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Kiwi Advances Versus Aussie on Prospects of RBA Rate Cut | By Masaki Kondo | 2012-04-26T06:41:43Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/aussie-dollar-remains-higher-n-z-swaps-drop-after-rbnz-meeting.html | 4 | 25 | 66b1c3f3f839434095db441502256578 | New Zealand ’s dollar strengthened
against its Australian counterpart on prospects the bigger
nation’s central bank will cut interest rates next month. The so-called kiwi climbed against all of its 16 major
peers after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left the benchmark
rate unchanged, citing benign inflation. The Australian
currency, nicknamed the Aussie, advanced against the U.S. dollar
after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the Fed
stands ready to introduce more stimulus measures if necessary. “Compared to the Aussie, we’re seeing a bit of
resilience” in the kiwi, said Lee Sue Ann, a Treasury economist
at United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) in Singapore. Unlike the Reserve
Bank of Australia , which is “looking at rate cuts, in New
Zealand, we’re looking for a rate hold.” The New Zealand currency gained 0.3 percent to NZ$1.2690
per Australian dollar as of 4:24 p.m. in Sydney after having
lost 0.4 percent in the past three days. It climbed 0.6 percent
to 81.86 U.S. cents. The Aussie added 0.3 percent to $1.0386.
Two-year swap rates in the smaller nation slid as much as 9.7
basis points to 2.7584 percent, the lowest since Feb. 2. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares advanced 0.5 percent,
boosting the relative allure of higher-yielding currencies. The RBNZ left its official cash rate at 2.5 percent at a
policy meeting today. “The New Zealand dollar has stayed elevated despite recent
falls in commodity prices,” Governor Alan Bollard said in a
statement. “Should the exchange rate remain strong without
anything else changing, the bank would need to reassess the
outlook for monetary policy settings.” RBA Outlook New Zealand’s dollar has gained 3 percent this year, the
best performance among the 10 developed-nation currencies
tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The Aussie
has lost 0.9 percent. “Today’s comments suggest that the RBNZ may now be
comfortable with a strong New Zealand dollar, should N.Z.
commodity prices recover and domestic growth pick up,” Hamish Pepper and Olivier Desbarres, currency strategists in Singapore
at Barclays Plc, wrote in a research note. Traders are betting the Reserve Bank of Australia will
definitely cut its benchmark rate from 4.25 percent at its next
meeting on May 1, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG gauge
based on swaps. An index of Australian leading economic indicators was
unchanged in February after gaining 1 percent the prior month,
the New York-based Conference Board said today. Fed Policy Fed policy makers upgraded their U.S. growth projection
this year while repeating their view that borrowing costs are
likely to remain “exceptionally low” at least through late
2014. They now forecast the economy will grow as much as 2.9
percent, compared with a January estimate of 2.7 percent. “We remain prepared to do more as needed to make sure that
this recovery continues and that inflation stays close to
target,” Bernanke said at a press conference following a two-
day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee . The central bank bought $2.3 trillion of bonds in two
rounds of so-called quantitative easing between December 2008
and June 2011. It has kept its benchmark interest rate at zero
to 0.25 percent since December 2008. A third round of quantitative easing is “on the table,”
said Imre Speizer , a strategist in Auckland at Westpac Banking
Corp. (WBC) , Australia’s second-largest lender. “That’s a positive”
for the Aussie and kiwi, he said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Masaki Kondo in Singapore at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rocky Swift at
[email protected] | 2012 | aussie-dollar-remains-higher-n-z-swaps-drop-after-rbnz-meeting |
Dollar AGains Versus Yen as Fed Refrains From Stimulus | By Catarina Saraiva | 2012-04-25T18:10:59Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/dollar-gains-versus-yen-as-fed-refrains-from-stimulus.html | 4 | 25 | 23f81072b4454deeb683e4c7ce3a17a0 | The dollar rose against the yen
after the Federal Reserve refrained from new actions to
stimulate the economy. The greenback fluctuated versus Europe ’s shared currency
after the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement it
expects economic growth to gradually accelerate. The Fed kept
intact its program to exchange $400 billion in shorter-term
holdings for longer-term debt, dubbed Operation Twist and
scheduled to expire in June. The dollar fell earlier as U.S.
durable-goods orders dropped by the most in three years. “There was a little bit of a bias hoping for something
that sounded clearly dovish, and I don’t think we got anything
that was clearly dovish,” said Jens Nordvig , a managing
director of currency research in New York at Nomura Holdings
Inc. “The moves we’re seeing in the FX market are that tail
possibility coming out.” The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 81.58 yen at 2:09 p.m. in
New York after falling earlier as much as 0.3 percent. It gained
0.2 percent to $1.3176 per euro after losing 0.3 percent
earlier. The 17-nation currency appreciated 0.2 percent to
107.54 yen. The South African rand and Canadian dollar were the biggest
winners against the greenback. The rand gained 0.3 percent to
7.7759, and Canada ’s currency rose 0.3 percent to 98.44 cents to
the U.S. dollar . Policy makers upgraded their forecasts for growth and
unemployment this year. They now see the jobless rate at between
7.8 percent and 8 percent, compared with January estimates of
8.2 percent to 8.5 percent. The economy is forecast to grow 2.4
percent to 2.9 percent, versus 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is scheduled to hold a press
conference at 2:15 p.m.. ‘Pick Up Gradually’ “The committee expects economic growth to remain moderate
over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually,” the
policy-setting FOMC said in a statement at the conclusion of a
two-day meeting today in Washington . Policy makers led by Bernanke are holding off on additional
steps to boost the economy amid signs the more than two-year
expansion is gaining strength. Still, the jobless rate isn’t
declining fast enough to satisfy central bankers, who repeated
their view today that borrowing costs are likely to remain
“exceptionally low” at least through late 2014. “It seems pretty neutral,” Mary Nicola , a currency
strategist at BNP Paribas SA in New York, said of the Fed policy
statement. “They did comment that they expect economic growth
to remain moderate and then pick up gradually. There have been
some changes, but overall it seems a bit balanced.” Quantitative Easing The central bank bought $2.3 trillion of assets in two
rounds of stimulus known as quantitative easing between December
2008 and June 2011. The Dollar Index (DXY) , which Intercontinental
Exchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies
of six major U.S. trading partners, lost 14 percent during that
period. The Fed has also kept its benchmark interest rate at zero
to 0.25 percent since December 2008. The Dollar Index rose 0.4 percent on March 13 after policy
makers at their last meeting raised their assessment of the U.S.
economy , saying labor conditions “have improved further.” The currency gauge dropped as Bernanke said April 9 the
economy is still “far from having fully recovered” from the
financial crisis. He spoke at a conference in Stone Mountain,
Georgia , three days after the Labor Department reported that
U.S. payrolls growth slowed in March to 120,000 jobs, the lowest
level in five months. The Dollar Index rose 0.1 percent today to 79.291 after
falling to 79.038 earlier, the lowest level since April 3. Stronger Economy Other data have showed a stronger economy. Retail sales
rose 0.8 percent in March, more than forecast, and the Standard
& Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of property values fell 3.5 percent
in the year ended February, the least since February 2011. The pound fell today from a seven-month high versus the
dollar after a government report showed the U.K. slipped back
into recession, backing the case for the Bank of England to
extend its asset-purchase program. The British currency was little changed at $1.6143 after
rising to $1.6171, the highest level since Sept. 6. It traded at
81.79 pence per euro after appreciating 81.44 pence yesterday,
the strongest since August 2010. The greenback dropped earlier versus most major peers as
Commerce Department data showed U.S. durable goods orders slid
4.2 percent in March, the biggest decrease since January 2009,
after a revised 1.9 percent gain the prior month. Economists
forecast a 1.7 percent decrease, according to the median
estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. A report due April 27 will show U.S. economic growth slowed
to a 2.5 percent annual rate last quarter, from 3 percent in the
previous three months, a separate Bloomberg survey showed. To contact the reporter on this story:
Catarina Saraiva in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dave Liedtka at
[email protected] | 2012 | dollar-gains-versus-yen-as-fed-refrains-from-stimulus |
Honeywell Breakthrough Seen Transforming Plastics Industry: Tech | By Thomas Black | 2012-04-25T04:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/honeywell-breakthrough-seen-transforming-plastics-industry-tech.html
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) has
discovered a one-step process to convert household natural gas
into a plastics raw material. The implications are far-reaching. The technology in time could ease a glut of natural gas
from U.S. shale drilling; lower the cost of products ranging
from soda bottles to paint; and give Honeywell a steady profit
stream from licensing the technique in the $150 billion plastics
raw-material industry. The process would allow companies to make ethylene | 4 | 25 | 5a3f29865268402cb3ddb31e6283d49d | produced from ethane, which is found alongside natural gas and
costs three times as much. Ethylene can also come from naphthas
in oil refining, which are more expensive than ethane. Commercially viable gas-to-ethylene conversion is the
industry’s “holy grail,” making methane more versatile at a
time when natural gas is abundant and cheap because of shale
drilling, said Gotz Veser , a chemical engineering professor at
the University of Pittsburgh . Burned mostly as a fuel, natural
gas closed yesterday at $1.98 per million British thermal units,
compared with $13.58 at a July 2008 pre-recession peak. “The industry has been looking for efficient ways to turn
methane into higher hydrocarbons directly for decades,” said
Veser, who has written more than three dozen papers on the
subject. “Nobody has been able to come up with an economical
process.” Seeking Partners Honeywell’s approach, proved in the laboratory by the
company’s UOP petrochemical unit, won’t be marketable for
several years. Morris Township , New Jersey-based Honeywell is
designing and seeking partners for a pilot plant. “This will basically for the first time take natural gas
and directly convert it to a chemical, not through a multistage
process,” UOP Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Gautam said. “At
this point we have enough proof of principle, enough testing
done that you can probably detect the excitement in my voice.” Direct conversion has so far met with limited success
because methane molecules are extremely stable. Once a reaction
starts, it’s difficult to stop at the desired chemical, such as
ethylene, before the methane breaks down further into low-value
carbon and hydrogen gas, Veser said. Methane can now be
converted to synthesis gas and then to methanol, which can be
turned into ethylene. Those steps require more investment. “We have completed proof-of-concept experimental work and
have seen good yields and performance,” Gautam said. “The next
step is to start working on development and scale-up of the
technology.” Reducing Production Costs He said UOP’s process using natural gas would save about 40
percent from the cost of ethane-based ethylene production at
current prices. Ethane for May delivery traded yesterday at the
equivalent of $7.16 per million Btu, according to Jason Miner, a
senior chemicals analyst with Bloomberg Industries. Sales at UOP, part of the specialty materials division,
rose 24 percent to $1.93 billion in 2011, or 5.3 percent of
Honeywell’s $36.5 billion total. The parent company’s shares
climbed 10 percent this year through yesterday, topping the 8.8
percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Industrials Index. Plastics were first primarily made from the byproducts of
oil refining and later in the U.S. from lighter feedstocks such
as ethane. Producers recently have been switching more to use
ethane as an ethylene feedstock as prices drop relative to crude
with the boom of U.S. natural gas production. Dow’s Investment Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) said April 19 it will build a $1.7 billion
plant in Freeport, Texas , to produce ethylene from ethane and
other natural-gas liquids, with operations starting in 2017.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) , Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., Sasol Ltd. (SOL)
and Formosa Plastics Corp. (1301) are drawing up plans to build new
U.S. ethylene plants during the next four years. Dow and “a lot of the industry” have worked on a direct
route for converting methane, said Carol A. Williams, executive
vice president of manufacturing and engineering at the largest
U.S. chemical maker. “If they are announcing that, then I think that is a
significant step forward for our industry,” said Williams, who
hasn’t seen Honeywell’s technology. “Lots of people have worked
on it and they have worked on it many different ways.” Even if proved economically and scientifically viable,
Honeywell’s process may take years to be adopted by an industry
that changes slowly because of large investment in petrochemical
complexes, said Nils-bertil Wallin, a Credit Agricole Securities
analyst in New York . Some technologies need improvement after
their discovery before gaining acceptance, he said. Disruptive Technology Hydraulic fracturing, or high-pressure injection of water,
sand and chemicals into share rock formation to extract gas, has
been around for decades, Wallin said. Only recently has
fracking, as the process is known, set off a boom of natural gas
production as methods became more efficient. Honeywell’s direct methane conversion “could potentially
be a disruptive technology,” Wallin said. “It would change the
whole supply-demand dynamic.” The benefits would include saving costs across the industry
and giving gas producers another market for methane, he said. UOP, which was a joint venture with Dow’s Union Carbide
unit before Honeywell bought the half it didn’t own for about
$825 million in 2005, was formed in 1914 based on an oil
refining technology invented by Jesse Dubbs, whose enthusiasm
for the industry led him to name his son Carbon Petroleum. The
company since has created advances in unleaded gasoline and
catalytic converters. More recently, it devised a process to
make plastics raw materials from coal and sold its first license
to a company in China , where coal is plentiful. Synfuels Process Low natural-gas prices drove Dallas-based Synfuels
International Inc. to work since 1998 on a cost-effective
process to transform the fuel into ethylene and gasoline blends.
The company is ready to go to market after operating a
demonstration facility, and an undisclosed global company is
seeking to build a plant based on the technology, Chief Engineer
Ed Peterson said. In Synfuels’s process, methane is transformed to acetylene
and then to ethylene. The technology matches the cost of ethane-
to-ethylene conversion, he said. “We’re always going to have lots of natural gas; now we
have to find an economical way to make the products that we want
out of it,” said Peterson, a chemical engineer who has worked
at Dow and a Royal Dutch Shell unit. “We have one of those
economical methods.” Honeywell’s Gautam said methane-to-ethylene technology will
prove cost effective even if natural gas prices rise much higher
than today’s lows. “We have found a route that just seems to work well,”
Gautam said. “It will truly be a game-changing technology.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Thomas Black in Dallas at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Ed Dufner at
[email protected] | 2012 | oneywell-breakthrough-seen-transforming-plastics-industry-tec |
Hrvatski Telekom Says Replaces Government Appointee to Board | By Jasmina Kuzmanovic | 2012-04-25T13:50:11Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/hrvatski-telekom-says-replaces-government-appointee-to-board.html | 4 | 25 | baa6d6f218e70d606e974d0d18dbb638239370b7 | T-Hrvatski Telekom d.d. , Croatia’s
main phone company, replaced a government representative on its
supervisory board with a manager from Croatian pension fund
Raiffeisen Invest Ltd. The company’s General Assembly today appointed Damir
Grbavac from Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) group to the
supervisory board, the company said today in an e-mailed
statement. Grbavac will replace Slavko Leban, a government
appointee, according to the statement. The government holds no shares in the company. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jasmina Kuzmanovic in Zagreb at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James M. Gomez at
[email protected] | 2012 | rvatski-telekom-says-replaces-government-appointee-to-board |
Angang Steel Swings to Loss on Prices, Higher Iron Ore Costs | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T10:09:47Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/angang-steel-swings-to-loss-on-prices-higher-iron-ore-costs.html | 4 | 25 | 5837c415386f8e71401fea4050c342d230cd413d | Angang Steel Co. (347) , the biggest Hong
Kong-traded steelmaker, swung to a first-quarter loss as iron
ore costs gained and slowing economic growth in China dragged
down prices. Net loss was 1.89 billion ($300 million) for the three
months ended March 31, compared with a profit of 71 million yuan
a year earlier, the Anshan, Liaoning province-based company said
today in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange, citing
Chinese accounting standards. The loss matched its initial
estimate announced on April 13. Steelmakers in China, the world’s biggest producer, had
combined losses of more than 1 billion yuan in the first
quarter, the China Iron and Steel Association said. Weakening
exports and government curbs on property slowed steel demand. The shares fell 1.7 percent to close at HK$5.32 today in
Hong Kong , compared with a 0.2 percent drop in the benchmark
Hang Seng Index . The stock has fallen 4.8 percent this year. The average Chinese price for hot-rolled coil, a benchmark
product, fell for eight straight days to 4,346 yuan a ton today
from 4,395 yuan on April 13, according to researcher Beijing
Antaike Information Development Co. Angang paid its parent Anshan Iron & Steel Group 7 percent
more for iron ore during the quarter, compared with a year
earlier, while average steel prices dropped 10 percent, UOB-Kay
Hian Ltd. analyst Helen Lau said on April 13. Angang said on April 17 it will buy iron ore from Anshan
Iron at a 5 percent discount to the average spot price two
months ago. The previous rate was based on average prices of the
prior six months. Iron ore prices remain “distorted” and have room to fall
10 percent to 20 percent, Chen Ming, Angang Steel ’s vice
chairman, said in Hong Kong on March 29. Spot prices of 62 percent-iron ore arriving at China’s
Tianjin port have gained 6.1 percent this year, according to the
Steel Index. It fell 1 percent yesterday to $146.7 a ton. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Helen Yuan in Shanghai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rebecca Keenan at
[email protected] | 2012 | angang-steel-swings-to-loss-on-prices-higher-iron-ore-costs |
Oil Trades Near One-Week High; Goldman Sees Demand Gain | By Grant Smith | 2012-04-25T12:40:19Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/oil-trades-near-one-week-high-goldman-sees-demand-gain.html | 4 | 25 | cc72a497161b412a8e2a8882df228578 | Oil rose to its highest level in a
week in New York after the American Petroleum Institute said
crude inventories fell in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer
of the commodity. U.S. stockpiles decreased by 985,000 barrels last week, the
industry-funded API said. An Energy Department report today is
forecast to show a gain of 2.8 million barrels. Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. said crude prices will rise as demand growth outpaces
production capacity and that increased output by Saudi Arabia ,
the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, has left the group’s spare capacity at less than 1
million barrels a day. “There might be some speculative buying ahead of the
Energy Department numbers,” said Eugen Weinberg , head of
commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt , who last
month correctly predicted prices had peaked in the short term.
“U.S. demand remains weak before the driving season, and
inventories high, so in the absence of the geopolitical issues,
markets would justify lower prices.” Crude for June delivery advanced as much as 94 cents, or
0.9 percent, to $104.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the
New York Mercantile Exchange . That’s the highest since April 18.
The contract was at $104.31 at 1:32 p.m. London time. Prices are
up 5.4 percent this year. Brent oil for June settlement gained as much as $1.09 to
$119.25 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe
exchange. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of
$14.70 to U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude, little changed
from yesterday. Downward Trend Oil’s advance in New York may stall as futures remain in a
technical downward trend, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. On the daily chart, the top of a downward-sloping
channel extending back about two months is $104.38 a barrel
today and represents technical resistance, where sell orders
tend to be clustered. Gasoline stockpiles decreased 3.64 million barrels and
distillate-fuel inventories dropped 3.56 million barrels, the
API’s weekly report showed. Today’s Energy Department data may
show a 1.5 million-barrel decline in gasoline supplies,
according to the median of 11 estimates in a Bloomberg News
survey of analysts. Distillates are predicted to gain 500,000
barrels. The government requires that reports be filed with the
Energy Department for its weekly survey. The API collects
information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries,
bulk terminals and pipelines. Goldman View Oil prices will rise as demand is expanding faster than
production capacity even as the global economy slows, Goldman
Sachs (GS) said in a report e-mailed today. “It is only a matter of time before inventories and OPEC
spare capacity become effectively exhausted, requiring higher
oil prices to restrain demand,” said Jeffrey Currie , head of
commodities research at Goldman Sachs in London. The bank reiterated a recommendation to buy September
futures for West Texas Intermediate oil. The International Energy Agency said on April 12 in its
most recent monthly Oil Market Report that OPEC’s “effective”
spare capacity declined to an estimated 2.54 million barrels a
day in March from 2.75 million the previous month. That figure
excludes Iraq, Nigeria, Libya and Iran , said the IEA, an adviser
to the world’s biggest industrialized nations. Gasoline Prices U.S. gasoline prices at the pump fell below year-earlier
levels for the first time since at least October 2009, according
to data from AAA, the largest U.S. motoring club. The national
average price for regular gasoline slid 0.9 cent on April 23 to
$3.849 a gallon, according to Heathrow, Florida-based AAA.
That’s down from $3.86 a year earlier and the lowest level since
March 19. Demand for the motor fuel was little changed last week and
lower than consumption a year earlier, according to MasterCard
Inc. Drivers bought 60.81 million barrels of gasoline in the
week ended April 20, versus 60.8 million the week before,
MasterCard’s SpendingPulse report showed. That was 6.1 percent
below the year-earlier level, the 34th straight decline in that
measure. Arabian Gulf Oil Co., Libya ’s largest crude producer,
warned that it may have to cease production because of protests,
according to the state-run Libya News Agency. Arabian Gulf, or
Agoco, will have to shut its oil fields if protesters blocking
the entrance to its offices in Benghazi do not disperse, Jalil
Mayouf, a company spokesman, was quoted by Libya News as saying.
He didn’t explain why fields hundreds of miles away from the
office would be shut. The demonstrators are demanding jobs for unemployed young
people and greater transparency on government spending . Agoco
said last month that it expected to reach full capacity of
425,000 barrels a day by the end of April, or about 25 percent
of Libya’s pre-war output of 1.6 million barrels a day. To contact the reporters on this story:
Grant Smith in London at
[email protected] ;
Jacob Adelman in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at
[email protected] | 2012 | oil-trades-near-one-week-high-goldman-sees-demand-gain |
RTS Ruble Version Being Weighed, Bourse Chief Aganbegyan Says | By Jason Webb | 2012-04-25T07:05:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rts-ruble-version-being-weighed-bourse-chief-aganbegyan-says.html | 4 | 25 | f3bd634d96bc08f0c3b6303a5fdb3ac911350414 | A ruble version of the dollar-
denominated Russian Trading System Index (RTSI$) may be created,
according to Micex-RTS President Ruben Aganbegyan. The exchange, which was formed out of the merger of the
ruble-denominated Micex and the RTS in December, is considering
whether investors in the index want the option of hedging
currency exposure in rubles, Aganbegyan said at a press
breakfast in London yesterday. “What we hear from a lot of international participants is
that basically they wouldn’t mind if the market is traded in
local currency,” Aganbegyan said. “That means that the index
should also be in local currency and investors should choose
their own options in FX.” The exchange will make a decision soon, he said. Micex-RTS will introduce other measures designed to boost
trading volume this year, including extending the period for
settling trades to three days and the creation of a central
securities depositary, Aganbegyan said. Rules governing Russian pension funds may also be changed
this year to allow them to invest more of their funds in stocks,
he said. The 30-day average value traded on the Micex-RTS was $792
million compared with $1.2 billion in trades in shares of 10 of
Russia ’s biggest companies in London, data compiled by Bloomberg
show. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jason Webb in London at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
[email protected] | 2012 | rts-ruble-version-being-weighed-bourse-chief-aganbegyan-says |
Thailand Stocks: Dynasty Ceramic, GMM Grammy, Thai Vegetable | By Anuchit Nguyen | 2012-04-25T09:47:53Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/thailand-stocks-bank-of-ayudhya-dynasty-ceramic-gmm-grammy.html | 4 | 25 | f3cf7f00c126ad947c007b76e52f7754774b9f62 | Shares of the following companies
had unusual moves in Thailand trading . Stock symbols are in
parentheses and prices are as of the close in Bangkok. The SET Index (SET) rose 0.1 percent to 1,201.36, the highest
close since April 3. Dynasty Ceramic Pcl (DCC) , a producer of ceramic tiles,
dropped 4.2 percent to 62.75 baht, the largest decline since
March 5. Profit in the first quarter rose 2.4 percent to 372.6
million baht ($12 million). That compared with an average
estimate of 419 million baht in a Bloomberg survey. GMM Grammy Pcl (GRAMMY) , the nation’s largest music
company, surged 15 percent to 22.90 baht, the highest close
since July 2003. The company expects to earn more than 500
million baht ($16.2 million) in advertising revenue from the
broadcast of the European Championships soccer tournament,
Chairman Paiboon Damrongchaitham said in an e-mailed statement.
The Bangkok-based company has sold 80 percent of the advertising
slots and expects to sell the remainder before the tournament
starts, according to the statement. Thai Vegetable Oil Pcl (TVO) , the country’s largest
soybean supplier, jumped 5.2 percent to 22.30 baht, the highest
close since Sept. 20. July-delivery soybeans gained as much as
1.8 percent to $14.9175 a bushel in Chicago . To contact the reporter on this story:
Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | ailand-stocks-bank-of-ayudhya-dynasty-ceramic-gmm-grammy |
BBVA Profit Beats Estimates as South America Counters Spain | By Charles Penty | 2012-04-25T16:07:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bbva-first-quarter-profit-drops-after-slump-in-spanish-earnings.html | 4 | 25 | 61386aad07712c813ef91e51064f40b4b21d444d | Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) ,
Spain’s second-biggest bank, posted higher-than-estimated first-
quarter profit as earnings from emerging markets helped offset a
slump in its home country. Net income fell to 1 billion euros ($1.32 billion) from
1.15 billion euros a year ago, the Bilbao, Spain-based bank said
today in a filing to regulators. That beat the 936.7 million-
euro average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 15 analysts. BBVA, which has about 60 percent of its lending in Spain ,
is among banks being forced by the government to book more
losses for real estate as the recession threatens to drive up
bad loans. Earnings from South America and Asia helped counter a
52 percent drop in profit from Spain, where costs for
provisioning impaired assets rose. “Under the circumstances, these are pretty resilient
results at the operating level,” said Daragh Quinn, an analyst
at Nomura International in Madrid . “The pressures on the
Spanish business are still very much there, but there’s no sign
that things are getting worse at a faster pace.” BBVA shares rose 2.2 percent to 5.26 euros in Madrid,
paring this year’s decline to 20 percent and valuing the lender
at 27.2 billion euros. Larger rival Banco Santander SA (SAN) , which
has dropped 13 percent, will report earnings tomorrow. BBVA said it met the 9 percent capital requirement set by
the European Banking Authority ahead of a June deadline. BBVA’s
core capital ratio, a measure of financial strength, climbed to
10.7 percent from 10.3 percent in December. Bad Loans Net interest income rose 13 percent to 3.6 billion euros as
gross lending increased 3.4 percent and deposits fell 1.8
percent, the bank said. Trading income dropped to 367 million
euros from 752 million euros a year earlier. Bad loans were 4 percent of total lending, a ratio that was
unchanged from December, said BBVA. Gross loans newly classified
as in default reached 3.1 billion euros compared with 3.6
billion euros in the fourth quarter and 2.8 billion euros a year
earlier. Costs for covering asset impairments rose to 1.09 billion
euros from 1.02 billion euros a year ago. The lender estimates
it will cost 1.5 billion euros to comply with the government’s
order and said it made gross provisions of 174 million euros
toward that goal in the first quarter. Trends for bad loans remain broadly stable except in loans
to companies where the default ratio rose about 60 basis points
in the quarter to 9.8 percent, Chief Operating Officer Angel
Cano said on a webcast. Earnings from Spain fell by more than half to 229 million
euros from a year ago, BBVA said. Net lending in Spain dropped
1.8 percent and deposits declined 8.4 percent. Mexican Boost The bad loans ratio for the division rose to 4.9 percent
from 4.8 percent in December, according to the lender.
Provisioning costs jumped to 613 million euros from 422 million
euros a year ago. Profit from Mexico , the biggest contributor to BBVA’s
earnings, rose 0.5 percent to 430 million euros, the bank said.
Earnings from Eurasia, a division that pools BBVA’s business in
Turkey and China and its operations in Europe outside Spain,
climbed 52 percent to 299 million euros. Profit from South
America increased 33 percent to 370 million euros. To contact the reporter on this story:
Charles Penty in Madrid at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at [email protected] | 2012 | bbva-first-quarter-profit-drops-after-slump-in-spanish-earnings |
Nasdaq-100 Has Biggest Advance in 2012 as Apple Jumps | By Rita Nazareth | 2012-04-25T20:39:16Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-stock-futures-advance-apple-rallies-after-earnings.html | 4 | 25 | a62a391005254b3db364f75601f060c5 | U.S. stocks advanced, giving the
Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) its biggest gain this year, as Apple Inc.’s
earnings almost doubled and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s prepared to do more to stimulate growth. Apple, the most valuable company, surged 8.9 percent for
the biggest gain since November 2008. Boeing Co. (BA) added 5.3
percent as earnings beat estimates after the company delivered
more commercial jets while pushing production to record levels.
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) , the world’s largest maker of construction
equipment, slumped 4.6 percent as revenue missed projections. The Nasdaq-100 Index jumped 2.7 percent to 2,709.62 at 4
p.m. New York time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.4
percent to 1,390.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89.16
points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,090.72. Apple (AAPL) is not a member of
the 30-stock gauge. About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on
U.S. exchanges, almost in line with the three-month average. “It’s encouraging,” James Swanson, who oversees about
$250 billion as chief investment strategist at Boston-based MFS
Investment Management, said in a telephone interview. “The
earnings season shows that companies can have good profitability
in a low growth environment. As long as these earnings hold up,
I’d say that’s a bright sign for the market.” The S&P 500 has risen 11 percent in 2012 on better-than-
estimated economic and corporate data. U.S. companies are
beating earnings estimates at the highest rate in two years as
economic growth at home helps counter a drag from Europe .
Profits have topped forecasts at 80 percent of S&P 500 (SPX) companies
reporting since April 10. Earnings Growth Earnings rose 11 percent on average, exceeding the 0.6
percent increase analysts projected when reporting began,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. All 10 industry groups
in the S&P 500 delivered better-than-forecast results, with
financial, telephone and technology companies leading with a
positive rate of more than 10 percent, the data showed. Stocks also rallied as policy makers said they expect
growth to gradually accelerate, while refraining from new
actions to lower borrowing costs. Central bankers today upgraded
their forecasts for economic growth and unemployment while
repeating their view that borrowing costs are likely to remain
“exceptionally low” at least through late 2014. “The Fed is providing an insurance policy to the
economy,” said Ann Miletti, senior portfolio manager for Wells
Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Her firm
manages $213 billion. “There’s a sense that things are
improving, yet there’s some instability. The Fed is saying that
it will be there to help keep things going. Earnings have been
strong. The market likes it.” Technology Gains All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rallied today as gains were
led by technology, which comprises 20 percent of the index. The
group jumped 3.2 percent, the biggest advance since November.
The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to the
economy increased 1.6 percent. The Russell 2000 Index of small
companies rallied 1.8 percent to 812.12. Apple surged 8.9 percent to $610. Demand from Chinese
consumers helped Apple sell a higher-than-predicted 35.1 million
iPhones last quarter and made the world’s most populous country
responsible for 20 percent of sales. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said there will be “a lot more opportunity” in China as
he introduces the iPad and expands operations there. Before today, the company’s shares had tumbled $75.95 since
a record close of $636.23 on April 9 amid reports that indicated
a possible shortage in key components for Apple’s mobile devices
and showed a quarter-over-quarter decline in iPhone sales at
wireless carriers. Erasing Doubts “This report should erase any doubt in investors’ minds
that this company can’t continue to deliver,” said Jack Ablin ,
chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank in Chicago,
which oversees about $60 billion, including Apple shares. Boeing gained 5.3 percent to $77.08. It shipped 137
jetliners last quarter, compared with 131 deliveries by rival
Airbus SAS. Boeing is boosting output by more than 60 percent in
the four years through 2014 to pare a record order backlog from
customers seeking more fuel-efficient jets. Aflac Inc. (AFL) jumped 7.8 percent to $45.26. The world’s
biggest seller of supplemental health insurance said first-
quarter profit doubled as investment results improved . Coca-Cola Co. (KO) rose 1.1 percent to $74.93 after voting to
recommend a 2-for-1 stock split to keep the shares available to
smaller investors. Chairman Muhtar Kent , who pushed for the
company’s 11th stock split, may be philosophically at odds with
his biggest investor, Warren Buffett . 1984 Letter Buffett, who controls a Coca-Cola stake of almost $15
billion, has resisted splitting Class A shares of his Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. Splits, he said in a 1984 letter, may encourage
short-term investment strategies that enrich brokers at the
expense of the business. “I don’t know what he would say about this one,” said
Howard Buffett , the investor’s son and a director at Atlanta-
based Coca-Cola. Howard Buffett, who spoke today on the
sidelines of the soft-drink maker’s annual meeting, said he
voted for the 2-for-1 split. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) rose 0.6 percent to $86.85, after
swinging between gains and losses today. The energy company
raised its quarterly dividend to 57 cents a share from 47 cents
a share, according to an e-mailed statement. Caterpillar slumped 4.6 percent, the most in the Dow, to
$103.44. The company says sales in developing nations this year
will be lower than anticipated, a reversal after 2011 growth in
Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region outpaced North
America , helping to drive record revenue and profit. Sales in China The company is the latest manufacturer to report sales in
China have been curbed. United Technologies Corp. yesterday
posted a drop in Chinese orders while 3M Co. (MMM) forecast below-
trend growth in the country. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein said he’s more optimistic about
markets than some economists and investors. “I tend to be a little more positive than what I’m hearing
from other people,” Blankfein, 57, told Bloomberg Television
today in an interview at the investment bank’s New York
headquarters. “One of the big risks that people have to
contemplate is that things go right.” U.S. stocks look reasonably priced when the value of
companies is measured against the size of the country’s economy,
said David R. Kotok, Cumberland Advisors Inc.’s chairman and
chief investment officer. He made a comparison between the total
market capitalization of companies in the S&P 500 and nominal
gross domestic product, which isn’t adjusted for inflation. Bull Market End Yesterday’s ratio was 83 percent, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge peaked at 101 percent in May
2007, near the end of a five-year bull market, and 131 percent
in August 2000, when the Internet bubble of the 1990s had begun
to burst. The earlier readings are circled in the chart. “We are still two years away from a new high” for the S&P
500, Kotok wrote in the report. The prediction stems from the
outlook for corporate profits and labor costs along with the
index’s ratio to GDP, he wrote. The S&P 500 may climb in 2014 to 1,600, which would lift
the total market value of its companies to 90 percent of GDP,
according to Kotok. His estimate for the index exceeds the
record close of 1,565.15 on Oct. 9, 2007. To contact the reporter on this story:
Rita Nazareth in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Baker at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-s-stock-futures-advance-apple-rallies-after-earnings |
AstraZeneca Amarin-to-Forest Deal Seen on Lost Patents: Real M&A | By Katia Porzecanski, Allison Connolly and Tara Lachapelle | 2012-04-25T13:56:52Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/astrazeneca-amarin-to-forest-deal-seen-on-lost-patents-real-m-a.html | 4 | 25 | c18022f8214c4523bad33e96fafc3546 | AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) ’s need to restock
its drug pipeline and boost the lowest valuation in the
pharmaceutical industry is turning companies from Amarin Corp. (AMRN)
to Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) into takeover candidates. The U.K.’s second-biggest drugmaker, which agreed this week
to buy Ardea Biosciences Inc. (RDEA) , is in talks with other companies
about possible deals as it faces increasing generic competition,
AstraZeneca’s head of business development said. The London-
based maker of Seroquel and Nexium is set to lose patent
protection by 2014 on drugs representing more than 40 percent of
last year’s sales, and analysts are already projecting
AstraZeneca will suffer a 30 percent drop in profit this year,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. AstraZeneca, which has a market value of $58 billion, is
searching for more deals as investors pay 6.3 times earnings to
own its shares, the lowest multiple for any large pharmaceutical
company, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Buying Amarin would
give AstraZeneca potential revenue from a new heart medication
that’s close to gaining U.S. approval, according to Sanford C.
Bernstein & Co. Forest’s products would fit well with
AstraZeneca’s existing offerings, said Liberum Capital Ltd. The company “is certainly under pressure to take more
action,” Seamus Fernandez , an analyst with Leerink Swann LLC in
Boston , said in a telephone interview. AstraZeneca “would
benefit from doing more M&A given the fact that they have a
sustained sequential cliff of patents and their profitability is
going to be under pressure,” he said. Billion-Dollar Deal AstraZeneca’s planned $1.26 billion purchase of Ardea, a
San Diego-based maker of experimental gout and cancer
treatments, marks its first acquisition of more than $1 billion
since the $14.7 billion takeover of MedImmune Inc. in 2007, data
compiled by Bloomberg show. The company is also speaking with several other companies
about possible licensing accords and acquisitions, Shaun Grady,
head of business development, said in a phone interview after
the Ardea deal was disclosed April 23. It would consider buying
late-stage assets outside of its research and development focus
on cancer, diabetes and gastrointestinal ailments, Grady said. AstraZeneca will probably pursue additional acquisitions
valued at about $5 billion to replenish its drug pipeline and
make up for lost sales as its patents expire, Tim Anderson , a
New York-based analyst at Bernstein, said in a telephone
interview. “The ideal is to find a company that has both revenues and
some stuff in the pipeline,” Anderson said. Possible Candidates Amarin, a Dublin-based biotechnology company that’s
developing a cholesterol drug; Forest, the New York-based maker
of the Alzheimer’s treatment Namenda and other medications, and
San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) , which develops
drugs for diabetes, are all possible candidates, he said. Amarin shares rose 1.1 percent to $9.86 at 9:46 a.m. in New
York. Forest added 1 percent to $33.86, and Amylin gained 1.3
percent to $25.89. When asked about potential purchases yesterday, Sarah Lindgreen , a spokeswoman at AstraZeneca, said the company would
be open to conversations with “lots of” businesses. “Our strategy includes looking for assets that fit with
our business and that are in line with our strategy, but in
terms of specifics we don’t comment,” she said. AstraZeneca’s sales and profits are projected to fall as
two of its best-selling drugs, Seroquel for schizophrenia and
ulcer medication Nexium, lose patent protection by 2014.
Seroquel and Nexium alone generated about $10.3 billion of sales
last year, or about 30 percent of the company’s total, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg. Crestor, its top seller with $6.6
billion in 2011 sales, must now contend with increased
competition from a generic version of Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor,
which entered the market last year. ‘Worst Profile’ Profit is projected to drop this year for the first time
since 2007, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show, amid
setbacks in its drug development , including the failure or delay
of experimental treatments for diabetes, ovarian cancer and
severe depression. “AstraZeneca’s probably got one of the worst profiles out
of all the pharmaceutical companies,” said Kevin Shacknofsky ,
who helps manage about $5 billion for Alpine Mutual Funds in
Purchase, New York. “A lot of the revenue is coming off patent
and they don’t have anything in the pipeline because research
and development has been very unsuccessful.” The company’s stock traded at 2,837.5 pence ($46)
yesterday, about 6.3 times last year’s earnings, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s less than half the average of
15.2 times profit for 28 large pharmaceutical companies
worldwide, the data show. Shares of AstraZeneca fell 10.5 pence to 2,827 pence today. Action Needed “There’s a reason why the valuation is low,” Naresh Chouhan, a London-based analyst at Liberum Capital , said in a
telephone interview. “It’s because earnings are declining and
there’s no hope that it’s going to improve unless they do
something else.” AstraZeneca could buy Amarin and benefit from future sales
of the $1.3 billion company’s cholesterol medicine AMR101, which
is now under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
Bernstein’s Anderson said. “This would be very much a complementary product,” he
said. “It’s cardiovascular and that’s the key area for Astra.” David Schull, an outside spokesman for Amarin, declined to
comment on takeover speculation. ‘Double Whammy’ A bigger target such as New York-based Forest could also be
a good fit for AstraZeneca, said Liberum Capital’s Chouhan and
Corey Davis, a New York-based analyst for Jefferies Group Inc. Forest, valued at $8.9 billion as of yesterday’s close, is
an attractive target for AstraZeneca because the companies
overlap in researching and developing treatments for infections
as well as respiratory and central nervous system diseases,
Chouhan said. The company has five medications in their third stage of
development . It also filed new drug applications for treatments
targeting pulmonary disease and irritable bowel syndrome, which
may generate more than $1.2 billion in annual revenue in 2018
for Forest, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “With more muscle, these products can be even bigger,”
Davis said in a phone interview. “You get the double whammy of
cutting the synergies from the acquisition, but also boosting
the revenue estimates under a different platform.” Davis said it would be “unreasonable” for Forest to sell
for any anything less than $50 a share, a premium of about 50
percent to yesterday’s closing price of $33.54. Amylin Attraction Frank Murdolo, a spokesman for Forest, didn’t return a
phone call and e-mail seeking comment on whether it would be
willing to sell itself to AstraZeneca. Amylin, with its injectable diabetes treatments, would also
be an attractive target for AstraZeneca as the number of people
suffering from the disease rises, said Scott Goginsky, a
research analyst and money manager at Milford, Pennsylvania-
based Biondo Investment Advisors LLC. Amylin won regulatory approval in January for Bydureon, the
once-a-week formulation of its Byetta drug, a twice-daily shot
that was approved by the FDA in 2005. Revenue from the drugs may
reach at least $1.5 billion, according to Ian Somaiya , a New
York-based analyst for Piper Jaffray Cos. While Amylin has reported losses since at least 1990, it
would be a profitable business if it were acquired by a larger
pharmaceutical company such as AstraZeneca, Goginsky, whose firm
oversees $450 million and owns shares of Amylin in its Biondo
Focus Fund (BFONX) , said in a telephone interview. Rejecting Bristol-Myers “Amylin is probably at the top of the list of potential
buyouts,” he said. “For someone to come in and buy them and
give them the needed scale and get rid of the redundant costs
would probably be the best move.” The company rejected a $22-a-share unsolicited bid from
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in February, people familiar with the
discussions, who declined to be identified because the talks
were private, said last month. Amylin is now seeking a buyer,
people with knowledge of the matter said this week. Biondo Investment’s Goginsky said Amylin could fetch $32 to
$35 a share in a takeover, or as much as a 37 percent premium to
yesterday’s closing price of $25.55. Alice Izzo, a spokeswoman for Amylin, said the company
doesn’t comment on speculation, when asked whether it has been
approached by AstraZeneca or is seeking buyers. Instead of pursuing a deal, AstraZeneca may itself become a
target because of its low valuation, according to Gbola Amusa,
an analyst at UBS AG in London . An acquirer could unleash up to
$53 billion of value by permanently shutting down AstraZeneca’s
research and development efforts, Amusa wrote in an April 12
note. Still, that would be a $58 billion purchase, without
accounting for any potential premium. Many big pharmaceutical companies are facing lost revenue
from expiring drug patents and are looking to takeovers as a way
to help fill in pipeline gaps, Bernstein’s Anderson said. “AstraZeneca’s need just happens to be a little more
substantial and acute than the other companies” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Katia Porzecanski in New York at
[email protected] ;
Allison Connolly in Frankfurt at
[email protected] ;
Tara Lachapelle in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Daniel Hauck at [email protected] ;
Katherine Snyder at [email protected] ;
Phil Serafino at +33-1-5530-6277 or [email protected] . | 2012 | astrazeneca-amarin-to-forest-deal-seen-on-lost-patents-real-m-a |
Thai Bonds Drop on Oversupply Concern Before Sale; Baht Steady | By David Yong | 2012-04-25T02:50:36Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/thai-bonds-drop-on-oversupply-concern-before-sale-baht-steady.html | 4 | 25 | a5e249049ebf4720be60b632a51092862994ef77 | Thailand ’s government bonds dropped
for a second day after the finance ministry said it would sell
more debt due in 2027 to finance its budget deficit . The baht
was little changed. Five-year yields rebounded yesterday from a six-week low as
the ministry announced it would offer an extra 8 billion baht
($258 million) of December 2027 securities at a sale today. The
notes were first sold in February to yield 3.7745 percent. Sales
of 10- to 50-year debt are also scheduled in May and June. The
baht touched 31.07 per dollar yesterday, the weakest level since
April 5. “The market is a bit bearish, especially for long-end
notes, due to supply pressure in the coming months,” said
Worapoj Peerawit, a bond trader at CIMB Thai Bank Pcl in Bangkok.
“Foreigners are still on selling mode due to recent currency
weakness.” The yield on the 3.25 percent bonds due June 2017 rose two
basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 3.53 percent as of
9:28 a.m. in Bangkok, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The yield reached 3.49 percent on April 23, the lowest level
since March 12. The yield on the existing 2027 notes was steady at 4.05
percent. Barclays Plc advised bidding for the securities at 4.05
percent to 4.10 percent at the auction, citing supply pressure,
according to a research note to clients released yesterday. The baht traded at 30.96 per dollar, versus 30.97 yesterday,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has declined 0.4
percent this month. The baht’s one-month implied volatility, a
measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, was
unchanged at 4.52 percent, Bloomberg data show. To contact the reporter on this story:
David Yong in Singapore at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry at
[email protected] | 2012 | ai-bonds-drop-on-oversupply-concern-before-sale-baht-steady |
USDA Boxed Beef Cutout Midday Prices for April 25 | By Michael Carone | 2012-04-25T16:00:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/usda-boxed-beef-cutout-midday-prices-for-april-25-table-.html
April 25 (Bloomberg) | 4 | 25 | f8057e9f05994815abeccdc9ce2d63d4 | from cattle carcasses weighing 550-850 pounds. Cutout values are
separated into three main product types. Fabricated loads are beef cuts
taken from an animal's ribs, chuck, round, loin, brisket, short plate
and flank; 50 percent loads are 50 percent lean beef trimmings. Ground
loads may contain 73, 75, or 80 percent ground beef. A typical
refrigerated truckload carries 40,000 pounds. Choice 1-3 grade is a better grade than Select 1-3, partly because
Choice cuts have more fat, or marbling, than Select cuts. Grade quality is determined using a 1-5 yield grade scale. A rating
of 1 is the highest ratio of muscle to fat, while 5 is the lowest.
Marbling is an important flavor factor. | 2012 | usda-boxed-beef-cutout-midday-prices-for-april-25-table- |
Dewey, Cozen, Mayer Brown, Fried Frank: Business of Law | By Elizabeth Amon | 2012-04-25T10:45:09Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/dewey-cozen-o-connor-mayer-brown-fried-frank-business-of-law.html
Fred Gander, a Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
partner who helped manage the firm, has left for KPMG LLP. Gander, who was the chairman of Dewey’s European
supervisory committee, will head KPMG’s U.S. tax practice for
Europe and the Middle East, Robert Nihen, a KPMG spokesman,
confirmed. Gander was the managing partner of Dewey Ballantine
before its merger with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & McRae in 2007. Dewey & LeBoeuf has struggled since the beginning of the
year with partner departures that are reported to top 70,
according to the online publication legalweek.com. The firm said
last month it would set up a new chairman’s office with five
equal members from its most profitable groups. Legalweek.com reported yesterday that a team of London
partners from Dewey are in talks with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &
Feld LLP. Those considering a jump to Akin Gump include oil and
gas partners John LaMaster and Marc Hammerson, finance partner
Bruce Johnston and banking partner Amanda Jennings, the
publication said. “Akin Gump regularly talks to potential lateral candidates
who may be a good fit with the firm,” Rick Burdick,
international managing partner, said in a statement. “However,
we are unable to provide any confirmation of hires until there
is an agreement between all parties. If the firm has an
announcement, it will be made through the usual channels.” The Wall Street Journal also reported yesterday that Dewey
is continuing merger discussions with Greenberg Traurig LLP.
Dewey owes about $75 million to a syndicate of bank lenders and
has until the end of the month to extend its $100 million credit
line , according to the newspaper. Firm News Cozen O’Connor Continues IP Expansion with Washington Hire Cozen O’Connor said Louis M. Heidelberger, formerly at
Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP, joined the firm’s intellectual
property group as a member in the Washington office. Heidelberger follows a number of new lawyers brought into
Cozen O’Connor. On April 16, the firm announced that it had
hired nine IP attorneys from Duane Morris LLP, including seven
members, five in the Washington office. The following day, it
announced three Dewey LeBoeuf LLP energy lawyers, including one
partner, were joining the firm. In June, the firm added 19 New
York-based IP attorneys from Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane
LLP, according to a statement. “We are now one of the largest IP practices in the country
for generic pharmaceutical patent litigation,” Camille Miller,
who heads Cozen O’Connor’s intellectual property practice, said
in a statement. The firm’s hiring spree stems from “the continued
implementation of our strategic plan to expand our depth and
national scope across our IP, energy, commercial litigation and
real estate practices,” Miller added in an e-mail. Heidelberger has more than 35 years’ experience
representing clients in a variety of areas including
intellectual property counseling, due diligence, licensing,
transactions, litigation, opposition and cancellation
proceedings, reissue and reexaminations, and domain name and
anti-cybersquatting matters. The IP group now has 45 attorneys practicing out of New
York , Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta. Cozen
O’Connor has 575 attorneys in 21 offices in the U.S., Canada and
U.K. Litigation Google Was Never Told by Sun to License Java, Schmidt Says Google Inc. (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt testified that his
company developed the Android operating system using the Java
programming language after partnership talks with Sun
Microsystems Inc. fell through and Sun made no demand for a
license to use Java. Sun sought $30 million to $50 million and tight control
over Java’s use for Android, Schmidt told jurors yesterday in
federal court in San Francisco during Oracle Corp. (ORCL) ’s trial
against Google. When deal negotiations fell through in 2006,
Google built the Android software for mobile devices using
aspects of the Java platform without infringing on Sun’s
intellectual property, he said. Oracle now owns Java. Schmidt said that based on his understanding of Sun’s
licensing requirements for Java, Google’s use of the programming
language’s tools in Android without a license was
“permissible” and “legally correct.” He said Jonathan Schwartz, who started as Sun’s chief executive officer in April
2006, never asked the search engine operator to take a license. Oracle is seeking $1 billion in damages and a court order
blocking sales of Android, now running on more than 300 million
smartphones, unless Mountain View , California-based Google pays
for a license. “Schwartz didn’t express any concerns about the use of
Java?” Robert Van Nest, of Keker & Van Nest LLP, Google’s
lawyer, asked Schmidt yesterday. “Did he complain?” “He did not,” said Schmidt, a former chief technical
officer at Sun who was the primary executive in charge of Java. “Did he tell you that you needed a license to use Java’s
APIs,” or application programming interfaces? Van Nest asked. “He did not,” Schmidt said. Google plans to call Schwartz as a witness, according to a
court filing. Oracle acquired Java as part of its 2010 takeover of Sun.
The Redwood City, California-based database maker alleges that
Google infringed copyrights on 37 APIs | 4 | 25 | e1c2aa47c7364435ab3b7b7226bacce4 | patents. Schmidt said Java, a free programming language, is useless
without the APIs, which are used to tell computers how to print,
sort and perform other applications. Google implemented the Java
language and APIs, not Java source code, which would require a
license, he told the jury. David Boies, of Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, Oracle’s
attorney, showed Schmidt e-mails written by Google engineers
saying the company needed a Java license. “Were you told in 2005 that the people responsible for
Android believed Google must take a license for Java?” Boies
asked. “I don’t recall, but given the way the Sun licensing model
works this is actually not correct,” Schmidt said. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is presiding over
the trial, said Schmidt’s answer wasn’t responsive to the
question and ordered jurors to disregard it. The trial, expected to last eight weeks, is divided into
three phases. Oracle rested its case yesterday for the first
phase, which deals with copyright infringement. Google began its
defense of those claims yesterday, and the jury is expected to
deliberate on those claims as early as next week. The next phases of the trial will address patent claims and
damage claims. The case is Oracle America Inc. v. Google Inc., 10-03561,
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San
Francisco). For more, click here. Ex-Morgan Stanley Manager Appeals Insider Trading Conviction Former Morgan Stanley (MS) Managing Director Du Jun yesterday
appealed a Hong Kong insider trading conviction for which he was
sentenced to seven years in prison, saying prosecutors didn’t
prove he committed the crime. “The prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that the defendant knew it was relevant information,” said his
lawyer John Griffiths, referring to an e-mail Du received from
Morgan Stanley colleagues before buying shares of Citic
Resources Holdings Ltd. (1205) Du is serving the longest jail sentence doled out by the
court since the former British colony criminalized insider
trading in 2003. District Court Judge Andrew Chan in 2009 found
Du guilty of nine counts of the offense and one count of
advising his wife to trade Hong Kong-listed Citic Resources, a
Chinese oil and coal producer, in 2007. The Beijing native, who was also fined HK$23.3 million ($3
million), bought shares of Citic Resources after learning of its
plan to purchase a Chinese oilfield while helping the company
sell bonds. He sold half of the shares in July 2007 for a profit
of about HK$33.4 million after the company announced the deal on
May 9, according to prosecutors. Griffiths said on the first of four scheduled hearing days
in Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal that an acquisition in
Kazakhstan, also announced on May 9, and the resumption of
trading after a one-week suspension contributed to the surge in
Citic Resources shares. The lower court judge’s evaluation of
the relevance of the information Du had from the e-mail was
“fallacious,” Griffiths said. During the appeal yesterday, Du sat silently in a navy
jacket and blue shirt, hunched at times over trial documents
provided to him in the prisoner’s dock. The case is Hong Kong SAR v. Du Jun, CACC334/2009 in the
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal. For more, click here. Moves Mayer Brown Expands European Antitrust Practice Mayer Brown LLP said yesterday that Robert Klotz joined the
firm as a partner in the antitrust and competition practice in
Brussels. Klotz was previously at Hunton & Williams LLP. Before that,
he was an official of the European Commission’s Directorate
General for Competition. “Robert’s DG Competition experience complements and
strengthens the Brussels office’s growing antitrust practice,”
Kiran Desai, partner in charge of Mayer Brown’s Brussels office,
said in a statement. Mayer Brown has 20 offices worldwide in the Americas, Asia
and Europe . Fried Frank Expands Intellectual Property Platform Corporate lawyer Daniel C. Glazer joined Fried, Frank,
Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as a partner in the New York
office. Glazer was previously a partner at Patterson Belknap Webb &
Tyler LLP, where he was one of the leaders of the intellectual
property transactions group. Glazer, who will be in the corporate department, handles
IP/IT-related commercial agreements, such as licensing,
outsourcing, consulting, development, sponsorship, marketing and
distribution arrangements, as well as the IP/IT aspects of
mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securitizations and
other corporate transactions. His practice also includes
trademark and copyright counseling, enforcement and prosecution. Fried, Frank has more than 500 lawyers at offices in New
York, Washington, London , Paris, Frankfurt , Hong Kong and
Shanghai . Energy Partner Joins Vinson & Elkins’ Tokyo Office James Watson joined Vinson & Elkins LLP as a partner in the
global energy transactions/projects practice group in the firm’s
Tokyo office. Previously joint head of energy and infrastructure at
Herbert Smith LLP’s Tokyo office, Watson has more than 20 years
of experience in corporate transactions, the firm said in a
statement. He focuses his practice on oil and gas exploration,
power projects, LNG, petrochemicals and renewables, as well as
infrastructure development projects. “Over the past five years, our Asian book of business has
grown significantly across all aspects of the energy industry,”
James Atkin, managing partner of V&E’s Tokyo office, said in a
statement. Vinson & Elkins has 15 offices worldwide, including in the
U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East . Manatt Phelps Land-Use Lawyer Moves to Loeb & Loeb Loeb & Loeb LLP expanded its land-use practice with the
addition of partner Paul Rohrer, who joined the firm’s Los
Angeles office. Previously, Rohrer was a partner in the Los
Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP. Rohrer represents governmental entities, nonprofit
educational institutions and developers in land use and
entitlement matters in connection with the acquisition, sale,
optioning and ground leasing of real property. He is also
involved in the structuring and negotiation of various
agreements, including joint development agreements, owner
participation agreements, and construction-related agreements,
the firm said in a statement. Loeb & Loeb has more than 300 attorneys at five offices in
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington and Nashville,
Tennessee. The firm also has a representative office in Beijing. Duane Morris’s San Diego Office Adds Special Counsel Swit Duane Morris LLP added Michael A. Swit to its trial
practice group as special counsel in the San Diego office. Swit
will bolsters the firm’s life sciences practice, particularly in
U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory matters. Before joining Duane Morris, Swit served for seven years as
vice president of Weinberg Group Inc., a scientific and
regulatory consulting firm. Swit advises life sciences firms on complying with FDA
requirements for drugs, medical devices and other products. His
work includes FDA development strategies, compliance and
enforcement initiatives, recalls and crisis management,
submissions, labeling and advertising, and clinical research
efforts. Duane Morris has more than 700 attorneys in 23 offices
worldwide. To contact the reporter on this story:
Elizabeth Amon in Brooklyn , New York, at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at
[email protected] . | 2012 | dewey-cozen-o-connor-mayer-brown-fried-frank-business-of-law |
Federal Open Market Committee April 25 Statement: Full Text | By Washington newsroom +1-202-624-1820. Editors: [bn:PRSN=3083722] James | 2012-04-25T16:32:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/federal-open-market-committee-april-25-statement-full-text.html
The following is a reformatted
version of the full text of the statement released today by
the Federal Reserve in Washington: Information received since the Federal Open Market
Committee met in March suggests that the economy has been
expanding moderately. Labor market conditions have improved
in recent months; the unemployment rate has declined but
remains elevated. Household spending and business fixed
investment have continued to advance. Despite some signs of
improvement, the housing sector remains depressed.
Inflation has picked up somewhat, mainly reflecting higher
prices of crude oil and gasoline. However, longer-term
inflation expectations have remained stable. Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee
seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability . The
Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over
coming quarters and then to pick up gradually.
Consequently, the Committee anticipates that the
unemployment rate will decline gradually toward levels that
it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Strains
in global financial markets continue to pose significant
downside risks to the economic outlook. The increase in oil
and gasoline prices earlier this year is expected to affect
inflation only temporarily, and the Committee anticipates
that subsequently inflation will run at or below the rate
that it judges most consistent with its dual mandate. To support a stronger economic recovery and to help
ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most
consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee expects to
maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy.
In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the
target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent
and currently anticipates that economic conditions | 4 | 25 | 79ba98a04856a0d36d1623809fcb867ffa5c885c | warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate
at least through late 2014. The Committee also decided to continue its program to
extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities
as announced in September. The Committee is maintaining its
existing policies of reinvesting principal payments from
its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed
securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of
rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. The
Committee will regularly review the size and composition of
its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those
holdings as appropriate to promote a stronger economic
recovery in a context of price stability. Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben
S. Bernanke , Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman;
Elizabeth A. Duke; Dennis P. Lockhart; Sandra Pianalto ;
Sarah Bloom Raskin ; Daniel K. Tarullo; John C. Williams;
and Janet L. Yellen. Voting against the action was Jeffrey
M. Lacker, who does not anticipate that economic conditions
are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the
federal funds rate through late 2014. | 2012 | federal-open-market-committee-april-25-statement-full-tex |
ABB Profit Meets Estimates as Savings Offset Weaker Pricing | By Patrick Winters | 2012-04-25T07:16:28Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/abb-profit-meets-estimates-as-savings-offset-weaker-pricing.html | 4 | 25 | 01e583688e5b417fbba31bdb7a3264f5 | ABB Ltd. (ABBN) , the world’s largest maker
of power-distribution equipment, reported first-quarter profit
that matched analysts’ estimates after pushing through cost cuts
to counter weaker pricing. Earnings before interest and taxes rose to $1.05 billion
from $1.01 billion a year earlier, Zurich-based ABB said today.
Analysts predicted $1.04 billion. Orders increased 2 percent in
local currencies, with the company highlighting improved
profitability in some businesses. The stock fell as much as 4.2
percent after ABB said Chinese orders declined. The Swiss manufacturer of factory robots and transformers
is working through a near $30 billion backlog of orders and
riding out a slowdown in purchases of big-ticket items like
power grids. Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan has also forged
ahead with $10 billion in acquisitions since the start of 2010,
outspending competitors Siemens AG (SIE) and Schneider Electric SA. “Price pressure and unfavorable mix present a headwind,”
said Mats Liss, an analyst at Swedbank. “It is expected to
disappear gradually. Sales are expected to grow within its early
cycle business; the mid- to later cycle will be supported by the
order backlog.” Sales rose 6 percent to $8.9 billion, also in line with
estimates. Hogan warned investors in February that price
pressure and a change in order patterns would hurt margins in
the first quarter. To counter that trend, ABB is implementing $1
billion of cost savings in 2012. China Slowdown ABB shares fell as much as 4.2 percent after the company
said orders declined in Asia , mainly in China , citing “weaker
demand in key end markets, such as construction and
transportation,” and an unfavorable comparison after booking
several large power orders worth more than $300 million a year
earlier. The stock traded 3.8 percent lower at 17.68 francs at 9:07
a.m. in Zurich. More than half of ABB’s profitability decline from the
first quarter of 2011 was attributable to the challenging
environment in China, the company said. “The Chinese transportation market may pick up from the
second half, as projects which were delayed by a change in
government are re-started. The construction market is more
worrying,” Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Richard Frei said by
phone. “ABB is still on target to meet its operational Ebitda
targets. The business goals have not changed, but they might
reach the lower end of those targets,” Frei said. Momentum Building “We saw improved profitability in several businesses
compared to the end of last year, and we intend to build on that
momentum to tap the many opportunities we see for profitable
growth over the rest of the year,” Hogan said in the release. There are clearer signs of recovery in North American
markets, though budgetary restraints are hampering demand in
nations like Italy and Spain , ABB said. Base orders, valued at
below $15 million, increased 4 percent. By contrast, large
orders decreased 11 percent, ABB said. ABB’s view mirrors that of Schneider Electric SA (SU) , which
earlier this month said the European debt crisis is weighing on
sales. Schneider reported a better-than-expected 9.4 percent
gain in first-quarter revenue and predicted an improvement in
western European markets later this year. Siemens AG, Europe ’s
largest engineering company, lowered its full-year guidance
today after booking charges on offshore wind-power projects. American-born Hogan, 54, joined the company in 2008 from
General Electric Co. (GE) with a track record in mergers and
acquisitions. Hogan has said that while the company must digest
its recent purchases, the company still has capacity for more
deals. Software, Low Voltage The bulk of Hogan’s acquisition spending has centered on
the U.S. and markets such as software, helping the company
offset pricing pressure in power transmission and distribution
gear. ABB announced in January plans to acquire low-voltage
equipment maker Thomas & Betts Corp. (TNB) for about $3.7 billion,
giving it a larger U.S. customer-base and new revenue from low-
voltage products. ABB’s cash flow in the quarter was weaker than expected,
Swedbank’s Liss said in a note today. The company reported a
decline in its net cash position to $1.4 billion from $1.8
billion. To contact the reporter on this story:
Patrick Winters in Zurich at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Benedikt Kammel at
[email protected] | 2012 | abb-profit-meets-estimates-as-savings-offset-weaker-pricing |
Nomura Said to Post Gain in Quarterly Profit on Trading | By Takahiko Hyuga | 2012-04-25T07:24:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/nomura-said-to-post-gain-in-quarterly-profit-on-trading.html | 4 | 25 | 5cb5f7ba4e134a97a8e050086a8a7043 | Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604) , Japan ’s
largest brokerage, will report an increase in quarterly profit
as gains from trading outweighed declines in investment banking,
two people with knowledge of the matter said. Net income climbed to about 18 billion yen ($221 million)
for the three months ended March 31 from 11.9 billion yen a year
earlier, said the people, declining to be identified before
earnings are announced. The average estimate of nine analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of 14.4 billion yen. The rebound in trading income that gave Nomura its second
straight quarterly profit gain also let U.S. rivals including
Bank of America Corp. post earnings that beat analysts’
estimates. Financial markets rallied worldwide last quarter as
Europe ’s debt crisis eased, U.S. unemployment fell and Japan
rebuilt from last year’s earthquake and tsunami. “It’s positive to see the profit increase,” said Shiro Yoshioka, an analyst at Japaninvest Group Plc (3827) in Tokyo. “But
investors can’t be too optimistic as it’s due to the market
pickup, and Nomura hasn’t shown the next strategic driver to
boost earnings in the future.” The profit figure is preliminary and may change when
Nomura’s board meets this week to confirm the results, the
people said. Keiko Sugai, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for the
brokerage, declined to comment. Nomura is scheduled to announce
fiscal fourth-quarter earnings at 3 p.m. in Tokyo on April 27. Shares Rise Shares of Nomura rose 2.4 percent to 344 yen at the close
of trading in Tokyo . The stock was the most traded on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange today. Nomura has advanced 54 percent since Nov.
24, when it reached the lowest in at least 37 years. Fourth-quarter profit of 18 billion yen would bring net
income for the year ended March 31 to about 7.5 billion yen.
That’s more than the 3.9 billion yen median estimate of analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg, while lower than the 28.7 billion yen
posted for the previous fiscal year. The Japanese brokerage is cutting $1.2 billion of expenses
that swelled after it bought Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s
Asian and European businesses following the U.S. firm’s 2008
collapse. Nomura deepened the cost reductions after posting a
46.1 billion yen loss in the quarter ended September, its first
since the start of 2009. Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) , the second-largest Swiss bank,
today posted a 96 percent decline in first-quarter profit to 44
million Swiss francs ($48 million) after booking accounting
charges related to its own debt and costs for 2011 bonuses. That
beat analysts’ average estimate for a 297.9 million-franc loss. Moody’s Investors Service cut Nomura’s debt rating to the
lowest investment grade on March 15, saying global competition
raises questions over the profitability of the securities firm.
Daiwa Securities Group Inc. (8601) , Nomura’s biggest domestic
competitor, was lowered to the same grade, Baa3, in November. Trading profit at Nomura rose to about 88 billion yen for
the quarter from 68.7 billion yen a year earlier, according to
the average estimate of four analysts. Investment banking fees
probably fell to 18 billion yen for the quarter from 27.8
billion yen a year earlier, according to the four analysts. The company revamped trading operations last quarter by
splitting the global markets unit into fixed-income and equity
businesses. It appointed Steve Ashley as global head of fixed
income in January following the resignations of two bankers,
including former global markets chief Tarun Jotwani. Nomura
hired traders in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East , including
head of Treasury trading J.J. Lando, who joined from Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. last year as a managing director in New York . Asian Focus Also in the period, the firm appointed Koji Nagai as
president of brokerage unit Nomura Securities Co., a post that
was previously held by Chief Executive Officer Kenichi Watanabe.
It also set up teams to expand business in China , India and
Southeast Asia . “The impact of restructuring efforts will emerge more
clearly in the current quarter,” said Yoshioka at Japaninvest.
“On the other hand, market conditions have become a bit
unpredictable.” Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) climbed 19
percent last quarter, its best start to a calendar year since
1988. It has since retreated about 5 percent. The world’s third-
largest economy probably resumed growing in the quarter from a
contraction in the final three months of 2011, according to
economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Lifted Rankings While Nomura lifted its rankings for advising on global
mergers and managing bond sales last quarter, investment banking
fees may have been hampered by companies issuing fewer shares,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Global equity offerings
fell 26 percent in the three months from a year earlier, the
data show. In Japan, share sales declined 58 percent. Nomura was No. 10 underwriter for global equity sales in
the three months, arranging 19 transactions valued at $2.9
billion, maintaining its position from a year earlier when it
managed 25 deals worth $7.1 billion, according to Bloomberg
data. Its ranking for international bond underwriting climbed
three spots to 26th. On mergers and acquisitions, Nomura was No.
8 global adviser for the quarter, up from 14th a year earlier. To contact the reporter on this story:
Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chitra Somayaji at
[email protected] | 2012 | nomura-said-to-post-gain-in-quarterly-profit-on-trading |
EAA Confounds Schaeuble’s Debt Reduction Plan, Handelsblatt Says | By Jana Randow | 2012-04-25T06:45:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/eaa-confounds-schaeuble-s-debt-reduction-plan-handelsblatt-says.html | 4 | 25 | d285fe4ccad17e18dc8a0546c43e91aa3a12ffee | Erste Abwicklungsanstalt, the so-
called bad bank formed to wind down assets of German state-owned
lender WestLB, will confound Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble ’s plan to reduce the country’s debt load, Handelsblatt
newspaper said, citing people it didn’t identify. EAA expects WestLB to transfer a portfolio of about 100
billion euros ($132 billion) in the next months, of which about
50 billion euros will be added to the government’s debt, the
newspaper said. The amount isn’t included in a debt-reduction plan that
Schaeuble sent to European authorities in Brussels and may boost
Germany ’s debt load to 84 percent from 82 percent of gross
domestic product this year, Handelsblatt said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jana Randow in Frankfurt at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Craig Stirling at
[email protected] | 2012 | eaa-confounds-schaeuble-s-debt-reduction-plan-handelsblatt-says |
GP Noble Boss Stole $84 Million From Pension Plans, SFO Says | By Lindsay Fortado | 2012-04-25T16:33:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/gp-noble-boss-stole-84-million-from-pension-plans-sfo-says.html | 4 | 25 | 3841be2814acc5b043ef47e4205d635c8e8de7f1 | Tony Morris, the co-founder of U.K.
finance firm Money Portal Plc, stole 52 million pounds ($84
million) from pension plans to fund his lifestyle, the Serious
Fraud Office said. Morris, whose company owned pension fund operator GP Noble
Trustees Ltd., went on trial this week at a London criminal
court over the allegations. He is charged with stealing
30 million pounds from GP Noble and its pension funds between
July and August 2007, and 22 million pounds from GP Noble and
BDC Trustees Ltd. in April 2008. The money was spent on luxuries including an 150,000-pound
Aston Martin , David Farrer, a lawyer for the SFO said at the
trial today. “It’s not easy to see how the purchase and shipping of an
Aston Martin could be viewed by anybody as a transaction in the
best interest of the pensioners whose funds were being used to
finance it,” Farrer said. Morris has denied the allegations and his lawyer will
present his defense later in the trial. Morris was also accused by the SFO of conspiring with
others to defraud plans for which GP Noble and BDC Trustees Ltd.
acted as trustees by liquidating investments that had been made
on behalf of the funds and transferring the proceeds to bank
accounts outside of the U.K. for his own use. An associate of Morris, Peter Malmstrom, who is also on
trial in the case, was charged with money laundering for
handling 6.95 million pounds of the funds allegedly stolen from
pension schemes administered by GP Noble in 2007 and 2008. To contact the reporter on this story:
Lindsay Fortado in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at [email protected] | 2012 | gp-noble-boss-stole-84-million-from-pension-plans-sfo-says |
Brazil Futures Yields Fall to Record Low on Savings-Account View | By Blake Schmidt and Josue Leonel | 2012-04-25T13:18:19Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/brazil-futures-yields-fall-to-record-low-on-savings-account-view.html | 4 | 25 | 34ad20ddffe34e6a3ed8dc2df3b00bba731187d0 | Yields on Brazilian interest-rate
futures contracts dropped to a record as President Dilma Rousseff left open the possibility of changes to savings-account
rules that would allow for more cuts in borrowing costs. The yields fell after O Estado de Sao Paulo reported that
Rousseff, when asked by reporters yesterday in Brasilia about
possible changes to savings rules, said “we’ll see.” The
yields plunged last week after the central bank signaled in a
statement that slowing inflation and weaker global economic
growth may allow for further cuts in interest rates . “Dilma said they’re going to think about changing the
poupanca rule, which is different from what they had said
before, which is that they wouldn’t touch it,” Tony Volpon ,
head of emerging-markets research at Nomura Securities
International Inc., said in a phone interview from New York .
“That shift in tone is an indication they may do something.” The yield on the futures contract due in January 2014 slid
for a second day, dropping five basis points, or 0.05 percentage
point, to 8.81 percent at 10:01 a.m. in Sao Paulo. It earlier
touched a record low 8.79 percent. The real was little changed
at 1.8793 per dollar. Brazilian law requires minimum returns on savings accounts,
known as poupanca, spurring concern further reductions by the
central bank will drive investors out of government bonds and
into bank deposits. Policy makers lowered the benchmark lending rate last week
by 75 basis points to 9 percent, near the record low of 8.75
percent. They said in a statement accompanying the unanimous
decision that they were “continuing the adjustment process of
monetary conditions” given that inflation risks “remain
limited.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Josue Leonel in Sao Paulo at
[email protected] ;
Blake Schmidt in Sao Paulo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Papadopoulos at
[email protected] | 2012 | brazil-futures-yields-fall-to-record-low-on-savings-account-view |
IMF Spain Financial Sector Assessment Program (Text) | By Alex Tanzi | 2012-04-25T16:43:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/imf-spain-financial-sector-assessment-program-text-.html
Following is the text of the
mission assessment from the International Monetary Fund visit
to Spain : A Financial Sector Assessment Program[1] (FSAP) team led by the
Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the IMF has visited
Spain between February 1-21 and April 12-25, 2012, in order to
conduct an update of the Fund’s 2006 assessment of the soundness
and stability of Spain’s financial sector. Such assessments are
undertaken about every five years. The following provides some
initial findings from the mission. These findings are subject to
further review, and will also serve as background to the Article
IV discussions to be held with the IMF’s European Department in
late spring 2012. The Spanish authorities are focusing on strengthening the
financial system, a crucial condition to support the broader
process of economic recovery. A major and welcome restructuring
of the savings bank sector is taking place, but the capacity to
cope with the needed adjustments differs significantly across
the system. The largest banks appear sufficiently capitalized
and have strong profitability to withstand a further
deterioration of economic conditions, but vulnerabilities remain
in other banks that are reliant on state support, and the sector
as a whole remains vulnerable to sustained disruptions in
funding markets. The assessment confirms the need to continue with and further
deepen the financial sector reform strategy to address remaining
vulnerabilities and build strong capital buffers in the sector.
A carefully designed strategy to clean up the weak institutions
quickly and adequately is essential to avoid any adverse impact
on the sound banks. Furthermore, dealing effectively and
comprehensively with banks’ legacy problem assets should be the
priority of the next stage of the financial reform strategy. 1. The past four years have witnessed a crisis
of unprecedented proportion in the Spanish financial sector in
its history. While external factors contributed to the turmoil,
significant risks posed by a real estate boom-bust cycle, which
materialized in the savings bank sector, exposed weaknesses in
the policy and regulatory framework and an over reliance on
wholesale funding. 2. A major and much needed restructuring of the
savings bank sector is now taking place in the aftermath of the
real estate boom-bust cycle. Reforms to the savings banks’ legal
framework together with financial support from the state-owned
recapitalization vehicle (FROB) were instrumental in starting
the much-needed reform process to restructure the banking
sector. The number of institutions has been reduced from 45 to
11 through actions including interventions, mergers and
takeovers. These actions have been focused on the weakest
institutions, and by the end of 2012, institutions representing
about 15 percent of the system with total assets equivalent to
over 50 percent of GDP will have been resolved. 3. Recently, loan loss provision requirements
have been increased for the banks in anticipation of expected
further credit losses related to the real estate sector and the
weak macro-economic environment. It will be difficult for some
banks to meet this new requirement, however, and the markets’
perception of rising sovereign and banking sector risk may put
further strains on banks, especially those that face large
wholesale funding needs. 4. The team’s stress tests, which covered more
than 90 percent of the domestic banking sector, showed that most
banks would be resilient to large further shocks, although there
were pockets of vulnerabilities. Lender forbearance | 4 | 25 | 3abd59e954824ef0befbdd8723fb43db | insurance scheme, the FGD, which is funded by the industry. To
avoid resolution costs becoming too high for the industry to
bear, especially in a reasonable time period, greater reliance
on public funding may be needed, after exhausting options for
private recapitalization, to preserve financial stability and
to avoid excessive deleveraging. The assessment of the financial
oversight framework identified key strengths and weaknesses. The
main strengths of the supervisory agencies are their highly
experienced and respected professional staff supported by good
information systems and thorough supervisory processes. The
existence of a strong nexus among the authorities facilitates
cooperation and the flow of information, and several
recommendations made in the previous FSAP have been addressed.
However, a number of weaknesses need to be addressed. These
include the need to: · Strengthen the regulatory independence for
the banking and securities regulators and the lack of
financial/budgetary independence for the insurance and
securities regulators; · Strengthen the authority for the banking
regulator to address preemptively the build-up of risks in the
system; · Strengthen the regulatory framework for
the insurance sector (the current insurance solvency regime is
not risk-sensitive) and the monitoring of potential risk build-
up in the sector due to out-dated solvency regime; and · Strengthen the remedial action and
sanctioning regime in banking and securities supervision. SOURCE: International Monetary Fund | 2012 | imf-spain-financial-sector-assessment-program-text- |
Bank Rakyat, Garuda, Telkom, Timah: Indonesian Equity Preview | By Berni Moestafa | 2012-04-25T01:58:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bank-rakyat-garuda-telkom-timah-indonesian-equity-preview.html | 4 | 25 | cc2455cdd94188874442659aac81d4af78302450 | Shares of the following companies
may have unusual moves in Indonesian trading . Stock symbols are
in parentheses and share prices are as of the previous close. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) rose 0.4 percent to 4,170.35. PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI) : Indonesia’s second-
largest bank by assets said it agreed to provide a 225 billion
rupiah ($24.5 million) loan to PT Indonusa Telemedia, a unit of
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM) . Telkom Vision, as the
unit is known, will use the loan for capital expenditure this
year, including buying equipment for its pay-television
business, the bank said. Bank Rakyat declined 1.4 percent to
6,900 rupiah and Telekomunikasi, Indonesia’s biggest telephone
company, rose 1.9 percent to 7,950 rupiah. PT Garuda Indonesia (GIAA) : The national flag carrier
plans to start direct flights to Italy in 2014, the Jakarta Post
reported, citing President Director Emirsyah Satar. The airline
also plans to start direct flights to Germany, France and U.K.,
the report said, without providing a timeframe. Garuda jumped
6.4 percent to 670 rupiah. PT Timah (TINS) : Tin futures climbed 2 percent to
$21,675 a metric ton in London yesterday, the steepest increase
since April 5. Timah, Indonesia’s biggest producer of the metal,
rose 1.7 percent to 1,810 rupiah. To contact the reporter on this story:
Berni Moestafa in Jakarta at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | bank-rakyat-garuda-telkom-timah-indonesian-equity-preview |
Glaxo Quarterly Profit Misses Estimates on Europe Sales | By Makiko Kitamura | 2012-04-25T16:16:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/glaxo-quarterly-profit-misses-estimates-on-europe-sales.html | 4 | 25 | 01bb3432ea56490986c3bc0faa05330c | GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) , the U.K.’s
largest drugmaker, reported first-quarter profit and sales that
missed analyst estimates as revenue declined in Europe . Earnings excluding some items were 27.3 pence a share,
London-based Glaxo said in a statement today. That missed the
average estimate of 29 pence from 11 analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg. Sales increased 1 percent to 6.64 billion pounds
($10.7 billion), missing the average analyst estimate of 6.83
billion pounds. The introduction of new treatments for cancer and heart
disease failed to counter a 6 percent sales decline in Europe,
where governments are cutting spending on health care amid
sluggish economic growth. Sales in the Middle East and Africa ,
where economies are growing faster than in Europe and the U.S.,
dropped 6 percent, hurt by political instability and the timing
of vaccine tenders, Glaxo said. “Turkey and Russia , those are the markets that have been
significant actors in terms of pricing pressures,” Chief
Executive Officer Andrew Witty told journalists on a conference
call today. The shares fell 3 percent to 1,413.50 pence in London, the
biggest decline in more than three months. The stock has
returned 20 percent in the past year , compared with a 19 percent
return for the Bloomberg Europe Pharmaceutical Index. (BEPHARM) Share Repurchasing The drugmaker said it would expand a program to repurchase
shares to 2 billion to 2.5 billion pounds from 1 billion to 2
billion pounds. Glaxo switched to a “core earnings” method in the first
quarter for reporting operating profit and earnings per share,
which now excludes items such as legal charges, amortization
charges and restructuring costs, as other drugmakers do. Glaxo said last week it bid to acquire Human Genome
Sciences Inc. (HGSI) for $2.59 billion, an offer the U.S. biotechnology
company rejected. The two companies have partnered on the lupus
drug Benlysta and are collaborating on late-stage experimental
drugs darapladib to prevent heart attacks and albiglutide to
treat diabetes. While Human Genome has said the offer undervalues the sales
potential of Benlysta, Witty said it was a “full and fair”
bid. “We are the compelling owner for this business,” Witty
said. “We have the rights and operational control for the three
main assets.” Benlysta Relationship Benlysta sales were 9 million pounds in the quarter. While
the lupus treatment is the main motivation for the Human Genome
bid, the offer also includes the potential value of the two
late-stage compounds, Witty said. Human Genome has the right to
receive 10 percent in royalties from sales of darapladib and 5
percent of sales in albiglutide, he said. “The reason why we’re interested in the deal with Human
Genome is to simplify our relationship on Benlysta, to drive the
performance of Benlysta for the benefit of our shareholders and
to take efficiency opportunities that we believe exist,” he
said. An independent data monitoring board has conducted an
interim analysis of one of the two darapladib clinical trials to
assess whether the drug’s efficacy was low or high enough to
halt the study, Witty said. The board advised to continue with
the test, which doesn’t give Glaxo clarity yet on the potential
of the drug, he said. Darapladib A “modest price bump” or a so-called contingent value
right that entitles shareholders to payments if darapladib is
commercialized may be possible, Jim Birchenough, an analyst at
Bank of Montreal (BMO) Trust Co. in New York , said in a note today. Earlier this month, Glaxo deepened its 10-year
collaboration with Theravance Inc. (THRX) by boosting its stake in the
company to 27 percent from 18 percent. The companies are
developing new respiratory drugs to help succeed Glaxo’s
Seretide, marketed as Advair in the U.S. Witty declined to comment on whether the company would
raise its stake further. “We are delighted with the progress of our respiratory
pipeline,” Witty said. “We feel very comfortable with what
we’ve just done.” In emerging markets , while the company may pursue smaller
bolt-on acquisitions, it will focus more on “organic growth”
through new product introductions, Witty said. Glaxo said it has sufficient scientific data to seek
regulatory approval this year for the Relovair respiratory
medicine, Promacta for hepatitis C, and trametinib and a BRAF
inhibitor for melanoma after filing a flu vaccine in the first
quarter. The company also expects to release late-stage results
on six drugs and vaccines this year, including albiglutide and
the Mosquirix malaria inoculation. To contact the reporter on this story:
Makiko Kitamura in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at
[email protected] | 2012 | glaxo-quarterly-profit-misses-estimates-on-europe-sales |
Cameron Braces for U.K. Confidence Shock on Recession Return | By Jennifer Ryan | 2012-04-26T07:56:10Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/cameron-braces-for-u-k-confidence-shock-as-recession-returns.html | 4 | 25 | 08e38656ccb74ec3ad0563b4e6ac31f5 | Prime Minister David Cameron ’s
government is bracing itself as the first U.K. recession since
he took office threatens to deliver a shock to confidence. As the premier persists with the fiscal squeeze that has
defined his administration, he now faces twin dangers from
political fallout and economic damage. While Cameron insists his
austerity program has kept U.K. government bond yields low and
aided the economy, he said yesterday that a 0.2 percent first-
quarter contraction was “very disappointing.” “The headlines all over the place will do damage to
confidence,” said Brian Hilliard , an economist at Societe
Generale in London, who was the only one of 40 economists in a
Bloomberg News survey to correctly forecast the outcome. “It
will increase the pressure on Cameron at a time when he’s making
many missteps on other issues.” News of a double-dip recession and the threat it poses to
sentiment among consumers and businesses risks compounding the
woes of the Conservative premier after a month when the
opposition Labour Party increased its lead in opinion polls.
Cameron is nursing the fallout from negative reaction to his tax
cuts for the rich and countering suggestions that the government
improperly favored News Corp . in a takeover battle. Bank of England policy maker David Miles signaled in an
interview this week that a renewed slump could hurt sentiment, a
concern echoed yesterday by the Confederation of British
Industry , the nation’s biggest business lobby. A drop in
confidence could prompt companies to rein in investment and
consumers to curtail spending. Short-Lived Increase Nationwide Building Society said today that its consumer
confidence index rose to a nine-month high of 53 in March from
44 in February. Still, the increase in the measure, based on a
survey conducted Feb. 20 to March 25, could be “short-lived.” The GDP data are “likely to damp sentiment in the near
term, both in terms of consumers and in terms of businesses,”
said Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner. “The fact the
economic backdrop is still very difficult is clearly going to be
the main thing holding back spending.” The Office for National Statistics said yesterday the
economy shrank in the three months through March as construction
slumped 3 percent, the most in three years. In addition,
services, the biggest part of the economy, grew just 0.1
percent. The report was preliminary and the data may be revised. Damage Done Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker was among
officials and economists warning that a construction slump could
lead to a drop in gross domestic product. Policy makers said in
the minutes of their April meeting that the economy could shrink
in the first and second quarters, undermining confidence “even
if the underlying pace of economic expansion were stronger.” CBI Chief Economic Adviser Ian McCafferty said that even if
the statistics office revises the GDP number up, the damage to
confidence may already be done. “There is clearly a risk” the negative data could affect
business sentiment “given that confidence is still fragile,”
he said in London. While a CBI index published yesterday showed
that manufacturing sentiment rose to the highest in two years in
April, McCafferty said the outlook “will remain uncertain until
the euro-zone crisis is resolved.” GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) , the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, reported
first-quarter profit and sales yesterday that missed analyst
estimates as revenue declined in a “challenging” Europe. Losing Support Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne have
lost public support over their March 21 budget, which voters say
helped the rich at the expense of pensioners and charities, and
the handling of a threatened strike by tanker-truck drivers.
Their Conservative-led coalition is also under fire for
ministerial ties to Rupert Murdoch ’s News Corp. The opposition
Labour Party led the Tories by 41 percent to 33 percent in an
ICM Ltd. poll published yesterday. In response to accusations in Parliament yesterday from
Labour lawmakers that he is out of touch with the concerns of
ordinary Britons, Cameron said that the U.K. now faced “a very
tough situation that, frankly, just got tougher.” He still
pledged to stick to his deficit-cutting plans. Cameron will use a speech in London today to highlight
Britain’s ability to attract investment and say that renewable
energy companies have invested 4.7 billion pounds ($7.6 billion)
in the U.K. in the past year, supporting 15,000 jobs. He will
also announce new contracts worth 350 million pounds and 800
jobs, according to a statement released by his office. Longest Slump Britain was hit hard by the financial crisis and GDP is
still 4.3 percent below its pre-recession peak at the end of
2007. It means the British economy has had its longest peacetime
slump for a century. Each of the four previous recessions since
the 1920s saw output return to pre-slump levels within four
years, according to the National Institute of Economic and
Social Research. The latest setback to the recovery adds to the case for the
government to pull back from its austerity program, said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets
Europe in London and a former U.K. Treasury official “That would be the appropriate thing to do, but would
represent a significant political U-turn and one that would be
very uncomfortable for him to engineer,” he said. “You can
defend it in terms of the economy but it would suggest that his
strategy was misplaced.” Cameron said his policy is supporting the economy by
keeping government bond yields low and that abandoning austerity
would trigger a loss of confidence among international investors
and push up borrowing costs. The yield on the 10-year gilt was
at 2.16 percent as of 8:47 a.m. in London. That compares with an
average 3.75 percent over the last five years. “The austerity plan is the coalition’s economic raison
d’etre,” said Simon Wells, chief U.K. economist at HSBC
Holdings Plc in London and a former Bank of England official.
“I don’t see them abandoning that easily, and they have at
least until the autumn statement in November to hope that things
improve.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Jennifer Ryan in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Craig Stirling at
[email protected] | 2012 | cameron-braces-for-u-k-confidence-shock-as-recession-returns |
ING Vysya’s Bhardwaj Says India Needs More Reforms After S&P Cut | By Anoop Agrawal | 2012-04-25T08:05:08Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ing-vysya-s-bhardwaj-says-india-needs-more-reforms-after-s-p-cut.html | 4 | 25 | f4006fa0fec99d0fdc39677996d119fc2cfc94ff | Upasna Bhardwaj, an economist at
ING Vysya Bank Ltd. (VYSB) , comments after Standard & Poor’s lowered
India ’s local-currency credit outlook to negative. Bhardwaj spoke in a phone interview from Mumbai. “The government has definitely been over-ambitious in
saying it would achieve a fiscal deficit target of 5.1 percent. ‘‘The lack of a clear road map to achieve the target has
raised concerns about the feasibility of achieving the target
and that has possibly triggered the rating action. However, the
view can be reversed if the government gives a plan of action on
how the deficit target will be achieved. ‘‘The pace of reforms needs to accelerate. At some point,
the government will have to deregulate diesel prices or increase
the frequency of price increase in order to stay with the
deficit gap. ‘‘The reversal of this rating will depend on cumulative
action of how the economy fares, the trajectory of current
account deficit, how inflation is evolving and to what extent
the government is moving on fiscal discipline.’’ To contact the reporter on this story:
Anoop Agrawal in Mumbai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Hari Govind at
[email protected] | 2012 | ing-vysya-s-bhardwaj-says-india-needs-more-reforms-after-s-p-cu |
Biggs Says Stocks at Least Three Weeks From Ending Slump | By Joseph Ciolli and Kathleen Hays | 2012-04-25T21:01:52Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/biggs-says-stocks-at-least-three-weeks-from-ending-slump.html | 4 | 25 | b2a80db79bd6bc77d248687401670c4c010119d1 | Barton Biggs , the hedge-fund
manager who raised bets on equities before the Standard & Poor’s
500 Index rallied this year, said the U.S. market may slump
three or four more weeks as Europe ’s economy worsens. “I don’t think that this correction we’re in is quite over
yet,” Biggs said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio’s
“The Hays Advantage” with Kathleen Hays . “I just don’t think
it’s gone far enough. Europe is still a shipwreck, and the U.S.
economy has drifted into this soft patch.” The S&P 500 dipped 3.3 percent from an April 2 peak through
yesterday as political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands
intensified concern over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Biggs
said Europe is likely to switch emphasis to fiscal stimulation
to boost growth as its citizens continue to rebel against
austerity measures. Biggs said he has taken short positions on German and
French indexes, betting they will decline, because the political
rhetoric and economic data from Europe signal a change of course
and a deeper slump. The U.K. economy shrank in the first quarter as Britain
slid into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s,
forcing Prime Minister David Cameron to defend his spending cuts
in Parliament. Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent from the
fourth quarter, when it declined 0.3 percent, the Office for
National Statistics said today in London . Withstanding Pressure The U.S. is still primed to withstand pressure from Europe
as shown by stronger-than-expected retail sales and declining
consumer debt levels, according to Biggs. Retail sales rose 0.8
percent in March, three times as much as economists projected.
Consumer borrowing rose less than forecast in February,
restrained by a drop in credit-card debt. Federal Reserve policy makers said today they expect growth
to slowly accelerate and cut their 2012 unemployment forecast to
7.8 percent to 8 percent from an earlier forecast of at least
8.2 percent, while saying borrowing costs are likely to remain
exceptionally low at least through late 2014. The S&P 500 rose
1.4 percent to 1,390.69 in New York . “I’m relatively convinced that the U.S. is not going to
roll into a double-dip,” Biggs said. The market will end its
slump because “I don’t think it’s truly justified.” Biggs said he doesn’t plan to change his mix of investments
as the U.S. exits its current “soft patch.” He said he is
“heavily” invested in technology stocks, owns oil service and
industrial machinery stocks, and will maintain his positions to
China . To contact the reporters on this story:
Joseph Ciolli in New York at
[email protected] ;
Kathleen Hays in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Baker at
[email protected] | 2012 | biggs-says-stocks-at-least-three-weeks-from-ending-slump |
Hollande Aims at Merkel in Escalating Debt-Crisis Critique | By Helene Fouquet and Tony Czuczka | 2012-04-25T09:11:09Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/hollande-aims-fire-at-merkel-in-escalating-debt-crisis-critique.html | 4 | 25 | 45f8aafa909a47189953639811399f81 | French Socialist Francois Hollande
escalated his criticism of Europe’s debt-crisis response by
aiming his fire directly at the duo of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his campaign opponent, President Nicolas Sarkozy . “Merkel has led Europe with Sarkozy and we can measure the
results,” he said late yesterday on France’s TF1 television.
“If I am elected president, there will be a change in the focus
of Europe’s construction. Enough free market, limitless
competition, enough austerity.” The challenge to Sarkozy on crisis management leadership
underscores Hollande’s confidence he can turn his poll lead into
victory on May 6 and reflects increased opposition to Merkel’s
austerity prescription to settle Europe’s financial woes. As Europe’s two largest economies head toward potential
conflict over quashing the crisis, Merkel and her ruling party
stood firm on German-led remedies, including the debt-cutting
fiscal pact signed last month by all 17 euro-area leaders.
German officials also took aim at Hollande as they reiterated
Merkel’s backing for Sarkozy. “If Mr. Hollande were to say that he wants to increase
government spending and save less, he’ll lose the confidence of
the financial markets,” Peter Altmaier , the parliamentary whip
of Merkel’s Christian Democrats , said in an interview in Berlin
yesterday. “We will stick to our fundamental principles because
there’s really no alternative.” Resistance Growing Germany , the largest country contributor to euro-area
bailouts, is facing growing resistance from traditional allies
to its anti-crisis prescriptions as a $1 trillion firewall and
unlimited European Central Bank loans to the region’s lenders
fail to stop the turmoil from threatening Spain and Italy . ECB President Mario Draghi said it’s too early to talk
about a plan for weaning the euro area off emergency measures.
“Any exit strategy is premature given the current situation,”
Draghi told lawmakers in Brussels today. Hollande said two days ago that budget austerity across
Europe is “bringing desperation to people” and that he’ll
refocus the economy on growth if he wins. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged politicians yesterday
to tackle the country’s economic woes after his coalition
collapsed over proposed budget cuts, raising investor concern
about his country’s ability to retain its AAA credit rating. A
proposal on austerity measures will be sent to parliament today. European ‘Credibility’ Merkel, who faces two German state elections next month and
a national election in the fall of 2013, joined with Sarkozy to
craft the euro area’s crisis response over the past year and
backed him for re-election. She insisted on the need for
austerity yesterday, saying Europe’s “credibility” depends on
reducing deficits and debt. “We’re not saying that saving solves all problems,” she
told a conference in Berlin. Still, “you can’t spend more than
you take in. You can’t live your whole life this way. Everybody
knows this.” The euro strengthened for a second day against the dollar
and yen, rising 0.2 percent to $1.3218 at 10:54 a.m. Berlin time
as stock gains spurred demand for higher-yielding assets. The
risk premium for 10-year French bonds over German bunds of
similar maturity declined for a second day after reaching the
highest level since January on April 23. Merkel may cede ground to austerity critics if the Social
Democrats, the main German opposition party, increase their
support in May’s state elections as polls suggest, said Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in London . ‘Last Bastion’ If Hollande becomes French president and Merkel switches
allies to govern with the Social Democrats after the German
election in 2013, that “may further help to make views
converge,” he said in an e-mail. “The last bastion of
austerity could remain the Bundesbank.” Hollande has said he’ll seek to add growth and investment
measures to the fiscal treaty signed by Merkel, Sarkozy and 23
other EU leaders on March 2. If he’s elected, his first visit will be to meet Merkel, so
he can bring her “French people’s vote for another Europe,”
Hollande said last night. Merkel “is pretty resistant to pressure,” Altmaier said.
France ’s presidential vote and the Dutch government’s collapse
don’t change the fact that “there’s no money in Europe, only
deficits everywhere you look. Knowing the chancellor, she will
await the outcome in France and then we’ll try to come to an
understanding with the new government, whoever leads it.” Spain, Greece Europe’s front against austerity has expanded in recent
weeks after Spain struggled to meet EU-imposed deficit targets,
election campaigns in Greece faced anti-austerity rumblings and
the revolt against extra spending cuts in the Netherlands, a
traditional German ally, pushed Rutte’s coalition toward an
early breakup. The Netherlands is one of four remaining AAA
states in the euro area. For all the turbulence, “nothing has happened in recent
weeks that would raise questions” about the need for area
countries to overhaul their economies and cut debt, German
Deputy Finance Minister Hartmut Koschyk said in an interview. No financial backstop is big enough to arrest the debt
crisis and hold down borrowing costs on its own, he said. “It
doesn’t matter,” he said yesterday. “It is no substitute for
structural reforms” because “the readiness of markets to
tolerate out-of-control public debt has vanished.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Helene Fouquet in Paris at
[email protected] ;
Tony Czuczka in Berlin at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at [email protected] | 2012 | ollande-aims-fire-at-merkel-in-escalating-debt-crisis-critique |
SEC Reaches $33 Million Settlement in Insider Trading Case | By David Voreacos | 2012-04-25T20:20:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sec-reaches-33-million-settlement-in-insider-trading-case-1-.html | 4 | 25 | bfae1cf2d5cf4a239139d7dff60fb083 | A stock trader, a lawyer and a
mortgage broker who all pleaded guilty to an insider-trading
scheme that spanned 17 years agreed to pay $33 million to
resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit. Stock trader Garrett D. Bauer will pay $31.7 million,
mortgage broker Kenneth T. Robinson will pay $845,235 and
attorney Matthew H. Kluger will pay $516,510, according to a
statement by the SEC. The agency sued the men in federal court
in Newark , New Jersey, where they pleaded guilty last year. They admitted Kluger stole nonpublic data on about 30
corporate transactions while working at four law firms,
including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Wilson,
Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati PC. Kluger passed tips to Robinson,
who gave them to Bauer, who made trades. The companies included
Sun Microsystems Inc., 3Com Corp. and Acxiom Corp. (ACXM) “Bauer, Kluger and Robinson schemed to outsmart law
enforcement by structuring their relationships and
communications to avoid detection and frustrate insider-trading
detection mechanisms,” Robert Khuzami , the SEC’s enforcement
director, said in a statement. The men consented to final judgments that are subject to a
judge’s approval, according to the statement. Bauer has agreed
to a bar on working as a broker, while Kluger agreed that he
won’t appear before the SEC as an attorney. All three men are
scheduled to be sentenced on June 4 in Newark. Banks Accounts, Condo Bauer already forfeited about $20 million in bank accounts
and trading accounts, as well as a $6.65 million condominium on
the Upper East Side of Manhattan and an $875,000 home in Boca
Raton , Florida . He declined to comment on the SEC statement. “In his efforts to resolve the insider-trading charges
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Bauer has
agreed to make full disgorgement of the gross profits that he
made,” said Bauer attorney Michael Bachner . Robinson attorney Francis J. Murray and Kluger attorney
Alan Zegas didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment. Robinson, 45, of Long Beach, New York , was a mortgage
broker who secretly recorded Kluger and Bauer for the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. All three were criminally
charged in April 2011. The SEC sued Kluger and Bauer last year
and filed a complaint against Robinson today. In two instances,
according to the SEC, Robinson made trades without Bauer. Searched Computers In his plea, Kluger said the scheme started in 1994, when
he first worked as an associate for New York-based firm Cravath,
Swaine & Moore LLP. Kluger at first passed tips only on those
deals on which he worked. As the scheme developed, Kluger stole
information about deals on which he didn’t work that he learned
about by searching the firm’s computers. The scheme continued when Kluger worked from 1998 to 2001
at Skadden Arps , another New York-based firm, and when he worked
from 2001 to 2002 at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP,
Kluger admitted. It began again in December 2005 and ran until
March 2011, when Kluger worked in the Washington office of
Wilson Sonsini . Kluger said the men used prepaid mobile phones and pay
phones to discuss the deals and elude detection. After learning
in March 2011 of the probe by the FBI and the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service, Kluger destroyed a mobile phone, a computer and
an iPhone he used to look up stock quotes, he said. The cases are Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kluger,
Bauer, 11-cv-01936 and SEC v. Robinson, 12-cv-02438, U.S.
District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark). To contact the reporter on this story:
David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at
[email protected] | 2012 | sec-reaches-33-million-settlement-in-insider-trading-case-1- |
Chukyo Bank, Daiki Aluminium, Fumakilla: Japanese Stocks Preview | By Yoshiaki Nohara | 2012-04-24T23:15:56Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/canon-chikuho-bank-fanuc-kddi-japanese-stocks-preview.html | 4 | 25 | 263ec831cbd149f2bc3298b6b3ed0666 | The following companies may have
unusual price changes in Japanese trading today. Stock symbols
are in parentheses and share prices are as of the latest close.
The information in each item was released after markets shut
unless stated otherwise. Chukyo Bank Ltd. (8530) (8530 JT): The lender reported net income
of 1.85 billion yen ($22.8 million) for the year ended March
compared with a forecast of a 1.5 billion yen gain, according to
a preliminary earnings statement. The bank cited a lower-than-
expected tax burden for the results. That stock fell 1 percent
to 193 yen. Daiki Aluminium Industry Co. (5702) (5702 JT): The company
reported net income of 1.02 billion yen, beating its forecast of
790 million, for the year ended March, according to a
preliminary earnings statement. Improvement in a price gap
between materials and products drove up profit, the company said.
The stock gained 2.4 percent to 260 yen. Fumakilla Ltd. (4998) (4998 JT): The maker of pesticides reported
a loss of 838 million yen for the year ended March 31, according
to a preliminary earnings statement, citing sliding sales at
subsidiaries. That company earlier forecast a loss of 630
million yen. The stock slid 0.9 percent to 316 yen. Kameda Seika Co. Ltd. (2220) (2220 JT): The rice-cookie maker
raised its full-year dividend forecast to 13 yen from 11 yen.
The stock gained 1.9 percent to 1,799 yen. Nidec Corp. (6594) (6594 JO): The leading manufacturer of hard-
disk drive motors said net income fell 22 percent on flat sales
in the year ended March 31. The company announced separately
that it would seek to buy out Nidec Sankyo Corp., of which it
holds a 75 percent stake. The parent’s shares climbed 0.5
percent to 7,510 yen. Nikon Corp. (7731) (7731 JT): The camera maker recalled batteries
made by Sony Corp. (6758 JT) used in digital cameras on concern
they might overheat, a Nikon spokeswoman said. The companies
haven’t decided how to split recall costs, Sony said. Nikon
added 1.2 percent to 2,336 yen, while Sony fell 1.7 percent to
1,330 yen. NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437) (9437 JT): Japan ’s largest mobile-phone
carrier by market value may report a 3 percent gain in operating
profit to 900 billion yen for the year ending March 2013 as
smartphone sales push up data use and cellphone contracts
increase, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The stock fell 0.5
percent to 135,900 yen. Seiko Holdings Corp. (8050) (8050 JT): The watch maker said 522
workers at one of its units took a buyout offer, for which it
will book a 3.1 billion yen charge. The stock added 2.5 percent
to 208 yen. Shikoku Electric Power Co. (9507 JT): The utility reported
a loss of 9.3 billion yen, lower than its forecast of 11 billion
for the year ended March, according to a preliminary earnings
statement that cited cost-cutting measures. The stock rose 1.9
percent to 2,152 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (8316) (8316 JT): Japan’s
second-biggest lender by market value will buy a 24 percent
stake in China Post & Capital Fund Management Co. The bank will
pay about 10 billion yen in its first investment in a mainland
China company. The shares dropped 2.3 percent to 2,573 yen. Yahoo Japan Corp. (4689) (4689 JT): Toshiki Ohya, Yahoo Japan ’s
chief financial officer, said talks to sell a 35 percent stake
to U.S.-based Yahoo Inc. have stalled. Yahoo Japan’s shares
climbed 1.7 percent to 440 yen. To contact the reporter on this story:
Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John McCluskey at
[email protected] | 2012 | canon-chikuho-bank-fanuc-kddi-japanese-stocks-preview |
West Coast Diesel Strengthens After Regional Inventories Fall | By Lynn Doan | 2012-04-25T22:38:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/west-coast-diesel-strengthens-after-regional-inventories-fall.html | 4 | 25 | 50b6d2cffa98dd80da3e79955c04806cdc273f5d | Spot diesel in California and the
U.S. Northwest advanced against heating oil futures for a second
day after the Energy Department said distillate inventories on
the U.S. West Coast slipped to a 22-week low. Distillate stockpiles on the West Coast, known as the Padd
5 region, fell 2 percent to 11.9 million barrels in the week
ended April 20, the Energy Department said. That’s the lowest
inventory level for the fuel since Nov. 18, the agency said. California-blend, or CARB, diesel in Los Angeles climbed
0.5 cent to a premium of 9 cents a gallon versus heating oil
futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange , according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level for the
fuel in Los Angeles in eight days. San Francisco CARB diesel rose 1 cent to a 13-cent premium
against futures, the highest level since April 3. Low-sulfur
diesel in Portland , Oregon , a benchmark for the U.S. Northeast,
strengthened 0.75 cent to 20 cents a gallon above futures. Conventional, 87-octane gasoline in Portland, Oregon,
jumped 3.5 cents to a premium of 10.25 cents a gallon against
Nymex gasoline futures. West Coast gasoline inventories dropped 1.4 percent, or
422,000 barrels, to 29.3 million last week, the Energy
Department said. That’s the lowest stock level for the fuel
since Dec. 30, according to the agency. California-blend, or Carbob, gasoline in San Francisco
slipped for the first time in six days, by 1 cent to a premium
of 15 cents a gallon versus gasoline futures. Rodeo Flaring ConocoPhillips (COP) reported continuous flaring at the 128,000-
barrel-a-day Rodeo refinery in Northern California, according to
a filing with the California Emergency Management Agency . “Planned maintenance work is currently under way” at
Conoco’s San Francisco complex, consisting of the Rodeo refinery
and a plant in Arroyo Grande, California, that upgrades
feedstock for Rodeo, Rich Johnson , a Conoco spokesman at the
company’s headquarters in Houston, said in an e-mail April 23. Johnson didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail requesting
comment on the flaring. Los Angeles Carbob also fell 1 cent to 12 cents a gallon
above gasoline futures. Conoco’s 139,000-barrel-a-day Los Angeles refinery is
conducting a maintenance turnaround on the cogeneration plant
and performing a catalyst regeneration on a unifier and
hydrotreater unit, a person with direct knowledge of the work
said yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story:
Lynn Doan in San Francisco at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
[email protected] | 2012 | west-coast-diesel-strengthens-after-regional-inventories-fa |
News Corp. Turned Evidence Over to U.S. Justice Department | By Anthony Aarons | 2012-04-25T17:39:47Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/news-corp-turned-evidence-over-to-u-s-justice-department-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 2a0697b72dea6a5ae297022803a5f3136217280a | News Corp. (NWSA) turned over evidence of
“suspected illegality” to the U.S. Department of Justice as
well as London police, company Chairman Rupert Murdoch said. The information has led to the arrests of “a number of
employees” at the company’s News International unit, Murdoch
said in a witness statement to the Leveson inquiry that was
triggered by the phone-hacking scandal at the company’s now-
defunct News of the World tabloid. Alisa Finelli, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined
to comment on the investigation. Brendan Sullivan of Williams &
Connolly LLP in Washington, who was hired by News Corp. in July,
said in an e-mail he has a “long-standing practice of not
commenting on client matters.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Sara Forden in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] | 2012 | news-corp-turned-evidence-over-to-u-s-justice-department-1- |
Joint Staff Chairman Orders Inquiry Into Islam Course | By Tony Capaccio | 2012-04-25T16:41:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/joint-staff-chairman-orders-inquiry-into-islam-course.html
The top U.S. military officer has
ordered an inquiry into whether a training course on Islam
taught since 2008 contains “inflammatory” and objectionable
statements, according to a spokesman. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, ordered the inquiry yesterday after a former student
complained in March, spokesman Navy Captain John Kirby said. The
course taught to military officers is entitled, “Perspectives
on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.” “Our concern is that there are some unprofessional things
being taught to students in a professional military educational
curriculum,” Kirby told reporters today at the Pentagon. The
inquiry “will determine how the material got into the course
and what we need to do to move it forward.” The class has been suspended, he said. The eight-week, 20-student course was among the electives
officers could choose from a curriculum on conducting operations
with their fellow services taught at the Joint Forces Staff
College in Norfolk, Virginia , Kirby said. “Inflammatory ideas” were in some of the course
materials, Kirby said, recounting a classroom PowerPoint
presentation. “One of them | 4 | 25 | 1a79299fbc0bdd82f89582c9665abc3fc1d7e544 | said. “We are at war with terrorism, specifically al-Qaeda, who
has a warped view of the Islamic faith. We don’t consider us at
war with Islam.” At least one student found material presented in the class
“objectionable, and we would agree,” Kirby said. “What we don’t know is when this objectionable material
got into the course material,” said Kirby. “How long have some
of these notions been taught?” To contact the reporter on this story:
Tony Capaccio in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Walcott at
[email protected] | 2012 | joint-staff-chairman-orders-inquiry-into-islam-course |
Coke’s Stock Split Recalls Buffett’s Pickpocket Warning | By Andrew Frye and Duane D. Stanford | 2012-04-25T20:45:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/coke-s-stock-split-recalls-buffett-s-warning-against-pickpockets.html | 4 | 25 | ee2bd8014ca34a9c851e39baa6d18501 | Coca-Cola Co. (KO) Chairman Muhtar Kent ,
who pushed for the beverage maker’s 11th stock split with an
appeal for greater market liquidity, may be philosophically at
odds with his biggest investor, Warren Buffett. Buffett, who controls a Coca-Cola stake of almost $15
billion, has resisted splitting Class A shares of his Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) , which closed yesterday at $119,700. Splits, he
said in a 1984 letter, may encourage short-term investment
strategies that enrich brokers at the expense of the business. “I don’t know what he would say about this one,” said
Howard Buffett , the investor’s son and a director at Atlanta-
based Coca-Cola. Howard Buffett, who spoke today on the
sidelines of the soft-drink maker’s annual meeting, said he
voted for the 2-for-1 split and had not discussed the
transaction with his father. “Every situation is different.” The transaction will halve the price of Coca-Cola, which
ended yesterday at $74.12, making it more affordable for retail
investors, said Jack Russo , an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. It
“reflects our desire to share value with an ever-growing number
of people and organizations around the world,” Kent, also the
chief executive officer, said today in a statement. “It’s somewhat ironic that a stock that’s been part of the
Buffett portfolio all these years is playing that stock-
splitting game,” said David Rolfe , chief investment officer of
Berkshire shareholder Wedgewood Partners Inc. “Be careful what
you wish for. Is it more and better shareholders that are going
to have a long term view? I doubt it.” Coca-Cola rose 1.1 percent to $74.93 at 4 p.m. in New York.
Berkshire, where Buffett is chairman and CEO, accumulated its
stake in the world’s largest soft-drink maker from 1988 to 1994
at a cost of about $1.3 billion. ‘Pickpocket of Enterprise’ Coca-Cola split its stock in 2-for-1 transactions three
times while Buffett, a Coca-Cola director from 1989 to 2006, was
on the board. Howard Buffett, also a director at Berkshire,
joined the Coca-Cola board in 2010. “One of the ironies of the stock market is the emphasis on
activity,” Warren Buffett said in the 1984 letter . “But
investors should understand that what is good for the croupier
is not good for the customer. A hyperactive stock market is the
pickpocket of enterprise.” Shareholders at today’s annual meeting stood and applauded
when Kent told them of the newly proposed split. Warren Buffett
didn’t mention the action in a video he taped to open the
meeting. ‘Never Sold a Share’ “I’ve had a relationship with Coke for over 70 years,”
Buffett, who drinks Cherry Coke, said in the video. “Today we
own 200 million shares. We’ve never sold a share of Coca-Cola.” Kent Landers , a spokesman for Coca-Cola, declined to
comment about the statements in Buffett’s letter. Warren Buffett
didn’t return a message seeking comment. Buffett, who holds more than $40 billion in Berkshire
stock, has said gains represent a barrier to entry for short-
term investors and encourage shareholders to think like owners.
Berkshire shares cost a minimum of $33,200 each 16 years ago.
The cost of entry fell as Buffett added a second class of stock
and, two years ago, split the B shares to facilitate the $26.5
billion cash-and-stock takeover of railroad Burlington Northern
Santa Fe . ‘One Opinion’ Berkshire Class B shares rose 15 cents to $79.94. Buffett
split the B shares 50 for 1 in 2010, and said it enabled
Burlington Northern investors to convert more of their holdings
into Berkshire shares, reducing cash proceeds and tax costs.
Howard Buffett said his father has “one opinion about how
Berkshire should handle a stock split and another about how Coke
would handle it.” The stock split requires shareholder
approval. Coca-Cola’s quarterly dividend has advanced more than 10-
fold since Berkshire began buying shares, and Buffett said in
2011 that he expected the payouts to double in the next 10
years. Berkshire’s share of the quarterly payout rose to $102
million this year. “Time is the friend of the wonderful business,” Buffett
said of Coca-Cola in his letter to shareholders last year. To contact the reporters on this story:
Andrew Frye in New York at
[email protected] ;
Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta at
[email protected] . To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Dan Kraut at [email protected] ;
Kevin Orland at [email protected] . | 2012 | coke-s-stock-split-recalls-buffett-s-warning-against-pickpockets |
Darvish Outduels Kuroda as Rangers Defeat Yankees to Tie Series | By Dex McLuskey | 2012-04-25T04:22:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/darvish-outduels-kuroda-as-rangers-defeat-yankees-to-tie-series.html | 4 | 25 | da2eedf292e83e05b474268bc646195c6c5e8bc7 | Yu Darvish came within two outs of
his first complete game in Major League Baseball as he guided
the Texas Rangers to a 2-0 win against the New York Yankees . Darvish improved to 3-0 as he struck out 10 batters and
allowed seven hits in 8 1/3 innings in front of a sellout crowd
last night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Yankees
starter Hiroki Kuroda (1-3) took the loss, giving up two runs on
five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish outdueled Kuroda in the seventh major league game
between starting pitchers born in Japan. The Rangers improved to
14-4, the best record in the American League. The Yankees are
10-7. “He has a lot of talent, and when you have a guy like that
on the mound you just gotta find a way to score runs,” Texas
shortstop Elvis Andrus said in a televised interview. “He kept
us in the game.” The Yankees beat Texas 7-4 in the opener of the three-game
series, which is scheduled to conclude tonight. Darvish, who threw 119 pitches, in January signed a six-
year contract with the Rangers that MLB.com said is worth about
$60 million. The deal came after the Rangers paid a record $51.7
million to his Japanese team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters,
for the right to negotiate with the 25-year-old Darvish, who
went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA in 28 games in Japan last season. Kuroda, a 37-year-old right-hander who never pitched in a
game opposite Darvish in Japan , signed a one-year, $10 million
contract with the Yankees in January after spending four seasons
with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lead-Off Homer Ian Kinsler hit Kuroda’s third pitch 429 feet to center
field for his fifth home run of the season. It was the 21st time
Kinsler has led off a game with a home run, extending his
franchise record. Darvish found himself in a jam in the third when he failed
to field a bunt by Derek Jeter after giving up a single to Eric Chavez and walking Russell Martin. Darvish then struck out
Curtis Granderson and the Rangers escaped on a double-play
groundout by Alex Rodriguez . In the bottom of the third, Andrus walked with two outs and
stole second before scoring on a Josh Hamilton single. Manager Booed Rangers manager Ron Washington was booed as he walked to
the mound in the ninth inning to relieve Darvish, who
surrendered a single to Nick Swisher with his final pitch. The
game ended with a double-play grounder by Raul Ibanez on the
next pitch to give Joe Nathan his fifth save of the season. The last major league matchup of Japanese starting pitchers
was on July 22, 2010, when Kuroda and the Dodgers beat Hisanori Takahashi and the New York Mets 2-0. Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox has been a part of
two major league games involving Japanese starting pitchers,
facing Kenshin Kawakami of the Atlanta Braves in 2009 and Tomo Ohka of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007. Ohka also started against
Mac Suzuki of the Kansas City Royals in 2002. In the first major league game featuring two Japanese
starting pitchers, Hideki Irabu of the Yankees faced Suzuki in
1999. Hideo Nomo of the Detroit Tigers went up against Suzuki
the following year. To contact the reporter on this story:
Dex McLuskey in Dallas at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at [email protected] . | 2012 | darvish-outduels-kuroda-as-rangers-defeat-yankees-to-tie-series |
Gold May Extend Climb Alongside Equities on U.S. Data, Earnings | By Glenys Sim | 2012-04-25T01:41:29Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/gold-may-extend-climb-alongside-equities-on-u-s-data-earnings.html | 4 | 25 | 68b4162f8c2fdfcad77330bdba7f4335756b594c | Gold may gain for a second day
after better-than-forecast company earnings and signs the U.S.
economy is improving drove global equities higher. Spot gold was little changed at $1,641.95 an ounce at 9:39
a.m. in Singapore after climbing 0.2 percent yesterday as the
dollar dropped to a three-week low against a six-currency basket
including the euro. June-delivery bullion was little changed at
$1,642.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York. New homes in the U.S. were sold at a 328,000 annual rate in
March, Commerce Department data showed yesterday, beating the
319,000 pace forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Apple Inc.’s
profit almost doubled last quarter while AT&T Inc., the largest
U.S. telephone company, posted better-than-estimated earnings,
helping U.S. stocks advance. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed
for the first time in five days today. “Gold prices rallied in line with a recovery in investor
risk appetite and a modest increase in the euro,” James Steel ,
an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., wrote in a note.
“Hints of stabilization in the U.S. housing market may have
helped boost equities thereby lending support to gold.” The dollar held a drop versus the euro before Federal
Reserve policy makers conclude a two-day gathering. The Federal
Open Market Committee will release forecasts for interest rates,
growth, inflation and unemployment later today. Spot silver, this year’s best-performing precious metal,
was little changed at $30.845 an ounce. Cash platinum climbed
0.2 percent to $1,547.75 an ounce, rebounding from its drop to a
three-month low yesterday. Palladium, this year’s worst-
performing precious metal, fell 0.2 percent to $667.50 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story:
Glenys Sim in Singapore at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Poole at
[email protected] | 2012 | gold-may-extend-climb-alongside-equities-on-u-s-data-earnings |
Sudan Says South Sudan Expels Workers at Pipeline Company | By Salma El Wardany | 2012-04-25T10:07:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sudan-says-south-sudan-expels-workers-at-pipeline-company-1-.html | 4 | 25 | d657a534bd29f7d6c873d9ec4dbaf543c4e3dca7 | South Sudan expelled 154 Sudanese
employees of Petrodar Operating Co. , an oil-pipeline operator,
and gave them 72 hours to leave the country, Sudan’s Foreign
Ministry said. The Sudanese government is contacting its embassy in Juba,
the South Sudanese capital, and the company to ensure the safe
return of its nationals working in the Fulj oilfield, al-Obeid
Murawih, a spokesman for the ministry, said by phone from
Khartoum today. Sudan may take retaliatory measures for the
expulsions, he said. “This is an arbitrary decision by Juba,” Murawih said.
“We have thousands of southerners working in northern companies
here and we can do the same and deny them visas.” South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir , said yesterday Sudan
“declared war” on his newly independent country by carrying
out aerial bombardments of southern territory. Clashes between
the neighboring countries escalated when South Sudan occupied
the disputed border region of Heglig on April 10. South Sudan
announced on April 20 it was withdrawing its forces from the
oil-rich region, while Sudan said its soldiers forced them to
retreat. The Sudanese government is in the process of lodging a new
complaint to the United Nations Security Council and regional
and international organizations over South Sudan’s claim of
ownership of Heglig territory, Murawih said. Sudanese government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin
didn’t immediately answer his mobile phone, while no one
answered the phone at Petrodar’s office in Juba when called for
comment. Petrodar’s biggest shareholders are China ’s state-owned
China National Petroleum Corp. and Kuala Lumpur-based Petroliam
Nasional Bhd. To contact the reporter on this story:
Salma El Wardany in Khartoum via Nairobi at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Antony Sguazzin at [email protected] . | 2012 | sudan-says-south-sudan-expels-workers-at-pipeline-company-1- |
SM Prime Rises Most in a Month in Manila on 15% Profit Gain | By Ian Sayson | 2012-04-25T05:02:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sm-prime-rises-most-in-a-month-in-manila-on-15-profit-gain.html | 4 | 25 | d63565e7042c5838f16b9eadd171e246a9e06bcc | SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) advanced the
most in more than a month after the largest Philippine shopping
mall operator’s first-quarter profit grew 15 percent and said
earnings growth would be sustained for the rest of the year. The stock rose 2 percent to 17.12 pesos as of 11:17 a.m. in
Manila , poised for the sharpest gain since March 16. First-
quarter net income climbed to 2.43 billion pesos ($57 million)
as sales increased 16 percent to 7.03 billion pesos, the Manila-
based company said in a statement yesterday. A 15 percent profit growth “should be achievable moving
forward in 2012” as consumer spending is likely to improve,
Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Lim said yesterday. SM Prime benefited from the addition of shopping malls in
the Philippines in the past two years and rising momentum from
its China operations, Lim said. Profit may rise 12 percent to
10.1 billion pesos this year, according to the average estimate
of 11 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The earnings report was “ahead of expectations,” Carl Sy,
a Manila-based analyst at Deutsche Bank AG., said in a note
yesterday. “SM Prime seems to be bucking its decade-long trend
of falling margins.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Ian Sayson in Manila at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
[email protected] | 2012 | sm-prime-rises-most-in-a-month-in-manila-on-15-profit-gain |
ITG Plans Transaction-Cost Tool for Foreign Exchange | By Nandini Sukumar | 2012-04-25T11:10:17Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/itg-plans-transaction-cost-tool-for-foreign-exchange.html | 4 | 25 | 2e4bea7f6dd3e328c26338f9cd74d93ed85f6cc9 | Investment Technology Group Inc. (ITG) , a
brokerage and financial technology firm, will offer tools to
measure the cost of trading in the foreign-exchange market as
fund managers seek to manage their expenses. ITG’s transaction-cost-analysis product will use data from
10 providers and complements the firm’s tool for studying
equities, the New York-based company said in an e-mailed
statement today. “Foreign exchange is the largest and most liquid
securities trading market, but it is also among the least
transparent and most challenging to trade in,” Ian Domowitz,
head of ITG analytics, said in the statement. The new service
seeks to “measure performance, improve execution processes and
quality and fulfill compliance requirements.” Transaction-cost analysis, which allows funds to measure
trading performance and gauge whether they are getting best
execution, is expanding beyond equities as banks seek to cut
costs following the worst financial crisis since the Great
Depression. ITG’s product will compete with Abel Noser Corp.,
which on April 17 said it’s starting a similar service. To contact the reporter on this story:
Nandini Sukumar in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew Rummer at
[email protected] | 2012 | itg-plans-transaction-cost-tool-for-foreign-exchange |
Canadian Natural Gas Advances on Signs Producers Paring Output | By Gene Laverty | 2012-04-25T22:26:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/canadian-natural-gas-advances-on-signs-producers-paring-output.html | 4 | 25 | 63e3b1656649e94bd9b9a7aee5c9c471341e8770 | Canadian natural gas rose amid
speculation that production cuts spurred by decade-low prices
are starting to take hold. Alberta gas rose 8.5 percent. Encana Corp. (ECA) , Canada ’s
biggest natural-gas producer, plans to cut output to 3.1 billion
cubic feet a day this year from 3.33 billion in 2011, Chief
Executive Officer Randy Eresman said at the company’s annual
meeting. Encana expects to see prices start to recover as
drilling rig counts and production fall, he said. “We’re starting to see signs of price improvement,”
Eresman told the meeting in Calgary. “I’m cautiously optimistic
of a price recovery later this year or early into next.” Alberta gas for May delivery advanced 8.5 cents to C$1.58 a
gigajoule ($1.53 per million British thermal units) as of 5 p.m.
New York time on NGX , a Canadian Internet market. Gas traded on the exchange is shipped to users in Canada
and the U.S. and priced on TransCanada Corp. (TRP) ’s Alberta system.
NGX gas is down 45 percent this year. Natural gas for May delivery on the New York Mercantile
Exchange rose 9.3 cents, or 4.7 percent, to settle at $2.068 per
million Btu. Spot gas at the Alliance delivery point near Chicago gained
1.45 cents to $2.1223 per million Btu on the Intercontinental
Exchange . Alliance is an express line that can carry 1.5 billion
cubic feet a day from western Canada. Spot Prices At the Kingsgate point on the border of Idaho and British
Columbia, gas fell 3.05 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.8337 per
million Btu. At Malin, Oregon , where Canadian gas is traded for
California markets, prices slipped 4.72 cents, or 2.4 percent,
to $1.9172. Volume on TransCanada’s Alberta system , which collects the
output of most of the nation’s gas wells, was 16.6 billion cubic
feet, 249 million below target. Gas was flowing at a daily rate of 2 billion cubic feet at
Empress, Alberta, where the fuel is transferred to TransCanada’s
main line. At McNeil, Saskatchewan, where gas is transferred to the
Northern Border Pipeline for shipment to the Chicago area, the
daily flow rate was 2.1 billion cubic feet. Available capacity on TransCanada’s British Columbia system
at Kingsgate was 949 million cubic feet. The system was forecast
to carry 1.7 billion cubic feet today, or 64 percent of its
capacity of 2.65 billion. The volume on Spectra Energy ’s British Columbia system,
which gathers the fuel in northeastern British Columbia for
delivery to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, totaled 3.07
billion cubic feet at 4:50 p.m. To contact the reporter on this story:
Gene Laverty in Calgary at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
[email protected] | 2012 | canadian-natural-gas-advances-on-signs-producers-paring-outpu |
Truworths Chief Favors Using Cash Hoard for Expansion | By Mike Cohen | 2012-04-26T15:36:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/truworths-chief-favors-using-cash-hoard-for-expansion.html | 4 | 25 | 3260483cb67743bfaa7cd9d1e19c5b24 | Truworths International Ltd. (TRU) Chief
Executive Officer Michael Mark said he would rather use the
South African clothing retailer’s record-high cash hoard to
boost credit sales and acquisitions than pay a special dividend. The retailer’s cash balance has swelled more than eightfold
over the past five fiscal years to 1.8 billion rand ($231
million), along with a doubling of sales and an average 24
percent annual increase in dividends. Since 2002, Cape Town-
based Truworths spent 1.7 billion rand buying back shares. “I wish I could use it internally first and that’s mainly
on the debtors’ book,” Mark said in an interview. “My second
preference is on expanding the business. My third is a great
acquisition. My fourth is neutral between increasing dividend
flow and a steady share buy-back or a combination. My least
appealing option, personally, is a special dividend.” Truworths, which competes against Bain Capital LLC’s Edcon
Holdings (Pty) Ltd., Foschini Group Ltd. (TFG) , Woolworths Holdings
Ltd. (WHL) and Mr Price Group Ltd. (MPC) , operates 552 stores, 21 of them in
African countries outside its home market. More than 70 percent
of sales are derived from the retailer’s 2.4 million account
holders, which have to be financed. ‘Good Investment’ “Truworths could increase their dividends, but their
return on equity has been pretty good,” said Gabriel Sacks, an
assistant fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc (ADN) in
London , which oversees about 20 percent of Truworths stock.
“They have been a very good investment. We do like our
companies to have robust balance sheets so we wouldn’t want to
see them moving to a highly geared” position. Truworths has a return on equity of about 39 percent
compared with about 27 percent at Cape Town-based Foschini and a
global median for specialty apparel stores of 20 percent,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock has more than
doubled over the past five years compared with an increase of
about 72 percent in Foschini over the same period. The shares rose 0.4 percent to 83 rand in Johannesburg,
giving the company a market value of 38.2 billion rand. All options to utilize excess cash, including paying a
special dividend, remain under consideration, and there is
plenty of scope for share buy-backs without reducing the
tradability of the company’s stock, Mark said in the April 24
interview in Cape Town . ‘Not Our Money’ “I am very, very aware that it’s not our money,” he said.
The pressure to use the company’s cash is “contained because
our return on equity is still well above the norm and above the
industry average.” Truworths last made an acquisition in 2006, when it bought
a controlling stake in South African fashion retailer Uzzi for
an undisclosed amount. While it has looked at buying a number of
other businesses since then, the owners demanded a higher price
than Truworths was willing to pay, Mark said. “I don’t want us to be known as these guys who are always
looking and never buying,” he said. “I’m hoping we will be
more successful over the next 12 to 18 months. I think lately we
have found a methodology and a formula” to value acquisitions
that will satisfy Truworths and the sellers. Plans by Spain ’s Inditex SA (ITX) , the world’s largest clothing
retailer, to roll out its Zara chain in South Africa don’t pose
a major threat, he said. Low Down on List “Quite low down on my list of concerns would be the
foreign entrants, because they are small, they have got their
own learning curves they have got to go through,” he said.
“Their brands are not well known.” Truworths is expanding its presence in Africa, opening
stores in Nigeria , Ghana, Kenya and Zambia and acquiring its
franchise outlets in Botswana. It has also entered into a
franchise agreement in Angola. Truworths is not considering
making acquisitions in other African countries, Mark said. “We are quite encouraged by their more active role in
Africa,” Aberdeen’s Sacks said in a phone interview. “It’s a
better use of cash to expand than to have it sitting on the
balance sheet.” Establishing a sizable presence in Africa will take time
and South Africa will remain Truworths’ main focus for some
time, Mark said. “Ten or 15 years into the future, which I have to admit is
going to be past my time, Truworths has got to be, and will be,
an African chain,” Mark said. “We will have to make lots of
changes and adjust.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Mike Cohen in Cape Town at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew J. Barden at [email protected] | 2012 | ruworths-chief-favors-using-cash-hoard-for-expansion |
Merkel Backs Draghi’s Call for Growth to Combat Debt Crisis | By Tony Czuczka and Patrick Donahue | 2012-04-25T15:24:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/merkel-backs-draghi-s-call-for-growth-to-combat-debt-crisis.html | 4 | 25 | e2fd3490995c392068738c3ab827728a8aa85a30 | Chancellor Angela Merkel backed
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi ’s call to focus on
spurring economic growth, as German officials rejected charges
they are fixated on budget austerity to fight the debt crisis. Europe needs growth “in the way that Mario Draghi, the
president of the European Central Bank, said it today, that is
in the form of structural reforms,” the chancellor told a
conference of her Christian Democratic bloc in Berlin today. Merkel was responding to a call by Draghi in Brussels for
European leaders to widen their crisis response beyond cutting
debt and deficits, the goal of the German-led fiscal pact signed
by euro-area leaders in March. Draghi entered the fray as
Francois Hollande , the French presidential election front-
runner, campaigns for treaty changes to promote growth. “We’ve had a fiscal compact,” Draghi said. “What is most
present in my mind now is to have a growth compact.” Hollande called the remarks helpful and said France won’t
ratify the fiscal pact in its current form if he is elected.
“The main risk at this time is that the European economy
remains in a recession because not enough credit is provided to
companies,” the Socialist candidate told a news conference in
Paris today. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and the biggest country
contributor to euro-area bailouts for Greece , Portugal and
Ireland, is facing calls from across the region to augment its
austerity emphasis as a $1 trillion firewall and unlimited ECB
loans fail to stop the crisis from threatening Spain and Italy . ‘Firm and Friendly’ Setting his sights beyond France’s runoff vote on May 6
that polls suggest he will win, Hollande said he’ll be “firm
and friendly” with Merkel. “We’ll have to open the discussion.
There’s no need to create a conflict, even if we’re not here to
hide our divergences.” The European Union’s head office today asked for a growth-
boosting 6.8 percent budget increase to 138 billion euros ($182
billion) for 2013, challenging contributor countries from
Britain to Germany to put up more money at a time of austerity
and recession. Merkel, who spent months lobbying fellow leaders for the
fiscal pact signed on March 2, said budget rigor isn’t the only
solution to the crisis. “We need growth in the form of
sustainable initiatives, not simply economic stimulus programs
that just increase government debt,” she said in Berlin. Country-Specific The growth pact may take the form of an annex to the fiscal
compact in which country-specific recommendations for growth-
boosting measures would be made, a German government official
said on condition of anonymity. Steps to raise competitiveness
along with structural reforms are likely to feature, with a
target date for completion of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in
Mexico on June 18-19, the official said. “The new European mantra is fiscal discipline and
growth,” Douglas Borthwick, managing director and head of
foreign-exchange trading at Faros Trading LLC in Stamford ,
Connecticut , said in an e-mail. “I expect an announcement of
Europe-wide infrastructure within the next month.” Europe has had “enough” austerity, Hollande said
yesterday in an interview with France’s TF1 television. He said
two days ago that budget austerity across Europe is “bringing
desperation to people” and that he’ll refocus the economy on
growth if he gets elected. Germany has always regarded reducing debt along with
measures to bolster economic growth as key to winning back
financial-market confidence damaged during the debt crisis,
Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Steffen said separately today. No ‘Taliban’ “Talking about fiscal discipline does not mean that
Germany is, let’s say, more or less a kind of consolidation
Taliban,” Steffen said at a Euromoney conference in Berlin.
“We do not think it’s all about fiscal consolidation, we very
much believe that the euro zone also needs more growth.” Steffen and Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret both
defended Germany’s insistence that overspending European
governments cut their budget deficits. If governments keep cutting deficits, “negative short-term
effects can’t be ruled out,” said Dombret. Even so,
“consolidation constitutes necessary corrections of an
unsustainable development,” he said. “The long-term gains not only vastly exceed potential
short-term pain, they also help to alleviate it now by restoring
the lost credibility in the ability to tackle the root causes of
the crisis.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Tony Czuczka in Berlin at
[email protected] ;
Patrick Donahue in Berlin at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at
[email protected] | 2012 | erkel-backs-draghi-s-call-for-growth-to-combat-debt-crisis |
New Zealand’s Dollar Advances After Reserve Bank Holds Cash Rate | By Garfield Reynolds | 2012-04-25T21:26:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/new-zealand-s-dollar-advances-after-reserve-bank-holds-cash-rate.html | 4 | 25 | 0c8e7dbb54b400496eb00a431f218eca81731e9e | The New Zealand dollar advanced
after the Reserve Bank left its official cash rate at a record-
low 2.5 percent. The so-called kiwi climbed against all 16 of its major
peers after RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard said the economy was
“showing signs of recovery.” The Australian currency gained
for a second day versus the U.S. dollar after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s comments that he’s prepared to “do
more” to boost the economy raised concern more monetary stimulus
will debase the greenback. The New Zealand dollar rose to 81.71 U.S. cents as of 7:22
a.m. in Sydney, from 81.34 cents yesterday in New York. It
climbed 0.4 percent to 66.41 yen. Australia’s currency
strengthened to $1.0364 from $1.0353 and advanced to 84.27 yen
from 84.22 yen. To contact the reporter on this story:
Garfield Reynolds in Sydney at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Edward Johnson at
[email protected] | 2012 | new-zealand-s-dollar-advances-after-reserve-bank-holds-cash-rate |
TD Says Lawyer Falsely Told Judge Document Didn’t Exist | By Susannah Nesmith and David Glovin | 2012-04-26T04:01:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/td-bank-says-its-lawyer-wrongly-claimed-document-didn-t-exist.html | 4 | 25 | 72e43fe3fe974ce551acac0d5caa2bc9fe65d00c | A Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) lawyer
falsely told a judge that a document didn’t exist when investors
suing over convicted conman Scott Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme
requested it, the bank’s attorneys said in a filing. The bank this week produced the document, an internal bank
record called a “Standard Investigative Protocol,” and told a
judge that its attorney had previously given false information
when she said it didn’t exist. TD Bank also replaced the law firm , Greenberg Traurig LLP,
which represented it during a January trial in which the bank
was sued by investors who claimed it should have detected money
laundering in accounts Rothstein held there. Jurors in Miami
awarded the investors $67 million. McGuireWoods LLP will now represent TD Bank in the lawsuit
and in a related one, Rebecca Acevedo, a bank spokeswoman, said
in a statement. “TD and Greenberg Traurig decided it was in the best
interest of all concerned that McGuireWoods represents TD,”
Acevedo said. During the January trial, one of the bank’s attorneys with
Greenberg Traurig told U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke that
the bank didn’t have a “Standard Investigative Protocol,”
according to a transcript of proceedings on Jan. 13. A TD Bank
senior vice president also said in an affidavit that the
document didn’t exist. ‘Professional Manner’ “We cannot comment directly about facts regarding our
representation of a client, particularly a matter currently
before the court,” Jill Perry, a spokeswoman for Greenberg
Traurig, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “We are
working to address this situation in a professional manner.” David Mandel, attorney for the investors, declined to
comment. Separately, the investors, known collectively as the
Coquina group, asked the judge last week to sanction the bank
because a different document produced by the bank was altered
before it was given to Coquina’s attorneys. Cooke has scheduled a hearing for Greenberg Traurig to
address the issue of the altered document and to show why its
attorneys shouldn’t held in contempt for their statements about
the protocol. 50-Year Sentence Rothstein, co-founder of the now-defunct Fort Lauderdale-
based firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler, is serving a 50-year
sentence for conspiracy to commit fraud. Investigators say his
$1.2 billion Ponzi scheme is the largest in Florida history.
Rothstein sold investors stakes in sexual- and employment-
discrimination cases that turned out to be non-existent. After briefly fleeing the country when the scheme collapsed
in October 2009, Rothstein has been cooperating with
investigators. Eight associates have been accused of helping him
defraud investors. The case is Coquina Investments v. Rothstein, 10-cv-60786,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida (Miami). To contact the reporter on this story:
David Glovin in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at
[email protected] | 2012 | d-bank-says-its-lawyer-wrongly-claimed-document-didn-t-exis |
Indicted Trader Kupersmith Plans Guilty Plea, Lawyer Says | By Chris Dolmetsch | 2012-04-25T19:55:19Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/indicted-trader-kupersmith-plans-guilty-plea-lawyer-says-1-.html | 4 | 25 | dd948555a1fc41d8bb585c6e07f26a18 | Scott Kupersmith, who was charged
with taking part in a scheme involving $60 million in illegal
stock trades, intends to plead guilty to fraud and grand larceny
in New York , his lawyer said. Prosecutors said Kupersmith, 47, used assumed identities to
create five shell companies employed in the scheme and defrauded
at least six broker-dealers of more than $830,000. A hearing scheduled for today before New York State Supreme
Court Justice Maxwell Wiley in Manhattan was postponed until May
9 because Kupersmith’s attorney, Leonard Levenson, didn’t show
up. Kupersmith, who is in federal custody in a related case, was
in court for the scheduled hearing. He didn’t speak during the
proceeding. “This is the tail of the dog,” Levenson said later,
referring to the state charges. “His plea will have little
consequence on the time he spends in jail,” the lawyer, who
arrived after today’s proceeding was postponed, said in an
interview outside court. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office had no
comment on a plea, Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman, said in a phone
interview. Plea Negotiations Plea negotiations with federal prosecutors are under way in
New Jersey, where Kupersmith was charged with securities and
wire fraud in October, according to a court document filed on
March 15. Lisa Mack, an attorney with the federal public
defender’s office in New Jersey who is representing Kupersmith
there, didn’t immediately return a voice-mail message seeking
comment. Kupersmith, of Boca Raton , Florida , and formerly of Alpine,
New Jersey, was arrested in Florida in October after a joint
investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey and
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to court
documents and a statement from Vance’s office. He is in federal
custody in Essex County, New Jersey. Kupersmith and others are accused of taking part in a
scheme known as “free-riding,” where a customer buys or sells
securities in a brokerage account without having the money or
securities to pay for them, according to a court document filed
by federal prosecutors in New Jersey. “Free-riders” typically cover their purchases by buying
shares of the same security on the same day through another
firm, and attempt to profit from short-term price changes
without putting personal assets at risk, according to the court
filing. Brokerage Accounts Kupersmith and associates opened more than three dozen
brokerage accounts in 2008 and 2009, including nine separate
accounts at firms located in New Jersey and elsewhere,
prosecutors said in the court filing. Kupersmith asked that each account be opened as a
“delivery-versus-payment,” or DVP, account, which allows
clients to buy or sell securities with one firm and settle them
with cash or securities from an account at another firm,
according to the court filing. Brokerage firms “generally” only allow institutional
customers or individuals with high net worth to open DVP
accounts, and Kupersmith “falsely represented” to the firms
that he had a personal net worth of about $5 million and ran a
hedge fund with a liquid net worth of about $10 million to $20
million, according to the court filing. Kupersmith traded securities including shares of Baidu
Inc. (BIDU) , the owner of China ’s dominant search engine, and CME Group
Inc. (CME) , the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange ,
prosecutors said in the filing. Failed to Settle Starting in about October 2009, Kupersmith failed to settle
many of the trades, including orders to sell about 48,700 shares
of Baidu for $15 million that he failed to deliver, forcing two
of the brokerage firms to buy the stock on the open market and
lose more than $600,000, prosecutors said. Kupersmith also used
the personal information of a relative and a friend to open
additional accounts. Kupersmith used the accounts to buy about $64 million worth
of securities, and made more than $1.2 million through the
illegal trades, according to a statement from Vance’s office.
The broker-dealers, which include Morgan Keegan & Co., William
Blair & Co. and JPMorgan Securities LLC, lost more than
$830,000, Vance’s office said. Kupersmith also solicited investors to invest in a hedge
fund he claimed to control, telling them it had an annual return
of about 30 percent and that he had personally made more than $1
million in the past year, prosecutors said in the documents. He
told investors their principal was guaranteed, and told at least
one potential investor that he would get a return of about 43
percent every three months. $500,000 Raised Kupersmith raised about $500,000 for the non-existent hedge
fund, which he used to pay for flights, limos, luxury hotel
rooms and visits to adult entertainment clubs, as well as to
fund the investment scheme and make payments to other investors,
prosecutors said. Kupersmith faces as long as 20 years in prison and a $5
million fine for each of the charges against him in New Jersey.
He also faces a civil suit filed by the SEC. Levenson said he would take the case to trial in New York
if the proposed sentence attached to the plea deal carried
additional jail time. “It’s a little iffy as to whether he committed the fraud
that was outlined in the indictment,” Levenson said.
“Essentially what he did was he exaggerated his net worth in
order to obtain credit with broker dealers.” The New York case is People v. Kupersmith, 04360-2011, New
York state Supreme Court (Manhattan). The New Jersey cases are
U.S. v. Kupersmith, 11-mj-03750, and Securities and Exchange
Commission v. Kupersmith, 11-cv-06277, U.S. District Court,
District of New Jersey (Newark). To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Dolmetsch in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] | 2012 | indicted-trader-kupersmith-plans-guilty-plea-lawyer-says-1- |
Romney Claims Win Vowing End to Obama ‘Disappointments’ | By Julie Hirschfeld Davis | 2012-04-25T17:13:24Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/romney-wins-in-connecticut-rhode-island-and-delaware-1-.html
Mitt Romney has declared himself
the Republican presidential nominee and launched his general-
election campaign against President Barack Obama, seeking to
turn the president’s own promises against him and capitalize on
voters’ disaffection with the economy . The day after Romney used a five-state primary sweep to
make clear he views the Republican race over, the party chairman
labeled him the “presumptive nominee” and his closest
remaining competitor in accruing delegates, Newt Gingrich , moved
toward dropping his bid. “ Governor Romney ’s strong performance and delegate count
at this stage of the primary process has made him our party’s
presumptive nominee,” Republican National Committee Chairman
Reince Priebus said in a statement. Priebus also said he is working to ensure the party and
Romney’s campaign are “fully synchronized” into a “unified
team to defeat Barack Obama .” Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, planned to end his
candidacy next week and back Romney, according to a person
familiar with his intentions. Useful Future “He’s talking to Governor Romney and the Republican
National Committee about how he might be useful in the future,”
said Gingrich adviser Bob Walker, a former U.S. representative
from Pennsylvania. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts , used words
akin to a nomination acceptance speech as he spoke to supporters
at a hotel in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, last night. “After 43 primaries and caucuses, many long days and more
than a few long nights, I can say with confidence | 4 | 25 | 6b2717e1e9f447969624d5c24c047d24 | he was arranging a private meeting with him in the next week or
two. “It’s very clear that he’s going to be the Republican
nominee and I’m going to be for the Republican nominee,”
Santorum said in an interview on CNN, adding that his remarks
were not intended as a formal endorsement. To contact the reporter on this story:
Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jeanne Cummings at
[email protected] | 2012 | romney-wins-in-connecticut-rhode-island-and-delaware-1- |
Mad Cow Disease Remains Rare Since Discovery in U.K.: Factsheet | By Stephanie Armour and Angela Zimm | 2012-04-25T04:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/mad-cow-disease-remains-rare-since-discovery-in-u-k-factsheet.html | 4 | 25 | caee5434561742d79a0c989c66bb7984 | Mad cow disease, identified in four
cases involving U.S. cattle starting in 2003, is related to an
incurable condition in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
that leads to a rapid decline of mental function and movement. The latest mad cow case, found at a California rendering
plant this month, didn’t enter the food chain for humans,
according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Here’s a rundown on the two conditions, based on
information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta and the National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland: Q: What is mad cow disease? A: Known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, it
is a neurological disorder in cattle that leads to degeneration
in the brain and spinal cord, and eventually death. The
infection, first diagnosed in the U.K. in the 1980’s, probably
originated from cattle feed that contained ground-up infected
animal parts. BSE is considered to be caused by an abnormal
protein known as a prion that lodges in brain and spinal tissue.
Animals become disoriented, stumble and eventually die. “It’s been rare here,” Michele Jay-Russell, a researcher
at the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at the
University of California in Davis, said by telephone. “ Canada
has had more cases than we have. We have a fairly robust
surveillance system.” Q: How many cases have been identified in North America ? A: Twenty-two were identified in North America through the
end of 2011, including three in the U.S. One of the U.S. cases
involved an animal born in Canada, where 19 cases have been
recorded. An outbreak in the U.K. peaked in January 1993 at
almost 1,000 new cases in cattle a week. The latest case is atypical, said Guy Loneragan, an
epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health at
Texas Tech University in Lubbock. That means it “may be a
spontaneous, extraordinary event in older animals” and not
likely due to animal feed , he said. Q: Can people get mad cow disease? A: The human form is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease, or vCJD, and studies have shown a link between the
human prion disease which was first reported in the U.K. in
1996, and the animal form. The disease in humans is probably
spread through consumption of processed food containing infected
beef, scientists said. Symptoms can include blurred vision, disorientation,
hallucinations, lack of coordination and speech impairment. The
condition is progressive, and can be fatal within months. There
is no treatment. In the 1990’s, an outbreak of the disease in
Britain led to the wholesale destruction of English cattle to
prevent further cases. Q: Are there treatments for animals? A: No. Q: Should I be concerned about eating meat? A: The USDA said it “remains confident in the health of
the national herd and the safety of beef and dairy products.” Q: What protective restrictions or preventive measures are
in place in the U.S.? A: Concern about tainted beef resurfaced in 2003 when the
first infected cow was found, and the government expanded its
screening program at the time. State veterinary laboratories do
surveillance to identify cattle showing neurological symptoms
that suggest mad cow. The U.S. bans the use of cow brains and
spinal tissue in cattle feed. There is also evidence from a small number of case reports
that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion. Since there is
no test that can be used to screen human blood, the American Red
Cross doesn’t accept blood from people who lived or visited the
U.K. for more than three months from January 1980 through
December 1996; or spent five years or more from January 1980 to
the present in any European country. U.S. and international surveillance systems are working,
according to John Clifford, the USDA’s chief veterinarian. Last
year, there were 29 worldwide case of mad cow, a 99 percent
reduction since the peak in 1992 of 37,311 cases, he said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Stephanie Armour in Washington at
[email protected] ;
Angela Zimm in Boston at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at
[email protected] | 2012 | ad-cow-disease-remains-rare-since-discovery-in-u-k-factshee |
China Aluminum Demand to Grow 10.5% Annually, Rusal Says | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T04:39:17Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-aluminum-demand-to-grow-10-5-annually-rusal-says-1-.html | 4 | 25 | e2785be2cc6e405028487527b55c0ae98771fe4c | China ’s aluminum consumption will
grow at an annual rate of 10.5 percent to 27.5 million tons by
2015 amid continuous urbanization and investment in
infrastructure and construction, said Rusal Marketing GmbH. Growth will slow from the 17.2 percent rate during 2005 and
2010, Chief Executive Officer Steve Hodgson said in a speech at
a Metal Bulletin conference in Shanghai. China is unlikely to
support Asian demand for primary aluminum and may reduce demand
from the region with rising exports of semi-finished products,
he said. Rusal will invest in a company in Shenzhen to act as its
trading vehicle in China, Hodgson said. It agreed in November to
buy a stake in an affiliate of China North Industries Corp., or
Norinco. Aluminum on the London Metal Exchange has climbed 3.3
percent this year and traded at $2,087 a ton as of 11:59 a.m. in
Shanghai . To contact the reporter on this story:
Helen Sun in Shanghai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Shiyin Chen at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-aluminum-demand-to-grow-10-5-annually-rusal-says-1- |
China Development Bank's Profit Rises With Higher Lending | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T14:03:23Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-development-bank-s-profit-rises-with-higher-lending.html | 4 | 25 | 93f21b08da59afe00a668683ca4c323fe31e6e86 | China Development Bank Corp., the
nation’s biggest policy lender, said profit rose 23 percent last
year as it expanded loans to support key infrastructure and
power projects. Net income climbed to 45.6 billion yuan ($7.2 billion), the
state-owned lender said in a statement on its website. The non-
performing loan ratio dropped by 0.28 percentage point to 0.4
percent as of Dec. 31, according to the statement. China Development Bank, which sold a 10 billion yuan stake
to the national pension fund last year, increased lending by 22
percent to aid economic growth , according to the statement. New
loans to the power industry more than quadrupled from a year
earlier to 123.4 billion yuan as the lender helped ease an
electricity shortage, it said. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio fell to 10.78 percent
from 10.87 percent, according to the statement. The bank cut
securities holdings by 28 percent last year to meet liquidity
and risk-management needs, the lender said, without elaborating. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Bloomberg News in Beijing at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andreea Papuc at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-development-bank-s-profit-rises-with-higher-lending |
U.K. Plans 35 Million-Pound Fund for Low-Carbon Entrepreneurs | By Reed Landberg | 2012-04-25T07:57:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-k-plans-35-million-pound-fund-for-low-carbon-entrepreneurs.html | 4 | 25 | c5fa245e92b769c842c77dc3027ce3c72d544c05 | U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Davey said
the government plans to offer 35 million pounds ($57 million) in
funds to support entrepreneurs who start businesses
supporting low-carbon technologies. The money, to be announced today at a Clean Energy
Ministerial meeting involving 23 nations in London , will feed
cash for projects such as low-energy LED lighting and heat
pumps, Davey said. “It’s about accelerating progress on clean energy,” Davey
said in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program.
He said the government also is licensing more natural-gas fired
power stations this year. “We have seen less investment in gas than we expected a
few years ago,” Davey said. “Gas emits less than half the
carbon as coal.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Reed Landberg in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Randall Hackley at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-k-plans-35-million-pound-fund-for-low-carbon-entrepreneurs |
Apple Profit Rises 94% on Growing Global IPhone Demand | By Adam Satariano | 2012-04-25T20:47:10Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/apple-profit-rises-94-on-growing-global-iphone-demand.html | 4 | 25 | 6e54f510501f4510b1adaaa32fd15775 | Apple Inc. (AAPL) has its biggest gain in
more than three years after reporting that demand for the iPhone
in China fueled a 94 percent surge in quarterly profit. That
eased concerns that had cut shares 12 percent in two weeks. Net income in the fiscal second quarter climbed to $11.6
billion, or $12.30 a share, as sales rose 59 percent to $39.2
billion, Cupertino, California-based Apple reported yesterday.
Analysts had predicted profit of $10.02 a share on revenue of
$36.9 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Buying by Chinese consumers helped Apple sell a higher-
than-predicted 35.1 million iPhones last quarter and made the
world’s most populous country responsible for 20 percent of
sales, up from 12 percent last year. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said there will be “a lot more opportunity” in China as
he introduces the iPad and expands operations there. “They are truly just beginning to grow in Asia, and China
is possibly their most important market, where they just really
started expanding,” said Michael Obuchowski , chief investment
officer at First Empire Asset Management in Hauppauge, New York,
which manages about $4.5 billion, including Apple shares. “For
Apple right now, the most important part of thinking about their
business is the international growth.” Apple rose 8.9 percent to $610 at the close in New York,
for the biggest increase since Nov. 24, 2008. The company sold 11.8 million units of the iPad, which was
updated last month to include a high-definition screen and
faster processor. Apple has sold 67 million iPads since the
device’s 2010 debut. It took the company 24 years to reach that
milestone with the Mac computer, Cook told analysts yesterday. Gross Margin Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg on average predicted Apple
would sell 11.9 million iPads and 31.2 million iPhones. Apple also benefited from reined-in costs and lower
component prices. Gross margin, the percentage of sales
remaining after deducting costs of production, was 47.4 percent,
compared with 41.4 percent a year earlier. Before today, the company’s shares had tumbled $75.95 since
a record close of $636.23 on April 9 amid reports that indicated
a possible shortage in key components for its mobile devices and
showed a quarter-over-quarter decline in iPhone sales at
wireless carriers. Some traders took cues from technical
indicators that use historical trends to predict stock moves. “This report should erase any doubt in investors’ minds
that this company can’t continue to deliver,” said Jack Ablin ,
chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank in Chicago ,
which oversees about $60 billion, including Apple shares. Signs of Recovery The results added to evidence of a rebound in some pockets
of the economy that buoyed results for other technology
bellwethers. Microsoft Corp., the top software maker, last week
reported better-than-expected corporate purchases of computers,
while Texas Instruments Inc., the biggest maker of analog chips,
this week indicated robust demand for a range of electronics.
International Business Machines Corp, the biggest computer-
services provider, also reported higher profit. For Apple, China has made up a growing slice of results
since the introduction of the iPhone there in 2009. The most
populous country accounted for $7.9 billion of revenue, Cook
said on the call with analysts. That’s three times the level for
a year earlier, Cook said. “China has been a very fast-growing region for them,”
said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in
New York . “There’s more disposable income, strong demand for
high-end products and their penetration has been very low in
that market.” To ‘Understand China’ Cook visited China last month, meeting with government
officials and touring plants where the company’s products are
built. The visit came just as a labor group said workers at
those facilities, which are operated by Foxconn Technology
Group, were violating local laws for excessive work hours. Cook, who has vowed to improve working conditions at the
facilities, said Apple and other companies are benefiting from
China’s growing middle class. “There is tremendous opportunity for companies that
understand China,” Cook said on the call. “We’re doing
everything we can to understand it and serve the market as good
as we can.” The company is in talks to sell the iPhone through China
Mobile Ltd., the country’s largest carrier. The opportunity to
market the iPhone to China Mobile’s more than 600 million
subscribers would give Apple added scope for growth in Asia . Apple sold 4 million Mac computers and 7.7 million iPods,
compared with 4.5 million Macs and 7 million iPods projected by
analysts. Quarterly Forecasts Apple added to its cash hoard during the quarter. The
company said it now has $110.2 billion in cash and investments
on its balance sheet. Part of that sum will be returned to
investors starting later this year, when Apple plans to start
paying a dividend and buying back shares. Looking ahead to results for the current quarter, Apple
forecast revenue of about $34 billion and profit of $8.68 a
share. That compares with average analysts’ predictions for
sales of $37.5 billion and profit of $9.96 a share. The results will be lower because Apple doesn’t expect to
sell as many iPhones in the quarter now under way, said Peter Oppenheimer , Apple’s chief financial officer. Customers often
hold off on purchases of the iPhone in the months before Apple
releases an upgrade. Analysts including Chris Whitmore of
Deutsche Bank AG have predicted that Apple will introduce a new
iteration of the handset later this year. New Products Coming Cook, who took over for late co-founder Steve Jobs last
year, hinted new products will be released. “You’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation
that only Apple can deliver,” Cook said in a statement. Cook also discussed one product Apple won’t be making. He
said Apple doesn’t intend to release a hybrid tablet-laptop
computer. By contrast, Microsoft is introducing a new operating
system that will run on smartphones, tablets and personal
computers. Cook said users prefer to have different experiences
on mobile devices and PCs. “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those
things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user,” Cook
said. In China and elsewhere around the world, Apple is in the
midst of a growing rivalry with Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) , Asia’s
largest consumer-electronics maker. While Samsung is a supplier
of components for Apple devices, it also is among the biggest
makers of products that run Google Inc.’s Android software.
Earlier this month, Samsung reported profit rose to a quarterly
record of 5.8 trillion won ($5.1 billion). Dearth of Adjectives Samsung is one of several companies entangled in patent
litigation with Apple in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Cook said that while he’d prefer to settle the lawsuits
than battle in court, he didn’t give any details on when such a
deal may be reached. “We need people to invent their own stuff,” Cook said. Apple’s results contrast with those of Research In Motion
Ltd. (RIMM) and Nokia Oyj, which have cut jobs and reorganized
operations after falling behind in smartphone sales. Apple’s growth also is bringing more government scrutiny.
The U.S. Justice Department is suing Apple for allegedly
colluding with book publishers to raise the price of e-books.
Apple has denied wrongdoing. Nonetheless, the second-quarter results point to Apple’s
continued leadership in the technology industry, said Gene Munster , an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. “We’ve run out of adjectives to describe these quarters,”
Munster said yesterday. 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] | 2012 | apple-profit-rises-94-on-growing-global-iphone-demand |
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich Play Extra Time in Champions League | By Bob Bensch | 2012-04-25T20:36:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/real-madrid-bayern-munich-play-extra-time-in-champions-league.html | 4 | 25 | 77690a845f1e6ddb0cee42b059e2b0eb9f98d492 | Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are
going to extra time tied 3-3 in their Champions League soccer
semifinal. The winner will play Chelsea in the final on May 19. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bob Bensch at
[email protected] | 2012 | real-madrid-bayern-munich-play-extra-time-in-champions-league |
Juventus Beats Cesena 1-0 to Remain Unbeaten in Italy’s Serie A | By Bob Bensch | 2012-04-25T18:15:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/juventus-beats-cesena-1-0-to-remain-unbeaten-in-italy-s-serie-a.html | 4 | 25 | 1ec2ad080b6ae20d8e53f2412fba67c4fe780859 | Juventus defeated Cesena 1-0 to
remain unbeaten in Italian soccer’s Serie A. Marco Borriello came off the bench to score in the 79th
minute for Juventus, which tops the standings with 74 points
from 20 wins and 14 draws. The loss relegates last-place Cesena
to second-tier Serie B next season. Kevin-Prince Boateng scored in the 86th minute as AC Milan
won 1-0 at Genoa to remain three points behind Juventus with
four games left. Napoli beat Lecce 2-0 to move within a point of third-place
Lazio, which lost 2-1 at Novara, while Inter Milan won 3-1 at
Udinese to leave both teams tied for fifth. Fiorentina beat Roma
2-1, Parma defeated Palermo 2-1 and Siena and Bologna tied 1-1
in the day’s other games. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bob Bensch at
[email protected] | 2012 | juventus-beats-cesena-1-0-to-remain-unbeaten-in-italy-s-serie-a |
Sony Sends 15 Million Songs to Cloud to Close ITunes Gap: Tech | By Mariko Yasu and Shunichi Ozasa | 2012-04-25T21:00:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sony-sends-15-million-songs-to-cloud-to-close-itunes-gap-tech.html
Sony Corp. will probably put songs
by Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston online in Japan through
its streaming music service. The trouble will be finding
listeners who haven’t bought them from Apple Inc. (AAPL) in the past
seven years. Sony said it will introduce Music Unlimited, a cloud-based
catalog of 15 million songs, in its home market by the end of
December after rolling it out in 16 other countries first. The
company hopes flat fees, unlimited listens and accessibility
through mobile and gaming devices will help close the gap with
iTunes, which started offering downloads in Japan in 2005. Music Unlimited ’s late arrival in the world’s second-
biggest music market will serve as a test of new Chief Executive
Officer Kazuo Hirai ’s ability to bring Sony (6758) ’s different units
closer together. Hirai, who started in the music division, is
trying to turn a profit after four years of losses and has said
that integrating the company’s hardware and software offerings
as “One Sony” is key to that. “Sony still has its silo structure,” said Takashi Watanabe , an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Tokyo . “A
lack of collaboration between sections probably caused a delay
in offering the online entertainment service. Sony is trying to
change that.” ‘Vague’ Explanation Sean Yoneda, a spokesman for Sony, declined to specify a
date for Music Unlimited’s introduction in Japan. Sony’s music
unit was the second-biggest contributor of operating income at
the Tokyo-based company, trailing financial services, in the
fiscal year that ended in March 2011, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. Sony has yet to deliver on a 2009 plan to lure customers to
its hardware devices by integrating online services for games,
music, books and films, Watanabe said. “Music content could be a key factor to revive Sony,” he
said. “The time is over where an electronics company can excel
just because it has a good device. You have to have a very good
platform to capture your clients within your system.” Still, Hirai, 51, didn’t list the company’s entertainment
business among the top priorities when he announced his plan for
reviving the company April 12. “Sony’s explanation of how it plans to leverage its
content business in its electronics business has been vague,”
said Yoshiharu Izumi , an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in
Tokyo. Springsteen, Jackson Sony introduced its online music service under the name
Qriocity in the U.K. and Ireland in December 2010. Renamed in
August 2011, it has boosted its catalog to 15 million songs
released by Sony’s own music units | 4 | 25 | 317aa12cbd7448ef9130327202de4127 | Music Group , the world’s largest recorded music company, and
Warner Music Group. Music Unlimited lets users stream songs via Web-connected
Bravia televisions, some Walkman models, PlayStation game
players, personal computers and Android-based mobile phones. The
service was expanded to the PlayStation Vita in March after
being enabled on Sony Tablets and other Android-based tablets in
October. By contrast, iTunes users can buy music and store it on PCs
or portable devices for listening without an Internet
connection. Walkman, Android Sony introduced a download option for non-networked Walkman
music players in December and a similar service for Android
application users last month, according to company statements.
Yoneda declined to say how many subscribers Music Unlimited has. Until Music Unlimited becomes available locally, Japanese
customers who want to buy songs from Sony online must do so
through other providers, including iTunes. That means Sony has
to split the revenue with those providers. Sony’s global revenue from music production totaled 458
billion yen ($5.6 billion) in the year ended March 2011,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Online sales make up
almost half of the music unit’s revenue, and about 70 percent of
that comes from selling songs on iTunes, Watanabe estimated. The Japanese music market totaled 353.8 billion yen last
year, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan .
Downloads accounted for 72 billion yen, according to the
industry group’s website. Apple unveiled its iPod music player in 2001 and started
the iTunes music store in 2003. The company has benefited as
consumers shifted from CDs to online music services and offers
iTunes on its own devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad
tablet, as well as PCs from other manufacturers. ITunes, Spotify A stronger presence by Sony in the online music business
could put pressure on Apple and possibly lead to changes in the
iTunes fee structure to bring higher margins to content owners,
including Sony, Watanabe said. Natsuki Eto, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for Sony, said
negotiations with content owners are among the matters that must
be resolved before Music Unlimited can be introduced in new
markets, including Japan. “If we manage to make an entry this year, it would be
appropriate timing,” she said. “There are issues to clear to
start our service in each region.” The number of songs on Music Unlimited is lower than the
approximately 20 million titles offered through Cupertino,
California-based Apple’s iTunes store. London-based streaming
service Spotify Ltd. offers more than 16 million songs,
including Sony artists, according to Alison Bonny, a
spokeswoman. Google Music ITunes charges from 99 cents to $1.29 per song, while
Spotify costs $5 to $10 a month. Music Unlimited charges a
monthly fee of $3.99 for its basic plan or $9.99 for a premium
plan offering unlimited access and programmed music channels. Google Inc. (GOOG) , owner of the world’s biggest search engine, is
also challenging Apple’s dominance in online music. Google
entered the market in November, letting users store and stream
as many as 20,000 songs online and listen to tracks on multiple
devices. The Mountain View , California-based company has
partnerships with 1,000 record labels, including Vivendi SA’s
Universal Music Group, letting it offer 13 million songs. Spotify, which started in the U.S. in July, has grown to
about 2 million subscribers, according to Ken Parks , chief
content officer for the company. Beyond increasing revenue from music, Sony could use its
content to boost sales of smartphones by introducing products
such as a free-download phone, Watanabe said. Sony had a 4.2 percent share of the smartphone market last
year, while Apple controlled 18.9 percent, and Suwon, South
Korea-based Samsung (005930) had 18.5 percent, according to researcher
Gartner Inc. In September, Hirai unveiled the Sony Entertainment Network
that will let users access all Sony software content, including
music, from a single account. Even so, Sony’s content services have yet to be integrated.
Electronic books aren’t on the new platform, Video Unlimited
isn’t available on PlayStation game devices and game contents
aren’t offered on all Sony products. “As there are many existing applications for different
devices, it’s technically difficult to put them on SEN all at
once,” said Eto, the spokeswoman. To contact the reporters on this story:
Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at
[email protected] ;
Shunichi Ozasa in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
[email protected] | 2012 | sony-sends-15-million-songs-to-cloud-to-close-itunes-gap-tec |
MORE: Taiwan Central Bank Expects 2012 CPI to Be Within 2% | By Chinmei Sung | 2012-04-25T02:22:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/more-taiwan-central-bank-expects-2012-cpi-to-be-within-2-.html | 4 | 25 | 2d74b045361e4ca00f89bdf54a57a5125ee52739 | Taiwan’s consumer prices may rise
within 2% this year, an indication of moderate inflation, Yang
Chin-long, central bank deputy governor, says in reply to
questions from lawmakers in legislature.
* 1Q inflation ’not serious’, Yang says
* DGBAS in Feb. forecast 2012 inflation of 1.46%
Statement: http://tinyurl.com/7qhj5pn To contact the reporter on this story:
Chinmei Sung in Taipei at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at
[email protected] | 2012 | ore-taiwan-central-bank-expects-2012-cpi-to-be-within-2- |
BMW Stretches 3-Series in Top Down China Luxury Expansion: Cars | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T01:00:30Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bmw-stretches-3-series-in-top-down-china-luxury-expansion-cars.html | 4 | 25 | 6c897c58d2c2471884531b7f669ad55a | Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is
making a bigger version of its popular 3-Series sedan in a bid
to tap into Chinese car buyers’ taste for larger cars and lure
them away from the likes of General Motors Co. The stretch 3-Series, made uniquely for the Chinese market,
is 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) longer than the regular model and
is part of a broader effort by German luxury-car makers to sell
more cars targeted toward first-time buyers in China, after
years of focusing on selling their priciest models. “The premium market here is developing from the top
downward,” Ian Robertson , BMW’s sales chief, said this week at
the Beijing auto show. “Over time, you will see the smaller
segments growing more rapidly.” The small car market in China is currently dominated by
high-volume manufacturers like General Motors Co. (GM) BMW, Daimler
AG (DAI) ’s Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen AG (VOW) ’s Audi are expanding into
that market to boost growth and lessen reliance on their biggest
models like the 7-Series, half of which are sold in China, as
overall car sales in the country slipped 1.3 percent in the
first quarter. Larger sedans and sport-utility vehicles accounted for at
least 70 percent of premium car sales in China last year
compared with 40 percent in Germany , according to Bernstein
Research. Rich Chinese “The second generation of the rich Chinese is growing up
and shopping for cars,” said Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary
general of China’s Passenger Car Association. “Luxury
automakers want to lure those young customers with lower-end
product and prepare them to trade up.” The German automakers, the world’s three largest luxury car
producers, stand to gain market share in 2012 in China as wider
offerings puts pressure on mass-market manufacturers. Those car
makers have also been more sensitive than the luxury brands to
China’s weaker economic growth, which decelerated to its slowest
pace in nearly three years. At the Beijing auto show, Mercedes showcased a pre-
production version of the CLA four-door coupe, the smaller
cousin of the $71,300 CLS. Audi presented concepts based on the
Q3 compact SUV, which will be imported into China starting this
year, following the A3 hatchback and A1 subcompact that went on
sale last year. The extended version of the 3-Series marks BMW’s
second model designed specifically for China after debuting the
long-wheelbase 5-Series in 2010. Feeling the Pinch “Here in China, people are aspiring for their first car,
and they go for entry level,” Daimler Chief Executive Officer
Dieter Zetsche said to reporters in Beijing. “The ultimate
aspiration is to arrive at the top segment. That definitely
plays into our hands. There’s tremendous opportunity.” Growth in China’s luxury-car segment will probably be in
the range of 15 percent to 20 percent, more than triple the
total market’s 5 percent gain, Zetsche said, adding that demand
for upscale cars could outpace the overall market for “years.” Mass market brands like Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) are already
starting to feel the impact of the expansion by the German
brands, which dominate China’s luxury segment with a combined
share of more than 75 percent. German premium automakers’ introduction of offerings in the
same customer segments as Honda Motor Co. (7267) ’s Accord mid-sized
sedan is making it harder to boost sales, Takanobu Ito, Honda’s
president, said in Beijing. Prices Coming Down A Mercedes A-Class compact sells for as little as 178,000
yuan at a dealership in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, according
to figures by auto pricing website cheshi.com. A 2.4 liter
engine Honda Accord starts at 172,400 yuan, cheshi data shows. Tokyo-based Honda is seeking to make its cars more “price
competitive” by cutting costs and is also tailoring of the
Accord to Chinese tastes, Ito said. “Prices of luxury cars are coming down to a more
reasonable level,” said Dong Haiyang, vice president of BAIC
Motor Corp. “The discounts by luxury carmakers are adding more
pressure on the cars that carry price tags between 250,000 yuan
and 300,000 yuan by offering consumers choices of having a
premium brand car with about the same amount of money.” After getting her driver’s license, Mandy Zhao, a school
teacher in China’s bustling coastal region, wasn’t sure at first
that she’d be able to afford the silver-grey Mercedes B-Class
compact that she eventually bought at the end of March. Building Smaller Cars “I initially had the impression it would be out of my
reach,” said the 58 year old from Suzhou. “I realized how
wrong this impression was. Prices on some models are reasonable
and still within reach of middle-income earners.” To win over Zhao, the Mercedes dealer offered a discount of
70,000 yuan ($11,100), or 23 percent off the 310,000-yuan
sticker price. The Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker plans to
make the model more competitive by assembling the vehicle in
China to eliminate import duties . “Competition will become more and more intense,” said
Jenny Gu, an analyst with LMC Automotive in Shanghai . “The
slowdown that has currently hit cheaper, smaller car sales will
one day spread to the higher-end cars.” BMW and Audi will also start building smaller cars in
China. A new BMW plant in Tiexi, which will start production
next month, will make the X1 compact SUV. Audi plans to build
the Q3 locally. Sought After Market The competition means that mass-market brands also have to
stand out. Italy’s Fiat SpA (F) unveiled the Viaggio sedan in
Beijing this week, marking its latest push into China. It plans
to use a Gucci edition of the retro-styled 500 mini car to
distinguish itself from VW and other mass-market brands. “China is probably one of the most competitive markets in
the world,” Olivier Francois, head of the Fiat brand, said in
an interview. The Gucci 500 helps the carmaker stake out its
“own territory” as luxury brands expand into lower segments. China is a sought-after market because of the fast pace of
growth and the higher prices. The country is the top market for
the Mercedes S-Class, even though the vehicle costs the
equivalent of $147,500, 60 percent more than the U.S. starting
price of $91,850. The higher prices help BMW, Audi and Mercedes earn average
profit margins of about 16 percent to 18 percent in China,
compared with 10 percent to 12 percent globally, according to
Credit Suisse. (CSGN) Still, holding on to customers remains a
challenge. “Chinese buyers are brand conscious but not brand loyal,”
said Ashvin Chotai , managing director of Intelligence Automotive
Asia in London . “As the market matures and buyers have more
experience, brand loyalty will slowly evolve.” To that end, getting customers early may help. Mercedes at
any rate has a good shot at holding on to B-Class buyer Zhao. “I’m happy with the car,” the school teacher said. “It’s
a comfortable drive and good value for the money. If we did have
the intention to upgrade, I would definitely consider a Benz.” To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Chris Reiter in Berlin at
[email protected] ;
Liza Lin in Shanghai at
[email protected] ;
Tian Ying in Beijing at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Chad Thomas at
[email protected] ;
Young-Sam Cho at
[email protected] | 2012 | bmw-stretches-3-series-in-top-down-china-luxury-expansion-cars |
Intel Expects to Be ‘Big Player’ in Phones Within Five Years | By Ian King and Beth Jinks | 2012-04-25T20:24:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/intel-targets-big-number-in-mobile-phone-market-cfo-says.html
Intel Corp. (INTC) , whose chips are
debuting in smartphones for the first time this week, expects to
become a “big player” in the market over the next five years,
following more than a decade of failed attempts. “Intel doesn’t go into markets to be a small player,”
Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said in an interview today
at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. “It’s a billion-unit
market, so there’s huge opportunity for us.” Intel has announced five customer wins for its phone-chip
designs, with the first device going on sale in India. The
company is aiming to parlay its dominance in PCs | 4 | 25 | 58346456379a4e68ae9275c58129fccb | networks. It also makes applications processors, which run the
software on handsets. Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Nvidia Corp.
compete in the market as well. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , meanwhile, designs its own application
processors, which are manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co.
Intel is offering both application processors and baseband
chips. Mobile-phone shipments are estimated to reach 1.7 billion
in 2012, a gain of 8.2 percent from 2011, according to IDC.
Smartphone shipments, a subset of the mobile-phone market, will
surge almost 34 percent, the research firm predicts. That’s a faster pace than the PC market, which remains
Intel’s main source of revenue. Worldwide PC shipments will
increase 4.4 percent this year to 368 million units, according
to Gartner Inc. (IT) To contact the reporters on this story:
Ian King in San Francisco at
[email protected] ;
Beth Jinks in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at [email protected] ;
Nick Turner at [email protected] | 2012 | intel-targets-big-number-in-mobile-phone-market-cfo-says |
Israel’s Iron Dome Gets Boost in U.S. Panel’s Budget Plan | By Roxana Tiron and Tony Capaccio | 2012-04-25T20:53:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/israel-s-iron-dome-gets-boost-in-u-s-panel-s-budget-plan.html | 4 | 25 | cee8c97120f2ae13f78ec04ee83666f2673b698e | Israel ’s Iron Dome missile-defense
system stands to gain as much as $680 million in U.S. aid under
a proposal by a congressional panel. A subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee
is seeking the funding from 2012 to 2015 for the system built by
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., according to documents
released today. The House panel is starting to write the 2013
defense authorization bill to set military policy and spending
targets for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. President Barack Obama didn’t request any money for the
Israeli anti-rocket weapon program in his budget proposal in
February. In March, the Pentagon said it intended to seek funds
to help Israel buy more Iron Dome equipment. “During the rocket attacks earlier this month, the Iron
Dome system played a critical role in Israel’s security,”
Pentagon spokesman George Little said last month. “When nearly
300 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel, Iron Dome
intercepted over 80 percent of the targets it engaged, saving
many civilian lives.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has faced questions from
both Democratic and Republican lawmakers about the Obama
administration’s funding commitments to U.S.-Israel missile
defense cooperation, including the Iron Dome system designed to
intercept short-range rockets and mortar rounds fired at Israeli
cities, such as those launched by Palestinian militants from
Gaza. The funds backed by the House panel would be in addition to
$205 million authorized last year to buy more of the Iron Dome
systems. Lawmakers also urged the director of the U.S. Missile
Defense Agency to ensure that “prior to disbursing additional
funds on Iron Dome,” the U.S. has the “appropriate rights” to
the technology and explores opportunities to co-produce the
system with Israel. Closely held Rafael, based in Haifa, Israel,
says on its website that it was started as part of Israel’s
Ministry of Defense and incorporated in 2002. To contact the reporter on this story:
Roxana Tiron in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Silva at
[email protected] | 2012 | israel-s-iron-dome-gets-boost-in-u-s-panel-s-budget-plan |
Russia to Raise Novorossiysk Oil Exports 3.6 Percent in May | By Jake Rudnitsky | 2012-04-25T07:16:23Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/russia-to-raise-novorossiysk-oil-exports-3-6-percent-in-may-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 0e806a4c5ade81b01a9885d32aca35d62ce61caf | Russia will increase daily crude
exports through the Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea in May by
3.6 percent from this month’s levels, a preliminary loading
program obtained by Bloomberg News showed. The nation plans to export 3.47 million metric tons from
Novorossiysk, including 3.23 million tons of Urals and 240,000
tons of Siberian Light grade, the plan showed. That is
equivalent to 820,487 barrels a day, compared with 791,640
barrels for April. Urals exports from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk include
59 cargoes of 100,000 tons each and one shipment of 105,000
tons, the plan showed. Ust-Luga, also on the Baltic, plans to
export 1.6 million tons in May, according to the program. Russia will also ship two 60,000-ton consignments of
Siberian Light from Tuapse on the Black Sea next month, the same
as in April, the plan showed. Loading programs are monthly schedules of crude shipments
compiled by field operators to allow buyers and sellers to plan
their supply and trading activities. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at
[email protected] | 2012 | russia-to-raise-novorossiysk-oil-exports-3-6-percent-in-may-1- |
Iran Extended China Oil Deals, Exports Didn’t Drop, Mehr Says | By Ladane Nasseri | 2012-04-25T11:48:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/iran-extended-china-oil-deals-exports-didn-t-drop-mehr-says.html | 4 | 25 | 43acdac446736f98d47ed06a09fdad7931f6041b | Iran denied reports that China is
buying less of its oil and said it extended contracts to export
crude to the Asian country, Mehr reported, citing an Iranian Oil
Ministry official. “Iran’s exports to Chinese refineries have in no way
decreased in 2012,” Mohsen Qamsari, head of international
affairs at the National Iranian Oil Co., told the state-run Mehr
news agency. Iran is exporting an average of 500,000 barrels a
day to China, according to the report published yesterday. Iran’s oil shipments to China fell for a fourth month in
March to the lowest in 22 months, according to Bloomberg
calculations based on Chinese customs data on April 23. Imports
fell 6.2 percent to 1.08 million metric tons, or about 254,000
barrels a day, the data show. Purchases slid as China International United Petroleum &
Chemical Co., the nation’s biggest oil trader, put off signing a
2012 term contract with National Iranian Oil Co. after a
disagreement over payment terms. The issues were largely
resolved by the end of February, according to three people with
knowledge of the talks. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ladane Nasseri in Dubai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew J. Barden at
[email protected] | 2012 | iran-extended-china-oil-deals-exports-didn-t-drop-mehr-says |
U.S. Companies Reporting Quarterly EPS Reversals, April 25 | By Wendy Soong | 2012-04-25T22:15:56Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-companies-reporting-quarterly-eps-reversals-april-25.html | 4 | 25 | 08e1f829c0ab34e87a059e5a37bcc0c5a824a007 | The following U.S. companies reported earnings
per share reversals for their latest quarter (end date of the quarter is
noted in the last column). Earnings estimates provided by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Wendy Soong in New York at at [email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alex Tanzi at at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-s-companies-reporting-quarterly-eps-reversals-april-25 |
Defense Panel Leader Aims to Boost Tanks, Missile Defense | By Roxana Tiron | 2012-04-25T23:15:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/defense-panel-leader-aims-to-boost-tanks-missile-defense.html | 4 | 25 | 8bb70eeec1ff45c1a26e7543b060c90b | U.S. Representative Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, the chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee, said he will seek to boost funding for battle tanks,
Navy destroyers and missile defense in the Pentagon’s 2013
budget. McKeon, a California Republican, said in a speech in
Washington today to the Hamilton Society that he also will work
to slow down a reduction in U.S. military forces and eliminate
fees proposed by the Obama administration for the military
health-care system. McKeon outlined his priorities for the 2013 defense
authorization bill, which sets military policy and spending
targets for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. His speech
indicates that the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee
won’t hesitate to refashion the spending proposal that Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta has said should be passed as a package
without modifications that risk reversing the proposed savings. “We were presented a budget from the Administration that
takes a knife to the defense budget , while growing the size and
scope of the federal government,” McKeon said in the prepared
speech. “As defense continues to be crowded out of the picture,
we have to be extraordinarily careful in choosing where we
allocate the military’s funding.” McKeon’s panel will be the first House committee to act on
the budget blueprint President Barack Obama and the Pentagon
proposed in February to cut $487 billion from previously planned
defense spending over 10 years. Health Fees As part of that blueprint, Obama is planning to reduce U.S.
military forces by about 120,000 by 2017. McKeon vowed to slow
down the reductions that he said would mean an increase to troop
deployments. McKeon also said he would eliminate the health-care
fees proposed by the Obama administration. “Our forces on the front lines shouldn’t have to worry
about caring for their families’ health back home,” McKeon
said. “That’s our job, and it’s a responsibility I take
seriously.” McKeon also said that he will seek to preserve production
lines for General Dynamics Corp. (GD) ’s Abrams tank and BAE Systems
Plc (BA/) ’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle to avoid a proposed temporary
shutdown. McKeon’s panel will also try to scale back a Navy plan to
retire nine guided missile cruisers and authorize the purchase
of 10 additional destroyers, instead of nine. The House Armed Services Committee’s seapower panel today
moved to restore funding for a second Virginia-class submarine
that the Navy struck from fiscal 2014 plans as part of Pentagon
budget-cutting. The panel recommended adding a down payment, or
“advance procurement,” in the fiscal 2013 budget, according to
documents released today. Nuclear Sub It also proposes giving the Navy authority to
“incrementally” fund the nuclear-powered submarine in fiscal
2014 and beyond. The Navy had planned to buy two Virginia-class
submarines a year, with the work split between Huntington
Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII) of Newport News , Virginia , and General
Dynamics’s Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat unit.
Instead, the Pentagon now proposes buying one boat in fiscal
2014, while delaying another until fiscal 2018. Israel ’s Iron Dome missile-defense system also stands to
gain as much as $680 million in U.S. aid under a proposal in the
armed services panel. A subcommittee is seeking the funding from
2012 to 2015 for the system built by Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems Ltd., according to documents released today. To contact the reporter on this story:
Roxana Tiron in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Walcott at
[email protected] | 2012 | defense-panel-leader-aims-to-boost-tanks-missile-defense |
Xilinx Rises After Sales Forecast Beats Estimates | By Ian King | 2012-04-26T20:35:13Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/xilinx-gains-after-first-quarter-sales-forecast-tops-estimates.html
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) , a maker of
programmable chips used in mobile-phone base stations, rose the
most in more than three years after forecasting sales this
quarter that may beat some analysts’ estimates. Revenue will rise 1 percent to 5 percent from the $559
million reported in the fiscal fourth quarter, Xilinx said in a
statement yesterday. That indicates revenue of $564.6 million to
$586.9 million, and compares with the average analyst estimate
of $555 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Xilinx is selling more chips to makers of mobile-phone
equipment as their customers spend to upgrade networks, which
are being strained by a surge in data demand from smartphones
like Apple Inc.’s iPhone, Chief Executive Officer Moshe Gavrielov said. Increasing factory automation is also creating
demand for Xilinx’s products, he said. “You can’t keep selling iPhones and not upgrading the
systems | 4 | 25 | 06cafb4c148b81945c2fa062d54e7318f82636aa | interview. “There is growth in the industrial space. Factories
are becoming more automated.” Net income in the fourth quarter, which ended March 31,
fell to $134.1 million, or 49 cents a share, from $160.1
million, or 59 cents, a year earlier, the San Jose , California-
based company said. Sales declined 4.9 percent to $559 million.
That compares with average analyst estimates for earnings of 40
cents and sales of $531.6 million. The stock rose 6.8 percent to $36.65 at the close in New
York , for the biggest gain since Dec. 3, 2008. The stock has
climbed 14 percent this year. Xilinx and rival Altera Corp. (ALTR) , also based in San Jose,
dominate the market for chips that can be reprogrammed after
they’ve been installed in electronic devices. The use of their
products, traditionally limited to expensive communications and
industrial machinery, is spreading to new areas, such as
automobiles and consumer electronics. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ian King in San Francisco at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at [email protected] | 2012 | xilinx-gains-after-first-quarter-sales-forecast-tops-estimates |
Goldman’s Blankfein Says He’s More Optimistic | By Erik Schatzker and Christine Harper | 2012-04-25T17:44:07Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/goldman-chief-blankfein-says-markets-may-show-things-go-right-.html
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein said he’s more
optimistic about markets than some economists and investors. “I tend to be a little more positive than what I’m hearing
from other people,” Blankfein, 57, told Bloomberg Television
today in an interview at the investment bank’s New York
headquarters. “One of the big risks that people have to
contemplate is that things go right.” Blankfein, chairman and CEO since June 2006, warned about
the potential for a credit crisis during a June 2007 conference,
15 months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
In November, he said he expected markets to “snap back.” The
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 12 percent in the first three
months of this year, the most since the third quarter of 2009. While profit at Goldman Sachs improved from the end of
2011, the fifth-biggest bank by assets reported last week that
first-quarter net income fell 23 percent from a year earlier as
revenue from trading bonds, currencies and commodities lagged
behind rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) Blankfein said his bank’s 12.2 percent return on equity in
the first quarter was a reflection of muted economic growth and
client demand, which he called a “lower third-quartile
opportunity set.” He said that investors shouldn’t extrapolate
the firm’s long-term prospects from those results. ‘Room Ahead’ Goldman Sachs’s business model “suits us just fine” and
“we have a tremendous amount of room ahead of us to expand in
the businesses we’re in,” Blankfein said. The firm has been
conservative in expanding in overseas markets where it sees some
of the best opportunities going forward, he said. “There’s a chance to be what Goldman Sachs is in the U.S.
over a much broader swath of the world, and that’s good,” he
said. Still, he added “there’s a consequence sometimes to being
too early.” Blankfein has sought to emphasize the firm’s focus on
clients after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a
Senate subcommittee accused the company of misleading investors
about mortgage-related investments in the run-up to the
financial crisis. Arthur Levitt , a former SEC chairman who is
now an adviser to Goldman Sachs, said last month that the firm
should stop saying it puts customers first “because nobody
really puts customers first.” Market-Making Blankfein said he’d spoken to Levitt since he made those
comments and that he thinks Levitt was referring to Goldman
Sachs’s market-making business, where the firm is typically
buying what clients are selling or selling what clients are
buying. “Arthur’s comments were reserved for a narrower part of
the business,” Blankfein said. Even in market-making, the firm
shows that clients come first because in rough markets “we will
hold ourselves out as standing out there and doing more than
other people would be doing,” he added. In a separate interview today with CNBC, Blankfein said
that an internal inquiry has found no “substantiation” of a
former employee’s claims that staff disparage clients. Greg Smith , a former derivatives salesman who quit after 12 years at
the firm on March 14, wrote a New York Times op-ed that blamed
Blankfein and President Gary D. Cohn, 51, for presiding over a
decline in the firm’s culture of putting clients first. “The reaction internally was one of shock,” Blankfein
told CNBC. “We had 30,000 people who felt the opposite and
clients who were supportive.” Hit by Bus Blankfein told CNBC that Goldman Sachs’s board of directors
has a leadership succession plan for the long term and for the
hypothetical situation in which the CEO is hit by a bus. If that
were to happen, the person who would succeed Blankfein doesn’t
know it. “We have a lot of terrific senior executives including,
but not limited to, Gary,” Blankfein said, referring to Cohn.
“I have no plans to leave.” Goldman Sachs as an institution doesn’t have a view on who
should be elected U.S. president in November, Blankfein said. He
said he hasn’t made up his mind about whom to support. “I’m a Rockefeller Republican | 4 | 25 | 8ac521b93008427aa4a8051c59852989 | a Rockefeller Republican,” he said, adding that he holds
conservative views on fiscal policy and more liberal positions
on social issues. “Where that will get me, I’m not sure yet.” Goldman Sachs closed yesterday at $114.11 in New York ,
lower than the firm’s $123.94 per share tangible book value as
of March 31. The shares fell 0.4 percent at 1:20 p.m. today. To contact the reporters on this story:
Erik Schatzker in New York at
[email protected]
Christine Harper in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Scheer at
[email protected] . | 2012 | goldman-chief-blankfein-says-markets-may-show-things-go-right- |
Singapore Stocks: Singapore Airlines, SMRT Corp., Suntec REIT | By Jonathan Burgos | 2012-04-25T09:40:56Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/singapore-stocks-singapore-airlines-smrt-corp-suntec-reit.html | 4 | 25 | e9702ad2e60e9b84e4da8be533da64fb9f0a2d40 | Singapore ’s Straits Times Index (FSSTI)
added 0.2 percent to 2,979.78 at the close. About the same
number of shares rose and fell on the 30-member gauge. The following were among the most active shares in the
market. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Mapletree Industrial Trust (MINT) gained 0.9 percent to
S$1.15 after the industrial landlord said fourth-quarter
distributable income increased 26 percent from a year earlier to
S$35.8 million ($29 million). Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) , the world’s second-
largest carrier by market value, rose 1.1 percent to S$10.70.
Changi Airport reported a 15 percent increase in passenger
traffic last month from a year earlier. SMRT Corp. (MRT SP), Singapore’s No. 1 commuter train
operator, tumbled 4.1 percent to S$1.735, its biggest decline
since August 2010. The company said it will spend S$900 million
to upgrade the city’s subway network after the rail system’s
worst breakdown affected more than 200,000 passengers in
December. Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (SUN) advanced 1.2
percent to S$1.30, the highest since Sept. 12, after the office
landlord reported a 2.7 percent increase in its payout to
shareholders. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John McCluskey at
[email protected] | 2012 | singapore-stocks-singapore-airlines-smrt-corp-suntec-rei |
Las Vegas Sands Tops Estimates on U.S., Singapore Growth | By Christopher Palmeri | 2012-04-25T20:54:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/las-vegas-sands-tops-estimates-on-u-s-singapore-growth.html | 4 | 25 | a73045727cd7b548ec84afad5eb49f213e653b53 | Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) , the casino
operator controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson , posted
higher first-quarter profit, beating analysts’ projections as
gambling revenue increased in the U.S. and Asia. Net income advanced 72 percent to $498.9 million, or 61
cents a share, the Las Vegas-based company said today in a
statement. Excluding some items, earnings of 70 cents topped the
60-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Las Vegas Sands experienced a strong performance from its
domestic resorts and in Singapore, where casino revenue
increased 51 percent to $701.3 million in the quarter. The
Marina Bay Sands there averaged 98 percent occupancy at $341 a
night, the company said. In Las Vegas, casino revenue jumped 91
percent to $158.7 million. “Excellent numbers,” David Bain , an analyst at Sterne
Agee Leach Inc., said in an e-mail. Las Vegas Sands said it posted a industry record of $1.07
billion in quarterly earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization. “No company has ever achieved a $1 billion Ebitda for a
quarter,” Adelson said on a call with investors. The company is expanding in Macau, the world’s largest
casino market and the only place in China where gambling is
allowed, through its Hong Kong-listed unit Sands China Ltd. (1828)
Casino operators in Macau are in a growth phase, driven by new
properties and non-gaming revenue, said Grant Govertsen, an
analyst with Union Gaming Research in Macau. “We’re in a supply-driving-demand scenario,” Govertsen
said on Bloomberg Television’s “On the Move Asia” on April 20. Revenue Gain Sands China (1928) net income rose 5.8 percent to $277.4 million. Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian and Palazzo
resorts in Las Vegas, said revenue rose 31 percent to $2.76
billion, beating estimates of $2.6 billion on average. Adelson opened his latest property, the $5 billion Sands
Cotai Central, in Macau on April 11. He plans to build another
3,600-room casino hotel there and spend as much as $35 billion
on resorts in Spain. Las Vegas Sands was little changed in extended trading. The
stock rose 4.2 percent to $58.78 at 4:15 p.m. in New York and
has risen 38 percent this year. The company earned $289.3 million, or 28 cents a share, in
the first quarter of 2011. ( Las Vegas Sands began a conference call at 4:30 p.m. New
York time. To listen, go to www.lasvegassands.com) To contact the reporter on this story:
Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Palazzo at
[email protected] | 2012 | as-vegas-sands-tops-estimates-on-u-s-singapore-grow |
Brazil Lower House Passes Forest Bill After Year of Negotiations | By Stephan Nielsen and Mario Sergio Lima | 2012-04-25T22:10:52Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/brazil-lower-house-passes-forest-bill-after-year-of-negotiations.html | 4 | 25 | a99ce1125a6ec885638f0a03c19fd218d65070c7 | Brazil ’s lower house passed a bill
that changes the way forests are managed following a year of
political wrangling. The legislation was approved in a 274-184 vote and updates
the nation’s 1965 forestry code, according to a final count in
the Congress’ lower house. The bill may still have some changes
after lawmakers proposals of amendments before heading to
President Dilma Rousseff . Brazil’s lawmakers and lobby groups have clashed over
numerous elements of the legislation, which was first passed by
the lower house in May and then the Senate in December,
including an amnesty for some farmers who illegally cut forests.
The approved text includes some changes made by Deputy Paulo
Piau, who was charged with preparing it for the vote. Between 2000 and 2010, more than 18 million hectares (44.5
million acres) of Amazonian rainforest were cleared, which is
about the size of Syria , the National Institute for Space
Research said on its website . Piau represents the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party,
known as PMDB, in Minas Gerais state. To contact the reporters on this story:
Stephan Nielsen in Sao Paulo at
[email protected] ;
Mario Sergio Lima in Brasilia at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Helder Marinho at
[email protected] | 2012 | brazil-lower-house-passes-forest-bill-after-year-of-negotiations |
China Helps First-Home Buyers as Market Cools: Mortgages | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-26T06:37:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-helps-first-home-buyers-as-market-cools-mortgages.html
Kevin Xi had no trouble getting a
mortgage to buy a 1.53 million yuan ($242,563) one-bedroom
apartment in Beijing last month, even as China ’s government
tries to cool the housing market. He even got a 10 percent
reduction on interest. “I didn’t expect to get such a good rate,” said Xi, 27,
an employee of a property company whose 960,000 yuan mortgage
loan with Bank of China Ltd. was approved within five working
days. “I thought only employees from government agencies or
state-owned companies qualified.” The government is pushing in two directions as it seeks to
slow price growth while avoiding a collapse. It’s lowering
borrowing costs for first-time homebuyers to encourage purchases
while Premier Wen Jiabao keeps curbs in place to stem the
speculators who have helped drive home prices up by as much as
140 percent since 1998. China’s 18 percent first-quarter drop in
home sales contributed to the slowest economic growth in almost
three years. “Property is an important sector for China’s economy ,”
said Jack Gong, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at Jefferies
Group Inc. “The central government will not forcefully crack
down on the market even if it is not supporting it. Fine-tuning
the mortgage policies shows the government’s clear intention to
uphold economic growth.” The benchmark rate for mortgages in China is the five-year
lending rate set by the People’s Bank of China , currently 7.05
percent. Bank of China, China Construction Bank Corp. and
Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. offer as much as a 10 percent
discount to borrowers the banks deem as safest in Beijing, while
smaller lenders such as China Merchants Bank Co. and Bank of
Beijing Co. are charging the benchmark rate, according to Bacic
& 5i5j Group, Beijing’s second-biggest real-estate agency. Government Easing Lenders in Beijing started offering mortgages to first-home
buyers at or below the central bank’s benchmark rate in February,
compared with rates 5 percent to 10 percent higher in the second
half of last year, said Wu Hao, a manager at the loan brokerage
of Bacic & 5i5j . Home buyers in Beijing and Shanghai could get
as much as a 15 percent discount, according to the realtor. The lower mortgage rates for those buying their first
properties are an indication that the government may gradually
ease its more stringent home-purchase restrictions in the second
quarter, according to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, a unit of
Credit Agricole SA. ‘Gradual Easing’ “It is clear that the government has eased its controls
over bank lending to first-time homebuyers,” said Andy Rothman,
CLSA’s China macro strategist in an interview in Shanghai.
“These are the first hints of what will be gradual easing of
central government enforcement of the house purchase
restrictions.” Home sales in 33 out of 40 cities jumped in March from the
previous month, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd., the country’s
biggest real-estate website. Xi is ready to move into his new one-bedroom 58 square-
meter (624 square-foot) home, which he said had basic décor and
he didn’t plan to renovate. The five-year-old apartment is
located outside Beijing’s Fourth Ring Road, one of the capital’s
six highway loops. Property Curbs China’s campaign to put the brakes on a surge in property
prices began two years ago and measures in place include higher
mortgage and down-payment requirements, and home-purchase
restrictions for about 40 cities. Home prices grew 6 percent in
2010 after surging 25 percent the previous year when the
government started imposing the curbs. Last year, the statistics
bureau changed the way it calculates home prices, abandoning a
nationwide index. Home buyers in China are required to put down 30 percent of
the property’s price to purchase their first home and 50 percent
for a second property. Down payments were raised to 40 percent
and 60 percent for first and second homes, respectively, in
China’s eastern province of Zhejiang last year as part of the
government’s efforts to keep housing affordable. Authorities have refrained from cutting interest rates amid
inflation concerns. The central bank increased interest rates
three times last year. Large Down Payments About 50 percent to 70 percent of home buyers in China’s
major or first-tier cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou
take out mortgages to buy homes, borrowing on average 50 percent,
according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd. , China’s biggest
real-estate brokerage. The loans, whose rates move with the
benchmark rate, usually have maturities from five to 30 years,
depending on borrowers’ ability to repay. Buyers in smaller cities, the so-called second- and third-
tier cities such as Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, tend to pay
cash. That compares with Australia , where more than 35 percent
of new homeowners in the quarter ended Dec. 31 borrowed at least
80 percent of their property’s value, according to central bank
figures. “The smaller the cities the buyers are in, the more
willing they are to pay cash,” said Liu Yuan, a Shanghai-based
Centaline researcher. “Interest rates are not really affecting
home purchase decisions. Chinese buyers care more about current
discounts rather than the lower costs for borrowing money.” Unsold new homes in 10 cities, including Beijing and
Shanghai, tracked by Bacic & 5i5j jumped 46 percent from a year
earlier to 594,500 units as of March 31, indicating rising risks
and a higher probability that local governments may “fine-
tune” policies to reduce inventories, the agency said in an
April 13 report. Sales Rebound The central bank said last month it will ensure that “loan
demand from first-home families” is met. Housing Minister Jiang Weixin said in December that China would prioritize loans for
first-home buyers and support reasonable property purchase
demand. The government has lowered the amount of cash that banks
must set aside as reserves twice since November to boost
liquidity and spur loan growth. Home sales in March reached 373.3 billion yuan, surpassing
the first two months of the year combined, according to the
government data on April 13. March home sales at China Vanke Co. (000002) , the biggest developer
by market value listed on Chinese exchanges, jumped 23.5 percent
from last year to 11.5 billion yuan, while Poly Real Estate
Group Co. (600048) said they rose 47 percent. Mortgage lending discounts
boosted demand from first-home buyers, said Tan Huajie, Vanke’s
board secretary in an e-mailed statement on April 5. Currently about 80 percent to 90 percent of purchasers in
the market are first-time buyers, according to Century 21 China
Real Estate, the country’s second-biggest brokerage. Fine Balance Outstanding mortgage loans rose 15.5 percent to 7.1
trillion yuan last year, slower than the 29.5 percent expansion
in 2010, as banks suspended lending for third homes and
tightened criteria on second homes, according to a central bank
report released Feb. 15. China Construction Bank, the world’s second-biggest lender
by market value, was one of the first Chinese lenders last year
to increase the interest rate for first homes to 10 percent more
than the benchmark rate. Now it is offering mortgage rates
“appropriately” lower than the benchmark for first-home buyers
to reduce their borrowing costs, the lender’s Vice President
Zhao Huan said at a briefing in Beijing March 26. The government should gradually loosen or even support
demand from end users, such as first-time homebuyers, to offset
the sharp decline in investment demand, according to Citigroup
Inc. China’s economy grew a less-than-forecast 8.1 percent in
the first three months from a year earlier, the slowest pace in
11 quarters, according to government data on April 13. “The central government is searching a balanced point
between tightening and loosening the policies,” wrote
Citigroup’s Hong Kong-based analysts led by Oscar Choi in a
report on March 29. Price Cuts The central city of Wuhan allowed some first-time home
buyers to pay as little as 20 percent down payment with loans
from the public housing fund, the official Xinhua News Agency
reported on April 24, citing the local authorities. Interest
rates on loans from the housing fund usually are lower than the
lending rate. Residents usually pay a portion of their income
each month into the fund to be eligible for such loans, while
their employers also contribute. The biggest mortgage discounts Chinese banks offered were
as much as 30 percent below the benchmark rate in 2008, when the
country’s home sales slumped 17 percent, retreating for the
first time since the 1998 privatization of the housing market. It was unlikely banks would offer those kind of discounts
this year because they would hurt their profitability, according
to UBS AG. The impact on home sales of lower mortgage rates for first-
home buyers is limited, because buyers would rather wait for
more price cuts with the government’s determination to bring
home prices down, Chen Li, head of China equity strategy at UBS,
said in an interview in Shanghai. Home prices fell for the
seventh month in March from February, according to SouFun. ‘Resolute’ on Restrictions China’s Premier Wen Jiabao has said the government will
“resolutely” maintain its curbs on the property market , and
the country’s home prices were far from a reasonable level. “Direct price cuts would be more effective than mortgage
rate discounts,” Chen said. “ Hadn’t Wen made such remarks,
the easing of mortgage lending rates would have given a bigger
boost to the market.” As for Xi, he says he is just happy to have gained entry
into Beijing’s property market, where prices have surged 30
percent from the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2010, even
though his commute to work will increase to about one hour by
public transport from a 15-minute walk from the apartment he
rents now. “I just like finally having my own place, even though that
means I’ll spend more time on the road,” said Xi. “I think
home prices in Beijing will still rise, and since I’m qualified
to buy here, why not just go ahead.” | 4 | 25 | 2f0127523fe04ba3b64c1568616c6fe5 | Bonnie Cao in Shanghai at
[email protected] ;
Zhang Dingmin in Beijing at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andreea Papuc at
[email protected] | 2012 | china-helps-first-home-buyers-as-market-cools-mortgages |
Worst Asian Debt to Fall on Thailand’s Sales, Aberdeen Says | By Yumi Teso and Lilian Karunungan | 2012-04-26T04:15:09Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/worst-performing-asian-debt-to-fall-on-thai-sales-aberdeen-says.html | 4 | 25 | 93faecf6d4544a70a93fe36948f9682d | Thai bonds, Asia ’s worst-performing
debt, will probably extend losses as the government increases
sales to a record to fund rebuilding after the floods disrupted
production last year, according to Aberdeen Asset Management Co. Thailand’s local-currency notes dropped 0.7 percent in 2012,
the only market to have registered a decline among 10 nations
tracked by HSBC Holdings Plc. Indonesia, which was awarded an
investment-grade rating this year by Moody’s Investors Service,
is posting 3.8 percent returns, the best in the region. Bond offerings will climb 16 percent to about 520 billion
baht ($16.8 billion) in the year that ends Sept. 30 to fund
flood-prevention projects, the budget deficit and an increase in
public servants’ salaries, according to the Finance Ministry .
Prospects that inflation will accelerate as the economy recovers
are also deterring Aberdeen Asset and ING Investment Management
from buying Thai debt. The central bank forecasts 5.7 percent
growth this year, faster than the 0.1 percent expansion in 2011. “Increasing supply has been the main factor driving up
yields,” Pongtharin Sapayanon, the head of fixed income in
Bangkok at Aberdeen, which manages $295 billion of assets
globally, said in an April 20 interview. “The pace of recovery
is faster than expected and inflationary pressure will
definitely rise as domestic demand will continue to be strong
throughout the year.” Revised Debt Plan Yields on benchmark 10-year debt advanced 46 basis points,
or 0.46 percentage point, this year to 3.75 percent yesterday
and reached a six-month high of 3.85 percent on April 2,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yields on similar-
maturity notes in Indonesia dropped 12 basis points to 5.91
percent. The rate on 3.65 percent baht-denominated securities
due December 2021 added two basis points to 3.78 percent as of
11:07 a.m. in Bangkok, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The floods forced thousands of factories to suspend
operations, causing asset losses amounting to 630 billion baht
and economic damages of 795 billion baht, according to a Finance
Ministry estimate in January. The Cabinet approved a revised
debt-management plan for this fiscal year on March 13, which
allows the government to borrow 800 billion baht from the local
market, up from 350 billion baht announced in November. About 400 billion baht will go toward financing the budget
deficit , 350 billion baht for loans for flood-prevention
projects and 50 billion baht for a flood-insurance fund, Harn
Himathongkam, a deputy government spokesman, said on March 13. “We are cautious on Thailand on the back of more supply to
support spending on rebuilding,” Patrick Chia, the Singapore-
based head of Asian fixed income at ING Investment Management,
which oversaw $416 billion on Dec. 31, said in an April 13
interview. 30-Year Debt Nomura Asset Management Co. bought Thai bonds maturing in
30 years or longer in the first quarter because insurance
payouts and corporate tax receipts will boost the government’s
ability to repay debt, according to Thomas Kemmsies, the
Frankfurt-based head of fixed-income securities at the company,
which managed $288 billion as of October. Barclays Capital estimates total inflows to pay insurance
claims will amount to $10 billion to $15 billion. The yield on 5
percent government bonds maturing in June 2040 rose 30 basis
points this year to 4.43 percent, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. “What this catastrophe did was allow a lot of Thai
producers and companies to forcefully reinvest in hopefully
state-of-the-art technology,” Kemmsies said in an April 19
interview. “They have to start their investment upswing again
with insurance money.” Baht Appreciation Thai bonds are also attractive because policy makers will
probably allow the baht to appreciate to keep inflation at bay,
Kemmsies said. Consumer-price gains accelerated in March for the
first time since October, increasing 3.45 percent from a year
earlier, official data show. The Bank of Thailand raised its
2012 inflation forecast in March to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent. The baht has strengthened 1.2 percent in the past three
months, the second-best performance among Asia’s 11 most-traded
currencies after Taiwan ’s dollar, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. “We think any inflation threat will be countered through
slightly increased toleration for currency appreciation than
raising interest rates , at least until reconstruction is as much
as completed,” Kemmsies said. East Asian local-currency bonds will probably extend gains
this year as near-zero interest rates in developed nations
prompt investors to seek higher yields, the Asian Development
Bank said in its Asia Bond Monitor report today. It classifies
emerging-market East Asia as China , Hong Kong , Indonesia, South
Korea , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and
Vietnam . Change in Policy Aberdeen’s Pongtharin and Kokusai Asset Management Co. in
Tokyo say odds that interest rates will rise are deterring Thai
bond investors. Pongtharin said he expects the policy rate to
increase by at least 25 basis points in the second half and the
10-year yield to climb to 4 percent in six months. The Bank of Thailand held its one-day bond repurchase rate
at 3 percent on March 21 after cutting it by a total of 50 basis
points at the previous two meetings. The Finance Ministry said
on March 26 it expects the central bank to boost borrowing costs
later this year. “Yields, especially medium to long-term yields, have
climbed this year not only due to rising supplies, but also a
change in market views that the next policy move by the central
bank would be a rate hike toward the end of this year,”
Takahide Irimura, the head of emerging-market research at
Kokusai Asset, which manages $45 billion, said in an April 18
interview. “The pace of gains in yields will probably be slower
from here as they have risen so much already.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Yumi Teso in Bangkok at
[email protected] ;
Lilian Karunungan in Singapore at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry at
[email protected] . | 2012 | worst-performing-asian-debt-to-fall-on-thai-sales-aberdeen-says |
Trump Says Scots Leaders Gave ‘Assurances’ for No Turbines | By Tim Farrand and Peter Woodifield | 2012-04-25T13:08:21Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/trump-says-scots-leaders-gave-assurances-for-no-wind-turbines.html | 4 | 25 | bee4a7a69f8045e39979ed3d0eec288d | Donald Trump , the New York real-
estate entrepreneur, said the Scottish government enticed him
into investing in a golf resort by suggesting that an offshore
wind farm he opposes was unlikely to go ahead. Trump told lawmakers in Edinburgh today that he received
“assurances” from First Minister Alex Salmond and his
predecessor, Jack McConnell, over the turbine development. The
government “lured” him into investing “tens of millions of
pounds” on the site at Balmedie, north of Aberdeen, and “led
him to believe” the farm would not proceed because of
objections from the Ministry of Defence and shipping lane
issues, Trump said. Trump was giving evidence to a Scottish parliamentary
committee today. He is trying to derail a proposed 230 million-
pound ($370 million) experimental wind farm in sight of a golf
course he plans to open in July. Salmond aims to make Scotland the hub of European wind
power as part of a strategy to generate the equivalent of all of
the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. He
said in an interview last week that energy policy should be
decided by elected politicians rather than Trump. “Frankly I don’t think 11 turbines offshore is a difficult
proposition for most people to accept,” Salmond said on April
18 at his official residence in Edinburgh. At no point did
Salmond’s administration give any assurances to Trump or his
organization and claims to the contrary are wrong, the first
minister’s office said in an e-mailed statement today. No Wind Farms Trump told a press conference after the hearing that “I
never like to use the word lie. But certainly they told me there
would be no wind farms near my property.” Trump said he had witnesses to conversations he held with
McConnell and Salmond. Salmond and Trump discussed wind farms
among other subjects at a dinner in a New York restaurant on
October 2007, he said. The next month the Scottish government
said it would decide whether Trump could proceed with his
proposed resort after it was blocked by Aberdeenshire Council,
the local municipality. “I have absolutely no problem with Alex Salmond,” Trump
said. “I like him but I think he is misguided.” The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre , a venture
between Vattenfall AB, Technip SA (TEC) and Aberdeen Renewable Energy
Group, applied in August for planning consent to build 11 next-
generation offshore wind turbines in Aberdeen Bay. The turbines
are 195 meters (640 feet) high to the tip of the blade and will
be 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) out at sea, according to David
Rodger, a spokesman for the venture. The 65-year-old Trump identified his site as a potential
750 million-pound golf resort in 2005 and battled for almost
three years to gain consent to build two courses, a 450-bed
five-star hotel, 500 homes and 950 short-term rental apartments. Hotel, Housing Trump said today he would proceed “immediately’” with the
hotel and the housing if Vattenfall dropped the project. He
would never have built the golf course had he thought there was
any realistic prospect of the wind farm going ahead, Trump told
the committee. When it was first mentioned, the wind farm was
going to be 10 miles offshore, he said. Scotland would “go broke” if the U.K. decided to stop
paying the subsidies for wind power, Trump said. The wind farm partners are “disappointed by the
disproportionate campaign” against the wind farm and Scotland’s
wind energy industry, they said in an e-mailed statement today. Failure to go ahead would put at risk the ambitions of
Scotland, the U.K. and Europe for low-cost energy from offshore
wind, the statement said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Tim Farrand in Edinburgh at
[email protected] ;
Peter Woodifield in Edinburgh at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rodney Jefferson at
[email protected] | 2012 | rump-says-scots-leaders-gave-assurances-for-no-wind-turbines |
Eagles Trade Cornerback Samuel to Atlanta for Seventh-Round Pick | By Eben Novy-Williams | 2012-04-25T21:14:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/eagles-trade-cornerback-samuel-to-atlanta-for-seventh-round-pick.html
The Atlanta Falcons acquired former
Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel today from the Philadelphia
Eagles for a seventh-round pick in the upcoming National
Football League draft. The Eagles now have 10 picks in the league’s annual college
player draft, which starts tomorrow with the first round of
selections, the team said today in an e-mailed statement. As part of the trade, the 31-year-old cornerback agreed to
a three-year, $18.5 million contract with the Falcons, ESPN
reported, citing an unidentified person. “Asante Samuel is a good football player and you can never
have enough good players on your team,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said in an e-mailed statement. “Our game has become more
of a passing game, and you have to have the players who can
neutralize how offenses are trying to attack you.” A Pro Bowl selection from 2007-2010, Samuel played the last
four seasons in Philadelphia. His exit comes one year after the
Eagles acquired Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie,
giving the team three Pro Bowl cornerbacks. Samuel has 45 interceptions and six forced fumbles in a
nine-year career with the Eagles and New England Patriots . His
38 interceptions since 2006 lead the NFL, according to the
Falcons’ statement, though the three he recorded last year were
his fewest since 2005. | 4 | 25 | d95f0f842d0de6a4db3fe404a69713318fbe4782 | Eben Novy-Williams in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
[email protected] | 2012 | eagles-trade-cornerback-samuel-to-atlanta-for-seventh-round-pick |
Rising Non-Performing Loans Will Hit Profit, Garanti Says | By Sibel Akbay | 2012-04-25T13:49:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rising-non-performing-loans-will-hit-profit-garanti-says-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 5529c34e738ebb9f046589c4615aa8c564efd3d9 | Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS Chief
Executive Officer Ergun Ozen said rising non-performing loans
this year will hit profit. Non-performing loans are increasing both for Garanti and
Turkish banks in general, and will exceed the provisioning this
year, Ozen said at a press conference today. Garanti’s non-
performing loan ratio was 1.9 percent in the first quarter and
the industry’s was 2.7 percent, he said. The increase in bad
loans has not yet been reflected in loans to small businesses,
which will “pull our profitability down,” he said. “The amount of non-performing loans is rising due to
increasing unemployment and as people have payment
difficulties,” Ozen said. “Very clearly, we’ve begun to see
this in credit cards and personal loans.” Garanti, Turkey ’s biggest bank by market value, shares fell
1.5 percent to 6.62 liras at 3:51 p.m., after gaining as much as
1.5 percent to 6.80 liras. First-quarter net income at Garanti rose to 861.7 million
liras ($484 million) from 855.2 million liras a year ago,
Garanti said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange
today. The bank, part-owned by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
SA (BBVA) of Spain , was expected to earn 822.1 million liras, according
to the average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Provisioning Expenses “The decrease in provision expenses came as a positive
surprise in terms of asset quality,” Muge Dagistan, an analyst
at BGC Partners, said after results were announced. “General
provision expenses were almost zero,” though this was also
“due to limited loan growth,” she said. Garanti maintains its 14 percent loan growth target for
this year despite a slower performance in the first quarter when
loan growth was flat, Ozen said in an interview in Istanbul
today. For financing purposes, the bank will “stay away” from
the Eurobond market this year as it finds the market
“expensive,” Ozen said. “We can’t go to the securitized loan
market anymore. It is unfortunately dead,” he said. Garanti plans to sell 1.5 billion liras of bonds in the
rest of this year and will complete an agreement to fully
refinance a $1 billion syndication loan by May 3, he said. The bank will continue long-term borrowing from
institutions such as the World Bank this year to secure funding
for loans of longer maturities, he said. Cost management at Turkish banks will be of “utmost
importance” this year as room for error “has greatly
diminished,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Sibel Akbay in Istanbul at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Aydan Eksin at
[email protected] | 2012 | rising-non-performing-loans-will-hit-profit-garanti-says-1- |
Census Bureau Says 1 in 10 Marriages Are Interracial | By Frank Bass | 2012-04-25T19:15:53Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/census-bureau-says-1-in-10-marriages-are-interracial.html | 4 | 25 | 3c0d89dc896b5880dbf1bb2fabfd944a2eb7237f | The number of interracial married
couples in the U.S. jumped by almost one-third during the last
decade to include almost 1 of every 10 family households, the
Census Bureau said today. Couples consisting of white non-Hispanics and Hispanics
made up the largest share of interracial households, accounting
for 37.6 percent of the tally. Households consisting of Asians
and whites were the second-most common, at 13.7 percent of
interracial couples, the bureau said. Marriages between blacks
and whites made up about 8 percent of interracial households. The ranks of unmarried interracial couples rose to 18
percent from 15 percent in 2000. About 21 percent of same-sex
unmarried couples consisted of people of different races or
ethnicities. “Households are becoming more diverse,” Daphne Lofquist,
a statistician with the bureau’s fertility and family statistics
branch, said in a telephone briefing. States with the highest percentage of mixed-race couples
were primarily in the West and Southwestern U.S., the bureau
said. Even with diverse family relationships becoming more
common, the Census Bureau said nonfamily households grew twice
as fast as family households from 2000. The 39 million nonfamily
households represented a 16 percent increase compared with the 8
percent increase to about 78 million for families. There were
116.7 million total households in the U.S. in 2010. Below 50 Percent The growth in nonfamily households has come at the expense
of married-couple households, which fell below 50 percent of all
U.S. households for the first time since the Census Bureau began
collecting family relationship data in 1940. “It’s one of the biggest changes we’ve seen over the 20th
century, and it continues into the 21st century,” Lofquist
said. Nonfamily households, which primarily include people living
alone, were most common in the upper Midwest, which has higher
concentrations of senior citizens, and along the East Coast,
with young professionals. Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati,
and Alexandria, Virginia , had the highest percentages of single-
person households, with individuals making up more than 43
percent of all households. Explaining the draw of the nation’s capital, Rose Kreider,
chief of the bureau’s fertility and family statistics branch,
said, “The population has a lot of people who come there to
start their careers.” The report also showed the number of multigenerational
households grew to 5.1 million in 2010, a 30.8 percent
increase from 2000. Families with more than two generations
living together now account for 4.4 percent of all households.
Hawaii had the highest percentage, with 1 in 12 households
consisting of multigenerational families. To contact the reporter on this story:
Frank Bass in New York at
[email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark McQuillan in Washington at
[email protected] | 2012 | census-bureau-says-1-in-10-marriages-are-interracia |
U.S. Communications Law Seen as Obsolete in Converged Age | By Todd Shields | 2012-04-25T04:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-communications-law-seen-as-obsolete-in-converged-age.html
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) volunteered to help
U.S. legislators rewrite communications law to more fully
account for Internet services that are disrupting markets for
cable, broadcast and telephone providers. If lawmakers take up the offer, made yesterday by Paul Misener , an Amazon vice president, during a Senate committee
hearing, the online merchant would join a crowd. Broadcasters,
cable operators and phone companies have an interest in whether
Congress revises the law last updated in 1996. “There are lots of voices calling for a reconsideration of
the 1996 act,” Rick Boucher, who helped shape communications
policy while a U.S. representative from Virginia from 1983 to
last year, said in an interview. “It’s been 15 years and in
that time the Internet has become the medium of choice for the
delivery of information of all kinds | 4 | 25 | 27f0bc9c1f99419dae7c850f61b9ab70 | visions for changing communications law, with Web companies
emphasizing open-Internet rules and telephone companies opposing
regulation of how they provide Internet service . Cable companies
have said they want to weaken broadcasters’ ability to extract
payment for using TV channels. Amazon, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and online television startup Aereo
Inc., which counts IAC/Interactive Corp. (IACI) Chairman Barry Diller
among its investors, were the focus of the Commerce Committee
hearing that examined how Web-based technology is shifting TV
viewing from traditional models to emerging platforms. “You’ve got to rewrite the communications act” of 1996,
Diller said. “It’s overdue given the Internet.” Online Video Popularity In October 2011, almost 166 million Americans watched video
online, according to testimony submitted by Susan Whiting, vice
chairwoman of the Nielsen (NLSN) media measurement company. More than
117 million Americans accessed the Internet through mobile
devices, Whiting said. “Consumers are finding and accessing their favorite
content on more and more devices,” Whiting said. “Consumers
are saying unequivocally, that online video will continue to
play an increasingly larger role in their media choices.” Amazon.com, which offers online movies and television
programs, wants to ensure that Internet-service providers aren’t
allowed to block it and other Web video platforms, Misener said.
He called for “vigilance” about caps placed on data
consumption by Internet service providers, saying such limits
could hinder competition in the video market. “Amazon would be happy to assist the committee in any way
we can be helpful, including if the committee were to undertake
a review of the 1996 act,” Misener said. 1996 Law The 1996 law was written to encourage competition between
traditional providers of services, such as having cable and
phone companies offer voice service, said Boucher, who is now a
Washington-based partner at Sidley Austin. “It was silent as to the Internet,” Boucher said. After yesterday’s hearing Senator Jay Rockefeller , the West
Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the committee, told
reporters that the rapidly evolving communications landscape
“will require legislation.” No telecommunications update will
pass this year, Rockefeller said. “It’s not a simple business” in part because many devices
and networks are involved, Rockefeller said. “It raises a lot
of questions which we’re not able to legislatively answer at
this point.” ‘Truly Obsolete’ Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) , the second-largest U.S. phone
company, considers current laws outdated, Tom Tauke , an
executive vice president, said in remarks delivered March 20 at
a Washington conference. “They were written before convergence, before competition
and before consumers had a choice in the communications space,”
Tauke said. “And so they are truly obsolete.” Randolph May, president of the Rockville, Maryland-based
Free State Foundation that promotes understanding of the free
market and focuses on communications policy, has been calling
for a rewrite of the telecommunications law since at least 2005. “It takes a long time for anything to get done” in
Congress, May said in an interview. “Sometimes you almost have
to have a near-crisis.” CTIA-The Wireless Association favors rewriting the statute,
Steve Largent , president of the trade group, said in an
interview yesterday. “The tech industry has revolutionized
telecommunications,” Largent said. “It just doesn’t take that
long any more. We’ve totally eclipsed what the ‘96 act did.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Todd Shields in Washington at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bernard Kohn at
[email protected] | 2012 | u-s-communications-law-seen-as-obsolete-in-converged-age |
Cattle Rebound From Biggest Drop in 10 Months on Mad Cow | By Jae Hur, Elizabeth Campbell and Whitney McFerron | 2012-04-25T20:11:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/cattle-rebound-from-biggest-drop-in-11-months-on-mad-cow.html | 4 | 25 | 7631056e60134b508c2bbd44e17391f9 | Cattle futures rebounded from a
nine-month low as countries from Canada to Japan said they’ll
continue to import American beef after the U.S. reported its
first case of mad cow disease in six years. Canada, Mexico , Japan and South Korea , the four biggest
buyers of U.S. beef last year, said they won’t halt purchases
after the disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
was found in a dairy cow in central California. No meat from the
animal entered the human food chain, John Clifford, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s chief veterinarian, said yesterday. U.S. beef exports at a record 2.79 billion pounds (1.27
million metric tons) in 2011 had just returned to levels
achieved before the first BSE case in the U.S., discovered in
December 2003, USDA data show. Exports tumbled from 2.52 billion
pounds in 2003, the previous all-time high, to just 460.3
million in 2004, as countries including Japan , China and Taiwan
put restrictions in place. Last year, shipments were worth a
record $5.42 billion, according to data from the U.S. Meat
Export Federation, a trade group. Futures rebounded today as “the emotion of this scare is
being relieved,” Paul Georgy, the president of brokerage
Allendale Inc., said by telephone from McHenry, Illinois .
“Countries like Mexico, Japan and South Korea have said that
they will not halt imports, although South Korea said they were
going to step up checks.” Live-cattle futures for June delivery climbed 0.6 percent
to settle at $1.12275 a pound by 1 p.m. on the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange. The price yesterday tumbled the exchange’s
3-cent limit to settle at $1.11575, the lowest for a most-active
contract since July 1. The commodity has dropped 15 percent
since reaching a record $1.315 on Feb. 22. Fourth Case This is the fourth confirmed case of the brain-wasting
disease in the U.S. cattle herd since the first discovery in
December 2003, in an animal that came from Canada . The North American country bought $1.03 billion in U.S.
beef last year, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
Canada has had 19 cases as of February 2011, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. trade with its northern neighbor “will not be
impacted” by the BSE finding, Canada ’s Agriculture Minister
Gerry Ritz said today in an e-mailed statement. The Agriculture
Ministry in Mexico, the second biggest buyer, said it expects
its cattle trade with the U.S. to remain unchanged. Japan won’t suspend imports because shipments are made
under a framework that assumes the disease isn’t eradicated,
Minoru Yamamoto, director at the farm ministry’s international
animal health affairs office, said today. Before yesterday’s
discovery, the health ministry was planning to relax the import
restriction after getting approval from the nation’s Food Safety
Commission, Hideshi Michino , director at the ministry’s import
food safety office, said on April 11. Japanese Restrictions Japan restricts U.S. beef imports to cattle 20-months-old
or younger as older animals are at higher risk of having the
disease. The regulation was put in place before the Asian
country resumed purchases in 2005 of American beef, which had
been banned after of the first case was discovered in the U.S.
Taiwan now allows beef imports from cattle younger than 30-
months-old. Price Rebound “The rebound came as major Asian buyers, including Japan,
said they were not taking any measures against U.S. beef
imports,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at broker
Central Shoji Co. “This may not last long as consumers in those
importing nations will shy away from U.S. beef on food safety
concerns and seek other origins, such as Australian beef.” South Korea, the fourth-largest buyer of U.S. beef, may
strengthen quarantine inspections of the meat, Lee Byoung Guan,
deputy director for planning and coordination at the Animal
Plant & Fisheries Quarantine & Inspection Agency, said by phone
today. Customs clearance of shipments hasn’t been halted, he
said. Earlier today, Park Sang Ho, an official at South Korea’s
farm ministry, said inspections would be suspended. He wasn’t
available on his office or mobile phone later in the day. Taiwan doesn’t plan to change existing rules, said Tai Yu-
yen, chief secretary of the Council of Agriculture. European
Union spokesman Frederic Vincent said the EU plans no measures
in response to the case. California Plant Baker Commodities Inc. said the case was at its Hanford
deadstock plant, where dead livestock are held before going to a
rendering plant. The animal arrived at the plant April 18 and
all test samples are sent to the University of California at
Davis, the company said. The finding shows surveillance is working, which should
give confidence to trading partners, according to the United
Nations ’ Food & Agriculture Organization. The case shouldn’t
have implications for the U.S. status of “controlled risk” for
BSE, the World Organisation for Animal Health said. U.S. beef is “very safe” and “firewalls” put in place
ensure that there are no health concerns, Joel Haggard, Asia-
Pacific vice president of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said
in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The news came “at the very tail-end of what is a major
downward correction,” Dennis Smith , a senior account executive
at Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said in a phone
interview. Prices have fallen 7.3 percent this year. The cow that tested positive for mad cow “didn’t come
anywhere near the food chain,” Troy Vetterkind, the owner of
Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage, said in a phone interview from
Chicago yesterday. “The government, the USDA, their inspection
service did their job. It’s a non-event in my opinion.” Quarantine Strengthened South Korea’s government should immediately halt imports of
U.S. beef, the Hanwoo Association, which represents local cattle
breeders, said in a statement on its website. “It’s a political economy story. It’s not a public health
story,” Daniel Pinkston, an analyst at the International Crisis
Group , said today. “Farmers and livestock ranchers in South
Korea have political clout, political influence.” Seoul-based Harim Co. (136480) , a maker of canned chicken breasts
and nuggets, rose 3.2 percent and Seoul-based Dong Won Fisheries
Co. (030720) , a deep-sea fishing company, gained 15 percent in trading in
the city on speculation demand for poultry and seafood will
increase. Tokyo-based Yoshinoya Holdings Co., a Japanese beef-
bowl chain, fell as much as 3.7 percent, the most in a year in
trading there. In 2003, after the first case of the disease, dozens of
countries shut their doors to U.S. shipments. Losses to
livestock producers and meatpackers ranged from $2.5 billion to
$3.1 billion annually from 2004 through 2007, according to the
International Trade Commission . Nations including China have
maintained some restrictions ever since. To contact the reporters on this story:
Jae Hur in Tokyo at
[email protected] ;
Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at
[email protected] ; To contact the reporter on this story:
Whitney McFerron in London . | 2012 | cattle-rebound-from-biggest-drop-in-11-months-on-mad-cow |
Vivendi Said to Consider Company Breakup | By Marie Mawad, Matthew Campbell and Jacqueline Simmons | 2012-04-26T16:16:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/vivendi-said-to-consider-company-breakup.html | 4 | 25 | c5c34d256c2a40049af1ecd3b65ad992 | Vivendi SA (VIV) is considering an
overhaul of its company structure that may lead to a breakup of
the owner of the world’s largest music and video-game companies,
according to people with knowledge of the matter. One option under discussion is to split the Paris-based
company into two, with one part incorporating media assets such
as Universal Music Group and video-game maker Activision
Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) , said the people, who asked not to be identified
because the deliberations are private. The other would include
Vivendi’s telecommunications and content distribution units,
they said, adding that the internal review is at an early stage. Vivendi’s supervisory board, led by Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou, is seeking to reverse a slide in the company’s stock
and reduce a discount he puts at almost 40 percent because of
the way Vivendi is structured as a holding vehicle of multiple
units. The board is due to discuss the alternatives during a
three-day summit with top executives in June, one person said. “It’s a sign that pressure is increasing on management,
maybe even a war of nerves between shareholders and
management,” said Conor O’Shea , an analyst at Kepler Capital
Markets who advises holding Vivendi shares. Other options may include a partial or complete spinoff of
pay-TV operator Canal Plus , which is 20 percent owned by
publisher Lagardere SCA (MMB) , the people said. Shares Jump A Vivendi spokesman said the company vigorously denies
intending to separate Canal Plus from the rest of its
businesses. He said there has been no decision on a review of
corporate structure and referred to a letter to shareholders on
March 27. Vivendi shares rose 4 percent to 13.87 euros in Paris,
valuing the company at 17.3 billion euros ($22.9 billion), after
gaining as much as 8.1 percent earlier today. They have fallen
18 percent this year, the worst performance in France’s
benchmark CAC 40 Index. In the letter looking into the reasons for a
“disappointing” stock performance, Chief Executive Officer
Jean-Bernard Levy said Vivendi’s portfolio of assets made sense,
though he said the board “regularly posed the question of the
group’s perimeter.” Changes in top management may also be announced after the
June meeting, one of the people said. SFR Buyout Levy last year spent 7.95 billion euros to take full
control of French mobile-phone company SFR from Vodafone Group
Plc. (VOD) Vivendi’s largest division has seen its earnings decline as
new operator Iliad SA (ILD) builds market share. At 16.6 billion euros as of yesterday’s close, Vivendi’s
market capitalization compares with almost 40 billion euros in
total value of its various businesses, not counting 12 billion
euros of net debt, according to estimates by Morgan Stanley
analysts. The investment bank values SFR alone at 12.9 billion
euros, and Brazilian phone unit GVT at 5.2 billion euros. “The supervisory board is likely to come under pressure to
defend its decision to consolidate Vodafone’s SFR stake when the
Iliad launch risks were well known,” Will Smith , an analyst at
Jefferies International Ltd., wrote in a note. A split of Vivendi’s communications and content-production
activities would put an end to a combined business model that’s
unique in Europe . Rival phone companies including Deutsche
Telekom AG (DTE) and France Telecom SA (FTE) have de-emphasized media assets
in favor of their core telecommunications businesses, at the
same time seeking partnerships with outside content producers. ‘No Taboos’ Still, some analysts question whether direct sales of some
of Vivendi’s assets may generate more value. “The question is whether a split is the right decision,”
said Claudio Aspesi , a London-based analyst at Sanford C
Bernstein. “I’ve always believed that the most attractive
option is actually to sell off a number of assets and
potentially slim a company down to its core of SFR and Canal
Plus.” Levy and Fourtou already faced calls to change managers and
invite new members to the board at the company’s shareholder
meeting last week. Levy also came under fire from investors
asking for plans to tackle the company’s low valuation. “Our conglomerate discount has become gigantic, close to
40 percent,” Fourtou said at the meeting in Paris. “We will
not stay idle, and there are no taboos about how we will tackle
this. We will look over our strategy, our perimeter and our
image among investors.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Marie Mawad in Paris at
[email protected] ;
Matthew Campbell in London at
[email protected] ;
Jacqueline Simmons in Paris at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Kenneth Wong at
[email protected] ;
Jacqueline Simmons at
[email protected] | 2012 | vivendi-said-to-consider-company-breakup |
DBS Paying ‘Fair Value’ With $7.2 Billion Danamon Bid, CEO Says | By Sanat Vallikappen and Joyce Koh | 2012-04-25T07:37:40Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/dbs-paying-fair-value-with-7-2-billion-danamon-bid-ceo-says.html | 4 | 25 | 6e577bc01acb0f4ef9a067adc364266a8ff70d5d | DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS) said its
it’s paying “fair value” for its $7.2 billion bid for PT Bank
Danamon Indonesia (BDMN) even as the biggest takeover by a Southeast
Asian lender dilutes earnings for the first two years. The Singapore bank’s earnings per share will rebound from
the third year of the acquisition, Chief Executive Officer
Piyush Gupta said when questioned by shareholders on the merits
of the deal at a shareholders’ meeting in Singapore today. DBS is paying more than the median book value for banking
deals over $1 billion as he seeks to diversify away from
Singapore to an economy that’s three times the size of its home
market. Indonesia’s gross domestic product expanded 6.46 percent
last year, the most since the before the Asian financial turmoil
that started in 1997. “The price to book for Indonesia must reflect the
reality,” Gupta said. “It’s a high growth, high return market.
You have to pay the price that is relevant to that country to
access the opportunities in the country.” The stock has fallen 3.6 percent this month, compared with
the 0.7 percent gain in the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Banks Index (BPRBANK) ,
which tracks 56 lenders in the region including DBS. The lender
climbed 0.3 percent to S$13.67 as of 3:07 p.m. in Singapore. DBS will buy 67 percent of Danamon for about $4.9 billion
in shares from Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned
investment company that’s also its biggest stakeholder. It also
made a cash offer for the remaining stock at a 52 percent
premium from the previous closing price. Temasek will increase
its stake in DBS to 40.4 percent from 29.5 percent. Shareholder Query At least five shareholders at the meeting today raised
concerns their holdings will be diluted with the new shares for
Temasek. They asked Gupta and the board why they weren’t given
the option of a rights offer. “It is true that you will earn less on an earnings per
share basis for the next one or two years,” Gupta said. “By
the third year, we are fairly confident that the incremental
profit we’ll make from this acquisition will actually increase
the earnings per share which the minority shareholders will
get.” DBS expects to hold a meeting with investors in June for
the purchase of Temasek’s Danamon stake if it secures the
regulatory approvals. The remaining shares will be bought after
the purchase of Temasek’s holdings is completed. Bank Indonesia ’s Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah on April 11
said the central bank will seek talks on reciprocity with
Singapore as a condition for approval of DBS’s offer and sent a
letter to the Monetary Authority of Singapore on the issue. Acquiring the Jakarta-based bank will help DBS expand
through 3,000 Danamon branches. To contact the reporters on this story:
Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore at
[email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chitra Somayaji at
[email protected] | 2012 | dbs-paying-fair-value-with-7-2-billion-danamon-bid-ceo-says |
Rising Stars Accelerate as Ford Freed From Junk | By Matthew Leising, Cecile Gutscher and Sridhar Natarajan | 2012-04-25T15:48:24Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rising-stars-accelerate-as-ford-freed-from-junk.html | 4 | 25 | d69d45abeb334d36883bbf337c5eed58 | The pace at which high-yield
borrowers in the U.S. are lifted to investment grade is
accelerating from the slowest start to a year since at least
1987 as Fitch Ratings elevates Ford Motor Co. (F) Standard & Poor’s has upgraded five borrowers from
speculative grade since February, bringing the total of so-
called rising stars this year to six. Fitch cited improved
earnings, reduced pension costs and cash on hand as it raised
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford to BBB- yesterday, the first time
since 2005 that the biggest high-yield issuer has been ranked
above junk by any of the three largest ratings firms. The riskiest borrowers from Ford to CIT Group Inc. (CIT) , the
small-business lender that exited bankruptcy two years ago, are
improving their creditworthiness as yields close to record lows
allow them to reduce expenses by refinancing debt. Corporate
balance sheets are improving with about 82 percent of the 125
companies in the S&P 500 Index (SPX) that have released earnings since
April 10 reporting profits that beat analyst forecasts. “We’re seeing gradually improving credit quality ” that
should lead to more upgrades, said Greg Kocik, a Toronto-based
money manager with the TD High Yield Bond Fund who oversees $1.6
billion. “People who take money out of a BB+ name like Ford
will put money into another company on the cusp of investment
grade. There should be some movement of that capital into other
upgrade candidates.” Rising Stars The world economy is set to expand 3.5 percent this year,
the Washington-based IMF said April 17 in its World Economic
Outlook, boosting its forecast from 3.3 percent in January. “As the economy grows, we expect rising star potential to
slowly increase to an eventual peak at some point in the middle
of the current business cycle,” Diane Vazza , an S&P analyst in
New York , wrote in an April 13 note. The six rising stars this
year compares with a median of 13 in the same period over the
past five years, she said. S&P is monitoring the debt of 23
borrowers poised to be lifted from junk. Elsewhere in credit markets, a benchmark gauge of U.S.
company credit risk fell for a second day, with the Markit CDX
North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to
hedge against losses or to speculate on creditworthiness,
declining 1.2 basis points to a mid-price of 98.5 basis points
as of 11:41 a.m. in New York, according to prices compiled by
Bloomberg. Rate Swap Spreads The index typically falls as investor confidence improves
and rises as it deteriorates. Credit-default swaps pay the buyer
face value if a borrower fails to meet its obligations, less the
value of the defaulted debt. A basis point equals $1,000
annually on a contract protecting $10 million of debt. The U.S. two-year interest-rate swap spread, a measure of
bond market stress, fell 1.6 basis points to 29 basis points as
of 11:42 a.m. in New York. The gauge narrows when investors
favor assets such as corporate bonds and widens when they seek
the perceived safety of government securities . Bonds of General Electric Co. (GE) are the most actively traded
U.S. corporate securities by dealers today, with 141 trades of
$1 million or more as of 11:40 a.m. in New York, according to
Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company’s
financing arm, GE Capital Corp., sold $3.1 billion of bonds
yesterday and plans to offer $700 million of debt today. The riskiest borrowers are benefiting from refinancing or
issuing new debt at yields that this year are averaging 7.82
percent on the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield
Master II index. Yields reached a record low 7.19 percent on May
19, 2011, after declining from 22.65 percent at the height of
the credit crisis in December 2008. Fallen Angels The five borrowers that S&P has upgraded from junk since
February are BRF-Brasil Foods SA, the sovereign debt of Uruguay,
LyondellBasell Industries NV, Regions Financial Corp. and Mohawk
Industries Inc. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. was the
only speculative-grade company to get boosted to investment
grade this year, according to S&P research as of March 14, the
slowest start to a year since at least 1987. The number of global fallen angels for 2012, or companies
that declined to junk from investment grade, was 11 as of April
9, five less than the total for the same period of 2011, S&P
said on April 13. High-yield bonds are rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors
Service and lower than BBB- at S&P. Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally has sought to
restore the automaker’s investment-grade rating to reduce
borrowing costs and attempt to recover major assets put up for
collateral as the company borrowed $23.4 billion in late 2006 to
avoid the bailouts and bankruptcies that befell the predecessors
of General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC. Ford ended 2011 with its 11th consecutive profitable
quarter and earned $29.5 billion in the last three years after
$30.1 billion in losses from 2006 through 2008. Gas Prices “The upgrade of Ford’s ratings reflects the automaker’s
significantly improved financial performance, balance sheet
repair, and product portfolio improvement that have taken place
over the past several years,” according to the report from
Fitch analysts led by Stephen Brown and Mohak Rao. Risks to Ford include the strength of the global economic
recovery and demand for automobiles, while in the U.S. high
unemployment and gasoline prices could be a drag on growth,
Fitch said. S&P and Moody’s will likely follow Fitch in upgrading Ford,
Barclays Plc strategists Vincent Foley and Cedric Morris in New
York said in a research note yesterday. “Mid-2012 is a realistic timeframe for Ford to achieve
investment grade ratings at all three rating agencies,” Foley
and Morris wrote. That would make the automaker the biggest rising star in
history, Barclays analysts led by Bradley Rogoff in New York
wrote in February. Europe Worries New York-based CIT sold $1.5 billion of senior unsecured
six-year notes last month after the small-business lender led by
John Thain redeemed $4 billion of debt tied to its exit from
bankruptcy in December 2009 and S&P boosted its credit rating to
BB- from B+. Investor anxiety is rising this month with S&P’s so-called
distress ratio climbing to 12.4 percent from 10.8 percent in
March amid concern that Europe ’s sovereign-debt crisis is
reigniting, the ratings company said. The ratio is a measure of
the number of distressed securities divided by the total number
of speculative-grade issues. In the U.S., while gross domestic product grew at a 3
percent pace in the last three months of 2011, it will slow to
2.3 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 74
economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Projections for GDP growth
this year are slower than the 3.1 percent posted in 2005 and 2.7
percent in 2006 before the recession and financial crisis. Economic Support “Investors are optimistic about a U.S. turnaround but they
are still very worried about what’s going on in Europe,” said
Marc Gross, a money manager at RS Investments in New York who
oversees $3 billion in fixed-income funds. Budget cuts across
the continent and slower Chinese growth are among the global
economic concerns, he said. “The general trend is that corporate earnings have been
solid and leverage has been managed, so we should be in more of
an upgrade cycle in the U.S.,” Gross said. Moody’s tallied eight rising stars in March versus four
fallen angels, the ratings firm said April 9. “We are at a point in the cycle where companies have had
time to grow and repair balance sheets to improve credit
quality,” Susanna Gibbons, a portfolio manager at RBC Global
Asset Management, which oversees more than $250 billion in
assets, said in a telephone interview. “You will probably see a
trend in rising stars just because of continued support from the
economy.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Matthew Leising in New York at
[email protected] ;
Cecile Gutscher in Toronto at
[email protected] ;
Sridhar Natarajan in New York at
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Alan Goldstein at
[email protected] ;
Dave Liedtka at
[email protected] | 2012 | rising-stars-accelerate-as-ford-freed-from-junk |
SEC Investigates Movie Studios Over China Dealings, Reuters Says | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T04:44:50Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sec-investigates-movie-studios-over-china-dealings-reuters-says.html | 4 | 25 | 257bbd9ce166f08200b7cf4429fbb5bdf936a854 | The Securities and Exchange
Commission is investigating at least five movie studios in the
U.S. about their dealings with China, Reuters reported
yesterday, citing an unidentified person familiar with the
matter. The U.S. regulator has sent letters of inquiry to the
studios in the past two months, including News Corp. (NWSA) ’s 20th
Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA)
to ask for information about potential inappropriate payments
and how the companies dealt with certain government officials in
China, Reuters said, citing a person it didn’t identify. Julie Henderson , a spokeswoman for News Corp., and Shannon
Olivas, a spokeswoman for DreamWorks Animation, declined to
comment. Zenia Mucha, a spokeswoman for Disney, didn’t respond
to requests for comment. An e-mail to the SEC’s press office
after work hours wasn’t immediately returned. Wu Baoan, a
spokesman for the State Administration of Radio, Film and
Television, couldn’t be immediately reached for comments. China, the world’s most populous nation, has drawn more
attention from Hollywood since February, when a previous annual
import quota of 20 films was loosened and the revenue-sharing
formula was altered, allowing foreign studios to keep a bigger
share of ticket sales. There has been a wave of U.S.-Chinese
deals as Western operators seek exposure to one of the world’s
fastest-growing movie markets. Disney (DIS) , the world’s largest entertainment company, said
last week it plans to team up with Beijing film studio DMG
Entertainment to co-produce “Iron Man 3.” DreamWorks, creator
of the “Kung Fu Panda” films, formed a venture in February
with three Chinese partners to develop entertainment projects. Ticket sales in China rose about 30 percent to $2 billion
last year, making it the biggest market after the U.S. and
Japan, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
By comparison, worldwide box-office revenue rose 3.2 percent. James Cameron , who directed the only two movies that have
grossed more than $2 billion in worldwide ticket sales,
“Titanic” and “Avatar”, said last week in Beijing he is
interested in co-producing movies in China . To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Michael Wei in Shanghai at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Wong at
[email protected] | 2012 | sec-investigates-movie-studios-over-china-dealings-reuters-says |
Ryanair Agreements With France’s Nimes Airport Probed by EU | By Aoife White | 2012-04-25T13:46:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ryanair-agreements-with-france-s-nimes-airport-probed-by-eu-1-.html | 4 | 25 | a8fd075b4d79db15b1ac94162298385c46a3f076 | Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA) ’s deals with
Nimes airport in France will be investigated by European Union
regulators over whether the company benefited from French
government subsidies. The European Commission will probe rebates and marketing
agreements between Ryanair and the airport that may have given
the airline an “undue economic advantage,” as well as
financial arrangements between French authorities and the Nimes
facility, regulators said in an e-mailed statement today. Nimes airport received state subsidies of more than 2
million euros ($2.6 million) and cash advances of more than 9
million euros from 2000 until 2006, the EU said. The
investigation will also cover public subsidies to Veolia
Transport, a private company which has operated the airport
since 2007. The payments may violate EU state aid rules because
they “may cover ordinary operating expenses,” regulators said. EU regulators opened a similar probe into Ryanair’s
agreements with France ’s Carcassonne airport earlier this month,
adding to several reviews of discounts and subsidies offered by
small, regional airports across Europe to attract low-cost
airlines. The Brussels-based commission must approve large state
subsidies to airports and airlines and can order companies to
pay back government funding if it can’t be justified as
providing a public service. “Ryanair’s arrangements with all EU airports comply with
competition rules,” said Stephen McNamara, a Dublin-based
spokesman for the airline, in an e-mail. Nimes airport and Veolia Transport didn’t immediately
respond to an e-mail seeking comment. To contact the reporter on this story:
Aoife White in Brussels at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at
[email protected] | 2012 | ryanair-agreements-with-france-s-nimes-airport-probed-by-eu-1- |
Hynix Reports Third Consecutive Loss After Chip Prices Drop | By Jun Yang | 2012-04-26T07:19:16Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/hynix-reports-third-consecutive-loss-after-chip-prices-drop.html | 4 | 25 | e5bf241093864be0a861c166ce304bb3 | SK Hynix Inc. (000660) , the world’s second-
largest maker of computer-memory chips, reported its third
consecutive quarterly loss after slowing personal-computer sales
kept chip prices from recovering. The company had a net loss of 271.2 billion won ($238
million) in the three months ended March, compared with profit
of 273.5 billion won a year earlier, Hynix said in a statement
today. The loss was wider than the 199.4 billion won average of
21 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Hynix joins smaller rival Micron Technology Inc. (MU) in being
hurt by the drop in DRAM-chip prices, which almost halved in the
past 12 months as personal-computer demand slowed. The
chipmaker, reviewing plans to bid for Elpida Memory Inc.’s
assets, stands to benefit from a possible decline in industry
capacity after the Japanese company filed for bankruptcy and as
new mobile phones and higher value laptops may boost demand. “The numbers came in a little bit worse than expected, but
it doesn’t mean much because there were expenses related to
special bonuses,” Lee Jin Woo, a fund manager at Seoul-based
KTB Asset Management Co., which oversees $5.7 billion in assets,
said today. “The question is how much earnings will improve
from the second quarter. The industry may improve towards the
second half, but how fast it will happen remains to be seen.” With special bonuses paid to employees to celebrate being
part of SK Telecom Co. (017670) excluded, the first-quarter operating
loss at Icheon, South Korea-based Hynix was similar to the
previous quarter, James Kim, head of investor relations , said on
a conference call today. Elpida, Micron Operating loss, or sales excluding the cost of goods sold
and administrative costs, was 260 billion won on sales of 2.4
trillion won. Hynix shares rose 0.6 percent to 27,200 won at the close of
trading in Seoul, while the benchmark Kospi index gained 0.1
percent. The price of the benchmark DDR3 2-gigabit DRAM closed at
$1.02 on April 25, compared with $1.96 a year earlier, according
to data from Taipei-based Dramexchange Technology Inc., operator
of Asia ’s largest spot market for semiconductors. The average selling price of Hynix’s DRAM probably dropped
47 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according
to estimates by Taurus Investment Securities Co. Falling chip prices pushed smaller rival Elpida Memory to
file for bankruptcy earlier this year, while Micron Technology
reported a third consecutive quarterly loss in March. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) is the world’s biggest maker of
memory chips. Apple, Dell Demand for memory chips slowed in the first quarter as
hard-disk drive output didn’t recover as fast as expected after
floods in Thailand , a key production site, Choi Sung Jae, a
Seoul-based analyst at SK Securities Co., said in a March 30
report. Elpida’s bankruptcy will likely prompt major chip
buyers, including Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) ,
to seek alternative suppliers, helping boost prices in the
second quarter, Choi wrote. PC makers will likely start stocking up on memory chips to
make laptop computers using Intel Corp.’s new Ivy Bridge
processor, helping boost prices from May, Choi Do Yeon, a Seoul-
based analyst at LIG Investment & Securities Co., said in an
April 16 report. Hynix submitted an initial proposal to bid for Elpida on
March 30 and said it will decide whether to make a final bid
after due diligence. SK Telecom agreed to buy 21 percent of Hynix for 3.4
trillion won in November. Hynix plans to spend 4.2 trillion won
in capital expenditure this year. PC shipments in the U.S. declined for the first time in a
decade last year, research firm IDC said Jan. 11. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jun Yang in Seoul at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
[email protected] | 2012 | ynix-reports-third-consecutive-loss-after-chip-prices-drop |
Cadbury Nigeria Rises as Stock May Be Undervalued: Lagos Mover | By Vincent Nwanma | 2012-04-25T14:20:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/cadbury-nigeria-rises-as-stock-may-be-undervalued-lagos-mover.html | 4 | 25 | b0e114f351b64031edf264b3ba69871b8d2ff3b2 | Cadbury Nigeria Plc (CADBURY) , a manufacturer
of drinks and food products, advanced for a fifth day in Lagos
on speculation the stock is undervalued, according to Lambeth
Trust and Investment Co. The stock rose 5 percent to 13.07 naira by the close of
trading, the longest winning streak since July 29. Cadbury reported a profit of more than 3 billion naira for
last year, which has “stimulated the appetite” of investors,
David Adonri, chief executive officer of Lambeth Trust, said by
phone today. The stock is currently undervalued and if Cadbury’s
profit growth continues, the stock could rise to 30 naira in a
year, he added. “This is the second year it has reported profit
after tax, indicating that the company is on the trajectory to
full recovery,” he said. Full-year net income for 2011 more than tripled to 3.7
billion naira, the Lagos-based company said on March 30. Cadbury
Nigeria returned to profit in 2010, with net income of 1.17
billion naira after a loss of 1.24 billion naira a year earlier. While the share price fell after the release of the latest
results, “that was because the company did not pay any
dividend,” Adonri said. “However, when analysts went back and
looked at
the stock, they saw a long-term value in the security moving
forward, and that has propelled the new upsurge in the price.” The stock has risen 15 percent this year, compared with a
6.3 percent gain in the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NGSEINDX)
over the same period. To contact the reporter on this story:
Vincent Nwanma in Lagos at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dulue Mbachu at
[email protected] | 2012 | cadbury-nigeria-rises-as-stock-may-be-undervalued-lagos-mover |
Japan Eschews Spending-Contingency Plan, Official Says | By Mayumi Otsuma and Kyoko Shimodoi | 2012-04-25T09:30:02Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/japan-eschews-spending-contingency-plan-official-says.html | 4 | 25 | 47112e76b88a498ed5a840881949c0b92ca6dc00 | Japan isn’t prepared to consider
boosting spending even as a fading impact from earthquake
reconstruction packages is poised to curb growth later this year. “We’re not considering any possibility in which we would
face a shortage of funds” and have to increase spending,
Fumihiko Igarashi, a vice finance minister, said in an interview
in Tokyo. The central government allocated 23 trillion yen ($283
billion) over the years through 2021, and the onus is on local
officials to craft specific plans to use the money and boost
spending, he said. Morgan Stanley economists last week warned that “fiscal
policy is turning contractionary,” with gross domestic product
gains projected to moderate in the latter three quarters of 2012
from a gain in excess of 2 percent in January to March. The
world’s third-largest economy shrank last year after the record
March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Local authorities are taking time to put together
reconstruction projects including the relocation of tsunami-
stricken communities because such projects require a consensus
of residents, Igarashi, who’s served in the ministry’s No. 2
position since 2010, said today. “Money is ready” to flow
through the economy once specific construction projects start
getting implemented, he said, adding that the economy is
expected to keep improving through next year. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has pledged to stamp out
deflation and spur growth while the government seeks to double
the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015 to curb the public debt ,
which is twice as large as the economy. The government has
already submitted a sales-tax increase bill to the parliament
and is trying to pass it by the end of the current session in
June. “Japanese people are increasingly realizing the need” for
higher taxes to curb debt and “such perception is expected to
be reflected in opposition parties’ stance,” Igarashi said.
“It’s pretty highly likely” that the bill will be authorized
by parliament, he added. To contact the reporters on this story:
Mayumi Otsuma in Tokyo at
[email protected] ;
Kyoko Shimodoi in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at
[email protected] | 2012 | japan-eschews-spending-contingency-plan-official-says |
Hess to Spend $46 Million to Settle Refinery Pollution Case | By David Voreacos and Jim Polson | 2012-04-25T15:55:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/hess-to-pay-850-000-in-penalties-for-clean-air-violations.html | 4 | 25 | 6a39a7117d7c4a4686ab8abd3ded0d25 | Hess Corp. (HES) agreed to spend $45
million on pollution controls at its petroleum refinery in Port
Reading, New Jersey , and pay $850,000 in penalties to resolve a
government lawsuit over harmful emissions. A consent decree, entered today in federal court in Newark,
New Jersey, settled a lawsuit filed last week by the U.S. and
state governments. Under the agreement, emissions of nitrogen
oxides will decline by 181 tons a year and volatile organic
compounds also will decrease. Both contribute to smog and
asthma. “This agreement will improve air quality for New Jersey
residents by requiring Hess to install advanced pollution
control and monitoring technology and adopt more stringent
emission limits,” Ignacia Moreno, the head of the Justice
Department ’s Environment and Natural Resources division, said in
a statement. Since 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
reached 31 settlements to reduce air pollution from refineries,
according to the statement. Those accords cover 108 refineries
and more than 90 percent of the refining capacity in the U.S. Under the accord, New York-based Hess must install new and
upgraded pollution controls and adopt more aggressive
monitoring, leak-detection and repair practices to reduce
emissions from refinery equipment and processing units. Judge’s Approval Needed The complaint alleges that Hess modified the refinery,
which has a processing capacity of 70,000 barrels a day, without
first getting pre-construction permits and installing pollution
control equipment. Hess didn’t admit liability in the decree,
which requires approval of a judge after a comment period. John B. Hess, the oil company’s chairman and chief
executive officer, told investors in a Jan. 25 conference call
that Port Reading lost $6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011
and broke even in the third quarter. “We’ll run it so long as it generates acceptable
returns,” Hess said on the call to discuss fourth-quarter
financial results . Hovensa, a refinery jointly owned by Hess and Petroleos de
Venezuela SA , closed in February. Hovensa had lost $1.3 billion
over three years, the company said. Hess fell 6.8 percent to $51.30 at 11:41 a.m. in New York
Stock Exchange composite trading, the most in seven months,
after lowering its oil-production estimate for the Bakken Shale
formation. The lawsuit, brought by New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa as well as the U.S., had sought civil penalties of as
much as $37,500 a day for the various violations. New Jersey
will get half of the penalties, or $425,000. The case is U.S. v. Hess Corp., 12-cv-2335, U.S. District
Court, District of New Jersey ( Newark ). To contact the reporters on this story:
David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at
[email protected] ;
Jim Polson in New York at
[email protected] . To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at [email protected] ;
Susan Warren at [email protected] . | 2012 | ess-to-pay-850-000-in-penalties-for-clean-air-violations |
Croatian Podravka to Restart Talks With Serbian Aleva, Blic Says | By Misha Savic | 2012-04-25T06:32:29Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/croatian-podravka-to-restart-talks-with-serbian-aleva-blic-says.html | 4 | 25 | a02cc81c89d6bc5f8d81f25e828299549aa2b032 | Podravka Prehrambena Industria
d.d. (PODRRA) , Croatia ’s second-biggest food producer, will renew talks
with Serbian Aleva AD on a possible acquisition or partnership,
Blic newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. Following a change in Podravka’s management, the companies
may restart negotiations held last year, with Aleva interested
in cooperation rather than being bought by Podravka, the report
said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Misha Savic in Belgrade at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James M. Gomez at [email protected] | 2012 | croatian-podravka-to-restart-talks-with-serbian-aleva-blic-says |
IBAR Deposits Rose 45% in First Quarter to $3.5 Billion | By Zulfugar Agayev | 2012-04-25T14:43:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ibar-deposits-rose-45-in-first-quarter-to-3-5-billion.html | 4 | 25 | 516dce2c4b18339f9b4b0efd84de9f1f43a68a4c | The International Bank of
Azerbaijan ’s deposits grew 45 percent to 2.76 billion manats
($3.5 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier, Rauf
Agayev, a spokesman for the country’s largest lender, said by
phone today. The Azeri government holds 50.2 percent of the Baku-based
bank, also known as IBAR, the largest lender in Azerbaijan . To contact the reporter on this story:
Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Hellmuth Tromm at
[email protected] | 2012 | ibar-deposits-rose-45-in-first-quarter-to-3-5-billion |
Philippine Bonds, Peso Gain on Smaller-Than-Programmed Deficit | By Karl Lester M. Yap | 2012-04-25T08:24:29Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/philippine-bonds-peso-gain-before-march-budget-balance-report.html | 4 | 25 | 665c053209b98fcf9a99157cc6fe88ecc9a7de86 | Philippine bonds and the peso
gained after a report showed the government’s budget deficit was
below target in the first quarter. The shortfall of 33.91 billion pesos ($795 million) was
less than the 82.81 billion pesos programmed for the period, the
Bureau of the Treasury said today. Revenue increased 11.7
percent, while spending climbed 13.1 percent. “Yields are starting to settle down,” said Jan Briace Santos, a fixed-income trader who helps manage the equivalent of
$16 billion at BPI Asset Management Inc. in Manila . “It’s good
the government is doing well with the revenue collection which
means they can afford to spend without having to borrow more
from the market. The deficit looks manageable.” The yield on the 8 percent bonds due July 2031 fell three
basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 6.05 percent as of 4
p.m. in Manila, according to Tradition Financial Services. The peso climbed 0.1 percent to 42.665 per dollar, prices
from Tullett Prebon Plc showed. One-month implied volatility, a
measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, dropped
to 4.75 percent from 5.1 percent. Growth in the $200 billion economy slowed to 3.7 percent
last year from 7.6 percent in 2010. The World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund forecast expansion will accelerate
to 4.2 percent in 2012, aided by government spending . To contact the reporter on this story:
Karl Lester M. Yap in Manila at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry at
[email protected] | 2012 | philippine-bonds-peso-gain-before-march-budget-balance-repor |
Kesa Under Shareholder Pressure to Ditch Comet Sale, Times Says | By Ben Farey | 2011-07-02T11:17:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/kesa-under-shareholder-pressure-to-scrap-comet-sale-times-says.html | 7 | 2 | 8787457c0d32b4b25d66477b55da10042a444f9a | Kesa Electricals Plc (KESA) is considering
whether to halt the planned sale of its Comet chain and
restructure the business itself, The Times reported. Knight Vinke Asset Management LLC, which owns 20 percent of
Kesa, is urging the company to demerge Comet and leave it as a
U.K.-listed entity on concern that it would only be sold at a
loss, the London-based newspaper said, citing people close to
the situation. “We’re sticking to our plan announced by the chairman only
a week ago,” Simon Ward, head of investor relations at Kesa,
said in a phone interview today. Ward declined to say if Knight
Vinke was urging the company to drop the sale of Comet. Kesa may insist on extracting concessions from Comet’s
landlords if the sale doesn’t proceed, the Times reported. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ben Farey in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Harrison at
[email protected] | 2011 | kesa-under-shareholder-pressure-to-scrap-comet-sale-times-says |
BP Emissions Continue at Whiting Refinery in Indiana, NRC Says | By Theo Mullen | 2011-07-02T14:07:26Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/bp-emissions-continue-at-whiting-refinery-in-indiana-nrc-says.html | 7 | 2 | 78728ad11c44b90758f6f1e2d606bd4d3ea520a2 | BP Plc (BP/) ’s Whiting refinery in Indiana
continues to release higher-than-estimated emissions, according
to a filing with the National Response Center. U.S. refineries must notify the response center if they
release hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities,
according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund. Bloomberg News couldn’t immediately verify that the
information in the NRC filing was accurate. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Theo Mullen in New York at
[email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
[email protected] . | 2011 | bp-emissions-continue-at-whiting-refinery-in-indiana-nrc-says |
Russian Oil Output Falls to 10.2 Million Barrels a Day in June | By Henry Meyer | 2011-07-02T09:17:53Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/russian-oil-output-falls-to-10-2-million-barrels-a-day-in-june.html | 7 | 2 | 603b5a0efd55807c8c36084e2f1faf6781834513 | Crude output in Russia , the world’s
largest oil producer, fell last month for the first time since
March. Production fell to 10.2 million barrels a day in June,
according to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK
unit received by e-mail today. That compares with output of
10.26 million barrels a day in May and 10.15 million barrels a
day in June 2010. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has tasked the oil industry,
Russia’s largest source of tax revenue , to keep output above 10
million barrels a day for at least the next decade. Production
has exceeded the level since September 2009 and reached 10.27
million barrels a day in October last year. Russia peaked at
11.48 million barrels a day in 1987, according to BP Plc data. Russian natural gas output fell to 1.69 billion cubic
meters a day in June from 1.86 billion cubic meters a day the
previous month. To contact the reporter on this story:
Henry Meyer in Moscow at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Harrison at
[email protected] | 2011 | russian-oil-output-falls-to-10-2-million-barrels-a-day-in-june |
Chavez Says Cancer to ‘Strengthen’ Him | By Daniel Cancel | 2011-07-02T04:30:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/chavez-says-cancer-to-strengthen-him-optimistic-on-recovery.html | 7 | 2 | 20d7555478664ccaac64af03d211b53e | Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , who
recently revealed that he’s receiving treatment for cancer in
Cuba, said that the illness will strengthen him and he’s
optimistic he’ll return to full health. Chavez, speaking in a live telephone call to a Cuban
television program yesterday for the first time since June 12,
said that Fidel Castro, the former Cuban president, detected his
frail health. Castro pushed him to remove a cancerous tumor
after an operation to drain a pelvic abscess. “No one expected this illness but I’m optimistic and sure
that I’ll emerge from it stronger,” he said. “If it
weren’t for Fidel, who knows what labyrinth I’d be in right
now.” Until now, Chavez only had been shown in previously
recorded videos and images. Chavez told Venezuelans in a
nationally broadcast speech on June 30 that he was operated on
twice in Cuba and that he won’t hurry his return during
treatment. The 56-year-old leader, who has run South America’s largest
oil producer since 1999, has vowed to keep ruling from Cuba as
long as it takes, though his political foes have called on Vice
President Elias Jaua to assume his daily activities, citing
articles in the constitution. Chavez had announced his intention
before the illness to seek a third presidential term next year. Peanut Butter, Lamb Earlier yesterday, Venezuelan state television broadcast a
45-minute video from June 29 showing Chavez as his followers
have grown accustomed to seeing him over the past decade: making
national policy while telling jokes and humming military marches
from his days as a paratrooper commander. Accompanying him was
his brother, Barinas state Governor Adan Chavez, Foreign
MinisterNicholas Maduro and Henry Rangel Silva, head of the
nation’s military. In a bid to project an image of normalcy after weeks of
speculation over his health, Chavez told his allies that he’s
recovering favorably and is running his nation’s affairs
from abroad. He said Fidel Castro checks in on him almost daily,
bringing peanut butter and small bits of lamb, while at night
he’s reading Friedrich Nietzsche ’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” “I’ve committed mistakes, fundamental mistakes as
Nietzsche would say, and I apologize for it,” said Chavez.
“Sometimes you get swept up in the passion and forget that
you’re just made of flesh and bone and don’t take care of your
health.” Clout Yields on the nation’s benchmark bond plunged yesterday as
investors increased bets Chavez may give up a re-election bid,
opening the door for a new government that could reverse
policies fueling the fastest inflation in the world. Jaua would
succeed Chavez if the president resigns or is declared unfit to
govern. With nobody in the government able to match Chavez’s clout
with the poor, his hold on power may be challenged if he doesn’t
return home soon, said Luis Vicente Leon, director of Caracas-
based pollster Datanalisis. The prospect of Chavez’s prolonged absence may further
embolden the opposition, which was strengthened after winning
the majority of votes in congressional elections last September.
Support for Chavez fell to near the lowest in eight years in
March as a 40 percent devaluation of the bolivar and the fastest
inflation among 78 countries, tracked by Bloomberg, erode the
purchasing power of his working-class base. Cancer “There is no chavismo without Chavez,” said Boris Segura ,
a Latin America strategist at Nomura Securities International
Inc. in an interview yesterday in Caracas. “He hasn’t groomed a
successor on purpose because this is a one-man project.” The Venezuelan leader may have colon cancer that would
require chemotherapy for at least six months to a year, Ramon
Baeza, an oncologist with the IRAM cancer clinic in Santiago,
Chile , said in a phone interview. “It’s a common cancer in his age range,” said Baeza, who
has no connection to the case and said he can’t give a medical
opinion based on the information available. Chavez’s chances of
recovery could be low depending on whether the abscess ruptured
and if the cancer spread to the rest of the abdomen, he said. The self-declared revolutionary socialist said yesterday
that he’s received support from regional leaders, including
cancer survivors Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Brazil ’s Dilma Rousseff. Canceled Summit Leaders of the opposition have criticized the government’s
handling of the political crisis though have also gone to
lengths to wish Chavez a speedy recovery. “Chavez is still the head of state, but he can’t run the
government’s daily affairs,” said Ramon Guillermo Aveledo,
executive secretary of the Democratic Unity Table alliance.
“The government isn’t functioning normally and they know it.” Chavez, who canceled a July 5 summit with Latin American
and Caribbean leaders on Margarita Island due to his health,
said that he never had any intention of staying in Cuba so long
and that his cancer was first detected at the tail end of a
regional tour after he arrived on June 8. “Truly, I was only going to spend two days here,” Chavez
said in the live telephone call last night. “I feel as if I
were in Venezuela amid my people. Long live Cuba, and long live
Fidel.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Daniel Cancel in Caracas at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Joshua Goodman at
[email protected] | 2011 | chavez-says-cancer-to-strengthen-him-optimistic-on-recovery |
Shikoku Electric May Face Delay to Reactor Restart, Nikkei Says | By Chisaki Watanabe | 2011-07-02T05:52:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/shikoku-electric-may-face-delay-to-reactor-restart-nikkei-says.html | 7 | 2 | 0a733ac41e767f1757e995ec39425bfd933c9a5a | Shikoku Electric Power Co. may face a
delay in restarting the No.3 reactor at its Ikata nuclear power
plant in Ehime prefecture, the Nikkei newspaper said today. Local government officials intend to visit the plant on or
after July 10, the newspaper said, without saying where it got
the information. The utility had planned to restart the reactor, which has
been shut for regular maintenance, on July 10. To contact the reporters on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jim McDonald at
[email protected] | 2011 | shikoku-electric-may-face-delay-to-reactor-restart-nikkei-says |
Taiwan’s Ma Gets Ruling Party Nomination for January Presidential Election | By Adela Lin | 2011-07-02T05:34:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/taiwan-s-ma-gets-ruling-party-s-nomination.html | 7 | 2 | 5162450d1434d97139ffe07d5fd338a57d5815aa | Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou
received approval from the ruling Kuomintang ’s national congress
to run for a second term by pledging to strengthen the economy
and further improve ties with China. “Give us four more years, I will surely further enhance
Taiwan’s competitive edge, increase the public’s income and cut
unemployment,” Ma told supporters today. Taiwan’s gross domestic product expanded 10.88 percent last
year to the highest in 24 years. The jobless rate, which in May
stood at a 33-month low or 4.27 percent before adjustment for
seasonal factors, “will be even lower in the future,” the
president said. The party approved incumbent premier Wu Den-yih as Ma’s
running mate for the Jan. 14 election. Ma is standing against
the Democratic Progressive Party ’s chairwoman, Tsai Ing-wen. The
president’s administration has signed 15 economic agreements
with the Chinese government in a policy that Tsai has derided as
“boxed in a frame set by China .” Ma, 60, told the national congress of the KMT he will seek
better ties with China based on the “one China principle”
reached in 1992, under which the two sides agreed to disagree on
the interpretations of the doctrine. Three ‘No’s “We will insist on the policy of no unification, no
independence, and no use of force to develop peaceful and
prosperous relations with the mainland,” the president said. Relations between Taiwan and China are at their warmest in
more than 60 years after Ma abandoned his predecessor’s pro-
independence stance and focused on economic issues. China, Taiwan’s largest export market, regards the
independently governed island as part of its territory, and has
threatened to attack if it declares formal independence. The two
sides split since Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang, or Nationalists,
fled to the island after being defeated by Mao Zedong ’s
Communists in 1949. To contact the reporter on this story:
Adela Lin in Taipei at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at
[email protected] | 2011 | aiwan-s-ma-gets-ruling-party-s-nomination |
Pakistan Inflation Slows in June, Easing Pressure for Interest Rate Rise | By Farhan Sharif and Haris Anwar | 2011-07-02T06:38:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/pakistan-inflation-slows-in-june-easing-pressure-for-interest-rate-rise.html | 7 | 2 | 433014847ed9e87240d8effa870508c6326a8c0b | Pakistan ’s inflation eased in June,
reducing pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates . Consumer prices rose 13.13 percent from a year earlier,
slowing from a 13.23 percent gain in May, the Bureau of
Statistics announced in Islamabad today. The median of nine
estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 13.70 percent
increase. The State Bank of Pakistan has kept its discount rate
unchanged this year at 14 percent, already one of the highest in
the world, to support economic growth. Pakistan’s $162 billion
economy, sapped by terrorism and floods in 2010, probably
expanded 2.4 percent in the year ended June 30, slower than an
earlier target of 4.5 percent, the government estimates. “Inflation is showing no real sign of abating,” Suleman Akhtar, an economist at Foundation Securities Ltd. in Karachi,
said before the report. “Raising rates further would be tough,
given the weakness in economic expansion.” The central bank has called for a tight fiscal policy to
ease inflationary pressures and signaled a further increase in
borrowing costs will undermine economic expansion. It raised
rates in three consecutive meetings from July to November. Government borrowings have surged 74 percent to 685.3
billion rupees ($8 billion) since July 1, according to the
central bank. Pakistan’s government last month pledged to cut the budget
deficit to a seven-year low of 4 percent of gross domestic
product in the year ending June 30, 2012, from 5.7 percent of
GDP in the previous 12 months. To contact the reporters on this story:
Farhan Sharif in Karachi at
[email protected] ;
Haris Anwar in Islamabad at
[email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at [email protected] | 2011 | pakistan-inflation-slows-in-june-easing-pressure-for-interest-rate-rise |
Queensland Reds Beat Blues 30-13 to Advance to Super Rugby Final | By Bob Bensch | 2011-07-02T12:19:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/queensland-reds-beat-blues-30-13-to-advance-to-super-rugby-final.html | 7 | 2 | 50d6c96af47aa5cdbcf4f4978f16ab35588bafa4 | The Queensland Reds beat the Auckland
Blues 30-13 to advance to the Super Rugby final. Rod Davies touched down three times as the Reds outscored
the Blues four tries to one at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The
Australian club will host the July 9 championship game against
the winner of today’s second semifinal between New Zealand’s
Canterbury Crusaders and South Africa’s Stormers in Cape Town . The Reds, who topped the regular-season standings, are
seeking to win southern hemisphere rugby’s elite provincial
competition for the first time. Queensland won back-to-back
Super 10 titles before the sport went professional in 1995. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bob Bensch at
[email protected] | 2011 | queensland-reds-beat-blues-30-13-to-advance-to-super-rugby-fina |
Shriver Files for Divorce From Schwarzenegger After He Disclosed an Affair | By Christopher Palmeri and Edvard Pettersson | 2011-07-02T09:23:50Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/shriver-files-for-divorce-from-schwarzenegger-after-he-disclosed-an-affair.html | 7 | 2 | fb2410d9fd8e88811f3ea6f5a1908b48255059a5 | Maria Shriver filed for divorce from
former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after 25 years,
following his admission this year that he fathered a child with
a family housekeeper. Shriver, who gave up her career as a newscaster when
Schwarzenegger entered politics, cited irreconcilable
differences in a petition filed in Los Angeles Superior Court
yesterday. Matthew DiGirolamo, a spokesman for Shriver, said she had
no comment. Daniel Ketchell, a spokesman for the former
governor, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Shriver, 55, announced on May 9 that she had separated from
Schwarzenegger, a movie star and onetime Mr. Universe. A week
later, the Los Angeles Times reported that Schwarzenegger, 63,
had fathered a child with the family’s former housekeeper. “After leaving the governor’s office I told my wife about
this event, which occurred over a decade ago,” Schwarzenegger
said in a statement then. “There are no excuses and I take full
responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to
Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.” Schwarzenegger, who campaigned for governor saying he would
tear up the state’s credit card and later almost tripled
California ’s debt, put several entertainment projects on hold
May 19, including “Cry Macho,” a film by Albert Ruddy,
producer of “The Godfather.” Schwarzenegger’s lawyer, Patrick Knapp, said in a statement
then that the former governor was “focusing on personal
matters.” Last month he spoke about environmental issues at an energy
conference sponsored by the United Nations in Vienna, according
to a video of the speech on YouTube . Shriver said on her website that she would be in Greece for
the Special Olympics World Summer Games, which end July 4. Her
mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the organization, a
sports competition for children and adults with intellectual
disabilities. To contact the reporters on this story:
Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at
[email protected] ;
Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Palazzo at
[email protected] | 2011 | shriver-files-for-divorce-from-schwarzenegger-after-he-disclosed-an-affair |
Saudi Shares Advance After U.S. Rally, Greek Debt Progress, Paced by Rajhi | By Glen Carey | 2011-07-02T13:13:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/saudi-shares-advance-after-u-s-sees-biggest-rally-in-two-years.html | 7 | 2 | 7efd0a6c19e5d41533042c6a62c2ce6066b77797 | Saudi shares rose for a third day,
led by petrochemical companies and banks, after U.S. stocks
posted the biggest weekly rally in two years after Greece took
action to avoid a default. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) , the world’s largest
petrochemical maker, and Al Rajhi Bank paced the gains. Saudi
Arabian Mining Co., also known as Ma’aden, rose for the fifth
day after announcing financing for an aluminum project the
company is developing in a joint venture with Alcoa Inc. The 146-company Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) rose 1.2 percent to
6,653.68 at the close in Riyadh today, its highest closing level
since June 6. The largest bourse by market value in the Middle
East has gained 0.5 percent this year. “There is market optimism after Greece avoided a default
on its debt,” Mohammad Ali Shah, a senior financial analyst at
Global Investment House, said in an interview from Riyadh .
“Following the global markets, Saudi Arabia has seen an upside
as well.” U.S. and European stocks rose this week after Greek Prime
Minister George Papandreou on June 29 clinched enough votes to
pass the first part of an austerity plan aimed at meeting
European Union aid requirements and staving off default for his
debt-laden nation. Lawmakers backed a bill on June 30 to
authorize the measure. The S&P 500 surged 5.6 percent to 1,339.67. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average advanced 5.4 percent to 12,582.77 this week.
Both indexes rose all five days for the biggest weekly gains
since July 2009. Saudi shares are also being helped by “the expectations
for positive second-quarter results,” Shah said. Saudi
companies will start to release quarterly earnings results later
this month. Sabic, Ma’aden Gain Sabic advanced 1.9 percent to 106 riyals, the highest level
since June 1. Fitch Ratings affirmed on June 30 Sabic’s long-
term issuer default rating at A+, citing the company’s “strong
business profile and moderate leverage.” Al-Rajhi Bank (RJHI) , the
kingdom’s largest lender by market value, gained 1.4 percent to
74 riyals, the highest since June 13. Ma’aden shares gained 1.8 percent to 27.7 riyals, the
highest value since May 30. The company said today it received
commitments for $1 billion in commercial loans to finance the
second phase of an aluminum project being developed in a joint
venture with Alcoa Inc. Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange is the only Gulf Arab bourse
open on Saturdays. To contact the reporter on this story:
Glen Carey in Riyadh at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew J. Barden at
[email protected] | 2011 | saudi-shares-advance-after-u-s-sees-biggest-rally-in-two-years |
Colombia’s Uribe Backs Penalosa in Bogota Election, Tiempo Says | By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez | 2011-07-02T15:10:59Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/colombia-s-uribe-backs-penalosa-in-bogota-election-tiempo-says.html | 7 | 2 | d24dee2bdce392a0de8fa485c7e385ca0affa252 | Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has endorsed Enrique Penalosa for mayor of the capital
city of Bogota, El Tiempo newspaper reported . The announcement was made by Uribe and Penalosa yesterday
after a three-hour meeting, El Tiempo reported. Penalosa, who
served as mayor of Bogota from 1998 to 2001, is the Green Party
candidate; Uribe is a member of the La U party. To contact the reporter on this story:
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in Mexico City at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dale Crofts at
[email protected] . | 2011 | colombia-s-uribe-backs-penalosa-in-bogota-election-tiempo-says |
Noyer Says French Greek Rollover Plan ‘Good’, Proto Thema Says | By Maria Petrakis | 2011-07-02T16:46:27Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/noyer-says-french-greek-rollover-plan-good-proto-thema-says.html | 7 | 2 | ff9c5f051a28926f2e872251527d7049b98b9c0f | European Central Bank Governing
Council member Christian Noyer said proposals from French banks
for a rollover of Greek debt are “very good” and may make
Greece’s rescue program more credible, Proto Thema reported. Noyer said the proposal is in the interests of all the
banks and financial organizations who could participate in a
Greek support plan, the Athens-based newspaper said, citing an
interview due to be published tomorrow, Sunday, July 3. Greek state asset sales can raise income for Greece and tax
reform can support growth, the newspaper quoted Noyer saying.
Europe needs stronger governance overall and greater
harmonization of tax and social policies, the newspaper cited
Noyer as saying. To contact the editor responsible for this story
Maria Petrakis at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Angela Cullen at
[email protected] | 2011 | noyer-says-french-greek-rollover-plan-good-proto-thema-says |
JS Group Buys Permasteelisa for 600 Million Euros, Il Sole Says | By Sonia Sirletti | 2011-07-02T09:41:43Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/js-group-buys-permasteelisa-for-600-million-euros-il-sole-says.html | 7 | 2 | 746b6662ce74aa09edd74a319526858b4467c027 | JS Group Corp. (5938) , a Japanese housing
materials maker, agreed to buy the Italian building group
Permasteelisa SpA for about 600 million euros ($871 million), Il
Sole 24 Ore reported, without saying how it got the information. JS Group beat Italy ’s Clessidra SGR SpA, a private equity
fund which was also running to buy the company, according to the
Italian newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story:
Sonia Sirletti in Milan at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at [email protected] | 2011 | js-group-buys-permasteelisa-for-600-million-euros-il-sole-says |
British Public Support Split Over Pension Strike, Guardian Says | By Jesse Riseborough | 2011-07-02T10:09:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-02/british-public-support-split-over-pension-strike-guardian-says.html | 7 | 2 | 75c561aba2d34c92feb2384f7ffb584ce53ea75c | British public support for this
week’s strike action in the U.K. over pensions is split,
according to the Guardian , citing a poll of 2,022 people. Forty-one percent of respondents said the strike by
teachers and civil servants was justified, while 42 percent said
it wasn’t and the rest didn’t know, the Guardian reported. ICM
Research interviewed people age 18 or older online on June 29
and 30, according to the report. Four unions with 750,000 members staged a one-day strike on
June 30 to fight proposals for government employees to retire
later and contribute more to their pensions. The government says
the changes are essential to make pensions sustainable and help
trim the U.K.’s fiscal deficit. Of those polled, 43 percent said the government was right
to make public-sector pensions less generous and 39 percent said
it was wrong, according to the report. Thirty-two percent of the
respondents said they would support any call from unions for
more strikes and 46 percent said they would be opposed, the
Guardian said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jesse Riseborough in London at
[email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dick Schumacher at
[email protected] | 2011 | british-public-support-split-over-pension-strike-guardian-says |