of his wealth to his Gates Foundation to fight disease in the developing world, the software supremo would be worth as much as $80bn. Rich lists Telecommunications industry Mexico United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (2 d ago)

• Vast F.C.C. Plan Would Bring Net to More... Vast F.C.C. Plan Would Bring Net to More in U.S.
03/12/2010
The 10-year plan would reimagine the nation’s media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country’s dominant communication network. (9 h ago)

• Facebook Helps Social Start-Ups Gain Use... Facebook Helps Social Start-Ups Gain Users
03/12/2010
Facebook Connect can help nascent Web services recruit a healthy crowd of users in a hurry, and help the users find their friends on those sites. (10 h ago)

• Netflix Cancels Contest Over Privacy Con... Netflix Cancels Contest Over Privacy Concerns
03/12/2010
The movie rental company canceled a competition to improve film recommendations after learning that customers could be identified from data it released. (10 h ago)

• Appeals Court Upholds Cable TV Access Ru... Appeals Court Upholds Cable TV Access Rules
03/12/2010
The regulations require cable TV companies to make programming available on equal terms to rival TV providers. (10 h ago)

• Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy ... Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy With My Blog and Building My Brand.
03/12/2010
So-called mommy blogs were once little more than glorified electronic scrapbooks. Now they have recently evolved into a cultural force to be reckoned with. (15 h ago)

• Advertising: Instant Ads Set the Pace on... Advertising: Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web
03/12/2010
Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft let advertisers buy ads in the milliseconds between the time someone enters a site’s Web address and the moment the page appears. (1 d ago)

• Pink Floyd Wins Court Battle With EMI Ov... Pink Floyd Wins Court Battle With EMI Over Downloads
03/12/2010
The court ruling prevents the record company from selling single downloads on the Internet from the group's concept albums. (1 d ago)

• Dysport Takes On Botox With Aggressive R... Dysport Takes On Botox With Aggressive Rebates
03/11/2010
Medicis has started a new marketing campaign that pits its wrinkle-smoother, Dysport, directly against Botox. It makes bioethicists squirm. (1 d ago)

• Outraged by Glenn Beck’s Salvo, Christia... Outraged by Glenn Beck’s Salvo, Christians Fire Back
03/11/2010
The Rev. Jim Wallis and others were outraged when the broadcaster said the words “social justice” and “economic justice” were code for Communism and Nazism. (1 d ago)

• F.C.C. Considers Changes on Cable Fee Di... F.C.C. Considers Changes on Cable Fee Disputes
03/11/2010
The agency wants to ensure that customers do not lose TV access because of fee disputes between broadcasters and cable companies. (1 d ago)

• The Mouse That Roared: Turning to the In... The Mouse That Roared: Turning to the Internet to Catch a Favorite TV Show
03/11/2010
With new devices making it easy to stream Internet content to a television, more people are watching cable shows for free. (1 d ago)

• A Futures Site Coming to Bet on Movie Ti... A Futures Site Coming to Bet on Movie Ticket Sales
03/11/2010
A virtual futures exchange is being assembled to allow people to bet money on a film’s box office success. (2 d ago)

• Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Richest ... Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Richest People
03/10/2010
The Mexican businessman beat Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett for the top spot in the 2010 list. (2 d ago)

• Advertising: Like Texting, but With Vide... Advertising: Like Texting, but With Video
03/10/2010
Companies like American Greetings are moving beyond texting by offering services that send video messages to cellphones. (2 d ago)

• EMI Music Names a New Chief EMI Music Names a New Chief
03/10/2010
Charles Allen was named executive chairman of EMI Music. He replaces Elio Leoni-Sceti, who is leaving the company. (2 d ago)

• Furriers Lure Young Designers Furriers Lure Young Designers
03/10/2010
An industry campaign to aggressively court designers results in a fur rebound on the runway. (2 d ago)

• Editor Is Fired After Criticizing Chines... Editor Is Fired After Criticizing Chinese Registration System
03/10/2010
Zhang Hong’s dismissal is a fresh warning that journalists who challenge government policy too directly can face retribution. (3 d ago)

• WaMu settles with JPMorgan, FDIC WaMu settles with JPMorgan, FDIC
03/12/2010
Washington Mutual has tentatively resolved disputes with JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC over some $4 billion at issue in the bank holding company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a WaMu attorney said Friday. (15 h ago)

• Affluent California county sues Toyota Affluent California county sues Toyota
03/12/2010
Southern California prosecutors filed the first U.S. consumer protection lawsuit against Toyota Friday, claiming it had engaged in "fraud" by hiding evidence of dangerous vehicle defects. (16 h ago)

• Stocks end mixed after uneven economic d... Stocks end mixed after uneven economic data
03/12/2010
Mixed economic reports held the stock market to only modest moves Friday but gains for the week were strong. (17 h ago)

• Mortgage relief aid reaches few homeowne... Mortgage relief aid reaches few homeowners
03/12/2010
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are in limbo waiting to find out if they will be accepted for the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program. (17 h ago)

• Young veterans returning home to few job... Young veterans returning home to few jobs
03/12/2010
The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle combat veterans face. (18 h ago)

• Policy ‘dove’ may be tapped for Fed vice... Policy ‘dove’ may be tapped for Fed vice chair
03/12/2010
President Barack Obama wants to nominate Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to take over as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. (19 h ago)

• Homeowners take ‘cash for keys’ to escap... Homeowners take ‘cash for keys’ to escape debt
03/12/2010
Owners of bad loans are increasingly making deals with borrowers to avoid a foreclosure. Lawmakers are more accepting of these solutions even if they mean the borrower loses the home. (19 h ago)

• Oil production predicted to peak in 2014 Oil production predicted to peak in 2014
03/12/2010
Predicting the end of oil has proven tricky and often controversial, but Kuwaiti scientists now say that global oil production will peak in 2014. (20 h ago)

• Retail sales rise unexpectedly in Februa... Retail sales rise unexpectedly in February
03/12/2010
Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers did not let major snowstorms stop them from storming the malls, (23 h ago)

• Blunt the e-mail interruption assault Blunt the e-mail interruption assault
03/12/2010
Constant e-mail interruptions make you less productive, less creative and — if you're e-mailing when you're doing something else — just plain dumb. Here's how to fight back. (23 h ago)

• Weak economy means it’s a freebie nation... Weak economy means it’s a freebie nation
03/12/2010
Whether it's to boost sagging business or attract customers to a new product, there seems to be a freebie fad going on. That's a boon for budget shoppers and can be good for companies too. (23 h ago)

• Consumer sentiment dips amid job worries Consumer sentiment dips amid job worries
03/12/2010
U.S. consumer sentiment declined slightly in early March, with Americans less positive about the job outlook, a survey released on Friday showed. (23 h ago)

• Business sales rise to highest level sin... Business sales rise to highest level since 2008
03/12/2010
Business inventories were unexpectedly flat in January, while sales rose to their highest level since October 2008, government data showed on Friday. (1 d ago)

• U.S. sales tax rates hit record high U.S. sales tax rates hit record high
03/12/2010
Forbes: While the White House's push to raise federal income taxes for the wealthy gets the attention, the sales tax rates imposed by state and local governments has crept to its highest level ever. (1 d ago)

• Red Tape: Toyota woes raise car-tech woe... Red Tape: Toyota woes raise car-tech woes
03/12/2010
We may never know why runaway Toyotas suddenly seem to be everywhere. The scariest possibility, however, is that faulty computers are driving some victims to their deaths with frightening randomness. (1 d ago)

• New wave of foreclosures threatens marke... New wave of foreclosures threatens market
03/12/2010
Swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but haven't yet lost their homes may soon lead to a new round of foreclosures. (1 d ago)

• Patient Money: Finding the Right Care fo... Patient Money: Finding the Right Care for the Elderly
03/12/2010
Advice for making an informed decision about supporting an ailing parent without bankrupting the family. (10 h ago)

• Mortgage Modification Program Gains Trac... Mortgage Modification Program Gains Traction
03/12/2010
The Treasury Department said that more than 168,000 households had received permanent new mortgages under its modification plan. (10 h ago)

• Shortcuts: When a Cap Full of Soap Is No... Shortcuts: When a Cap Full of Soap Is Not a Good Thing
03/12/2010
Go easy on the detergent in dishwashers and washing machines, and never clean your oven the day before Thanksgiving. (11 h ago)

• Wealth Matters: No Federal Estate Tax, b... Wealth Matters: No Federal Estate Tax, but What About Your State?
03/12/2010
Twenty states have their own versions of the old federal estate tax. The many clauses and provisions mean that, even in the absence of a federal estate tax, you might not be able to die tax-free. (11 h ago)

• Your Money: In Most Cases, Best to Pass ... Your Money: In Most Cases, Best to Pass Up Overdraft Protection
03/12/2010
Many bank customers are having to decide whether to ask for overdraft protection. Most should say no. (11 h ago)

• Its Own Advisers Oppose Consumer Role fo... Its Own Advisers Oppose Consumer Role for the Fed
03/12/2010
Some current and former members of the Fed’s Consumer Advisory Council say a watchdog agency doesn’t belong in there. (11 h ago)

• I.R.S. Increases Audits of Wealthy I.R.S. Increases Audits of Wealthy
03/12/2010
The federal agency increased its audits of taxpayers who earned $1 million to $5 million by 33 percent in 2009 from 2008. (13 h ago)

• Would You Opt In to Overspending? Would You Opt In to Overspending?
03/12/2010
Do you want your bank to charge you extra when you overspend? (19 h ago)

• Taking Questions on New Consumer Laws Taking Questions on New Consumer Laws
03/12/2010
Our expert is taking questions on the credit card law and other new consumer rules and regulations. (19 h ago)

• Friday Reading Friday Reading
03/12/2010
The latest on President Obama's proposed plan to have the federal government provide student loans, paying more to sit in the shade and other consumer-focused items from Friday's Times. (20 h ago)

• Bank of America Plans to End Overdraft F... Bank of America Plans to End Overdraft Fees on Debit Card Purchases
03/11/2010
The decision that could cost the bank tens of millions a year and put pressure on other banks to do the same. (1 d ago)

• Sending Money Electronically to a Friend... Sending Money Electronically to a Friend: Why It's Hard
03/11/2010
A look at why it has taken so long for banks to adopt quick interbank person-to-person transfer services and when the services will probably be available. (1 d ago)

• Sponsored By: Sponsored By:
03/12/2010
(15 h ago)

• SEC head urges Congress to act on deriva... SEC head urges Congress to act on derivatives
03/11/2010
The SEC is calling anew for Congress to impose oversight on derivatives, warning that allowing risky instruments like credit default swaps to continue unfettered could bring new economic damage. Credit default swap - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Business - United States Congress - Congress (1 d ago)

• The 25 richest counties in the United St... The 25 richest counties in the United States
03/11/2010
The country may have started its long haul back to economic recovery — if recent news that consumer spending increased slightly in January is any indication. United States - Recreation - Business - Carlos Slim - Bill Gates (1 d ago)

• Wall Street reform hits an impasse Wall Street reform hits an impasse
03/11/2010
Chances of a broad overhaul of U.S. financial regulation this year dimmed on Thursday after bipartisan Senate talks collapsed. Christopher Dodd - United States Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs - United States - Government - Business (1 d ago)

• Obama outlines steps in bid to double ex... Obama outlines steps in bid to double exports
03/11/2010
President Barack Obama sought to put some detail behind his lofty drive to double U.S. exports over the next five years, calling the effort imperative to putting people back to work. Barack Obama - United States - President of the United States - President - History (1 d ago)

• Big majority wants Wall Street regulatio... Big majority wants Wall Street regulation
03/11/2010
An overwhelming majority of Americans wants Wall Street subjected to tougher regulation in the aftermath of the bank bailout and the bonus scandals, according to a poll. Wall Street - United States - Business - Financial services - Banks and Institutions (1 d ago)

• Guns and shoppers are no-win mix for ret... Guns and shoppers are no-win mix for retailers
03/10/2010
Guns. Religion. Abortion. These are the no-win arguments that spoil family gatherings — and the stuff of retailers' nightmares. Abortion - Religion - Pro-Life - Essays - Christian (2 d ago)

• Cable wants FCC to enter broadcast dispu... Cable wants FCC to enter broadcast disputes
03/10/2010
The most recent showdown left millions of Cablevision Systems Corp. customers around New York without an ABC station at the start of the Academy Awards. Academy Award - Cablevision - New York - American Broadcasting Company - United States (2 d ago)

• The demise of boutique bank Pali Capital The demise of boutique bank Pali Capital
03/10/2010
The swift demise of Pali Capital surprised industry observers. But as with many firms that suddenly fail, not everything at Pali was what it seemed. Business - Financial services - Pali Capital - Venture Capital - Capital Access - Financing (2 d ago)

• Lohan sues E*Trade over ‘milkaholic’ bab... Lohan sues E*Trade over ‘milkaholic’ baby
03/10/2010
The actress Lindsay Lohan has sued E*Trade Financial Corp for $100 million, saying a "milkaholic" baby girl who appeared in a recent commercial was modeled after her. Lindsay Lohan - etrade - Actor - Super Bowl - Shopping (2 d ago)

• BofA to end all overdraft fees on debit ... BofA to end all overdraft fees on debit cards
03/10/2010
Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. Bank of America - Debit card - Overdraft - Business - Bank (3 d ago)

• 'Gate slams on Icahn 'Gate slams on Icahn
03/13/2010
Carl Icahn running a movie studio -- oh, the horror! That is essentially what Lionsgate, home to torture porn movies like "Saw" as well as Academy Award winners "Precious" and "The Cove," told shareholders yesterday in recommending that they reject Icahn's unsolicited tender offer. The billionaire investor-agitator earlier this... (6 h ago)

• Sulzberger pinches double the pay Sulzberger pinches double the pay
03/13/2010
Top executives at the beleaguered New York Times Company reaped hefty rewards last year, with Chairman Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger more than doubling his total compensation to $6 million. CEO Janet Robinson got even more, reaping $6.3 million, a 31.9 percent hike. The pay numbers were disclosed in Securities... (6 h ago)

• Dimon's downer Dimon's downer
03/13/2010
Jamie Dimon isn't getting as big of a gift as he had hoped. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who turns 54 today, may see his bank reap far less than the $10 billion it stood to gain from its 2008 acquisition of WaMu. As a result of a settlement... (6 h ago)

• Business briefs Business briefs
03/13/2010
Tim talks Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pre dicted the US will re bound from the recession faster than other econo mies. Solo Raj Raj Rajaratnam, co- founder of Galleon Group, and Danielle Chiesi, co- defendants in the biggest hedge-fund insider-trading case, asked a federal judge yesterday to allow them to... (6 h ago)

• Obama has 3 Fed picks Obama has 3 Fed picks
03/13/2010
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen is a leading contender to be nominated by President Barack Obama as vice chair of the central bank, a senior administration official said yesterday. Sarah Raskin, the top banking regulator for the state of Maryland, and Peter Diamond, a Massachusetts Institute of... (6 h ago)

• Att'y: AIG unprepared Att'y: AIG unprepared
03/13/2010
American International Group was unprepared for the financial crisis that forced the insurer to accept a $182.3 billion bailout from the US government, the company's former general counsel said. AIG didn't have the "infrastructure to call upon to respond," Anastasia Kelly said yesterday at a conference in... (6 h ago)

• A big, fat EU $34B bailout A big, fat EU $34B bailout
03/13/2010
European officials inched toward a bailout pact to ease the crisis that has engulfed debt-ridden Greece, at the end of a week that saw unrest in Athens escalate to new heights. Yesterday, European finance ministers were still discussing various plans that could see Greece receive as much as $34 billion... (6 h ago)

• KKR files to get listing on NYSE KKR files to get listing on NYSE
03/13/2010
KKR & Co., the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, filed to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, as it seeks a wider investor base in the US. KKR filed to register about $2.2 billion worth of shares. KKR Guernsey, the firm's existing... (6 h ago)

• Google is ripped by China Google is ripped by China
03/13/2010
China said Google Inc. would be "unfriendly and irresponsible" if it defies rules to censor online content, escalating a dispute between the government and the owner of the most popular search engine. "The company will have to bear the related results" if rules are violated, said Li Yizhong, minister of... (6 h ago)

• Buyers using more cash Buyers using more cash
03/13/2010
Consumers are shopping more, and for the first time in a decade they're using cash more than credit cards. Retail sales jumped by 0.3 percent in February, the fourth month of gains, according to the Commerce Department. The increase was unexpected, as many analysts thought heavy snows had... (6 h ago)

• Social networks and the death of privacy Social networks and the death of privacy
03/12/2010
So now we have all become Big Brother. Has social networking killed privacy?Now we have reports that Twitter has just rolled out a new feature that tells the world where you're tweeting from. The tweets link to a Google map of the area the user is in.According to the New York Times, Facebook plans to add a similar feature.So does privacy matter any more? Does anyone take it seriously?Peter Cashmore, founder of the social media blog Mashable says privacy is dead. The cost of ... (10 h ago)

• Lehman's accounting shenanigans Lehman's accounting shenanigans
03/12/2010
The revelations about the accounting shenanigans at Lehman Brothers get more appalling. These accounting tricks destroyed the financial institution which in turn created the financial crisis that destroyed jobs, investments and retirement incomes. Now we can blame all that on the accountants.The New York Times reports how Lehman's number crunchers used a particularly aggressive accounting practice, known internally as Repo 105.With Repo 105, they could temporarily exchange assets in return for short term loans and by doing so, temporarily park assets off the books ... (11 h ago)

• Lohan's bizarre lawsuit Lohan's bizarre lawsuit
03/12/2010
The thing that Lindsay Lohan likes to call her career is going nowhere which might explain her bizarre lawsuit against E-Trade. Watch the Associated Press report on YouTube and judge for yourself. In her court papers, she claims that one of the online brokerage's recent TV ads featuring a ditzy, "milkaholic" baby girl named Lindsay is modeled after her and improperly invoked her "likeness, name, characterization, and personality" without permission, violating her right to privacy.Lohan, the former Disney child star who became part of the ... (1 d ago)

• Lehman culprits Lehman culprits
03/12/2010
The Lehman Brothers collapse could end up in court for years. But it will not answer one key question: who was regulating banks? Why did US regulators pretend things weren't going off the rails?It's been a year and a half since the financial services giant fell apart. The biggest bankruptcy in US history, it sent the global economy into paroxysms. The result: a credit squeeze as banks stopped trusting each other. The cost of money went through the roof and businesses started closing down and ... (1 d ago)

• China's Internet impact China's Internet impact
03/10/2010
With tensions continuing to brew between the United States and China over Internet access, it's worth looking at the take-up of the Net in that part of the world. Indeed, there's every sign that the Internet could transform Chinese society.According to consulting firm McKinsey, China's Internet obsession will have a seismic effect on Chinese society. McKinsey reports: "In January, China Internet Network Information Center, the country's official domain registry and research organization, reported that by the end of 2009, the number of Internet users ... (2 d ago)

• Pink Floyd sues EMI Pink Floyd sues EMI
03/10/2010
EMI, the record label in trouble, just seems to go from bad to worse.Now we have news that Pink Floyd is suing them, claiming their old label has no right to sell their songs on iTunes. The case, which will also determine how online royalties are calculated, will go before a High Court judge.Their lawyers claim that their 1999 contract expressly prohibits EMI from selling their songs out of context but EMI's attorneys argue that's irrelevant because iTunes hadn't even been invented then. Sounds ... (2 d ago)

• Brand management in an increasingly Web-... Brand management in an increasingly Web-oriented society
03/10/2010
There is one point that marketing and advertising people will tell you. Brands do not exist on the shelf or in boxes lying in the store room. They exist in the hearts and minds of clients.This means that the Web is the best place to create and grow a brand image. The Web is where you come face to face with your customers. Their responses can be measured, assessed and, if necessary, addressed in real time.This is where the monitoring of social media through ... (2 d ago)

• Goldman Sachs sued over pay Goldman Sachs sued over pay
03/10/2010
Last week, I revealed that Goldman Sachs was worried that its bad image had become one of its big business risks.Now we have reports that one of the big union pension funds is suing Goldman Sachs to stop it paying obscene bonuses. Specifically, the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers has filed a lawsuit that seeks to stop Goldman Sachs paying about 47% of 2009 net revenue as compensation. It says these slush funds "vastly overcompensate management and constitute corporate waste."The pension fund also wants ... (3 d ago)

• Hard times, more millionaires Hard times, more millionaires
03/10/2010
What's wrong with this picture? In the height of the worst economic crisis in the United States since the Great Depression, the number of millionaires is up.According to research from the Spectrem Group, the number of American households with a net worth of $1 million or more - and that doesn't include their primary residence - grew 16% to 7.8 million in 2009. Now that's a turnaround from 2008 when there was a 27% decline but it comes at a time when in one ... (3 d ago)

• Conan to go on the road for live shows Conan to go on the road for live shows
03/12/2010
Conan O'Brien is contractually barred from appearing on TV for several months, so he's taking his show on the road. Why? Jeremy Hobson reports. (20 h ago)

• A history of the world's worst car A history of the world's worst car
03/12/2010
The Yugo may be one of the worst cars in history, but it can teach us a lot about the auto industry. Author Jason Vuic talks with Kai Ryssdal about how the 80s car caused a frenzy of excitement, and then horror. (20 h ago)

• Have lead problems improved in China? Have lead problems improved in China?
03/12/2010
Authorities in China have given the go-ahead to reopen a big smelting plant in Shanxii Province that was closed because of lead concerns. Scott Tong reports on how things are now bearing out at one of the worst poisoning sites. (20 h ago)

• Weekly Wrap: Lehman report fallout Weekly Wrap: Lehman report fallout
03/12/2010
The Big Money's Heidi Moore and Clusterstock's John Carney talk with Kai Ryssdal about whether the latest Lehman Brothers report is surprising and whether it will lead to regulation. (21 h ago)

• EU regulation may hurt London biz EU regulation may hurt London biz
03/12/2010
London has lost its crown as the world's leading financial center. It now shares the top spot with New York. Stephen Beard reports taxes and regulation are to blame. (21 h ago)

• Walkaways help reduce consumer debt Walkaways help reduce consumer debt
03/12/2010
The Federal Reserve is reporting that consumer debt has fallen at record rates. But not necessarily because we're all saving and skimping. Nancy Marshall Genzer explains. (21 h ago)

• Report: Lehman execs manipulated data Report: Lehman execs manipulated data
03/12/2010
A bankruptcy examiner report has found that negligence and manipulation on the part of top executives at Lehman Brothers contributed to the firm's collapse. Amy Scott reports on a piece of accounting chicanery known as "Repo 105." (21 h ago)

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03/12/2010
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• ConsumerMan: The hazards of kids and cre... ConsumerMan: The hazards of kids and credit
03/10/2010
Credit card companies have a simple strategy: Get your customers while they are young. Most students these days graduate with thousands of dollars in unpaid credit card bills. Credit card - Business - Personal Finance - Credit - Financial Services (2 d ago)

• ‘Material Girl’ launching new line at Ma... ‘Material Girl’ launching new line at Macy’s
03/10/2010
Macy's Inc. is getting into the groove with Madonna. Madonna - Material Girl - Macy - Scouting - Recreation (2 d ago)

• BA cabin crew to strike for 7 days BA cabin crew to strike for 7 days
03/12/2010
British Airways PLC cabin crew announced plans Friday to strike for seven days this month, potentially disrupting thousands of travelers ahead of the Easter holidays. British Airways - Strike action - Business - Trade union - Airline (23 h ago)

• Sponsored By: Sponsored By:
03/11/2010
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• Miners say ‘Avatar’ doesn’t do them just... Miners say ‘Avatar’ doesn’t do them justice
03/11/2010
It's enough to make a mining executive grit his teeth or his kids to give him the silent treatment. Mining - Business - Mining and Drilling - Technology - History (1 d ago)

• Mexico’s Slim tops the list of world’s r... Mexico’s Slim tops the list of world’s richest
03/10/2010
For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man. Mexico - List of billionaires - BillGates - United States - New Mexico (2 d ago)

• Payroll tax hike hits small businesses Payroll tax hike hits small businesses
03/10/2010
Some 35 states were set to boost unemployment taxes on businesses this year, with increases ranging from 2.5 to 600 percent. Payroll tax - Small business - Business - Accounting - United States (2 d ago)

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• Switzerland real estate market to get a ... Switzerland real estate market to get a kick with European and US Corporate Relocation
03/12/2010
© KeckoThere seems to be an increase in trend of corporate clients relocating their office based functions from European and U.S markets and this trend seems to be giving a push to property market out there. The trend is expected to continue as the economy improves and profitability comes back as this would enable them to examine their tax positions. When compared with the rest of the European market, the Swiss market is quite small in terms of office space stock and any inward relocation ... (12 h ago)

• Kendall Coffey: An inspirational attorne... Kendall Coffey: An inspirational attorney
03/10/2010
One of the attorneys who have really inspired me is Kendall Coffey. A former US attorney, Kendall has been part of several high profile cases which includes the Elian Gonzalez trial, 2000 Presidential recount litigation and Miami's voter fraud trial. Born on December 5, 1952, Kendall graduated from University of Florida in 1978 with honors. He started his career as an associate with Greenberg. In his long distinguished career he has offered analysis and commentary on a number of high profile cases and has ... (3 d ago)

• Online Printing Helps Develop Marketing ... Online Printing Helps Develop Marketing Collateral
03/11/2010
© Antonio Bonanno Even if you're a whiz at SEO and your website's Google ranking is close to the top, developing a strong brand is still always going to mean lots of professional marketing collateral - the sorts of brochures and white papers that require you to do lots of printing. Online printing has always looked like the best option to me. It's competitive and convenient - easy to use. Developing a strong brand take work. Why make it harder than it has ... (1 d ago)

• Seen that? - The Best Customer Service T... Seen that? - The Best Customer Service Tip Ever
03/11/2010
The Best Customer Service Tip Ever Bizinformer If you want to deliver excellent customer service, there is one simple thing you can do that will aid you in good times and bad - set realistic expectations. That's it. Setting realistic ... (1 d ago)

• Millennials value time off, pay more tha... Millennials value time off, pay more than Gen X
03/10/2010
Millennials want more vacation and time for themselves away from the job than young people did 30 years ago, and they also value compensation more, according to a recent study. Generation Y - Generation X - Pew Research Center - Youth - Health (3 d ago)

• Muhammad Yunus: Godfather of Microcredit Muhammad Yunus: Godfather of Microcredit
03/12/2010
© World Economic ForumHe may not be the first micro lender of the world but he is surely the first one to bring it into limelight. You must have guessed till now I am talking about Muhammad Yunus who made the concept of microcredit a household name. He was born in 1940 and completed his PhD from Vanderbilt University. After Bangladesh was created he returned to teach economics at Chittagong University. He always dreamt of creating a new nation and was deeply moved in the ... (13 h ago)

• Tax preparation coupons: Save on your ha... Tax preparation coupons: Save on your hard earned money
03/10/2010
© Photos8.comAnother great way to save money is through tax preparation coupons which enables you to receive more money from your tax refund. With tax preparation coupons you need to pay discounted rates on your tax preparation services bringing back more funds in your pocket. There are several tax preparation coupons available on the internet so choose one which gives you maximum savings and can be used with other tax preparation promotions. Most importantly do check out for the expiry of the coupons as ... (3 d ago)

• More Ways to Cut Down Stress when Starti... More Ways to Cut Down Stress when Starting a Business
03/11/2010
© tom.arthur When you consider ways to cut down on stress you really have to think in two different directions. On the one hand, there are ways to releive stress after it has occurred. On the other hand there are ways to prevent stress. You need to work in both directions if you want to survive the stress involved in starting a new business. My favorite ways to relieve stress involve setting aside time to relax (preferably at a beach) and regular physical activity. ... (1 d ago)

• Seen that? - Focus on India and China Seen that? - Focus on India and China
03/11/2010
Focus on India and China TJ's Weblog Edward has pointed me to his media venture that maintains the LivingIn sites like LivingInIndia and LivingInChina. Dozens of freelance contributors from these countries provide insight into cultural and economic issues. If you interested ... (1 d ago)

• Online Printing and the Philosophy of Ou... Online Printing and the Philosophy of Outsourcing
03/11/2010
© Antonio Bonanno Outsourcing is more than just the occasional solution to some immediate problem. It should be a philosophy, a way of doing business. If you're going to effectively leverage outsourcing for your company, you have to include regular tasks, things like printing. Online printing is one of the best ways to outsource work for your company. Generally, it will save time and money. And since time is, that's a double savings. Think of all the little taks that outsourcing might help ... (1 d ago)

• Alumni Offer Goldman Advice on Helping S... Alumni Offer Goldman Advice on Helping Small Businesses
03/11/2010
Ex-Goldman Sachs employees are sharing their ideas about what their old firm can do to help small businesses. (1 d ago)

• Budgeting Mistakes with Two Incomes Budgeting Mistakes with Two Incomes
03/10/2010
© Mrs. DuncanWhen both spouses work and bring money into the home on a regular basis, it is common for them to base their budget on both incomes. This is not a good idea. On their Website, Moms-living-debt-free.com, the simple question is asked, "What if there is an unexpected illness or pregnancy?" This is a very good question. If you build your budget based on two incomes, it is more likely that you may be headed for financial trouble. While no one likes ... (2 d ago)

• Vacation Deals: Vacation Homes are Green... Vacation Deals: Vacation Homes are Greener Than Hotels
03/11/2010
© D.B. Blas Vacation deals are abundant these days. Something about slow economic times; people tend to cut expenses on travel and vacations first. If you can afford a vacation despite the hard economic times, the deals out there mean that you can good on for your money. So, as you shop around, keep this in mind: staying in a vacation home is greener than renting a hotel room Are you concerned with your carbon footprint? A week in a hotel uses the ... (1 d ago)

• Top Chinese Casinos: Macau and Hong Kong... Top Chinese Casinos: Macau and Hong Kong Gambling Scene
03/11/2010
© xiquinhosilva Gambling in Macau has been around probably since the invention of the chop sticks, but it became legal under the Portuguese in the 1850. Portugal promoted it as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient." Most people don't know that only Chinese games were played until the 20th Century. But Western-style casinos were finally introduced in the late 1930's, and sports betting was not far behind. While gambling is also around in Hong Kong and doesn't look much different, ni Macau gambling is ... (1 d ago)

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