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Marriott Cuts Profit Forecast as Demand Weakens Overseas

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-31/marriott-profit-climbs-as-north-america-demand-increases.html

Marriott International Inc. (MAR) , the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel chain, cut its full-year profit forecast after reporting second-quarter results that were in line with analysts’ estimates. The company expects earnings per share for the third quarter of 42 cents to 46 cents, less than the 49-cent average of 29 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Marriott projected full-year earnings of $1.92 to $2.03 a share, which would miss both the $2.04 that analysts are estimating and the company’s own previous guidance of $1.93 to $2.08. Slowing demand from business groups and U.S. government cutbacks in travel spending weighed on Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott’s second-quarter earnings, while weakening hotel use abroad may hamper results for the rest of the year, according to Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson. “Looking at group business, we remain encouraged in terms of long-term bookings, but short-term group business weakened in the U.S. as the quarter progressed,” Sorenson said on a conference call with investors. “Our large convention hotels and our hotels in Washington and Boston were particularly impacted as group demand weakened.” The company is “still experiencing a lingering effect from the recession” and is taking a “more conservative view” of demand trends for Asia and the Middle East, Sorensen said. Revpar Growth Second-quarter earnings of 57 cents a share matched the average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Net income rose to $179 million from $143 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a statement. Revenue per available room, an industry measure of occupancies and rates, climbed 5.3 percent from a year earlier at company-operated hotels in North America. Worldwide, revpar increased 4.7 percent, according to the statement. Marriott in May projected second-quarter earnings of 55 cents to 59 cents a share and said it expected revpar to increase 5 percent to 7 percent in North America, 2 percent to 4 percent outside North America and 4 percent to 6 percent worldwide. “International revenue growth has been quite tepid,” Nikhil Bhalla, an analyst at FBR & Co. (FBRC) in Arlington, Virginia, said after the earnings were announced. “Softening demand in Europe and Asia will weigh on them for the remainder of the year.” Total revenue rose to $3.26 billion in the second quarter from $2.78 billion a year earlier. Starwood, Hyatt Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) , owner of the luxury St. Regis and W brands, last week said second-quarter earnings climbed 12 percent, helped by cost cuts and sales of vacation units at the company’s South Florida resort. Hyatt Hotels Corp. (H) , the chain controlled by the Pritzker family, yesterday said its second-quarter profit almost tripled as demand climbed at its U.S. properties. Marriott rose 0.2 percent to $41.58 in New York trading. To contact the reporter on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at [email protected]

Sulfurcell Seeks Strategic Partner to Increase Solar Capacity

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-22/sulfurcell-seeks-strategic-partner-to-increase-manufacturing-capacity.html

Sulfurcell Solartechnik GmbH , a Berlin-based manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, is seeking a strategic partner to help it expand production capacity by more than seven-fold. The company has raised 150 million euros ($205 million), including about 30 million euros in government incentives, Kalman Kaufman, chairman of the supervisory board, said in a Tel Aviv interview at a Landmark Ventures business conference yesterday. “To be really efficient you need hundreds of megawatts,” Kaufman said. A potential partner can be found "probably in the Far East where the cost of labor is lower and there is more capital in this area.’’ Sulfurcell is planning to expand to between 200 and 300 megawatts of annual production from 40 megawatts in 2011, he said. About 1,700 megawatts in thin-film panels were produced in 2010, a majority of which were by U.S. manufacturer First Solar Inc ., Bloomberg New Energy Finance has estimated. Thin-film, developed as a cheaper alternative to the traditional solar panels from silicon, uses photovoltaic materials that are deposited in sheets onto surfaces such as for roof shingles or building blocks. To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at [email protected]

Solvay Second-Quarter Profit Tops Estimates as Prices Gain

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-25/solvay-second-quarter-profit-tops-estimates-as-prices-gain-1-.html

Solvay SA (SOLB) , the world’s largest soda- ash maker, reported second-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as price increases and rising demand for some products compensated for higher energy costs. Net income more than doubled to 111 million euros ($160 million) from 44 million euros a year earlier, the Brussels- based company said today in a statement. Profit topped the 100.3 million-euro average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Solvay said it raised prices for products including soda ash, caustic soda, polyvinyl chloride and specialty polymers by 11 percent. The volume sold increased 4 percent after Solvay removed bottlenecks to expand production capacity for specialty polymers. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and special items rose 12 percent to 304 million euros and were unchanged as a proportion of revenue, at 18 percent. The manufacturer confirmed the earnings figures after highlights of a statement scheduled to be published July 28 were accidentally posted on Solvay’s website at 3:27 p.m. local time and subsequently removed. The soda-ash maker will publish full earnings as planned before the start of trading on July 28. Solvay gained 2.5 percent to 110.75 euros at the 5:40 p.m. close of trading on Euronext Brussels, extending the shares’ advance this year to 39 percent. Today’s increase was the biggest on the 23-company Stoxx 600 Chemicals Index. To contact the reporter on this story: John Martens in Brussels at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at [email protected]

Evolution Says It May Consider an Offer for Rival Brokerage Panmure Gordon

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-23/evolution-says-it-may-consider-an-offer-for-rival-brokerage-panmure-gordon.html

Evolution Group Plc, a London-based stockbroker, said it’s considering an offer for smaller rival Panmure Gordon & Co. The company is “keen to assess Panmure Gordon’s upcoming trading results before determining whether there is any merit in taking its deliberations further,” London-based Evolution said in a statement today. “No formal discussions have taken place between management of the company and Panmure Gordon.” U.K. brokers are seeking to consolidate after the credit crisis cut off financing for takeovers, hurting revenue from advising on fundraisings and mergers. Panmure, which has about 64 corporate clients, said in March its net loss shrank to 11.1 million pounds ($17.4 million) in 2009. A purchase would follow broker Execution Holdings Ltd.’s December takeover of Noble Group Holdings Ltd. Panmure Gordon said in a separate statement that it hasn’t held talks with Evolution. The broker also said the first half “represented particularly challenging markets” though it “expects a bias in revenues towards the second half.” Panmure Gordon gained 8.6 percent to 31.5 pence in London, giving it a market value of about 45.7 million pounds ($71.8 million). Evolution fell 0.6 percent to 85.25 pence, paring its market value to about 198 million pounds. QInvest LLC, a Qatari investment bank, owns about 44 percent of Panmure. To contact the reporter on this story: Ambereen Choudhury in London [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans in London at at [email protected]

Taxes in Greece Are a Problem, Foreign Minister Lambrinidis Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/taxes-in-greece-are-a-problem-foreign-minister-lambrinidis-says.html

Taxation in Greece is a problem and people declare much less income than they make, Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis said. To contact the reporter on this story: John Detrixhe in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Annells at [email protected]

Saudi Banks Among World’s Most Profitable on Prudent Strategies

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-22/saudi-banks-among-world-s-most-profitable-on-prudent-strategies.html

Saudi Arabia ’s commercial banking industry continues to be one of the world’s most profitable as high oil prices and vast government spending help lenders pursue prudent strategies, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services said. “Through a unique combination of supportive features, the Saudi banks we rate continue to demonstrate their ability to generate solid, sustainable core earnings, in turn fuelling high profits,” analyst Nicolas Hardy said in an e-mailed statement today. “Prospects for sound earnings and profits are bright.” Saudi bank lending had slowed in the previous two years after two family-owned businesses defaulted on at least $15.7 billion of loans and the economy was hurt by the global credit crunch. High oil prices and vast spending plans under the aegis of the Saudi government have driven the banks’ performance, along with low cost of funding, good pricing power high efficiency and a tax-free environment, according to the statement. The Saudi Monetary Agency has led the banks to revise their strategies in “favor of plain vanilla domestic banking activities, and to strengthen their risk management practices,” S&P said. “They have allocated their robust operating revenues both to build up capital positions and to increase provisions for coverage of bad loans to conservative levels above 100 percent,” it said. To contact the reporter on this story: Zahraa Alkhalisi in Abu Dhabi at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at [email protected]

German Stocks Fall After U.S. Jobs Data Misses Forecasts; DAX Loses 0.5%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/german-stocks-fall-after-u-s-jobs-data-misses-forecasts-dax-loses-0-5-.html

German stocks declined, erasing an earlier gain, after companies in the U.S. added fewer jobs last month than economists forecast. The benchmark DAX Index fell 0.5 percent to 6,300.76 at 2:32 p.m. in Frankfurt, after earlier rising as much sa 0.8 percent.

VW Brings Phaeton Flop Back to U.S. as Passat Sedan Fades

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-16/vw-brings-phaeton-flop-back-to-u-s-as-passat-sedan-fades-cars.html

Volkswagen AG (VOW) plans to bring back the Phaeton luxury sedan to the U.S. as the carmaker looks to reignite flagging growth in one of the few markets it has been unable to crack. The Phaeton, the brand’s most expensive model, could be shown to U.S. consumers in January as VW prepares the car’s return after pulling it seven years ago because of weak sales. The reintroduction, which would complement the rollout of new sport-utility vehicles, is aimed at showing off VW’s engineering prowess as the lift from the mainstream Passat sedan fades. “A brand as large as Volkswagen needs a halo project in the upscale segment,” Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn told Bloomberg at a conference in the company’s hometown of Wolfsburg earlier this month, confirming that the Phaeton will return to U.S. showrooms. “We’ve seen what happens to brands that don’t have that kind of project.” The Phaeton, a pet project of VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech , last year sold about half the volume worldwide that the company initially targeted. Its U.S. comeback is part of a plan to spend $5 billion over the next three years to roll out new models and boost sales in the U.S., where deliveries have started to slip after a two-year burst following the 2011 rollout of the Passat and Jetta sedans that were redesigned for American tastes. Audi Underpinnings The Crossblue concept, a seven-seat sport-utility vehicle that would compete with the Ford (F) Explorer and Toyota Highlander, was shown at the Detroit car show this year. It’s intended to be a big seller alongside the Tennessee-made Passat. The U.S. push is critical to VW’s strategy to surpass General Motors Co. (GM) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) in global deliveries by 2018. A new version of the Phaeton may be presented at the Detroit auto show in January to test the response for an eventual rollout, three people familiar with the matter said. The car would share underpinnings with the Audi A8 sedan and a hybrid version is planned, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. At its current pace, the company will come up well short of its target of selling 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. by 2018. IHS Automotive predicts deliveries of 517,000 vehicles to American consumers in five years, missing the target by 35 percent. The company has been losing ground this year. VW’s sales in the U.S. fell 0.9 percent to 206,792 cars in the first six months of 2013, while total light vehicle sales in the country rose 7.7 percent. ‘Give Gas’ Volkswagen shares rose 1.4 percent to 169.65 euros today in Frankfurt trading. The gain trimmed the stock’s decline to 1.5 percent this year, valuing the company at 77 billion euros. The Jetta, Beetle and Passat models, which fueled VW’s gains over the past two years, “reached maturity in terms of their sales cycles,” said Tim Urquhart, a London-based analyst at IHS Automotive. The Crossblue SUV should revive growth, while the Phaeton may offer little help, he said. To reinvigorate growth, CEO Winterkorn traveled to Washington last week to show off new models to more than 500 dealers and “motivate them to give gas again,” the executive said. Still, the return of the Phaeton could jar Volkswagen’s recent U.S. strategy of appealing to mid-market buyers. The company made the Passat bigger and cheaper than the European version to appeal to U.S. drivers. The Phaeton started at $66,700 before VW withdrew it. In Germany , the car starts at 70,000 euros ($92,100). Those prices would likely mean the Phaeton would cost more than Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) ’s Equus, which starts at $59,250. It could also rival the $75,100 A8 from VW’s Audi unit. Piech Project The return of the Phaeton “would be a bad decision,” said Jesse Toprak , an analyst for TrueCar Inc., which tracks U.S. auto sales. “No one spends $80,000 on a Volkswagen. The company already has luxury brands that can cater to that segment,” such as Audi. The 2006 withdrawal of the Phaeton from the world’s largest market for upscale vehicles was a move by Wolfgang Bernhard , the head of the VW brand at the time, to stem losses in the region. The decision helped trigger his departure because the move called into question Chairman Piech’s strategy. The Phaeton was started by Piech while he was CEO, including the construction of a $238 million glass-walled factory in Dresden. The plant has become one of the city’s top tourist sites alongside the Semperoper opera house, attracting about 90,000 visitors a year. White Robes Production areas have parquet floors with workers wearing white robes -- sometimes even white gloves -- as they assemble cars by hand. The factory’s most eye-catching building is a 40-meter (131-foot) glass tower where finished Phaetons are parked prior to delivery. VW has already sought to reintroduce the Phaeton to the U.S. public. In May, the New York Philharmonic played a concert at the Dresden factory. A raw body frame of a Phaeton dangled above the stage, the gray aluminum illuminated by a soft blue light. The performance featured percussionists clanging 43 body parts of the car as part of a special arrangement of Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft (German for “power”). In the U.S., VW’s narrow lineup has cost it customers like David Smith. The former Golf and Jetta driver wanted a bigger car for his teenage son and two dogs and opted for Toyota Highlander in 2011 after considering VW’s Routan minivan. He’s in the market for a second car and would switch back to VW if the brand had the right car. The Phaeton might be stretching it. “When I was a kid, VW was always an affordable car, and that’s what it should be,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Christoph Rauwald in Frankfurt at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at [email protected]

Strengthen Your Workforce Through Volunteer Programs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-05/strengthen-your-workforce-through-volunteer-programs.html

Time-crunched employees are increasingly looking to their jobs to provide opportunities for the good deeds that they don't have the hours for outside of work, and companies are responding. But karmic satisfaction is only part of the payoff. Volunteering offers participants the opportunity to strengthen their skills, broaden their networks, break out of a career rut, and find new meaning in their job. All these benefits redound to employers in the form of increased engagement and retention. Data from the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) shows that the vast majority of college graduates want to amplify their commitment to good causes through their employer. According to the Deloitte Volunteer Impact Survey (PDF) , Generation Ys who frequently participate in their company's volunteer activities are more likely to be very proud to work for their company, feel very loyal, and are very satisfied with the progression of their careers. In fact, for many recent college graduates, a robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate makes a crucial difference in where they choose to work, with 77% of respondents in a recent study (PDF) indicating that "a company's commitment to social issues is important when I decide where to work." These sentiments hold true across generational cohorts. CTI data finds that 91% of Gen X women and 76% of Gen X men , and 90% of female and 79% of male Baby Boomers , feel it is important to contribute to their community or the wider world through work. Corporate volunteer programs range from one-day community service activities to mini-sabbaticals that send top performers to developing countries to lend their expertise to nonprofit organizations and proven entrepreneurs. Moody's Afternoon of Service is a good example of a once-a-year opportunity for people who want to dip their toes into volunteering. The program takes place during the workday; employees sign up for a variety of team-based activities, including sorting library books at a public school in a poor neighborhood, planting flower bulbs in a city park, lending a hand at an organization that gathers clothing for and coaches disadvantaged women going out on job interviews, and preparing lunch at a community soup kitchen. Fran Laserson, President of the Moody's Foundation, remembers the overwhelming response to this program, which was launched in 2008. "We're a quantitatively focused company," she says. "Our culture is not effusive or emotional. This is a group of people who rarely say 'very,' yet close to 100% said they found the activity to be rewarding or very rewarding." And 67% built relationships with colleagues they didn't usually work with. After the event, 51% felt better about the company, and 50% felt better about themselves. Originally offered to just a few departments, the program is now company-wide, with more than half of all employees participating in 2011. For people who crave a bigger challenge, at least 27 Fortune 500 companies — including Dow Corning, Intel, PepsiCo, FedEx, IBM, and Pfizer — now operate pro bono programs in emerging economies such as India, Brazil, Vietnam, and Ghana, according to a survey by CDC Development Solutions. Such initiatives give employees a chance to develop new skills, the company an opportunity to scope out new business in emerging markets, and the local organization the benefits of corporate expertise and relationships. (By the way, although referred to as "volunteer" posts, employees usually receive their regular salaries during their stints of service.) Ernst & Young, for example, sends participants in its Corporate Social Responsibility Fellows program to Central and South America for three months to do the same work they've been doing in their home offices but for much smaller companies. By helping local entrepreneurs with their most pressing business problems — typically providing help that they couldn't otherwise afford — Ernst & Young hopes to bolster their business and build relationships in these growing markets. Recent projects included developing a human resource strategy for a business in Uruguay that provides road accident prevention and risk management services, and organizing the financial records for a Chilean company that makes reusable shopping bags. Such volunteer assignments can do more than inject excitement into a humdrum job; they can ignite a career. Like being tapped for a high-potential development track, getting accepted for a volunteer stint is super-competitive — Intel, for example, says that only 5% of applicants win spots in its Education Service Corps. It's also high-profile, with blogs and videos of participants' experiences distributed throughout the company and on the internet. Who knows what kind of connections could result? In short, corporate volunteer programs deliver more than a karmic paycheck. By providing a practical bonus for both participants and employers, they're not just a "nice to have" perk but a retention tool, leadership development opportunity, and strategic business initiative.

Donald Payne, N.J.’s First Black Congressman, Dies at 77 of Colon Cancer

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-06/donald-payne-n-j-s-first-black-congressman-dies-at-77-after-cancer-bout.html

Donald Payne, New Jersey ’s first and so far only black congressman and a leading advocate for democracy in Africa during 23 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has died. He was 77. He died today at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, of complications from colon cancer, his office said. The senior member of New Jersey’s House delegation, Payne represented the 10th congressional district, which includes parts of Newark, Jersey City and Elizabeth, the state’s urban core across the Hudson River from New York City , as well as suburbs including Maplewood and Millburn. He was a longtime member of House committees that oversee education and foreign affairs, and a former chairman of the foreign affairs subcommittee on Africa. President Barack Obama , speaking at the end of a White House news conference, said Payne “was a wonderful man who did great work both domestically and internationally.” In New Jersey, Republican Governor Chris Christie planned to order flags lowered in honor of Payne, according to his spokesman, Michael Drewniak. “He was a great role model for every person in New Jersey who aspires to public service,” Christie said in a statement. “He was a true gentleman and we considered him a friend.” On one of his many trips to the African continent, a 2009 visit to Somalia after a U.S. advisory against Americans visiting there, Payne narrowly escaped a mortar attack in the capital, Mogadishu. Islamist insurgents took responsibility for the attack on the Mogadishu airport as Payne was leaving. Trip With Clinton An earlier trip to Africa was a 12-day tour with President Bill Clinton in 1998 to Ghana , Uganda , Rwanda , South Africa , Botswana and Senegal. Upon his return, Payne told the Associated Press that he hoped the coverage of the trip would give Americans a new awareness and appreciation of African countries that were making strides toward democracy. “The only images during the past decade have been those of strife, disease, conflict, dictators, children starving,” he said. “So for the first time, America had an opportunity to see a balanced picture of Africa.” In 2004, Congress passed a resolution introduced by Payne describing the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan as “genocide,” the first time Congress had applied the term to an ongoing massacre, the New Yorker magazine reported. Payne was a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus , and he led the group’s nonprofit foundation. ‘Earned Respect’ House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said the congressman “earned respect around the world for his outspoken advocacy on behalf of human rights and the worth and dignity of every person,” according to a statement released by her office. Payne faced little competition in his strongly Democratic district, winning his last general election, in 2010, with 85 percent of the vote. Those seeking to run for the seat left vacant by Payne’s death must register to run in the state’s primary election by the April 2 deadline, according to New Jersey’s Division of Elections. The primary is scheduled for June 5. Donald Milford Payne was born on July 16, 1934, in Newark to William Evander Payne and the former Norma Garrett, according to “Black Americans in Congress,” a House publication. They lived in the Doodletown neighborhood of the city’s predominantly Italian-American North Ward, according to a 1988 New York Times story. His father worked as a chauffeur for families in East Orange and as a lumber handler for Weyerhaeuser on the waterfront. ‘Sense of Neighborhood’ “Everyone, whites and blacks, worked for low wages, although we didn’t think of it as living in poverty, and there was a real sense of neighborhood, of depending on one another,” he told the Times. Payne earned a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University in neighboring South Orange in 1957 and married the former Hazel Johnson in 1958, according to the House publication. She died in 1963. He worked as a public-school teacher, an executive at Prudential Insurance Co. and vice president of Urban Data Systems Inc., both based in Newark. The latter company, where he was employed when he was elected to Congress, was started by his brother, William, and made computer forms, according to the Times. From 1970 to 1973 he served as the first black president of the National Council of YMCAs, and he was a member of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1972 to 1978. From 1973 to 1981 he was chairman of the World YMCA Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee, a job that took him to 80 countries, according to the Times. He served on Newark’s city council from 1982 to 1988. Challenged Rodino In 1980 and 1986, Payne waged unsuccessful primary challenges to Newark’s longtime Democratic congressman, Peter Rodino. Known nationally as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon , Rodino retired in 1988. Payne ran for the seat that year and won. “Nothing is as powerful as a dream whose time has come,” he told the Times after the election. Payne and his wife had three children including Donald M. Payne Jr., president of the Newark Municipal Council. To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Arnold in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Charles W. Stevens at [email protected]

Dreyfus Cash Management Funds Daily Values as of Aug 9, 2011.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/dreyfus-cash-management-funds-daily-values-as-of-aug-9-2011-.html

The following are the closing values for the Dreyfus Cash Management Funds as of Aug 9, 2011. Name of the Fund Daily Weekly Maturity Assets Cusip # Yield% Yield% <days> <000’s> ________________________________________________________________ ____ _____________________INSTITUTIONAL SHARES___________________________ 0719 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Institutional Shares 261934-10-3 0.00 0.01 39 3,750,795 (MILLRATE: .000000068) 0288 Dreyfus Cash Management, Institutional Shares 26188J-20-6 0.02 0.02 36 21,679,447 (MILLRATE: .000000494) 0289 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Institutional Shares 262006-20-8 0.00 0.00 30 18,082,280 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0227 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Institutional Shares 262006-88-5 0.00 0.00 50 2,501,357 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0521 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Institutional Shares 261908-10-7 0.01 0.01 50 11,959,899 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0761 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Institutional Shares 261941-10-8 0.00 0.00 46 15,783,408 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0132 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Institutional Shares 261950-10-9 0.02 0.01 33 296,884 (MILLRATE: .000000414) 0264 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-20-5 0.00 0.00 27 2,323,200 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0287 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Institutional Shares 261954-10-1 0.00 0.00 34 407,959 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0099 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Institutional Advantage Shares 26200V-10-4 0.09 0.09 42 30,366,028 (MILLRATE: .000002544) 6139 Dreyfus Liquid Assets, Inc., Class 2 Shares 262015-20-9 0.05 0.05 31 3,725,643 (MILLRATE: .000001370) 6188 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management, Institutional Shares 26202K-70-0 0.02 0.01 37 232,421 (MILLRATE: .000000415) ________________________INVESTOR SHARES_____________________________ 0671 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Investor Shares 261934-20-2 0.00 0.00 39 1,019,808 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0670 Dreyfus Cash Management, Investor Shares 26188J-30-5 0.00 0.00 36 2,509,409 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0672 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Investor Shares 262006-30-7 0.00 0.00 30 1,912,712 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0610 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Investor Shares 262006-70-3 0.00 0.00 50 562,834 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0673 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Investor Shares 261908-20-6 0.01 0.01 50 1,764,094 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0674 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Investor Shares 261941-20-7 0.00 0.00 46 4,150,365 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0676 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Investor Shares 261950-20-8 0.00 0.00 33 242,542 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0675 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-30-4 0.00 0.00 27 309,119 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0677 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Investor Shares 261954-20-0 0.00 0.00 34 253,807 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0100 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Investor Advantage Shares 26200V-30-2 0.00 0.00 42 15,706 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6189 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management, Investor Shares 26202K-80-9 0.00 0.00 37 106,281 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _____________________ADMINISTRATIVE SHARES__________________________ 0579 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Administrative Shares 261934-30-1 0.00 0.00 39 511,622 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0566 Dreyfus Cash Management, Administrative Shares 26188J-40-4 0.00 0.00 36 753,369 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0567 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Administrative Shares 262006-40-6 0.00 0.00 30 670,655 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0557 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Administrative Shares 262006-80-2 0.00 0.00 50 390,490 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0568 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Administrative Shares 261908-30-5 0.01 0.01 50 534,781 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0582 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Administrative Shares 261941-30-6 0.00 0.00 46 489,508 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0584 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Administrative Shares 261950-30-7 0.00 0.00 33 373,373 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0583 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-40-3 0.00 0.00 27 69,405 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0585 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Administrative Shares 261954-30-9 0.00 0.00 34 33,976 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0093 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Administrative Advantage Shares 26200V-20-3 0.02 0.02 42 690,936 (MILLRATE: .000000645) 6187 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management, Administrative Sh 26202K-88-2 0.00 0.00 37 7,844 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _______________________SERVICE SHARES___________________________ 6181 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Service Shares 261934-50-9 0.00 0.00 39 1 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6183 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Service Shares 261908-50-3 0.01 0.01 50 4,549 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________SELECT SHARES___________________________ 6182 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Select Shares 261934-60-8 0.00 0.00 39 4,670 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6184 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Select Shares 261908-60-2 0.01 0.01 50 14,564 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________PARTICIPANT SHARES___________________________ 0599 Dreyfus Cash Management Plus, Inc., Participant Shares 261934-40-0 0.00 0.00 39 239,600 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0596 Dreyfus Cash Management, Participant Shares 26188J-50-3 0.00 0.00 36 677,794 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0597 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Participant Shares 262006-50-5 0.00 0.00 30 388,220 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0587 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Participant Shares 262006-60-4 0.00 0.00 50 395,767 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0598 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Participant Shares 261908-40-4 0.01 0.01 50 575,699 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0592 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Participant Shares 261941-40-5 0.00 0.00 46 2,532,318 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0594 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Participant Shares 261950-40-6 0.00 0.00 33 29,096 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0593 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-50-2 0.00 0.00 27 17,338 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0595 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Participant Shares 261954-40-8 0.00 0.00 34 11,808 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0094 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Participant Advantage Shares 26200V-40-1 0.00 0.00 42 207,475 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6190 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management, Participant Shares 26202K-60-1 0.00 0.00 37 38,047 (MILLRATE: .000000001) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT FUNDS AND THE DREYFUS ELECTRONIC TRADING SYSTEM TYPE DREY AND HIT GO BUTTON. TO SPEAK TO A DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CLIENT ADMINISTRATOR, PLEASE CALL (800)346-3621 OR (718)895-1650. Anibal Arrascue in the Bloomberg Princeton office. (609)279-5084 #<704025.996834.2.1.67.17757.25>#

Spain Raises Tobacco Tax, Sets Date for Pension Overhaul to Stem Contagion

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-03/spain-raises-tobacco-tax-sets-date-for-pension-overhaul-to-stem-contagion.html

Spain’s Cabinet raised tax on tobacco and set a date for a pension overhaul as the Socialist government tried to stem contagion from the Irish crisis that sent its bond yields to the highest in a decade. The Cabinet passed an increase in the tax, which will raise 780 million euros ($1 billion), and pledged to send a pension bill to Parliament on Jan. 28, Finance Minister Elena Salgado said today after a weekly meeting. It also approved measures announced Dec. 1 including the sale of stakes in the lottery and airports operator, and a reduction in taxes on small- and mid- sized companies. The government will let an unemployment subsidy that was created a year ago expire in February. Spain’s government, which as recently as last week said it didn’t need to take new measures to convince investors it would meet its budget goals, announced the asset sales after Spanish 10-year bonds slid the most in the euro’s lifetime. The government already slashed public wages and froze pensions at the height of the Greek crisis in May, eroding support for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero , who had made welfare a priority since coming to power in 2004. “Time has run out; we have been talking for months,” Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference in Madrid. “We are going to work even harder to reach agreements.” Overhaul Delayed The planned pension overhaul, which includes an increase in the retirement age to 67 years from 65 years, was first announced in January and has been delayed as the government waited for a parliamentary committee to present a report on the proposed changes. Unions, once Zapatero’s allies, oppose the changes and the main opposition People’s Party has also criticized the plans. The extra yield on Spanish 10-year bonds fell to 218 basis points today from 226 basis points yesterday. It reached 298 basis points on Nov. 30, the highest since the start of the euro, after European finance chiefs agreed to bail out Ireland and open the door to possible debt restructurings in future crises. The tobacco-tax increase will also help the finances of regional governments, which are suffering from a slump in the real-estate taxes that funded them during Spain’s housing boom. The regional administrations receive 58 percent of the tobacco levy’s proceeds, with the rest going to the central government. Regional Deficits With a combined 104.8 billion euros of outstanding debt and control over health and education spending, the regions are trying to rein in their deficits as part of the national plan to cut the overall public shortfall to 6 percent of gross domestic product next year from 11 percent in 2009. The so-called specific tax rate rises to 12.70 euros per 1,000 cigarettes from 10.20 euros, which is added to a tax of 57 percent of the sale price. The minimum tax resulting from those two levies will now be 116.90 euros per 1,000 cigarettes, compared with a previous 91.30 euros, the Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement. Salgado also said the airport operator, Aena Aeropuertos, will remain a public company, with private investors able to buy only minority stakes. Under the new law, Spain’s 47 individual airports can be managed either as units of Aena Aeropuertos or via private-sector concessions. Subsidy Axed The unemployment subsidy set to be scrapped in February was introduced in August 2009, and more than 200,000 people benefited from it in September this year, according to data from the Labor Ministry. The 426 euro-per-month payment is for unemployed workers who have come to the end of their contributions-based benefits, which last a maximum of two years. There are 1.29 million homes in Spain in which no one is earning, according to the National Statistics Institute, as the economy struggles to recover from an almost two-year recession that pushed the jobless rate to more than 20 percent. Spending cuts and the highest jobless rate in Europe have dented support for the government. The Socialist Party was defeated in regional elections in Catalonia on Nov. 28, and nationwide the opposition People’s Party has a 7.5 percentage- point lead over the Socialists, according to a poll published by Cadena Ser on Nov. 2. The government is aiming for tax cuts for small and mid- sized companies to help spur job creation and growth after the economy stalled in the third quarter. Gross domestic product will contract 0.3 percent this year and expand 1.3 percent in 2011, according to the government’s forecasts. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development sees a 0.2 percent contraction this year and 0.9 percent growth in 2011. To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Ross-Thomas in Madrid at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Fraher at [email protected]

Loyola Meets Maryland in Search of First Men’s Lacrosse Title

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-27/maryland-upsets-no-3-duke-meets-loyola-in-men-s-lacrosse-final.html

Top-seeded Loyola University Maryland will play the University of Maryland as it seeks its first national men’s college lacrosse championship title. Loyola’s Greyhounds defeated Notre Dame 7-5 and Maryland’s Terps upset third-seeded Duke 16-10 in their National Collegiate Athletic Association semifinals to reach tomorrow’s final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Greyhounds are making their first final appearance since 1990 when coach Charlie Toomey, then a goalie, and volunteer coach Steve Vaikness were on the team. “Steve Vaikness and I room together. Steve Vaikness and I ride the bus next to each other,” Toomey told reporters. “All we ever wanted was for these guys to have the same feeling that we had 22 years ago. And that’s what they have right now.” Loyola lost to Syracuse 21-9 in 1990 in a game marred by the ineligibility of Syracuse’s Paul Gait. After the championship, the NCAA ruled that it would not recognize Syracuse and coach Roy Simmons Jr.’s 3-0 record, and Gait’s seven goals and seven assists. In yesterday’s semifinal, Eric Lusby scored five goals for a total of 13 goals in the playoffs for the Greyhounds, who are ranked fourth in the country in offense. Westy Hopkins contributed two goals for Notre Dame. Maryland has now reached the final 11 times, winning the championship in 1973 and 1975. “Everyone has rededicated themselves,” said coach John Tillman, who has taken the Terps to the finals in his first two seasons with the team. “Everyone has stepped up.” Last year, Maryland lost to seventh-seeded Syracuse 9-7 in the championship game. Yesterday, Drew Snider scored four goals and Owen Blye had three for the Terps, who return again as an unseeded opponent. Justin Turri and Robert Rotanz each scored two goals for Duke’s Blue Devils. Syracuse University and Northwestern University will meet today in the women’s college lacrosse national championship game at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook , New York. 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]

China Researcher Calls for Easing Monetary Policy, Hexun Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/china-researcher-calls-for-easing-monetary-policy-hexun-says.html

China’s economic growth may slump to 7 percent if the government doesn’t ease monetary policy immediately, a researcher affiliated with the nation’s top economic planning agency said in an interview with Hexun.com. Expansion may drop to about 7 percent by the first quarter of next year and may dip even lower if the world economy deteriorates, Wang Jian , secretary-general of the China Society of Macroeconomics, affiliated to the National Development and Reform Commission, said in an interview with the news website. “We’ve come to the turning point in macroeconomic policy where we need to shift to protecting growth from combating inflation,” Wang said, according to a transcript posted on the website. “If you keep pouring cold water over yourself while the temperature outside keeps falling, you’ll freeze to death,” he said. Inflation is no longer a major concern in China and tightening policies should be eased, Wang said. Banks’ loan quotas should be raised or eliminated and growth in M2 money supply should be expanded “as soon as possible” to at least 17 percent from an estimated 13 percent to 14 percent currently, he said. “A slump in growth can’t be avoided even if the government were to adjust its policies right now,” he said, forecasting a wave of closures among smaller enterprises that will peak at the beginning of next year. China has raised interest rates five times since mid October, boosted banks’ reserve requirements nine times to a record 21.5 percent for the largest lenders and limited credit to developers and home buyers to cool the surging property market. The central bank this month stepped up measures to squeeze liquidity from the banking system by expanding the base lenders use to calculate their required reserves to cover margin deposits. Momentum Weakening Inflation accelerated to a three-year high of 6.5 percent in July, a level economists estimate may be the peak for this cycle. Price gains likely slowed to 6.2 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 26 analysts. “We’ve come to a point where growth momentum is weakening sharply because we’ve placed too much emphasis on fighting inflation,” Wang said. Expansion in the world’s second-largest economy will likely slow to 9.2 percent in the third quarter and to a range of 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent in the last three months of the year, Wang estimated. Growth cooled to 9.5 percent in the second quarter from 9.7 percent in the previous three months, according to statistics bureau data. --Victoria Ruan. Editors: Nerys Avery, John Liu To contact Bloomberg News staff on this story: Victoria Ruan in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7570 [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst in Hong Kong at [email protected]

13 Financial Firms May Be Cut by Fitch

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-13/deutsche-bank-is-among-13-financial-firms-that-may-be-cut-by-fitch-ratings.html

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) , Germany ’s largest lender, is among at least 13 financial firms that may have credit or viability grades cut by Fitch Ratings. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , Morgan Stanley (MS) and Credit Suisse AG were also among firms that may be cut based on “Fitch’s view that these institutions’ business models are particularly sensitive to the increased challenges the financial markets are facing,” the ratings firm said in a statement today. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at [email protected]

Greek Chef Finds Meatballs Sad, Fields Job Requests: Interview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/greek-chef-finds-meatballs-sad-fields-requests-for-jobs-a-craig-copetas.html

In the packed front room of the Evi Evane restaurant in Paris, a customer watches as economist Ntina Nikolaou walks out of the kitchen and sets before him a 13.50 euro ($17.80) platter of melancholy Greek meatballs. “There’s much sadness in Greece ,” laments Nikolaou, who in 1988 left her native country and the intricacies of debt-to- GDP recipes behind to construct the proper yogurt-to-olive-oil ratio required to ensure Evi Evane’s 17 euro fig-stuffed pork loin arrives moist out of the oven. “When food fails to cheer up a Greek,” says the chef trained in the law of diminishing marginal utility at L’Institut Superieur Europeen de Gestion , “we have a serious equilibrium problem.” Make no mistake. Nikolaou knows of what she speaks. Her family hails from a village overlooking Delphi, home of the Oracle and the secret formula for her ambrosia dessert: a 9 euro pistachio cream soup that demands a second portion. From Paris to Athens , Nikolaou says that even a perfectly grilled kefta meatball nowadays looks cheerless, as good an indicator as any on what happens next in Greece’s $473 billion sovereign debt drama, which has spilled over into a euro region crisis. Evi Evane for years has been a habitual eatery and talk shop for Greek diplomats in Paris and members of the city’s Greek community. She hears things. Desperate Generation “The mentality of the next generation of Greeks will not be good,” says Nikolaou, slicing up an inimitable baklava sweetened with cinnamon instead of honey. “What do they have to look forward to? Unemployment, closed businesses. This does not help the appetite.” Standing behind the counter at the Greek delicatessen she also operates on the Left Bank, Nikolaou reckons her future as a Greek government economist -- as well as the business skills she honed to create a restaurant in the world’s gastronomic capital

LUXNET CORP January Sales Rise 131.11% (Table) : 4979 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-14/luxnet-corp-january-sales-rise-131-11-table-4979-tt.html

LUXNET CORP (4979) said unconsolidated sales in January rose 131.11% to NT$80,445,000 from NT$34,808,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 1/2010 1/2009 Sales 80,445 34,808 YOY% 131.11% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 80,445 34,808 YOY% 131.11% =================================================================

NAN REN LAKE LEI May Sales Fall 22.59% (Table) : 5905 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/nan-ren-lake-lei-may-sales-fall-22-59-table-5905-tt.html

NAN REN LAKE LEI said unconsolidated sales in May fell 22.59% to NT$51,697,000 from NT$66,784,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 5/2010 5/2009 Sales 51,697 66,784 YOY% -22.59% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 269,646 300,170 YOY% -10.17% =================================================================

Hellenic Petroleum Approves Depa Stake Sale, Euro2day Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-29/hellenic-petroleum-approves-depa-stake-sale-euro2day-says.html

Hellenic Petroleum SA (ELPE) ’s board approved the sale of its 35 percent stake in Greece ’s natural gas supplier Depa, Euro2day.gr said. The board agreed to a joint sale with the Greek state, which plans to dispose of its 65 percent holding as part of a state-asset sales program, the Athens-based news site reported, without citing anyone. Hellenic Petroleum shareholders will take final decisions on the stake in Depa at their next meeting, Euro2day said. To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at [email protected]

Zinc Output to Rise in Japan to Meet Post-Quake Demand Growth, Mitsui Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-30/zinc-output-to-rise-in-japan-to-meet-post-quake-demand-growth-mitsui-says.html

Japan ’s zinc output will climb in 2012 as smelters run at full capacity to meet recovering demand from the auto and construction industries after the earthquake and tsunami, amid a forecast for a global deficit. The world’s third-biggest economy is expected to produce 590,000 metric tons of refined metal next year, 8.5 percent more than 2010, said Nobuyuki Nakamoto, general manager at Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co.’s zinc business. Demand may increase 5.5 percent to 540,000 tons in 2012, he said. A gain in global demand for the metal, used to galvanize steel, may help prices recover from a 14-month low on Sept. 26 and benefit producers such as Korea Zinc Co., Nyrstar (NYR) NV and Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK/B) The metal has declined 20 percent this year. Demand will exceed supply by 106,000 tons in 2012 from a surplus of 178,000 tons in 2011, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. “Domestic consumption will rise next year for rebuilding and following a full recovery in car output,” Nakamoto said in an interview yesterday. In the three months to December, Japan’s automakers are expected to increase production to make up for losses in April to June following the disaster, he said. Production by steelmakers has recovered close to the level before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. pushed the world into recession, Nakamoto said, citing the company’s recent survey in the sector. Japan was Asia ’s third-biggest zinc consumer after China and South Korea in 2010, according to the International Lead & Zinc Study Group. Demand was 516,000 tons last year, 4 percent of the world’s 12.6 million tons. Supply Deficit The metal will average $2,310 a ton in 2011 and $2,425 in 2012, Michael Widmer , head of metals research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London , wrote in a report on Sept. 27. Widmer was the second-most accurate forecaster for the metal for the eight consecutive quarters ended March 31, according to Bloomberg data. Zinc for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.7 percent to $1,957 a ton at 4:50 p.m. Tokyo time. The market will see a deficit next year from a moderate surplus this year with solid demand from the construction sector, recent drops in refined production and declining unreported stockpiles in China, analysts at Macquarie, including Duncan Hobbs in London, wrote in a report on Sept. 26. Physical market prices signal steady metal premiums at high levels and falling treatment charges for concentrates, Macquarie said. The metal will stay within a range of $2,000 to $2,500 a ton over the next six to 12 months, the bank said. Japan Imports A recovery in output will reduce the country’s imports of refined metal next year to the lowest level since 2002, while helping boost exports, Nakamoto said. The auto sector in Japan accounts for 50 percent of demand, followed by construction with 30 percent and electronics with 20 percent, he said. The country’s imports are projected to drop to 25,000 tons in 2012 from an estimated 77,000 tons this year, the highest level since 2000, he said. The country may export 80,000 tons to 90,000 tons in 2012, compared with an estimated 83,000 tons in 2011, he said. “If current lower prices last longer, some high-cost producers will be forced to cut output or out of business,” Nakamoto said. Production costs of about 40 percent of the smelters in the world are estimated at $1,850 a ton, he said. Nakamoto projects zinc for immediate delivery may trade in a range between $1,600 and $2,600 a ton over the next 12 months with an average price between $2,200 and $2,300. Mitsui Mining’s zinc output may increase to 116,000 tons in the six months starting from Oct. 1, up 25 percent from April to September and up 11.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, he said. The company will release its six-month output plan in early October. 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]

Fed Funds Projected to Open at 0.13% to 0.17%, ICAP Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-29/fed-funds-projected-to-open-at-0-13-to-0-17-icap-says.html

Fed funds, the U.S. overnight inter- bank lending rate , is projected to open at 0.13 percent to 0.17 percent, within the Federal Reserve ’s target of zero to 0.25 percent. Fed funds closed at 0.07 percent on May 25 after trading from 0.07 percent to 0.17 percent and averaging 0.15 percent, according to ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker. ICAP’s monthly average is 0.156 percent. The central bank will sell $8 billion to $8.75 billion of Treasuries maturing from June 2014 to May 2015. The sales are part of the Fed’s program to replace $400 billion of short-term debt in its portfolio with longer-term Treasuries in an effort to reduce borrowing costs further and counter rising risks of a recession. To contact the reporter on this story: Liz Capo McCormick in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at [email protected]

JU-KAO ENGINEERI May Sales Rise 64.18% (Table) : 1594 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-08/ju-kao-engineeri-may-sales-rise-64-18-table-1594-tt.html

JU-KAO ENGINEERI said unconsolidated sales in May rose 64.18% to NT$41,552,000 from NT$25,309,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 5/2012 5/2011 Sales 41,552 25,309 YOY% 64.18% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 166,439 150,401 YOY% 10.66% =================================================================

ARDENTEC CORP December Sales Rise 2.88% (Table) : 3264 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-09/ardentec-corp-december-sales-rise-2-88-table-3264-tt.html

ARDENTEC CORP (3264) said unconsolidated sales in December rose 2.88% to NT$385,655,000 from NT$374,855,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 12/2011 12/2010 Sales 385,655 374,855 YOY% 2.88% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 4,240,013 4,478,248 YOY% -5.32% =================================================================

IRS Inspector General Warns of Alarming Rate of Identity Theft

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-19/irs-inspector-general-warns-of-alarming-rate-of-identity-theft.html

Criminals are continuing to file falsified tax returns using other people’s identities to receive tax refunds, Russell George, the inspector general for the Internal Revenue Service , told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee. “Unscrupulous individuals are stealing identities at an alarming rate,” he said today in Washington. George cited IRS data showing that in 2011, the agency detected about 940,000 tax returns involving identity theft and stopped $6.5 billion in refunds from being issued. The total amount of identity theft is larger than that and unknown. There is a fundamental tension between the IRS’s goals of processing tax returns quickly and stopping fraud, said Nina Olson , the national taxpayer advocate. “There is no way around these tradeoffs,” said Olson, who runs an independent taxpayer service department within the IRS. Steven Miller , deputy commissioner of the IRS, told the House panel that the agency has made progress on identity theft. This year, he said, about 250,000 taxpayers who had identity theft cases from prior years received personal identification numbers that authenticate their identity to the IRS. “We are not done but we have made real progress in the area,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Rubin in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at [email protected]

Sovcomflot Says Gazprom’s Shtokman Needs $4 Billion Fleet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-28/sovcomflot-says-20-tanker-fleet-needed-for-shtokman-gas-field.html

The OAO Gazprom-led Shtokman project to produce liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from a Barents Sea field almost 600 kilometers (370 miles) from shore may require a $4 billion fleet to transport the fuel. The Shtokman project, which includes Total SA (FP) and Statoil ASA (STL) , may require 20 tankers, which in total will cost that sum, Evgeny Ambrosov, senior executive vice president of Sovcomflot told reporters today in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. Gazprom, Russia’s largest gas producer, and its partners have delayed an investment decision on the Shtokman project to the end of this year as shale gas production in the U.S., the target market, damped demand for LNG. That pushed some cargoes to Europe , pushing down prices in a potential market. Russia’s largest shipper is seeking to open an Arctic sea lane to Asia for large-scale commercial use during a five-month navigable season. Sovcomflot has reduced the time to navigate the passage by one to 7.3 days in test runs this year, Ambrosov said. OAO Novatek, Russia ’s second-largest gas producer, has tested the route with cargoes of condensate before building a plant to produce LNG on Russia’s Yamal peninsula. State- controlled OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, and Glencore International Plc, the world’s largest commodities trader, have also shown interest in the route, Ambrosov said. Novatek’s Arctic Yamal LNG project, in which Total is a partner, may be the world’s most complex undertaking of its kind, Ambrosov said. Sovcomflot plans to triple volumes of oil products it ships to 150 million metric tons in 2014, Ambrosov said. The tanker market continues to be “very tough,” he said. The Russian government, which owns 100 percent of Sovcomflot, may sell shares next year. To contact the reporters on this story: Yuriy Humber in Tokyo at [email protected] ; Stephen Bierman in Moscow at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected]

Bovis Rises to Highest Since July 2007 on First-Half Profit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-08/bovis-rises-to-highest-since-august-2007-on-first-half-profit.html

Bovis Homes Group Plc (BVS) rose to the highest in almost six years after the U.K. homebuilder said it had a “significant improvement” in first-half profit as sales volumes and prices beat the company’s expectations. Bovis was up 55 pence, or 7.1 percent, to 830 pence at the 4:30 p.m. close in London, the highest since July 2007. That brought this year’s gain to about 44 percent. “Trading in the first half of 2013 has been strong and the group has achieved a 40 percent increase in private reservations compared to the same period in 2012,”  Chief Executive Officer David Ritchie said in a statement today. The housing market has shown signs of a “strong” improvement, helped by the government’s Help to Buy loan program, Bovis said. In the six months ended June 30, Bovis completed 963 homes compared with 944 a year earlier, the Longfield, England-based company said. The average selling price of a Bovis home increased 15 percent to 188,500 pounds ($281,000), according to the statement. Prime Minister David Cameron is using homebuilding to help stimulate the economy, with the government in March announcing that it would offer an equity loan of as much as 20 percent of the value of a newly built home valued at 600,000 pounds or less. The Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme also eased home lending as the government has tried to bolster housing by simplifying planning laws. The Bloomberg EMEA Home Builders Index has gained 37 percent this year, led by Persimmon Plc (PSN) with a 70 percent advance. Bovis, which will report half-year results on Aug. 19, has had the index’s fifth-best increase. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeffrey St.Onge in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at [email protected]

Weill’s Penthouse Bought for Russian Billionaire’s Daughter

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-19/russian-billionaire-agrees-to-purchase-sanford-weill-s-manhattan-penthouse.html

A Manhattan penthouse owned by Sanford Weill, former chairman of Citigroup Inc. (C) , and listed for $88 million, is being purchased for the daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. A company associated with Ekaterina Rybolovleva signed a contract to purchase the 6,744-square-foot (627-square-meter), full-floor condominium at 15 Central Park West , Alan Basiev, a spokesman for Rybolovlev, said in an e-mail. Rybolovleva, who is studying at a U.S. university, plans to stay at the apartment when visiting New York, Basiev said. Her father, ranked number 93 on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires with a net worth of $9.5 billion, is the former owner of fertilizer maker OAO Uralkali. The condominium was listed for sale by brokerage Brown Harris Stevens last month. Weill and his wife, Joan, paid $43.7 million for the property in 2007, according to city records. “Given that the sale was done so quietly and quickly, it probably sold at or near the listing price,” said Jonathan Miller , president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. The average sale takes about four months, he said. A sale anywhere close to $88 million would make it the most expensive residential transaction ever in Manhattan, according to Miller. The prior record was the $53 million sale of a townhouse to private-equity investor J. Christopher Flowers in 2006, Miller said. That property resold on Aug. 15 for $36.5 million, he said. Weak U.S. Dollar “Right now we’re seeing a whole slew of trophy-property sales,” Miller said. “This is in part due to the weak dollar, which is driving foreign investments.” Sales of Manhattan luxury apartments, defined as the top 10 percent of all condo and co-op transactions by price, jumped 17 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to Miller Samuel and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The four-bedroom Central Park West condo features a wraparound terrace, two wood-burning fireplaces and a library, according to a floor plan on Brown Harris’s website. Amy Gotzler, a spokeswoman at Brown Harris, declined to comment today. The agreement was reported yesterday by the New York Observer. To contact the reporter on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at [email protected]

Russia Seeks ‘Foothold’ in Asian Wheat Market to Rival U.S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-22/russia-seeks-foothold-in-asian-wheat-market-to-challenge-u-s-australia.html

Russia , set to be the third-largest wheat shipper, aims to secure a “foothold” among buyers in Asia, increasing competition for U.S. and Australian supplies. “One of the new and promising directions for Russian grain exports is the Asia-Pacific region,” Andrey Klepach, the deputy minister of economic development, said in a message to delegates at a conference in Singapore. The segment “is now rapidly evolving and Russia has all the chances to gain a foothold.” Futures dropped 20 percent in the past year as global crops and stockpiles headed for records and trade rose to the second- highest level in at least in five decades. The U.S., the biggest exporter, has already lost market share to Russia in North Africa and the Middle East and faces competition from record Australian shipments in Asia. More supply may curb food costs the United Nations says climbed the most in 11 months in January. Southeast Asian importers rely on supplies from Australia (US46EXAU) , the U.S., Canada and India , according to the Russian Grain Union. Import demand in the region, the third biggest after North Africa and the Middle East, climbed almost 40 percent to 15.85 million metric tons in the past four years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Indonesia is the largest buyer. The U.S. is already selling less to North Africa and the Middle East because of Russia, the USDA says. Shipments to Egypt , the top buyer, slumped to 246,739 tons from June 1 to Feb. 9 compared with 2.44 million tons a year earlier when drought prompted Russia to ban exports, U.S. government data show. ‘Grain Corridor’ Exports from Russia (US46EXRU) will climb fivefold to a record 20.5 million tons this year, said the U.S. agency. Russia plans the “the creation of the Far East grain corridor” allowing exports to Southeast Asia, said Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik in a conference message. The Russian Grain Union, hosting the conference, is seeking to “attract interest to the agro-industrial sector of Siberia and Far East, modernization of storage, processing and transshipment infrastructure,” said Arkady Zlochevsky, group president. While shipments are limited by infrastructure, exports to Asia are expanding “very fast” and may total 1 million tons this year, said Zlochevsky. The country will probably maintain overall sales at 22 million tons in 2012-2013, he said. U.S. (US46EXUS) exports may contract 24 percent to 26.5 million tons this year, the most since the season ended 1986, USDA data show. Australian exports are poised to jump 20 percent to an all-time high, says the country’s government forecaster. Australia has a record harvest and will sell its grain into Asian markets “ahead of anywhere else,” said Alan Winney, chairman of Emerald Group Australia Pty, the nation’s fifth- largest grain handler, in an interview this week. Wheat for May delivery declined 0.3 percent to $6.35 a bushel in Chicago today. To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at [email protected]

Atheist Dawkins Turns Hate Mail Into YouTube Comedy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/atheist-dawkins-turns-hate-mail-into-youtube-comedy.html

The world’s foremost atheist devotes a lot of time and resources to believers. Teaching little kids they’re worthless sinners headed for hell is child abuse, said Richard Dawkins over lunch at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. The evolutionary biologist was here to talk about “An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist,” in which he describes growing up in Africa , his intellectual awakening at Oxford and the publication of “The Selfish Gene.” Lundborg: What are the best things you remember about growing up? Dawkins: Smells, sights, colors, nothing very coherent. It was just where my family lived. We had a very spoiled life, I suppose: It was like England in Edwardian times -- servants, meals cooked, beds made. I was sent away to boarding school at a very young age which is probably not ideal, but I think I had a good education. I didn’t come away with much of a naturalist view of Africa, though. I don’t think I ever saw an elephant or a giraffe or a lion. Lundborg: In your teens, you were a big Elvis fan -- he gave you religious inspiration? Child Abuse Dawkins: It came as a blinding Damascus experience when I saw this album by Elvis called, “I Believe.” I thought this was a call from God that I should devote my life to propagating not actually Christianity -- I’d seen through Christianity by then -- but some kind of deism. It was my moment of thinking there was some kind of creative force behind the universe. Lundborg: And then what happened? Dawkins: I saw the light -- the Darwinian light. Lundborg: You’ve since decided to combat religion -- how is it child abuse? Dawkins: For one, telling children they’re going to hell, which is, of course, totally harmless if they don’t believe it. There’s a kind of law of inverse horribleness that the more implausible a threat is, the more horrible it has to be. The threat that you’re going to roast forever in hell is so implausible it has to be made really horrible. That’s abuse because you are threatening a child with unspeakable horrors that never end. Lundborg: You have two foundations , one in England and one in the U.S. Dawkins: More than 40 percent of the American people according to Gallup polls believe the world is less than 10,000 years old. That’s a very serious figure. It’s like believing North America is less than 10 yards wide. We do mostly education, producing DVDs, YouTube films, sponsoring lectures and things like the Clergy Project. Atheist Clergy Lundborg: Yes, for ministers who have lost their faith. Dawkins: They’ve become atheist, but have kept quiet about it because they can’t bear the thought of losing their jobs and their families in some cases, their social networks, their social respect. So, we set up a website with a high degree of confidentiality for these clergymen and clergywomen to meet each other online to discuss their common problems, cry on each other’s shoulders and eventually encourage each other to come out, which they’ve now started doing. Lundborg: You travel around saying a lot of inflammatory things about God. What’s the reception like? Dawkins: I go out of my way to visit the Bible belt. Everywhere you go in the Bible belt, they claim to be the buckle. My experience is you get a warmer reception there than you do somewhere like New York or San Francisco. The people who come are beleaguered and threatened and then they see that there are a couple of thousand others there and they get encouragement from that. I serve the purpose of bringing them together. Hate Mail Lundborg: You must get a lot of hate mail? Dawkins: Yes. My policy is to turn it into comedy and post it on YouTube. We had a log fire and I was in a dressing gown and slippers. I read out this appalling noxious hate mail to the accompaniment of laughter from the film crew. There were things like: “I hope you get a painful cancer,” and “I hope you get run over by a church van.” Lundborg: Is it always anonymous? Dawkins: There was one from Ann Coulter, who said it was impossible to imagine not laughing at the thought of Dawkins roasting in hell. Lundborg: I expect there’s no point in trying reason with faith or with sentiment like that? Dawkins: Reason may not always be the thing -- but in this case ridicule works. To buy this book in North America, click here. (Zinta Lundborg is an editor for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own. This interview was adapted from a longer conversation.) Muse highlights include Ryan Sutton on Dining and Rich Jaroslovsky on Gadgets. To contact the writer on this story: Zinta Lundborg at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at [email protected] .

GSW Reports Profit on Higher Rental Income, Property Sales

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-20/gsw-reports-profit-on-higher-rental-income-real-estate-sales.html

GSW Immobilien AG (GIB) , Germany ’s third- largest residential landlord by market value, reported a second- quarter profit after rental income increased and it sold properties. Net income was 16.3 million euros ($20 million), or 34 cents a share, compared with a restated loss of 4.4 million euros, or 11 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. GSW, based in Berlin, said it will post 2012 funds from operations excluding divestments of 61 million euros to 64 million euros, compared with an earlier forecast of 59 million euros to 63 million euros. The company only operates in Berlin and is benefiting from rising demand for homes in Germany’s capital. Apartment rents have gained about 8 percent in the past year and 26 percent in five years, according to Berlin-based online broker ImmobilienScout24. Net rental income rose to 39.2 million euros in the second quarter from 34.8 million euros a year earlier. Income from property sales increased to 2.7 million euros from 1.3 million euros a year earlier. Funds from operations excluding divestments, a measure of a company’s ability to generate cash, climbed 12 percent to 32.6 million euros in the first half. Cerberus Capital GSW, which has 53,000 apartments valued at about 2.9 billion euros, was owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. until an initial public offering in April 2011. The company said in May it plans to increase the number of homes it owns by as many as 7,000, or 13 percent. Joerg Schwagenscheidt, GSW’s chief operating officer, said on a conference call today that he’s “optimistic” talks will lead to an acquisition. GSW fell 1.1 percent to 30.39 euros at 2:18 p.m. in Frankfurt trading. The shares have gained about 39 percent this year, while the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT’s index of German real estate companies has advanced 27 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Dalia Fahmy in Berlin at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at [email protected] .

Author Simon Discusses Business of `Big Data' (Audio)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-01/author-simon-discusses-business-of-big-data-audio-.html

Phil Simon discusses his book "Too Big To Ignore: The Business Case For Big Data." Simon talks with Bloomberg's Pimm Fox and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Radio 's "Taking Stock." (Source: Bloomberg) Running time 09:07

India Inflation Quickens, Curbing Room for Cutting Rates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-14/india-inflation-unexpectedly-accelerates-curbing-rate-cut-scope.html

Indian inflation unexpectedly accelerated in April, crimping the central bank’s scope to bolster economic growth by extending interest-rate cuts. Stocks fell, reversing earlier gains. The benchmark wholesale-price index rose 7.23 percent from a year earlier, after climbing 6.89 percent in March, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement in New Delhi today. The median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 6.67 percent gain. Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao signaled last month that inflation might limit the room for further cuts after he slashed the benchmark rate by half a percentage point, flagging price risks from the fiscal deficit, energy costs and a weaker rupee. Greece ’s political turmoil and a deepening debt crisis in Europe are increasing pressure on Asian nations to support growth as exports falter from Taiwan to Malaysia. China cut banks’ reserve requirements on May 12 to revive demand. “The Reserve Bank of India faces somewhat of a dilemma,” Robert Prior-Wandesforde , Singapore-based director of Asian economics at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in a note after the report. “Our guess is that the chance of a June rate move has diminished.” Sensex Falls The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) fell 0.5 percent in Mumbai, after rising as much as 0.6 percent earlier in the day. The five-day decline is the longest losing streak this year. The yield on the 8.79 percent note due November 2021 rose two basis points immediately after the inflation data, It ended five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, lower at 8.52 percent on speculation the central bank will step up debt purchases through open-market operations and add cash to the banking system. The Reserve Bank lowered the repurchase rate on April 17 for the first time since 2009, by 50 basis points to 8 percent. A report last week showed Indian industrial production unexpectedly contracted in March as weaker domestic demand and tumbling exports hurt the economy. “The inflation numbers are a very uncomfortable statistic,” Chakravarthy Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said in New Delhi today. “Many people have been calling for an easing in monetary policy but it makes it difficult for RBI to moderate policy. It is not a good sign.” Worst Performer Concern India’s outlook has worsened because of trade and fiscal deficits, political gridlock, elevated inflation and faltering global growth has pushed the nation’s currency toward a record low. That prompted the central bank to say last week exporters must convert half their foreign-currency earnings into rupees as it stepped up efforts to check the decline. The currency weakened 0.6 percent to 53.9575 per dollar in Mumbai. It is down about 17 percent in the past year, the worst performer in a basket of 11 most-traded Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Governor Subbarao’s 13 interest-rate increases in the last two years helped tame price pressures in a nation where 75 percent of the people live on less than $2 a day. The wholesale- price inflation gauge has fallen below 9 percent in 2012, after breaching that level most of last year. Aside from cutting the benchmark rate, the central bank has also reduced the amount of deposits lenders must set aside as reserves twice this year by a combined 125 basis points, to 4.75 percent, to ease cash shortages in the banking system. Fastest Inflation Credit Suisse predicts India will cut its repurchase rate by another 125 basis points by March 2013, Prior-Wandesforde said today. Still, the central bank’s scope to cut interest rates further to boost growth is constrained by the threat of price increases, Ashima Goyal, a member of the bank’s technical advisory committee, said in an interview in Mumbai last week. While the wholesale price gauge has cooled after the Reserve Bank raised rates by a record 3.75 percentage points from mid-March 2010 to October last year, India still has the highest inflation in the so-called BRIC group of biggest emerging markets that also includes Brazil, Russia and China. “The inflation number underscores that the room to ease monetary policy is quite limited because there are still upside risks to inflation,” said Leif Eskesen, Singapore-based chief economist for India and Southeast Asia at HSBC Holdings Plc. “There isn’t a lot of spare capacity in the economy because growth has slowed on the back of policy paralysis, lack of structural reforms and therefore it makes inflation a structural problem rather than a cyclical one.” Maruti Profits Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the nation’s biggest carmaker, posted a 3 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit because of high raw material costs and discounts on some models. The country imports 80 percent of its annual crude requirements and the government compensates state oil firms for selling products below market prices. Asia’s third-largest economy probably expanded 6.9 percent in the 12 months through March 2012, the least in three years, government estimates show. Standard & Poor’s cut India’s credit outlook to negative from stable last month, putting at risk its investment grade status. To contact the reporter on this story: Unni Krishnan in New Delhi at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at [email protected]

Grosvenor Fund, Kuwait Finance House Form U.S. Property Venture

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-03/grosvenor-fund-kuwait-finance-house-form-u-s-property-venture.html

Grosvenor Fund Mangement and Kuwait Finance House (KFIN) agreed to invest as much as 380 million pounds in U.S. health-care assets including senior living homes and medical office buildings. To contact the reporter on this story: Ross Larsen in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ross Larsen at [email protected]

Snowstorm Moving in From Plains Threatens Northeast

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-22/snowstorm-moving-in-from-plains-threatens-northeast.html

A weather system that may drop more than a foot of snow in parts of the U.S. Great Plains is expected to move into New England tomorrow, the region’s third winter storm in as many weeks. Kansas City International Airport was scheduled to remain closed until at least 10 a.m. local time as the system moved toward the Northeast. Winter storm warnings and advisories stretched from South Dakota to New Jersey, including Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, the National Weather Service said. A winter storm watch, meaning snow and sleet may affect travel, has been posted for central Massachusetts to Maine starting tomorrow. The watch may be extended to include Boston later today, according to the weather service. “This will be the third significant snow storm for many locations,” said Charlie Foley , a weather service meteorologist in Taunton, Massachusetts. “It will be a heavy wet snow. There may be winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour, and that increases the risk of power outages.” Hannibal, Missouri , received 13.5 inches (34 centimeters) of snow yesterday and St. Louis got 5.7, the weather service said. Parts of Kansas reported snow falling at rates of 4 inches per hour to a depth of 14 inches, accompanied by thunderstorms. Chicago Snow Chicago may receive as much as 5 inches today, according to the agency. As of 9 a.m. East Coast time, 425 flights had been canceled, 237 of them passing through Chicago ’s O’Hare airport, according to FlightAware , a Houston-based airline tracking company. Ninety-minute delays are being reported at O’Hare, according to the Federal Aviation Administration Yesterday, 831 flights in the U.S. were scrubbed, with 256 of them arriving at or departing from Kansas City International in Missouri, FlightAware’s website showed. New York City will get mainly rain starting tonight into the next morning, said Dan Hoffman, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York. There may be periods when snow falls during the night, he said. “You could see some flakes at the beginning and at the end, but nothing is going to stick,” Hoffman said. “It’s not a major storm; it is an inconvenience for the weekend.” Foley said the storm’s track will determine how much snow an area gets because forecasters expect mostly rain on the eastern side. That’s made it difficult to predict how much snow will fall in Boston. Yesterday, the weather service released a forecast calling for only an inch of snow in Boston and its southern suburbs. That was revised overnight to 2 to 4 inches.. Foley said the storm won’t have the power of the blizzard that struck New England starting Feb. 8, killing at least seven people and dropping 24.9 inches of snow on Boston. To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]

Oven on Boeing 787 Overheats During Air India Flight

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-26/boeing-787-oven-overheats-during-air-india-domestic-flight.html

Air India Ltd., the nation’s only operator of Boeing Co. (BA) ’s 787, said an oven for warming food on a Dreamliner overheated during a domestic flight, prompting the crew to take measures to contain smoke. The oven’s overheating on the flight from New Delhi to the eastern city of Kolkata on July 24 didn’t cause a fire, Air India spokesman G. Prasada Rao said by telephone today. The flight was not diverted because of the incident and the aircraft continues to be in service, he said. The latest incident involving a 787 comes amid U.S. aviation regulators ordering inspections of emergency beacons that were linked to a July 12 fire on a Dreamliner parked at London ’s Heathrow Airport. Air India, which has taken delivery of seven of the jets, has begun removing the emergency locator transmitters as a precautionary measure, according to an India civil aviation ministry official. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation is looking into what may have caused the oven’s overheating, Arun Mishra, who heads the regulator, said in a mobile phone text message. He didn’t elaborate. The Federal Aviation Administration yesterday issued an order that United Continental Holdings Inc., the only U.S. airline flying the Dreamliner, must complete the inspections of emergency locator transmitters by Aug. 5. The blaze that broke out on an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise 787 parked at Heathrow was traced to a Honeywell International Inc. (HON) transmitter powered by a lithium battery. More Protection Bhawna Singh, Boeing’s external spokeswoman in India, didn’t immediately respond to a call and an e-mail seeking comments on the Air India incident. The Mumbai-based carrier, which has 20 more 787s on order, is adding new destinations including Sydney and Melbourne using the Dreamliners. In January, the global fleet of 787s was grounded because of overheating of lithium-ion batteries on two of the aircraft. The FAA cleared the jet to fly again after Boeing redesigned the battery to include more protection around individual cells to contain any overheating, a steel case to prevent fire and a tube to vent any vapors outside the fuselage. The incident on the Air India Dreamliner was earlier reported by Mint newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story: Karthikeyan Sundaram in New Delhi at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vipin V. Nair at [email protected]

Japan, Australian Stock Futures Fall Over European Debt-Contagion Concern

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-11/japan-australian-stock-futures-fall-over-european-debt-contagion-concern.html

Japanese and Australian stock futures fell as concern increased that Greece’s debt crisis may spread to bigger economies in Europe and after the euro weakened. American depositary receipts of Sony Corp., which sells about 20 percent of its PlayStation game consoles and other products in Europe, retreated 2.1 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, lost 1.7 percent after the yen strengthened. ADRs of BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company and Australia’s No. 1 oil producer, sank 1.3 percent as oil and metal prices fell. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average expiring in September closed at 9,910 in Chicago yesterday, compared with 10,080 in Osaka , Japan. They were bid in the pre-market at 9,930 in Osaka at 8:05 a.m. local time. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.9 percent today. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.2 percent in Wellington. “People are worried about the negative impact on financial systems as it’s looking more and more like the debt crisis in Europe will spread from Greece Ireland and Portugal to bigger countries such as Italy and Spain,” said Yumi Nishimura, an equity-market analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. Euro-area countries may have to double their bailout fund to 1.5 trillion euros ($2.1 trillion) to cover a crisis in Italy , the European Central Bank said, according to German newspaper Die Welt, citing unidentified “high-ranking” people at central banks. ‘No Discussion’ German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said “there’s no discussion whatsoever” of doubling the European Union’s rescue facility after the Die Welt report. The Financial Times cited unidentified senior officials as saying European leaders are prepared to accept that Greece should default on some of its bonds. Ten-year Italian yields soared to the highest level in 10 years. The spreads investors demand to hold Italian, Portuguese and Spanish debt over German bunds widened to euro-era records. The yen appreciated to 112.35 against the euro, compared with 114.71 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday, a level not seen since March 18. Against the dollar, Japan ’s currency strengthened to 80.11 from 80.76. A stronger yen reduces income at Japanese companies when overseas revenue is converted into their home currency. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.1 percent today. In New York , the index retreated 1.8 percent to 1,319.49 yesterday as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will spread and American lawmakers failed to agree on cutting the deficit. Obama Plea U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday he will continue to press congressional leaders for “the largest possible deal” on a package of significant deficit cuts. “Now is the time to deal with these issues,” Obama said at a news conference before resuming talks with congressional leaders from both parties to seek a compromise on reducing deficits and raising the $14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling before the government exhausts its borrowing authority on Aug. 2. “If not now, when?” Obama said. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, kicked off the second-quarter earnings season in the U.S. by reporting after the stock markets closed that profit excluding certain items was 32 cents a share, missing the 33-cent average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Alcoa dropped 0.6 percent in after-hours trading. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.6 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a gain of 4.9 percent by the S&P 500 and a drop of 2.1 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.7 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.3 times for the S&P 500 and 10.8 times for the Stoxx 600. Crude oil for August delivery fell 1.1 percent to $95.15 a barrel in New York yesterday, the lowest level since July 1. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum dropped 1.6 percent, the biggest drop since June 2. To contact the reporters on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at [email protected] ; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at [email protected] .

Australian Feed-Wheat Supplies to Increase on Rains This Harvest, AWB Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-15/australian-feed-wheat-supplies-to-increase-on-rains-this-harvest-awb-says.html

Australia will have increased supplies of feed wheat this year for export as continuing rainfall turns more milling-quality grain into stockfeed, AWB Ltd., the country’s largest shipper, said in an e-mailed statement today. “AWB is already making strong export sales of feed wheat, with steady inquiry appearing from customers in Asia and Pacific markets, where we have a significant freight advantage over just about every other origin,” the company’s General Manager Commodities Mitch Morison said. To contact the reporter on this story: Wendy Pugh in Melbourne at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Pugh at [email protected]

Seven-Time NBA All-Star Grant Hill Retires After 19 Seasons

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-02/seven-time-nba-all-star-grant-hill-retires-after-19-seasons.html

Seven-time All-Star Grant Hill, at age 40 the oldest active player in the National Basketball Association in 2012-2013, has retired after 19 seasons. Hill, who played his final season with the Los Angeles Clippers , ends his career after playing 1,026 regular-season games averaging 16.7 points, 4.1 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game. He also earned an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 1996 U.S. team in Atlanta. “I’m completely at peace with my decision to retire, but it was not arrived at lightly,” Hill said in a statement. “On one hand, I’m 40 years old and still in great physical condition. My body tells me that I can continue playing. On the other hand, I’m 40 years old and still in great physical condition - a rare parting gift in this sport.” Hill played his rookie season in 1994 as a member of the Detroit Pistons after being selected as the team’s third overall pick. He made NBA history as the first rookie to top the league in fan voting for the All-Star game and was co-Rookie of the Year. He played six years for the Pistons, another six for the Orlando Magic and five for the Phoenix Suns before joining the Clippers, who lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs. “For 19 years, Grant has always been the embodiment of class, a true professional and not only one of the best players - but one of the finest individuals I have been around,” said Clippers Vice President of Basketball Operations Gary Sacks on the team’s website. “We were fortunate to have Grant with us last season, and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor.” Hill was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Governors in 2011, the first and only active NBA player to hold the position. He won’t be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame until 2018. As a member of Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski ’s Blue Devils, Hill played in three Final Fours, winning back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association national championships in 1991 and 1992. 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]

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power Increases Stake in Jordan’s CEGCO

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-01/saudi-arabia-s-acwa-power-increases-stake-in-jordan-s-cegco.html

ACWA Power International, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based investor in utilities, said it increased its stake in Jordan ’s Central Electricity Generating Company. ACWA Power bought a 25 percent share in Enara Energy Investments PSC, which owns 51 percent of CEGCO, from Malakoff Corp. Bhd of Malaysia , the Saudi company said in a statement e- mailed today. The purchase will bring ACWA Power’s stake in Enara to 90 percent, according to the statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Nayla Razzouk in Dubai at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maher Chmaytelli at [email protected]

Treasuries Fall on Speculation Price Data to Show Inflation Above Average

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-18/treasuries-fall-before-price-reports-lacker-sees-inflation-risk.html

Treasuries fell, snapping yesterday’s biggest rally in two weeks, before government reports today and tomorrow that economists said will show inflation is running faster than average. Ten-year notes yield negative 1.63 percentage points after accounting for consumer prices. The figure was negative 2.05 percentage points on Sept. 22, the least since 1980. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the Fed risks stoking costs in the economy by trying to boost growth. “Inflation remains elevated,” said Tomohisa Fujiki, an interest-rate strategist at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. BNP’s U.S. unit is one of the 22 primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed. “Growth should pick up next year, and yields will go up.” Benchmark 10-year rates advanced one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 2.17 percent as of 6:41 a.m. in London , according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 2.125 percent security due in August 2021 declined 1/8, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount, to 99 19/32. The yield slid nine basis points yesterday, the most since Oct. 3, as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis spurred demand for the relative safety of U.S. debt. Rates will rise to 3 percent by the end of 2012, BNP said in an Oct. 13 report. Japan’s 10-year yield increased half a basis point to 1.025 percent, matching yesterday’s high, the most in two weeks. Inflation Data Producer prices probably increased 6.4 percent in September from a year earlier, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists before the Labor Department reports the figure today. The 10-year average is 2.9 percent. Consumer prices rose 3.9 percent, versus the average of 2.4 percent, based on a separate Bloomberg survey before the department issues the figure tomorrow. Lacker said the central bank may increase costs in the economy by trying to boost growth because the recovery is hampered by conditions that are unaffected by monetary policy. “History has repeatedly demonstrated that if a central bank attempts to add monetary stimulus to offset nonmonetary disturbances to growth, the result is higher inflation,” he said yesterday in the text of a speech in Salisbury, Maryland. The Fed is scheduled to buy $2.25 billion to $2.75 billion of Treasuries maturing from February 2036 to August 2041 today, according to the central bank website, as part of its plan to keep borrowing costs down. Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the U.S. faces “massive shortfalls in output and employment” and called for new policy steps to ensure the central bank meets its congressional mandate, speaking yesterday in a speech in Detroit. Safety Demand Europe’s debt crisis may sustain demand for the relative safety of American securities, said Michael Turner , a fixed- income and currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Sydney. “There’s a fair bit of caution out there among investors,” he said. “In that environment, Treasuries should remain reasonably well-supported.” The company’s U.S. branch is another primary dealer. German Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s office damped expectations for what it called “dreams” that an Oct. 23 summit will tame the European crisis. Efforts to bolster Europe ’s bailout fund by offering to guarantee portions of the debt owed by the region’s weaker governments are threatening France ’s top credit ranking. The rating is under pressure, Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday, with investors demanding almost 1 percentage point more to hold French bonds instead of German notes. “The negative risk sentiment tied to Europe is dominating everything,” said Adrian Miller , fixed-income strategist at Miller Tabak Roberts Securities LLC in New York. “Expectations of a resolution have been far overblown.” Inflation Protection Investors should favor short-term Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, said Michael Pond, a bond strategist for Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, another primary dealer. “Inflation is coming in well above what the market’s priced for,” Pond said yesterday on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday” with Tom Keene. The difference between yields on two-year notes and TIPS, a gauge of trader expectations for consumer prices over the life of the debt, has fallen to 1.27 percentage points from this year’s high of 2.70 percentage points in April. TIPS have returned 0.1 percent this month, versus a 0.8 percent loss for conventional Treasuries, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch data. An index of bonds around the world that includes government and company debt has handed investors a 0.5 percent loss, according to the figures. To contact the reporters on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at [email protected] ; Kristine Aquino in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at [email protected]

Baring Asset’s Khiem Do Says China Will ‘Continue to Grow’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/baring-asset-s-khiem-do-says-china-will-continue-to-grow-.html

Khiem Do, the Hong Kong-based head of multi-asset strategy at Baring Asset Management Ltd., which oversees about $10 billion, comments on the outlook for China’s economy. He spoke in a telephone interview today. Inflation accelerated by the fastest pace in almost three years and industrial output grew more than economists forecast, data released today showed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.9 percent as of 11:10 a.m. local time, set for the steepest rally since May 31. “More sensible investors know China will continue to grow. Even a slow pace of growth for China is 8 to 9 percent. Those who think China is falling off the cliff are really in a big minority. Very few people truly think that and are acting on it.” “At this point of the economic cycle, where China is experiencing bottle necks in the production of food stuffs and energy, a moderate slowdown is good news.” To contact the reporter on this story: Weiyi Lim in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at [email protected] .

AOL Starts $400 Million Repurchase Following Patent Transaction

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-28/aol-starts-400-million-repurchase-following-patent-transaction.html

AOL Inc. (AOL) , the New York-based Web portal, has started a $400 million stock repurchase as part of a plan to return funds to shareholders from a $1.1 billion patent sale. The company is buying the stock using a so-called Dutch auction tender offer, AOL said today in a statement. The deal brings the total amount that AOL plans to return to shareholders this year to $1.1 billion. AOL, facing a slump in sales, agreed in April to sell and license patents to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) The Internet company is selling more than 800 patents and related applications to Microsoft and will grant the software maker a nonexclusive license to its retained patent portfolio. AOL still holds more than 300 patents and applications following the transaction. The move helped propel AOL’s stock price this year, contributing to a 81 percent gain in 2012. The shares were little changed yesterday, closing at $27.31. To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Turner in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at [email protected]

NWR in Talks With Potential Partners for Debiensko Coal Mine

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-26/nwr-in-talks-with-potential-partners-for-debiensko-coal-mine.html

New World Resources Plc (NWR) , the largest Czech producer of coal for steelmakers, said it’s seeking a partner to help develop the Debiensko mine in Poland. “This is Europe’s largest deposit of hard quality coking coal,” Chairman Gareth Penny said in an interview in Prague. “We are looking at potential partners.” Developing Debiensko is part of a plan for NWR to become Europe’s leading coking coal supplier in the next decade, said Penny, the former chief executive officer of De Beers, the biggest diamond producer. The company is cutting output of thermal coal to focus on more profitable coking coal that’s supplied to steel producers such as ArcelorMittal (MT) and carmakers including Volkswagen AG. (VOW) Debiensko is a “really important part of NWR’s long-term future,” Penny said in yesterday’s interview. He dismissed reports that the company may try to sell the mine because of technical difficulties with underground water. NWR has held “very early-stage” talks with some Polish coal companies as well as financial investors and even customers to cooperate on the project, according to Penny. The company, which is listed in London, Prague and Warsaw, is in the process of buying up the land around the mine, a process that should be finished in April, Penny said. NWR was little changed at 79.5 koruna in Prague today. The stock has lost 19 percent so far this year, adding to a 28 percent retreat in 2012. Safety Review Last year the miner cut planned spending at Debiensko to 5 million euros ($6.6 million) from 50 million euros following the discovery of large quantities of underground water. A technical and safety review proved the project is “viable” and the company doubled capital spending for the mine, which contains an estimated 190 million metric tons of coking coal, to 10 million euros this year, Penny said. NWR plans to boost imports of coking coal into Europe from the U.S. and is considering buying mines in North America. It had 267 million euros in cash at the end of last year. “Valuations in coal right now are very attractive,” Chief Financial Officer Marek Jelinek said in an interview. “We have a lot of cash on our balance sheet which in the current business environment isn’t earning us anything, so the most accretive way to finance an acquisition today would be to use that cash.” To contact the reporter on this story: Ladka Bauerova in Prague at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected]

Canada Fourth Quarter National Balance Sheet Account (Text)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/canada-fourth-quarter-national-balance-sheet-account-text-.html

The following is the text of Canada ’s national balance sheet account report for the fourth quarter released by Statistics Canada. National net worth increased 0.8% to $6.6 trillion in the fourth quarter, as a result of higher values of non-financial assets. National wealth was $6.8 trillion while non-resident claims were $0.2 trillion. National net worth National net worth on a per capita basis increased to $190,900 in the fourth quarter from $189,700 in the third quarter. Non-financial assets were up $60 billion to $6.8 trillion in the fourth quarter, which accounted for the change in national net worth. This increase was moderated by the increase in Canada’s net foreign debt, as growth in international liabilities outpaced that of international assets. Rise in share values increases household net worth Household net worth was up nearly 1% in the fourth quarter, led by gains in the values of household holdings of equities (including mutual funds) and pension assets. The increase in equities reflected a 2.9% rise in the Standard and Poor’s / Toronto Stock Exchange composite index, following a 12% decrease in the third quarter. Per capita household net worth rose to $182,100 in the fourth quarter from $180,600 in the third quarter. Household sector assets Household credit market debt increased in the fourth quarter despite a slower rate of borrowing in consumer credit and mortgages. This led to an increase in the ratio of credit market debt to net worth to 25.3% from 25.2% in the third quarter. The debt service ratio was unchanged in the fourth quarter. The ratio of credit market debt to personal disposable income declined to 150.6% in the fourth quarter from 151.9% in the third quarter as personal disposable income increased at a faster rate than credit market debt. Government net debt up Total government net debt (expressed at book value) increased to $812 billion in the fourth quarter from $794 billion in the third quarter. The ratio of total government net debt to gross domestic product rose to 47.3% from 46.8%. In the third quarter of 2008, this ratio was 35.7%, and has increased for 13 consecutive quarters. The increase in government debt largely reflected an increase in federal bond issues, which outpaced redemptions of short-term paper. Private non-financial corporate debt to equity down The ratio of total private non-financial corporation credit market debt to equity (expressed at book value) eased to 54.2% in the fourth quarter, continuing a downward trend from 2008. The decline during the fourth quarter was largely caused by strong growth in corporate undistributed earnings, as the rate of share issuances and borrowing were lower in the quarter. Corporate debt-to-equity Value of assets held by financial institutions increases Note to readers Canadian publicly traded companies have begun their transition to International Financial Reporting Standards in the first quarter of 2011. As all companies adopt the new reporting standards over the next quarters, this will have an affect on the National Balance Sheet Accounts (NBSA). For more information on some of these impacts, consult the following article: “Impact of new accounting standards on the Financial and Wealth Accounts.” The NBSA comprise the balance sheets of all sectors of the economy: the persons and unincorporated business (households), corporate, government, and non-resident sectors. They cover all national non-financial assets and financial claims and their associated liabilities outstanding in all sectors. National net worth is national wealth less net foreign liabilities (that is, what is owed to non-residents less what non-residents owe to Canadians). Alternatively, it is the sum of the net worth of the persons and unincorporated business, corporate, and government sectors. Household credit market debt comprises consumer credit, mortgage, and loan debt of households, non-profit institutions serving households, and unincorporated businesses. Corporate equity is treated as a liability on the balance sheet of the corporate sector since it represents a claim by shareholders on the corporate sector. As a result, as equity prices increase, corporate net worth will tend to decline, reflecting the increase in the corporate sector’s equity liabilities. The historical revision to the Canadian National Accounts is scheduled for release beginning in October 2012. A schedule of releases has been posted on the National economic accounts website. Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. For more information, contact the information officer (csna- [email protected] ). 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]

Deutsche Bahn Aims for Four-Fold Growth in Five Years, FT Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-19/deutsche-bahn-aims-for-four-fold-growth-in-five-years-ft-says.html

Deutsche Bahn AG, which bought Arriva Plc for 1.5 billion pounds a year ago, may spend 2 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) on acquisitions and contracts in the next three years and aims to grow to “three or four times” its present size in five years, the Financial Times reported, citing Arriva Chief Executive Officer David Martin. The group may be interested in bidding for five U.K. rail franchises in the next 18 months, including the state-owned East Coast service, as well as for contracts in Europe and the Middle East, the FT said, citing Martin, who is responsible for the combined group’s expansion outside Germany. To contact the reporter on this story: Blanche Gatt in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at [email protected] .

Energy, Housing and Trade Shield U.S. From Euro Crisis

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-05/energy-housing-and-trade-shield-u-s-from-euro-crisis.html

Investors have been captivated by the European debt crisis. Just as in 2011, first-quarter gains in stock prices have given way to losses fueled by Europe’s springtime uprisings and political acrimony. In the 1990s, faced with the prospect of economic decline, European leaders were able to prolong their untenable government largesse by linking arms and unifying around a common currency. The euro enabled Germany to price its goods and services by some estimates 30 percent below what they would have been had the deutschmark continued to exist. Meanwhile, southern European customers, suddenly holding a respected currency, found themselves with purchasing power. This economic symbiosis enabled the region to neglect economic reality. Now that the countries’ capacity to take on debt has reached its upper limit, Europe is weighed down by the reversal and by a rapidly aging population. Based on market activity, investors mistakenly think that Europe’s malaise will be contagious. Although there is an eerie parallel between debt burdens, the U.S. is somewhat insulated from Europe’s predicament. In many respects Europe’s loss is America’s gain. Manufacturing Surge Take manufacturing, for example. The recent surge in U.S. activity is the direct result of several trading advantages. After almost a decade of stagnant blue-collar wages, U.S. unit labor costs have become substantially cheaper than those in other developed markets, thanks in large part to gains in productivity and years of decline in the dollar. The cost of hiring an American manufacturing worker is 5 percent cheaper today than it was in 2000. Average European manufacturing wages rose 13 percent in dollar terms. In Spain and Italy they rose 27 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Now the table is tilted toward the U.S. Recent news that General Electric Co., the Boeing Co. and Ford Motor Co. will shift manufacturing capacity to the U.S. should come as no surprise. If GE has determined that making appliances is more cost competitive in Kentucky than in China or Mexico, what does that say about the edge the U.S. has over European countries? Consider, next, the natural gas revolution. In just a few years, the entire energy price structure in the U.S. has been turned on its head. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing technology, North America suddenly has abundant natural gas selling for about $2 per million BTU, while Europe is forced to pay $9. (In Asia , the price is $18 per million BTU.) The U.S. appears to be turning the corner on housing as well. Confidence among homebuilders spurted more than expected in May, reaching a five-year high. My team at Harris Private Bank estimates that national home prices , gauged against the broad economy, are slightly below fair value. This calculation is based on the observation that, for more than a year, new home construction has been trailing labor force gains , which is a crucial indicator of household formations. By the same measure, U.S. housing was 22 percent overvalued in the third quarter of 2006. In certain European markets, home prices have similarly adjusted; Ireland’s have been cut in half, and collapses in Spain and the U.K. are well known. Yet several countries haven’t seen a slump. In France , notably, home prices have just kept marching upward as if the global recession never happened. The typical French home is, amazingly, 10 percent more expensive now than six years ago. At the margin, international cities like Miami should benefit from a surge of foreign real estate buyers using cheap dollars to buy discounted homes. French Bubbles France appears to have bubbly prices for most things. A few weeks back, my colleagues and I conducted an unscientific study of worldwide elite hotel rates by logging onto the Four Seasons ’ web site for quotes on a four-night stay this coming New Year’s Eve. Not surprisingly, the cheapest rooms were in Bangkok and Shanghai , where thanks to relatively undervalued currencies the nightly rate was $285. In Las Vegas it was $374, in Beverly Hills $425 and in New York $855 (that price is tied to Times Square’s special status on the big night). What really jumped out was that the room in Paris, despite all of Europe’s economic woes, came to a whopping $1,210, hinting at excesses in Parisian real estate prices and in the euro. The European experience looks a lot like what happened in Japan , as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse and second- largest economy became the aged third-largest economy. The difference in Japan is its enormous debt load has been able to grow because most of it was self-funded. Despite its two-decade bear market , the Nikkei 225 index of Japanese stocks has exerted little gravitational pull on other bourses. From the Nikkei’s top in 1989, the index has generated a devastating minus-76 percent total return. Meanwhile, investors in the S&P 500 have multiplied their money fivefold. The dirty little secret was that Japan never took money-printing to the same level as Western central banks have today. A generational deflationary funk is thus much less probable in the U.S. of 2012 than in Japan of 1990. Europe and the U.S. have decoupled on several important fronts. Trade will certainly be a drag, but U.S. exports to the region represent only about 2 percent of gross domestic product

Q-Cells Wins Contract to Supply SunPower With 83 Megawatts of Solar Cells

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/q-cells-wins-contract-to-supply-sunpower-with-83-megawatts-of-solar-cells.html

Q-Cells SE’s North American unit agreed on an 83-megawatt solar cell supply contract with SunPower Corp. (SPWRA) , the second largest U.S. solar panel maker. The cells will be used in San Jose, California-based SunPower’s panels for commercial and utility scale projects, Q- Cells North America said today in a statement. Financial details of the contract weren’t disclosed. Q-Cells, which manufactures most of its solar cells and modules in Germany, is studying plans to open manufacturing facilities in North America, its North America CEO Marc van Gerven said in an interview. “We are seeing a trend of in- region module manufacturing becoming more widespread,” he said. The U.S. market is expanding with “great market indicators,” van Gerven said, adding that a stable policy in the U.S. is important to the global market. “The key parameter is predictability,” he said. “Q-Cells is focused on the long term predictability of the industry rather than being driven by spot market factors,” he said. Q-Cells, based in Thalheim, Germany , will begin selling its thin-film copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS, modules as a stand-alone product in the U.S. in the second half of the year, van Gerven said. To contact the reporter on this story: Ehren Goossens in New York at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at [email protected] .

K+S Seeks Potash Expansion, Tie-Ups as Plants Run at Full Steam

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-22/k-s-seeks-potash-expansion-tie-ups-as-plants-run-at-full-steam.html

K+S AG , Europe’s largest potash producer, is considering takeovers to access more deposits as production at existing sites approaches full capacity, said Chief Executive Officer Norbert Steiner. Developing new reserves with partners is another option, according to Steiner, who spoke to journalists during a Nov. 19 visit to K+S’s salt facility in Bernburg, Germany. He declined to name potential partners or say how much the Kassel-based company would be willing to spend. “We are looking at possible new mines, including acquisitions” Steiner said. “We’d also consider a project with a local partner.” Failure to access new deposits means K+S risks having growth constrained, as demand for the crop nutrient recovers from a slump. The company’s initial plans to ally with EuroChem Mineral & Chemical Co. to develop a site in Russia fizzled out and a tender to reopen a state-owned potash mine in the east German town of Rossleben has been postponed. Global demand for potash is set to rise by 3 percent to 5 percent annually, the company forecasts. Growth is coinciding with a reduction in capacity and a shortage of skilled workers, as K+S’s existing mines suffer declines in grades and the closing of a site in France. Capacity for potash and magnesium is set to fall to about 7.5 million tons per year from 7.8 million tons. Even the lower level requires hiring miners and completing environmental projects to reduce wastewater emissions, measures that will require at least two years, Steiner said on Nov. 11. Full Speed K+S potash production will just exceed 7 million tons next year, implying a factory run rate approaching 100 percent, compared with an industry average of 85 percent, analysts said. “K+S currently has no chance of increasing potash capacity,” Andreas Heine , an equity analyst at UniCredit in Munich, wrote in a Nov. 18 report. Faced with production constraints, he reduced his share-price target to 52 euros from 54 euros, while recommending clients “hold” K+S stock. Analysts from Nomura, NordLB and Bankhaus Metzler have also reduced their targets since the company flagged lower capacity. “The declining production will be an ongoing topic” and the company faces losing market share, Heine said. “This highlights the importance of new mining projects.” K+S capacity struggles come against a backdrop of increasing production by global metal mining companies that have been attracted to the nutrient and have the funds to exploit acquired reserves. Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, is pumping $4.5 billion into its Rio Colorado project in Argentina, and it will be supplying the market with 11 million tons by 2017. BHP Billiton Ltd. this month abandoned a $40 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. EuroChem Struggles By contrast, K+S struggled to make a partnership work with Russia’s EuroChem, owned by Andrei Melnichenko , who is also the German company’s biggest shareholder. “EuroChem said they want to lose no more time on their project, while we would have liked to analyze the deposit more thoroughly before getting started,” Steiner said as explanation why a venture with the Russian fertilizer maker did not materialize. He said there are no talks about other projects with EuroChem. With no scope for raising volumes, the potash price is the only driver for the shares, said analyst Heine. After pushing through three price increases to European customers this year, the next raise may come as early as January. The average selling price for potash at K+S was 265.80 euros per metric ton in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 1 percent lower than in the second quarter. Until the first quarter, K+S had suffered declining prices for six consecutive quarters. “We are thinking about what prices we’ll call from the beginning of January,” Steiner said, adding that recent price increases of agricultural goods were supporting potash prices. To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Weiss in Frankfurt at [email protected]. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected] .

CHINA BILLS FINA May Sales Fall 25.85% (Table) : 2820 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-08/china-bills-fina-may-sales-fall-25-85-table-2820-tt.html

CHINA BILLS FINA said unconsolidated sales in May fell 25.85% to NT$120,167,000 from NT$162,054,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 5/2012 5/2011 Sales 120,167 162,054 YOY% -25.85% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 1,291,144 761,911 YOY% 69.46% =================================================================

Asia Hedge Fund Startups Fall 38% as Big Funds Favored

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/asia-hedge-fund-startups-fall-38-as-investors-seek-pedigree-.html

The number Asian hedge fund startups fell 45 percent in the first half of the year as investors preferred larger funds amid volatile markets, according to Eurekahedge Pte. There were 60 new Asian hedge funds set up in the first six months of 2011, of which 14 were based in Singapore and 11 in Hong Kong , Eurekahedge said in an e-mailed reply to queries from Bloomberg News. There were 109 Asian hedge funds which started in the first half of last year and 169 in all of 2010, the Singapore-based industry data provider said. Hedge funds found it tough to raise capital as investors shifted to experienced managers or established firms with steady returns and staff dedicated to risk assessment after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008 saw many funds freeze assets. Firms managing more than $500 million received almost 62 percent of the capital invested in Asia-focused hedge funds in the second quarter, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. “In this volatile environment, some asset allocators believe they will be safer in large funds with a high pedigree, which makes it difficult for startups with more talented but less known managers to raise capital,” said Frank Brochin, managing director at New York-based StoneWater Capital LLC, which invests in Asian hedge funds. Sze, Fuchs Azentus Capital Management Ltd., a Hong Kong-based hedge fund set up by Morgan Sze, global head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s principal strategies business, increased assets to more than $1.9 billion, three people with knowledge of the matter said in July. Benjamin Fuchs, who leads the Global Opportunities Group proprietary trading desk at Nomura Holdings Inc., aims to start his own Hong Kong-based hedge fund with at least $400 million, two people with knowledge of the plan said. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2 percent in the first six months, after a 14 percent rally last year, as investors became concerned that an earthquake in Japan in March would stall the nation’s emergence from deflation, U.S.’s sovereign-debt would be downgraded and Chinese growth would slow as inflation accelerated. Standard & Poor’s downgraded U.S.’s debt rating on Aug. 5. The formation of a strong management team is the “main difficulty” of starting a hedge fund, said Roland Thng, a managing partner of Singapore-based Dektos Investment Corp., which aims to start a macro hedge fund by the first quarter of next year. Business Sustainability Thng, previously a currency trader at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., teamed up with Mario Manca, a former private banker at Barclays Wealth Management who has experience in risk management and business development, to set up the fund. Thng had attempted to start Dektos as a “one-man shop” a year and a half ago, he said. “I soon realized that this model doesn’t work,” Thng said. “Having a strong management team will allow regulatory agencies and investors to have strong confidence in the sustainability of the business.” Asian hedge funds may attract less money in coming weeks from U.S. institutional investors as they wait for a clearer reading of the global economic outlook, according to Pacific Alternative Asset Management Co., which invests in hedge funds. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 14.5 percent yesterday from this year’s high on May 2 on concern Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from AAA could worsen an economic slowdown, the European sovereign debt crisis will spread and China ’s steps to stem inflation will slow growth. Investors poured $600 million into Asian hedge funds in June, even as managers lost about 1 percent that month, according to Eurekahedge. The region’s strategies lost 0.3 percent in the first half, while U.S. funds gained 2.2 percent, according to the data provider. Asia-focused hedge funds managed $89.5 billion in the second quarter, compared with a peak of $111.4 billion in 2007, according to Hedge Fund Research. To contact the reporter on this story: Netty Ismail in Singapore [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at [email protected]

Togo’s President Dismisses Commerce Minister, TVT Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-02/togo-s-president-dismisses-commerce-minister-tvt-reports.html

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe sacked his Commerce Minister Kokou Gozan yesterday, TVT reported, citing a decree signed by the president. The decree didn’t give a reason for the dismissal, or name a replacement, the state-own television station said. To contact the reporter on this story: Etonam Digo in Lome via Accra at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at [email protected] .

Duke Settles Probe, Principal Eyes Exits, RBS: Compliance

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/duke-settles-probe-principal-eyes-exits-rbs-india-compliance.html

(Corrects to remove reference to bank exit from headline in Principal item and first paragraph of story published Nov. 30 and included in this column in the Compliance Action section.) Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers must step down by the end of next year as part of a settlement with North Carolina regulators stunned by a July boardroom coup. The settlement, which lays out a series of executive changes and employment and financial concessions, represents a rebuke to the largest U.S. utility owner by market value. Approval by the North Carolina Utilities Commission would end its investigation into the ouster of former Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson and reinstatement of Rogers hours after the company closed its $17.8 billion takeover of Progress. Commissioners had just approved the merger and accused Duke of misleading them with the CEO switch. “This settlement agreement is an important step forward for the company because it resolves one of our key near-term priorities: bringing closure to the NCUC merger review process,” Rogers said in a statement released after the close of trading in New York Nov. 29. Duke will create a special committee of the board comprised equally of pre-merger Duke and Progress directors to choose a successor for Rogers, according to a filing Nov. 29 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The committee “will make its best effort” to have a new chairman, president and CEO of Duke in place by July 1, and no later than Dec. 31, 2013, according to the settlement. The agreement doesn’t affect a separate investigation by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper into whether Duke’s actions violated state law,” Sam Watson, general counsel for the commission, said in a telephone interview. Johnson was named Nov. 5 to become CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal power agency. For more, click here. Compliance Policy O’Malia Says CFTC to Vote on Swap Execution Facilities Dec. 12 Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia said a vote on swap execution facilities is expected at a rule- making open meeting planned for Dec. 12. O’Malia made the comment in remarks prepared for a speech at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference in New York. Commissioner O’Malia, a Republican, also foresees action on the cross-border impact of Dodd-Frank Act derivatives rules that will focus on delayed compliance, according to his remarks at the Sifma conference. Fed, Treasury Seeking Comments on Bank Fund Transfer Definitions The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve said Nov. 29 they are requesting comments on proposed changes to the definitions of “funds transfer” and “transmittal of funds” under the Bank Secrecy Act. The changes are needed to update the definitions of transfers and transmittals to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act, the Fed and Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said in a joint statement. Comments are due Jan. 25. Bank Regulations Harming Credit Flow to Business, A&O Says Tighter financial regulation around the world is constraining bank lending to businesses, according to research published today by Allen & Overy LLP, which polled its regulatory and finance lawyers. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s incoming rules and U.K. recommendations from the Independent Commission on Banking may “have much wider economic impacts” than the changes intend, including stifling credit, A&O said. The law firm asked its employees whether new regulations were having a positive, neutral or negative impact on the availability of credit across 11 separate areas of finance, including corporate lending, bonds and trade finance, in 13 countries. The so-called Basel III rules would more than triple the core capital that banks must hold as a buffer against insolvency, while the U.K. recommendations suggest placing firebreaks around British banks’ retail operations. Compliance Action Principal Weighs Leaving Savings and Loan Status Principal Financial Group Inc. (PFG) , the seller of life insurance and retirement products, is weighing an exit from its status as a savings and loan holding company to limit U.S. oversight. The insurer filed a draft application to change its status to avoid Federal Reserve regulation that may limit investing and require the Des Moines, Iowa-based company to hold additional capital. The company may operate its Principal Bank as a limited purpose trust institution, which would still hold savings products in individual retirement accounts and be supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Principal said. The bank operates online with no physical branches and Principal isn’t now seeking a buyer for the unit, said Susan Houser, a company spokeswoman. “Some of the Dodd-Frank provisions, such as the Volcker rule, along with the unknowns of new capital requirements, could have an outsized impact on Principal relative to any benefit of Fed regulation,” Chief Executive Officer Larry Zimpleman said on a Nov. 27 conference call with analysts. Principal follows MetLife Inc. (MET) , the largest U.S. life insurer, in moving to limit oversight. American International Group Inc. (AIG) is weighing a similar move, and Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP) , Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) , and Allstate Corp. (ALL) have all retreated from the banking business. “Principal will reduce the potential for restrictive regulatory oversight as a bank and may free up some capital over time,” Edward Shields, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP, wrote in a research note. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, insurers with thrifts are subject to federal supervision -- including new capital standards -- that firms including MetLife have said are not suited to the industry. The Volcker rule limits proprietary trading and investing in private equity or hedge funds. The rules are intended to prevent a repeat of the 2008 bailouts that the U.S. undertook as collapsing financial firms threatened the global economy. Fed regulation may have led to “reduced flexibility for our other asset-accumulation, mutual fund and asset management businesses,” Zimpleman said on the call. Principal’s bank had about $2.2 billion in deposits as of June 30 and 91 employees, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. The bank expects to hold about 85 percent of that sum after a change in status, Principal said. Filing a draft application will allow the insurer to work with the Fed to understand requirements for deregistering as a savings and loan holding company, Houser said. If the draft application is on track, Principal will file a formal application, she added. Principal embraced the bank in June when the company said it benefits from the ability to hold customers’ government- insured deposits as the clients develop retirement plans. The deregistration process can take as little as a month or as long as a year, depending on the complexity, said Kevin L. Petrasic, a partner with law firm Paul Hastings LLP. MetLife, regulated as a bank-holding company, reached a deal last year to sell deposits to a unit of General Electric Co. to exit banking. The deal is still awaiting regulatory approval. The Fed has blocked MetLife’s plan to increase its dividend or resume share buybacks. Insurers “are very unhappy with being subject at a corporate level to bank-type capital regulations, including potential application of Basel III,” said Scott Harrington, director of the Risk and Insurance Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “You have insurers that have invested significant resources in building these businesses, and now, if they sell off to a non-insurance entity, you have to presume they’re going to take a loss,” Harrington said. Compass Group’s Massoud to Pay $1.4 Million in SEC Insider Case A Connecticut-based investment manager will pay more than $1.4 million to settle regulatory claims that he illegally profited from inside information while working on the 2009 sale of Patriot Capital Funding Group. Compass Group Management Managing Partner Joseph Massoud, whose firm was involved in the bidding process, made about $676,000 on Patriot Capital shares he bought after gaining access to an online data room for bidders, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement Nov. 30. Massoud, 44, also agreed to be barred from the securities industry or serve as a public-company officer or director, the SEC said. Massoud bought 322,216 shares of Patriot Capital in transactions spread across 15 trading days from May to July of 2009, the SEC said. After the firm was acquired and the share price rose, Massoud sold all of the stock. “Mr. Massoud is pleased to have been able to resolve this personal trading matter,” Robert Anello, an attorney for Massoud, said in a statement. “He has helped build significant value for shareholders and investors over the last 15 years and looks forward to future endeavors.” ASX Offers Customers Trading, Clearing Revenue Rebate From 2013 ASX Ltd. (ASX) , the operator of Australia ’s main stock exchange, will share with its customers 50 percent of revenue growth from trading in cash equities and clearing starting Jan. 1 in a bid to maintain market share. ASX revenue growth through the end of June 2014 will be shared 50-50 with customers and will be proportionate to each of its customers contribution, according to a letter dated Nov. 28 from ASX Chief Executive Officer Elmer Funke Kupper and sent to clients. All participants are eligible for rebates and the threshold will be reviewed after 2014, the letter said. Traditional exchanges worldwide are losing market share to so called dark pools and other alternative trading venues, such as Chi-X Australia Pty, which last year started operating as Australia’s sole stock-exchange competitor. As part of the Australian government’s attempt to increase its presence as a financial hub by opening up Asia-Pacific’s fourth-largest equity market, the country is considering whether or not to allow ASX to maintain its monopoly over the clearing and settlement of trades. The offer will operate for at least the coming three to five years, Funke Kupper wrote. RBS to Close Indian Division After Sale to HSBC Collapses Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc , Britain’s biggest taxpayer-owned lender, said the sale of its Indian consumer and commercial-banking operations to HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) collapsed. RBS will wind down the unit, the 81 percent taxpayer-owned bank said in a statement Nov. 30. RBS announced the sale to London-based HSBC for an undisclosed sum in July 2010. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King is pressuring U.K. banks to raise capital levels by selling assets to guard against loan losses. Banks are struggling to find buyers for assets: in October, Banco Santander SA (SAN) walked away from buying 316 branches that RBS has to sell by 2014 to comply with a European Union state-aid ruling after being bailed out by U.K. taxpayers. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester has cut assets by more than 800 billion pounds ($1.28 trillion), eliminated 36,000 jobs and scaled back RBS’s securities and Irish units since 2008. RBS’s Indian unit has about 190 million pounds of assets, 31 branches and serves 400,000 customers, the bank said. HSBC said in a separate statement that it remained committed to the Indian market and would expand there through its existing operations. UBS Said to Be Close to Reaching a Settlement Over Libor-Rigging UBS AG (UBSN) , Switzerland’s biggest lender, is close to agreements with regulators to pay more than 290 million pounds ($465 million) to settle allegations traders tried to rig global interest rates, a person with knowledge of the talks said. An announcement may come as soon as next week, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. More than 25 people have already left UBS after the lender’s own internal probe, another person said last month. Global authorities are investigating claims that more than a dozen banks altered submissions used to set benchmark such as the London interbank offered rate to profit from bets on interest-rate derivatives or make the lenders’ finances appear healthier. “UBS has been cooperating fully with the regulatory and enforcement authorities in connection with Libor investigations,” Mark Panday, a Hong Kong-based spokesman at the Zurich-based lender, said in an e-mail, declining to comment further because of ongoing discussions with authorities. Regulators are focusing on whether UBS traders colluded with other banks to influence rates in an effort to increase profit, the person said. For more, click here. EU Says It Won’t Meet January Deadline to Implement Basel III The European Union won’t be ready to legally implement Basel III bank rules by the start of the year, Stefaan De Rynck, a spokesman for the European Commission, said in Brussels today. “The legal entry into force of CRD IV is no longer realistic for January 2013,” he said, referring to the EU’s draft law to apply the Basel capital and liquidity rules. Any delay should be as “short as possible,” he said. FBI Informant Led Agents on Insider Chase From Galleon to SAC David Slaine, a former Morgan Stanley managing director and ex-partner at the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund, told the FBI that a money manager he knew paid off people to find out who used Teterboro airport in New Jersey. The small New Jersey airport is located close to many of the world’s biggest drug companies. The trader was using the information to profit quietly on trades of health-care stocks. The bribed tipsters were watching for bankers who “were coming in and out of Teterboro Airport,” agent David Makol wrote in a summary of Slaine’s Aug. 18, 2007, conversation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one of more than 200 they had with him. “All the major players involved in the pharmaceutical industry would come in and out of that airport.” During the U.S. crackdown on insider trading over the past five years, Slaine, 53, became a tip-mining machine as he worked undercover, often wired for sound under FBI orders, from mid- 2007 until at least June 2009. The government’s most productive informant in a broad investigation of Wall Street insider trading, he was also among the first to cooperate. His work led directly to the conviction of 12 people and indirectly to a half-dozen more. His leads helped prosecutors win judicial permission to wiretap the mobile phone of Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam , who was later convicted. U.S. agents used evidence he gathered to build cases leading to executives at expert-networking firm Primary Global Research LLC. He passed information about Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP, and he took the witness stand to tell jurors about secret recordings he made of traders now in prison. An examination of Slaine’s work with the FBI, based on hundreds of documents never before revealed, shows how the bureau turned Slaine, how his cooperation deepened, how his information created a domino effect of new investigations and new informants, and how the case took a personal toll on Slaine. For more, click here. Societe Generale’s Lyxor Said to Seek Fund Withdrawal From SAC Societe Generale SA’s (GLE) Lyxor Asset Management unit has asked to withdraw its clients’ funds from Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Lyxor’s investments with SAC are very limited, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Officials for Lyxor and Societe Generale in Paris declined to comment, while a spokesman for Stamford , Connecticut-based SAC didn’t answer the phone outside of business hours. The Wall Street Journal reported on Lyxor’s plans late yesterday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told SAC that it is considering suing the $14 billion hedge fund for fraud involving alleged insider trading by former portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, who was arrested in November, three people with knowledge of the matter said last month. SAC received the warning in November, Tom Conheeney, the firm’s president, told investors on a Nov. 28 conference call during which the firm discussed Martoma’s arrest. Cohen, who spoke briefly during the call, said he acted appropriately when he traded shares of two drugmakers four years ago on recommendations from Martoma, according to two of the people. “Mr. Cohen and SAC are confident that they have acted appropriately and will continue to cooperate with the government’s inquiry,” a spokesman for SAC Capital said last month in an e-mailed statement. Cohen hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing. Martoma’s lawyer, Charles Stillman, said in an e-mailed statement last month that he expected Martoma to be fully exonerated. Courts SEC Claims Chicago Private Equity Fund Manager Misled Investors The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Resources Planning Group, a Chicago-based investment adviser, and one of its owners, over claims they raised money for a failing private- equity fund to pay off existing clients. Joseph Hennessy collected more than $1.3 million from 2007 to 2010 on false claims that a fund he helped run was viable, the SEC said in a lawsuit filed last week at U.S. District Court in Illinois. Hennessy used at least $641,000 to make partial payments to customers holding promissory notes that he had personally guaranteed, the SEC said. James Kopecky, a lawyer for RPG, said in an interview that the firm will fight the SEC’s claims. “Resources Planning Group is a clean shop with no disciplinary history, and they cater to investors who know what they’re doing,” Kopecky said. The SEC has stepped up its scrutiny of the private-equity business following the 2008 financial market turmoil which forced firms to write down the value of their holdings. After the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act authorized greater oversight of money managers, the agency initiated a broad review of practices at private-equity and hedge funds, including how assets are valued and claims of unusually high performance. Kevin Flynn, an attorney for Hennessy, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the allegations. The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Resources Planning Group, Inc., 12-cv-09509, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois ( Chicago ). 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] .

U.S. Wind Turbine Market Forecast Cut By 23% By MAKE

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-21/u-s-wind-turbine-market-2010-2015-forecast-cut-by-23-at-make-consulting.html

Wind turbine installations will grow more slowly in the U.S., the world’s second-largest market, because of an “unfavorable” policy environment and “adverse” macro-economic conditions, MAKE Consulting said. Little or no growth is expected this year in the U.S., the Hoejbjerg, Denmark-based consultant said today on its website. MAKE Consulting lowered its forecast for wind turbine installations in the U.S. by 23 percent from 2010 to 2015. “The slow recovery of the U.S. economy coupled with continued weakness in natural gas prices has provided a headwind for U.S. wind turbine sales,” the industry consultant said. “After years of strong growth, the U.S. wind energy market is bracing itself for a precipitous drop in annual turbine installations.” Prices of natural gas, an energy source that complements wind energy, continue to be “weak,” hurting wind turbine sales, MAKE said. In addition, efforts by some U.S. governors to revive federal legislation for renewable energy will probably not result in more funding, the consultant added. Turbine installations in the U.S. may fall to 6 gigawatts this year from about 9 gigawatts in 2009, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in August. Manufacturers of wind equipment are operating at 25 percent less than than full capacity, and poor demand is leading to lower prices for new orders. Shares of Clipper Windpower Plc , the London-traded wind- turbine manufacturer, yesterday sank 30 percent after it said “significant” strain on its cash position is creating a “material uncertainty” about the company’s operations. Vestas Wind Systems A/S sank for a fifth day in Copenhagen trading. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Wienberg at [email protected] ; To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at [email protected]

Cathay Survey Shows 5.6% of Pilots Moderately Tired, SCMP Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-23/cathay-survey-shows-5-6-of-pilots-moderately-tired-scmp-says.html

A survey on flight fatigue conducted by Cathay Pacific on 372 pilots revealed that 5.6 percent responded to being moderately tired at the top of their descents, the South China Morning Post reported. The fatigue survey, conducted last November and December asked pilots to rate how they felt when flights began descending, ranked from one for fully alert to seven, as completely exhausted. A rank of five represented being moderately tired, the paper said. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frederik Balfour at [email protected]

Sundaram Finance Agrees to Acquire BNP Paribas Stake in Indian Fund Unit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-30/sundaram-finance-agrees-to-acquire-bnp-paribas-stake-in-indian-fund-unit.html

Sundaram Finance Ltd. agreed to buy the 49.9 percent stake it doesn’t already own in an Indian asset management unit from foreign partner BNP Paribas Asset Management Co. The board of Sundaram Finance decided to acquire BNP’s stake in Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Co. and Sundaram BNP Paribas Trustee Co., the company said in an e-mailed statement today. The two companies will become fully owned units of Sundaram Finance after the acquisition, it said. Sundaram Finance, a south India-based finance company, did not disclose the amount it is paying for the purchase. The company’s shares rose 2.3 percent to 458.20 rupees as of 2:37 p.m. local time in Mumbai. Last year, BNP Paribas acquired some of Fortis Bank’s international operations, including the asset management unit in India. The French bank’s mutual fund venture with India’s Sundaram Finance manages assets worth $3 billion. Fortis’s asset management company in the nation has assets worth $1.6 billion. BNP Paribas SA , France’s biggest bank, said in March it was reviewing operations in India following reports that the regulator asked the company to resolve how it will manage the stakes it owns in two mutual fund managers in the country. India bans companies from owning stakes simultaneously in two rival asset managers. To contact the reporter on this story: Pooja Thakur in Mumbai at [email protected]

Flint Hills Reports Emissions at Port Arthur, Texas, Plant

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/flint-hills-reports-emissions-at-port-arthur-texas-plant-1-.html

Flint Hills Resources LLC reported excess opacity from a superheater stack associated with a light olefins unit at its plant in Port Arthur , Texas , according to a filing with state regulators. During a furnace startup, the company switched a cyclohexane unit back to light olefins unit hydrogen, which caused a sudden high volume of vapors to push residual liquid into the superheater’s fuel system, the Wichita, Kansas-based company said in the filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The liquid in turn caused the superheater to smoke, Flint Hills said. Katie Stavinoha, a company spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Flint Hills is a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. Outages can increase prices for refined products as companies turn to spot markets to help them meet supply contracts. Operational disruptions can also depress prices for crude oil as less feedstock is used. To contact the reporter on this story: Leela Landress in Houston at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Stubbe at [email protected]

Hana Financial Open to Insurer Acquisition, Chairman Kim Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-28/hana-financial-open-to-insurer-acquisition-chairman-kim-says.html

Hana Financial Group Inc. (086790) , which completed South Korea ’s biggest banking takeover last month, will seek to buy an insurer to shore up its existing business, Chairman Kim Jung Tai said. “Insurance is the weakest part among Hana Financial Group’s operations,” Kim told reporters today in Seoul in his first briefing since taking over this week. “We have interest in that area and will look into it when good opportunities arise.” Kim ruled out a bid for ING Groep NV’s Asian insurance unit, saying the competition is already tough. Kim, 60, said he aims to make Hana Financial one of the top 50 banks in the world, ranked by assets, by 2015. Hana is also open to acquisitions of small U.S. banks as it seeks growth beyond its saturated home market, he said, without identifying potential takeover targets or specifying regions where Hana wants to expand. Kim began his career at SeoulBank, joining Hana Bank in 1992 and becoming president and CEO of the subsidiary in March 2008. He served as CEO of Hana’s brokerage unit from 2006 to 2007, according to a profile posted on the company’s website. As chairman and chief executive officer of the group he succeeds Kim Seung Yu, who retired on March 23. KEB Integration Kim Jung Tai will work as a “helper” and “adviser” on the integration of Korea Exchange Bank (004940) with Hana, the nation’s fourth-largest financial holding company, following legal disputes, regulatory delays and opposition from KEB workers that delayed the 4.4 trillion-won ($3.9 billion) takeover for more than a year. Hana on Feb. 9 completed the acquisition of a 57 percent stake in KEB from Lone Star Funds and Export Import Bank of Korea , allowing the company to narrow the gap with rivals such as Woori Finance Holdings Co. (053000) and KB Financial Group Inc. (105560) The deal, first signed in November 2010, was hampered by courts, regulators and lawmakers, derailing Dallas-based Lone Star’s exit from its 2003 investment in KEB. Employees of KEB criticized Hana’s acquisition of the lender from Lone Star , saying it helped the U.S. fund make excessive profit. Hana on Feb. 17 agreed with KEB workers to keep the bank independent for next five years and keep the same number of staff to assuage workers who pledged to “fight with all possible means” including strikes. To contact the reporter on this story: Seonjin Cha in Seoul at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at [email protected]

Asian Currencies Drop as Stocks Decline on U.S. Data

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-05/asian-currencies-retreat-as-u-s-data-prompts-decline-in-regional-stocks.html

(Corrects losing streak for ringgit in fifth paragraph.) Asian currencies declined, led by Malaysia’s ringgit and the Indian rupee , as regional stocks fell on concern U.S. economic growth is cooling. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of equities slid after reports from the U.S. yesterday showed service industries expanded at the slowest pace in eight months and companies added fewer jobs than forecast. The U.S. government will announce official employment data tomorrow. “Global risk sentiment is being driven by recent economic data that may favor safe-haven currencies in the very short term,” said Saktiandi Supaat, head of foreign-exchange research at Malayan Banking Bhd. in Singapore. “Asian currency markets may consolidate in a tight range ahead of non-farm payrolls data tomorrow.” The ringgit weakened 0.5 percent to 2.9914 per dollar as of 4:05 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur and India ’s rupee fell 0.3 percent to 44.59. Singapore’s dollar dropped 0.2 percent to S$1.2314, Indonesia’s rupiah fell 0.2 percent to 8,568 and the Philippine peso retreated 0.2 percent to 42.94. The ringgit declined for a third day, its longest losing streak since February. Bank Negara will keep its overnight policy rate at 2.75 percent today, according to nine of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, while seven predict an increase to 3 percent. ‘If the U.S. recovery is deemed to be somewhat derailed momentarily, it could support a case for a hold on interest rates ,’’ Saktiandi said. “We see a higher probability of an increase in the second half” in Malaysia , he said. Philippine Inflation The Philippines peso fell as a government report showed the fastest pace of inflation in two years in April. Consumer prices increased 4.5 percent from a year earlier, after a 4.3 percent gain in March. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 4.4 percent gain. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas increased its benchmark rate for a second consecutive meeting to 4.50 percent, matching a forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. “The market may be pricing in uncertainty on inflation,” said Lito Biacora, vice president for treasury at Bank of the Philippine Islands in Manila. “The weakness in the U.S. economy and correction in the equities market” are driving the peso lower, he said. Indonesian Rate Decision The rupiah dropped as a government report today showed a 6.5 percent rise in first-quarter gross domestic product from a year earlier, compared with a 6.89 percent gain in the three months through December. The first-quarter number was lower than the 6.58 percent median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Bank Indonesia will leave its policy rate at 6.75 percent next week, according to all eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. “The rupiah’s weakening is driven by external factors,” said Gundy Cahyadi , a Singapore-based economist at Oversea- Chinese Banking Corp. “As long as the GDP numbers come in above 6 percent, there will be positive momentum for the economy.” Elsewhere, Taiwan’s dollar rose 0.1 percent to NT$28.632 against its U.S. counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. China ’s yuan was little changed at 6.4947. Financial markets in South Korea and Thailand are closed for a holiday today. To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Singapore at [email protected] ; David Yong in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:

CFTC Proposal for Swaps Margin May Apply to Futures

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/cftc-s-proposal-to-change-futures-margin-system-may-kill-brokerage-model.html

(Corrects to remove references to interest income in first, fourth, fifth, ninth and final paragraphs for story published April 14.) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission may require margin changes in futures markets that are being considered for new swaps clearing plans. The CFTC has proposed divvying up margin payments of individual swaps users at clearinghouses rather than allowing accounts to be treated as one pool by banks representing multiple customers. Futures markets now allow banks to pool all their customer accounts together when settling a day’s margins. The swaps plan may be used for futures margin, too, said CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia. “It’s being considered,” he said in an interview yesterday. Futures brokerages such as Newedge USA LLC and MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) invest excess collateral that they hold overnight to earn interest on U.S. Treasuries and other investments. While benchmark U.S. interest rates are between zero and 0.25 percent, offering little earning opportunity now, higher-rate environments can provide large earnings opportunities for futures brokers. MF Global, for instance, earned $1.77 billion in interest income in the quarter ended March 31, 2007 when rates were 5.25 percent. MF Global’s interest income includes returns it earns on investments it makes with its own capital, according to the company. Proposed Rule The CFTC proposed rule states that customers of brokerages such as Newedge or MF Global must have their margin treated on a “gross basis” equal to the amount of cash to back trades that would be required if the customer was a member of the clearinghouse. A clearinghouse “would not be permitted to net positions of different customers against one another,” according to the rule. The commission hasn’t issued a final rule on the margin issue. Comments on the proposal were closed to public input March 21. Tiffany Galvin, a spokeswoman at MF Global, and Emily Ahearn, a spokeswoman for Newedge, didn’t immediately return calls for comment. As of Feb. 28, futures brokerages held $163.7 billion in customer margin, according to monthly reports by the CFTC. To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Leising in New York at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at [email protected] .

TeliaSonera Will Repurchase Shares for Up to $1.5 Billion at 17% Premium

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-18/teliasonera-will-repurchase-shares-for-up-to-1-5-billion-at-17-premium.html

TeliaSonera AB , Sweden ’s biggest phone company, offered to spend as much as 9.9 billion kronor ($1.5 billion) to buy back shares at a 17 percent premium over yesterday’s closing price. Shareholders were offered the right to sell one share at 62 kronor for every 28 owned, Stockholm-based TeliaSonera said in a statement today. TeliaSonera rose as much as 1.9 percent and traded at 53.65 kronor at 2:05 p.m. in the Swedish capital. TeliaSonera, which also operates phone companies from Norway to Nepal , this month raised its dividend and forecast improved sales and profitability after fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates. The company’s balance sheet will still leave “good flexibility” to increase ownership in subsidiaries, Chief Executive Officer Lars Nyberg said Feb. 3 after announcing the buyback program approval and quarterly earnings. “When we have earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to debt of 1.2, 1.3 and we don’t want to buy something, then we have an obligation to return that money to the shareholders,” Nyberg said Feb. 3. The company, which boosted its stakes in its Nepalese, Uzbek and Estonian subsidiaries over the past few years, said last month that it’s interested in buying Polish mobile-phone operator Polkomtel SA. To contact the reporter on this story: Diana ben-Aaron in Helsinki at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root in Paris at [email protected]

Trichet Says Greece Must Apply Program, Expansion Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-20/trichet-says-greece-must-apply-program-expansion-reports.html

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Greece must “strictly apply” its program while other euro-area governments should implement agreements reached at a July 21 summit, according to an interview with Expansion. “All governments must apply in their entirety the decisions we adopted in Brussels on July 21,” he was quoted as saying by the Spanish newspaper. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emma Ross-Thomas at [email protected]

Forest Exploration May Invest $2 Billion in Gas Projects in South Africa

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-02/forest-exploration-may-invest-2-billion-in-gas-projects-in-south-africa.html

Forest Exploration International Ltd. said it could invest $2 billion developing the Ibhubesi gas field and related projects in South Africa over the next five years. The investment plan on the west coast includes a 750 megawatt gas-fired power plant that could start generating in late 2014, the company’s commercial director, John Langhus, said in a speech in Cape Town today. To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at [email protected]

China Average Pork Prices Fall 0.6% on Week, Ministry Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-27/china-average-pork-prices-fall-0-6-on-week-ministry-says.html

Average pork price in China fell 0.6 percent in the week ended September 25 from a week earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted on its website today. Vegetable wholesale prices increased 4.2 percent and egg retail prices gained 0.1 percent, the statement said. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bloomberg News at [email protected]

Cook Bets Apple Will Avoid Fate of Slower-Growth Peers

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-20/cook-bets-apple-will-avoid-fate-of-slower-growth-dividend-peers.html

(Corrects amount of Apple’s cash in second paragraph of story that ran March 20.) Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is betting that his company can keep cranking out best- selling gadgets even while paying a dividend, avoiding the fate of peers that return money to investors yet grow more slowly. Cook said yesterday that Apple will dip in to its $97.6 billion in cash and investments to pay investors $2.65 a quarter for each share owned. The Cupertino, California-based company also instituted a $10 billion share-buyback program. Dividends are often associated with companies that have matured past a rapid-growth phase and get more mileage from returning cash to shareholders than using it to generate innovative products, said Lee Pinkowitz, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University in Washington. Apple, with a steady flow of electronics that have transformed the way people compute and communicate, is an exception, he said. “There is this view that dividends are an admission of defeat,” said Pinkowitz. “Apple is unique. It has gotten to that point as a victim of its own success. They have so much cash and are making it faster than they could spend.” Apple boosted sales 68 percent in calendar 2011, compared with 2 percent at AT&T Inc. (T) , 8 percent at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and a decline at General Electric Co. (GE) All pay dividends. While Apple is more than 30 years old, it has undergone rapid growth in recent years after the introductions of the iPhone and iPad. Since the iPhone debuted in January 2007, the stock has risen more than sevenfold. The company’s cash pile grew by 62 percent last year alone. Growth, Plus Dividends Apple, the world’s most valuable company, is attempting to heed investors’ concerns that it was hoarding too much cash while avoiding the perception that it’s no longer a growth company, said Giri Cherukuri , a portfolio manager at Oakbrook Investments LLC, which holds Apple shares. “It’s big enough to satisfy investors and for Apple to continue to maintain that it’s a growth company,” said Cherukuri. Cook said Apple will continue to thrive by expanding abroad, adding new business users and adding new customers for its line of Mac computers. “We don’t see a ceiling” for the company’s growth prospects, Cook said on a conference call yesterday. Surging global demand for smartphones will result in continued growth for the iPhone, Apple’s top-selling product, while the iPad is the market-leader in tablet sales, he said. The Mac business is outperforming the broader market, and Apple is building an enterprise sales force to lure new business users, Cook said. ‘Extremely Confident’ “The growth speaks for itself,” Cook said on the call. “I am extremely confident in our future. The pipeline is full of stuff and I think our customers are going to be incredibly pleased with what they see coming out.” Analysts predict Apple’s shares will continue to rise. At least four analysts have increased their price targets for Apple to $700 or higher in recent weeks. Morgan Keegan yesterday raised its price target for Apple to $800. Apple climbed to a record $601.10 yesterday in New York , leaving the year-to-date gain at 48 percent. The buyback and dividend will cost Apple about $45 billion over three years. Even so, the company will be adding about $30 billion in cash per year to its balance sheet , according to Toni Sacconaghi , an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Apple may have more than $200 billion at its disposal by 2015, he said. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs , who died in October, had long resisted calls to return some of the money to shareholders , saying that the company was keeping its “powder dry” in case an opportunity emerged. Temptation to Waste Cook, after taking over as CEO, signaled more willingness to listen to shareholders and said earlier this year that Apple had more money that it needed to run the business. Apple’s dividend was “inevitable” and its size will likely grow as the company adds more cash to its balance sheet, said Harry DeAngelo, professor of finance at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He said linking a dividend with a company’s growth prospects is an “inappropriate way of framing” the issue. “The cash influxes are so huge that at some point you have to ask does it make sense to keep accumulating their cash internally,” DeAngelo said. “The answer is an unequivocally no. When too much cash builds up, there becomes a temptation to waste it.” To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at [email protected]

Haslingden Stepping Down as President of News Corp.’s Fox

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-15/haslingden-steps-down-as-president-of-news-corp-s-fox-1-.html

Fox Networks President and Chief Operating Officer David Haslingden will step down at the end of the year to return to his native Australia , the latest management change before parent News Corp. (NWSA) splits in two. Haslingden, 50, who has served as president of Fox Networks since January 2011, plans to spend more time with his family, News Corp. said today in a statement. “My family is by far my greatest love, and being away from them for almost two years is long enough,” Haslingden said in the statement. “I’m delighted to be on my way home.” News Corp. has made a number of executive changes since announcing in June plans to split into separate publishing and entertainment businesses. The company, led by Rupert Murdoch , named Peter Rice chairman and chief executive officer of its television business and moved David Hill from the head of Fox Sports to a senior role in the corporate office in July. Haslingden, who reported to Rice, helped expand News Corp.’s international TV business to more than 350 channels in over 55 countries, the company said. He oversaw business development, finance, legal, ad sales and corporate functions, according to the January 2011 announcement of his appointment. “Since joining News Corporation, David has been a driving force in the evolution of the pay-TV industry in every corner of the world,” Chase Carey , News Corp.’s president and chief operating officer, said in the statement. News Corp. rose 0.4 percent to $23.40 at the close in New York. The Class A shares have gained 31 percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Edmund Lee in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at [email protected]

Airlines Risk Deeper Seat Cuts Amid U.S. Wealth ‘Destruction’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-15/airlines-risk-deeper-seat-cuts-amid-u-s-wealth-destruction-.html

U.S. airlines may have to cut back on flying as the slowing economy erodes their ability to boost fares while they struggle with higher costs for jet fuel. That squeeze “calls for contraction,” said Hunter Keay , an analyst at New York-based Wolfe Trahan & Co. A benchmark of fuel-refining expenses rose to record highs last week, adding to pressure on carriers to match Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) in paring current capacity or future growth. Consumer confidence tumbled this month to the lowest since 1980, stoking concern that Americans will curb spending. That gauge of public sentiment on Aug. 12 followed record swings in U.S. stocks as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index whipsawed to gains or losses of at least 4.4 percent for four straight days. “I don’t think airlines should view that nervousness as short term,” Keay said in an interview. “If executives are going to go out and assume high fuel prices are here to stay, then they should assume that fear and destruction of consumer wealth are here indefinitely as well.” Airlines have raised fares across most of their domestic networks at least eight times in 2011, and had projected that a recovering economy would allow more increases. Those expectations are crumbling after three failures in the industry’s last four attempts to ratchet up prices. ‘Very Clear’ “It’s very clear the economy is not recovering,” Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said in an interview. “Business travel, for one, won’t grow until the economy really does grow at a healthy rate.” Business fliers are the most lucrative for the industry, because they typically buy the most-expensive, last-minute tickets. The peak period for leisure travel ends with the U.S. Labor Day holiday on Sept. 5. “At some point, as companies look at a weak economy and weak consumer spending , they may pull back” on travel, said Philip Baggaley, an S&P debt analyst in New York. “It will be more difficult for the airlines to continue to raise prices.” That shifts airlines’ focus to chopping expenses. They can save money with steps such as reducing flight frequencies, dropping some routes and substituting smaller planes for larger aircraft. All those moves reduce available seating capacity, measured by the number of seats flown a mile. Slowing Economy U.S. economic expansion for 2011’s second half may be slower than analysts anticipated after growth in gross domestic product through June trailed forecasts, suggesting that “we are in for a business travel slowdown this fall,” Deutsche Bank AG’s Michael Linenberg in New York said in a report today. Investors soured on airlines even before the rout that erased $6.8 trillion in value from global equity markets from July 26 through Aug. 11. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index entered a bear market last month by tumbling 20 percent from its 2011 high. Its 33 percent drop this year outstripped the S&P 500’s 4.2 percent decline. While crude oil settled today at $87.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , 23 percent off the 2011 high, not all airlines benefit. Jet fuel averaged $3.08 a gallon this year through last week, 45 percent more than a year earlier. Crack Spread The pinch on airlines is worse when measured by the so- called crack spread between crude and heating oil. Many carriers use heating-oil futures to hedge their purchases of jet fuel, which doesn’t trade on the Nymex. The spread reached $37.45 a barrel on Aug. 10, the highest in 25 years of data compiled by Bloomberg, and has more than doubled this year. Delta CEO Richard Anderson told employees last week they shouldn’t be “fooled” by crude’s retreat. “The economy has many challenges, and we have no reason to think low fuel prices will stick,” he said. Atlanta-based Delta will pare capacity later this year as much as 5 percent, up from a planned 4 percent. Buyouts and early retirements this year helped the world’s second-largest airline eliminate more than 2,000 jobs, a spokesman, Eric Torbenson, said last month. Southwest, the biggest low-fare airline, trimmed capacity growth for 2011 to a range of 4 percent to 5 percent from as much as 6 percent. Seating on Dallas-based Southwest will be unchanged in 2012, and “possibly slightly down,” Kelly said. United, American United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) , the largest airline company, has said its 2011 available seating would be unchanged. American Airlines , No. 3 in the U.S., has trimmed 2011 growth plans three times, to a goal of 1.9 percent. More adjustments in early 2012 are likely, according to the unit of Fort Worth , Texas-based AMR Corp. (AMR) “Betting on discretionary travel is not a good bet right now,” said Robert Mann , a former executive at American who runs consultant R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington , New York. “It will come down to how corporate travel continues and how corporate profits look in the third quarter and fourth quarter.” Airlines are positioned to respond after slashing their flying amid the double whammy of record fuel prices in 2008 and business travel’s collapse in the recession, said John Heimlich, chief economist of the Air Transport Association , the industry’s Washington-based trade group. “Ever since then, it’s been a pretty watchful eye on continual refinement of the capacity dial,” Heimlich said in an interview. Filling Seats Airlines filled seats at rates running at or near company records through July. And demand is holding up at Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA) ’s Hawaiian Airlines, according to CEO Mark Dunkerley. “There’s clearly a view out there that the market contagion is going to spread into what people buy and how they go about their everyday lives,” Dunkerley said in an interview. “We’re certainly not seeing it.” Bond investors aren’t that optimistic. Delta’s 9.5 percent bonds due in September 2014 plummeted to the lowest since July 2010, Bloomberg data show. AMR’s 6.25 percent convertible bonds maturing in October 2014 slid to the lowest on record, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Keay, the Wolfe Trahan analyst, said an industry retrenchment would be inevitable. “Any capacity plan for 2012 is how much should be cut, not should it be cut,” he said. “All roads to success ultimately lead to capacity discipline.” To contact the reporters on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at [email protected] ; Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at [email protected]

RMI Holdings Declines on Bank of America Cut: Johannesburg Mover

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-14/rmi-holdings-declines-on-bank-of-america-cut-johannesburg-mover.html

RMI Holdings Ltd. (RMI) , a South African investor in insurance companies, fell after Bank of America cut its recommendation to underperform from neutral. The stock declined as much as 4.3 percent, the most in a month on an intra-day basis, to 21.85 rand and traded at 22.05 rand at 12:25 p.m. in Johannesburg. About 1.1 million shares, or 61 percent of the daily average over the last three months, changed hands. “The stock has been doing very good this year,” Ryan Wibberley, a trader at Investec Asset Management, said by phone from Cape Town. “The cut has given investors cause to lock in some profits.” RMI, which has stakes in short-term insurer OUTsurance Holdings Ltd. and medical insurer, Discovery Holdings Ltd. (DSY) , gained 69 percent since the start of the year, making it the third-best performer in the 50-member FTSE/JSE Africa Financials Index. To contact the reporter on this story: Jaco Visser in Johannesburg at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at [email protected]

House Prices Rise in 89% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Gains

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-09/house-prices-rise-in-89-of-u-s-cities-as-recovery-gains.html

Prices for single-family homes increased in 89 percent of U.S. cities in the first quarter as the housing market extends a recovery from a five-year slump. The median sales price rose from a year earlier in 133 of 150 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. A year earlier, 74 areas had gains. Buyers returning to the housing market are bidding up prices for a tight supply of listings. The national median price for an existing single-family home was $176,600 in the first quarter, up 11.3 percent from the same period last year. That was the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the Realtors group. “Some of the previously hard-hit markets like Phoenix, Sacramento and Miami continue to experience a dramatic turnaround, while a new set of areas like Atlanta, Minneapolis and Seattle have begun to show strong signs of upward momentum,” Lawrence Yun , chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in the report. At the end of the first quarter, 1.93 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 16.8 percent fewer than a year earlier, according to the Realtors group. The best-performing metro areas were Akron, Ohio, and San Francisco , where prices jumped 33 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 32 percent in Reno, Nevada , and Silicon Valley, California ; 31 percent in Atlanta and 30 percent in Phoenix. Biggest Declines The Kankakee, Illinois, area had the biggest decline, falling 19 percent from a year earlier. Following were Edison, New Jersey , with a 8.6 percent drop, and Allentown, Pennsylvania , with a 8.3 percent decrease. The housing recovery is strengthening as the job market improves and the Federal Reserve pushes down borrowing costs for mortgages to near record lows. The unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5 percent in April, according to Labor Department data, and the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest level in more than five years. Prices in some of the areas hardest hit by the housing crash are also rising as institutional investors, led by Blackstone Group LP, have stepped up purchases of properties to build rental businesses. Some of the firms have been accessing Wall Street for funding and selling shares to the public. American Residential Properties Inc. (ARPI) raised $287.7 million yesterday in an initial public offering, after Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. (SBY) in December became the first publicly traded single-family rental company. American Residential fell 1 percent to $20.80 at 12:23 p.m. in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Prashant Gopal in Boston at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at [email protected]

Bank of China, ICBC, CSR, PetroChina: Hong Kong Stocks Preview

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/bank-of-china-icbc-csr-petrochina-hong-kong-stocks-preview.html

The following companies may have significant price changes in Hong Kong trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses. Share prices are as of the last close. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) gained 1.2 percent to 21,850.59. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks so-called H shares of Chinese companies, advanced 1.2 percent to 12,148.74. Banks: The China Banking Regulatory Commission denied media reports that it halted approvals for new branch openings by banks, according to a text message sent to reporters. The watchdog said it will continue to accept applications for new branch openings from Chinese commercial banks. There are no changes to policy, the CBRC said. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (601988) (1398 HK), the nation’s biggest lender by market value, added 1.2 percent to HK$5.84. Bank of China Ltd. (3988 HK) fell 0.8 percent to HK$3.77. China Citic Bank Corp. (998 HK): The Chinese lender has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its A-share and H-share rights offers, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The shares climbed 0.4 percent to HK$4.97. CSR Corp. (1766 HK): The maker of rail cars said it will temporarily withhold 20 percent of final dividends to be paid to individual shareholders of its Hong Kong-traded shares for possible tax payments under Chinese regulations, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The stock fell 2.8 percent to HK$7.35. PetroChina Co. (857 HK): A unit of the oil producer and Encana Corp. have called off a joint venture after failing to complete a C$5.4 billion ($5.5 billion) agreement for a 50 percent stake in a Canadian natural-gas asset during almost a year of talks. The stock rose 1.8 percent to HK$11.08. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at [email protected] .