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Duratex Profit Falls 34% in Fourth Quarter, Misses Estimate | By Telma Marotto | 2012-02-17T11:12:43Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/duratex-profit-falls-34-in-fourth-quarter-misses-estimate-1-.html
Duratex SA (DTEX3) ’s adjusted net income
fell 34 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period last
year, missing analysts’ estimates. Sao Paulo-based Duratex, a maker of wood panels and
bathroom fixtures, reported adjusted net income of 79.4 million
reais ($46.3 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with 119.6
million reais in the same period a year earlier, according to a
regulatory filing. The company was expected to post an adjusted
net profit of 80.47 million reais, according to the median
estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company said yesterday it plans to buy back as many as
20.89 million voting shares, or less than 10 percent of the
shares of that class that are traded on the market, according to
a regulatory filing. Duratex said the program is valid from Feb.
24, 2012 until Feb. 22, 2013, according to the filing. | 2 | 17 | 276cbc085605591c1c317cc016fa1dc7b07c4088 | Telma Marotto in Sao Paulo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Helder Marinho at
[email protected] | 2012 | duratex-profit-falls-34-in-fourth-quarter-misses-estimate-1- |
Ambatovy Nickel Mine to Begin in March, Sumitomo Says | By Jae Hur and Ichiro Suzuki | 2012-02-17T10:23:51Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/ambatovy-nickel-mine-to-begin-in-march-sumitomo-says-correct-.html | 2 | 17 | f4d53c998684d0b74702952e31b85f28dcf159b2 | (Corrects South Korean group’s share in fourth paragraph
of story that ran yesterday.) Sumitomo Corp. (8053) , Japan ’s third-
largest trading house by assets, said the Ambatovy nickel
project in Madagascar will start initial production in March. The project will begin production next month and will have
operation rates above 70 percent by the end of this year,
Kuniharu Nakamura, managing executive officer, told reporters at
a conference today. The mine will produce 60,000 metric tons a
year from 2013, he said. Nickel, used to strengthen stainless steel in everything
from kitchen sinks to aircraft-fuel tanks, has climbed 6.6
percent this year after losing 24 percent in 2011 on concern
that Europe ’s debt crisis may curb global growth and demand in
China may slow. Sumitomo has a 27.5 percent stake in the project, while
Canada’s Sherritt International Corp. (S) owns 40 percent and a
South Korean group led by Korea Resources Corp. (RESCOZ) , a state-run
mineral explorer, has 27.5 percent. Nickel for three-month delivery fell 0.6 percent to $19,950
a ton at 5:19 p.m. in Tokyo on the London Metal Exchange. Separately, Sumitomo plans to increase its assets of
resources and energy rights, such as copper, zinc, coal, iron
ore , oil and gas to 1 trillion yen ($12.7 billion) in two to
three years from current 700 billion yen, Nakamura said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Jae Hur in Tokyo at
[email protected] ;
Ichiro Suzuki in Tokyo at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Richard Dobson at
[email protected] | 2012 | ambatovy-nickel-mine-to-begin-in-march-sumitomo-says-correct- |
ECB Basel ‘Voice,’ Credit Bureaus, Swaps, ESMA: Compliance | By Carla Main | 2012-02-17T13:29:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/ecb-basel-voice-credit-bureau-oversight-swaps-compliance.html
The European Central Bank said its
voice should be heard when regulators impose liquidity rules on
lenders to prevent the measures from having any “potential
adverse effects” on its monetary policy. The central bank made the statement in a report on its
website. Potential adverse effects of liquidity regulation on
monetary policy implementation may include a reduction in the
average credit quality of banks (SX7P) borrowing from the ECB, it said
in the report. The liquidity measures were agreed on by the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision. The EU is working on draft
legislation to transform the Basel accord into law across the
region, including the 17 nations that use the euro currency
controlled by the Frankfurt-based ECB. One of the rules, known as a liquidity coverage ratio, or
LCR, would require lenders to hold a sufficient stock of easily
sellable assets to survive a 30-day credit squeeze. The other, a
so-called net stable funding ratio, or NSFR, would force banks
to finance part of their long-term lending from sources that are
unlikely to dry up in a crisis. The ECB said it should be consulted on which assets banks
can count toward meeting the LCR, as well as on details of the
NSFR, according to the report dated Jan. 25. It declined to
comment yesterday on the document’s content. For more, click here. Compliance Policy Consumer Bureau to Supervise Debt Collectors, Credit Bureaus The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a
regulation that would let it examine the books of debt
collectors and consumer reporting businesses as part of its
program to supervise non-bank financial companies. The regulation, which must be completed by July 21, would
bring credit bureaus such as Experian Plc (EXPN) , Equifax Inc. (EFX) and
TransUnion Corp (TRUN) . under federal supervision for the first time.
The proposal would cover, also for the first time at the federal
level, debt collectors such as Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (AACC) ,
Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRAA) and Encore Capital Group Inc. (ECPG) Supervision, the process of examining records and
collecting data from companies, can lead to enforcement action
if regulators find violations of the law. In the case of these
companies, the consumer bureau could find breaches of the Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under the proposal, debt collectors with more than $10
million in annual receipts from collection activities will face
supervision by the consumer bureau. According to the agency,
this threshold would cover about 175 debt-collection companies -
- 4 percent of all such companies | 2 | 17 | cb83c6752d594c339ce3831711fb52c9 | income. Bogle, 82, who described himself as a lifelong Republican,
said carried interest “is a bit of a technical fraud.” President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal,
released this week, reiterated his plan to tax carried interest
earned by hedge-fund managers and private-equity partners at
ordinary income rates. Levitt Says SEC Money-Market Rules Are Right Arthur Levitt , former chairman of the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, said the money-market mutual fund industry
“is crazed” about SEC proposals that would force money funds
to abandon their traditional $1 share price, adopting a so-
called floating net-asset value. Levitt talked with Bloomberg’s Ken Prewitt and Tom Keene on
Bloomberg Radio’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.” They were joined
in the conversation by Bloomberg economist Joe Brusuelas. For the audio, click here. Comings and Goings Summers, Clinton Said to Be Lead Contenders for World Bank U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former White
House economic adviser Lawrence Summers are two leading
candidates to succeed World Bank President Robert Zoellick when
he leaves in June, said two people familiar with Obama
administration discussions. The U.S. promised a candidate “in the coming weeks” for
the post that has always been held by one of its citizens, while
officials from Brazil and Mexico vowed to make the selection
process open to emerging markets. While Summers has expressed interest in the position and
has supporters inside the administration, the position would be
Clinton’s if she sought it, according to the people, who spoke
on condition of anonymity about the private conversations. Clinton, who said previously she doesn’t plan to remain in
her post if President Barack Obama wins a second term,
repeatedly has denied having an interest in the World Bank job.
State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland repeated those
denials Feb. 15. For more, click here. To contact the reporter on this story:
Carla Main in New Jersey at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this report:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] . | 2012 | ecb-basel-voice-credit-bureau-oversight-swaps-compliance |
OM Holdings to Delay Export Shipments on Train Derailment | By Michelle Yun | 2012-02-17T09:57:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/om-holdings-to-delay-export-shipments-on-train-derailment.html | 2 | 17 | f115a68053a84ffbd97fed49124bc376bd2a8624 | OM Holdings Ltd. (OMH) , an Australian
manganese producer, said it may delay up to three export
shipments to the second quarter after a freight train was
derailed in December by floods. “The group is continuing to meet its contractual
commitments as well as spot sales to customers from its existing
stockpiles in Northern and Southern China ,” Singapore-based OM
Holdings said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. The company’s transport route was interrupted after a
bridge was damaged by floods associated with Cyclone Grant in
December. It will still export three shipments from the Port of
Darwin in the first quarter, it said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Michelle Yun in Hong Kong at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rebecca Keenan in Hong Kong at
[email protected] | 2012 | om-holdings-to-delay-export-shipments-on-train-derailmen |
Stanford CFO Forged Boss’s Name, Fought Cost Control Measure, Witness Says | By Laurel Brubaker Calkins | 2012-02-17T22:30:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/stanford-cfo-forged-boss-s-name-refused-reforms-witness-says.html
R. Allen Stanford was furious to
learn that his finance chief, James Davis, forged his name to a
2007 employee memo abolishing a department Stanford created to
“reel in” expenses, a former executive testified. “He called me at home at 11 or 12 one evening, and he was
very mad,” Linda Wingfield, Stanford’s former executive
director of special projects, told jurors today at Stanford’s
criminal fraud trial in federal court in Houston. “He said he
did not sign it.” Wingfield, who held a number of executive positions at
Stanford’s companies over 10 years, testified that Davis refused
to give the boss access to a corporate computer system with
Stanford Financial Group Co.’s financial records. Testifying as
a defense witness, she said Davis also ignored or circumvented
policies Stanford instituted to clamp down on expenditures. “He fought us from day one, a department set up by the
chairman to try to control costs,” Wingfield said of Davis.
“Mr. Davis was always refusing.” Wingfield’s testimony may bolster Stanford’s claim that it
was Davis, not him, who ran the financial services empire and
engineered a fraud that cost investors more than $7 billion.
Davis pleaded guilty and testified as a government witness
earlier in the trial, which is concluding its fourth week. Airlines, Cricket Prosecutors accuse Stanford of stealing more than $2
billion from certificates of deposit at his Antigua-based
Stanford International Bank Ltd. Instead of holding investor
funds in safe assets as he promised, Stanford used their money
to fund an extravagant lifestyle and risky ventures including
Caribbean airlines, real estate projects and cricket
tournaments, prosecutors say. Stanford, 61, has been jailed as a flight risk since being
indicted in June 2009. If convicted of the most serious charges,
he faces as many as 20 years in prison. Wingfield, who also ran some of Stanford side ventures,
testified today via a video link from federal court in Orlando ,
Florida . She said she was too ill to travel. Robert Scardino, Stanford’s lawyer, asked Wingfield who
controlled “all the financial issues, including the treasury,
accounting, internal audits and investments” at Stanford’s
companies. ‘Nobody Else’ “Mr. Davis | 2 | 17 | bc1a62904e48466483ced52a7501fcf0 | was nobody else who handled all the books.” Wingfield told jurors she believed Stanford’s court-
appointed receiver duplicated efforts and wasted money during
the “chaotic” period after the businesses were seized by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2009. More than 40 Stanford investors crowded into the courtroom
today to mark the third anniversary of the SEC crackdown. Angie
Shaw, leader of the Stanford Victims’ Coalition, said the
group’s motto is “3 and $0,” meaning “three years and zero
recovery” by defrauded investors. The group had planned to wear stickers with those words to
court until U.S. District Judge David Hittner asked them not to
do so, for fear of distracting the jury. Houston investor Cassie Wilkinson, 63, said in an interview
she lost $500,000 on Stanford CDs and has attended about 80
percent of the trial. A video shown to jurors yesterday,
depicting a luxury Antigua resort Stanford was developing with
investor money, was the toughest evidence she’s seen yet, she
said. ‘Built Another Country’ “He took our money and built another country with it,”
Wilkinson said during a break in testimony. “I was fighting
back tears to see the lavish way he lived his life, and now
we’re left to try to scrape through the rest of ours.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Costa spoke with some of the
investors during court breaks. “This is who we’re doing this
for,” he said outside of court. Investor Frank Goll, who lost $70,000 on a Stanford CD he
bought with friend who was a Stanford adviser, testified for the
defense. He told jurors he understood the bank’s investment
strategy, knew the deposits were uninsured and thought those
were risks he “was willing to take.” “Anywhere that they could get a good return that was safe,
I’m behind it,” Goll told the jury. “Make money, lose money.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t.” Goll testified that during an Internet search he conducted
before investing with Stanford, he learned “nobody had ever
lost money” on Stanford CDs, a remark that drew laughter from
some in the courtroom. Ralph Janvey Goll also told jurors he believes the court-appointed
receiver, Ralph Janvey, was responsible for his lost
investments, not Stanford. “I believe the receiver was inept and unqualified to
handle the assets he was put in charge of,” he testified. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Stellmach, on cross-
examination, asked Goll if he was trying to help his “very
close friend,” a female former Stanford adviser, by trying to
help Stanford win the case. “She’s being sued for $1.4 million by the receiver, for
all the commissions she earned selling the CDs,” Stellmach told
Goll. “Do you think that lawsuit might fail or be hindered if
Mr. Stanford is acquitted?” Goll replied that he didn’t know. The criminal case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-342, U.S.
District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston). The SEC
case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanford
International Bank, 09-cv-298, U.S. District Court, Northern
District of Texas ( Dallas ). To contact the reporter on this story:
Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston
at [email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha in San Francisco at
[email protected] . | 2012 | stanford-cfo-forged-boss-s-name-refused-reforms-witness-says |
Greek Bailout Deal Nearer After Germany Signals Backing at Feb. 20 Meeting | By Tony Czuczka and Jeffrey Donovan | 2012-02-18T11:37:24Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/greek-bailout-deal-nearer-after-germany-signals-backing-at-feb-20-meeting.html | 2 | 17 | 5243f10594d043aab79a1d2500796e8f | Euro-area governments closed in on a
deal to unlock a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) aid package for
Greece , seeking to avert the region’s first sovereign default. Germany , the biggest country contributor to euro-area
rescues, signaled that finance ministers may be ready to back
Greece’s second bailout in two years when they meet Feb. 20 in
Brussels. After a week of wrangling among euro-area officials,
Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s government indicated it aims to avoid
splitting the timetable of the aid and a writedown of Greek debt
to private bondholders and agree to the deal as one package. Greece’s struggle to give assurances on debt-reduction
goals through the end of the decade have heightened uncertainty
as the clock ticks toward a March 20 bond redemption when Greece
must pay 14.5 billion euros or trigger the first sovereign
default in the euro’s 13-year history. The Brussels gathering on
Feb. 20 is due to start at 3:30 p.m. instead of the usual 5 p.m. “The ongoing saga will likely go down to the wire and is,
yet again, another reminder of the fragile nature of the state
of affairs in Europe and the potential for a disorderly
default,” Michael Gapen, a New York-based economist at Barclays
Capital , said in a note. Greek Austerity Germany has led pressure on Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to enforce austerity in his country, stoking
recrimination between Europe’s southern countries and their
northern creditors. Greece’s economy, stuck in what is predicted
to be a fifth year of recession, shrank 7 percent from a year
earlier in the fourth quarter as unemployment climbed to 20.9
percent in November. In focus over the weekend will be role of the European
Central Bank as it holds talks with Greece over exempting Greek
bonds in national central banks’ investment portfolios from a
debt restructuring, two euro-area officials said. ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said profits from
the sale of the central bank’s Greek bond holdings will be
distributed via the national central banks to the euro-area
governments, which can “spend the money as they wish.” The ECB
can’t participate in a private-sector debt writedown of Greek
assets, he told De Tijd and L’Echo newspapers. ‘Dangerous Contagion’ Investors anticipating a conclusion of the seven-month
effort to complete the second bailout for Greece sent the euro
and global stocks higher this week. The euro rose 0.2 percent to
$1.3150 as of 6:58 p.m. in Berlin yesterday after earlier
gaining as much as 0.5 percent. “ Monetary policy alone cannot resolve the crisis,” ECB
council member Ignazio Visco said at an event in Parma, Italy ,
today. “The threat of dangerous contagion must be definitively
dispelled by resolving the problem of Greece.” Merkel, Papademos and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti
discussed plans for a second Greek bailout in a conference call
yesterday and are confident that finance ministers will “find a
solution to open questions” when they meet in Brussels, Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s chief spokesman, said in a statement. Debt Targets While Greek lawmakers this month passed austerity measures
that are required for the aid, euro-area finance ministers heard
on a Feb. 15 conference call that Greece would miss debt-
reduction goals without further measures. Greece’s debt would
fall to 129 percent of gross domestic product in 2020, missing a
target of 120 percent, said three people familiar with the talks
who declined to be named because they are still in progress.
Last year, the level was about 160 percent. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble signaled
flexibility on that target, saying during a panel discussion in
Stuttgart last night that “the 120 percent may be 122 percent
or 123 percent, it mustn’t be 130 percent.” “It will definitely take until Sunday night” to resolve
the outstanding questions, Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Kotthaus told reporters in Berlin. Keeping the bond swap on track may hinge on the ECB. The
bank is swapping its Greek bonds for new ones to ensure it isn’t
forced to take losses in any debt restructuring, three euro-area
officials said on Feb. 16. The move may be completed by Feb. 20,
the officials said. Bond Swap That could pave the way for a private-sector bond swap that
aims to slice about 100 billion euros off Greece’s debt
alongside the second bailout. More controversial is a proposal
for national central banks to take part in the private exchange
by accepting losses on Greek bonds in their investment
portfolios. “Markets are likely anticipating a positive outcome with
voluntary participation of the private sector and possibly some
ECB involvement,” Silvio Peruzzo , an economist at Royal Bank of
Scotland in London , said by e-mail. Even so, “Greece is likely
to remain a key risk for the euro area as the implementation of
the program feeds the theme of exit from the monetary union.” Euro officials are targeting a window of Feb. 22 to March 9
to complete the swap transaction, German lawmakers were told
during a briefing by government officials last week. Collective Action Clauses The Greek government is meanwhile drawing up legislation
that could be used to impose losses on investors who don’t
support the debt swap, according to two euro-region officials
familiar with the situation. The law may be introduced to
parliament in Athens in the coming days, said one of the
officials. Finance ministers are prepared to back the use of so-
called collective action clauses if the voluntary swap doesn’t
draw enough participation, the other person said. The bond exchange can only go ahead once governments
authorize the European Financial Stability Facility to provide
30 billion euros, to be used in cash or collateral as an
incentive to investors. With Greece’s ability to honor its debt-cutting pledges
still in question, finance ministers may again withhold approval
of the bailout even if they back the bond exchange, Citigroup
Global Markets analysts said. That would push the dispute closer
to a March 1-2 summit of European leaders. Holding back euro-area policy makers is “widespread
skepticism about the credibility of Greece’s political system as
a whole and its ability to implement what has already been
agreed,” Nomura Global Economics analysts said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Tony Czuczka in Berlin at
[email protected] ;
Jeffrey Donovan in Prague at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
James Hertling at
[email protected] ;
Craig Stirling at
[email protected] | 2012 | greek-bailout-deal-nearer-after-germany-signals-backing-at-feb-20-meeting |
SSE Signs 10-Year Natural-Gas Supply Pact With Royal Dutch Shell | By Will Kennedy | 2012-02-17T09:08:35Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/sse-signs-10-year-natural-gas-supply-pact-with-royal-dutch-shell.html | 2 | 17 | 6ced3d52f16dc39d65bfb083db761445cab2b943 | SSE Plc (SSE) , the U.K.’s second-largest
natural-gas supplier to households, signed a 10-year supply deal
with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA) SSE will buy 790 million cubic meters a year from Shell at a
market-linked price, about 5 percent of the Perth-based
utility’s requirements, according to a statement today. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Will Kennedy at
[email protected] | 2012 | sse-signs-10-year-natural-gas-supply-pact-with-royal-dutch-she |
Russia’s Feed Wheat Prices Rose 1.7% This Week, SovEcon Says | By Marina Sysoyeva | 2012-02-17T15:15:02Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/russia-s-feed-wheat-prices-rose-1-7-this-week-sovecon-says.html | 2 | 17 | de02785e8789f4b4b50433eca3fa0b6a4452eef0 | Russia’s feed wheat prices rose 1.7
percent to 6,125 rubles ($205) a metric ton this week, SovEcon
said on its website today. Fourth grade milling wheat increased 1.5 percent to 6,675
rubles a ton and feed barley added 0.9 percent to 5,825 rubles a
ton, the Moscow-based researcher said. Third grade milling wheat gained 0.8 percent to 6,675
rubles a ton, SovEcon said. Milling rye was unchanged at 5,100
rubles and sunflower seeds dropped 0.5 percent to 10,950 rubles
a ton. To contact the reporter on this story:
Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
[email protected] | 2012 | russia-s-feed-wheat-prices-rose-1-7-this-week-sovecon-says |
Orange Juice Imports From Brazil Won’t Get Reprieve From Testing | By Tony C. Dreibus | 2012-02-17T11:20:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/orange-juice-imports-from-brazil-won-t-get-reprieve-from-testing.html | 2 | 17 | 283ea672614e0f5427daa51ab179f5b430220771 | The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration declined a request from Brazil , the biggest
orange juice producer, to temporarily allow more of a banned
fungicide in juice imports. The U.S., the biggest single importer of orange juice,
started testing shipments for the fungicide carbendazim, which
is banned in U.S. groves, after regulators were alerted to
reported traces of the chemical in December. Orange juice imports from Brazil will remain subject to
testing the FDA said in a letter e-mailed yesterday, in which it
denied a request on behalf of the Brazilian Citrus Exporters
Association to allow higher tolerances of the fungicide through
June 2013 while exporters eliminate it from shipments. “Without enforcement, we could not ensure that the food
supply is protected,” Michael Landa, director at the Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in the letter to Melvin
Drozen, a partner at Keller and Heckman LLP in Washington ,
acting for the Brazilian association. “If our enforcement is not consistent, it would provide an
unfair advantage to those who have not taken the steps and
incurred the expenses necessary to ensure that food they offer
for sale in the U.S. complies with the requirements of the
law,” Landa wrote. The FDA has found 24 orange juice samples, 12 from Brazil
and 12 from Canada , with carbendazim levels higher than the 10
parts per billion allowed from the 104 shipments it tested,
according to a weekly update from the agency yesterday. While the FDA recognizes the economic impact on orange
juice prices, it won’t halt testing or detainment of imports,
Landa said in the letter. Americans’ orange juice consumption
may total 751,259 metric tons in 2011-12, U.S. Department of
Agriculture data show. OJ Prices Orange juice on ICE Futures U.S. in New York gained 9.5
percent to $1.8505 a pound this year after the FDA said it would
test all imports for the fungicide used to treat a disease known
as black spot that affects orange trees. The price reached a
record $2.2695 a pound on Jan. 23. Brazil industry group Fund for Citrus Plant Protection,
known as Fundecitrus, said on Feb. 6 it would stop using
carbendazim, which is banned on orange groves in the U.S. Brazil will have no claim with the World Trade Organization
as suggested in the growers’ request because the testing is
within U.S. requirements to the WTO, Landa wrote in the letter. “The fact that the agency decides to prevent food
products, such as orange juice, that contain residues of
unauthorized pesticides from entering U.S. commerce is not
inconsistent with U.S. WTO obligation,” Landa said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Tony C. Dreibus in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
[email protected] | 2012 | orange-juice-imports-from-brazil-won-t-get-reprieve-from-testing |
Cameron Says World Must Apply Maximum Pressure on Assad to Quit in Syria | By Thomas Penny | 2012-02-17T12:08:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/cameron-says-world-must-apply-maximum-pressure-on-assad-to-quit-in-syria.html | 2 | 17 | 6152ac76842db078f4fb91ef5a6efb3158716f58 | U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron
said the world needs to apply the maximum pressure on Syrian
President Bashar Al-Assad to go. “What is happening in Syria is appalling, we have a
government that’s butchering and murdering its own people,”
Cameron told reporters after meeting with President Nicolas
Sarkozy in Paris today. “That’s why it’s important the
world comes together and the world acts as decisively as it
can,” he said. “We need to take all of the action we can to put maximum
pressure on Assad to go and stop the butchery that’s taking
place,” he said. “I’m not satisfied we’re taking all the
action we need to, but it’s difficult. It’s complicated.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Thomas Penny in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew Atkinson at
[email protected] | 2012 | cameron-says-world-must-apply-maximum-pressure-on-assad-to-quit-in-syria |
Russia Equity Movers: NLMK, Magnitogorsk, Mechel, Petroneft | By Alex Nicholson | 2012-02-17T16:59:13Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/russia-equity-movers-nlmk-magnitogorsk-mechel-petroneft.html | 2 | 17 | 2168b1d0cd6e5d8742a2198bad3651787faf2236 | The 30-stock Micex (MICEX) index closed
little changed at 1,568.54 in Moscow, advancing 2.8 percent in
the week. The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 0.9 percent to
1,656.60. The following were among the most active equities in the
Russian market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses. OAO Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) (NLMK RX), Russia ’s largest
steelmaker by market value, rose 0.5 percent to 73.95 rubles
after dropping 2.1 percent yesterday. Better-than-expected U.S.
data spurred bets metal demand will weather Europe ’s debt
crisis. OAO Mechel (MTLR) (MTLR RX), the country’s biggest coking coal
producer, climbed 1.3 percent to 322.20 rubles. OAO Magnitogorsk
Iron & Steel (MAGN RX) increased 0.4 percent to 14.718 rubles
snapping three days of declines. Petroneft Resources Plc. (PTR) sank 38 percent to 9.13
pence as of 4:17 p.m. in London , its lowest level since 2009 and
the steepest drop since the stock started trading in 2006.
Production fell to 2,300 barrels a day “in recent weeks” from
about 3,000 barrels a day at the end of last year, the company
said in a regulatory filing today. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Nicholson in Moscow at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
[email protected] | 2012 | russia-equity-movers-nlmk-magnitogorsk-mechel-petronef |
ANA, Hyundai Securities, Singapore Land: Asian Stocks Preview for Feb. 20 | By Norie Kuboyama | 2012-02-17T10:35:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/ana-hyundai-securities-singapore-land-asian-stocks-preview-for-feb-20.html | 2 | 17 | a49283abfa414ba78d969cbfe9963cf3 | The following companies may have
unusual price changes in Asian trading on Feb. 20. Stock symbols
are in parentheses, and share prices are as of the latest close.
The information in each item was released after markets shut
unless stated otherwise. All Nippon Airways Co. (9202 JT): Asia ’s largest listed
carrier by sales said it plans to slash costs by 100 billion yen
($1.3 billion) as it gears up for rising competition. The
carrier also plans to boost international capacity by 22 percent
in the two years from April 1, according to a statement. The
stock advanced 2 percent to 251 yen. China Financial Services Holdings Ltd. (605) (605 HK): The
supermarket store operator said it expects net profit for the
year ended Dec. 31 to “increase significantly” on higher sales.
The stock was unchanged at 46 Hong Kong cents. Dentsu Inc. (4324) (4324 JT): Japan ’s biggest advertising company
said it will terminate an alliance with Publicis Groupe SA,
selling the French company’s shares for 644.4 million euros
($847 million). Dentsu gained 1.5 percent to 2,438 yen. Hokkaido Electric Power Co. (9509 JT): The utility halted a
unit at a power plant to repair a seawater leak, according to
the company’s website. The stock rose 0.6 percent to 1,240 yen. Hotung Investment Holdings Ltd. (HIH) : The Taiwan-based
investment holding company said net profit for the year ended
Dec. 31 was NT$277.9 million ($9.4 million), compared with
NT$522.6 million a year earlier. The stock was unchanged at 14.5
Singapore cents. Hyundai Securities Co. (003450) (003450 KS): The South Korean
brokerage halted its review of whether to acquire an Indonesian
brokerage because of global financial market conditions,
according to a regulatory filing. The shares added 2.2 percent
to 11,500 won. Katakura Industries Co. (3001) (3001 JT): The manufacturer of
underwear, stockings and pharmaceuticals said it expects a 49
percent fall in net income to 900 million yen this year. The
company’s shares rose 1.4 percent to 746 yen. Morinaga Milk Industry Co. (2264 JT): The dairy company
will cease production at factory in Hokkaido in April 2013,
according to a statement. The stock added 0.7 percent to 297 yen. Natural Beauty Bio-Technology Ltd. (157) (157 HK): The aroma
products provider said it expects a “significant increase” in
its net profit for the year ended Dec. 31 on rising sales in
China . Natural Beauty was unchanged at HK$1.24. Okabe Co. (5959) (5959 JT): The maker of structural metal
materials said net income fell 1.5 percent to 2.18 billion yen
in the year ended Dec. 31, 13 percent short of its forecast of a
2.49 billion yen gain. Okabe said net income will rise 17
percent to 2.54 billion yen this year as sales rise. The stock
climbed 0.7 percent to 417 yen. Otsuka Kagu Ltd. (8186) (8186 JQ): The furniture retailer said it
will buy back as much as 5 percent of its outstanding shares. It
also expects net income to jump to 918 million yen this year
from 203 million yen a year earlier. The stock rallied 5.1
percent to 805 yen. Singapore Land Ltd. (SL) : The property developer said
net profit for the year ended Dec. 31 fell 51 percent to S$330.7
million ($263 million) from a year earlier. The stock slid 0.3
percent to S$5.96. U-Shin Ltd. (6985) (6985 JT): The autoparts maker may inspect and
replace defective products it supplied, according to a statement.
The stock jumped 5.7 percent to 626 yen. To contact the reporter on this story:
Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Gentle at
[email protected] | 2012 | ana-hyundai-securities-singapore-land-asian-stocks-preview-for-feb-20 |
Ex-Goldman Programmer Freed After Theft Conviction Thrown Out | By Patricia Hurtado | 2012-02-18T05:01:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/ex-goldman-programmer-s-conviction-overturned-on-appeal.html
A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
computer programmer was freed after his conviction for stealing
the bank’s high-speed trading code was reversed by a U.S.
appeals court. Wearing a grey sweatsuit, white tennis shoes and a huge
grin, Sergey Aleynikov , 42, left the Manhattan courthouse where
he had been convicted in December 2010 and entered a waiting car
with his lawyer, Kevin Marino . “Justice occasionally works,” Aleynikov told reporters as
he left. “This was such big news to me I haven’t had any time
to think about what would happen.” Aleynikov, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia , said
he hoped to be with his three daughters, ages 8, 6 and 3. Until
yesterday, he had been serving an eight-year sentence at the
federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey . “I’m very grateful to my mother and my aunt who supported
me from Russia, and my friends who stood by me and believed in
my innocence,” he said. “One lesson you learn is to really
start valuing your life, day-to-day is a victory.” After hearing oral arguments from both prosecutors and
Marino on Feb. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued
a one-page order vacating Aleynikov’s convictions for economic
espionage and the interstate transportation of stolen property.
The appeals court said it would issue an opinion explaining the
ruling later. ‘We Won’ “Kevin e-mailed me at 6 a.m.,” Aleynikov said as he left
the courthouse. “I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and I read it five
times. The words were, ‘We won.’” The appeals court also issued a mandate that would have
foreclosed any further challenge to its decision. The office of
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara persuaded the court to set
aside the mandate so it can argue for a rehearing of the appeal,
either before a three-judge panel or all the court’s available
judges. Ellen Davis , a spokeswoman for Bharara’s office,
declined to comment on the ruling. Marino said he was confident the appeals court’s decision
would stand. “It’s over now,” said Marino, of Marino, Tortorella &
Boyle PC in Chatham, New Jersey. “We’re on firm ground. This
was a wrongheaded prosecution that should never have been
brought.” Source Code U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who presided over the
trial, ordered Aleynikov released from prison this morning.
After a brief hearing this afternoon with prosecutors, Aleynikov
and his lawyers, she agreed to release him on his own
recognizance. Aleynikov was convicted by a jury in December 2010 of
violating the Economic Espionage Act and the Interstate
Transportation of Stolen Property Act. He was sentenced last
March. On his last day of work at New York-based Goldman Sachs in
June 2009, Aleynikov uploaded hundreds of thousands of lines of
source code from the firm’s high-frequency trading system,
prosecutors said. He circumvented Goldman Sachs’s security, sent the code to
a server in Germany , compressed and encrypted it, and took it
with him to a meeting with new employers in Chicago , the U.S.
said. Prosecutors argued Aleynikov wanted it as a “cheat
sheet” to start a trading system at his new job. Espionage Act During oral arguments on Feb. 16, the three-judge appeals
panel criticized the government’s application of the espionage
act to Aleynikov’s actions, asking the prosecutor how the crime
occurred and how it affected commerce. The judges | 2 | 17 | 7878c02685a6400e97ebe344545e597e | trading code was comparable to taking copyrighted material or
bringing an employee manual to a new job. Marino argued that the trial judge had “bent over
backward” to let the government apply the espionage statute and
argued the case should have been prosecuted in state court. Marino argued, as he had during the trial, that Aleynikov
only took open-source code he had written at Goldman Sachs. He
said the government had tried to expand its reading of the
Economic Espionage Act to encompass that. “There is no trade secret,” Marino told the court. “He
took it to make his new job easier, he never intended to harm
Goldman.” The case is U.S. v. Aleynikov, 1:10-cr-00096, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story:
Patricia Hurtado in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] . | 2012 | ex-goldman-programmer-s-conviction-overturned-on-appea |
Christie’s New Jersey Tax Cut Imperiled by Increase in Debt, Pension Costs | By Terrence Dopp | 2012-02-17T05:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/christie-n-j-tax-cut-imperiled-by-rise-in-debt-pension-costs.html
New Jersey (STONJ1) Governor Chris Christie
will say next week how he’ll pay for the first phase of a 10
percent income-tax cut for the second-wealthiest U.S. state’s
residents even as he deals with as much as $1.3 billion in
higher costs for pensions and debt. Christie, a 49-year-old Republican who’s set to deliver his
third budget on Feb. 21 in Trenton, declined to offer specifics
of the spending plan for the year starting July 1. He’s expected
to call for $150 million in income-tax cuts as a “down
payment” on his pledge to cut the levy across all brackets. While revenue for the six months through December rose 3
percent compared with the same period in 2010, it was still $326
million less than projected in the current $29.7 billion budget.
Rising pension costs and a slow recovery from the longest
recession since World War II led Standard & Poor’s , Moody’s
Investors Service and Fitch Ratings to lower the state’s credit
grade last year. “It is concerning if you can’t tell us how you’re going to
pay for the cut in the revenue,” Jamie Pagliocco, director of
municipal-bond portfolio managers at Fidelity Investments , said
yesterday at a Bloomberg Link conference in New York . “If they’re going to start cutting income taxes, that’s
going to play well with the voters,” said Pagliocco, who helps
oversee $29.5 billion in muni securities from Merrimack, New
Hampshire . “But I don’t know how they’re going to supplement
their income to take care of the structural issues that still
exist.” Separate Bill Christie would need to introduce his income-tax cut as a
bill separate from the budget. Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald , a Cherry Hill Democrat, and others in his party who
hold a majority in both legislative houses, have urged Christie
to abandon the plan. They would rather focus on lowering local
property levies, the nation’s highest at an average of $7,759 in
2011, according to the state Community Affairs Department. Debt-service, pension and benefit costs may consume 30
percent of New Jersey’s revenue in coming years, Moody’s has
said. The governor has said his 2013 spending plan won’t push
recurring budget concerns into the future. New Jersey isn’t alone in finding that the 18-month
recession that began in December 2007 is tough to shake off.
Twenty-nine states have predicted deficits totaling $44 billion
in the coming budget year, according to the Washington-based
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit researcher. Tax Cut’s Cost Christie’s proposed income- tax cut would cost the state
$150 million in fiscal 2013, rising to $1.3 billion in 2016,
David Rosen , the Legislature’s chief budget analyst, said Jan.
30. Along with that lost income-tax revenue, the state will
forgo $163 million in the coming year under a business-tax
reduction plan Christie signed last year. Last year, Christie cut almost $1 billion in funding for
schools, police and working-poor tax credits that Democrats had
added to the current budget. In a move that averted a potential
government shutdown, Christie unilaterally made the cuts through
line-item vetoes while rejecting a separate bill raising income
taxes on those earning more than $1 million. The governor’s plan to reduce wage levies may be hampered
by debt payments of more than $3 billion, about $182 million
more than Christie covered in the current spending plan,
according to the state’s most-recent report on borrowing. About
$23 million of that growth stems from a $294.2 million payment
on a 1997 pension-funding bond issued under former Republican
Governor Christie Whitman. Future Years Senator Richard Codey, a Democrat who sought unsuccessfully
to reduce pension benefits during his 14-month stint as acting
governor in 2004 and 2005, said the bonds were designed to cover
pension costs as revenue dropped from Whitman’s 30 percent
income-tax cut. The borrowing was structured to push the highest
payments into future years, he said. “You don’t know what the economy is going to look like
down the road,” Codey said in an interview. “Everybody wants a
tax cut | 2 | 17 | 1bf04d24f42e40a9ace29d85945cc1ff | don’t know when it’s going to come back and bite you.” Democrats say Christie’s income-tax cut favors the wealthy
and ignores the high property-tax burden that has plagued New
Jersey homeowners for decades. The governor already had touched
off conflict with the Legislature by vowing to veto a same-sex
marriage bill approved by the Senate Feb. 13 and passed by the
Assembly yesterday. ‘Tough Decisions’ Christie said he has made “tough decisions” on spending.
“I’m the only person who hasn’t blown the budget out in the
last decade from either party,” he said Feb. 15 while
announcing a school-construction plan in West New York. “You can be assured that if anybody is going to be
fiscally responsible, it’s going to be me,” he said. Christie’s budget for the current year relies on $300
million in Medicaid savings through a comprehensive waiver from
federal guidelines that has yet to be approved by regulators in
Washington . The state sought federal assent for instituting
managed care in the jointly funded program for the poor. New Jersey’s efforts to close deficits haven’t prevented
investors from increasing the amount of interest they demand to
hold state and local debt. The gap between the yield on New
Jersey securities and an index of top-rated municipal bonds was
45 basis points on Feb. 16, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. The difference has increased by about 10 basis points
since Christie took office in January 2010. A basis point is
one-hundredth of a percentage point. ‘Blanket Statements’ “It’s always a concern when you just have blanket
statements made,” Thomas Metzold, co-director of municipal
investments at Eaton Vance Management in Boston , said of
Christie’s tax-cut plan during the Bloomberg Link conference. “Similar to our current federal budget, there’s a lot of
spending, but no way to pay for it,” he said. “There has to be
an offset, and we’ll continue to monitor that.” State Senator Steven Oroho, a Republican from Sparta who
serves on the budget committee, said Christie will be able to
balance the competing needs of tax cuts and growing costs. While
the economy has improved in New Jersey and nationally, Oroho
said growth hasn’t occurred as quickly as he and others had
hoped for based on previous recoveries. “Unfortunately he’s got the legacy costs to take care of
and an uncompetitive position, but I think he can balance his
budget,” Oroho said in an interview. “It’d be a heck of a lot
easier if the economy was coming back quicker here, and
nationally as well. ” Road Fund Christie also needs to finance transportation projects as
the Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road work, runs
out of money for new projects. The authority in April voted to
sell its final $600 million in authorized debt before payments
on past bonds consume its entire $895 million in annual revenue. Every governor going back to Whitman, including the
previous chief executive, Jon Corzine , has played a role in
underfunding pensions, according to Christie. The retirement
fund had 67.5 percent of the assets needed to meet promised
benefits as of June 30, state data released last month show. Under a 2010 law, the state is required to phase in full
funding of its retirement contributions over seven years. That
will cost taxpayers $484 million this year. New Jersey may be obliged to provide as much as twice that
amount, or $968 million, in fiscal 2013, under the law’s
formula. Andrew Pratt , a Treasury spokesman, said actuaries
haven’t yet determined how much the state will need to
contribute to the pension next year. While the governor seeks lower income taxes, Greenwald, the
Democratic leader from Cherry Hill , said he’s never had a
constituent call him or stop in his office to complain about
them. He said someone earning $50,000 would pay $80 less while a
person making $1 million would save $7,200. He said he doesn’t
expect Democrats to support the measure. “He’s not breaking the bank with that issue,” Greenwald
said in an interview. “His bigger problems are that he’s got to
double up his pension payment.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Terrence Dopp in Trenton at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Tannenbaum. | 2012 | christie-n-j-tax-cut-imperiled-by-rise-in-debt-pension-costs |
Foxconn Technology Group Raises Wages in China for Third Time Since 2010 | By Adela Lin and Janet Ong | 2012-02-17T16:16:26Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/foxconn-technology-group-raises-wages-in-china-for-third-time-since-2010.html | 2 | 17 | 4bdb9c53707d4f58b63d44a11307080fbc51129d | Foxconn Technology Group (FOXCGZ) , the
world’s biggest contract manufacturer of electronics including
Apple Inc. (AAPL) ’s iPhone, raised the pay of its workers in China this
month, the third increase since 2010. Pay rose by 16 percent to 25 percent starting Feb. 1, the
company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The basic
monthly pay of a junior worker in Shenzhen has risen to 1,800
yuan ($290) from 900 yuan three years ago, it said. Foxconn will
raise monthly salaries to more than 2,200 yuan for workers who
pass technical examinations, it said. The announcement came after Apple said the Fair Labor
Association started its audit of Foxconn’s plants in China this
week. Apple became the first technology company to join the
Washington-based work-standards group last month, after
criticism by human-rights organizations over conditions at
suppliers including Foxconn. The Fair Labor Association will interview thousands of
employees about working and living conditions, including health
and safety, compensation, hours and communication with
management, Cupertino, California-based Apple said this week. The basic salary of junior workers in Foxconn’s China
factories is already far higher than the minimum wage set by all
local governments, Foxconn said in yesterday’s statement. Foxconn more than doubled wages for some workers in China
and employed counselors two years ago after a spate of suicides
at the company. Last year, an explosion at its Chengdu plant
killed three workers. Shares of Foxconn’s Taipei-listed flagship Hon Hai
Precision Industry Co. (2317) , fell 0.5 percent to NT$101.50 yesterday.
The shares have gained 22 percent this year, compared with a 12
percent gain in the benchmark Taiex index. Hon Hai assembles iPads and iPhones, unit Foxconn
Technology Co. makes metal cases for those two devices as well
as Apple’s laptop computers, and affiliate Chimei Innolux Corp.
supplies displays for the iPad. Foxconn employs about 1 million people in China, with four
locations. To contact the reporters on this story:
Adela Lin in Taipei at
[email protected] ;
Janet Ong in Taipei at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
[email protected] | 2012 | foxconn-technology-group-raises-wages-in-china-for-third-time-since-2010 |
Chinese Loans to Latin America Top World Bank, IDB Combined | By Bloomberg News | 2012-02-17T08:01:27Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/chinese-loans-to-latin-america-top-world-bank-idb-combined.html | 2 | 17 | c7988cef95057b3f8cb45d9a36c75ebc365814b7 | China lent an estimated $75 billion
to Latin America since 2005, with 82 percent of the loans given
by China Development Bank Corp., a report said. The governments of Venezuela, Brazil , Argentina and Ecuador
received 91 percent of the total, according to a study that will
be published in the Inter-American Dialogue today and that was
e-mailed to Bloomberg News. China’s lending to the region in
2010 was more than the World Bank , the Inter-American
Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the United States
combined. China has expanded its lending overseas to help secure
resources and help Chinese companies enter new markets. China
Development Bank (SDBZ) , which has businesses in 130 countries, had
more than $180 billion of outstanding foreign-currency loans at
the end of September, Vice President Li Jiping said at a
conference in Beijing in November. Chinese banks don’t impose policy conditions on borrowing
governments and the loans require less demanding environmental
standards compared to western banks, authors Kevin Gallagher,
Amos Irwin and Katherine Koleski said. “However, contrary to much of the commentary on the
subject, Latin American nations generally pay a higher premium
for loans from China ,” they wrote. “That higher premium comes
in the form of interest rates, not loans-for-oil,” which make
up about 66 percent of the transactions. The Export-Import Bank of China made 12 percent of the
loans and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China 6 percent,
according to the study, which didn’t consider many loans under
$50 million and relied on government, bank and press reports in
China and borrowing countries. Chinese banks don’t regularly
publish detailed lending figures for overseas loans. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Henry Sanderson in Beijing at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Shelley Smith at
[email protected] | 2012 | chinese-loans-to-latin-america-top-world-bank-idb-combined |
Thailand Stocks: Big C, Major Cineplex, Precious, Thai Rubber | By Anuchit Nguyen | 2012-02-17T09:54:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/berli-jucker-major-cineplex-sicco-thailand-equity-preview.html | 2 | 17 | a574e14c57552a04633ae04ff9fc401f5e7ee125 | Shares of the following companies
had unusual moves in Thailand trading . Stock symbols are in
parentheses and prices are as of the close in Bangkok. The SET Index (SET) rose 0.9 percent to 1,129.93, the highest
close since Aug. 3. The gauge gained 1.5 percent this week, a
seventh weekly advance, the longest winning streak since August
2010. Big C Supercenter Pcl (BIGC) , Thailand’s second-largest
operator of hypermarket stores, climbed 4.4 percent to 130.5
baht, the highest level since Sept. 9. The company’s profit
margin may widen on synergies from the combination of Carrefour
stores, Chaiyatorn Sricharoen, an analyst at Bualuang Securities
Pcl, said by phone today. Major Cineplex Group Pcl (MAJOR) , the nation’s biggest
cinema operator, gained 2 percent to 15.6 baht, the most since
Jan. 24. The company will pay a dividend of 0.39 baht from its
July-December earnings, it said in a regulatory filing. Precious Shipping Pcl (PSL) , a shipping company,
increased 2.5 percent to 16.4 baht, the steepest advance since
Dec. 7. The company signed a $100-million term loan with Export-
Import Bank of Thailand to finance as much as 80 percent of the
acquisition costs of new and second-hand vessels, it said in a
regulatory filing. Sammakorn Pcl (SAMCO) , a property developer partly owned
by King Bhumibol Adulyadej , declined 2.5 percent to 1.99 baht.
The company will pay a dividend of 0.02 baht per share from its
2011 earnings, down from a payout of 0.10 baht a year earlier. Thai Rubber Latex Corp. (Thailand) Pcl (TRUBB TB) climbed
2.6 percent to 4.82 baht, the largest increase since Feb. 1.
Rubber futures settled 1.3 percent higher at 318.1 yen a
kilogram on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. To contact the reporter on this story:
Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | berli-jucker-major-cineplex-sicco-thailand-equity-preview |
Iceland Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Ministry Official | By Omar R. Valdimarsson | 2012-02-17T13:52:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/iceland-court-upholds-prison-sentence-for-ministry-official-1-.html | 2 | 17 | 723f57b09ad7c1d698290e4a5d4527cc37b8737d | Iceland’s Supreme Court upheld a
two-year jail sentence for Baldur Gudlaugsson, who was permanent
secretary at the country’s Finance Ministry during the 2008
financial collapse, for insider trading and crimes committed
while holding public office. The proceeds from Gudlaugsson’s trading, estimated at 192
million kronur ($1.6 million), will be seized by the government.
The special prosecutor froze his assets in November 2009. Gudlaugsson sold shares he owned in failed lender
Landsbanki Islands hf two weeks before the bank’s collapse. The
court found that the decision to sell his stake in the bank was
based on information obtained through his post as a member of a
government committee appointed to monitor financial stability. To contact the reporter on this story:
Omar R. Valdimarsson in Reykjavik
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jonas Bergman at
[email protected] | 2012 | iceland-court-upholds-prison-sentence-for-ministry-official-1- |
Ex-SanDisk Executive to Plead Guilty in Insider-Trading Case | By Bob Van Voris and Patricia Hurtado | 2012-02-17T16:43:59Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/former-sandisk-executive-barnetson-to-plead-guilty-in-insider-trading-case.html | 2 | 17 | 3c87799928b2a27840301d4552ae4d66f3465550 | Donald Barnetson, a former SanDisk
Corp. (SNDK) senior marketing director, will plead guilty today in an
insider trading investigation, records in Manhattan federal
court show. Barnetson left SanDisk in early 2011, according to Lee
Flanagin, a spokesman for the Milpitas, California-based maker
of flash-memory cards. In criminal charges filed against John Kinnucan, an expert
networker in Portland, Oregon, prosecutors claim that on Sept.
10, 2010, Kinnucan called an unidentified SanDisk employee who
gave him inside information about confidential negotiations
between his company and Apple Inc. “The SanDisk insider has been cooperating with the
government in the hope of receiving leniency,” according to the
criminal complaint against Kinnucan. To contact the reporters on this story:
Bob Van Voris in New York at
[email protected] ;
Patricia Hurtado in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] . | 2012 | former-sandisk-executive-barnetson-to-plead-guilty-in-insider-trading-case |
The Top Ten: Today’s Most Important Stocks | By | 2012-02-17T21:12:13Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/the-top-ten-today-s-most-important-stocks.html | 2 | 17 | ced2ba9b75c16fa3c81f19038e8d07a96e07020b | Bloomberg’s Trish Regan, Adam
Johnson and Lisa Murphy report on today’s ten most important
stocks including Zynga, United Parcel Service and Madison
Square Garden. (Source: Bloomberg) Running Time: 04:16 | 2012 | e-top-ten-today-s-most-important-stocks |
AllianceBernstein Cuts 90 Jobs, 2% of Workforce, Amid Client Withdrawals | By Charles Stein | 2012-02-17T21:13:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/alliancebernstein-cuts-90-jobs-as-clients-withdraw-money.html | 2 | 17 | c8c971e6ccdd0e443065ac42924ef0a25fa2bc8b | AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB) , a
money management firm that has suffered client withdrawals for
the past four years, cut 90 jobs this week, or about 2 percent
of its workforce. The cuts included 30 investment professionals, both
portfolio managers and analysts, John Meyers , a spokesman for
the New York-based company, said in a telephone interview.
“This was done to better align our resources with recent trends
in asset levels,” he said. AllianceBernstein, which is publicly traded, fell the most
in almost three years Feb. 10 after the firm reported a fourth-
quarter loss and said clients pulled $13.2 billion in the
quarter. Over the past four years, customers have withdrawn more
than $200 billion, much of it coming from the company’s
institutional equity business. In a statement announcing fourth
quarter earnings, Chief Executive Officer Peter Kraus referred
to the money manager’s “ongoing investment underperformance in
our largest equity services.” AllianceBernstein declined 1.5 percent to close at $13.61
in New York trading. The firm’s shares have lost 40 percent in
the past 12 months, while climbing 4.1 percent this year. AllianceBernstein managed $421 billion as of Jan. 31, the
company reported. To contact the reporter on this story:
Charles Stein in Boston at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christian Baumgaertel at
[email protected] | 2012 | alliancebernstein-cuts-90-jobs-as-clients-withdraw-money |
Jeremy Lin Will Join Shaq O’Neal’s Team at All-Star Rising Challenge | By Nancy Kercheval | 2012-02-17T05:01:40Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/jeremy-lin-will-join-shaq-o-neal-s-team-at-all-star-rising-challenge.html | 2 | 17 | 850861218d5a1f2d615a4a75de3a9722240eb273 | Jeremy Lin, who scored a record 136
points in his first five National Basketball Association starts,
was added to the pool for the All-Star Rising Stars Challenge. Lin, who has led the New York Knicks to seven straight
wins, and the Miami Heat’s Norris Cole were added to Shaquille O’Neal’s team that will play Charles Barkley’s lineup on Feb.
24. Honorary Commissioner Kenny Smith decided to put their
names on the list of rookies and sophomores for the challenge.
The format has changed from rookies versus sophomores to two
mixed teams. On Feb. 14, Harvard University graduate Lin became the only
player to score more than 20 points and win each of his first
five starts since the NBA merged with the American Basketball
Association (ABKB) in 1976. Lin wasn’t drafted after graduation from
Harvard and was cut by two NBA teams before joining the Knicks
on Dec. 27. Barkley passed on Lin to select Cleveland Cavaliers rookie
Kyrie Irving because, he said, Lin has “only been playing for a
week and it’s been a fantastic week.” Passes on Lin “It wasn’t very difficult to be honest,” Barkley said
during the televised draft. “Irving is terrific.” Joining Lin and Cole on O’Neal’s team are Blake Griffin of
the Los Angeles Clippers, Greg Monroe of the Detroit Pistons and
Landry Fields of the Knicks. Rookies on the roster are Markieff Morris of the Phoenix
Suns, Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Bobcats, Brandon Knight of
the Detroit Pistons, Tristan Thompson of the Cavaliers and the
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Ricky Rubio. In addition to Irving, Barkley’s team includes rookies
Derrick Williams of the Timberwolves, MarShon Brooks of the New
Jersey Nets and Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs. The team also includes DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento
Kings, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers , John Wall of the
Washington Wizards , Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz, Tiago Splitter of the Spurs and Evan Turner of the Philadelphia 76ers . The Knicks play the New Orleans Hornets at Madison Square
Garden in New York tonight. To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
[email protected] | 2012 | jeremy-lin-will-join-shaq-o-neal-s-team-at-all-star-rising-challenge |
KGHM Jumps as Copper Gains on Greek Aid Talks, U.S. Outlook | By Piotr Bujnicki | 2012-02-17T14:04:56Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/kghm-jumps-as-copper-gains-on-greek-aid-talks-u-s-outlook.html | 2 | 17 | 6148dbf665fe112408a537f45651f7082c5386f8 | KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH) , the copper
producer with the biggest European mine output, gained as the
metal advanced for the first time in six days amid speculation
Greece will get more aid and that demand may improve in the U.S. KGHM rose 2.3 percent to 136.3 zloty at 2:42 p.m. and is up
23 percent so far this year, the second-best performing stock in
WIG20 Index. (WIG20) The state-controlled company has the third-biggest
weighting in Polish benchmark index. Emerging-market stocks gained after people familiar with
Greek aid talks said yesterday European governments are
considering cutting interest rates on emergency loans to Greece
and using contributions from the European Central Bank to plug a
new financing gap in the country’s second bailout. To contact the reporter on this story:
Piotr Bujnicki in Warsaw
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
[email protected] | 2012 | kghm-jumps-as-copper-gains-on-greek-aid-talks-u-s-outlook |
Bharat Heavy Surges on Speculation of NTPC Order: Mumbai Mover | By Karthikeyan Sundaram | 2012-02-17T05:45:08Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/bharat-heavy-surges-on-speculation-of-ntpc-order-mumbai-mover.html | 2 | 17 | 21c6c9896810da7e9d8c9b0a7af5e0378ab7e2ea | Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) ,
India’s biggest power-equipment maker, had its steepest gain in
three years after a rival lost a case to supply to NTPC Ltd (NTPC) .
fueling speculation of increased orders from the utility. Bharat Heavy surged as much as 14.2 percent to 325 rupees
at 10:22 a.m. in Mumbai, the highest since May 19, 2009. Larsen
& Toubro Ltd. (LT) , India’s biggest engineering company, added 3.7
percent to 1,502.7 rupees, while the benchmark BSE India
Sensitive Index (SENSEX) added 1.4 percent. India’s Supreme Court yesterday reversed a lower court
order that allowed Ansaldo Caldaie Boilers India Pvt. to bid to
supply equipment to NTPC along with Bharat Heavy. The company
based in New Delhi posted its slowest quarterly profit gain in
almost four years in the period ended Dec. 31. “NTPC will now release new power equipment orders,” Jigar Shah, an analyst with Kim Eng Securities India Pvt., which has a
“sell” recommendation on Bharat Heavy, said in a note to
clients today. “NTPC has shortlisted 3 bidders including Bharat
Heavy Electricals and Larsen & Toubro among which new orders
could be shared.” NTPC rejected Ansaldo Caldaie’s bid because it wasn’t a
qualified manufacturer. Ansaldo Caldaie, a venture between
Gammon India Ltd. (GMON) , a construction company, and Italy’s Ansaldo
Caldaie SpA, contested the decision. The utility had sought bids for equipment valued at 110
billion rupees ($2.2 billion) for the expansion of its power
plants , Prashant Kumar, Ansaldo’s lawyer said on March 2. NTPC is ordering 11 units of steam generators of 660
megawatts each for projects at Mouda, Solapur, Nabinagar, Meja
and Raghunathpur. Bharat Heavy’s profit rose 2.1 percent in the third
quarter, the slowest pace of increase since a 71 percent drop in
earnings in the period ended March 31, 2008. To contact the reporter on this story:
Karthikeyan Sundaram in New Delhi at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Neil Denslow at
[email protected] | 2012 | bharat-heavy-surges-on-speculation-of-ntpc-order-mumbai-mover |
Singapore Exports Drop Adds to Signs of European Crisis Fallout: Economy | By Shamim Adam | 2012-02-17T04:09:11Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/singapore-s-exports-dropped-in-january-as-electronics-shipments-plunged.html | 2 | 17 | 7c2ea62679bd442c848c08f5e0b5343b | Singapore ’s exports fell for the
first time in three months in January on lower electronics and
petrochemical shipments, as Europe’s debt crisis crimped demand
and the Chinese New Year holiday shortened the working month. Non-oil domestic exports slid 2.1 percent from a year
earlier, after a 9 percent gain in December, the trade promotion
agency said in a statement today. The median of 15 estimates in
a Bloomberg News survey was for a 1.6 percent decline. Shipments
to Europe plunged 14.5 percent. “It’s too early to say if exports have bottomed out as the
electronics sector still remains uncertain, given there is still
weakness in Europe,” said Chow Penn Nee, an economist at United
Overseas Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “With the U.S. showing signs
of improvement, we may see better numbers in the second half of
this year for electronics.” Asian stocks rose today, with a regional benchmark gauge
set for a ninth weekly rally on signs the U.S. expansion is
gaining strength after a report yesterday showed Americans filed
the fewest claims for jobless benefits since 2008. Singapore’s
gross domestic product shrank less than initially estimated last
quarter, a report showed yesterday, suggesting the economy is
withstanding Europe’s fiscal woes. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) gained 1.2 percent to 127.32 at
1:04 p.m. in Tokyo , set for its longest run of weekly gains
since December 2005. Stocks reversed a global slump yesterday
after the U.S. jobs data that showed claims slid to a four-year
low, while housing starts and the Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia’s economic index topped forecasts. Second Recession Singapore’s exports also fell as Asian nations celebrated
the Lunar New Year in January this year. Factories from China to
Vietnam typically shut during the holiday and reduce production.
Demand for goods made in the region has also weakened as Europe
faces its second recession in less than three years,
contributing to an economic contraction in Singapore last
quarter. Singapore’s non-oil exports increased a seasonally adjusted
0.9 percent last month from December, when they climbed a
revised 13.5 percent, today’s report showed. Economists surveyed
by Bloomberg had predicted a 9 percent decline. “Though many external risks remain, we are finally seeing
signs that export growth may stabilize or begin to pick up
slowly in the coming months,” said Vincent Conti, a Singapore-
based analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Productivity Improvements Policy makers from Indonesia to the Philippines have eased
borrowing costs as the European crisis hurts demand for their
countries’ exports. Singapore will unveil its annual budget
today, with the government expected to announce measures to
address the soaring cost of living and help citizens cope with a
slowing economy, as well as push for improvements in
productivity. In Europe today, Germany may say producer prices rose 3.2
percent in January from a year earlier, after climbing 4 percent
in December, according to the median estimate of economists
surveyed by Bloomberg. A U.K. report will show retail sales
declined last month from December, a separate survey showed. The U.S. Labor Department may say the cost of living rose
0.3 percent in January from a month earlier, according to the
median estimate of economists. An index of leading indicators by
the New York-based Conference Board probably rose for a fourth
month, economists predict. Fiscal Crisis Signs that the world’s largest economy will keep growing
may support demand for Asian goods. North American orders for
semiconductor equipment rose 18.5 percent in December from a
month earlier, a trade group report showed last month. Even so, a rebound in Singapore’s shipments may be damped
by Europe ’s protracted fiscal crisis. Gross domestic product in
the 17-nation euro area fell 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter
of 2011 from the prior three months and the European Central
Bank said this week professional forecasters predict a 0.1
percent contraction this year. Singapore’s electronics shipments by companies including
contract manufacturer Venture Corp. fell 10.9 percent in January
from a year earlier, after declining a revised 4.2 percent the
previous month. “The manufacturing sector, and the electronics cluster in
particular, have been hit hard by the weakness in final demand
from the U.S. and Europe,” said Leif Eskesen, an economist in
Singapore at HSBC Holdings Plc. “This is likely to persist.
Moreover, slower growth in China and the rest of Asia will also
dampen external demand in 2012.” Japan ’s exports probably dropped the most in eight months
in January, a Feb. 20 report may show. Shipments fell 9.4
percent last month from a year earlier, after an 8 percent
decline in December, economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted.
On the same day, Taiwan may say export orders for January fell
4.8 percent from a year earlier, after a 0.7 percent decline the
previous month. To contact the reporter on this story:
Shamim Adam in Singapore at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at [email protected] | 2012 | singapore-s-exports-dropped-in-january-as-electronics-shipments-plunged |
USDA Budget Requires Cuts Because of Deficit, Vilsack Says | By Alan Bjerga | 2012-02-17T15:13:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/usda-budget-requires-cuts-because-of-deficit-vilsack-says.html | 2 | 17 | fbe30653300d7c9b02543ab58fd2501984b11e35 | The federal budget deficit makes
belt-tightening necessary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture ,
Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “We’ve had to take a close look at the way we do business
with less money, a smaller staff, and more complex programs,”
Vilsack said today in testimony prepared for the House
Appropriations Committee panel charged with setting spending for
the department. U.S. Department of Agriculture spending would rise 2.5
percent to $154.5 billion in the year starting Oct. 1 before
crop-subsidy cuts kick in, beginning long-term reductions in
farmer aid, according to the budget President Barack Obama sent
to Congress on Feb. 13. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alan Bjerga in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
[email protected] | 2012 | usda-budget-requires-cuts-because-of-deficit-vilsack-says |
UPS’s $6.4 Billion TNT Express Bid Rejected as Companies Remain in Talks | By Natalie Doss and Alex Webb | 2012-02-18T00:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/tnt-express-board-rejects-unsolicited-6-4-billion-ups-bid-as-talks-go-on.html
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) is
pressing ahead with talks to buy TNT Express NV (TNTE) after Europe’s
second-largest package-delivery company rejected a $6.43 billion
takeover offer. The “highly conditional” bid of 9 euros a share, 42
percent more than yesterday’s closing price in Amsterdam, was
turned down by TNT’s supervisory and executive boards, the
Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based company said in a statement. UPS
confirmed that discussions were continuing. “This is a low enough offer that UPS could write a check
for it in a heartbeat,” said Kevin Sterling , a BB&T Capital
Markets analyst in Richmond, Virginia. “The euro keeps
weakening and TNT’s position keeps weakening, so TNT isn’t
exactly negotiating from a position of strength here.” Acquiring TNT would extend the European reach of Atlanta-
based UPS, which is already the world’s largest package-delivery
company. TNT was spun off from Dutch postal operator TNT NV in
May, and the former parent, now named PostNL NV, (TNTE) retains 29.9
percent of the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The UPS bid valued TNT at 1.04 times total assets, compared
with a median multiple of 0.58 in 33 acquisitions of
transportation services companies in Western Europe in the past
10 years, Bloomberg analysis shows. The 42 percent premium
compares with an average of 15 percent in more than 270 deals in
the same period. Takeover Speculation A bid by UPS or FedEx Corp. (FDX) has been the subject of
speculation for years as the U.S. companies study expansion in
Europe, and TNT’s American depositary receipts jumped 55
percent, the most since the spinoff, to $12.57 yesterday in New
York. UPS was unchanged at $76.76, while FedEx, the operator of
the world’s largest cargo airline and No. 2 in package
deliveries behind UPS, slid 2.1 percent to $92.99. TNT rose 2.6 percent to 6.34 euros yesterday in Amsterdam,
before the talks were disclosed. The announcement of the offer to TNT and ongoing talks
about a deal spurred Standard & Poor’s to put UPS, including the
company’s AA- corporate rating, on “Creditwatch” for a
possible downgrade. “We believe the transaction would strengthen UPS’s market
position, especially in Europe,” S&P said in a statement.
“However, we believe that UPS’s credit metrics have limited
room for deterioration at the current rating.” ‘Opportunistic Bids’ For TNT, UPS’s offer reflects the European company’s
undervaluation after the spinoff, creating an opening for “one
of the most opportunistic bids of the decade,” said James Rasteh, president of New York-based White Eagle Partners LLC,
which he said holds a TNT stake of less than 1 percent. Fair value for the stock would be more than 15 euros a
share, Rasteh said in an interview. “This merger would put UPS in an undisputed leadership
position in Europe, China , Russia , Brazil and India | 2 | 17 | a642c7f057a34921915c606b9a064a58 | which have higher structural growth potential than North
America ,” he said. Spokesmen for PostNL, TNT’s largest investor, and Jana
Partners, the third-largest, declined to comment. TNT posted a net loss of 97 million euros for the first
nine months of 2011 compared with a profit of 62 million euros a
year earlier. TNT is in the midst of a 50 million-euro program
to reduce “indirect costs” and plans to report full-year
earnings on Feb. 21. The company cut its 2011 target operating margin for
Europe, the Middle East and Africa to 8 percent to 9 percent in
October from an earlier target of 9 percent or more. UPS hasn’t
posted an annual loss since going public in 1999 and ended the
third quarter with $4.13 billion in cash and near-cash items. Feb. 11 Offer UPS’s offer, made Feb. 11, was revised and increased
following discussions with TNT, the company said in a statement.
Peggy Gardner, a UPS spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the
statement. “It absolutely makes sense for UPS to consider a ‘low-ball
bid’ for TNT Express, especially with the euro down versus the
dollar,” said Jeff Kauffman, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach
in New York . Would-be suitors are unlikely to pay a price in the mid-
teens right now, Kauffman said. He recommends buying the shares,
as does BB&T’s Sterling. FedEx would benefit more from a purchase of TNT because its
Europe market share is smaller, according to Lee Klaskow , a
Bloomberg Industries analyst in Skillman, New Jersey. Jess Bunn, a spokesman for Memphis , Tennessee-based FedEx,
declined to comment, citing a company policy against discussing
“corporate development matters.” UPS completed the purchase this week of Brussels-based
delivery firm Kiala to bolster operations in Belgium, France ,
the Netherlands, Spain and Luxembourg, and the company has done
several so-called bolt-on acquisitions in recent years, said
Thompson Davis’s Campbell, who recommends buying UPS and FedEx. “UPS is in Europe for the long term, and it would take
them years to duplicate what TNT already has,” Campbell said.
“In the meantime TNT isn’t going to go away as a competitor and
would be fighting back.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Natalie Doss in New York at
[email protected] ;
Alex Webb in Frankfurt at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Ed Dufner at
[email protected] ;
Chad Thomas at
[email protected] | 2012 | nt-express-board-rejects-unsolicited-6-4-billion-ups-bid-as-talks-go-on |
Volcker Said to Lobby SEC Chairman Personally on Volcker Rule | By Jesse Hamilton | 2012-02-17T22:01:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/volcker-said-to-lobby-sec-s-schapiro-personally-on-proprietary-trading-ban.html
Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker met in person with U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro this week to discuss the
proposed ban on proprietary trading named for him, according to
a person familiar with the meeting. Volcker, 84, has been a prominent advocate for the ban,
which he asserts would curb the kind of risky trading that
contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. “Proprietary trading of financial instruments | 2 | 17 | 386e403c1b9a83c36f7c7a16a9cfba8b63a75b20 | the benefit of limited groups of highly paid employees and of
stockholders does not justify the taxpayer subsidy implicit in
routine access to Federal Reserve credit, deposit insurance or
emergency support,” Volcker wrote in a commentary submitted to
regulators Feb. 13. Volcker met with Schapiro in her office to discuss the
proposed rule on Feb. 15, said the person, who declined to be
identified because the meeting hasn’t yet been made public. The
two also discussed Volcker’s views on money-market funds and
international accounting standards, the person said. Volcker didn’t immediately respond to a telephone call
requesting comment. The ban on proprietary trading, proposed by Volcker when he
served as an economic adviser to President Barack Obama, was
among the most prominent provisions in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act’s
overhaul of Wall Street rules. The rule, which was issued in draft form in October, is
scheduled to take effect in July. A public comment period on the
proposal closed Feb. 13. In addition to the SEC, the rule must also be approved by
the Federal Reserve , Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Commodity
Futures Trading Commission and Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jesse Hamilton in Washington at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Maura Reynolds at [email protected] . | 2012 | volcker-said-to-lobby-sec-s-schapiro-personally-on-proprietary-trading-ban |
‘Industrial Terrorism’ of Undercover Livestock Videos Targeted | By Stephanie Armour | 2012-02-17T05:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/-industrial-terrorism-of-undercover-livestock-videos-targeted.html | 2 | 17 | d2cf7bd09e2341acb2d905b57123cac2 | Undercover investigations of animal
abuse and unsanitary farm conditions would be outlawed in eight
states, including Iowa and New York , under an expanding effort
by legislators who say the exposes malign livestock industries. Montana, North Dakota and Kansas have already passed “ag
gag” laws to thwart whistle-blowers, who have targeted Tyson
Foods Inc. (TSN) , McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Yum! Brands Inc.’s (YUM) KFC chicken
suppliers. Iowa and New York are debating similar legislation,
as is Minnesota , Illinois , Indiana , Missouri , Nebraska and Utah. Measures in those states, backed by Monsanto Co. (MON) and other
agriculture companies, would halt activists from using deceptive
practices to target producers in the $74 billion-a-year U.S.
beef industry, or the $45 billion poultry business, as well as
other businesses. Animal-rights groups such as the Humane
Society of the United States contend food safety will be
compromised if abusive and unsanitary practices go unexposed. “For politicians, it comes across looking like they’re
trying to muzzle these groups,” said Wes Jamison , an associate
communications professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in
Florida who studies interest-group activism, in an interview.
“It’s putting restrictions on citizen ‘gotcha’ journalism.” Media stories about animal welfare have a “significant,
negative” effect on meat demand, especially poultry and pork,
according to a 2010 study by economists at Kansas State
University and Purdue University in Indiana on covert exposes
and news articles. Watchdog Groups Efforts by companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) to
demand that farmers raise pigs outside or in large enclosures
have also prompted changes in the food supply chain. McDonald’s
said on Feb. 13 it would require pork suppliers to get rid of
gestation pens that animal-rights groups have deemed cruel. The Humane Society of the United States and Mercy for
Animals , a nonprofit that promotes a vegetarian diet, are among
the leaders in undercover farm investigations. Their secret
surveillance has led to slaughter plant closures and recalls of
food that may have posed a public health risk. “Activists have become more of a factor, coming onto farms
under false pretenses and taking video,” said Lawrence Jacobs ,
a political science professor at the University of Minnesota’s
Humphrey School of Public Affairs, in an interview. “These
stories rally opposition and really are a threat to political
alliances that support ag.” The covert investigations have roots in Upton Sinclair’s
“The Jungle”, a 1906 novel that brought reforms by raising
awareness of conditions at meatpacking plants. Agriculture’s Backing Lawmakers from farm states contend the depictions are
misleading and an attempt by extremists to force retailers to
drop or pressure their suppliers. People view the activity as “industrial terrorism,” said
Iowa state Representative Annette Sweeney, a Republican and
author of gag bill, in an interview. “Some so-called videos put
out there are a fundraiser and don’t depict what’s going on
within the industry. We cherish our livestock.” Iowa raises 28 percent of all U.S. pork, according to the
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation . Sweeney’s bill is backed by St.
Louis-based Monsanto, a biotechnology company and the world’s
largest seller of seeds; pork producer Iowa Select Farms LLP,
the subject of a 2011 undercover investigation, and the American
Farm Bureau Federation. The bills aim to “bring reasonableness” to the debate,
said Minnesota Senator Doug Magnus, a Republican from St. Paul
and a farmer, who introduced legislation to outlaw undercover
video at livestock operations. “We’ve even had folks claiming
to represent the Department of Agriculture and Board of Health,
and it was absolutely false, to gain access. To have these folks
doing this is really disturbing.” Running Clock While provisions vary by state, the bills generally aim to
make it illegal to tape undercover video at livestock operations
or obtain a farm job under false pretenses, according to the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A proposal introduced last month in Nebraska would require
cruel treatment to be reported within 12 hours, preventing those
who go undercover of the time it takes to amass evidence,
according to animal rights groups. Some legislative efforts have triggered public backlash and
legal questions about whether they impinged on free speech
protections. A bill outlawing the taking of images at farms
without an owner’s permission failed last month in Florida.
Animal-rights groups rallied against it, arguing trespassing
laws already address such activity. Opponents also said the
measure violated the First Amendment protecting free speech. Increased Frequency “Both the volume and immediacy of videos have increased,”
said Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Jamison. “It’s a reaction
by ag states to protect their agricultural base.” Farmers who have adopted practices that look out for animal
welfare are frustrated that the videos create a distorted
impression of industry practices, said Jamison. Twenty years ago, such investigations were done to try to
change consumer behavior. Now, he said, they are being done to
pressure retailers into forcing suppliers to change practices. An undercover video of “downer” cattle unable to walk at
the time of slaughter being kicked and dragged with chains at
Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, California , led to the 2008
recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the largest beef recall in
U.S. history, according to the Agriculture Department. Some of
the beef had been earmarked for the federal school lunch
program. The documentation by the Humane Society also led to a
U.S. ban on the slaughter of downer cattle for food. Incriminating Footage Footage of calves being shocked and kicked at Bushway
Packing Inc. in Grand Isle, Vermont, in 2009 led to the
slaughter plant closing, partly because the USDA suspended
inspection services. The footage was taken by a Humane Society
of the United States member posing undercover as an employee. Videos that appear to depict cruelty may not be accurate
because they don’t tell the whole story, said Minnesota’s
Magnus. Agriculture interests point to footage released Jan. 30 by
the Humane Society of the United States from a Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. (WMT) supplier showing sows with injuries and pigs squealing
during castration. In response, the world’s largest retailer,
based in Bentonville, Arkansas , said it asked the supplier to
begin investigating. “The video didn’t show any abuse or cruelty,” David Warner , a spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council (3228907) ,
said in an e-mail. Images of a sow with a protruding bottom, he
said, would be normal if she had just given birth. The video “simply was the Humane Society of the U.S.’s
indictment of a system it opposes,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephanie Armour in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Adriel Bettelheim at
[email protected] | 2012 | -industrial-terrorism-of-undercover-livestock-videos-targeted |
Addax & Oryx Picks ECP to Bid for Geneva Trading, Africa Units | By Giles Broom | 2012-02-17T18:20:44Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/addax-oryx-picks-ecp-to-bid-for-geneva-trading-africa-units.html | 2 | 17 | fddf3a67b898aadae30a07ae51bd7f790c0d916b | Addax & Oryx Group Ltd. granted an
exclusivity agreement to Emerging Capital Partners LLC for the
sale of its supply, storage and distribution business division. The division includes the Geneva-based Addax trading unit
and the Oryx downstream oil and gas businesses that’s present in
22 African countries. The agreement was made on Feb. 16, Karen
Saddler, a spokeswoman for the firm, said in a phone interview
today. She declined to give details on the size of the business. Addax & Oryx was founded in 1987 by Jean Claude Gandur and
currently employs about 800 people. Gandur was raised in Egypt
before becoming a Swiss citizen and serving as a diplomatic
representative for African countries. His company sold Addax
Petroleum to China ’s Sinopec Group in 2009. The upstream Oryx petroleum business, a separate bioenergy
division and real-estate investments remain part of the
privately-held company’s portfolio. ECP is a Washington-based private equity group that focuses
on investing in Africa. To contact the reporter on this story:
Giles Broom in Geneva at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at
[email protected] | 2012 | addax-oryx-picks-ecp-to-bid-for-geneva-trading-africa-units |
Singapore Shifts Priority From Growth to Curb Income Inequality | By Shamim Adam and Weiyi Lim | 2012-02-17T16:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/singapore-increases-aid-to-poor-boosts-incomes-of-older-workers-in-budget.html | 2 | 17 | 7f543b9ee1644dc8a6d8abc7c61fbbbe | Singapore intensified efforts to
address the island’s income gap in its budget, with measures to
boost aid for the poor and curb foreign-worker inflows that
signal it’s putting less priority on pursuing high growth rates. The government will cut the proportion of foreign workers
that companies can hire and may consider further increasing
levies for employing them, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his budget speech in Parliament yesterday.
It will partially reimburse businesses for older Singaporean
workers on their payrolls, and low-income and elderly households
will receive cash and utility rebates. “The government is paying more attention to the standard
of living for Singaporeans instead of just headline growth,”
said Kun Lung Wu, a Singapore-based economist at Credit Suisse
Group AG. “Tightening the labor supply in the short-term will
lower the growth potential. In the longer term, we will see
adjustment.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has moved to address public
discontent over rising prices and an influx of foreigners after
his ruling party suffered its smallest electoral win since
independence in 1965. Measures announced yesterday to tighten
the inflow of foreigners follow similar steps taken in the past
two years which have increased the cost of hiring overseas
workers at hotels, offices, factories and construction sites. “We are making important moves to build a fair and
inclusive society,” Shanmugaratnam said yesterday. “We have to
reduce our dependence on foreign labor, and do much more to
build an economy driven by higher skills, innovation and
productivity, as the basis for achieving higher incomes for
Singaporeans.” Competition for Jobs Singapore, ranked by the World Bank as the easiest place to
do business, has cut taxes in recent years to spur investment,
prompting companies to hire hundreds of thousands of people from
overseas. Foreigners and permanent residents make up more than a
third of the nation’s 5.2 million-strong population and
opposition parties have said that the large numbers of overseas
laborers have depressed local wages. Since the middle of 2010, the government has increased
levies imposed on companies such as SembCorp Marine Ltd. (SMM) and
Genting Singapore Plc every six months for hiring non-
Singaporeans. Still, the foreign workforce has grown 7.5 percent
annually over the last two years, Shanmugaratnam said. The
country may consider further increases in the levy beyond July
2013 depending on the growth of overseas labor in the next 12
months, he said yesterday. “We have no alternative but to slow down the growth of our
foreign workforce,” he said, adding that the increasing
dependence is unsustainable. “It will test the limits of our
space and infrastructure, despite our efforts to build more
housing and expand our public transport system.” Tight Labor Market Singapore will reduce the maximum proportion of foreign
workers that companies can hire in the manufacturing and
services industries, Shanmugaratnam said. From July 1, they
won’t be allowed to bring in new foreign workers beyond the new
ceiling, he said. Businesses must “adapt to the permanent reality of a tight
labor market,” he said. The jobless rate averaged 2 percent in
2011, a 14-year low. Companies will also have to pay more into the state-run
pension fund for employees aged 50 years to 65 years, who are
currently receiving lower rates of employer contributions than
younger workers, the finance minister said. The retirement
savings can be used for mortgage payments, hospital bills,
education fees and investments in assets such as stocks. Pension Payments The increase in pension payments will cost companies an
additional S$190 million a year, the finance minister said.
Still, the government will spend about S$470 million annually
for the next five years to subsidize the hiring of about 80
percent of workers aged above 50, he said. “Inequality has increased significantly over the last
decade,” Credit Suisse’s Wu said. “Given the structure of the
economy has been changing quite rapidly, many people, especially
the older workers, are at risk of being left behind because they
are less educated.” The government predicts a surplus of S$1.3 billion for the
financial year starting April 1, or about 0.4 percent of gross
domestic product, Shanmugaratnam said. The surplus for the year
ending March 31 is estimated at S$2.3 billion, or 0.7 percent of
GDP, he said. The city has added about 1 million people since the
beginning of 2005 as the government allowed more immigration to
make up for a declining birth rate. The influx contributed to
crowded public transportation and more competition for jobs,
public housing and places in schools, fueling voter anger. Gap Widens The gap between Singapore’s most affluent and poorest
people widened last year. The government will introduce a
permanent program that will provide cash, utility rebates and a
contribution to the medical component of the pension fund
annually for the elderly and low-income households, he said. The
administration will set aside S$3.6 billion to fund the
initiative over the next five years. The government will help public transport operators
increase their bus fleets by 20 percent over the next five years
by funding the cost of 550 such vehicles, Shanmugaratnam said.
Transport companies, which include ComfortDelGro Corp. (CD) , the
biggest operator of buses and taxis, will add another 250 buses,
the minister said. Singapore will double its annual health-care expenditure to
S$8 billion over the next five years, adding hospital beds and
increasing subsidies for nursing homes, he said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Shamim Adam in Singapore at
[email protected] ;
Weiyi Lim in Singapore at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at
[email protected] | 2012 | singapore-increases-aid-to-poor-boosts-incomes-of-older-workers-in-budge |
D.R. Horton Says Mortgage Applicants’ Personal Information Was Compromised | By John Gittelsohn | 2012-02-17T05:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/d-r-horton-says-mortgage-applicants-personal-information-was-compromised.html | 2 | 17 | be575bf95e624262a408e8281da44ecf | D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI) , the largest U.S.
homebuilder by volume, said it’s notifying mortgage applicants
that their personal data may have been compromised by a software
security infringement. The breach was caused by “unknown external sources,” the
Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement yesterday.
It was discovered on Feb. 10 at the builder’s Internet Loan
Prequalification System, according to a message being sent to
customers, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. “DHI Mortgage has already contacted law enforcement and
implemented revised online security measures as we continue to
investigate the matter,” D.R. Horton said in the message. “As
a precautionary measure, we are sending you this notice so that
you can take steps to prevent or limit identity theft .” Jessica Hansen, the company’s director of investor
relations, didn’t respond to a telephone message and e-mail
seeking comment yesterday. The homebuilder didn’t say in its statement how many people
were affected by the security breach. Information that
applicants submitted to D.R. Horton may include birth dates,
Social Security numbers and such financial data as income,
assets and liabilities, the company said in its message to
customers. Data breaches last year at companies including AT&T Inc.,
Sony Corp. (6758) and Citigroup Inc. sharpened government scrutiny of
how businesses safeguard consumer information and respond to
cyber-attacks. U.S. companies must spend more than eight times
their current allocation for cyber-security to be capable of
stopping 95 percent of attacks by hackers, according to a
Bloomberg Government study published Jan. 30. In-House Financing D.R. Horton sold 17,176 homes in 25 states last year at
prices ranging from $90,000 to more than $600,000. Its in-house
mortgage company handled the financing for 60 percent of
homebuyers in the quarter ended Dec. 31. The company’s net income was $119.9 million on revenue of
$3.76 billion for the four quarters through Dec. 31. Financial
services accounted for $87.2 million of revenue in fiscal 2011,
which ended Sept. 30. D.R. Horton announced the security breach after the close
of regular U.S. trading yesterday. Its shares fell 0.4 percent
to $14.47 yesterday in New York . They have gained 16 percent in
the past 12 months. To contact the reporter on this story:
John Gittelsohn in Los Angeles at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Daniel Taub at
[email protected] | 2012 | d-r-horton-says-mortgage-applicants-personal-information-was-compromised |
ANC Prosecutors Recommend Expulsion of Julius Malema, EWN Says | By Stephen Gunnion | 2012-02-17T07:16:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/anc-prosecutors-recommend-expulsion-of-julius-malema-ewn-says.html | 2 | 17 | a85dd2a6490c59be193d1e7e9b4b3fe335275d67 | Prosecutors in an internal tribunal
of South Africa ’s ruling African National Congress have
recommended the party’s National Disciplinary Committee expel
youth leader Julius Malema for sowing division and bringing the
organization into disrepute, Eye Witness News said, without
saying where it got the information. A decision may be made in the next few days, Eye Witness
News said. Malema is expected to appeal the outcome of hearings
in mitigation of a five-year suspension, the Johannesburg-based
news service said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Gunnion in Johannesburg at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at [email protected] | 2012 | anc-prosecutors-recommend-expulsion-of-julius-malema-ewn-says |
Lafarge Reports Unexpected Fourth-Quarter Loss as It Reduces 2011 Dividend | By Vidya Root | 2012-02-17T06:04:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/lafarge-reports-unexpected-fourth-quarter-loss-as-it-reduces-2011-dividend.html | 2 | 17 | 79775a5a97d88195276115e2c1035942ccd441b7 | Lagarge SA posted a net loss in the
fourth quarter of 3 million euros. Analysts had expected a
profit of 258 million euros in the period. The French construction materials company’s loss compares
with a profit in the year-earlier period of 62 million euros. Lafarge said it expects higher pricing in 2012. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Vidya Root at
[email protected] | 2012 | afarge-reports-unexpected-fourth-quarter-loss-as-it-reduces-2011-dividend |
Europe Gasoline Rises; Cepsa Plans Refineries Halt: Oil Products | By Rupert Rowling | 2012-02-17T12:08:48Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/europe-gasoline-rises-cepsa-plans-refineries-halt-oil-products.html | 2 | 17 | 2301ab7726f8a52bf79fd35e7f62b0f17f243fce | Gasoline (MOGEEURB) barges rose to their
highest price since September after purchases by Total SA and
Cargill Inc. Gasoil for delivery in March increased on the ICE
Futures Europe exchange on London. Cia. Espanola de Petroleos SA, Spain ’s second-largest
refiner, plans to halt processing units for maintenance at three
of its facilities this year. Light Products Gasoline barges for immediate loading in Amsterdam-
Rotterdam-Antwerp traded at least four times at $1,068 a metric
ton, according to a survey of brokers and traders monitoring the
Argus Bulletin Board. That’s the most since Sept. 8 and compares
with yesterday’s deals at $1,049 to $1,056 a ton. Total and Cargill bought Eurobob grade, to which ethanol is
added to make finished motor fuel, from Chevron Corp., Statoil
ASA, Morgan Stanley and Noble Group. The front-month gasoline crack increased to $7.31 a barrel
from $7.25 yesterday, according to data from PVM Oil Associates
Ltd., a London-based broker of crude and refined products. Naphtha’s discount to Brent was little changed at $4.59 a
barrel, PVM data show. Middle Distillates Gasoil for March increased $1.25 to $1,005.25 a ton on the
ICE exchange at 11:33 a.m. London time. The April contract was
up $1.75 at $1,002.50 a ton, narrowing the discount to March to
$2.75 a ton, the smallest spread this week. Gasoil’s crack , a measure of refining profitability, was at
$14.75 a barrel, little changed from yesterday. Front-month
Brent fell 0.2 percent to $119.90 a barrel on ICE. Refineries Cepsa, will shut a crude unit and visbreaker will be halted
in May for two weeks and about three weeks, respectively, at its
223,000 barrel-a-day Gibraltar refinery, the Madrid-based
company said today in an e- mailed statement. A fluid catalytic cracker for gasoline production will be
shut from mid-April to early June at its 180,000 barrel-a-day
Huelva facility, the refiner said. At the 85,000 barrel-a-day Tenerife plant, a crude unit
will shut for about two weeks in March, Cepsa said. A platformer
and hydro-desulfurization units will halt in September. To contact the reporter on this story:
Rupert Rowling in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at
[email protected] | 2012 | europe-gasoline-rises-cepsa-plans-refineries-halt-oil-products |
Sensex Advances for Seventh Straight Week on Inflows, Enters Bull Market | By Rajhkumar K Shaaw | 2012-02-17T12:15:14Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/india-stock-futures-advance-on-u-s-economy-greek-bailout-talks.html | 2 | 17 | 2c7ab91803334d68b36ec9c35d36a922 | Indian stocks completed the longest
weekly winning streak in almost two years to enter into a bull
market after Europe moved closer to a bailout for Greece and
overseas investors bought assets in the South Asian nation. The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) , or Sensex, gained 0.8
percent to 18,289.35 at the 3:30 p.m. close in Mumbai, making it
Asia’s best performing stock measure. Bharat Heavy Electricals
Ltd. (BHEL) , the biggest power-equipment maker, jumped the most since
July 2009. State Bank of India , the nation’s largest lender,
surged to the highest level since July. Foreign investors bought
a net $444 million of Indian stocks in two days to Feb. 16,
taking their investment this year to $4.9 billion. This rally is “liquidity driven,” Manishi Raychaudhuri,
head of Indian equity research at BNP Paribas SA, said in an
interview with Bloomberg UTV today. “This is typically the kind
of inflow India gets over a span of four to five months and not
one to two months. It’s been caused by massive inflows into
emerging-market funds.” The Sensex climbed 3.1 percent this week, a seventh
consecutive weekly advance, the longest since the period ended
April 9, 2010. The index has rallied 18 percent this year,
reaching the highest level since August, as inflation slowed,
the central bank cut lenders’ reserve requirements for the first
time since 2009 and the rupee jumped from a record low. The 30-company gauge has climbed 21 percent from a December
low, surpassing the 20 percent threshold that signals a bull
market . The gauge trades at 16.2 times estimated earnings ,
compared with 10.7 times on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The
Sensex is the best performer in dollar terms after the Egypt ’s
EGX 30 Index this year among 93 benchmark indexes tracked by
Bloomberg. Global Economy Jobless claims in the U.S. dropped to a four-year low and
housing starts beat forecasts. European governments considered
cutting rates on emergency loans to Greece and using European
Central Bank contributions to plug a new financing gap in a
second bailout, two people familiar with the talks said. Bharat Heavy Electricals soared 6.7 percent to 303.55
rupees, its highest level since Nov. 15. Tata Power Co. (TPWR) , the
biggest electricity generator outside state control, increased
4.1 percent to 118.65 rupees, its third day of advance. State Bank rose 2.8 percent to 2,417.05 rupees, extending
this week’s climb to 11 percent. The stock has soared 49 percent
this year, the second-most among the Sensex companies. Nearest
rival ICICI Bank Ltd. (ICICIBC) added 1.3 percent to 981.6 rupees. “We had a clear signal by the Reserve Bank that rate cuts
are around the corner,” BNP Paribas’s Raychaudhuri said.
“There’s been a gradual turnaround in the policy environment
and the attention the government is paying in trying to
accelerate the investment climate. It’s difficult to comment
whether this is a secular bull run or not, but for the time
being this is likely to continue.” Rate Outlook The Reserve Bank of India said the majority of external
members on an advisory panel recommended an interest-rate cut
last month, underscoring rising pressure to counter weakening
growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. Three of the seven external members suggested lowering the
repurchase rate by 0.25 percentage point and one advised a half-
point cut, the minutes of the Jan. 18 meeting released by the
central bank today showed. Three recommended no change. The interest-rate cycle has peaked after 13 increases
between March 2010 and October 2011, Reserve Bank Deputy
Governor Subir Gokarn said on Feb. 14 as data showed inflation
in January at the slowest in more than two years. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange of
India increased 0.8 percent to 5,564.30. The BSE 200 Index
gained 0.7 percent to 2,262.14. Markets are closed on Feb. 20
for a public holiday. Flows into emerging-market equity funds have reached $19
billion this year, compared with outflows of $34 billion in
2011, Citigroup Inc. analysts led by Markus Rosgen wrote in a
report today, citing data compiled by EPFR Global. “Emerging markets are beta plays on global markets,” Mark Matthews , head of research for Asia at Bank Julius Baer & Co.,
said in an interview with Bloomberg UTV today. “People feel
they will get better returns in a bull market by being in an
emerging market.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | india-stock-futures-advance-on-u-s-economy-greek-bailout-talks |
Oxford Nanopore To Sell Tiny DNA Sequencer | By Kristen Hallam | 2012-02-17T18:20:49Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/oxford-nanopore-plans-portable-gene-sequencing-device.html | 2 | 17 | c3cc711b73d14ff0a27bca10d5097bd0 | Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. is
entering the gene-sequencing race with a new portable device
that will allow people to analyze DNA on the go. The product, called MinION, is about the size of a USB
memory stick, the closely held Oxford, England-based company
said today. MinION will be ready for sale in the second half of
the year at a cost of less than $900. It’s a smaller version of
the GridION device that Oxford Nanopore is developing. Oxford Nanopore is relying on the two products to spur
demand for machines that can decode the building blocks of life ,
helping to identify new targets for medicines and illuminate
crop science. The company is jumping into a market led by Life
Technologies Corp. (LIFE) and Illumina Inc. (ILMN) , which last month said
they’ve built products that can sequence a genome in a day.
GridION is designed so that computing equipment can be clustered
to sequence an entire human genome in as little as 15 minutes. “The USB stick is an absolute game-changer,” Oxford
Nanopore Chief Executive Officer Gordon Sanghera in a telephone
interview. “It’s plug-and-play, on-the-go DNA sequencing.” Life Technologies fell 4.3 percent to $47.66 at 1:15 p.m.
in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after dropping as much as 7
percent, the biggest intraday decline since Oct. 7. Illumina
dropped 2.9 percent to $52.39 after falling as much as 4.5
percent. Tiny Hole The company presented data on the two products today at the
Advances in Genome Biology and Technology conference in Florida .
The devices use a novel technique known as strand sequencing, in
which an entire string of DNA is guided by an enzyme and passes
intact through a tiny hole in a cell membrane one-billionth of a
meter wide, like a child sucking spaghetti through his mouth. The strand-sequencing technique relies on an engineered
protein or nanopore that creates the hole. As DNA bases, or
chemical building blocks, pass through the hole, an electronic
chip measures changes in electrical current in the membrane and
produces data that, when decoded, identifies the sequence of
bases that make up a genome. That’s different from current techniques, in which 200 or
300 continuous bases of DNA are analyzed, Sanghera said. Oxford
Nanopore’s machines can read strands of tens of thousands of
bases with an accuracy comparable to technology already on the
market, he said. Space Age “That is some kind of fantastical, space-age thing,”
Sanghera said. The MinION device can only be used once and can’t decode an
entire human genome, according to Oxford Nanopore. Users don’t
have to amplify DNA to be able to read it, and the sensitivity
is about the same as the larger GridION device, Sanghera said. “This will result in broader adoption of DNA sequencing,”
he said. “This allows non-specialist scientists to extract DNA
information back in the field. You just need a laptop and
software.” The GridION system, which is about the size of a
videocassette recorder, is designed so that researchers who need
quick results can add units of cartridges called nodes that
speed processing. Using 20 high-end nodes would allow the entire
genome to be sequenced in as little as 15 minutes, Oxford
Nanopore said. ‘Pregnant Woman’ “Our competitors are like a pregnant woman,” said Zoe
McDougall, a company spokeswoman. “It takes nine months to make
a baby, and you can’t put nine women on it and get a baby in a
month. With our system, you can put nine women on it and make a
baby in a month.” Not all customers want or need such speed, Sanghera said. “You give flexibility back to the researcher in how they
do their experiments,” he said. Pricing will be “competitive” and will vary, similar to
mobile-phone packages tailored to customers’ needs for talk time
and data, said Clive Brown, Oxford Nanopore’s chief technology
officer. “There’s no fixed run time on this machine,” Brown said
in an interview. “You need pricing elasticity. They all pay
same cost per base, but it’s how it’s divided. That’s completely
new.” Life Technologies, based in Carlsbad, California , on Jan.
10 said it is taking orders for its benchtop Ion Proton
Sequencer. The machine, available for $149,000, is designed to
provide a full transcript of a person’s DNA in a day for $1,000.
Illumina, of San Diego , said its HiSeq 2500 will be available in
the second half of the year. It didn’t reveal the price. Potential Buyers Illumina is the target of a $5.7 billion hostile bid by
Roche Holding AG (ROG) of Basel, Switzerland . Illumina’s board
unanimously rejected the offer, calling it “grossly
inadequate.” Roche is a sponsor of the conference where Oxford
Nanopore presented the data on its machines. Illumina owns 15 percent of Oxford Nanopore and has a
partnership with the U.K. company for a technology called
exonuclease sequencing, in which the DNA building blocks are
separated by an enzyme and pass individually through a nanopore. While potential buyers have approached Oxford Nanopore, the
company hasn’t pursued any offers, Sanghera said. “Over the last year, we’ve had various companies express
interest in us,” Sanghera said. “We remain focused on our
strategy, which is to get this technology to our customers.” Shareholders Oxford Nanopore’s shareholders include IP Group Plc (IPO) , which
owns 21.5 percent, hedge-fund manager Lansdowne Partners LP and
Invesco Perpetual, the U.K. group of mutual funds. The company
also has individual shareholders, including company managers,
and employees have stock options . Oxford Nanopore is valued at about $1 billion, said Charles Weston, a London-based analyst at Numis Securities, which
advises IP Group, in a note to investors Feb. 1. Weston based
the figures on Oxford Nanopore gaining 25 percent of a market
that could grow to $6 billion within five years. “To get a truly accurate assessment of our valuation, we
need to understand what markets we can penetrate,” Sanghera
said. “We are not displeased with $1 billion; we feel it could
be a lot bigger than that.” Oxford Nanopore, spun out of University of Oxford in 2005,
uses sequencing technologies that were initially based on the
research of founder and board member Hagan Bayley, a chemistry
professor at the university. The company has built on that
science through collaborations with researchers at Harvard
University , the University of California Santa Cruz and Boston
University , among others, and with internal research, said
McDougall, the company spokeswoman. Early Access Oxford Nanopore will give early access to a few
laboratories to try out the two devices, allowing them to
provide feedback and develop applications before the company
starts selling the products later this year, Sanghera said. “The biggest challenge is managing expectations and
delivering on the next phase,” Sanghera said. “It feels like
you’ve been in a band, and you’ve been doing gigs in grotty
little venues, and then you wake up and you’re number one.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Kristen Hallam in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at
[email protected] | 2012 | oxford-nanopore-plans-portable-gene-sequencing-device |
Corcept Wins U.S. Approval for First Drug to Treat Cushing’s Syndrome | By Anna Edney | 2012-02-18T00:02:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/corcept-wins-u-s-approval-for-first-drug-to-treat-cushing-s-syndrome.html | 2 | 17 | ff11a01335b84c7abd9ecf2839d374ba | Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (CORT) won U.S.
approval for a drug that uses the active ingredient of the
abortion pill RU-486 to treat Cushing’s Syndrome. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Korlym, formerly
called Corlux, to treat the syndrome in patients who have Type 2
diabetes or glucose intolerance and aren’t candidates for
surgery or haven’t responded to surgery, the agency said today
in a statement. Korlym, the leading drug candidate from Menlo
Park , California-based Corcept, is the first therapy approved
for the hormone condition, the FDA said. Korlym, a once-daily pill, will be available on May 1
through a small number of endocrinologists who treat patients
affected with the disease, Joseph Belanoff, Corcept’s chief
executive officer, said today in a statement. “These doctors can be reached without a large sales and
marketing infrastructure,” he said. Cushing’s Syndrome affects about 20,000 people in the U.S.,
Corcept said in a statement. The illness, caused by too much
exposure to the hormone cortisol, most often attacks adults 20
to 50 years old, according to the U.S. National Institutes of
Health. Symptoms include high-blood pressure, upper-body obesity
and diabetes. The disease can be lethal if not treated
effectively. Korlym blocks cortisol with mifepristone, which is approved
for the termination of early pregnancy in combination with the
drug misoprostol. The drug will carry a boxed warning that it
will terminate a pregnancy. Orphan Drug Corcept’s medicine was granted orphan drug status because
it treats a small number of patients, which means it is eligible
to be sold free from generic competition for seven additional
years. About 5,000 patients will be eligible for the drug, the
FDA said in its statement. Corcept shares gained 64 percent to $4.97 in extended
trading at 6:55 p.m. New York time. The company, which hasn’t
generated revenue since 2009, declined 27 percent in the past 12
months. Physicians may not readily accept Korlym as a treatment for
Cushing’s, Corcept said Sept. 30 in its quarterly report because
doctors are inexperienced with the condition and because of the
ethical and political implications of the abortion drug. “Public perception of the active ingredient in Korlym,
mifepristone or RU-486, may limit our ability to market and sell
Korlym,” the company said. Corcept said it will control the distribution of the drug
to reduce the potential for ending a pregnancy. The company also
is studying alternative uses for the treatment. Korlym failed in 2007 in a clinical trial for psychotic
major depression. The FDA granted the drug fast-track status,
which garners Corcept more meetings with agency staff to
facilitate development of the medicine. No FDA-approved
treatment exists for psychotic depression, according to Corcept. To contact the reporter on this story:
Anna Edney in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Adriel Bettelheim at
[email protected] | 2012 | corcept-wins-u-s-approval-for-first-drug-to-treat-cushing-s-syndrome |
Indonesia Stock Movers: Adhi Karya, Metropolitan Land | By Femi Adi | 2012-02-17T09:35:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/adhi-karya-kalbe-vale-indonesia-indonesia-equity-preview.html | 2 | 17 | 644d98c1861b8b5bc922d50056127a924589a105 | Shares of the following companies
had unusual moves in Indonesian trading . Stock symbols are in
parentheses, and prices are as of the close in Jakarta. The Jakarta Composite index gained 1.3 percent to 3,976.54. PT Adhi Karya (ADHI) , the state construction company
rose 1.4 percent to 740 rupiah after Investor Daily Indonesia
reported the company’s plan to sell 1 trillion rupiah of bonds
in the second quarter and use the proceeds to refinance a total
of 500 billion rupiah of conventional and Shariah-compliant debt
due July 2012 and to fund expansion, citing President Director
Kiswodarmawan. Five calls to the company weren’t answered. PT Metropolitan Land (MTLA) (MTLA IJ), the property development
company jumped 6.1 percent to 260 rupiah, the highest close
since Aug. 18. Metropolitan is seeking 400 billion rupiah of
bank loans to fund two projects in Bekasi, West Java province,
Kontan reported, citing Nanda Widya, president director at the
company. Widya was in meeting when called at his office. To contact the reporter on this story:
Femi Adi in Jakarta at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | adhi-karya-kalbe-vale-indonesia-indonesia-equity-preview |
U.S. Bank PNC Financial Seeks to Open Full-Service Branch in Canada | By Sean B. Pasternak and Greg Quinn | 2012-02-17T19:41:42Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/u-s-bank-pnc-financial-seeks-to-open-full-service-branch-in-canada.html | 2 | 17 | 79b6c8fccc7d7e60aeb1ea3d84adb62dd5276cc3 | PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) ,
the sixth-largest U.S. bank by deposits, applied to convert its
Canadian office into a full-service branch. The office of the Pittsburgh-based bank operates under the
name PNC Bank Canada, according to a notice in the Canada
Gazette, the government’s official regulatory publication. To contact the reporters on this story:
Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at
[email protected] ;
Greg Quinn in Ottawa at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
David Scanlan at [email protected] ;
David Scheer at [email protected] . | 2012 | u-s-bank-pnc-financial-seeks-to-open-full-service-branch-in-canada |
Brown Leads Harvard’s Warren by 9% in Massachusetts Senate Race, Poll Says | By Ted Bunker | 2012-02-17T04:00:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/brown-leads-harvard-s-warren-by-9-in-massachusetts-senate-race-poll-says.html | 2 | 17 | 33609cba2de7dc1bc4e0e1f86898a0c6f333955a | U.S. Senator Scott Brown , a
Republican elected to the seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy , leads challenger Elizabeth Warren , 49 percent to 40
percent among likely voters, a Suffolk University survey shows. Independents backed Brown 60 percent to 28 percent,
according to the poll released late yesterday by the Boston
school. Brown, 52, was viewed favorably by 52 percent of those
polled, while 35 percent held that view of Warren, 62, a Harvard
Law School professor and former White House adviser. The poll, produced with WHDH-TV in Boston, showed that 60
percent of voters favor having a Republican representing
Massachusetts in the Senate alongside Democrat John Kerry . Among
independents, who comprise a majority of voters in the state, 64
percent agreed that there was a benefit in having one senator
from each major party. The contest has drawn national attention as a focal point
for the battle to control the Senate, where Democrats hold a
slim majority. Brown won the seat in January 2010, beating state
Attorney General Martha Coakley , a Democrat, by 5 percentage
points to fill out the remaining months of Kennedy’s last term.
He died in 2009. Warren, who faces a Democratic primary, left
the White House last year after helping President Barack Obama
set up the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The telephone survey of 600 registered voters from Feb. 11-
15 had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ted Bunker in Boston at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Tannenbaum at
[email protected] . | 2012 | brown-leads-harvard-s-warren-by-9-in-massachusetts-senate-race-poll-says |
TUL CORPORATION January Sales Fall 16.29% (Table) : 6150 TT | By Janet Ong | 2012-02-17T10:25:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/tul-corporation-january-sales-fall-16-29-table-6150-tt.html
TUL CORPORATION said unconsolidated sales
in January fell 16.29% to NT$203,406,000 from NT$242,999,000,
according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange . (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 1/2012 1/2011
Sales 203,406 242,999
YOY% -16.29% | 2 | 17 | dab3e2945c23881438ea92c1a8e55105cb7c6b7d | Sales 203,406 242,999
YOY% -16.29%
================================================================= | 2012 | ul-corporation-january-sales-fall-16-29-table-6150- |
Regulators Make Nice as U.S. Banks Bristle Over Tough Examiners | By Clea Benson and Carter Dougherty | 2012-02-17T05:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/regulators-make-nice-as-u-s-banks-bristle-over-tough-examiners.html | 2 | 17 | 94a59e9c1dbf40b2aea86129e2cb019e | Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded conciliatory as he stood before an audience of
community bankers in Virginia. “The Fed is committed to fair, consistent and informed
examinations,” and it has a “robust appeals process” when
banks disagree with examiners’ findings, Bernanke told an
audience yesterday during a conference at the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp.’s Arlington headquarters. Bernanke was addressing tensions that have been mounting
between banks and regulators since the 2008 financial crisis.
Bankers say agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency are applying regulatory standards too stringently
and inconsistently. For evidence, financial institutions point to the number of
banks facing pressure from regulators to improve their financial
positions. About a third of banks are now under either informal
or formal regulatory orders, up from an average of about 3
percent to 4 percent during normal economic times, said Cam Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America . Bankers say they are sometimes forced to write down
performing loans based on the value of collateral, without
regard to whether the borrowers have adequate income or cash
flow . Regulators are also requiring capital increases beyond
regulatory mandates, according to the ICBA . Legislation Offered The bankers’ pushback has reached the ear of Congress.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House of
Representatives have introduced legislation that would establish
an ombudsman and would allow banks to appeal the results of
their exams to an administrative law judge. Both roles would be
established within the Federal Financial Institutions
Examination Council, an interagency regulatory body. The measure, the Financial Institutions Examination
Fairness and Reform Act , also would require regulators to
provide examination reports on a strict 60-day deadline and
relax treatment of commercial loans, which are a significant
part of the business now done by many small banks. Community
banks, defined as those with less than $10 billion in assets,
account for 21 percent of the U.S. banking industry and made 58
percent of outstanding bank loans to small businesses, according
to the ICBA. Regulators say the bill would hamper their ability to
ensure that financial institutions are operating soundly. Bad
economic conditions and poor business decisions are to blame for
the banks’ predicament, they say. A Local Disconnect “The weak economy, together with loose lending standards
in the past, has put pressure on the entire banking industry,
including community banks,” Bernanke told the bankers
yesterday. Supervisors, he said, “must insist on high standards
for lending, risk management, and governance.” Representative Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia
Republican who co-authored the Fairness Act with New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney, said Washington-based regulators often
seem more sympathetic than their regional examiners to the views
of community bankers. “Over the last year, we have heard a chorus of concern
that there is a disconnect between what is said in Washington by
federal regulators and what is carried out by the field
examiners,” said Capito, who also spoke at yesterday’s FDIC
conference. Regulators say they are trying to fix that. FDIC Acting
Chairman Martin Gruenberg told conference attendees yesterday
that he had directed his staff to review examination procedures
“to see if we can identify ways to improve our processes and
communication while maintaining our supervisory standards.” ‘Misplaced Zeal’ Community banks say that process can’t happen fast enough. “The misplaced zeal and arbitrary demands of examiners are
having a chilling effect on credit,” Noah Wilcox, president and
chief executive of Grand Rapids State Bank in Grand Rapids,
Minnesota , told members of Congress at a hearing this month.
“The contraction in credit is having a direct, adverse impact
on the economic recovery.” Robert Fisher, president and chief executive of Tioga State
Bank of Spencer, New York, said that one way community banks can
cope with regulatory overreach is to change their charters.
Banks with the FDIC as their primary regulator can move over to
the Fed, though they should know that “the grass can sometimes
seem greener” with another agency. “Choice is always a good thing,” Fisher said in an
interview. “The pendulum swings both ways and I think having a
choice keeps the regulators from swinging too far.” The Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform
Act is H.R. 3461. To contact the reporters on this story:
Clea Benson in Washington at
[email protected]
Carter Dougherty in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maura Reynolds
at [email protected] | 2012 | regulators-make-nice-as-u-s-banks-bristle-over-tough-examiners |
Why Mobile Shoppers Want Real-World Stores: Richard E. Wilson | By Richard E. Wilson | 2012-02-17T00:01:07Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/why-mobile-shoppers-want-real-world-stores-richard-e-wilson.html
Mobile shopping is one of the most
exciting new developments for retail in years, and “apps” that
allow brick-and-mortar-store shoppers to check competing online
prices have surged in popularity. While actual mobile-shopping purchase transactions
accounted for only 2 percent of e-commerce sales in 2011, the
Kellogg Shopper Index | 2 | 17 | 988cdfbe0dc64c91a3e9eb257b097809 | manufacturers have at least four options to bring more
discipline to their retail channel system’s marketing programs
and policies: resale price maintenance , or RPM; exclusive
retailer relationships; exiting unattractive channels; or
creating distinct product lines for specific channels. Any of
these alternatives can create a more level retail playing field
and prevent free-riding discounters from destroying markets. Still, this is easier said than done. RPM initiatives must
be legally and competitively defensible. Exclusives and the
cutting off of some channels necessarily may raise fears of
significant loss of market access . Lower-quality product lines
for lower-value channels create risks for brand perception and
equity. But allowing cross-channel conflicts isn’t a viable long-
term option for branded manufacturers. Lax channel discipline
has engendered rampant free riding and threatens the very
outlets that do the most to uphold manufacturing brands. Over
time, allowing retailers to maul each other hurts the
manufacturer. Sooner or later, brand deterioration will cancel
out short-term revenue gains. Mobile price shopping is simply an instrument. A smart
device can accelerate cross-channel destruction and brand
deterioration, to the detriment of consumers. Or it can be a
force for good, encouraging consumers to make decisions based
not just on price, but on very real differences in benefits,
such as the experiential value of side-by-side physical
comparisons; live product demonstrations; expert advice and
training; and after-sales repair and maintenance. To ensure that optimal, brand-reinforcing retail channels
are in place, product manufacturers will have to do more to help
the retailers that sell their products. That means building
genuine value-delivery systems for targeted consumers, and
collaborating with downstream retail partners to define and
execute effective routes to market for each product category.
Most of all, it requires manufacturers to have the discipline to
tell mobile free riders, not quite “No, you can’t have any,”
but “Yes, but on very different terms.” (Richard E. Wilson is clinical associate professor of
marketing and associate director of the Center for Global
Marketing Practice at the Kellogg School of Management,
Northwestern University . The opinions expressed are his own.) Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View . To contact the writer of this article:
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this article:
Max Berley at [email protected] | 2012 | why-mobile-shoppers-want-real-world-stores-richard-e-wilson |
Venezuela Names Temporary Board at Steelmaker Sidetur | By Corina Rodriguez Pons | 2012-02-17T20:34:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/venezuela-names-temporary-board-at-steelmaker-sidetur-1-.html | 2 | 17 | e7a4b11ab57cc3e222a292681fda98bc9ee9dddf | Venezuela named a temporary state-
run board at steelmaker Siderurgica del Turbio SA after the
government seized the company’s assets in 2010, according to a
resolution by the Industry Ministry published today in the
Official Gazette. Sidetur’s management had continued to operate the company
since the seizure as it waited to conclude compensation talks
with the government. Ramon Ernesto Perdomo was named as the head
of the board, according to the resolution. President Hugo Chavez said today that his government took
control of six of Sidetur’s plants after some workers protested
against the previous administration, slowing output. “Sidetur had been producing steel rods at half of its
capacity and there have been labor strikes that were affecting
the supply of rods to our housing projects,” Chavez said on
state television. Chavez has seized the two largest steel companies since
2008, including Siderurgica del Orinoco, or Sidor, that was
previously operated by Ternium SA. (TX) Chavez created a housing
program last year to try to close a 2 million unit deficit as he
seeks re-election in presidential elections in October. Venezuela agreed to pay Ternium $1.97 billion for Sidor. Chavez’s government seized seven processing plants and 15
scrap metal collection centers belonging to Sidetur in November
2010 and its owners went to the Supreme Court to appeal the
expropriation decree, according to an earnings statement on the
company’s website. Outstanding Bonds Sidetur has about $80 million of 10 percent bonds due in
2016 outstanding. The yield on the bonds rose 21 basis points,
or 0.21 percentage point, to 18.58 percent today at 3:15 p.m. in
New York , according to Hapoalim Securities USA Inc. The price
fell 0.5 cents to 75.5 cents on the dollar. The steelmaker will buy back its debt once it receives
compensation, Oswaldo Sahmkow, finance director of Sivensa,
Sidetur’s parent company, said in a phone interview on December
6. To contact the reporter on this story:
Corina Pons in Caracas at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Joshua Goodman at
[email protected] | 2012 | venezuela-names-temporary-board-at-steelmaker-sidetur-1- |
Conrad Says an Economic Crisis May Be Only Way to Prod Lawmakers on Debt | By Laura Litvan | 2012-02-18T05:01:52Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/conrad-says-economic-shock-may-be-only-prod-to-lawmakers-on-debt-cutting.html
An economic catastrophe like the
debt crisis in Europe or a Middle East conflict may be the only
way to get congressional action this year on a broad reduction
of the U.S. deficit , Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said. “If Europe tanks and begins to drag us down, it may become
an acute situation that requires a response,” Conrad said in an
interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt ,” airing this weekend. “Second possibility is Israel
attacking Iran . That could create a big run-up in oil prices .
That could have dramatic economic effects and also require a
fuller long-term response by the United States .” The North Dakota (BEESND) Democrat, who has been in the Senate since
1987, said he blames lawmakers in both political parties | 2 | 17 | 2ba4bc0cb36e4f5e998b19ff9407b1af | he said of the need for more moderates. “Do you really want
people who are absolutely unwilling to reconsider their
positions in light of changed facts? The facts have changed. The
hard reality is, we’re borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we
spend.” Much of the president’s budget plan repeats proposals that
have already been rejected by Republicans, including a 10-year,
$3 trillion deficit-reduction package offered to Congress in
September. In addition to laying out the president’s priorities,
the blueprint is designed to highlight the differences between
the two parties’ agendas as the November election approaches. To contact the reporter on this story:
Laura Litvan in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jodi Schneider at
[email protected] | 2012 | conrad-says-economic-shock-may-be-only-prod-to-lawmakers-on-debt-cutting |
Wine Turns Mortgage Title Mogul Into Entrepreneur of Viticulture | By Edward Robinson and Ryan Flinn | 2012-02-17T10:45:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/wine-turns-mortgage-title-mogul-into-entrepreneur-of-viticulture.html | 2 | 17 | a0559cefe76045cb9729a0e1be8b5733 | On a crisp winter’s day in 2010,
Bill Foley was exploring a troubled winery for sale in Sonoma
County, California , when he was taken aback by the sight of an
enclosed horse-riding ring the size of an airplane hangar. Foley, who made a fortune selling mortgage title insurance
during the housing boom , also recalls seeing a California
mission-style chapel and a regulation-sized football field and
baseball diamond at the Chalk Hill Estate. These extravagant
structures had nothing to do with making wine and helped saddle
an estate valued at more than $100 million with excessive debt,
Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its March issue. “My wife said, ‘There’s no way you can buy this,’” Foley
recalls with a mischievous grin. Foley, 66, did buy Chalk Hill in June 2010 for an
undisclosed price well below its peak valuation. Now, it’s the
flagship of his burgeoning viticultural business, which produces
more than 1 million cases of wine a year and stretches from
California to Washington state to New Zealand . Foley is hunting for more distressed wineries along Napa
Valley’s fabled Route 29 and in the pinot noir-laden vineyards
of Oregon ’s Willamette Valley. “I’m not even close to being big enough,” says Foley in a
mellow voice that bears the twang of his childhood home in the
Texas Panhandle. The wealthy have long come to California’s wine country to
indulge in the pleasures of the grape. While many are content to
lord over one luxury estate, Foley is gambling he can become a
commercial force in a wine industry that is struggling with
stagnant sales. Empire-Builder After jumping 37 percent from 2002 to 2007, sales of
California-made wine have been flat at about $18 billion for
four straight years as consumers drink less expensive brands in
economic hard times, according to the Wine Institute, a San
Francisco-based trade group. Debt-laden producers have sold their operations at deep
discounts. In April, Southbank, Australia-based Foster’s Group
Ltd. (FGL) spun off its wine division at a $2.5 billion valuation
after spending $7 billion building it into a global player with
Napa-based Beringer Vineyards and other brands. In exploiting the shake-up, Foley has emerged as the most
ambitious individual empire builder in the wine trade since the
late Jess Jackson developed chardonnay powerhouse Kendall-Jackson
Estate Wine Ltd. in the early 1980s, says Mario Zepponi, a
principal at Zepponi & Co., a Santa Rosa , California-based
mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Making Deals Foley’s fortune tops $153 million, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. Since 2007, he has spent more than $200
million of his own money and credit on 12 wineries with more
than 20 labels. “Nobody really knew who this guy was, and then all of a
sudden, he was making deals,” Zepponi says. “He’s been one or
two steps ahead of everyone else.” Foley’s properties range from Sebastiani Vineyards &
Winery, a Sonoma-based producer of $25 reds and whites, to
Merus, a Napa cult winery that sells its silky cabernet
sauvignon for $135 a bottle. His holding company, Foley Family
Wines, recorded $15 million in earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization on about $100 million of sales in
2011. More buyers are now joining the hunt for undervalued
wineries. In March 2011, Chilean producer Vina Concha & Toro SA
paid $238 million, double Foley’s bid, for Sonoma County-based
Fetzer Vineyards, which makes 2.2 million cases annually. Fragmented Market And French entrepreneur Jean-Charles Boisset has spent
almost $40 million in the past three years to build his own
California wine domain with the acquisitions of Raymond Vineyards
in Napa and Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma. In 2010 and 2011, two
dozen wineries changed hands in California in a record spate of
acquisitions, Zepponi says. In storming the wine business, Foley says his private-
equity-style deal-making will tame an inefficient industry. From
1984 to 2007, he transformed a Phoenix storefront operation
called Fidelity National Title Inc. (FNF) into the No. 1 U.S. mortgage
title insurer by acquiring more than 50 firms and absorbing
their market share and customers. Now, he wants to do the same in wine, a fragmented market
teeming with more than 7,600 producers in the U.S. alone. In
every winery deal , Foley has shunned short-term debt in favor of
using 25- or 30-year loans and then capped his leverage at 30
percent of his invested capital. Kicking Himself He favors aggressive lowball bids. In 2010, he pursued a
prestigious New Zealand pinot noir producer called Te Kairanga
with a book value of $20 million. Foley got it for $8 million. “I’m not doing anything I haven’t already done,” Foley says
with a shrug. “You buy companies, collapse the back office, keep
the front office and enhance the marketing and sales programs.” Foley is betting that a combination of greater wine volume
and improved branding will elevate his labels in a market
flooded with them. After every acquisition, Foley pumps his new
wines into his existing distribution channels to stores and
restaurants. He says he must add cases to get more clout with
distributors, who choose which wines to showcase for retailers
and which to shunt off to the back of the warehouse. So he’s
hunting for farms in California’s Central Valley to produce more
wine for his many labels and for brands already popular with
consumers. Foley is still kicking himself for letting a Central
California producer called Four Vines Winery get snapped up by
another suitor in 2010 for an undisclosed bid. Priced below $20
a bottle, the winery’s Naked Chardonnay and zesty zinfandels are
a smash with budget-conscious buyers, and the winery produces
about 100,000 cases annually. Blackberry Finish “That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for, something that’s
got some pull to it and distributor relationships,” Foley says.
“I’ve got to find one like that.” Foley became smitten with the vineyard life in the mid-
1990s after moving to Santa Barbara and discovering the nearby
Santa Ynez Valley, a savannah of oaks and ranchland nestled
between coastal hills that’s ideal for growing the finicky pinot
noir grape. In 1996, Foley bought a 30-acre (12-hectare) winery
there and dubbed it Lincourt after his daughters, Lindsay and
Courtney. After every harvest, Foley visits with the vintners on many
of his properties as they blend different batches of juice into
a wine ready for aging. Camille Benitah, the Bordeaux-born
winemaker at Merus, says Foley relishes being in the barrel room
and exploring how to balance earthiness, acidity and fruit into
an elegant cabernet sauvignon. A Grand Improvisation “He is very humble about it,” says Benitah, sampling a 2007
Merus with a nose of pipe tobacco and a long blackberry finish.
“He lets us work, and he sees we are creating something special,
something we won’t compromise, and he loves to see it happen.” As a venture that blends agriculture and selling luxury
goods , making wine has broken the hearts and bank accounts of
many would-be vintners. Foley’s moves appear to be a grand
improvisation rather than a carefully plotted campaign, says Vic Motto, chairman of Global Wine Partners LLC , a St. Helena ,
California-based investment bank. Foley not only wants to be both a mass-market producer and
the proprietor of fine wine boutiques; he even muses about
opening a luxury hotel in the Napa Valley . Motto says Foley’s
rapid accumulation of properties is unorthodox in a business
where vintners favor building a wine group organically over many
years. ‘No Master Plan’ “We’ve never seen anyone using his own capital to buy
distressed assets and then try and put them together into a
working unit,” says Motto, a 30-year Napa veteran. “He will have
to do a lot of work to accomplish that.” Seated at a round table in his Chalk Hill office and
tapping a stack of business cards from wine industry contacts
with his finger, Foley seems more amused than stressed by the
challenges before him. Dressed in blue jeans and wearing his
snowy hair long, he’s a cheerful man who pokes fun at himself. When told that vintners in Napa wonder what his strategic
objective is, he guffaws. “They give me too much credit!” he
says with a high-pitched giggle. “There is no master plan.” Underneath his avuncular exterior lies a steeliness borne
of years of deals in the mortgage industry, says Thomas Hagerty,
his friend and a managing director at Boston-based buyout firm
Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. He says Foley is skilled at finding
troubled companies, stripping out valuable assets and
integrating them into his own group. Rare Skills In 2010, Foley was eager to improve sales at Firestone
Vineyard, a Santa Ynez producer of $20 reds and whites he bought
three years earlier for $50 million. The problem was, its
tasting room was located in Paso Robles, a viticultural area an
hour’s drive north of Santa Ynez. So Foley bought a Paso Robles-based producer called Eos
Estate Winery out of bankruptcy and converted the Firestone
tasting room into an Eos showcase, appealing to visitors who
prefer locally produced wines. Sales at the tasting room quickly
doubled, he says. “Bill has a deep understanding of financial risk and
operational risk, and it’s rare to see those two skills in one
guy,” Hagerty says. “He does love wine, but he’s not a hobbyist.
He’s in this to build a first-class business.” Foley graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West
Point , New York , in 1967 with an engineering degree and then
switched from the Army to the Air Force , serving four years and
earning the rank of captain. He went on to receive a Master of
Business Administration at Seattle University and a law degree
from the University of Washington . Market Leader After moving to Phoenix and working as a real-estate
lawyer, he took control of Fidelity National Title in 1984
through a leveraged buyout. The company, which protects mortgage
lenders from losses in the event a home seller lacks clear title
to a property, had $6 million in annual sales and was then the
No. 92 title insurer in the U.S. By March 2000, Foley had renamed the company Fidelity
National Financial Inc. and had made it the No. 1 mortgage title
insurer after acquiring archrival Chicago Title Corp. for $1.1
billion. The following year, Foley launched a subsidiary called
Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) that sold data-
management software to mortgage companies. He catapulted the
venture into a market leader in 2003 with the $1 billion
purchase of the financial services arm of Alltel Corp., which
serviced almost half of the home loans in the U.S. Housing Crash In 2006, he spun it off in an offering that created $7.6
billion in market capitalization. The total value of Foley’s
stakes in both his companies soared to $454 million in 2007. As subprime mortgages started defaulting en masse, Foley
stepped down as chief executive officer of Fidelity National
Financial in May 2007. He gave up day-to-day management just as
the firm’s fortunes were undermined by the housing crash: Net
income at the company slid to $130 million in 2007 from a peak
of $964 million in 2005, and in 2008 the company lost $179
million. Foley, who remains chairman, says that after 23 years
in title insurance, he wanted to spend more time playing golf
and tending to his vineyards. Rather than ease into semiretirement, Foley had to overcome
distribution problems at his fledgling wine business. Two years
after setting up Lincourt in 1996, Foley bought a 460-acre
Thoroughbred ranch nearby and planted it with pinot noir and
chardonnay grapes. He dubbed it Foley Estates. He says both
wineries, in which he’d invested $18 million, were headed for
disaster as unsold inventory piled up. Elegant and Complex “I wanted to learn how you make wine, and I’d sunk all this
money into it,” Foley says. “And I’m like, ‘God, I have to do
something. I’ve got 20,000 cases of wine from last year, and
this year I’m going to have another 25,000, and I’m selling
2,000?’ It was hilarious.” Determined to make inroads with distributors, Foley bought
Firestone Vineyard, which produced 140,000 cases a year in Santa
Ynez Valley. The next year, he acquired Sebastiani, a 109-year-
old winery that epitomizes California’s Italian winemaking roots
and cranks out 250,000 cases a year. In early 2010, Foley cast his eye on Chalk Hill. Cobbled
together from 13 parcels over 38 years by San Francisco
plaintiff lawyer Fred Furth, it emerged as a premier label that
delivered elegant and complex wines for about $50 and up. By the time Foley arrived, its high-alcohol reds and whites
had lost suppleness and cachet and were no longer selling like
those of Frog’s Leap, Cakebread Cellars and other peers, says
Kerrin Laz, wine director at Dean & DeLuca Inc. , a chain of
gourmet grocery emporiums based in New York. Grey Fungus “All those wines still maintained relevance,” she says.
“Chalk Hill did not.” During harvest in early fall, Foley saw how difficult his
new career could be when unseasonal rains drenched Sonoma just
as the grapes were reaching peak ripeness. The moisture caused a
countywide outbreak of botrytis, a gray fungus that spoils
grapes, and Chalk Hill lost about half of its chardonnay crop.
The development raises concerns about the 2011 vintage’s volume. “If you run out of product and lose shelf space, somebody
else will get that slot,” says Mark Lingenfelder, Chalk Hill’s
vineyard manager. Foley takes the news in stride as he visits with guests of
the estate on an October afternoon. He says the Chalk Hill brand
possesses prestige to build on, and thanks to his deals, he’s
finally getting his labels onto the shelves of mass-market
retailers such as BevMo Inc., a 114-store chain in California
and Arizona . Apples and Nectarines A glass of Chalk Hill’s 2009 chardonnay is placed in front
of Foley. The scent of apples and nectarines wafts from the
wine. One of his guests compliments the estate’s Olympic-sized
equestrian ring and asks whether Foley rides horses. He shakes
his head and says he’s a cyclist. “I was thinking of going this afternoon,” Foley says,
swirling his wine. “But now I’m going to drink this chardonnay.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Edward Robinson in San Francisco at
[email protected] ;
Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Laura Colby in New York at
[email protected] ;
Reg Gale at
[email protected] | 2012 | wine-turns-mortgage-title-mogul-into-entrepreneur-of-viticulture |
Canada January Consumer Price Index Report (Text) | By Ilan Kolet | 2012-02-17T12:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/canada-january-consumer-price-index-report-text-.html | 2 | 17 | 20d7ecb02a914f3db917c1cc4f0539f4 | The following is the text of
Canada's consumer price index report for January released
by Statistics Canada. Consumer prices rose 2.5% in the 12 months to January,
led by increases for food and energy. The January rise
followed a 2.3% increase in December. The 12-month change in the CPI and the CPI excluding food
and energy Food prices rose 4.2% on a year-over-year basis in
January following a 4.4% increase in December. In January,
consumers paid 4.9% more for food purchased from stores
and 2.8% more for food purchased from restaurants compared
with January 2011. The cost of energy advanced 6.5% in the 12 months to
January, after rising 6.0% in December. Gasoline prices
increased 6.8% in January. The electricity index rose
7.3%, with notable increases recorded in Alberta and Nova
Scotia . Prices for fuel oil went up 17.1% while natural
gas prices fell 0.7%. Excluding food and energy, consumer prices increased
1.6% in the 12 months to January after rising 1.3% in
December. The 0.3 percentage point difference was led by
higher prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles. 12-month change: Prices up in seven of the eight major
components On a year-over-year basis, prices rose in seven of the
eight major components in January, the exception being
recreation, education and reading. Transportation and food
continued to post the largest increases. Transportation and food continue to post largest price
increases The cost of transportation went up 3.7% in the 12
months to January, after gaining 3.3% in December. In
addition to gasoline, prices increased for passenger
vehicle insurance premiums (+3.4%) and for the purchase of
passenger vehicles (+1.4%). Prices for air transportation
also went up. Food prices rose 4.2% on a year-over-year basis in
January led by increases for food purchased from stores.
Consumers paid more for meat (+6.5%), bread (+9.9%) and
fresh vegetables (+8.3%). Shelter costs went up 2.1% in the 12 months to January,
following a 1.8% increase posted in December. In addition
to electricity and fuel oil , consumers also paid more in
homeowners' replacement costs. Conversely, mortgage
interest cost decreased 0.4% in January after falling 0.7%
the month before. On a year-over-year basis, prices for recreation,
education and reading declined 0.1% in January as
consumers paid less for video equipment and travel tours. Provinces: Prices up in all provinces Consumer prices rose in every province in the 12 months
to January. New Brunswick (+3.2%) posted the largest
increase while British Columbia (+1.7%) recorded the
smallest gain. Prices rise in every province Prices in Quebec rose 2.8% on a year-over-year basis in
January, after increasing 2.5% in December. Gasoline
prices went up 11.4% following a 9.9% gain in December.
Quebec consumers also paid more for food purchased from
restaurants and for fuel oil. In January, prices in Quebec
were affected by a one percentage point increase in the
provincial sales tax . In Alberta , prices increased 2.9% in the 12 months to
January, matching the rise in December. The province
continued to experience notable price increases for
electricity. Conversely, of all the provinces, Alberta
posted the smallest year-over-year gain for gasoline
(+0.4%) in January. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums
also went up. Seasonally adjusted monthly Consumer Price Index increases On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices
increased 0.5% from December to January after decreasing
0.2% from November to December. The transportation index
rose 1.3% in January following a 1.2% decline the month
before. Seasonally adjusted monthly Consumer Price Index advances The shelter index rose 0.2% after rising 0.4% in
December. The indexes for food, household operations,
furnishings and equipment, and alcoholic beverages and
tobacco products also rose in January. Bank of Canada's core index The Bank of Canada 's core index rose 2.1% in the 12
months to January, after increasing 1.9% in December.
Notable increases were recorded for electricity, food
purchased from restaurants and homeowners' replacement
costs. The seasonally adjusted monthly core index rose 0.3% in
January after falling 0.1% in December. Note to readers The special aggregate "Energy" includes electricity;
natural gas; fuel oil and other fuels; gasoline; and fuel,
parts and supplies for recreational vehicles. The Bank of Canada's core index excludes eight of the
Consumer Price Index 's (CPI's) most volatile components
(fruit, fruit preparations and nuts; vegetables and
vegetable preparations; mortgage interest cost; natural
gas; fuel oil and other fuels; gasoline; inter-city
transportation; and tobacco products and smokers'
supplies) as well as the effects of changes in indirect
taxes on the remaining components. Statistics Canada is moving to one release time, 8:30
a.m., for all data releases in The Daily. This will mean a
change in the release time for the CPI, which is currently
7:00 a.m. This change will be implemented with the release
of CPI data on April 20, 2012. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ilan Kolet in Ottawa at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Marco Babic at [email protected] | 2012 | canada-january-consumer-price-index-report-text- |
N.Y. Gasoline Weakens as Winter Fuel Inventory Selloff Starts | By Paul Burkhardt | 2012-02-17T21:40:31Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/n-y-gasoline-weakens-as-winter-fuel-inventory-selloff-starts.html | 2 | 17 | 054adccac7401c86a4eda57a73bfa0de8b931aa0 | New York gasoline weakened as
inventories of the winter blend of the fuel are sold to make
room in storage tanks for summer grade. The discount for conventional, 87-octane gasoline in New
York Harbor (MOSNY87P) widened 1.38 cents to 0.38 cent a gallon versus
futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:46 p.m.,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prompt delivery fell
4.52 cents to $3.0119 a gallon. “There is a lot of winter-grade gasoline in inventory that
has to be liquidated by the middle of April,” Andy Lipow ,
president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston, said by phone. The same fuel in the Gulf Coast (MOSGC87P) narrowed its discount 0.38
cent to 2.5 cents a gallon versus futures. Marathon Petroleum Co. experienced an upset in Unit 15 at
the Garyville refinery in Louisiana yesterday that resulted in a
release of sulfur dioxide, according to the state Department of
Environmental Quality. The upset at the 460,000-barrel-a-day plant began at 6 a.m.
and lasted 45 minutes, Tim Beckstrom, a department spokesman,
said in an e-mail. Chicago (CHCG87PC) gasoline strengthened 12.5 cents to a discount of
40.5 cents a gallon. The fuel has rebounded since dropping to
the lowest level since at least 1996 on Feb. 15. The same fuel in the Midwest (GRP3G387) , or Group 3, narrowed its
discount 1.63 cents to 12.5 cents a gallon. To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Burkhardt in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
[email protected] . | 2012 | n-y-gasoline-weakens-as-winter-fuel-inventory-selloff-starts |
Baht Gains on Fund Inflows to Stocks, Bonds Amid Greece Optimism | By Yumi Teso | 2012-02-17T02:05:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/baht-gains-on-fund-inflows-to-stocks-bonds-amid-greece-optimism.html | 2 | 17 | e587bc93f7c950e209fb08b7990303f05a4c20a0 | Thailand ’s baht advanced as global
investors pumped money into local assets on the nation’s growth
outlook and as increasing optimism Greece will secure a second
bailout encouraged risk-taking. The currency was poised for a weekly gain after foreign
funds purchased $155 million more Thai equities than they sold
this week through yesterday and bought a net $965 million of
government debt, data from the stock exchange and the Thai Bond
Market Association show. European governments considered cutting
rates on emergency loans to Greece and using contributions from
the European Central Bank to plug a new financing gap in the
second bailout, two people familiar with the talks said. “Basically, Europe won’t let Greece default and will
probably provide a second bailout,” said Shigehisa Shiroki,
chief trader on the Asian and emerging-markets team at Mizuho
Corporate Bank Ltd. in Tokyo . “Funds will continue to flow into
Asia and the regional currencies will remain on a gradual
appreciation trend.” The baht climbed 0.2 percent to 30.82 per dollar as of 8:36
a.m. in Bangkok, taking its weekly advance to 0.1 percent,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency may
strengthen toward 30 by the end of March, Shiroki said. Thailand’s economy will expand 4.9 percent this year,
compared with a previous prediction of 4.8 percent, the central
bank said on Feb. 3. The monetary authority cut its growth
estimate for 2011 to 1 percent from 1.8 percent the same day.
Official data for 2011 growth is due on Feb. 20, and the median
estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg is for an expansion
of 1.1 percent. The yield on the 3.25 percent notes due June 2017 was
steady at 3.21 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The rate increased five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point,
this week. To contact the reporter on this story:
Yumi Teso in Bangkok at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Regan at
[email protected] | 2012 | baht-gains-on-fund-inflows-to-stocks-bonds-amid-greece-optimis |
Telefonica Said Poised to Pick Alcatel on Spanish Network | By Manuel Baigorri and Marie Mawad | 2012-02-17T17:59:18Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/telefonica-said-poised-to-choose-alcatel-for-high-speed-wireless-network.html | 2 | 17 | 9416b99b53a805a69f3d998198178a4aa5a91871 | Telefonica SA (TEF) , Spain’s biggest phone
company, is poised to award Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) an order to build a
nationwide high-speed wireless network as it seeks to win back
customers of data-hungry devices lost to rival operators, two
people with knowledge of the matter said. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) , France’s largest phone-equipment maker, is
the front runner to supply gear for the network based on the so-
called long-term evolution technology, said the people, asking
not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.
Telefonica plans to unveil details on its network strategy later
this month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the
people said. Alcatel-Lucent jumped 5.1 percent to the highest price in
more than three months. Telefonica may need to spend
about 300 million euros ($394 million) to build the LTE network
to cover about 65 percent of the Spanish market, based on the
amount Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) invested in Germany, according to
Robin Bienenstock , an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein in London .
Madrid-based Telefonica is seeking to bolster its Internet
offerings as competition increases in a weakening home market
amid the debt crisis. “LTE will be important, especially in rural areas” where
download speeds may be limited to about 2 megabits per second,
Bienenstock said. “In the absence of significant cable
coverage, Telefonica’s wireline customers are threatened by
faster speeds available through LTE, hence the company has to
build LTE to prevent further revenue declines in these areas.” Trial Networks A Telefonica spokesman declined to comment, as did a
spokesman for Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent rose 9.1 cents to 1.87 euros in Paris, the
highest level since Nov. 3. The stock has gained 55 percent this
year, valuing the company at 4.3 billion euros. Telefonica
climbed 1.4 percent to 13.05 euros in Madrid , snapping two days
of losses. In September , Telefonica announced that Alcatel would help
set up test LTE networks in Madrid and Barcelona for businesses
and institutions. The plan was to extend high-speed services to
all segments in the market from companies to consumers. At the end of September, Telefonica had 24.1 million
wireless customers in Spain, a market with a wireless
penetration rate of 129 percent, according to the company.
Telefonica competes with Vodafone Group Plc and France Telecom
SA’s local units as well as TeliaSonera AB’s Yoigo division. During the first phase of the trial networks, Alcatel-
Lucent (ALU) provided network infrastructure and China ’s Huawei
Technologies Co. supplied USB modems. Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Alcatel-Lucent is pushing fourth-generation wireless
technologies to compete with Ericsson AB and Nokia Siemens
Networks. The French gear maker was selected by AT&T Inc. (T) and
Verizon (VZ) Wireless to deploy next generation networks in the U.S. The company held a 30 percent share of the 4G equipment
market at the end of September, according to data compiled by
researcher Dell’Oro Group. It trails Ericsson, whose share is
estimated at 44 percent. Alcatel-Lucent is involved in 70 LTE deployment trials
worldwide, according to its website, including with China
Mobile. To contact the reporters on this story:
Manuel Baigorri in Madrid at
[email protected] ;
Marie Mawad in Paris at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Kenneth Wong at
[email protected] | 2012 | elefonica-said-poised-to-choose-alcatel-for-high-speed-wireless-network |
Geithner Should Be Ordered to Testify in JPMorgan Suit, Lehman Says | By Linda Sandler | 2012-02-17T20:27:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/geithner-should-be-ordered-to-testify-in-jpmorgan-suit-lehman-says.html | 2 | 17 | 4a5752c5f24041d682cb71cc14657e84 | U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should to be ordered to give a deposition in Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) ’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. ,
which alleged the bank siphoned $8.6 billion out of Lehman in
the 2008 credit crisis, helping to cause its collapse, the
defunct firm and its creditors said. Lehman has a March 16 deadline for completing its fact
finding in the case, after interviewing more than 200 witnesses,
creditors said in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington .
Lehman is asking a federal judge to order Geithner to be
interviewed by lawyers for the firm and its creditors. The
Treasury Department “has for many months delayed and ultimately
refused to allow the testimony of Secretary Timothy F.
Geithner ,” which is key to the case, they said. The filing, e-mailed to Bloomberg, was confirmed by a
Lehman official who declined to be named. The filing was made in
person, the official said. It couldn’t be immediately confirmed
in court records. Geithner, at the time president of the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York, discussed the collateral JPMorgan was demanding for
its loans with Richard Fuld and James Dimon, Lehman’s and
JPMorgan’s chief executive officers, in the week before Lehman’s
bankruptcy, according to the filing. He also met with Dimon and
Henry Paulson , then Treasury Secretary, to discuss “concerns”
that Dimon was using the crisis to strengthen his bank at
Lehman’s expense, they said. Treasury Refusal The Treasury also has refused to let Paulson testify,
creditors said. They would address the refusal separately, they
said. Lehman’s official committee of creditors works closely
with the defunct firm on its plans and lawsuits, it has said. “Secretary Geithner has given public testimony about the
failure of Lehman Brothers on multiple occasions before Congress
and other government bodies,” said Anthony Coley, a Treasury
Department spokesman, in an e-mail. “In this particular matter,
Treasury and the Federal Reserve have cooperated extensively
with the plaintiffs. Treasury and the Fed have provided
thousands of pages of documents and arranged for depositions of
numerous other witnesses. We have also offered to provide a
written declaration from the Secretary in order to provide any
additional information that the parties are seeking. Given all
the available information, it is unclear why plaintiffs continue
to insist on unnecessary depositions of current and former
Treasury secretaries.” Joseph Evangelisti , a JPMorgan spokesman, didn’t
immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Lehman
creditors’ account of Dimon’s conversations with officials. Dispute Settled Lehman and JPMorgan this week got a judge’s approval to
settle a $699 million dispute, with the bank returning that
amount of the $8.6 billion to Lehman. In addition to the
lawsuit, they are fighting over $6.3 billion in claims that the
bank filed against the defunct firm. The biggest U.S. bank, which lent $70 billion to Lehman’s
brokerage around the time of the 2008 bankruptcy, sued Lehman
back after the $8.6 billion suit, alleging Lehman defrauded its
lender into making the loan. It has asked a judge to dismiss
Lehman’s suit. Lehman filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history in
2008, listing $613 billion in debt. The main case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08-
13555, U.S. Bankruptcy Court , Southern District of New York
(Manhattan). The lawsuit is Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. v.
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, 10-03266, U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story:
Linda Sandler in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Pickering at
[email protected] | 2012 | geithner-should-be-ordered-to-testify-in-jpmorgan-suit-lehman-says |
New York City Retains $151.6 Million in Homeland Security Terror Funding | By Henry Goldman | 2012-02-17T20:36:36Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/new-york-city-retains-151-6-million-in-homeland-security-terror-funding.html | 2 | 17 | ae21f7e1dd5b60abcb9809c355123da5f3ce0db6 | New York City has been designated to
receive $151.6 million this year from the U.S. Homeland Security
Department, permitting expansion of anti-terrorism surveillance
in lower Manhattan and Times Square. New York’s funding remained stable as most of the U.S.
received 42 percent less aid, after federal officials agreed to
earmark at least $100 million for areas considered at most risk,
U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
said today in a statement. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had counted on the funding in a
$68.7 billion preliminary budget he presented to the City
Council earlier this month. The 34,000-officer police department
operates on a $4.9 billion annual budget . “It’s a sound and sober decision and reflects the fact
that New York City remains the number one target for
terrorists,” Schumer said. In addition to building out a surveillance system near Wall
Street and in midtown Manhattan, the money will pay for
explosive detection equipment and for some of the 2,000
officers, including about a dozen overseas, assigned to counter-
terrorism, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a
statement . At least 14 terrorist plots have been exposed since the
World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, Kelly has
said. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News
parent Bloomberg LP. To contact the reporters on this story:
Henry Goldman in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Tannenbaum at [email protected] . | 2012 | new-york-city-retains-151-6-million-in-homeland-security-terror-funding |
Terrorism Suspect Is Arrested in FBI Sting Operation Near the U.S. Capitol | By Kathleen Hunter and Seth Stern | 2012-02-17T20:03:31Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/terrorism-suspect-is-arrested-in-fbi-sting-operation-near-the-u-s-capitol.html | 2 | 17 | 5f71ef9f3fac8a8152430a96d459b33ab92581ff | An undercover terrorism
investigation led to an arrest near the U.S. Capitol of a
suspect who sought to use explosives that had been made
“inoperable,” federal authorities said. The Capitol was the suspect’s intended target, according to
a federal law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to
speak publicly. “Explosives the suspect allegedly sought to use in
connection with the plot had been rendered inoperable by law
enforcement and posed no threat to the public,” Justice
Department spokesman Dean Boyd said in an e-mailed statement
today. Peter Carr , a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride in
Alexandria, Virginia , said in an e-mail the arrest resulted from
an undercover terrorism investigation during which the suspect
was “closely monitored by law enforcement.” The suspect is a man in his late 20s and a non-U.S. citizen
who was in this country illegally after overstaying his visa,
according to the federal law enforcement official. The individual was arrested “in the area of the U.S.
Capitol,” Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly A. Schneider said
in an e-mail, adding that Capitol Police worked closely with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation on “a lengthy and extensive
operation.” The suspect has been under surveillance since the beginning
of December after the FBI received information about views he
was expressing, the federal law enforcement official said. The
suspect was operating by himself and didn’t have ties to foreign
terror groups, though he believed he was operating with one
during the investigation, the official said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Kathleen Hunter in Washington at
[email protected] ;
Seth Stern in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Katherine Rizzo at
[email protected] | 2012 | errorism-suspect-is-arrested-in-fbi-sting-operation-near-the-u-s-capito |
Knicks-Hornets Tickets Triple in Price to $557 With Lin in Starting Lineup | By Mason Levinson | 2012-02-17T16:12:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/knicks-hornets-tickets-triple-in-price-on-lin.html | 2 | 17 | a554ffc797db5445529011dcefccca1576dec089 | The average ticket price to watch
the New York Knicks attempt to win their eighth straight game
tonight is $557 on the secondary market, tripling in price since
Jeremy Lin first joined the starting lineup less than two weeks
ago, according to TiqIQ. Tickets to the game at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan
against the New Orleans Hornets, with a 5-23 record, were
averaging $181 on Feb. 7, the day after Lin’s first start,
according to TiqIQ , an aggregator of the online resale market. The average ticket price for the Knicks’ next game, against
the defending-champion Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 19, is $769 on
the secondary market, according to TiqIQ. Lin, a 23-year-old Harvard University graduate who is the
first Taiwanese- or Chinese-American to play in the National
Basketball Association , was a little-used reserve who had been
cut by two teams before getting 25 points and seven assists in a
win over the New Jersey Nets on Feb. 4. He’s averaged 24.4
points and 9.1 assists during the streak, making him an
immediate team leader and an international sensation. The average Knicks’ home ticket price for the entire season
is now $282, which is 23 percent higher than the $230 average
price on Feb. 3, according to TiqIQ. The price of the Hornets
ticket has increased by 207 percent. If New York (15-15) beats the Hornets, it will be tied for
the 11th-longest win streak in franchise history. Victories over the Hornets and the Mavericks (19-11) would
give New York a nine-game winning streak, tied for the seventh-
longest in team history and the most since a 15-game run that
began on March 1, 1994. That season ended with a seven-game loss
to the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. To contact the reporter on this story:
Mason Levinson in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at [email protected] . | 2012 | knicks-hornets-tickets-triple-in-price-on-lin |
Mexico’s Sugar-Cane Harvest to Benefit From Rainfall, Group Says | By Isis Almeida | 2012-02-17T14:26:31Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/mexico-s-sugar-cane-harvest-to-benefit-from-rainfall-group-says.html | 2 | 17 | 80b8861f43f7b3bc5dcab1e73775d058b8c005c0 | Rains in sugar-cane growing areas of
Mexico will benefit the country’s next harvest after reducing
the sugar content in the raw material this season, the National
Union of Sugarcane Growers said. “The rains that are falling in the sugar-cane producing
states will benefit the cane that will be harvested next year,”
Carlos Blackaller, president of growers’ group, said in a
statement e-mailed yesterday. The sugar content in the cane
being harvested in the current 2011-12 season will decline
because of the rains, he added. Mexico, the world’s sixth-biggest sugar producer, cut its
official output estimate to 5.1 million metric tons this crop-
year from a previous forecast of 5.3 million tons, industry
committee Conadesuca said on Feb. 10. The country had processed
19.5 million tons of cane by Feb. 11 to make 2.3 million tons of
sugar, according to the industry group. To contact the reporter on this story:
Isis Almeida in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
[email protected] . | 2012 | exico-s-sugar-cane-harvest-to-benefit-from-rainfall-group-says |
Bristol Myers Squibb Gets Prosecutor’s Subpoena for Information on Abilify | By Phil Milford and Sarah Frier | 2012-02-17T16:04:26Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/bristol-myers-squibb-gets-prosecutor-s-subpoena-for-information-on-abilify.html | 2 | 17 | 8cdcdd60fb690ffc1336eb5fd057fe88488faba0 | Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) said it
received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney’s office in New York
asking for information about sales and marketing of its second-
best-selling drug, Abilify, used to treat schizophrenia and
other mood disorders. “It’s not possible at this time to assess the outcome of
this matter or its potential impact on the company,” the New
York-based firm said in a filing today with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. The subpoena was received last month. The Abilify antipsychotic drug generated $2.8 billion in
revenue in 2011, second after the blood thinner Plavix in the
company’s portfolio, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Abilify faces generic competition in 2013 and 2015 and Plavix
loses patent protection this year, the company has said. Shares of Bistol-Myers Squibb rose 62 cents or 1.9 percent
to $32.66 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 10:13
a.m. Laura Hortas, a company spokeswoman, declined to comment
on the subpoena beyond the company’s statement. To contact the reporters on this story:
Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware , at
[email protected] ;
Sarah Frier in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] . | 2012 | bristol-myers-squibb-gets-prosecutor-s-subpoena-for-information-on-abilify |
Visteon Said to Near Sale of Lighting Unit to Varroc Grou | By Mark Clothier and Jeffrey McCracken | 2012-02-17T21:13:32Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/visteon-said-to-be-nearing-sale-of-vehicle-lighting-unit-to-varroc-group.html | 2 | 17 | 5450b1ee33d44dd0a0afff2f14a7b1fc | Visteon Corp (VC) ., the auto-parts maker
shopping two of its four units, is in talks with India ’s Varroc
Group about a sale of its lighting unit, three people familiar
with the sales process said. A deal may come as early as the end of the month, two of
the people said, and the discussions could break down. The unit,
Visteon’s smallest, may fetch $75 million to $100 million, the
people said. Its net worth is $150 million, so Visteon would
have to take a noncash writedown related to the sale, said the
people, who declined to be identified because the talks are
private. The negotiations are part of management’s plan for Visteon,
which exited a 16-month bankruptcy in 2010, to pare lower-margin
revenue in interiors and lighting to focus on faster-growing
operations in Asia, five people familiar with the sales process
said in October. Varroc is an Aurangabad, India-based supplier of parts for
passenger and commercial vehicles and motorcycles. Its customers
include Honda Motor Co., Yamaha Motor Co., Fiat SpA (F) , General
Motors Co. (GM) , Caterpillar Inc. and Visteon, according to its
website . Visteon’s lighting unit, which had $456 million in
consolidated revenue in 2010, is the sixth-largest in a $9.5
billion market. About 81 percent of the revenue comes from North
America and Europe, the company said in a July presentation. The
unit’s gross margin, which measures gross profit as a percentage
of revenue, is 2.6 percent, according to the presentation. Interiors Deal Jim Fisher , a spokesman for Visteon, declined to comment on
the company’s plans. Tarang Jain, managing director of Varroc,
reached on his cellphone, didn’t provide a comment. Visteon began simplifying its corporate structure in
November when it signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding
to sell most of its interiors unit to Yanfeng Visteon, the
Chinese joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. (600104) SAIC has right of
first refusal on the sale of Visteon’s stake, two of the five
people said in October. Rothschild is representing Visteon in its effort to sell
the two divisions, the people said in October. Chief Executive
Officer Don Stebbins hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and
Rothschild for advice for a strategic review, the company said
Oct. 17. Independent Directors The company rose 2.3 percent to $55.43 at the close in New
York. Visteon, which peaked at $75.75 in February 2011, gained
11 percent this year. Independent board members such as Harry Wilson and Tim Leuliette pressed Stebbins to interview banks such as Goldman,
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) to help streamline a
company with most of its value in joint ventures or stakes in
overseas businesses, two people familiar with the process said
in October. Visteon, based in Van Buren Township, Michigan, also plans
to buy the remaining 30 percent of Halla Climate Control Corp. (018880) ,
a publicly traded Daejeon, South Korea-based maker of vehicle
air conditioners and heaters, the five people said in October. The company’s market capitalization, $2.86 billion, has
been less than the value of its stakes in Halla and Shanghai-
based Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems Co., the venture
with SAIC, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ford Spinoff Visteon now has a third the revenue it had in 2000, when it
spun off from Ford Motor Co. (F) as a standalone company. Originally
dependent on the North American market, in 2010 Visteon said it
got 40 percent of its sales from Asia (VC) and 36 percent from
Europe. It counts Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) , based in Seoul, among its
biggest customers. Including results from unconsolidated joint
ventures, Visteon gets 56 percent of its sales from Asia. The units being sold are less profitable than Visteon as a
whole, which reported a 10.2 percent gross margin in 2010, the
company said in a July investor presentation. Visteon’s interiors business, with $2.16 billion in revenue
in 2010, trails only Faurecia (EO) SA in the $43 billion global
market. Visteon forecasts its market share to grow to 7 percent
by 2014 and the total market to expand to $52 billion. The
company’s target is to boost the unit’s gross margin to at least
8 percent by 2014 from 6 percent in 2010. To contact the reporters on this story:
Mark Clothier in Southfield, Michigan, at
[email protected] ;
Jeffrey McCracken in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Jamie Butters at
[email protected] ;
Jennifer Sondag at
[email protected] | 2012 | visteon-said-to-be-nearing-sale-of-vehicle-lighting-unit-to-varroc-group |
Industrial Alliance Falls After Quarterly Loss: Toronto Mover | By Sean B. Pasternak | 2012-02-17T18:20:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/industrial-alliance-insurance-slumps-after-quarterly-loss-toronto-mover.html | 2 | 17 | 7425cfa99d2e2bf3fc82ff80e3bb1ab31cdc1bb1 | Industrial Alliance Insurance and
Financial Services Inc., Canada ’s fourth-largest life insurer,
fell the most in three months after reporting a fourth-quarter
loss . Industrial Alliance slipped as much as 5.7 percent to C$25,
its biggest one-day drop since Nov. 3. It declined 2.7 percent
to C$25.79 as of 1 p.m. in Toronto trading. The insurer reported today a net loss of C$81.2 million
($81.4 million), or 90 cents a share, compared with year-earlier
profit of C$74.1 million, or 84 cents. The Quebec City, Quebec-
based company boosted reserves by C$152.3 million to protect
against a drop in interest rates. “Our year-end results reflect the extremely challenging
environment in 2011,” Chief Executive Officer Yvon Charest said
in a statement. Industrial Alliance said it expects earn C$2.50 to C$3.10 a
share in 2012. That compares with a C$3.09 average estimate of
10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. To contact the reporter on this story:
Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at
[email protected] . To contact the editors responsible for this story:
David Scanlan at [email protected] ;
David Scheer at [email protected] . | 2012 | industrial-alliance-insurance-slumps-after-quarterly-loss-toronto-mover |
Swiss Stocks Climb to Seven-Month High on Greek Bailout Optimism | By Corinne Gretler | 2012-02-17T16:53:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/swiss-stocks-rise-for-a-third-day-as-ubs-credit-suisse-holcim-increase.html | 2 | 17 | 7186b7d74d7e43f3aba79680a8b707bd | Swiss stocks rose to a seven-month
high, led by rallies in Holcim Ltd. (HOLN) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) ,
amid optimism that Greece will receive a second bailout, even as
health-care companies declined. Holcim, the world’s second-biggest cement maker, jumped to
its highest price in seven months. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s
second-largest lender, rose 2.9 percent, following European
banks higher. Nestle SA (NESN) , the world’s largest food company, added
0.5 percent. Roche Holding AG (ROG) slipped 0.4 percent and Synthes
Inc. dropped 0.2 percent. The Swiss Market Index (SMI) , a measure of Switzerland’s biggest
and most actively traded companies, added 0.3 percent to
6,237.69 at the close in Zurich, the highest level since July.
The gauge posted a 1.8 percent weekly gain and has rallied 5.1
percent this year as the European Central Bank moved to lend
more to banks and U.S. economic reports topped forecasts. The
broader Swiss Performance Index increased 0.4 percent. “Markets are confident that Greece will finally receive
the second bailout package and reach a haircut deal,” said
Alessandro Fezzi, senior market analyst at LGT Capital
Management AG in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. “However, markets
don’t react to bad news the way they used to in 2011, so even if
we see a further delay to the deal, it probably won’t provoke a
panic reaction.” Germany wants euro-area finance ministers to avoid
splitting the 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout for Greece
from the planned bond swap with private creditors, officials
from Europe ’s largest economy said in a briefing to their
country’s lawmakers. The finance chiefs of the 17 nations using
the single currency meet on Feb. 20 in Brussels. Bailout Approval As long as Greece meets conditions for the aid, the finance
chiefs will probably approve the package along with the debt
exchange, three German officials involved in the telephone
briefing said yesterday. A Finance Ministry spokesman declined
to comment. In the U.S., a Labor Department report showed that the cost
of living rose less than forecast in January, advancing 0.2
percent after no change the prior month. Economists in a
Bloomberg survey had projected a 0.3 percent gain. Holcim jumped 4.6 percent to 58.60 Swiss francs, its
highest price since July, after peer Lafarge SA, the world’s
largest cement maker, reported operating income that beat
estimates. Bank Rally A gauge of European banks advanced 1.5 percent. Credit
Suisse rose 2.9 percent to 24.55 francs. Swiss Life Holding AG (SLHN) ,
the country’s biggest life insurer, increased 2 percent to
102.30 francs and Baloise Holding AG gained 1.9 percent to 74.15
francs. Julius Baer Group Ltd. (BAER) dropped 2.8 percent to 37.30 francs,
while Vontobel Holding AG (VONN) , the Swiss bank and brokerage that
specializes in derivatives, fell 4.9 percent to 24.50 francs.
The stock fell the most in more than three years yesterday as
profit declined and it cut its dividend. Nestle added 0.5 percent to 55.85 francs, extending
yesterday’s gains. Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at
Vontobel Holding AG, raised his price estimate for the stock to
58 francs from 55 francs. Health-care companies led decliners, with Roche, the
world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, retreating 0.4 percent to
161.80 francs and Synthes Inc. (SYST) dropping 0.2 percent to 157.40
francs. Transocean Ltd., the biggest operator of offshore drilling
rigs, climbed 2.1 percent to 45.92 francs as crude oil headed
for the largest weekly gain this year. To contact the reporter on this story:
Corinne Gretler in Zurich at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew Rummer at
[email protected] | 2012 | swiss-stocks-rise-for-a-third-day-as-ubs-credit-suisse-holcim-increase |
Canada Housing Heads for Severe Correction on Investment: Chart of the Day | By Doug Alexander and Ilan Kolet | 2012-02-17T11:30:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/canada-housing-poised-for-severe-drop.html | 2 | 17 | 5df48ff46ceb9c0f18cc6b3b73b97a1f91c6cea1 | Canada may be on the cusp of a
“severe” housing correction as real estate investment surges
above a tipping point relative to economic output, according to
George Athanassakos, professor of finance at the Richard Ivey
School of Business. The CHART OF THE DAY shows Canada’s housing investment as a
percentage of gross domestic product, and the declines in
inflation-adjusted house prices that follow when this ratio tops
7 percent. “Eventually, everything boils down to demand and supply,”
Athanassakos said in a telephone interview from Western
University in London, Ontario. “Whenever this ratio goes over 7
percent, it signifies overinvestment in housing and two or three
years later, we have a severe correction.” Canada’s housing market is booming as historically-low
interest rates fuel purchases, driving up home prices and adding
to record household debt . Canada’s ratio of housing investment
to GDP has averaged 5.8 percent over the last 50 years and is
currently at about 7 percent, based on Statistics Canada figures
as of the third quarter of 2011, Athanassakos said. Housing
investment includes spending on new homes, renovations and real
estate transaction fees. U.S. housing prices plunged by a third between the peak in
July 2006 and November 2011, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller
Composite-20 Home Price Index. By comparison, Canadian housing
prices rose 30 percent in the same period, according to the
Canadian Real Estate Association . “We have experienced bubbles and busts before in Canada,
it’s nothing new,” Athanassakos said. “I don’t know why this
time would be different.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Doug Alexander in Toronto at
[email protected] ;
Ilan Kolet in Ottawa at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alexandre Tanzi at
[email protected] | 2012 | canada-housing-poised-for-severe-drop |
Cattle Extend Rally to Record on Tight Beef Supply; Hogs Gain | By Elizabeth Campbell | 2012-02-17T19:59:44Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/cattle-futures-extend-rally-to-record.html | 2 | 17 | d9c9830b9a234c12908f67d8a811bb41 | Cattle futures rose to an all-time
high for the 10th time this year as rising demand for U.S. beef
tightens supply and increases costs for restaurants including
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) Feeder cattle also reached a record
and hogs gained. The U.S. cattle herd as of Jan. 1 was the smallest for that
date since 1952, and beef exports surged 21 percent in 2011,
government data show. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
forecast a 4.1 percent drop in beef output in 2012, boosting the
cost of the meat for consumers by as much as 5 percent this
year, more than any other food group except seafood. Global food prices in January rose by the most in 11
months, according to the United Nations . Retail beef last month
was the most expensive ever, and wholesale prices through midday
are up 14 percent in the past year, boosting costs for retailers
including Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) , the Austin, Texas-based owner
of specialty supermarkets, and Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (RUTH) ,
operator of upscale steakhouses. “Everyone wants to be bullish on cattle just because of
the lower supplies,” Chad Henderson , a market analyst at Prime
Agricultural Consultants Inc. in Brookfield, Wisconsin , said in
a telephone interview. “That’s where all the bullish enthusiasm
comes from.” Cattle futures for April delivery rose 1 percent to close
at $1.309 a pound at 1 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange,
after reaching $1.31275, the highest for a most-active contract
since the commodity started trading on the CME in 1964. The
price, up 3.2 percent this week, has gained 7.8 percent in 2012. Feeder-cattle futures for March settlement gained 1 percent
to $1.58425 a pound in Chicago , after reaching a record $1.5905.
Feedlots buy year-old animals that weigh 500 pounds (227
kilograms) to 800 pounds, called feeders. The cattle are
fattened on corn for about four to five months until they weigh
about 1,200 pounds, when they are sold to meatpackers. ‘Especially challenging’ Meatpackers have processed about 607,000 head of cattle
this week, down 4.7 percent from the same period a year earlier,
according to government data. At midday, wholesale beef was
little changed at $1.9022 a pound, the highest since Jan. 5,
USDA data show. Ruth’s Hospitality, based in Heathrow, Florida , projects
beef inflation ranging from 5 percent to 8 percent this year,
Chief Financial Officer Arne Haak said during an earnings
conference call on Feb. 10. Whole Foods has had “sharp cost
increases” in the meat, Co-Chief Executive Officer Walter Robb
said on an earnings conference call on Feb. 8. “Beef costs will be especially challenging due to
protracted supply shortages, despite recent reductions in grain
prices,” John Hartung, the chief financial officer of Chipotle,
said on an earnings conference call on Feb. 1. Hog futures for April settlement rose 0.2 percent to close
at 90.375 cents a pound in Chicago. The commodity has gained 7.2
percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story:
Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
[email protected] | 2012 | cattle-futures-extend-rally-to-record |
China Soybean Accords Total 13.4 Million Tons, Export Group Says | By Whitney McFerron | 2012-02-17T18:23:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/china-soybean-accords-total-13-4-million-tons-export-group-says.html | 2 | 17 | a2c602e23e414d8a37c843d6899c0efc56b5b819 | China , the world’s largest soybean
importer, agreed to buy a total of 13.4 million tons (492.3
million bushels) of the oilseed in contracts signed this week in
Iowa and California, the U.S. Soybean Export Council said. The 21 contracts, signed with U.S. companies including
Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc., coincided with
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to Des Moines and Los
Angeles, the Council said in an e-mailed statement . The sales
are valued at $6.7 billion, according to the statement. To contact the reporter on this story:
Whitney McFerron in Chicago at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-soybean-accords-total-13-4-million-tons-export-group-says |
Clariant Sees Debt Reduction as High Priority, CEO Tells Finanz | By Giles Broom | 2012-02-17T17:38:04Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/clariant-sees-debt-reduction-as-high-priority-ceo-tells-finanz.html | 2 | 17 | 86f76559e426cc013edc997c1493dfbd33df9339 | Reducing debt is one of the highest
priorities for Clariant AG (CLN) , Finanz & Wirtschaft reported, citing
Chief Executive Officer Hariolf Kottmann in an interview to be
published tomorrow. Clariant doesn’t have to sell any parts of the business in
order to cope with current debt levels, Kottmann said, according
to the Swiss newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story:
Giles Broom in Geneva at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at
[email protected] | 2012 | clariant-sees-debt-reduction-as-high-priority-ceo-tells-finanz |
Spain Lending Shrinks at Record Pace as Defaults Rise | By Charles Penty | 2012-02-17T12:53:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/spain-s-record-lending-decline-accelerates-as-defaults-increase.html | 2 | 17 | 1d3129278b25d2210886616262480e21b6530dfe | Spanish banks reduced lending at a
record pace and defaults mounted as the country’s recession and
rising unemployment took a toll on their ability to make loans
to solvent borrowers. Lending fell by 3.3 percent in December from a year before,
the biggest drop since Bank of Spain records started half a
century ago, the regulator said on its website today. Bad loans
as a proportion of total loans rose to 7.61 percent from 7.52
percent in November as borrowing considered “doubtful” jumped
to 136 billion euros ($179 billion) from about 11 billion euros
five years ago, before Spain’s property crash. The prospect of a protracted recession in Spain is curbing
the appetite for loans and making banks more cautious about
lending. The economy may shrink 1.5 percent this year, according
to central bank forecasts, while unemployment stands at 23
percent. Exane BNP Paribas predicts an economic contraction
could stretch through 2013. “You have a credit crunch in Spain,” said Gilles Moec ,
co-chief European economist at Deutsche Bank AG in London .
“It’s another reason for recession this year.” The new government of Mariano Rajoy announced on Feb. 2
plans to force lenders to take their share of about 50 billion
euros in provisions and capital charges for real estate as a
step toward freeing up lending in the economy. Banks piled up apartments and building land on their
balance sheets as loans to property developers and mortgage
borrowers soured during the crash. The government is talking to
banks to try to reduce the number of people evicted from their
homes for failing to pay their mortgages, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in an interview with state radio RNE late
yesterday. Deposits gathered by Spanish lenders declined 4.6 percent
from a year earlier, the Bank of Spain said. Deposits increased
0.5 percent from November, the regulator said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Charles Penty in Madrid at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at
[email protected] | 2012 | spain-s-record-lending-decline-accelerates-as-defaults-increase |
Televisa Net Falls 17% on Partner Payouts for Cable, Satellite Expansion | By Crayton Harrison | 2012-02-17T21:25:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/televisa-net-falls-17-on-partner-payouts-for-cable-satellite-expansion.html | 2 | 17 | 0fe8906e1389e3c5afdd4c653453d8996c956b82 | Grupo Televisa SAB (TLEVICPO) , the world’s
largest Spanish-language broadcaster, said fourth-quarter profit
fell 17 percent as growth in its pay-TV divisions led to bigger
payouts to partners. Net income declined to 2.17 billion pesos ($169 million)
from 2.62 billion pesos a year earlier, Mexico City-based
Televisa said yesterday in a filing. Sales rose 11 percent to
18.3 billion pesos, beating the 17.9 billion peso average
estimate of five analysts polled by Bloomberg. Televisa is using promotions such as free calls to wireless
phones to recruit more cable customers from America Movil SAB (AMXL) ,
the phone company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim . The
three cable carriers controlled by Televisa added 61,000 TV
subscribers, 92,000 Internet users and 40,000 voice plans. Televisa gained 2 percent to 54.2 pesos at the close in
Mexico City. The shares have dropped 6.7 percent in the past
12 months. Even as the company offered promotions to lure customers,
profit margins were little changed in the satellite business
and expanded in the cable unit, helping push operating profit up
16 percent. The pay-TV growth also cut into net income, since Televisa
has to pay out a portion of its profits to DirecTV, which owns
42 percent of its satellite business, and to Grupo Multimedios,
which owns half of its TVI cable unit. Higher Payouts Payouts to such partners rose to 385 million pesos from
94 million pesos a year earlier. A weaker peso and higher
interest payments also hurt net income, pushing financing costs
up 54 percent to 1.08 billion pesos. Sales in the broadcast division, Televisa’s largest unit,
climbed 5.1 percent from a year earlier. Sales of advance
advertising for 2012 rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier,
Executive Vice President Alfonso de Angoitia said today on a
conference call. The content business, which includes advertising, cable
network subscriptions and syndication, will expand 6 percent
to 7 percent this year, with an operating profit margin of
47 percent, little changed from 2011, he said. Televisa’s satellite-TV unit added 184,000 subscribers for
a total of 4 million in 2011. This year, sales will expand at
a rate in the mid-single-digit percentage points, down from
11 percent in 2011, de Angoitia said. Capital Expenses Capital expenses will reach $850 million, including
$475 million for the cable unit, $250 million for satellite
and $125 million for programming, he said. Losses in two companies in which Televisa has stakes, U.S.
broadcaster Univision Communications Inc. (UVN) and Spanish TV network
Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta SA, cut into net
income. Those units combined for 131 million pesos in losses, up
from 23.7 million pesos a year earlier. Royalties from Univision, which licenses Televisa’s
programming, will climb 8.9 percent to $245 million this year,
de Angoitia said. Income taxes more than doubled last year to 1.4 billion
pesos as the company’s tax rate increased from 2010. To contact the reporter on this story:
Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Ville Heiskanen at
[email protected] | 2012 | elevisa-net-falls-17-on-partner-payouts-for-cable-satellite-expansion |
Soybean Forecast to Rise on China Import Demand; Corn, Wheat May Gain | By Whitney McFerron | 2012-02-17T14:55:44Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/soybean-forecast-to-rise-on-china-import-demand-corn-wheat-may-gain.html
What follows are opening calls for
U.S. grain and oilseed markets. | 2 | 17 | d392f3f5595370d2db1ae30003ca31f14c145400 | the CBOT, the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis
Grain Exchange after U.S. exporters boosted sales to Egypt
yesterday and unknown buyers today, Roose said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Whitney McFerron in Chicago at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
[email protected] | 2012 | soybean-forecast-to-rise-on-china-import-demand-corn-wheat-may-gain |
Canadian Natural Gas Advances on Production, Spending Cuts | By Gene Laverty | 2012-02-17T20:29:43Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/canadian-natural-gas-advances-on-production-spending-cuts.html | 2 | 17 | e9f16288c58f4a0e9498d014ed95b506 | Canadian natural gas rose after
EnCana (ECA) Corp., the nation’s biggest producer of the fuel, said it
would cut production. Alberta gas gained 4.5 percent. Calgary-based EnCana said
it will reduce North American output by as much as 600 million
cubic feet a day. Talisman Energy Inc., another large Canadian
producer, said Feb. 15 it would cut spending on exploration by
about $500 million this year and U.S. inventories fell last week
by more than analysts expected. “We’re seeing different folks saying they’re going to cut
production and capital expenses,” said Kyle Cooper, director of
research at IAF Advisors in Houston. “The temperature-adjusted
storage changes are actually quite bullish. People are starting
to see the bottom.” Alberta gas for March delivery rose 9.25 cents to C$2.135 a
gigajoule ($2.04 per million British thermal units) at 3:05 p.m.
New York time on NGX , a Canadian Internet market. NGX gas has
advanced 1.9 percent this week. Gas traded on the exchange is shipped to users in Canada
and the U.S. and priced on TransCanada Corp.’s Alberta system. Natural gas for March delivery on the New York Mercantile
Exchange rose 11.7 cents, or 4.6 percent, to settle at $2.684
per million Btu. The futures gained 8.4 percent this week. Spot Prices Spot gas at the Alliance delivery point near Chicago jumped
15.52 cents, or 5.9 percent, to $2.7802 per million Btu on the
Intercontinental Exchange . Prompt delivery at Alliance, an
express line that can carry 1.5 billion cubic feet a day from
western Canada , gained 1.75 percent this week. At the Kingsgate point on the border of Idaho and British
Columbia, gas advanced 13.21 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $2.549.
At Malin, Oregon , where Canadian gas is traded for California
markets, gas was up 15.71 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $2.689. Volume on TransCanada’s Alberta system, which collects the
output of most of the nation’s gas wells, was 16.4 billion cubic
feet, 374 million below target. Gas was flowing at a daily rate of 2.11 billion cubic feet
at Empress, Alberta, where the fuel is transferred to
TransCanada’s main line. At McNeil, Saskatchewan, where gas is transferred to the
Northern Border Pipeline for shipment to the Chicago area, the
daily flow rate was 2.13 billion cubic feet. Available capacity on TransCanada’s British Columbia system
at Kingsgate was 431 million cubic feet. The system was forecast
to carry 2.01 billion cubic feet today, or 82 percent of its
capacity of 2.44 billion. The volume on Spectra Energy’s British Columbia system,
which gathers the fuel in northeastern British Columbia for
delivery to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, totaled 2.85
billion cubic feet at 2:05 p.m. To contact the reporter on this story:
Gene Laverty in Calgary at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
[email protected] | 2012 | canadian-natural-gas-advances-on-production-spending-cuts |
Swift Says Ready to Implement Sanctions on Iran Institutions | By Ewa Krukowska and Indira A.R. Lakshmanan | 2012-02-17T20:55:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/swift-says-ready-to-implement-sanctions-on-iran-institutions-1-.html | 2 | 17 | 0ab293e36c8fb54094e4f7cca4999a30045715ae | Swift, the global bank-transfer
messaging service, said it is prepared to impose sanctions
against Iranian financial institutions once the European Union
presents implementing rules on its restrictions. “Swift stands ready to act and discontinue its services to
sanctioned Iranian financial institutions as soon as it has
clarity on EU legislation currently being drafted,” the Society
for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication said today
in a statement. Iran would be the first country to be cut off by Swift,
according to Mark Dubowitz , executive director of the Foundation
for Defense of Democracies, a Washington policy group, who has
advised the Obama administration and congressional offices on
SWIFT and other sanctions measures. “If strictly implemented, this could deny Iran’s banks the
ability to move billions of dollars in financial transactions,
and put immense pressure on Iran’s leaders to reconsider their
policies,” he said. “The international sanctions on the
Iranian regime are the last remaining hope of bringing a
peaceful end to its unlawful nuclear pursuits, terrorist
activities, and human rights abuses” While the European sanctions agreed to on Jan. 23 are
already binding on EU governments, the bloc’s regulator is
working on regulations to make them required at the company
level. Watching U.S. Action “We understand that the European Union is now drafting new
international sanctions regulations which directly affect the
ability of EU-based financial communication service providers
such as Swift to provide their services to Iranian financial
institutions subject to EU sanctions,” the member-owned
institution said. “In addition, we are closely following the
progress of a bill passed by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee
regarding Iran which has similar intention.” Swift said its decision “reflects the extraordinary and
highly exceptional circumstances of significant multi-lateral
international support for the intensification of sanctions
against Iran.” Dubowitz said it will be important to see how Swift treats
the central bank of Iran, which handles much of the country’s
receipts from oil exports. Iran is the second-largest producer
in OPEC after Saudi Arabia . “Will it expel the CBI along with other European-
sanctioned banks?” he said. “Or will it quarantine its
transactions so that the CBI will be limited only to
humanitarian-related trade and to specific oil market
transactions with international financial institutions that
conform to U.S. law?.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at
[email protected] ;
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Walcott at
[email protected] | 2012 | swift-says-ready-to-implement-sanctions-on-iran-institutions-1- |
S&P 500 Approaches Last Year’s High Amid Optimism on Greece Bailout Effort | By Inyoung Hwang and Andrew Theen | 2012-02-18T05:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/u-s-stocks-advance-as-s-p-500-nears-highest-level-since-2008.html | 2 | 17 | 79804ffaf23449558fee750a421b2255 | U.S. stocks rallied this week,
putting the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index 0.2 percent away from
erasing its losses since April, amid optimism Greece will get
another bailout and better-than-estimated economic data. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose as energy and technology
companies posted the biggest gains, increasing at least 1.7
percent. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) , Home Depot Inc. (HD) and Intel Corp.
added more than 2.6 percent, leading the Dow Jones Industrial
Average higher. Frontier Communications Corp. (FTR) climbed 18 percent
after cutting its dividend to reduce debt. Apple Inc. (AAPL) climbed
1.8 percent, exceeding $500 for the first time. The S&P 500 added 1.4 percent to 1,361.23, rallying for the
sixth time in seven weeks. The index is less than 3 points away
from completing its recovery from a 19 percent retreat between
April and October. Topping 1,363.61 would put the measure at the
highest level since 2008. The Dow climbed 148.64 points, or 1.2
percent, to 12,949.87. “We’ve seen the promise of a solution to Greece , and we’ve
moved closer to it,” Mark Bronzo , who helps manage about $24
billion at Security Global Investors in Irvington, New York,
said in a telephone interview. “The U.S. economic data
continues to be better, especially on the jobs front, so the
market continues to move higher.” Global equities rallied as Germany expressed confidence
that euro-area governments will agree on a 130 billion-euro
($171 billion) rescue for Greece within days, while seeking to
keep a bond swap of the nation’s debt on track. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos discussed plans in a
conference call and are optimistic finance ministers will
resolve remaining issues when they meet on Feb. 20. Jobs, Manufacturing The S&P 500 has climbed 8.2 percent in 2012. Stocks also
rose this week as reports on jobless claims, manufacturing and
housing boosted optimism in the world’s largest economy. Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 13,000 last
week to 348,000, less than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg
survey of economists and the fewest since March 2008. The
Philadelphia Fed (OUTFGAF) ’s general economic index increased to 10.2,
topping the median economist forecast for a reading of 9.
Housing starts increased 1.5 percent to a 699,000 annual rate
and building permits increased. U.S. stocks may extend gains this year and mirror the
performance of 1995, when the S&P 500 rallied 34 percent even
after Mexico devalued its currency and Treasury yields dropped,
Laszlo Birinyi , the president of Birinyi Associates Inc. in
Westport, Connecticut, said in a Bloomberg Television interview
this week. ‘Buy Stocks’ “We still think you should buy stocks,” the fund manager
said in London . “It’s a continuation of the bull market and
we’re encouraged by what we are seeing in Europe . I look at the
markets, I find they are strong. There’s real buying going on.
This is not short covering or a temporary or transitory thing.” Blackstone Group LP’s Byron Wien said he may need to lift
his estimate for the S&P 500 for this year. Wien, chairman of
Blackstone’s advisory services unit, said in January in his
annual “10 Surprises” list the benchmark gauge for U.S. stocks
may exceed 1,400. That forecast, “when the market was 1,250 at the beginning
of the year, was a reasonable target, a conservative target,”
Wien said in an interview. “But I think we could well exceed
it. Look, S&P 500 operating earnings are going to be in excess
of $100. Very often, almost always, the S&P 500 sells at 15
times, that would take you over 1,500.” Energy, Technology All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rallied. Energy stocks led
gains, rising 2.2 percent, as oil posted its biggest weekly
advance this year. Technology stocks climbed the second-most,
adding 1.7 percent. Hewlett-Packard, the largest computer maker, added 3.1
percent to $29.59 for the biggest gain in the Dow. Intel (INTC) , the
biggest chipmaker, climbed 2.5 percent to $27.37, its highest
level since December 2007. All but three companies in the 30-
stock Dow advanced. Home Depot, the world’s largest home-
improvement retailer, rose 3 percent to $46.71, its highest
level since May 2002. Frontier Communications climbed 18 percent to $4.78 for the
biggest gain in the S&P 500. The U.S. phone company serving
rural markets cut its quarterly dividend to 10 cents from 18.75
cents so it can pay off debt. Frontier also beat the average
analyst profit estimate by 32 percent. Apple advanced 1.8 percent to $502.12. It closed at $509.46
on Feb. 14 after rallying eight straight days. Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) gained 16 percent, its biggest weekly
rally since May 2009, to $74.95. The biggest independent oil and
natural-gas producer in the U.S. reported fourth-quarter
earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and said it plans to cut
spending on exploration and production to no more than $5.5
billion in 2012, from $6.9 billion last year. Dean Foods Co. (DF) rose 13 percent, its biggest gain since May,
to $12.07. The largest U.S. dairy processor forecast first-
quarter earnings excluding some items of as much as 23 cents a
share, more than the average analyst estimate of 19 cents. To contact the reporters on this story:
Inyoung Hwang in New York at
[email protected] ;
Andrew Theen in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Baker at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-s-stocks-advance-as-s-p-500-nears-highest-level-since-2008 |
Most China Stocks Fall on Growth, Lending Concern, Trimming Weekly Advance | By Bloomberg News | 2012-02-17T07:56:16Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/china-stocks-fall-on-jump-in-money-rates-slowing-economic-growth-concern.html | 2 | 17 | cf83a25962a14519b179e19287f62957 | Most Chinese stocks fell on concern
a jump in money-market rates will make it costly for small
companies to borrow and as a state economist said the government
will set the lowest growth target in eight years. Five stocks declined for every three than gained on the
benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) , which added 0.3 point, or
less than 0.1 percent, to 2,357.18 at the close. For the week,
the index climbed 0.2 percent, a fifth week of gains and the
longest winning streak since November 2010. The Shanghai gauge
has rebounded 9.7 percent from a Jan. 5 low on speculation the
central bank will cut reserve-requirement ratios to spur growth. Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. led a slump for coal producers
after economist Fan Jianping said Premier Wen Jiabao may
announce a 7 percent or 7.5 percent target for economic growth
this year. China Life Insurance Co., the biggest insurer, gained
1.8 percent after premium income rose 12 percent in January. “The process of policy easing is much slower than expected
and market liquidity isn’t ample to push the market up
further,” said Li Jun , a strategist at Central China Securities
Co. in Shanghai. “Investors are waiting for what the government
will do next and for upcoming economic data that may support
their view that the economy is bottoming.” The CSI 300 Index added 1 point to 2,537.09 today, and was
up 0.1 percent for the week. The People’s Bank of China
announced a reduction in reserve ratios on Nov. 30, the first
since 2008, after boosting them and interest rates last year to
cool inflation. M2, the broadest measure of money supply,
expanded 12.4 percent in January from a year earlier, the lowest
in more than a decade. Lower Growth China may set a lower annual growth target at the annual
National People’s Congress meetings in March as authorities
place less emphasis on the pace of expansion and the global
economy remains weak, Fan, the head of the Economic Forecasting
Department at the center which is controlled by China’s top
economic planning agency, said in an interview yesterday. Yanzhou Coal paced declines for coal producers on concern
slowing economic growth will reduce demand for energy. The stock
lost 1.2 percent to 25 yuan, while Shanxi Lu’an Environmental
Energy Development Co. dropped 0.9 percent to 24.13 yuan. Fan said he doesn’t expect the central bank to lower the
reserve requirement ratio for commercial lenders in the first
quarter. A cut in interest rates is “not very likely” this
year because real deposit rates continue to be negative, he
said. ‘Mother’ of All Bubbles The seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of funding
availability in the financial system, increased 94 basis points,
or 0.94 percentage point, to 5.31 percent as of 3:28 p.m. in
Shanghai, according to a weighted average compiled by the
National Interbank Funding Center. That’s the highest level
since Jan. 19. “We are very concerned” about China’s economy , Peter Chiappinelli, a portfolio strategist for asset allocation at
Boston-based Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co., said at the
Bloomberg Link Portfolio Manager Mash-Up Conference in New York . China’s housing market is experiencing the “mother” of
all bubbles, and a property slump will hurt everything from
Australian mining firms to Europe ’s luxury-goods makers, said
Chiappinelli. An index tracking housing developers in the Shanghai
Composite fell 1.1 percent this week, the most among the five
industry groups. Gemdale Corp. declined 0.8 percent to 5.30 yuan
today and slumped 4.7 percent this week, the biggest drop among
property stocks. The real-estate gauge slumped 18 percent last year as the
government limited mortgages and restricted home purchases to
rein in home prices that increased in the previous two years.
The cooling market helped slow gross domestic product growth in
2011 to 9.2 percent, matching the smallest expansion since 2002. Property Curbs China will “unwaveringly” maintain property curbs in both
the long and short term, the Economic Information Daily quoted
Qin Hong, head of the policy research center under the Ministry
of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, as saying. Local governments will face “relatively large” fiscal
pressure this year because of public housing investment and debt
repayments, according to Qin. China Life rose 1.8 percent to 18.59 yuan after it said
last month’s premium income increased to 49.1 billion yuan ($7.8
billion) from 43.9 billion yuan a year ago. Tourism Stocks China International Travel Service Corp. led gains for
tourism companies, rising 1.6 percentt o 26.71 yuan, after the
government said it would increase financial support for the
industry. China will encourage local government financial support for
the tourism industry , the listing of industry companies and
support the merger of listed firms, the People’s Bank of China
said in a statement yesterday. It will also help improve payment
and settlement services for the industry, it said. The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund, the biggest Chinese
exchange-traded fund in the U.S., rose to a one-week high as
China Mobile Ltd. and Cnooc Ltd. jumped on speculation of more
monetary easing. China may cut banks’ reserve requirements three more times
in the first half, after the central bank said this week it is
targeting greater growth in money supply in 2012, HSBC Holdings
Plc economists said in a report e-mailed yesterday. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Allen Wan at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-stocks-fall-on-jump-in-money-rates-slowing-economic-growth-concern |
Lupatech Jumps on Speculation of Odebrecht Takeover: Rio Mover | By Peter Millard | 2012-02-17T20:34:18Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/lupatech-jumps-on-speculation-of-odebrecht-takeover-rio-mover.html | 2 | 17 | 1fd44ab599c4b296ca4add902bb0ecc75849ec87 | Lupatech SA (LUPA3) , a Brazilian oil-
equipment and services provider, rose to the highest in almost
three months on speculation it has become a takeover target. Lupatech, based in Caxias do Sul, Brazil , jumped 14 percent
to 5.92 reais at the close in Sao Paulo, the highest since Nov.
21. The stock is up 33 percent this year, more than the 16.7
percent gain in Brazil’s Bovespa index. Odebrecht SA (ODBE4) , a Brazilian construction and chemicals group
that also makes oil platforms, is considering buying Lupatech,
Estado de S. Paulo columnist Sonia Racy said on the newspaper’s
website today, without saying where she got the information. Brazilian development bank BNDES and pension fund Petros
last year agreed to buy a combined 300 million reais ($175
million) of Lupatech stock as part of a 700 million-real offer.
Lupatech, which has posted losses every quarter since the
beginning of 2010, is shifting its focus to oil exploration
after bets that a production boom would stoke demand for its
ropes and valves failed to materialize. “They don’t have liquidity and they are very leveraged,”
Erick Hood, an analyst at SLW Corretora brokerage, said by
telephone from Sao Paulo . “Nothing is stopping other companies
from making an offer, I think that would be viable.” Lupatech declined to comment in an e-mailed response.
Odebrecht Oleo e Gas, the oil-equipment and services division of
Odebrecht, doesn’t have any “concrete” plans to make
acquisitions at this time, the company said in an e-mailed
response to questions. The company is “constantly studying”
growth opportunities, it said. Odebrecht’s press office referred all questions on Lupatech
to its oil-services division. To contact the reporter on this story:
Peter Millard in Rio de Janeiro at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dale Crofts at
[email protected] | 2012 | upatech-jumps-on-speculation-of-odebrecht-takeover-rio-mover |
Romney’s Road to Nomination Rocked by Voters Shredding Rulebook | By Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Tackett | 2012-02-17T05:01:19Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/romney-s-road-to-republican-nomination-rocked-as-voters-shredding-rulebook.html | 2 | 17 | 6f1ccdacf86246c3948d0ea20c996d98 | Mitt Romney has followed the
playbook for winning the Republican presidential nomination to
the letter. He raised more money than his opponents and built a
national organization. He piled up endorsements from prominent
party insiders. He proved he could win in a bellwether primary
in New Hampshire and a major state in Florida (BEESFL) . Labeled a front-runner early, he now finds himself getting
weaker rather than stronger, raising a prospect unthinkable only
two weeks ago: He could lose. The conventions that have defined the primary process for
the last 40 years have been turned inside out, and Romney’s
fortunes have fallen. “Through very little fault of his own, Romney is the
front-runner, but he’s probably the weakest Republican front-
runner in the history of the party,” said Dan Schnur , an aide
on Senator John McCain ’s 2000 presidential bid who directs the
Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of
Southern California in Los Angeles . “He just had the bad timing to run for president at a time
when the party establishment had much less influence over the
nominating process,” Schnur said. Party Power Ebbs The strength of political parties is being undercut as the
full impact of the U.S. Supreme Court (1000L) Citizens United case is
being felt for the first time. The court held that the
government can’t limit political spending, hastening the rise of
a new class of political action committees dubbed super-PACs
because they can accept unlimited contributions from
individuals, corporations and unions. Now a candidate’s run can be kept alive from a single
wealthy individual as when Sheldon Adelson , a Las Vegas casino
owner, sustained Newt Gingrich and Foster Friess, a fund manager
based in Wyoming , helped do the same for Rick Santorum . The decision has created “a countervailing force on the
money side,” said Tom Rath, a former member of the Republican
National Committee and Romney supporter. “The great rule was that after a startup period and the
politics of the day became clearer, it became harder and harder
to raise money if you were under-performing politically,” he
said. “The existence of super-PACs countermands that. You can
have life beyond your quarterly filings.” In addition, the rise of anti-tax, anti-government spending
Tea Party activists who rely on social media and see their lack
of a formal organization as a virtue has undercut the authority
of more establishment groups. ‘Individual Decisions’ “The ability of a party to dictate to its voters is almost
non-existent,” Rath said. “There are very few party decisions
being made, tons of individual decisions. The way the party has
subdivided, un-divided and re-divided is really playing out this
time.” Romney had been following a pattern for Republican primary
winners since at least 1980. He raised more money , reporting
donations of $56 million in 2011, more than double that of his
closest fundraising rival, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of
Texas , who recorded $25.9 million in contributions last year,
according to Federal Election Commission reports. The former Massachusetts governor won New Hampshire , and,
like five of the last six nominees of his party, he came with
experience, having run and lost before. This time has been different in other ways, too. Candidate
boomlets typically fade along with their chances. This time both
Gingrich and Santorum have been written off only to bounce back
with the help of their new financiers. Santorum’s Surge Santorum, who won contests in Minnesota, Colorado and
Missouri on Feb. 7 with minimal resources, now leads Romney in
polls in Michigan, where Romney’s campaign has committed
significant campaign funds and emphasized his connections as a
native and son of a popular governor. “One of the reasons that people seem so surprised by the
way that this primary has progressed is that Republicans tend to
be much more orderly, much more hierarchical than this,” Schnur
said. “As the grassroots activists have gained strength at the
expense of the Republican establishment, we’ve seen this really
spin out of control.” That chaos has allowed multiple challengers to campaign as
the un-Romney in the race, with Santorum now holding that
position. “There is no common denominator between various un-
Romneys, except that each has been a vehicle for the various
groups in the Republican Party to express their distaste for
Romney,” said Schnur. “Other than Romney coming up with a
message that appeals to conservatives, there’s not much he can
do about any of it.” Disruptive Dynamics While every race has its own dynamic, the defining message
of this year’s primary thus far is that of disruption. “The one convention that’s being honored is that there is
no real convention,” said Rath, a lawyer in Concord, New
Hampshire. “Every race defines itself. I do think this one has
really pushed the envelope. There is nothing comparable to this
race.” Nineteen televised candidate debates also have given the
race a reality TV dimension. “It does remind me of these multi-person talent
competitions,” Rath said. “It has made this whole race more
immediate and accessible. There is a nationalization of this
process much quicker than there used to be.” The next contest in Michigan on Feb. 28 will be a test of
whether Republicans will return to regular order. “If Romney
loses Michigan,” Schnur said, “then the race will be in
complete chaos.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington at
[email protected] ;
Michael Tackett in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jeanne Cummings at [email protected] | 2012 | romney-s-road-to-republican-nomination-rocked-as-voters-shredding-rulebook |
Arsenal Defender Mertesacker to Miss Games After Surgery on Injured Ankle | By Christopher Elser | 2012-02-17T14:16:02Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/arsenal-defender-mertesacker-to-miss-games-after-surgery-on-injured-ankle.html | 2 | 17 | 6cb76f853f1019d6eeda6a6ad5efde6b522130d4 | Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker
will miss games for a “long term” after undergoing surgery on
an ankle he injured in a Feb. 11 game against Sunderland. “He has had surgery and we have lost him for a while,”
manager Arsene Wenger said in a statement on the club’s website.
“How long, I don’t know. He had reconstruction of his
ligaments, so it will be long term.” The German national team player, who joined the London club
before this season, slipped and injured his ankle during a play
that led to Sunderland’s goal in Arsenal’s 2-1 victory. The
teams meet again tomorrow in an F.A. Cup match. Fellow central defender Laurent Koscielny will miss the
rematch after hurting his knee in a 4-0 Champions League loss to
AC Milan. He and Carl Jenkinson will return from injury and
train next week, Wenger said. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at
[email protected] | 2012 | arsenal-defender-mertesacker-to-miss-games-after-surgery-on-injured-ankle |
Petroneft Resources Slide Most on Record as Oil Output Falls | By Stephen Bierman | 2012-02-17T15:48:04Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/petroneft-resources-drops-most-on-record-as-oil-output-declines.html | 2 | 17 | ab5ea62d7d86230eddf3de5a5f93d1cac80126fd | Petroneft Resources Plc., (PTR) the
London-listed oil explorer focused on Russia ’s Tomsk region,
fell the most on record after output declined. The shares sank 36 percent to 9.38 pence as of 3:26 p.m. in
London , their lowest level since 2009 and the steepest drop
since the stock started trading in 2006. Production fell to 2,300 barrels a day “in recent weeks”
from about 3,000 barrels a day at the end of last year, the
company said in a regulatory filing today. In June Petroneft cut its output target for the end of the
first quarter this year to 4,000 to 5,000 barrels a day from
8,000 barrels a day. To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Bierman in Moscow
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Will Kennedy at [email protected] . | 2012 | petroneft-resources-drops-most-on-record-as-oil-output-declines |
Europe Stocks Climb for a Third Day as Lafarge Advances | By Adria Cimino | 2012-02-17T17:04:30Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/european-stock-futures-advance-on-greek-optimism-persimmon-may-be-active.html | 2 | 17 | 3c0a757535a24be69c535dd399f2c12e | European stocks advanced for a third
day, pushing the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a six-month high, as
investors speculated that euro-area officials are nearing an
agreement on a bailout for Greece. Societe Generale SA, Banco Santander SA and Royal Bank of
Scotland Group Plc (RBS) paced gains by lenders. Anglo American Plc (AAL)
added 1.1 percent after posting annual earnings that exceeded
analysts’ estimates. Lafarge SA (LG) , the world’s biggest cement
maker, soared 8.3 percent as operating income beat projections. The Stoxx 600 climbed 0.6 percent to 265.93 at the close of
trading as the benchmark measure climbed to its highest level
since July 28. The gauge has gained 1.8 percent this week and
8.8 percent this year after the European Central Bank lent 489
billion euros ($643 billion) to euro-area banks at below-market
interest rates . “An agreement on Greece seems near,” said Benoit Peloille, equity market strategist at Natixis in Paris. “But I
think the market mainly has been benefiting from the exceptional
liquidity from the European Central Bank .” Germany wants the currency area’s finance ministers to
avoid separating the 130 billion-euro bailout for Greece from
the planned bond swap with private creditors, officials from
Europe’s largest economy said in a briefing to their country’s
lawmakers. The finance chiefs of the 17 nations using the single
currency meet on Feb. 20 in Brussels. Finance Ministers’ Meeting The Eurogroup meeting will probably approve the package and
the debt exchange, three German officials involved in the
telephone briefing yesterday said. A Finance Ministry spokesman
declined to comment. Three euro-area officials said that the ECB will swap its
Greek bonds for new ones to ensure that it doesn’t take losses
in a debt restructuring. The bond exchange will only go ahead once governments
authorize the European Financial Stability Facility to provide
30 billion euros, to be used in cash or collateral as an
incentive to investors. The ECB plans to complete the
transaction between Feb. 22 and March 9, the German lawmakers
heard at the briefing. A gauge of European banks advanced 1.4 percent making the
biggest contribution to the Stoxx 600’s rally . Societe Generale (GLE) ,
France’s second-largest lender, jumped 6.5 percent to 24.03
euros. Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, increased 2 percent to
6.41 euros. RBS climbed 3.2 percent to 27.6 pence and Barclays
Plc (BARC) added 1.4 percent to 248.35 pence. Banco Espirito Santo SA (BES) ,
Portugal’s largest bank , jumped 5.5 percent to 1.72 euros. Greek Lenders Surge Greece’s ASE Index (ASE) rose 5 percent, for the biggest gain
among western-European markets as the Mediterranean nation’s
lenders advanced. Piraeus Bank SA (TPEIR) rallied 14 percent to 64.2
euro cents. Alpha Bank SA surged 16 percent to 1.81 euros. National benchmarks gained in every market except Norway.
France’s CAC 40 Index and Germany’s DAX index both added 1.4
percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3 percent. Anglo American climbed 1.1 percent to 2,674 pence after the
producer of metals and minerals from Africa to Brazil said that
underlying earnings increased to $5.06 a share in 2011 from
$4.13 a share in 2010. That compared with a median estimate of
$4.75 by 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Construction stocks rose 2.9 percent for the second-biggest
gain among the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Lafarge
jumped 8.3 percent to 34.46 euros, its largest rally since
October, as the cement maker reported that fourth-quarter
operating income excluding some items rose 3 percent, beating
estimates. Smaller rival Holcim Ltd. increased 4.6 percent to
58.60 Swiss francs. Persimmon, Berkeley Group Persimmon Plc (PSN) added 4.1 percent to 588 pence after the
company was raised to “overweight” from “neutral” at
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Berkeley Group (BKG) Holdings Plc advanced 3.6
percent to 1,363 pence after the brokerage lifted its
recommendation on the shares to “overweight” from
“underweight.” Aegon NV (AGN) rallied 7 percent to 3.99 euros. The Dutch
insurer, which owns Transamerica Corp., said it aims to increase
underlying pretax profit by 7 percent to 10 percent a year on
average until 2015 and to post a return on equity of 10 percent
to 12 percent. The company also reported fourth-quarter net
income of 79 million euros. Oriflame Cosmetics SA (ORI) surged 12 percent to 242.90 kronor
after Chief Executive Officer Magnus Braennstroem said the
company plans to “reverse the sales trend and return to growth
with improved operating margin” in 2012. The Swedish makeup
company reported fourth-quarter net income of 31.2 million
euros, compared with the average analyst estimate of 31.1
million euros. The company will pay a dividend of 1.75 euros a
share, higher than the estimate of 1.50 euros a share. Aker Solutions Surges Aker Solutions ASA (AKSO) soared 21 percent to 96 kroner for the
biggest gain on the Stoxx 600 . The oil-services company reported
fourth-quarter net income of 675 million kroner ($118 million),
beating the average analyst estimate of 347 million kroner. The
company said it sees high demand for well-intervention services
in 2012. Finmeccanica SpA (FNC) rallied 16 percent to 4.04 euros after
winning a $1 billion order from the Israeli air force for
combat-training jets. Air Liquide SA (AI) slipped 2.8 percent to 95.75 euros after the
world’s biggest producer of industrial gases reported 2011
earnings in line with analysts’ estimates, while sales growth
slowed as the company cut costs. To contact the reporter on this story:
Adria Cimino in Paris at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew Rummer at
[email protected] | 2012 | european-stock-futures-advance-on-greek-optimism-persimmon-may-be-active |
Republicans Ask Chu to Explain Links Between Prologis, Solyndra | By Brian Wingfield | 2012-02-18T03:02:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/republicans-ask-chu-to-explain-links-between-prologis-solyndra.html | 2 | 17 | cc5cc3c55b074e99980cfe7cfaa5934a | House Republicans asked U.S. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu about a $1.4 billion partial loan guarantee
to a solar-energy company that was to buy panels from failing
Solyndra LLC, which went out of business three months later. The House Energy and Commerce Committee today said Chu may
have intervened on behalf of San Francisco-based Prologis Inc. (PLD)
in June 2011 and help prop up Solyndra after restructuring its
$535 million U.S. loan. The panel said documents obtained in its
investigation, and not released, showed Solyndra was to be the
only supplier in the first phase of Prologis’s Project Amp to
install equipment on rooftops managed by the company. Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican and
committee head, and Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican and
chairman of the investigations panel, “are greatly concerned at
the extraordinary measures the Obama administration appears to
have taken in keeping Solyndra afloat,” the committee said in a
statement. The lawmakers asked Chu in a letter released today to
provide by Feb. 24 a range of documents to get a better
understanding of the “Project Amp loan guarantee, as well as
the relationship between Solyndra and Project Amp.” Feb. 21 Deadline Separately, House Republicans said tonight that the White
House had turned over an additional 463 pages of documents and
e-mails in response to subpoenas issued in November. The
lawmakers said in a statement that the administration still
hadn’t fully complied with the investigation and had until Feb. 21
to provide the panel with all documents related to Solyndra. Republicans have questioned whether President Barack Obama’s campaign fundraiser George Kaiser , whose family
foundation was Solyndra’s biggest investor, pressed for the $535
million loan. Kaiser has said he didn’t lobby. Prologis’s co-
chief executive officers have contributed to Republicans,
including presidential candidate Mitt Romney , and Democrats. Solyndra fired 1,100 workers on Aug. 31, and sought
bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6. When Prologis’s loan closed in late September, Solyndra
wasn’t a supplier to Project Amp, Damien LaVera, an Energy
Department spokesman, said. The Energy Department announced
Sept. 30 that Prologis’s loan guarantee had closed, though the
company received a conditional commitment in June, according to
the House committee. Chu Response “Secretary Chu strongly supported Project Amp because it
will be the largest rooftop project in U.S. history and is
expected to generate enough clean, renewable electricity to
power over 88,000 homes while supporting at least a thousand
jobs all across the country,” LaVera said in an e-mail. Project Amp was supported by companies including Bank of
America Corp . of Charlotte , North Carolina , and NRG Energy Inc. (NRG)
of Princeton, New Jersey , he said. Chu may have pushed U.S. backing for Prologis while the
Energy Department helped renegotiate Solyndra’s loan as part of
a last-ditch U.S. effort to keep the Fremont, California-based
company alive, according to the committee’s statement. “It appears that Solyndra’s involvement in Project Amp was
a significant factor both in the negotiations” to avoid
Solyndra’s bankruptcy and to close the loan guarantee for
Prologis, Upton and Stearns said in the letter to Chu. Roof Project Energy Department employees took part in negotiations
between Solyndra and Prologis on the roof project, helping to
work out a “shipment schedule, the number of megawatts Solyndra
would supply and the price per watt,” the lawmakers said in the
letter. Upton and Stearns want communications and documents related
to Project Amp and Solyndra since Jan. 1, 2010, according to the
letter. “As has consistently been the case in the course of this
committee’s year-long political investigation, critics of our
effort to support innovative, job-creating clean energy projects
will say anything to distort the record,” LaVera said. Representatives from San Francisco-based Prologis didn’t
have a comment. Prologis Chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer Hamid R. Moghadam donated $2,500 to Romney’s presidential campaign in
July, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission .
He also gave $2,000 to support House Speaker John Boehner , an
Ohio Republican, in August and $1,000 for Representative George Miller , a California Democrat, in September, records show. Walter C. Rakowich, a co-CEO, contributed $1,000 to Senator
Orrin Hatch , a Utah Republican, in March 2011 and $2,500 to the
National Republican Senatorial Committee in August, according to
the FEC. Rakowich gave Representative Richard Neal, a
Massachusetts Democrat, $1,000 in March 2010. To contact the reporter on this story:
Brian Wingfield in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
[email protected] | 2012 | republicans-ask-chu-to-explain-links-between-prologis-solyndra |
Obama Advisers See U.S. Economy Gaining Strength in 2012 | By Mike Dorning | 2012-02-17T21:38:11Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/obama-advisers-see-u-s-economy-gaining-strength-in-2012.html | 2 | 17 | 4f8e740ab8a494ac0b51e1a2120f8c4bdc5ae052 | President Barack Obama ’s advisers
expect the U.S. economy will gain strength this year and add 2
million jobs, according to an annual White House report to
Congress. Though the economy is hampered by lingering impediments
from the collapse in housing prices and the 2008 financial
crisis, the report forecasts “an upturn in economic growth”
this year as the recovery “will continue to gain strength.” Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of
Economic Advisers, said in a conference call that employment
growth “has gained momentum” in recent months. A “plausible range” for the average unemployment rate
this year would be between 8 percent and 8.6 percent, the report
said, citing private forecasters. The rate, the main economic indicator for voters and in the
political debate, dropped to 8.3 percent in January, the lowest
level in nearly three years. The report and the administration’s chief economist,
rebutting Republican criticism of Obama’s handling of the
economy, defended the president’s response to the recession he
confronted upon taking office. “The actions of the administration were extremely
important to bringing the recession to an end and putting us on
an upward trajectory,” Krueger said. The report said the financial crisis of 2008 caused a
plunge in the economy unlike other post-World War II recessions
in the U.S. Better Than Typical Policies, including the 2009 economic stimulus, have
allowed the country to do better than is typical of countries in
the aftermath of a financial crisis, the report said, citing
research by economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff . If the U.S. had followed the path of the average country
following a financial shock, the unemployment rate would have
been 10.4 percent last month instead of 8.3 percent, the report
said. The calculation is based on the aftermath of financial
crises in 14 countries since 1977 identified by Reinhart and
Rogoff. The “breadth and speed” of the stimulus and interventions
by the Federal Reserve are “the main reasons why the economy
avoided a steeper and more prolonged decline,” the report said. The report also drew favorable comparisons to the
recoveries following the 1990-91 and 2001 recessions. Private-
sector job growth began earlier in the current recovery than it
did after those two recessions, the report said. ‘Reassuring’ Path Krueger said “it’s very reassuring to see that we’re on a
path similar” to the rebounds after those recessions, both of
which were criticized at the time as “jobless recoveries.” The aftermath of the housing bubble and 2008 financial
crisis have continued to restrain the growth of consumer
spending and home construction that are typical of U.S. economic
recoveries, the report said. The pace of the recovery “would in all likelihood be
faster” if not for “the lingering effects of the financial
crisis,” the report said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Mike Dorning in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steven Komarow at
[email protected] | 2012 | obama-advisers-see-u-s-economy-gaining-strength-in-2012 |
Virgin Sees Monopoly Threat From IAG-BMI Deal | By Steve Rothwell | 2012-02-17T00:00:10Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/virgin-complains-to-eu-over-monopoly-threat-from-iag-s-bmi-deal.html | 2 | 17 | 59703bb982a1147d08961c4c295b3ae0f4b0144e | Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. said it
submitted a complaint to the European union regarding IAG’s
planned purchase of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) unit BMI, highlighting
the likelihood of higher fares should the deal go through. Virgin, which competes with IAG’s British Airways unit at
London Heathrow airport, said in a statement that if the
takeover is cleared three U.K. routes from the hub, to Aberdeen,
Edinburgh and Manchester, will become monopoly operations. “The regulators cannot allow British Airways to sew up U.K.
flying and squeeze the life out of the travelling public,”
Richard Branson , Virgin’s billionaire owner, said in the
release. “It is vital that regulatory authorities give this
merger the fullest possible scrutiny and ensure it is stopped.” IAG, as International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) is
known, said Dec. 22 it had agreed to buy BMI for 172.5 million
pounds ($272 million), beating out Virgin. While the deal will
give BA and sister carrier Iberia 53 percent of Heathrow slots,
that’s short of the 66 percent that Lufthansa (LHA) has in Frankfurt
and the 59 percent controlled by Air France-KLM Group (AF) in Paris. “Our planned purchase of BMI is being reviewed by the
regulatory authorities and we’re confident they will approve the
deal,” IAG said in emailed response to Virgin’s comments. Competition would also be eradicated to some European
destinations, Virgin said, providing British Airways with the
opportunity to reduce flights and “increase fares dramatically.”
BMI’s exit from the Heathrow-Glasgow route last year left BA as
the only operator and resulted in a 34 percent hike, it said. European antitrust regulators will rule on the acquisition
by March 16, the EU said Feb. 13. To contact the reporter on this story:
Steve Rothwell in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chad Thomas at [email protected] | 2012 | virgin-complains-to-eu-over-monopoly-threat-from-iag-s-bmi-dea |
Tang Refuses Calls to Quit H.K. Chief Bid | By Sophie Leung | 2012-02-17T04:11:27Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/tang-refuses-calls-to-quit-hong-kong-leadership-race-amid-property-scandal.html | 2 | 17 | 04e4eb27ba6d4d8490d9ce5a91cf8b3d | Henry Tang , a leading candidate to
be Hong Kong ’s next chief executive, refused calls to withdraw
from the race amid growing criticism over an illegal basement
built at a property owned by his wife. Tang, a former chief secretary, late yesterday apologized
to Hong Kong residents at a packed press conference after
newspapers carried front-page stories on the basement, built
without approval, which they said included a wine cellar and a
theater. Hong Kong’s next leader will be chosen by a 1,200-member
election committee next month. Tang trails Leung Chun-ying by
more than 20 percentage points in public-opinion polls and has
been criticized for being out of touch at a time when rising
property prices and inflation are stoking growing discontent
among Hong Kong’s middle class. “The smartest thing for Tang to do is to pull out of the
race, or else it will bring disaster,” said Cheung Chor-yung,
senior teaching fellow in public administration at the City
University of Hong Kong, who is also one of the voters in the
March 25 selection. “Most Hong Kong people won’t accept a
person who is not honest and incapable of handling crises.” Regina Ip, the city’s former secretary for security and a
lawmaker, said today she didn’t believe Tang was suitable to
lead the city, and she would consider standing in the poll. Tang won’t consider a withdrawal, Lucy Chan, spokeswoman at
Tang’s campaign office, said in a phone interview today. Marital Issues Late yesterday, Tang said his wife was responsible for the
construction of the basement, and he had not intervened in the
decision because the couple had been having marital issues at
that time. Tang in October said he was forgiven by his wife for
a transgression, after the Eastweek magazine published an
interview in which the couple were questioned about speculation
he had an affair. “My wife proposed to build this basement,” Tang said. “I
know this is an illegal structure, but back at that time we were
at a low tide in our marriage and we had communication problems.
I feel regret and guilty about it.” Hong Kong newspapers today carried photos of chaotic scenes
outside the property in the city’s Kowloon Tong district,
showing photographers and cameramen in cranes attempting to
capture pictures of the residence. Apple Daily and Mingpao Daily
News said the 2,000-square-foot basement also included a Japanese
bath and gymnasium. More than 90 percent of private homes in
Hong Kong are smaller than 100 square meters (1,076 square feet),
according to a report by the government’s Ratings and Valuation
Department in 2011. “The chief executive hopeful has given the impression that
he has not been telling the truth as the fiasco continues to
unfold,” the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s leading
English newspaper, said in its editorial today. “Once again, he
has counted on his wife to defuse the bombshell.” Full Cooperation Tang said he will “fully cooperate” with the government
to remove the illegal structures at the property. Hong Kong’s next chief executive will be picked by an
election committee, made up of the city’s richest men,
professionals and representatives from China. Tang, Leung and
lawmaker Albert Ho are all seeking to get at least 150
nomination votes by the end of the month to stand for election. Tang was financial secretary before becoming the second-
highest ranked official in the city of 7 million residents. His
father is Tang Hsiang Chien, who was ranked the 40th-richest
person in Hong Kong in 2010 by Forbes Magazine. The younger
Tang’s best-known policy success was to abolish duties on wine
in 2008, helping the city overtake London and New York as the
world’s biggest wine auction market. Trailing Leung Leung, a policeman’s son and former government adviser, has
the support of 49.2 percent for the chief executive job,
according to a survey published on Feb. 13 by the University of
Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme. Tang trails with 26.1
percent approval. The poll of 1,000 residents had a margin of
error of less than 3 percentage points. Since the former British colony was returned to China in
1997, the income of the poorest 10 percent of the city’s
families has fallen 13 percent. Earnings for the richest 10
percent rose 6.3 percent. Tang is seen to represent businesses, whereas Leung is more
popular as he’s seen to be “more reform-oriented, is more
willing to challenge existing interests,” Joseph Cheng , a
professor in political science at the City University of Hong
Kong said earlier this month. “If Tang refuses to withdraw from the race, he will bring
the biggest headache to Beijing,” City University’s Cheung said.
“If Tang can still be elected as the chief with all these
scandals, it really shows the ridiculousness of this small-
circled election. Now Leung stands a better chance.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Sophie Leung in Hong Kong at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at
[email protected] | 2012 | ang-refuses-calls-to-quit-hong-kong-leadership-race-amid-property-scanda |
Asia-Pacific Bond Risk Falls, Credit-Default Swap Prices Show | By Sarah McDonald | 2012-02-17T01:35:21Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/asia-pacific-bond-risk-falls-credit-default-swap-prices-show.html | 2 | 17 | 84259dc56aeb214d02dc67e85d1e13b767772dd6 | The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific
corporate and sovereign bonds from default fell, according to
traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Australia index dropped 9 basis points to
146 basis points as of 12:17 p.m. in Sydney, according to Credit
Agricole CIB. That’s set for the biggest daily decrease since
Nov. 30, prices from data provider CMA show. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade
borrowers outside Japan decreased 7 basis points to 164 as of
9:17 a.m. in Hong Kong , Credit Agricole prices show. The gauge
is on course for its biggest fall since Jan. 26, according to
CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted
by dealers in the privately negotiated market The Markit iTraxx Japan index fell 8 basis points to 145.5
basis points as of 10:16 a.m. in Tokyo , Citigroup Inc. prices
show. That’s set for its biggest daily decline since Feb. 8,
according to CMA. Credit-default swap indexes are benchmarks for protecting
bonds against default and traders use them to speculate on
credit quality. A drop signals improving perceptions of
creditworthiness, while an increase suggests the opposite. The swap contracts pay the buyer face value in exchange for
the underlying securities if a borrower fails to meet its debt
agreements. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. To contact the reporter on this story:
Sarah McDonald in Sydney at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Shelley Smith at
[email protected] | 2012 | asia-pacific-bond-risk-falls-credit-default-swap-prices-show |
Cameron Says His Intervention Wouldn’t Help Sarkozy Election Bid | By Gregory Viscusi | 2012-02-17T13:27:10Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/cameron-says-his-intervention-wouldn-t-help-sarkozy-election-bid.html | 2 | 17 | d5ba4735caab49cf04f6ceddc9fba5671c327235 | British Prime Minister David Cameron
said his intervention wouldn’t help French President Nicolas Sarkozy ’s re-election campaign. “I want to take this chance to wish him well in his
battles ahead,” Cameron said at a joint press conference in
Paris today after the two met. “But I’m not sure that if I took
part in his campaign it would have the effect my friend here
wants.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she’ll attend some
Sarkozy election rallies. The French president didn’t say if he
wants Cameron to do the same. “The support from David Cameron gives me pleasure,”
Sarkozy said. “In this period, it doesn’t bother me for people
to say good things about me rather than bad.” Sarkozy announced Feb. 15 that he’s running for a second
term. He trails his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in
the polls ahead of the first round of elections on April 22. As
the top two vote getters, Sarkozy and Hollande are expected to
face off in the deciding round May 6. Relations between Britain and France have been strained in
recent months by Cameron’s refusal in December to back a
European Union accord to strengthen the euro and by Sarkozy’s
push for an EU-wide financial-transaction tax. To contact the reporter on this story:
Gregory Viscusi in Paris at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at
[email protected] | 2012 | cameron-says-his-intervention-wouldn-t-help-sarkozy-election-bid |
Obama Reports Raising $12 Million Last Month for Campaign | By Jonathan D. Salant | 2012-02-17T23:31:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/obama-reports-raising-12-million-last-month-for-re-election.html | 2 | 17 | b5b3bbf116896c8a763cb4afefbe346d940d8adb | President Barack Obama raised $12
million for his re-election campaign last month, according to
disclosures filed today with the Federal Election Commission. The figure includes $2.5 million transferred from a joint
fundraising account with the Democratic National Committee . He
has now raised $140 million for his re-election, and entered
February with $76 million in the bank. Including money raised for the party at events featuring
the president, Obama took in $29.1 million last month. Obama’s
major fundraising events solicit donations for both his re-
election campaign and the DNC. The biggest contributors to Obama’s campaign last month
were employees at the Debevoise & Plimpton LLP law firm, who
gave a total of $49,100, according to a Bloomberg News computer-
assisted analysis of FEC data. The firm was hired last year to
lobby by the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, a
Washington-based trade group for such firms as Blackstone Group
LP (BX) and KKR & Co., both based in New York. Employees of New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS) contributed
$15,739, Obama’s biggest corporate source of donations last
month. Mountain View, California-based Google Inc. (GOOG) employees
donated $11,021. Former New York Knicks player Allan Houston,
now the team’s assistant general manager, contributed $5,000, as
did actor-director Rob Reiner. Fundraising Swing The president is wrapping up a West Coast fundraising
swing, where he is expected to take in more than $8 million for
his campaign and the Democratic Party . Today’s calendar included
two Washington State events expected to bring in at least $1.6
million, a luncheon at the home of Costco Wholesale Corp. (ORCL) co-
founder Jeff Brotman and his wife, Susan, in Medina and a
reception in Bellevue. Yesterday, Obama dined with about 70 people at the San
Francisco home of Nicola Miner, daughter of Oracle Corp. co-
founder Robert Miner, and her husband, novelist Robert Mailer
Anderson. Singer Al Green provided the entertainment. Obama raised $37 million for his campaign, three times his
2012 amount, during the same period four years ago, when he was
competing for the Democratic nomination. Earlier this month, he began encouraging supporters to
contribute to a political action committee backing him, a
reversal from 2008 when he shunned such outside groups. Michael Malbin , executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, a
Washington-based research group, said the fundraising decline
and the call for super-PAC donations could be related. “This is the first time the president’s campaign has
fallen significantly behind its previous pace,” Malbin said.
“Perhaps that helps explain the president’s statements last
week encouraging the activities of the independent spending
super-PAC formed to support his re-election.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jeanne Cummings at
[email protected] . | 2012 | obama-reports-raising-12-million-last-month-for-re-election |
German President Wulff Quits Amid Corruption Allegations in Blow to Merkel | By Patrick Donahue and Karin Matussek | 2012-02-17T14:06:07Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/german-president-wulff-quits-amid-corruption-allegations-in-blow-to-merkel.html | 2 | 17 | 9d4315863896467aa3d028849271e0ff | German President Christian Wulff
resigned amid the threat of a legal probe into corruption
allegations, delivering a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel that
risks distracting her from the euro-region debt crisis. Wulff is the second German president to quit in less than
two years, forcing Merkel to find a fresh candidate with cross-
party support for the largely ceremonial post. Merkel canceled a
planned trip to Rome today as Wulff’s intentions became clear,
and instead held a conference call on the crisis with Italian
Prime Minister Mario Monti and Lucas Papademos of Greece. Wulff, 52, a former deputy leader of Merkel’s Christian
Democratic Union party, was picked by the chancellor to replace
the previous incumbent, Horst Koehler , after Koehler’s surprise
resignation in May 2010. Wulff was elected by a special national
assembly on June 30 of that year. His decision to quit “is a huge setback for Merkel,” Gerd Langguth , a Merkel biographer and political scientist at the
University of Bonn, said in a phone interview. “No one could
have imagined the extent of this. No one could have imagined
that this would take on such dimensions.” Merkel said that she will consult in the coming days with
opposition political leaders to try and indentify a successor
candidate to put to the assembly, which will meet within 30
days. She is due to discuss the presidential succession with her
fellow coalition party leaders in Berlin tomorrow. Potential
candidates mentioned in the German media include Labor Minister
Ursula von der Leyen and Bundestag President Norbert Lammert. ‘Rule of Law’ Merkel said that she “deeply regrets” Wulff’s
resignation, though respected the decision. The development
shows “the strength of our rule of law that treats everybody
equally, irrespective of position,” she told reporters. The resignation is a diversion for Merkel as she seeks to
steer Europe’s response to the debt crisis that China has said
threatens to trigger systemic risks to the global economy. With
a second Greek bailout hanging in the balance, Merkel, Monti and
Papademos expressed optimism after their call that an agreement
on Greece can be reached at a Feb. 20 meeting of euro-area
finance ministers, Monti’s office said in an e-mailed statement. The German president’s resignation is unlikely to affect
the role of Europe’s biggest economy in the crisis, and might
even result in “a small positive,” Christian Schulz of
Berenberg Bank in London said in a note. ‘Additional Tools’ “The drive for a candidate supported by all major parties
shows the current unity in German politics on major political
questions,” Schulz said. “The centre-left opposition supports
Merkel’s European crisis management and is even more open to
additional tools including Eurobonds.” Wulff’s role was largely confined to representing Germany
abroad until allegations relating to a private home loan during
his time as state prime minister of Lower Saxony were aired in
Germany ’s best-selling Bild newspaper on Dec. 13, then followed
up in Der Spiegel magazine. Within days, he was facing growing
scrutiny of his financial affairs including vacations at the
homes of business people, and calls from the opposition to quit. Prosecutors in Lower Saxony, which Wulff governed from 2003
to 2010, submitted a request to the lower house of parliament,
the Bundestag, to have the president’s immunity lifted. They
want to open an official probe after finding “initial evidence
to suppose” the acceptance of illicit favors, the prosecutor’s
office in the state capital of Hanover said in a statement on
its website today. “Developments in past days and weeks have shown that this
confidence and my ability to act are lastingly damaged,” Wulff
told reporters at the presidential palace in Berlin today, as he
announced his resignation. ‘Legally Correct’ “As far as the upcoming legal procedures are concerned,
I’m convinced that it will lead to a complete discharge. I’ve
always been legally correct in my offices,” he said. “I have
made mistakes but I have always been sincere.” Pending the Federal Assembly convening, Bavarian Premier
Horst Seehofer , who holds the rotating chair of the upper house
of parliament, the Bundesrat , will serve as interim president.
Seehofer also leads Merkel’s Christian Social Union ally, one of
three coalition parties together with her CDU and the Free
Democratic Party, led by Economy Minister Philipp Roesler. Merkel is now forced to devote her attention to lobbying
for support for a fresh candidate among the 1,240-member Federal
Assembly of lawmakers and state delegates that elects the
president, having lost ground after regional election defeats
throughout 2011 that she and other party officials blamed on the
crisis. Diminished Majority The chancellor may struggle to push through a favored
candidate compared with June 2010, when it unexpectedly took
three votes to elect Wulff. The chancellor’s majority in the
assembly has since narrowed to as little as two seats from 21
seats at the last vote, according to electoral website
wahlrecht.de . What’s more, the main opposition Social Democrats and
Greens have indicated that they want to revive the candidacy of
Joachim Gauck, a Protestant pastor and former East German
dissident whom Wulff defeated for the presidency at the third
ballot. Polls at the time showed Gauck to be the more popular
candidate among the general public. “If she picks a recognized personality she will survive
this without damage,” Langguth said. “The question is what
possibilities she has to replace” Wulff. Island Vacation Prosecutors have been looking into whether they need to
question Wulff over payments by businessman David Gronewold in
connection with a vacation on the German island of Sylt in 2007. Last month, an office in the president’s Berlin residence
was searched by prosecutors as part of a separate investigation
of his former spokesman, Olaf Glaeseker. The workplace was
raided because Glaeseker had left private material there that
the president’s office couldn’t hand over. German financial regulator Bafin is meanwhile reviewing
whether Wulff violated capital market rules in the wake of
Porsche SE’s failed bid to take over Volkswagen AG (VOW) , Der Spiegel
reported today. Wulff may have learned in February 2008 that
Porsche was planning the bid and Bafin is reviewing whether he
may have had to disclose that fact to the markets, the magazine
reported, without saying where it got the information. As the
prime minister of Volkswagen’s home state of Lower Saxony, he
was a member of the carmaker’s supervisory board at the time. Bafin spokeswoman Dominika Kula declined to comment, adding
that the regulator has a rule not to comment on any of its
investigative work. Wulff’s lawyer Gernot Lehr declined to
comment when contacted by telephone today. The resignation calls into question Merkel’s judgment,
leaving her “somewhat diminished,” Sony Kapoor, managing
director at Re-Define, a firm that advises governments on
economic policy, said in an interview with Bloomberg
Television’s Maryam Nemazee. Even so, Merkel is “still very much reigning as the queen
of Europe for now,” Kapoor said. “There is no ready challenger
to the German power play in the euro crisis today.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at
[email protected] ;
Karin Matussek in Berlin at
[email protected] . To contact the editors responsible for this story:
James Hertling at [email protected] ;
Anthony Aarons at [email protected] | 2012 | german-president-wulff-quits-amid-corruption-allegations-in-blow-to-merke |
Apollo Ty CP deal:India Money Markets | By Shraddha Kothari | 2012-02-17T12:49:17Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/apollo-ty-cp-deal-india-money-markets.html | 2 | 17 | 17fa3086dc4c526d7245d713938fcf52f3efd657 | Following is a table showing commercial pap
reported by Companies.The data has been provided by SPA Securities Ltd ,NVS
Brokerage Ltd
Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 1146f749e5dd4df2a8f7c1eff3a84447 | 2012 | apollo-ty-cp-deal-india-money-markets |
China Raises Resources Tax on Iron Ore, Tin, Molybdenum | By Bloomberg News | 2012-02-17T09:32:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/china-raises-resources-tax-on-iron-tin-molybdenum-production.html | 2 | 17 | c32bf657e343411a92ba1f431c195698 | China raised the resources tax on
six minerals, including iron ore , tin and molybdenum, to help
conserve reserves in the world’s second-biggest economy. The tax on iron ore production was raised to 80 percent of
a base rate , from 60 percent, effective from Feb. 1, the
official China Taxation News said in a report today, citing a
joint circular from the Ministry of Finance and State
Administration of Taxation. The base rate is between 2 and 30
yuan ($4.76) a metric ton, depending on the ore grade, according
to a government notice in October. “Iron ore mining generates huge profits,” said Zeng Jiesheng, a Shanghai-based analyst with researcher Mysteel.com.
“The changes in the tax will have little impact on costs,
though they will help boost tax revenue for local governments.” China , the world’s largest buyer of iron ore, is taking
steps, including fiscal measures, to slow mineral production
growth to conserve the environment. The government is also
increasing tax rates to spur electricity saving in power-
intensive industries after the country missed its energy-
reduction target for the five years ended 2010. The resources tax on tin was increased to as much as 20
yuan a ton and that on molybdenum, used to harden steel, was
raised to as much as 12 yuan a ton, said China Taxation News, a
publication of the State Administration of Taxation. That’s
equivalent to a 20-fold jump for tin and a gain of 4 yuan a ton
for molybdenum, according to Shanghai Securities News . “The tax rate increases are the first for iron ore and
molybdenum since Jan. 1, 2006, and maybe longer for tin,” said
Heng Kun, a Shanghai-based analyst with Essence Securities Co.
China is the world’s largest producer of tin and molybdenum. Tin Ore China Vanadium Titano-Magnetite Mining Co. (893) , a non state-
owned iron ore producer in Sichuan province, added 1 percent to
close at HK$2.05 in Hong Kong . China Molybdenum Co. (3993) and
Jinduicheng (601958) Molybdenum Co., the country’s biggest producers,
fell. China Molybdenum dropped 0.7 percent to HK$4.08, while
Jinduicheng declined 0.4 percent in Shanghai trading. “Compared with the price of tin ore, the tax increase is
nothing,” Wu Xiaofeng, an analyst at SMM Information &
Technology Co., said by phone from Shanghai. Tin ore with 40
percent content in Yunnan is about 120,000 yuan a ton, and the
new tax for the highest grade is 20 yuan, according to Wu. Yunnan Tin Co. (000960) , listed in Shenzhen, is the world’s largest
producer of the base metal. The shares fell 0.6 percent to close
at 23.37 yuan, while the Shanghai Composite, the benchmark in
China, increased less than 0.1 percent. The impact on tin producers will be short term as they can
pass on additional costs to customers amid a scarcity of the
metal, China International Capital Corp. analysts, led by Hong
Kong-based Cai Hongyu, said in an e-mailed note. The government also adjusted the resources tax on
magnesite, pencil stone and boron rocks, China Taxation News
said. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Helen Yuan in Shanghai at
[email protected] ;
Helen Sun in Shanghai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rebecca Keenan at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-raises-resources-tax-on-iron-tin-molybdenum-production |
Philippine Peso Strengthens After Inflow Report; Bonds Advance | By Clarissa Batino | 2012-02-17T03:46:07Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/philippine-peso-strengthens-after-inflow-report-bonds-advance.html | 2 | 17 | 2bd0c830769e7316d36d33f1b7e61e8e2741853e | The Philippine peso advanced, paring
a weekly loss, after the central bank said foreign investment
increased in January. Ten-year government bonds rose. The peso “has been stable with upward bias,” central bank
Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told local television station
PTV-4 late yesterday, adding that a stronger local currency
would be beneficial for the economy. Net overseas investment in
stocks, bonds and deposits rose in January from the previous
month, the monetary authority reported yesterday. The peso has
rallied 2.7 percent against the dollar this year. “The peso is among the better performers in the region,
supported by portfolio inflows and remittances,” said Radhika Rao, an economist at Forecast Pte in Singapore . “Recent
comments by officials signal that authorities will allow the
currency to follow the regional bias.” The peso rose 0.4 percent to 42.660 per dollar as of 11:14
a.m. in Manila , according to Tullett Prebon Plc, paring its loss
this week to 0.4 percent. The yield on the 6.375 percent January 2022 peso bonds fell
two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.88 percent,
prices at Tradition Financial Services showed. The rate dropped
four basis points for the week. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cut its overnight borrowing
rate to 4.25 percent from 4.5 percent last month, the first
reduction in more than two years. The next meeting will be on
March 1. Authorities have “policy space” as the inflation
outlook remains favorable, Amando Tetangco said on Feb. 9. A rising peso improves the attractiveness of local-currency
bonds, supporting a rally in fixed-income assets, Rao said.
“Bonds have been rising mostly on expectations of another
central bank rate cut in March.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Clarissa Batino in Manila at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Regan at
[email protected] . | 2012 | philippine-peso-strengthens-after-inflow-report-bonds-advance |
Foreign Investors Buy Net 21.9 Billion Rupees of Indian Stocks | By Paresh Jatakia | 2012-02-17T12:20:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/foreign-investors-buy-net-21-9-billion-rupees-of-indian-stocks.html | 2 | 17 | ae6579ff090bab6d22f58e6e66500c5c32dbbd82 | Overseas investors bought a net 21.9
billion rupees ($444.1 million) of Indian equities on Feb. 15
and Feb. 16, raising their investment in equities this year to
242.2 billion rupees, according to the nation’s market
regulator. Foreigners bought 78.7 billion rupees of shares and sold
56.8 billion rupees over the two days, the Securities & Exchange
Board of India said on its website today. They sold a net 6.87
billion rupees of bonds in the period, paring their inflow into
debt this year to 167.7 billion rupees, the data show . The flows helped the benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index
post its best January gain since 1994 and fueled the rupee’s
record monthly advance. They invested 421 billion rupees in
bonds last year. Foreigners have invested 4.686 trillion rupees in stocks
and 1.375 trillion rupees in bonds since they were allowed into
the country in 1993. Investments in debt increased after Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh ’s government raised the cap on foreign
ownership of local currency bonds by 20 percent to $60 billion
in November to stem a slide in the rupee. The currency tumbled
16 percent in 2011, Asia ’s worst performer. India’s $1.2 trillion stock market, Asia’s fifth-biggest,
is influenced by flows from overseas. Inflows from abroad surged
to a record in 2010, making the Sensex the best performer among
the world’s top 10 markets. The largest-ever outflow in 2008 led
to the biggest annual slump of 52 percent. Offshore funds pulled out 27.1 billion rupees from local
equities last year, compared with record flows of 1.33 trillion
rupees in 2010, as Europe ’s debt crisis threatened the global
economy and cooled demand for emerging-market assets. That led
to a 25 percent drop in the Sensex (SENSEX) , the second-worst annual
loss, and sent the rupee to an all-time low. The regulator provides data on shares bought and sold by
large investors, including trades in the primary and secondary
markets, with a delay of at least a day. To contact the reporter on this story:
Paresh Jatakia in Mumbai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Arijit Ghosh at
[email protected] | 2012 | foreign-investors-buy-net-21-9-billion-rupees-of-indian-stocks |
Nigeria Names Former Police Chief to Head Overhaul of Force | By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo | 2012-02-17T14:32:14Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/nigeria-names-former-police-chief-to-head-overhaul-of-force-1-.html | 2 | 17 | ceb2b1d040db3161059355e7680626ed3164b68c | Nigeria named Parry Osayande, a
former police chief, as head of a committee to reorganize the
country’s police force, three weeks after appointing a new
inspector-general. The nine-member committee is tasked with improving
efficiency and effectiveness and will “primarily redress the
rot in the Nigeria Police Force and reposition it to face the
challenges of a democratic society,” Vice President Namadi Sambo said today in an e-mailed statement from Abuja, the
capital. President Goodluck Jonathan on Jan. 25 appointed Mohammed Abubakar as the acting police boss, firing Hafiz Ringim a week
after Kabiru Umar, who is suspected of masterminding the
Christmas Day bombing of a church near Abuja that killed 43
people, escaped from police custody. Sokoto was re-arrested on
Feb. 10 in the northeastern Taraba state. Authorities in Africa ’s top oil producer blame Boko Haram,
whose name means “Western education is a sin,” for a series of
attacks targeting government buildings, security forces and
churches in the mainly Muslim north and Abuja in the past year. The group claimed responsibility for bomb and gun attacks
on the northern city of Kano on Jan. 21 which police said killed
184 people. Civil Rights Congress, a rights group that
participated in the rescue of victims, said 256 people died. To contact the reporter on this story:
Elisha Bala-Gbogbo in Abuja at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Hilton Shone at
[email protected] | 2012 | nigeria-names-former-police-chief-to-head-overhaul-of-force-1- |
New York Joins Obama-Backed Movement Tying Teacher Reviews to Test Scores | By Freeman Klopott | 2012-02-17T05:00:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/new-york-joins-obama-backed-movement-tying-teacher-reviews-to-test-scores.html | 2 | 17 | 3ec92b1d22dc429f955e8d8bf4c8791e | An agreement between New York (STONY1) and
its largest teachers union on evaluations makes the state part
of a movement backed by President Barack Obama to hold educators
responsible for student performance. The deal announced yesterday by Governor Andrew Cuomo , a
54-year-old Democrat, may save New York $700 million in federal
funding. It’s also an example of how the push to hold teachers
accountable has been taken up by both sides of the negotiating
table, said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education
Reform , a Washington-based group that supports charter schools
and diminished union power. “This is a big step in the right direction that puts New
York up there in the top tier of states that have already begun
down the road of codifying an evaluation system with some
portion based on student test scores,” Allen said in a
telephone interview yesterday. “It’s terrific that we have
people from both parties finally recognizing that evaluation is
an important component of creating student achievement.” Last month, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned
that New York would have to return $700 million if it didn’t
fulfill its promise to Obama’s Race to the Top program to
implement teacher evaluations. The president, a Democrat, has
proposed $5 billion in incentives for states and school
districts to tie teacher pay to performance as part of his $69.8
billion education-budget proposal. Cuomo Threat The deal between the Education Department and New York
State United Teachers union was reached after Cuomo
threatened to insert his own evaluation plan into the budget.
The agreement puts into action a 2010 law and provides a
framework for districts to negotiate with local unions. In a related deal, New York City and its local teachers
union, with Cuomo’s help, agreed to an appeals process for
educators graded poorly in evaluations that will save the city
at least $300 million in state funding, Cuomo said. “This historic agreement about a statewide teacher
evaluation system that is directly linked to student performance
ends a two-year-long stalemate and will make New York the
national model for education reform,” Larry Schwartz, secretary
to the governor, said yesterday at a press conference in Albany . Under the agreement between the state and United Teachers,
which represents 600,000 people, 60 percent of an evaluation
will be based on classroom observations by administrators, and
peer and parent feedback. The remaining 40 percent will be split
between students’ performance on state tests and locally
developed exams. ‘Talking About Layoffs’ New York’s more than 700 districts have until Jan. 17 to
use the framework to negotiate specifics with local unions or
risk losing their share of a 4 percent increase in state
funding, Cuomo said when he introduced his $132.5 billion budget
last month. Lawmakers approved the extra spending in last year’s
budget, bringing the total to $20.3 billion for fiscal 2013, or
about $800 million more than the current year. “If a school district doesn’t get the money, the school
district is going to start talking about layoffs,” Cuomo said
during a Feb. 14 Cabinet meeting in Albany. “That’s going to
affect the union, and so I think that’s an incentive.” The deal on evaluations is another victory for Cuomo. In
his first year, he erased a $10 billion deficit, got New York’s
two biggest government-worker unions to agree to pay freezes and
furloughs, instituted a property-tax cap and pushed through a
bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the third-most-populous
state. In December, the Legislature passed a Cuomo-endorsed tax
package that raised rates on joint filers earning $2 million or
more, and cut them for the middle class. “He’s the first Democratic governor in New York to
challenge the unions and step up to the plate,” Allen said. Not a Cure Teacher evaluations aren’t a panacea, said Alan Sadovnik ,
co-director of the Newark Schools Research Collaborative in New
Jersey , a joint project between Newark Public Schools and
Rutgers University-Newark. “I don’t think we should fool ourselves to think that
value-added teacher-evaluation systems will weed out all the
ineffective teachers or are a magic bullet to solving the
achievement gap,” Sadovnik said in a telephone interview
yesterday. “Unless we address conditions outside of schools,
while also addressing conditions inside schools, teacher
evaluations, while having some effect, will be limited.” NYC Sticking Point Among the rules that New York districts will negotiate is
the implementation of an appeals process for fired teachers. United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi said such a
system is best worked out locally. “One size fitting all is a bad recipe for education,”
Iannuzzi said yesterday on WCNY public radio in Albany. The appeals process had been a sticking point between New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ’s administration and United
Federation of Teachers , the local union. The debate grew hostile and that’s “why they asked the
governor to sit down and broker an agreement,” Schwartz said
during the Feb. 14 meeting. The Bloomberg administration and the UFT will now work out
the remaining details for the city evaluation system, the mayor
said at a press conference in New York yesterday. “The system the governor will put into his budget
amendment, which will become effective by the end of the year,
will allow us to not only move forward with replacing the broken
’pass/fail’ system with something far more rigorous and far more
comprehensible,” Bloomberg said. “It will also help us ensure
that teachers who are rated ‘ineffective’ can be given the
support they need to grow, or if that doesn’t work, to be moved
out of the classroom.” The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP. To contact the reporter on this story:
Freeman Klopott in Albany, New York, at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Tannenbaum at [email protected] | 2012 | new-york-joins-obama-backed-movement-tying-teacher-reviews-to-test-scores |
Sub-Sahara Africa Stocks: East African Breweries, New Mauritius | By Chris Kay | 2012-02-17T15:26:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/sub-sahara-africa-stocks-east-african-breweries-new-mauritius.html | 2 | 17 | 53da743f3d0104151f8dffd7205fde69731c91a9 | The FTSE/Namibia Overall Index (FTN098) rose
for the first time in four days, jumping 1.2 percent to 918.34
in Windhoek. The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NGSEINDX) snapped two
days of declines, advancing 0.5 percent to 20,411.17 in Lagos,
according to a statement from the bourse. Kenya’s All-Share
Index (NSEASI) gained for a third day, increasing 0.1 percent to 54.98 in
Nairobi. Mauritius’s SEMDEX Index (SEMDEX) rose 0.1 percent to 1,823.09. The following shares are active in sub-Saharan Africa,
excluding South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses. East African Breweries Ltd. (EABL) , the Kenyan unit of
Diageo Plc (DGE) , advanced 1.7 percent to 179 shillings, the highest
since Jan. 12, after the nation’s biggest company by market
value said first-half profit grew 17 percent as revenue jumped
on an increase in spirits’ sales. New Mauritius Hotels Ltd. (NMH) , the country’s biggest
leisure operator by market value, dropped for a second day,
falling 2 percent to 74.5 rupees, the lowest since Dec. 5, on
bets of a weaker tourism season. “Tourism arrivals in January dropped 3 percent, a second
month of decline, which is a cause of concern for the industry
right now,” Kishen Nadassen, senior research analyst at CIM
Stockbrokers Ltd., said in a phone interview from Port Louis.
“Expectations are negative” for the season starting April and
continuing until September, Nadassen said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Kay in Abuja at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
[email protected] | 2012 | sub-sahara-africa-stocks-east-african-breweries-new-mauritius |
Leap Drops as Analyst Says AT&T Deal Unlikely: San Diego Mover | By Alexander Yablon | 2012-02-17T21:36:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/leap-drops-as-analyst-says-at-t-deal-unlikely-san-diego-mover.html | 2 | 17 | aa86a77dbb4315b8ccd9bb9677742cad6c546abb | Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP)
fell after Collins Stewart LLC cut its rating on the pay-as-you-
go wireless provider, citing increased competition and little
chance of a sale to AT&T Inc. Leap declined 4 percent to $9.24 at the close in New York .
The stock has fallen 33 percent in the last twelve months. The San Diego-based company, which yesterday posted weaker-
than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, was reported to have held
discussions with AT&T about a possible deal, according to the
Wall Street Journal. The newspaper didn’t identify its sources
in a report posted online Feb. 15. “It becomes increasingly difficult to recommend Leap
shares for purchase at a time when the risks for the entire U.S.
wireless industry has increased and Leap remains in a relatively
weak position,” Gregory Miller, a New York-based analyst with
Collins Stewart, wrote in research note today. It’s also
“highly unlikely AT&T (T) would acquire it as recently
speculated,” said Miller, who cut his rating from “buy” to
“neutral.” Leap had gained 10 percent yesterday after the Journal
reported the talks with AT&T, the second-largest wireless
carrier. Leap reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss than analysts
predicted as smartphone sales increased. The net loss was $84.4
million for the fourth quarter, or $1.10 a share, compared with
a net loss of $249 million, or $3.28, a year earlier, the
company said in a statement. That was narrower than the $1.13
average of analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Revenue was $767.4 million, up 8.4 percent from a year
earlier. Analysts had predicted $806.5 million. Cost per gross
addition, or the average price to add each new customer, rose 14
percent to $238 in the period. Greg Lund , a Leap spokesman, wasn’t available for comment. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alexander Yablon in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Ville Heiskanen at
[email protected] | 2012 | eap-drops-as-analyst-says-at-t-deal-unlikely-san-diego-mover |
U.K. Health-Cost Agency Asks Roche for More Lung-Tumor Drug Data | By Naomi Kresge | 2012-02-17T00:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/u-k-health-cost-agency-asks-roche-for-more-lung-tumor-drug-data.html | 2 | 17 | 03b7772b2aafc25c4096f8f7f9171484f578a3fb | The U.K.’s health-cost agency said
it won’t issue a ruling on Roche Holding AG (ROG) ’s Tarceva lung-
cancer medicine until the Swiss drugmaker can show how the
therapy compares with AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) ’s Iressa. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
said it doesn’t have enough information to give a recommendation
on Tarceva. Until a final ruling, the state-run National Health
Service should decide locally on a case-by-case basis whether to
pay for the drug, the London-based cost regulator, known as
NICE , said in a statement. Roche is seeking to market Tarceva as a first-choice
treatment for people with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer
who test positive for a mutation. Iressa has had NICE’s approval
for NHS spending since 2010. NICE said it wants additional data
comparing the two treatments. Tarceva, also known as erlotinib, costs 1,631.53 pounds
($2,570) for a 30-day supply. Basel-based Roche has agreed to
give the U.K. government a discount, NICE said, adding that the
amount of the offer is confidential. The regulator’s request for more economic analysis is part
of “a standard process,” and Roche is “confident we will be
able to address the questions and will respond by March 9,”
said Claudia Schmitt, spokeswoman for the drugmaker. the Swiss
manufacturer said. “We don’t think it will cause a delay in the
issuance of the guidance.” NICE provides recommendations on treatments’ value for
money that the NHS uses as the basis for deciding whether to pay
for a drug or health-care equipment. Tarceva already has
European Union health-regulator clearance as a first-line
treatment for lung cancer in patients with the mutation. Iressa, also known as gefitinib, costs 12,200 pounds per
patient for treatment lasting longer than three months. The drug
is free for treatment periods of less than three months. To contact the reporter on this story:
Naomi Kresge in Berlin at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-k-health-cost-agency-asks-roche-for-more-lung-tumor-drug-data |
Tang Refuses Calls to Quit H.K. Chief Bid | By Sophie Leung | 2012-02-17T04:11:27Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/hong-kong-leader-contender-tang-apologizes-as-illegal-basement-hurts-image.html | 2 | 17 | e3ab492dba8c469692a0a79d45a119ed | Henry Tang , a leading candidate to
be Hong Kong ’s next chief executive, refused calls to withdraw
from the race amid growing criticism over an illegal basement
built at a property owned by his wife. Tang, a former chief secretary, late yesterday apologized
to Hong Kong residents at a packed press conference after
newspapers carried front-page stories on the basement, built
without approval, which they said included a wine cellar and a
theater. Tang's spokeswoman today said he wouldn't withdraw. Hong Kong’s next leader will be chosen by a 1,200-member
election committee next month. Tang trails Leung Chun-ying by
more than 20 percentage points in public-opinion polls and has
been criticized for being out of touch at a time when rising
property prices and inflation are stoking growing discontent
among Hong Kong’s middle class. “The smartest thing for Tang to do is to pull out of the
race, or else it will bring disaster,” said Cheung Chor-yung,
senior teaching fellow in public administration at the City
University of Hong Kong, who is also one of the voters in the
March 25 selection. “Most Hong Kong people won’t accept a
person who is not honest and incapable of handling crises.” Regina Ip, the city’s former secretary for security and a
lawmaker, said today she didn’t believe Tang was suitable to
lead the city, and she would consider standing in the poll. Tang won’t consider a withdrawal, Lucy Chan, spokeswoman at
Tang’s campaign office, said in a phone interview today. Marital Issues Late yesterday, Tang said his wife was responsible for the
construction of the basement, and he had not intervened in the
decision because the couple had been having marital issues at
that time. Tang in October said he was forgiven by his wife for
a transgression, after the Eastweek magazine published an
interview in which the couple were questioned about speculation
he had an affair. “My wife proposed to build this basement,” Tang said. “I
know this is an illegal structure, but back at that time we were
at a low tide in our marriage and we had communication problems.
I feel regret and guilty about it.” Hong Kong newspapers today carried photos of chaotic scenes
outside the property in the city’s Kowloon Tong district,
showing photographers and cameramen in cranes attempting to
capture pictures of the residence. Apple Daily and Mingpao Daily
News said the 2,000-square-foot basement also included a Japanese
bath and gymnasium. More than 90 percent of private homes in
Hong Kong are smaller than 100 square meters (1,076 square feet),
according to a report by the government’s Ratings and Valuation
Department in 2011. “The chief executive hopeful has given the impression that
he has not been telling the truth as the fiasco continues to
unfold,” the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s leading
English newspaper, said in its editorial today. “Once again, he
has counted on his wife to defuse the bombshell.” Full Cooperation Tang said he will “fully cooperate” with the government
to remove the illegal structures at the property. Hong Kong’s next chief executive will be picked by an
election committee, made up of the city’s richest men,
professionals and representatives from China. Tang, Leung and
lawmaker Albert Ho are all seeking to get at least 150
nomination votes by the end of the month to stand for election. Tang was financial secretary before becoming the second-
highest ranked official in the city of 7 million residents. His
father is Tang Hsiang Chien, who was ranked the 40th-richest
person in Hong Kong in 2010 by Forbes Magazine. The younger
Tang’s best-known policy success was to abolish duties on wine
in 2008, helping the city overtake London and New York as the
world’s biggest wine auction market. Trailing Leung Leung, a policeman’s son and former government adviser, has
public support of 49.2 percent for the chief executive job,
according to a survey published on Feb. 13 by the University of
Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme. Tang trails with 26.1
percent approval. The poll of 1,000 residents had a margin of
error of less than 3 percentage points. Since the former British colony was returned to China in
1997, the income of the poorest 10 percent of the city’s
families has fallen 13 percent. Earnings for the richest 10
percent rose 6.3 percent. Tang is seen to represent businesses, whereas Leung is more
popular as he’s seen to be “more reform-oriented, is more
willing to challenge existing interests,” Joseph Cheng , a
professor in political science at the City University of Hong
Kong said earlier this month. “If Tang refuses to withdraw from the race, he will bring
the biggest headache to Beijing,” City University’s Cheung said.
“If Tang can still be elected as the chief with all these
scandals, it really shows the ridiculousness of this small-
circled election. Now Leung stands a better chance.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Sophie Leung in Hong Kong at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at
[email protected] | 2012 | ong-kong-leader-contender-tang-apologizes-as-illegal-basement-hurts-image |
Santorum Picks Own ‘Winners and Losers’ Even as He Chides Obama | By David J. Lynch | 2012-02-17T05:00:35Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/santorum-picks-own-winners-and-losers-even-as-he-chides-obama.html
Republican presidential candidate
Rick Santorum says he doesn’t believe the U.S. government should
pick the economy’s “winners and losers.” Except for manufacturers. And small businesses. And
families. Speaking in Detroit , the former Pennsylvania senator
sketched a plan he said would balance the federal budget in five
years, including rolling back non-defense spending on many
programs to 2008 levels, while rejuvenating the good-paying
factory jobs that once characterized the Motor City. “We do need a strong economic platform to help the private
sector compete,” he said in a luncheon speech yesterday to the
Detroit Economic Club before the Feb. 28 Michigan primary. As Santorum campaigns in the industrial heartland, he
proposes eliminating the corporate income tax for manufacturers
and halving the 35 percent rate for other companies. Even some
Republican-leaning economists were skeptical about extending
special help to one area of the economy such as manufacturing. “It’s a bad idea to single out a particular sector that
way,” said Alan Viard, a former economist in President George W. Bush ’s administration who is now a scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute in Washington. “Economists assume that,
under normal conditions, markets will allocate resources
efficiently,” he added. “So the tax system should be
neutral.” Vision for Future Santorum, 53, says the help is needed to reverse the long-
running erosion in manufacturing employment and buttress stable
communities. “This is an economic vision that doesn’t go back, but goes
forward,” he said. “We’ll put America back to work.” Although manufacturers have added 404,000 jobs since
January 2010, there are still 5.5 million fewer factory jobs
today than in July 2000. Yet manufacturing output is 2.2 percent
greater today, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Economists say the job losses are the result of more
intense worldwide competition following the end of the Cold War
and higher productivity because of automation. “We can’t go overboard in thinking we can go back to the
middle-class manufacturing jobs we had in the ‘50s and ‘60s when
we didn’t have the global competition we have now,” said
Jeffrey Bergstrand , a finance professor at the University of
Notre Dame and a former Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
economist. Recalling Obama Pledge Many major manufacturers already pay less than the
statutory 35 percent tax rate, according to their Securities and
Exchange Commission filings. Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) pays an effective
27 percent rate while Boeing Co. (BA) pays 25.6 percent and Johnson &
Johnson 21.5 percent. Santorum’s hopes of reviving manufacturing employment are
reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s election-year plan to
“bring manufacturing back.” The president, who this week
toured the Master Lock manufacturing site in Milwaukee , last
month unveiled a six-pronged plan to eliminate tax incentives
for companies to move offshore and create new lures for them to
bring jobs home. In recent months, several companies | 2 | 17 | 35370c7f0e464093bc0ede3f7821026f | return work to the U.S. from overseas facilities. GE brought
production of its energy-efficient water heaters to its
Louisville, Kentucky, facility while Ford is shifting medium-
duty truck production from Mexico to Avon Lake, Ohio , which will
preserve 2,000 jobs there. Repatriating Funds Santorum also wants to use tax incentives to persuade
multinational corporations to return some of the cash they have
stockpiled abroad back to the U.S. He would allow corporations
to bring their foreign profits to the U.S. on a tax-free basis,
so long as they used the money to build new factories. Corporations have $1.4 trillion overseas, according to J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC. With existing factories operating well
below capacity, lack of demand, not taxes, may explain why. The
nation is using 77 percent of its manufacturing potential , less
than during the low point of the 1990-91 recession, according to
the Fed. Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) , for example, has $5.9 billion parked
in its non-U.S. subsidiaries, according to SEC filings. Chief
Executive Officer David Farr told investors this week that
rising labor costs in China meant the company would rely more on
automated manufacturing there, rather than on low-cost labor. On to Mexico “We’re not about taking stuff and moving it back other
places,” Farr told investors in a Feb. 14 conference call.
“The place I’ll move it will be Mexico.” Santorum also suggested that manufacturers are having
trouble finding skilled workers because of extended unemployment
benefits . With up to 99 weeks of jobless benefits available,
“people can make choices they couldn’t otherwise make,” he
said. Santorum, who is leading former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in Michigan polls, issued no new proposals yesterday. He
reiterated his call for tilting the tax code to help families by
tripling the current deduction, which Viard said would
“increase still further the percentage of people who don’t pay
any income tax.” Santorum also vowed to roll back Obama administration
regulations, which he said were hurting small businesses. “Big business doesn’t mind big government,” he said. “It
gives them a comparative advantage.” Criticizing Bush He criticized both the Bush and Obama administrations for
bailing out the auto and financial industries, which he
described as “picking winners and losers” and said the result
of a greater government role in the economy “is not going to be
a good one.” Santorum said he wouldn’t have rescued General Motors Co.
and Chrysler Group LLC because the automakers would have
recovered without federal assistance. The companies would be “alive and equally as well, or
better off, than they are now,” he told the crowd of about 300.
“The markets would have reacted to restructure it to be more
competitive.” GM yesterday said it earned $9.19 billion last year, the
largest annual profit in the 103-year history of the company. Santorum saved his harshest language for the president,
whom he accused of “suffocating this economy.” While Obama has
presided over the weakest economic recovery since the end of
World War II, third-quarter corporate profits of $2 trillion
were 19 percent higher than their pre-recession peak five years
earlier, the Commerce Department said. Spend Less If elected president, Santorum said the federal government
will spend less money every year en route to a balanced budget
in the fifth year. Since 1948, government spending has increased
every year except for 1954, 1955 and 1965, according to the
Office of Management and Budget. He pledged to tackle spending immediately on so-called
entitlements. That includes accelerating Representative Paul Ryan’s proposed changes to Medicare, which would turn the
government insurance program for the elderly into a voucher
system, in which recipients would purchase private insurance. Santorum’s tax plan would make the job of balancing the
budget more difficult, reducing federal revenue in 2015 by $900
billion to $1.3 trillion, depending upon whether the Bush-era
tax cuts were allowed to expire at the end of this year,
according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington . Wider Deficit The White House projects a $610 billion deficit in 2015,
meaning Santorum’s proposed tax cuts could as much as triple the
amount of spending reduction required that year to eliminate the
government’s red ink. “It’s a really, really large tax cut relative even to full
extension of the expiring tax cuts,” says Donald Marron , the
center’s director and a former member of the White House Council
of Economic Advisers under Republican George W. Bush. “It’s
very hard to see how you’re able to pay for that.” Santorum vows to cut $5 trillion from federal spending in
five years, an unprecedented shrinkage in government outlays
even as the U.S. population gets larger and older. One sign of
the challenge: Between this year and 2015, Medicare will add
more than 5 million new patients, according to the latest
Medicare trustees’ report. To contact the reporter on this story:
David J. Lynch in Washington at
[email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jeanne Cummings at
[email protected] | 2012 | santorum-picks-own-winners-and-losers-even-as-he-chides-obama |
World Bank Will Choose Successor to Zoellick by Meetings Starting April | By Sandrine Rastello | 2012-02-17T21:07:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/world-bank-will-choose-successor-to-zoellick-by-meetings-starting-april-20.html
The World Bank board of directors
said it expects to pick a successor to President Robert Zoellick
by the time of its April 20-22 meetings. The Washington-based lender will accept nominations until
March 23 and look for candidates with skills including “a
proven track record of leadership” and “experience of managing
large organizations with international exposure, and a
familiarity with the public sector,” the institution said in an
e-mailed statement. While the bank promised a “merit-based and transparent”
selection process, the president’s position has always been held
by a U.S. citizen. The Obama administration said it will have a
candidate “in the coming weeks.’ Zoellick, 58, said earlier this week he would step down
when his five-year mandate ends June 30. Officials from Brazil
and China pushed for a selection procedure that could lead to a
president who is not a U.S. citizen. The board will decide on a shortlist of up to three
candidates, whom it will interview, the World Bank said in its
statement today. Other criteria include “the ability to articulate a clear
vision of the World Bank Group’s development mission” and
“effective and diplomatic communication skills, impartiality
and objectivity in the performance of the responsibilities of
the position” as well as “a firm commitment to and
appreciation for multilateral cooperation.” Emerging Markets The campaign for the helm of an institution that made $57
billion in loans in the last fiscal year will test the capacity
of emerging markets to close ranks behind a candidate eight
months after they failed to line up behind an International
Monetary Fund nominee. The U.S. grip on the job was part of an
informal agreement that also has a European head the IMF. Last year Christine Lagarde , then France ’s finance
minister, got picked to head the IMF over Mexican Central Bank
Governor Agustin Carstens. The U.S. backed Lagarde at the end of
the campaign. | 2 | 17 | 4cbd4c36a2097d36fb2a2c2256ab487c1703994f | Sandrine Rastello in Washington at
[email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Wellisz in Washington at
[email protected] ; | 2012 | world-bank-will-choose-successor-to-zoellick-by-meetings-starting-april-20 |
BP Settles With Drilling Fluid Provider Over 2010 Oil Spill | By Margaret Cronin Fisk | 2012-02-17T23:55:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/bp-settles-with-drilling-fluid-provider-over-2010-oil-spill.html | 2 | 17 | 8d713889ff9d4b978b4b9b9cd987e404 | BP Plc (BP/) and M-I Swaco, which provided
fluid for the doomed Macondo well, settled all claims against
each other over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico , the
companies said in a court filing. M-I, a unit of Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) , has been named as a
defendant in hundreds of lawsuits over the spill by businesses,
property owners and state governments. M-I said it wasn’t
responsible for the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and that BP
and other companies were, according to court papers filed last
year. BP said in a claim filed in June that M-I LLC, also known
as M-I Swaco, “failed to provide, control, and monitor the mud
and spacer solutions used on the Deepwater Horizon in a
reasonably safe manner.” The companies won’t pursue allegations
against each other, they said in today’s filing. BP and M-I “have agreed to mutually dismiss with all
prejudice all claims that the parties brought, or could have
brought, against each other,” lawyers for the companies said.
The filing didn’t mention whether either company would be making
a payment. The Macondo well blowout and the explosion that followed
killed 11 workers. The sinking of Transocean (RIG) ’s Deepwater Horizon
drilling rig and subsequent spill led to hundreds of lawsuits
against London-based BP and its partners and contractors. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who’s
overseeing much of the spill litigation, has scheduled a nonjury
trial for Feb. 27 to determine liability and apportion fault for
the disaster. M-I remains a defendant in the trial. Merger “BP and M-I Swaco’s claims against each other relating to
the Deepwater Horizon incident have been mutually and
voluntarily dismissed,” Stephen T. Harris, a Schlumberger
spokesman, said in an e-mailed comment. “Terms of the
settlement are confidential.” “MI-Swaco is a valued supplier,” said Scott Dean , a BP
spokesman, in an e-mailed statement. M-I Swaco became part of Schlumberger in August 2010 as a
result of its merger with Smith International, according to
company’s website. BP previously settled with its partners in the well,
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) , Mitsui & Co. ’s MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC,
and Cameron International Corp. (CAM) , maker of blowout prevention
equipment used for the project. Spill Claims Houston-based Cameron reported Dec. 16 that it had agreed
to pay BP $250 million in exchange for the oil company’s
indemnifying it from damage claims. The settlement doesn’t cover
fines, penalties or punitive damages. Anadarko, which had a 25 percent share in the Macondo well,
agreed in October to pay BP $4 billion to settle oil spill
claims. MOEX, which had a 10 percent share, settled for $1.07
billion in May. The settlements don’t cover possible fines. Mitsui’s MOEX
unit settled government claims over Clean Water Act violations
for $90 million today. Barbier has ruled that MOEX and Anadarko
can’t be sued for punitive damages. The lawsuit is part of In Re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig
Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010,
MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana
( New Orleans ). To contact the reporter on this story:
Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] . | 2012 | bp-settles-with-drilling-fluid-provider-over-2010-oil-spi |
OTP Gains, Paring Weekly Drop as Hungarian Stocks Advance | By Andras Gergely | 2012-02-17T16:32:13Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/otp-gains-paring-weekly-drop-as-hungarian-stocks-advance-1-.html | 2 | 17 | 45dc6d6acd09fbea9d8f34fa8dd71082c3b87a2b | OTP Bank Nyrt. (OTP) , Hungary’s largest
lender, pared its weekly decline as the country’s stocks rose on
speculation that Greece will get a second bailout and Hungary
worked to obtain its own rescue. The shares rose 1.9 percent to 3,945 forint by the close in
Budapest, paring losses this week to 0.8 percent. The benchmark
BUX stock index added 2.1 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index rallied 1.1 percent as
investors anticipated a meeting of euro area finance ministers
next week will move toward a second bailout for Greece. Hungary
responded today to the European Commission on disputes which
have obstructed talks on International Monetary Fund and
European Union aid since last year in three areas including
monetary-policy independence. “Mainly it is the rally on exchanges abroad which is
helping Hungarian markets,” Akos Kuti , head of research at
Equilor Befektetesi Zrt., a Budapest-based broker, said by
telephone today. “Some very favorable news was received from
Europe , particularly about the Greek rescue, that was clearly
what lifted markets.” Signs that obstacles to Hungary’s own bailout will be
removed also supported the rally, Kuti said. While Hungary expects further debate with the EU on its
central bank law, the Cabinet is willing to compromise on the
issue of the judiciary, state-run news service MTI reported late
yesterday, citing Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics. “Hungary’s government left it late to reply to the EC’s
decision to start infringement proceedings,” William Jackson , a
London-based emerging-market analyst at Capital Economics , wrote
in a research report today. “But the fact that it has done so,
coupled with conciliatory comments from Prime Minister Orban,
has raised hopes that a deal with the EU/IMF can be reached
quickly. We remain more cautious.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Andras Gergely in Budapest at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
[email protected] | 2012 | otp-gains-paring-weekly-drop-as-hungarian-stocks-advance-1- |
Baidu Profit Tops Estimates Amid Higher Ad Spending in China | By Mark Lee | 2012-02-17T00:15:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/baidu-fourth-quarter-profit-tops-estimates-on-higher-ad-spending-in-china.html | 2 | 17 | 50250af4ec0a8b89b3f6875690a57dd3b9caaa6e | Baidu Inc. (BIDU) , owner of China’s
dominant search engine, reported fourth-quarter profit that
topped analysts’ predictions as companies boosted spending on
online advertising to reach users in the top Internet market. Profit excluding certain items was 95 cents per American
depositary receipt, compared with 90 cents, the average estimate
of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income climbed 77 percent
to 2.05 billion yuan ($326.3 million), or 5.87 yuan per ADR,
from 1.16 billion yuan, or 3.32 yuan, a year earlier, Baidu said
today in a statement. That exceeded the 2 billion yuan average
of 10 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue jumped
83 percent to 4.47 billion yuan. Advertisers increased spending to buy keywords as Baidu
extended its lead over Google Inc. (GOOG) In China, where Beijing-based
Baidu says it handles more than 80 percent of search queries,
Chief Executive Officer Robin Li is expanding the company in
services aimed at smartphone users and investing in video and
music content to compete with Internet rivals including Tencent
Holdings Ltd. (700) “The average spending for advertisers have been growing
very quickly,” Dundas Deng, who rates Baidu “accumulate” at
Guotai Junan Securities in Shenzhen, said before the earnings
were released. The company has been upgrading its advertising
system, known as Phoenix Nest, to boost sales of keywords, he
said. Sales Forecast Baidu rose 2.5 percent in Nasdaq Stock Market trading today
before the earnings announcement. The stock has gained 22
percent this year, compared with the 28 percent gain in the Hong
Kong-traded shares of Tencent, China ’s biggest online-games
company, and the 32 percent advance in Sina Corp. (SINA) (SINA), operator of
the Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service. Revenue is expected to rise to within a range of 4.2
billion yuan to 4.33 billion yuan in the first quarter, Baidu
said. That compares with the 4.26 billion yuan average of
analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company accounted for 78.3 percent of China’s search-
engine market by revenue last quarter, rising from 78.2 percent
in the previous three months, according to research company
Analysys International. Google’s share dropped to 16.7 percent
from 17.2 percent, the researcher said. Google has been losing ground in China’s search-engine
market since January 2010, when the Mountain View , California-
based company said it was no longer willing to comply with
Chinese regulation to self-censor Web content. Two months later,
Google shut its Google.cn service and redirected Chinese users
to its site in Hong Kong . Robin Li is China’s second-richest man. To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Lee in Hong Kong at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
[email protected] | 2012 | baidu-fourth-quarter-profit-tops-estimates-on-higher-ad-spending-in-china |
Baidu’s Slowing Sales View Curbs N.Y. Stocks: China Overnight | By Belinda Cao | 2012-02-19T16:00:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/baidu-s-on-mark-revenue-outlook-curbs-n-y-stock-advance-china-overnight.html | 2 | 17 | bdc6739ecabd4e0e8a1d7ceec99f75b2 | Baidu Inc. (BIDU) dropped the most in two
months, leading a decline in U.S.-traded Chinese stocks, on
concern the nation’s largest online search engine will see a
drop in advertising revenue as the economy slows. Baidu slid 3.5 percent on Feb. 17, the biggest retreat
since Dec. 21, after forecasting a slowdown in first-quarter
sales. Sina Corp. (SINA) , provider of a Twitter-like service in China ,
and social network website owner Renren Inc. (RENN) also slipped,
eroding the Bloomberg China-US 55 Index’s (CH55BN) 3.6 percent advance
this week. Presiding over a search engine with about 311,000
advertisers, Baidu expects sales to rise 75 percent this quarter
from a year earlier, after 82 percent growth in the last three
months of 2011, according to a Feb. 16 statement. Economic
growth in China eased last quarter to the least since 2009 as
Europe ’s debt crisis and a sluggish U.S. recovery curbed demand
for goods from the world’s largest exporter. “Even though Baidu has had impressive historical growth
rates, it will be challenging for Baidu to continue to grow at
the same high pace relying on their current strategy,” said
Kevin Pollack, a fund manager at Paragon Capital LP in New York
on Feb. 17. “There is pervasive fear of an ad slowdown,
especially if China experiences lower growth, which could
significantly reduce business from Baidu’s primary customers.” The Bloomberg China-US 55, an index of the most-traded
Chinese stocks in the U.S., dropped 0.2 percent to 108.85 on
Feb. 17 in New York, while preserving its biggest five-day
advance in 11 weeks. The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund , the
biggest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., slipped 0.1
percent to $40.26, trimming its gain last week to 3.4 percent,
the biggest weekly increase in four. ‘Not Keeping Up’ Beijing-based Baidu’s American depositary receipts closed
at a one-week low of $136.90. Analysts at Susquehanna Financial
Group and Bocom International Holdings Co. cut 12-month price
targets for the stock on Feb. 17, after the company reported
fourth-quarter results the previous day. The rate of growth for Baidu’s net income will slow to 52
percent this year from 88 percent in 2011, according to the
average forecast of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue growth “is not keeping up with the size of the
organization,” said Tim Hartzell , chief investment officer at
Houston-based Sequent Asset Management. “They should acquire or
keep exploring what else they can market.” Facebook Inc. (FB) ’s initial public offering plans are going to
pull capital from a lot of technology stocks, Hartzell said.
Facebook filed for a share offer on Feb. 1, and people familiar
with the matter have said the company is considering a sale that
would value it at $75 billion to $100 billion. 21Vianet Group Shanghai-based Sina slid 1.4 percent to $67.74 in New York,
trimming a 4 percent weekly gain, while Renren, based in
Beijing, slipped 1.5 percent to $5.43, up 4.4 percent last week.
21Vianet Group Inc (VNET) ., China’s largest independent data-center
services provider, sank 4.6 percent to $10.91, extending its
drop in the week to 8.9 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) rose 0.2 percent to
1,361.23 on Feb. 17, approaching a three-year high of 1,363.61
set in April. The gauge added 1.4 percent last week. The
Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) was little changed on Feb. 17 at
2,357.18, completing the week with a 0.2 percent advance. Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP) , the world’s largest solar-panel
marker, climbed 8.3 percent to $3.65 on Feb. 17, the most in a
week, after raising its forecast for fourth-quarter sales. The
stock was down 9.4 percent in the week. No ‘Hard Landing’ The company, based in China’s eastern Jiangsu province,
said in a statement on Feb. 17 that shipments in the last three
months of 2011 probably declined about 10 percent from the third
quarter, compared with a previous estimate for a 20 percent
drop. China is encouraging more consumption and greater output by
businesses, Vice President Xi Jinping said on a trade visit to
Los Angeles on Feb. 17. “There will not be a so-called hard
landing ” for the country’s economy, he said. Ctrip.com International Ltd. (CTRP) , the biggest online travel
agency in China, will report fourth-quarter figures today. Sales
rose 24.6 percent for the quarter from a year ago to $148.6
million, according to the average estimate of nine analysts.
That compares with a 26 percent increase in the third quarter.
Net income dropped 8 percent from a year earlier to $42.1
million, the analysts predict. Ctrip ADRs slipped 1 percent to $24.69, down 1 percent in
the week. To contact the reporter on this story:
Belinda Cao in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Emma O’Brien at
[email protected] | 2012 | baidu-s-on-mark-revenue-outlook-curbs-n-y-stock-advance-china-overnig |