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West Africa’s Cocoa Areas to Get Rains by May, NOAA Says | By Isis Almeida | 2012-04-25T09:40:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/west-africa-s-cocoa-areas-to-get-rains-by-may-noaa-says.html | 4 | 25 | 99ec6ec93416973f6767b0c5d389d88c879f5f4b | Ivory Coast and Ghana , the world’s
largest cocoa producers, will get rains over the next six days,
potentially helping crop development, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Most of Ivory Coast will get at least 30 millimeters (1.2
inches) of rain by May 1, while most of Ghana will get at least
20 millimeters, data on the NOAA’s website shows. That may boost
crop development after dry weather from December through
January. Output in both countries accounted for 69 percent of
total global production last season, according to the
International Cocoa Organization in London . The lack of rainfall earlier this year will delay the start
of the smaller of two annual harvests in Ivory Coast , according
to Macquarie Group Ltd. The mid-crop is expected to begin in
June, as opposed to April, as pods aren’t big enough, Kona Haque , an analyst at the bank in London, said last week. Cocoa climbed as much as 4.9 percent in New York and 4
percent in London yesterday. The London market moved into a so-
called backwardation, with the July contract trading above the
later dated ones through the May 2013 futures. Backwardation is
a market structure that may signal limited supplies. The delay to the start of the mid-crop may be “starting to
work its way into the marketplace and force some to roll hedges
a bit further down the curve,” Drew Geraghty, a broker at ICAP
Futures LLC in Jersey City , New Jersey, said in a report e-
mailed yesterday. “Many are pointing to concerns over the
logistics for fourth quarter cocoa as Ivory Coast will be in its
first season of forward sales.” Ivory Coast plans to sell 70 percent of its 2012-13 crop
before it is harvested as part of wider industry changes. These
include a price guarantee to farmers that is 50 percent to 60
percent of international rates. The so-called forward sales
started on Jan. 31 and the new season will begin in October. To contact the reporter on this story:
Isis Almeida in London at
ialmeida3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Deane at
jdeane3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | west-africa-s-cocoa-areas-to-get-rains-by-may-noaa-says |
GE Holders Re-Elect Board Amid Protests at Annual Meeting | By Tim Catts | 2012-04-25T22:01:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ge-holders-re-elect-board-amid-protests-at-annual-meeting.html | 4 | 25 | 8066a8b18a8296e7e7ae9bd843b0a5f8ce40ce90 | General Electric Co. (GE) shareholders
re-elected the company’s board and approved pay packages for
Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt and other top leaders as
protesters disrupted its annual meeting in Detroit. Shareholders also ratified changes to GE’s long-term
incentive plan and performance goals for senior executives. They
rejected investor proposals to exit the nuclear energy industry,
appoint an independent chairman and allow cumulative voting on
directors and shareholder action by written consent. An address to investors by Immelt, who is CEO and chairman,
was interrupted by demonstrators who said GE’s tax bill is too
low, chanting, “Pay your fair share,” the Detroit Free Press
reported . Hundreds of people, including shareholders, shut down
city streets outside the meeting, the newspaper said. GE’s tax rate was 28.5 percent last year and 7.3 percent in
2010, according to company filings. Fairfield, Connecticut-based
GE is “compliant with every law everywhere around the world
around how we do our taxes,” Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said at the meeting. To contact the reporter on this story:
Tim Catts in New York at
tcatts1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Ed Dufner at
edufner@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ge-holders-re-elect-board-amid-protests-at-annual-meeting |
ABFL and TATA MOT CP :India Money Markets | By Shraddha Kothari | 2012-04-25T12:58:36Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/abfl-and-tata-mot-cp-india-money-markets.html | 4 | 25 | b5e805816a6d703513cdacf9cf6b6c490901a637 | Following is a table showing commercial paper
reported by Companies.The data has been provided by Trust Financial Consultancy
Services,SPA Securities Ltd,Mata Securities India Pvt Ltd And,NVS Brokerage Ltd. Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 604eba1b73204d308df38a0905f269e3 | 2012 | abfl-and-tata-mot-cp-india-money-markets |
PTT Exploration Net Rises 67%, Beats Estimates as Sales Jump | By Supunnabul Suwannakij | 2012-04-25T05:50:33Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ptt-exploration-net-rises-67-beats-estimates-as-sales-jump-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 33172c2f232e9326903fdcdcf0f51a190ff36f77 | PTT Exploration & Production Pcl (PTTEP) ,
Thailand ’s only listed oil and gas explorer, said first-quarter
profit surged 67 percent to a record after prices increased. Net income rose to 18.3 billion baht ($591 million), or
5.51 baht per share, in the three months ended March 31, from 11
billion baht, or 3.31 baht, a year earlier, the company said in
a regulatory filing today. The average estimate of six analysts
in a Bloomberg survey was for profit of 15.9 billion baht. PTTEP is considering whether to raise its bid for Cove
Energy Plc (COV) , after Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) matched its $1.8 billion
offer for the London-based explorer, the company said yesterday.
The Thai company plans to spend about $20 billion on expansion
by 2016, and aims to triple daily production to 900,000 barrels
of oil equivalent by 2020. Revenue jumped 26 percent to 50.5 billion baht and expenses
climbed 14 percent to 24.7 billion baht. The company’s average
selling price surged 31 percent to $64.79 per barrel of oil
equivalent. Sales volume dropped 6.6 percent to 253,411 barrels
of oil equivalent per day, PTTEP said. The company’s earnings were also boosted by a below-
forecast tax bill, Piyathida Vongvicathchai, analyst at KGI
Securities Thailand Pcl (KGI) , said in a research note today. PTTEP
paid 7.52 billion baht in income tax compared with KGI
Securities’ forecast of 9.8 billion baht. Piyathida said he expects the company to post “strong”
earnings this quarter, supported by the ramping up of the S1
field in northern Thailand and the offshore Bongkot fields. The Bongkot South field in the Gulf of Thailand started
test runs in the first quarter and will probably produce 320
million cubic feet a day of natural gas and 9,000 barrels per
day of condensate in the second quarter, PTTEP said in a
separate statement. The explorer has more than 40 oil and gas projects
worldwide, and has said it plans to increase petroleum reserves
through acquisitions and the expansion of projects in Australia ,
East Africa, North America and Southeast Asia. To contact the reporter on this story:
Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at
ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tony Jordan at
tjordan3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ptt-exploration-net-rises-67-beats-estimates-as-sales-jump-1- |
Lakers’ Metta World Peace Suspended Seven Games by NBA for Elbow | By Erik Matuszewski | 2012-04-25T04:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/lakers-world-peace-is-suspended-7-nba-games-for-throwing-elbow.html
The Los Angeles Lakers will begin
the playoffs without starting forward Metta World Peace, who was
suspended seven games without pay by the National Basketball
Association for elbowing Oklahoma City guard James Harden in the
head and giving him a concussion. World Peace, who legally changed his name from Ron Artest
last year, was thrown out of the Lakers’ 114-106 double-overtime
win against the Thunder on April 22 following the incident,
which led to a flagrant 2 foul. World Peace, 32, was pounding his chest with his right hand
after a dunk when he raised his left arm across his face and
then swung it back, elbowing Harden near the ear. Harden fell to
the floor and held the side of his head as play was stopped for
several minutes. Harden didn’t return to the game, and did not
play last night against the Sacramento Kings . “The concussion suffered by James Harden demonstrates the
danger posed by violent acts of this kind, particularly when
they are directed at the head area,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement released last night by the league.
“We remain committed to taking necessary measures to protect
the safety of NBA players, including the imposition of
appropriate penalties for players with a history of on-court
altercations.” The suspension will begin with the Lakers’ game tomorrow at
Sacramento , their last regular-season game, and continue into
the playoffs. The Lakers lead the Pacific Division with a 41-24
record and are in position for the No. 3 seed in the Western
Conference as they seek a third NBA championship in four seasons. Apology to Harden World Peace apologized to Harden and the Thunder after the
game, saying the elbow was unintentional and that he was caught
up in the emotion of dunking on Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. “Metta has for the most part been a model citizen both on
and off the court since joining the Lakers,” General Manager
Mitch Kupchak said in a statement on the team’s website. “Still,
his most recent lapse in judgment is not to be condoned or
accepted.” World Peace left yesterday’s practice just as reporters
were being allowed in, and canceled a scheduled appearance on
Conan O’Brien’s late-night television show. Previous Suspensions It was the latest incident of questionable behavior in the
13-year NBA career of World Peace, a native of Queens, New York,
who played at St. John’s University in 1997-99. In 2004, he ran into the stands and started a brawl with
Detroit Pistons fans while playing for the Indiana Pacers . He
was suspended for a total of 86 games | 4 | 25 | 62930d7247aba4484012b0961ad8283205325742 | regular season and another 13 in the playoffs. World Peace, who was also banned for the first seven games
of the 2007-08 season after pleading no contest to spousal abuse,
a year ago received the NBA’s citizenship award for his efforts
to promote mental-health awareness. He was averaging 7.6 points
and 3.4 rebounds in his third season with the Lakers, who won
NBA titles after the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. “His actions could have seriously injured another player,
and his absence during this suspension will hurt our team,”
Kupchak said. “While we accept the league’s decision, we will
be supportive of Metta and try to help him be more professional
on the court.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New York at
matuszewski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net | 2012 | akers-world-peace-is-suspended-7-nba-games-for-throwing-elbow |
OMV Petrom May Build New Gas-Fired Power Plant, Hotnews.ro Says | By Irina Savu | 2012-04-25T10:50:50Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/omv-petrom-may-build-new-gas-fired-power-plant-hotnews-ro-says.html | 4 | 25 | 1a5eb90826f10bbb8ed4b1502154e5ed45a8a509 | Romania ’s OMV Petrom SA (SNP) is
considering building a new gas-fired power plant if a Black Sea
gas discovery proves viable, news website Hotnews.ro reported
today , citing Carmencita Constantin, a director at the Institute
for Studies and Power Engineering. The country’s largest oil company hasn’t made any decision
to build another plant at the moment and is currently working on
its 2021 strategy, which will be completed this year, Hotnews.ro
quoted OMV Petrom officials as saying. To contact the reporter on this story:
Irina Savu in Bucharest at
isavu@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James M. Gomez at
jagomez@bloomberg.net | 2012 | omv-petrom-may-build-new-gas-fired-power-plant-hotnews-ro-says |
Ringgit Climbs as U.S. Home-Sales Data Brighten Export Outlook | By Liau Y-Sing | 2012-04-25T08:27:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ringgit-climbs-as-u-s-home-sales-data-brighten-export-outlook.html | 4 | 25 | 3d6e09828acfdbe1162522a5d0a54ac485ca8bb0 | Malaysia’s ringgit advanced for a
second straight day on optimism a recovery in the U.S. will spur
demand for exports from Southeast Asia ’s third-biggest economy. New homes in the U.S. were sold at a 328,000 annual rate in
March, compared with the 319,000 pace forecast in a Bloomberg
News survey. Another report showed home prices in 20 U.S. cities
dropped at a slower pace in the year through February, pointing
to stabilization in the real-estate market. “The U.S. recovery is adding to confidence that export-
oriented Asian countries will benefit from the firmer growth,”
said Yeah Kim Leng, chief economist at RAM Holdings Bhd. in
Kuala Lumpur. “That has helped to shore up Asian currencies.” The ringgit gained 0.2 percent to 3.0600 per dollar as of
4:08 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-
rate swings used to price options, dropped 10 basis points to
5.85 percent. Government bonds declined. The yield on the 3.434 percent
notes due August 2014 rose two basis points, or 0.02 percentage
point, to 3.11 percent, according to Bursa Malaysia. To contact the reporter on this story:
Liau Y-Sing in Kuala Lumpur at
yliau@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry in Hong Kong at
shendry@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | ringgit-climbs-as-u-s-home-sales-data-brighten-export-outlook |
Galp Rises Most in Almost 5 Months on Stake Price: Lisbon Mover | By Joao Lima | 2012-04-25T09:26:36Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/galp-rises-most-in-almost-5-months-on-stake-price-lisbon-mover.html | 4 | 25 | 2b33e59d6960a30efa1a06f72ce3584808eb839f | Galp Energia SGPS SA (GALP) rose the most
in almost five months in Lisbon trading after Amorim Energia BV
and Eni SpA agreed on the price for a 5 percent stake in
Portugal’s biggest oil company . The stock climbed as much as 8 percent, or 87 cents, to
11.725 euros, the biggest jump since Nov. 30. Galp traded at
11.71 euros at 11:24 a.m. in the Portuguese capital, giving the
oil company a market value of 9.7 billion euros ($13 billion). Amorim Energia, a holding company controlled by Portuguese
investor Americo Amorim, plans to buy a 5 percent stake in Galp
from Eni of Italy for 14.25 euros a share. The transaction is
expected to be completed in three to four weeks, a spokesman for
Americo Amorim who asked not to be identified said in a
telephone interview yesterday after the close of trading. “This premium highlights that Amorim Energia values a
minority stake in Galp at well above the current stock price,
sending a positive message at a time when investors are very
focused on the potential negative impact of the planned sale of
between 18 percent and 20 percent by Eni (ENI) over the next five
months,” Banco Espirito Santo SA (BES) analysts Filipe Rosa and
Manuel Albuquerque said today in a research note. They have a
“buy” rating on Galp shares. Galp’s main shareholders on March 29 agreed on a proposal
for Eni to sell a stake, paving the way for an exit from the
Portuguese oil company. Eni, one of Galp’s two largest
shareholders, had agreed to sell a 5 percent stake to Amorim
Energia for an undisclosed price within 150 days. Eni and Amorim
Energia, which is part-owned by Angolan oil company Sonangol EP,
each hold 33 percent of Galp. To contact the reporter on this story:
Joao Lima in Lisbon at
jlima1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Will Kennedy at
wkennedy3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | galp-rises-most-in-almost-5-months-on-stake-price-lisbon-mover |
Draghi Softens Tone on Inflation, Calls for Growth Compact | By Jana Randow | 2012-04-25T13:16:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/draghi-softens-tone-on-inflation-says-risks-broadly-balanced-.html | 4 | 25 | cd744b6d0e64615310e6c1fff1271342b481fdd6 | European Central Bank President
Mario Draghi softened his tone on the inflation outlook and
called for a “growth compact” as the sovereign debt crisis
weighs on the euro-area economy. While inflation will remain above the ECB’s 2 percent limit
this year, it will slow in 2013 and “underlying price pressures
should remain modest,” Draghi told lawmakers in Brussels today.
That’s a contrast to the “upside risks” to inflation he warned
of three weeks ago. Risks to the economic outlook remain on the
downside, Draghi said. Since the ECB lifted its 2012 inflation forecast to 2.4
percent in March, the debt crisis has worsened, threatening to
derail a fragile economic recovery. Spending cuts across the
region are already damping growth, prompting a backlash against
the German-led austerity drive in countries such as France . Draghi, whose call for a fiscal compact to toughen budget
rules was adopted by European Union leaders, today urged them to
take similar steps to foster growth. “We’ve had a fiscal compact,” he said. “What is most
present in my mind now is to have a growth compact. I think
that’s what we have to have.” He didn’t elaborate. The comments were welcomed by French Socialist presidential
candidate Francois Hollande . “He’s speaking Hollande’s
language,” said Michael Sapin, an aide to Hollande. High Uncertainty The economy of the 17 euro nations shrank 0.3 percent in
the fourth quarter of 2011 and the ECB predicts a contraction of
0.1 percent for this year as a whole. While “available indicators for the first quarter of 2012
broadly confirm a stabilization in economic activity at a low
level,” uncertainty remains “very, very high,” Draghi said. “Growth should be supported by foreign demand, the very
low short-term interest rates as well as our non-standard
measures,” he said. “At the same time, downside risks relate
in particular to a renewed intensification of tensions in euro-
area sovereign debt markets and their potential spillover to the
real economy.” The ECB has injected more than 1 trillion euros ($1.3
trillion) of cheap cash into the banking system for three years
to avert a credit crunch. While debt markets rallied after the
tenders in December and February as banks used some of the
liquidity to buy government bonds , that effect is waning. Spanish 10-year yields breached 6 percent last week and the
cost of insuring the country’s bonds against default advanced to
a record. German Stance Germany sees 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 today. Also today, the European Commission proposed a 6.8 percent
increase in the EU budget to 138 billion euros in 2013,
promising growth-oriented investments to turn around the
economy. For his part, Draghi said any talk of an exit from the
ECB’s stimulus measures is “premature given the current
economic situation.” While the bank’s bond-purchase program has been inactive
for six weeks, “we don’t want to pre-commit” on whether it
will be canceled altogether or resumed, he said. “We abstain
from making announcements in either direction now.” Draghi said the ECB’s monetary policy is “quite
accommodative” and not too tight. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jana Randow in Frankfurt at
jrandow@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Craig Stirling at
cstirling1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | draghi-softens-tone-on-inflation-says-risks-broadly-balanced- |
UMC Net Beats Estimates, Sales to Climb on Mobile Chips | By Tim Culpan | 2012-04-25T07:57:26Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/united-micro-profit-beats-estimates-on-smartphone-chip-demand.html | 4 | 25 | c60005dbed984d71beefb99823cec9e1 | United Microelectronics Corp. (2303) , the
world’s second-largest contract maker of chips, posted profit
that beat analyst estimates and forecast a jump in shipments
amid rising demand for mobile devices and consumer electronics. First-quarter net income fell 70 percent to NT$1.34 billion
($45 million), from NT$4.48 billion a year earlier, the Hsinchu,
Taiwan-based company said in a statement today. Profit surpassed
the NT$921 million average of 14 analysts’ estimates compiled by
Bloomberg. United Microelectronics expects prices to climb later in
the year as it increases production at its more advanced
factories after rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330)
said it has fully booked its best production technology.
Shipments and revenue will climb this quarter, driven by demand
for chips used in smartphones. “We are investing heavily,” Chief Executive Officer Sun Shih-wei said at an investors’ conference today. “As our
advanced leading edge technologies like 28 nanometer and 40
nanometer start to bear fruit, average prices will rise.” One nanometer, equal to one billionth of a meter, measures
the size of connections within a chip. A lower number implies
more advanced technology, allowing semiconductors to be smaller
and more powerful. Unconsolidated sales dropped 16 percent to NT$23.8 billion.
United Microelectronics shares rose 1 percent to NT$14.90 at the
close in Taipei trading before the earnings announcement. The
stock has advanced 17 percent this year, outpacing the 6.9
percent gain in the benchmark Taiex index and the 11 percent
increase by Taiwan Semiconductor shares. Shipments to Climb Shipments this quarter will climb about 15 percent while
average price per wafer will be little changed from the prior
period, United Microelectronics said in the statement today.
Factory usage will be in the low 80 percent range compared to 71
percent in the first quarter, it said. The shipments and price forecasts indicate sales growth of
15 percent from the first quarter to about NT$27.3 billion,
according to Bloomberg calculations. That’s higher than the
NT$26.7 billion average of 15 analysts’ estimates . Qualcomm (QCOM) Inc., the world’s largest maker of chips for
mobile phones, can’t get enough supply from its existing
manufacturer and is seeking additional output, Chief Executive
Officer Paul Jacobs said in an interview last week. Taiwan Semiconductor, which began mass production of chips
using 28-nanometer technology in the third quarter of last year,
is fully booked at that facility, spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun said
this month. United Microelectronics will begin 28-nanometer
manufacturing from the third quarter of this year, spokesman
Richard Yu said April 20. Qualcomm Orders Qualcomm, which counts Taiwan Semiconductor as its primary
supplier, will give orders to United Microelectronics for the
28-nanometer technology from the second half, boosting the
Taiwanese company’s revenue, Randy Abrams, who rates the stock
outperform at Credit Suisse Group, wrote in a report this month.
The drag on earnings from Texas Instruments’ exit from baseband
chips, which connect phones to networks, is almost over, and
will help United Microelectronics later this year, he wrote. Gross margin , a key measure of profitability which tracks
sales less the cost of goods sold, will be in the low 20 percent
range in the second quarter, compared with 19.1 percent in the
first quarter, the company said. Dividend Payout The chipmaker plans to pay a dividend of NT$0.5 per share
in cash for 2011 earnings, a payout ratio of about 60 percent
and in line with the payout level of the past two years, it
said. It also plans to ask shareholders for approval to sell as
much as NT$20 billion in debt and as many as 1.29 billion
shares, according to an exchange filing today. While the company has no plan to issue new shares, it’s
asking shareholders for approval so it can act if a suitable
strategic investor is found, Chief Financial Officer Liu Chitung
said today. United Microelectronics maintained its 2012 capital
expenditure plan of $2 billion after Taiwan Semiconductor raised
its budget by at least 20 percent to more than $7.3 billion.
Taiwan Semiconductor will report earnings and provide guidance
tomorrow. To contact the reporter on this story:
Tim Culpan in Taipei at
tculpan1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
mtighe4@bloomberg.net | 2012 | united-micro-profit-beats-estimates-on-smartphone-chip-demand |
True Believers in the Church of No Income Tax | By Francis Wilkinson | 2012-04-25T18:02:48Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/true-believers-in-the-church-of-no-income-tax.html
Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore published an op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal last week touting their latest edition of " Rich States, Poor States ," the report they produce annually for the American Legislative Exchange Council . The whole endeavor is a pretty good example of what happens when you regard fiscal policy not as a utilitarian pursuit but as a religion. Laffer and Moore compare the economic well-being of states without an income tax with states with high rates and reach a conclusion no less remarkable for being pre-ordained. It's not just that low-tax states are superior to their high-tax peers in myriad ways. According to the authors, the low-tax states belong to a different genus entirely. "It's like comparing Hong Kong with Greece or King Kong with fleas," they write. Who are these Kongs, commandeering skyscrapers, swatting petty tax collectors like so many fleas? There is Texas , of course. Texas has been gaining population and jobs (there might be a link there) for years | 4 | 25 | 85ad5155c4d94c5ead9771dc0996abb2 | 2012 | rue-believers-in-the-church-of-no-income-tax |
|
U.S. Mad-Cow Case to Have Little Trade Effect, Rabobank Says | By Rudy Ruitenberg | 2012-04-25T08:08:29Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-mad-cow-case-to-have-little-trade-effect-rabobank-says.html | 4 | 25 | b988a6e20de211db3077880b3eef676961c6cdb8 | The discovery in the U.S. of a case
of mad cow disease, or atypical bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, will have “hardly any effect” on trade with
the European Union, according to Albert Vernooij, red-meat
analyst at Rabobank International. The first U.S. case of the illness in six years was found
in a dairy cow in central California , the Department of
Agriculture said yesterday. “I expect this to have hardly any effect,” Vernooij said
by phone today from Utrecht, Netherlands . “No meat entered the
food chain.” “We’re used to BSE here in Europe . There are hardly any
beef imports from the U.S.” “During testing in the EU, occasionally an animal is
found. Just like in the U.S., so it turns out testing there
works as well. There’s nothing very exciting about this.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at
rruitenberg@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-s-mad-cow-case-to-have-little-trade-effect-rabobank-says |
Tallinna Kaubamaja Profit Rises on Supermarkets, Cars | By Ott Ummelas | 2012-04-25T14:20:47Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/tallinna-kaubamaja-profit-rises-on-supermarkets-cars.html | 4 | 25 | c287fef105b00cef451764c17682525288ea4e7e | Tallinna Kaubamaja AS (TKM1T) , Estonia’s
biggest retailer, reported first-quarter profit doubling from a
year earlier, helped mainly by increased demand at its
supermarkets and car retail unit. Net income rose to 3.2 million euros ($4.2 million), from
1.6 million euros a year earlier, the Tallinn-based company said
in a regulatory statement today. Revenue rose 10 percent to 106
million euros. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ott Ummelas in Tallinn at
oummelas@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Balazs Penz at
bpenz@bloomberg.net | 2012 | allinna-kaubamaja-profit-rises-on-supermarkets-cars |
Container Lines Seen Ending Losses After Rates Jump 36% | By Kyunghee Park | 2012-04-25T16:00:32Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/container-lines-seen-ending-losses-after-rates-jump-36-.html | 4 | 25 | 300e3e1fe8134b50a7ffc00fb1a7e10c | Container lines may have learnt
their lesson after losing at least $6 billion last year in price
wars. Average rates from China have jumped 36 percent this year,
the fastest increase since the China Containerized Freight Index
was established in 1998, according to HSBC Holdings Plc, as
lines focus on earnings rather than market share. That change
has caused companies including Maersk Line , CMA CGM SA and
Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world’s three biggest, to slow
ships and pool vessels with rivals to pare overcapacity. “We have to stop trying to outgrow each other,” Soeren Skou, chief executive officer of Maersk Line, said in Singapore
last month. “Our focus for this year and in the coming years
will be on restoring profitability.” The A.P. Moeller-Maersk
A/S unit, which has forecast a second straight annual loss ,
plans to cut Asia-Europe capacity 9 percent this year. The new-found cooperation and capacity restraint means
average global container rates will rise 9.8 percent this year
after dropping 16 percent in 2011, according to Nomura Holdings
Inc. It may also let lines sustain peak-season surcharges after
2011’s levies failed to stick amid competition for market share. “Shipping lines have been victorious in raising rates this
year because they have exercised discipline,” said Jee Heon Seok, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul .
“They’re reaping the benefits of working together and that
could mean annual profits.” Peak-Season Surcharges Carriers are yet to say how high the surcharges will be in
the peak season, which roughly runs from July until October.
Demand in the period is driven by retailers stocking up for the
back-to-school and holidays shopping seasons. There is “strong” consensus among lines about the need to
levy surcharges on the trans-Pacific routes this year, according
to Kim Young Min, chief executive officer at Hanjin Shipping Co.,
South Korea ’s biggest cargo-box carrier. Lines have limited
antitrust immunity to discuss rates on the route through the
Transpacific Stabilization Agreement. There is no similar group
for Asia- Europe rates. Improving U.S. consumer spending and job prospects may also
bolster demand and shipping fees. Container traffic at major
retail ports will probably jump 3.6 percent in June from a year
earlier, followed by a 1.9 percent gain in July and a 7.4
percent increase in August, according to the National Retail
Federation , a Washington-based trade group. Profit Estimates The rising outlook has prompted analysts to raise earnings
estimates for container-shipping lines even after fuel prices
averaged about 20 percent higher so far this year in Singapore
trading than a year earlier. Five analysts have raised their 2012 profit forecast for
Copenhagen-based A.P. Moeller-Maersk this month, with none
cutting. The company, which also has energy and retail units, is
expected to make a net income of 21.1 billion kroner ($3.7
billion) this year, based on the average nine analyst estimates
compiled by Bloomberg in the 28 days through yesterday. That
compares with 15.2 billion kroner last year. Six analysts have also raised their earnings forecasts for
Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (NOL) , parent of Southeast Asia ’s biggest
container line, this month through yesterday, with no cuts.
China Shipping Container Lines Co. has had seven increases in
the past month. The company reported a first-quarter loss of
1.45 billion yuan ($230 million) late yesterday. Even ahead of the peak season, lines have largely pushed
through three increases totaling $1,100 per 40-foot box for
Asia-U.S. shipments this year. The moves were coordinated by the
Transpacific Stabilization Agreement. That’s also helped spot
rates for Asia-U.S. west coast shipments to rise 43 percent to
$2,415 per 20-foot box, according to Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
Lines are now seeking increases of at least $500 as they
negotiate annual contracts generally starting around next month. Asia-Europe Rates On Asia-Europe routes, spot rates have more than doubled
this year to $1,708 per container last week, according to
Shanghai Shipping Exchange. A number of carriers have announced
plans for further increases of as much as $850 per box starting
May 1. “Shipping lines will try to impose much higher rates
during the peak season,” Nexen Tire Corp. (002350) said in an e-mailed
response to query. “They’ve been raising rates because it’s a
matter of survival.” The Korean tiremaker shipped about 1,400 containers a month
to the U.S. and about 800 to Europe last year. Volumes will
increase about 5 percent this year, it said. Customers’ acceptance of the need for increases may falter
now that rates have returned to profitable levels, HSBC analysts
led by Mark Webb said in an April 20 note. Current Asia-Europe
rates are already “comfortably” above break-even levels, they
said. Returning Ships The higher rates are also tempting lines to return some
idled ships to service, which may limit the ability to push fees
higher, the analysts said. The capacity of ships out of service
dropped to 723,000 containers as of April 9 from a peak of
913,000 in mid-March, according to data from Paris-based
Alphaliner. “Any sudden emergence of greed among carriers” is a risk,
Johnson Leung , a Hong Kong-based Jefferies Group Inc. analyst,
said in an April 16 note. That could undermine the “dramatic
turnaround” seen this year because of capacity discipline, he
said. New Vessels Lines are also still adding new vessels. The capacity of
the global container-ship fleet will expand 7.4 percent this
year, little changed from last year’s 7.9 percent pace,
according to Nomura. New ships entering service this year will
be able to hold 1.27 million containers, it said. That will rise
to 1.51 million next year, helped by the launch of Maersk
vessels able to hold a record 18,000 cargo boxes. “We have an excessive supply of container ships ,” Yasumi Kudo, president of Nippon Yusen K.K. (9101) , Japan ’s largest shipping
line by sales, said on April 18 in Tokyo . “It’s going to take a
significant time for the shipping lines to close the supply-
demand gap.” Still, in the short term, lines will resist the urge to
slash fees to win market share and fill expanding fleets, NH
Investment’s Jee said. Instead, they will focus on raising rates
and adding levies in order to return to profit, he said. “Imposing peak-season surcharges appears to be the top
priority,” said Hanjin’s Kim. “Shipping lines need to
survive.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Kyunghee Park in Singapore at
kpark3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Neil Denslow at
ndenslow@bloomberg.net | 2012 | container-lines-seen-ending-losses-after-rates-jump-36- |
Palm Oil Falls for Third Day as Malaysian Inventory Seen Gaining | By Ranjeetha Pakiam and Swansy Afonso | 2012-04-25T05:02:10Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/palm-oil-falls-for-third-day-as-malaysian-inventory-seen-gaining.html | 4 | 25 | b3b3dbdecbb9815b52c506a6a892778c08ec2280 | Palm oil declined for a third day
on speculation that inventories may gain on higher output in
Malaysia , the second largest producer, and falling exports. The July-delivery contract retreated as much as 0.3 percent
to 3,453 ringgit ($1,127) a metric ton on the Malaysia
Derivatives Exchange and ended the morning session at 3,455
ringgit in Kuala Lumpur. Production in Malaysia is typically low in January and
February and recovers from March onwards. Output gained 2.1
percent to 1.21 million tons last month from 1.19 million tons
in February, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said April 10. “Improving production in Malaysia is the main reason the
market has been down this week,” Ryan Long, vice president of
futures and options at OSK Holdings Bhd. (OSK) , said by phone from
Kuala Lumpur. “Production may be 7 percent to 9 percent higher
this month.” Malaysia’s palm oil exports fell 2.9 percent to 1.04
million tons in the first 25 days of April from the same period
in March, surveyor Intertek said today. “Demand is there and buyers are just waiting for the right
time to enter into the market,” Vijay Mehta, a director at
Commodity Links Pte., said by phone from Singapore . “Soybean
oil is really expensive compared to palm oil, so the entire
dependency is on palm now.” Soybean oil’s premium over palm oil climbed to $100.47 a
ton today from $98.33 yesterday, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. Soybeans for July delivery climbed 0.6 percent to
$14.73 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybean oil for
the same month was little changed to 55.74 cents per pound. Palm oil for September delivery fell 0.2 percent to 8,772
yuan ($1,392) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange . Soybean
oil for delivery in the same month gained 0.3 percent to 9,926
yuan. To contact the reporters on this story:
Ranjeetha Pakiam in Kuala Lumpur at
rpakiam@bloomberg.net ;
Swansy Afonso in Mumbai at
safonso2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Poole at
jpoole4@bloomberg.net | 2012 | palm-oil-falls-for-third-day-as-malaysian-inventory-seen-gaining |
South African Shares: Anglo, Billiton, Foschini, Sasol, Telkom | By Stephen Gunnion and Robert Brand | 2012-04-25T15:49:29Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/south-african-shares-anglo-billiton-foschini-sasol-telkom.html | 4 | 25 | 92df490cd1ed677f12025e5f9ee7892df030f090 | The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index (JALSH)
rose 0.6 percent to 34,028.81 at the close in Johannesburg, a
second day of gains. The following were among the most active equities in the
market today. Stock symbols follow company names. Anglo American Plc (AAL) , the diversified miner that
makes up about 9 percent of the index, advanced for a second
day, climbing 1.7 percent to 295.53 rand. Standard & Poor’s GSCI
Index of commodities added as much as 0.8 percent, a second day
of gains, while three-month copper reversed earlier losses to
trade as much as 0.7 percent stronger. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL) , the world’s biggest resources
company, jumped 1.1 percent to 243.00 rand. SA Corporate Real Estate Fund (SAC) , which invests in
industrial and commercial real estate, advanced 2.4 percent to
3.36 rand, the highest since March 15, after saying it’s in
talks that may affect the price of its securities. Sasol Ltd. (SOL) , the largest producer of motor fuels
made from coal, increased for the first time in three days,
adding 0.4 percent to 364.80 rand. Oil traded near the 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. Telkom South Africa Ltd. (TKG) , gained 0.4 percent to
23.36 rand. Telkom and South Korea ’s KT Corp. are completing the
terms of a strategic venture that will see KT buying a stake in
Africa’s largest fixed-line company, the company said in a
regulatory filing today. Separately, the stock was raised to
hold from sell at BNP Paribas Cadiz Securities Pty. The Foschini Group Ltd. (TFG) , a South African clothing
retailer, climbed for a second day, adding 2.5 percent to 128.05
rand. Earnings per share for the year through March increased by
20 percent to 23 percent from a year earlier, the company said
in a trading statement today. To contact the reporters on this story:
Stephen Gunnion in Johannesburg at sgunnion@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
gserkin@bloomberg.net | 2012 | south-african-shares-anglo-billiton-foschini-sasol-telko |
Yen Remains Lower on Speculation BOJ Will Expand Stimulus | By David Goodman and Kristine Aquino | 2012-04-25T08:00:23Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/yen-drops-versus-peers-on-prospects-boj-to-add-stimulus.html | 4 | 25 | 90bedf490ea6e9cfdb615e2a9541533d875f0d9a | The euro strengthened for a second
day against the dollar and yen as stock gains spurred demand for
higher-yielding assets. The yen weakened against all except one of its 16 major
counterparts amid speculation the Bank of Japan (8301) will add to
stimulus measures at a policy meeting this week. The Dollar
Index (DXY) fell to a three-week low before the Federal Reserve
completed a two-day gathering. The pound appreciated to a six-
month high against the dollar. “There are higher stock prices and safe-haven currencies
such as the yen are performing poorly,” said Neil Jones, head
of European hedge-fund sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in
London. “This is all pointing to a risk-on trade will benefit
the euro.” The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3207 at 8:56 a.m. London
time after rising 0.3 percent yesterday. The 17-nation currency
gained 0.1 percent to 107.37 yen. The yen was little changed at
81.29 per dollar. The Dollar Index (SXXP) , which Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses
to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S.
trading partners, fell 0.1 percent to 79.133 after dropping to
79.085, the lowest since April 3. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.5 percent, and the
MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares rose 0.2 percent. The Federal Open Market Committee will today publish its
forecasts for interest rates, growth, inflation and unemployment
and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will hold a press conference. “We don’t expect the FOMC outcome to mark an end to
speculation of more QE,” Mitul Kotecha , head of global currency
strategy in Hong Kong at Credit Agricole CIB, wrote in an e-
mailed note, referring to the Fed’s asset purchases or so-called
quantitative easing. “The U.S. dollar will continue to be restrained until
there is more clarity on the economy, and in turn, Fed
thinking,” he wrote. To contact the reporters on this story:
David Goodman in London at
dgoodman28@bloomberg.net ;
Kristine Aquino in Singapore at
kaquino1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Daniel Tilles at
dtilles@bloomberg.net | 2012 | yen-drops-versus-peers-on-prospects-boj-to-add-stimulus |
Credit Suisse Bought Protection on Derivatives Linked to Bonuses | By Elena Logutenkova | 2012-04-25T09:48:25Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/credit-suisse-bought-protection-on-derivatives-linked-to-bonuses.html | 4 | 25 | 971255818b9de5928b71a342f537a03dc871e351 | Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) purchased
protection on derivatives the bank used to award more than 5,500
employees part of their 2011 bonuses. The bank bought a credit default swap from a third party to
hedge the $11 billion senior tranche of derivatives against the
potential for future swings in counterparties’ credit spreads,
the Zurich-based company said in its first-quarter report today.
Credit Suisse also has an agreement with the same unidentified
entity that requires the bank to provide funding to it in
“certain circumstances,” it said. The bank is keeping the so-called first-loss piece of about
$500 million of the transaction, which covers about $12 billion
in notional exposure from derivative counterparty risks. It
awarded about $800 million in structured notes linked to the
derivatives, named Partner Asset Facility 2, to the employees as
part of their deferred compensation, the bank said. Switzerland ’s second-largest bank said earlier today that
first-quarter net income dropped 96 percent to 44 million francs
($48 million) from a year earlier, hurt by a 1.55 billion-franc
charge related to the narrowing of credit spreads on its bonds
and 534 million francs in costs to account for the PAF2 bonuses. PAF2 was hatched as a sequel to the original Partner Asset
Facility, an investment fund set up for staff in 2008 during the
depths of the U.S. financial crisis, where employees got shares
in a $5.05 billion pool of junk-grade loans and bonds backed by
commercial mortgages . To contact the reporter on this story:
Elena Logutenkova in Zurich at
elogutenkova@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net ; | 2012 | credit-suisse-bought-protection-on-derivatives-linked-to-bonuses |
Ethanol Falls as Corn Drops and Gasoline Slumps on Lower Demand | By Mario Parker | 2012-04-25T21:40:32Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ethanol-falls-as-corn-drops-and-gasoline-slumps-on-lower-demand.html | 4 | 25 | 7c618f28e89b40afb546c05f9cfc887d31162f69 | Ethanol fell for the first time
this week in Chicago as corn and gasoline declined. Futures slumped with corn on speculation that weather in
the Midwest will aid planting. Gasoline, or RBOB, decreased
after an Energy Department report showed demand fell 3.2 percent
to a five-week low of 8.5 million barrels a day. Corn is used to
make U.S. ethanol, which is blended into gasoline. “RBOB was weaker and corn was getting beat up a little
bit,” said Ian Jackson , a trader at SCB & Associates in
Chicago. “Ethanol drifted lower with it. It’s still in between
agriculture and the energies and that put pressure on it.” Denatured ethanol for May delivery sank 1.3 cents, or 0.6
percent, to settle at $2.153 a gallon on the Chicago Board of
Trade. Prices have dropped 2.3 percent this year. In cash market trading, ethanol in New York added 2 cents
to $2.27 a gallon and in the U.S. Gulf the biofuel dropped 2
cents to $2.20, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ethanol in Chicago decreased 1.5 cents to $2.14 a gallon
and on the West Coast the additive slipped 0.5 cent to $2.31. Corn futures for July delivery fell 1.2 percent to $6.01 a
bushel in Chicago, a second straight loss. Gasoline for May delivery fell 0.36 cent to $3.1557 a
gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange . To contact the reporter on this story:
Mario Parker in Chicago at
mparker22@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
dstets@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ethanol-falls-as-corn-drops-and-gasoline-slumps-on-lower-demand |
Khullar Says India Trade Deficit Could Narrow, WSJ Reports | By Unni Krishnan | 2012-04-25T12:11:38Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/khullar-says-india-trade-deficit-could-narrow-wsj-reports.html | 4 | 25 | 52d3225b04c09cbfda4b892c99219dbdb716133d | India can cut its trade deficit by
19 percent in the current financial year if oil prices
stabilize, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting Commerce
Secretary Rahul Khullar . The deficit could be reduced to about $150 billion in the
year ending March 2013 from the previous year’s $185 billion,
the report said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Unni Krishnan in New Delhi at
ukrishnan2@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at
sphang@bloomberg.net | 2012 | khullar-says-india-trade-deficit-could-narrow-wsj-reports |
Jiangxi Copper Profit Declines as Prices Fall on Waning Demand | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T12:40:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/jiangxi-copper-profit-declines-as-prices-fall-on-waning-demand.html | 4 | 25 | d9689b25cdfbdda4c72d1a01228dd0ee543e0858 | Jiangxi Copper Co. (358) , China ’s biggest
producer of the metal, said first-quarter profit fell 9.6
percent as weakening demand dragged prices lower. Net income declined to 1.43 billion yuan ($227 million), or
0.41 yuan a share, for the three months ended March 31 from 1.59
billion yuan, or 0.46 yuan, a year ago, the Guixi, Jiangxi
province-based company said today in a statement to the Shanghai
stock exchange, citing Chinese accounting standards. Sales
climbed 14 percent to 28.8 billion yuan. China’s economy expanded a less-than-expected 8.1 percent
in the first quarter, the slowest pace in 11 quarters, raising
concerns about demand from the world’s largest metals user.
Average copper prices in London in the quarter fell 14 percent
from a year earlier. Jiangxi Copper declined 0.6 percent to close at HK$18.18
today in Hong Kong , before the earnings announcement, compared
with a 0.2 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The
stock has climbed 8.3 percent this year. The company aims to produce 210,000 metric tons of copper
concentrate from its own mines this year, an increase of 5
percent, Luo Rongjin, an analyst with Bocom International Ltd.,
said in a March 28 report. Self-mined copper is the main driver
of Jiangxi Copper’s profit, Luo said. Copper for three-month delivery added 0.8 percent to $8,179
a metric ton as of 5:17 p.m. Shanghai time on the London Metal
Exchange. The global copper market will achieve a basic supply-
demand balance this year, and copper prices are expected to
stabilize at about $8,500 a ton, Jiangxi Copper Chairman Li Yihuang said on March 28. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Helen Yuan in Shanghai at
hyuan@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rebecca Keenan at
rkeenan5@bloomberg.net | 2012 | jiangxi-copper-profit-declines-as-prices-fall-on-waning-demand |
U.S. Northeast and Northwest Start Cool, Warm Up for May | By Brian K. Sullivan | 2012-04-25T12:58:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-northeast-and-northwest-start-cool-warm-up-for-may.html | 4 | 25 | 3e9d0172a497c1c1f1f834004d4b6c7f4ec3e7c6 | The Northwest, Northeast and mid-
Atlantic states may start next week cooler and warm up as it
goes on, while much of the rest of the U.S. will have a steady
dose of above-average temperatures. The U.S. from northern California to the Appalachian
Mountains, including Chicago, is expected to be 3 to 4 degrees
Fahrenheit (1.7 to 2.2 Celsius) above normal from April 30 to
May 4, said MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Commodities traders watch temperature outlooks and heating
degree days forecasts to gauge energy use and demand. About 51
percent of U.S. households use gas for heating, according to the
Energy Department, while demand from electricity generators
peaks in the summer months to meet air conditioning needs. According to MDA’s forecast, an area from Northern
California to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers
may have temperatures 5 to 7 degrees above normal. Warmer weather is expected to persist from the Rocky
Mountains to the Southeast from May 5 to May 9, while the East
and West coasts are more seasonal, said Matt Rogers , president
of Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. The normal average temperature for April 28 in New York is
about 57, according to MDA. It’s 53 in Boston, 54 in Chicago, 62
in St. Louis , 66 in Atlanta, 72 in Dallas, 74 in Houston, 53 in
Seattle and 64 in Burbank, California. To contact the reporter on this story:
Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at
bsullivan10@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at
dstets@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-s-northeast-and-northwest-start-cool-warm-up-for-may |
Europe Seen Adding Growth to Budget Rules as Focus Shifts | By Rainer Buergin and Tony Czuczka | 2012-04-26T15:03:34Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/europe-shifts-crisis-focus-to-growth-as-merkel-backs-draghi-call.html | 4 | 25 | 2b20d722d83f467388b8f6353f1f7f87 | Europe may add an annex to its
budget treaty spelling out how countries can boost growth as the
bloc shifts its emphasis on tackling the debt crisis, a German
government official said. Steps to raise competitiveness along with structural
reforms are likely to feature in the prescriptions for growth,
with a target date for completion by the June 18-19 Group of 20
leaders’ summit in Mexico , the official said on condition of
anonymity because the discussions are private and not complete. The change in tack was signaled yesterday by European
Central Bank President Mario Draghi, whose call for a “growth
compact” was quickly endorsed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel . Francois Hollande , the French Socialist presidential
election front-runner, welcomed Draghi’s remarks as evidence of
the need for treaty changes to boost growth, while questioning
the means of getting there. “It’s not the same idea of growth,” Hollande said in an
interview on France Info radio today. Draghi is “adding even
stronger competition, liberalization and privatization.” That contrasted with Merkel’s reaction. 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 yesterday. Competitiveness Pact “The ever politically adept Merkel recognizes the push
toward a growth pact but will not allow Germany to be out-
maneuvered,” Marc Chandler , chief currency strategist at Brown
Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York , said in a note to
investors. “While the growth pact may be on the agenda, she
will aim to drive its shape.” Euro leaders have struggled to find a common way to promote
economic growth even as they have demanded budget cuts to
satisfy German priorities and settle markets. At a March 2011
summit, they endorsed Merkel’s so-called competitiveness pact
that set targets on issues including cutting labor costs and
raising the retirement age . Draghi used a speech in Brussels yesterday to urge 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. ‘Too Much Smoke’ “We’ve had a fiscal compact,” Draghi said. “What is most
present in my mind now is to have a growth compact.” That may mean an announcement on European Investment Bank
financing of region-wide infrastructure projects within a month,
said Douglas Borthwick, managing director and head of foreign-
exchange trading at Faros Trading LLC in Stamford , Connecticut . “There is absolutely too much smoke here for there to be
no fire,” Borthwick said in an e-mail. “The new European
mantra is fiscal discipline and growth.” Germany , Europe’s biggest economy and the largest
contributor to bailouts for Greece , Portugal and Ireland, is
facing demands from across the region to ease its emphasis on
austerity as a $1 trillion firewall and unlimited ECB loans fail
to stop the crisis from threatening Spain and Italy. ‘Main Risk’ Draghi’s comment “illustrates the depth of concern felt by
the ECB about the weak outlook for the euro area economy,” said
Julian Callow , chief European economist at Barclays Capital in
London . “It perhaps could be a closet call for Germany to
provide greater fiscal stimulus given its low budget deficit .” 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,” he told a news conference in Paris. For all the
differences on how to spur growth, “he does say that we cannot
just keep on with austerity, with sanctions, and he wants to add
a growth pact to the budget pact. I have never stopped asking
for that.” 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, the German official said. This
does not include the option of deficit-financed growth packages,
the official said, adding that the French government may see
that differently after the election. Draghi Remarks “I see how, for example, the Socialists in France react to
that, with triumphant cheers, because they interpret growth as
debt-financed stimulus programs,” Christian Democrat budget
spokesman Norbert Barthle said today in a speech in the lower
house of parliament in Berlin, referring to Draghi’s remarks.
“We understand that to mean a strengthening of competitiveness
and that’s a fundamental difference.” Setting his sights beyond France’s runoff vote on May 6
that polls suggest he will win, Hollande said yesterday that
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 asked yesterday 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. To contact the reporters on this story:
Rainer Buergin in Washington at
rbuergin1@bloomberg.net ;
Tony Czuczka in Berlin at
aczuczka@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at
jhertling@bloomberg.net | 2012 | europe-shifts-crisis-focus-to-growth-as-merkel-backs-draghi-ca |
Devils Beat Panthers 3-2 in Overtime to Force NHL Playoff Game 7 | By Nancy Kercheval | 2012-04-25T04:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/devils-beat-panthers-3-2-in-overtime-to-force-nhl-playoff-game-7.html
Travis Zajac scored in overtime to
give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory against the Florida
Panthers and force a deciding Game 7 in round one of the
National Hockey League playoffs. Steve Bernier scored his second goal of the series to give
the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period last night at
Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Ilya Kovalchuk had a power-play goal four minutes, 21
seconds into the second period as the Devils took a 2-0 lead.
Florida’s Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim tied the game at 2-2
with goals in a six-minute span midway through the second period. After a scoreless third period, Zajac’s goal came 5:39 into
overtime | 4 | 25 | cbaa7d7c16276cf30e7e19a89ae0222b0858f0bf | Florida . In tonight’s only NHL game, the Washington Capitals play
the Bruins in Boston in Game 7 of their series. The New York
Rangers host Ottawa in the seventh game of their series tomorrow
night at Madison Square Garden. To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net | 2012 | devils-beat-panthers-3-2-in-overtime-to-force-nhl-playoff-game-7 |
Ormat’s New Plant Deal May Boost Profit: Israel Overnight | By Christine Harvey and Tal Barak Harif | 2012-04-25T22:07:15Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ormat-gains-as-new-plant-deal-may-boost-profit-israel-overnight.html | 4 | 25 | 90812ef385dd4153b2e67d879124b5dd | Ormat Technologies Ltd. (ORA) , the Reno,
Nevada-based unit of an Israeli power plant developer, rose the
most in two months in New York on speculation a new building
contract will boost earnings per share by the end of 2013. Shares of Ormat climbed 2.7 percent to $18.78 in the U.S.
yesterday, the most since Feb. 24. The Bloomberg Israel-US
Equity Index (ISRA25BN) of the largest Israeli companies listed in New York
rose for the first time in four days, adding 0.8 percent to
90.61. Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (MLNX) also snapped a three-day slide
after Barclays Plc raised its price estimate on the company’s
U.S. shares by 18 percent. Ormat Technologies, 60 percent owned by Yavne, Israel-based
Ormat Industries (ORMT) Ltd., won a $61.2 million deal to build a
geothermal power plant in North America , according to a
PRNewswire statement yesterday. The project, which is expected
to be completed by the end of 2013, will boost earnings per
share by 30 cents over 2012 and 2013, Avondale Partners LLC
said. Analysts expect EPS to rise to 47 cents this year from 40
cents in 2011, according to the median of seven estimates
compiled by Bloomberg. “Aside from the obvious financial benefit, we view this
win as a positive as it shows there is incremental business in
the U.S. and that Ormat is quite competitive on bids,” Daniel Mannes, a Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based analyst at Avondale wrote
in a report e-mailed yesterday. Ormat Technologies, an engineer and producer of energy-
generated power plants, said at the start of the month that it
received a contract to build and operate a generator in Kenya. Surging Valuation The company is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings
on May 8 and will probably say sales grew 14 percent to $112
million, according to the median of five analysts’ estimates
collated by Bloomberg. Revenue increased 33 percent to $124
million for the three-month period ending Dec. 31. Ormat’s stock has gained 4.2 percent this year, sending
valuations to 36 times estimated earnings, more than triple the
average multiple for companies on the New York Stock Exchange
Composite Index (NYA) , according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ormat Industries rose 0.7 percent to 18.52 shekels in Tel
Aviv on April 24. The Israeli benchmark TA-25 Index (TA-25) has gained
0.9 to 1,162.95 this week. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was
closed yesterday and will also be closed today. The country, whose population of 7.8 million is similar in
size to Switzerland’s, has about 60 companies traded on the
Nasdaq Stock Market, the most of any nation outside the U.S.
after China . Israel is also home to more startup companies per
capita than the U.S. ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ Mellanox, a maker of technology used to transfer and store
data quickly, added 1.7 percent to $56.44 in New York , paring a
loss of 9.8 percent in the past two days. The company’s Tel Aviv
stock rose 1.1 percent to 226.50 shekels, or the equivalent of
$60.38. Mellanox jumped 52 percent in New York on April 19 after
forecasting second-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates. Shares of the Yokneam Elit, Israel-based company will
probably rise to $65 in the next 12 months, up from a previous
estimate of $55, Barclays said. “A significant percentage of the move has been driven by
investors who believe that the second-quarter guidance is just
the tip of the iceberg,” Joseph Wolf , a Tel Aviv-based
technology analyst at Barclays, wrote in the report. Revenue for the three months ending June 30 will probably
be between $125 million and $130 million, Mellanox said on April
19, exceeding the $83.4 million median estimate of 10 analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg. EZchip Rebounds EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (EZCH) rose after dropping the most in
two years on April 24, adding 0.6 percent to $39.52. The chip
developer’s Tel Aviv shares retreated 0.8 percent on April 24 to
164.30 shekels, or the equivalent of $43.80. Shares of the Yokneam, Israel-based company sank 9.3
percent on April 24 on concern 2012 sales will suffer after
competitor Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) debuted a similar product. Though the new processor may boost competition for EZchip,
the company is “well positioned to grow revenue and earnings by
three to four times in coming years,” Daniel Meron , an analyst
with RBC Capital Markets , wrote in an April 25 report. The stock
decline “may provide a buying opportunity,” he said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Christine Harvey in New York at
charvey32@bloomberg.net ;
Tal Barak Harif in New York at
tbarak@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Emma O’Brien at
eobrien6@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ormat-gains-as-new-plant-deal-may-boost-profit-israel-overnig |
Electrolux Gains Most in Five Months on U.S. Price Increases | By Ola Kinnander | 2012-04-25T08:46:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/electrolux-gains-most-in-five-months-on-u-s-price-increases-1-.html | 4 | 25 | adf19e7239fead5b8c8ba78ba629479c3d287fca | Electrolux AB (ELUXB) , the world’s second-
biggest appliance maker, rose the most in more than five months
after reporting profit that beat analysts’ estimates as it
raised prices in North America. The shares advanced as much as 7.8 percent, the biggest
intraday gain since Oct. 28, and were up 7.2 percent at 148.1
kronor as of 10:24 a.m. in Stockholm, where the company is
based. The shares have soared 35 percent this year after
plunging 43 percent in 2011, valuing the company at 45.7 billion
kronor ($6.8 billion). “The trend is very strong for Electrolux right now,” said
Christer Magnergard, an analyst at DNB Bank ASA in Oslo who
recommends that investors buy the shares. “In North America ,
together with rivals they have raised prices a lot and that’s
really starting to show now, and the effects will be big also in
coming quarters.” First-quarter net income rose to 561 million kronor from
457 million kronor a year earlier, Electrolux said in a
statement today. Fourteen analysts on average estimated a profit
of 483 million kronor in a Bloomberg survey . Sales rose 10
percent to 25.9 billion kronor. “We spent all year last year trying to get prices up
around the world, particularly in North America,” Chief
Executive Officer Keith McLoughlin said in a phone interview.
“Now we’re seeing it directly and materially in year-over-year
comparisons.” Bottom Line The price increases in North America are in the “low, mid-
single digits,” the 56-year-old executive said. “You get a few
hundred basis points and it drops straight to the bottom line,”
he said. The maker of Frigidaire refrigerators and AEG vacuum
cleaners has suffered from the decline in consumer confidence in
mature markets and high raw-material costs. The company expects
a “certain” degree of improvement in the U.S. market by the
end of 2012, it said today. “There are some positive trends in the U.S. housing
market” with more single-family homes being built, spurring
sales of dishwashers, air conditioners and dryers, the CEO said.
“It will take time to recover,” but the country is probably
past the bottom of a home-building slump, he said. Electrolux, which has about 35 plants, will close several
of them, mainly in North America and Europe , McLoughlin said,
reiterating comments from February. He declined to say which
plants may shut. Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) , the world’s biggest appliance maker, is
scheduled to report profit figures tomorrow. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ola Kinnander in Stockholm at
okinnander@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Benedikt Kammel at
bkammel@bloomberg.net | 2012 | electrolux-gains-most-in-five-months-on-u-s-price-increases-1- |
Ryanair Hikes Fares for Chelsea Fans’ Trip to Soccer Final | By Tariq Panja and Steven Rothwell | 2012-04-25T16:01:51Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ryanair-raises-prices-for-chelsea-fans-trip-to-soccer-final.html | 4 | 25 | 61b6e4132bb70394796ed3f0a8f9a0917fbefcdd | Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe ’s
biggest discount carrier, is charging 10 times its normal price
for flights from London to Munich as Chelsea fans prepare to
travel to next month’s Champions League soccer final in Germany. Chelsea tied defending champion Barcelona 2-2 yesterday to
complete a 3-2 victory in the two-match semifinal and qualify
for the May 19 final against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. Dublin-based Ryanair said it’s scheduled extra flights from
London’s Stansted Airport departing on the morning of the final
and returning the next day at a starting price of 467 pounds
($753). Round-trip flights for the weekend before come in at
32.98 pounds, according to a search of the company’s website. “Absolutely not,” Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for
Ryanair, said when asked if his company was profiteering. He
said rivals would be charging more. “Ryanair guarantees the
lowest fares, every day. I’d imagine this will sell out.” Though Ryanair says its flights go to Munich, the airport
passengers arrive at is in Memmingen, a town about 110
kilometers (68 miles) west of the city. British Airways is offering a trip that leaves a day before
the game and returns on May 21 for 655 pounds. Easyjet is
charging about 800 pounds. If Bayern Munich qualifies for the final in its home
stadium, local fans going to the game can pay a little as little
as 5.60 euros ($7.40) for a day pass on the city’s public
transport system. Ryanair, which is known for tongue-in-cheek advertising
campaigns, said the flights were put on to “ensure Chelsea fans
can get to the final - even if captain John Terry won’t.” Terry
was sent off in the first half of last night’s game and is
suspended for the final. To contact the reporter on this story:
Tariq Panja in London at
tpanja@bloomberg.net ;
Steven Rothwell in London at
2365 or srothwell@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | ryanair-raises-prices-for-chelsea-fans-trip-to-soccer-fina |
Critz Wins Pennsylvania House Democratic Primary Over Altmire | By James Rowley | 2012-04-25T04:01:55Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/critz-defeats-altmire-in-house-democratic-primary-in-pa-1-.html
U.S. Representative Mark Critz
survived a primary challenge by fellow Democratic incumbent
Jason Altmire in a redrawn Pennsylvania congressional district. Critz led Altmire 52 percent to 48 percent with 99 percent
of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press . The two Democrats were forced into running against each
other in yesterday’s primary because the state’s Republican-led
legislature packed them into the same House district after
Pennsylvania lost one of its 19 seats following the 2010 Census. The race was the third of 11 match-ups between incumbents
of the same party as a result of redistricting. Redrawn
congressional districts in Ohio and Iowa will spur general
election contests between incumbents of different parties. First elected in 2006, Altmire, 44, hasn’t been a reliable
vote for House Democratic leaders. A member of the self-
described fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition,
Altmire voted against the health-care overhaul, the centerpiece
of President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda. A former health-care executive, Altmire said he opposed the
overhaul | 4 | 25 | 64a0979acf4d901e8d0d4507dbb83df667b474f2 | improve care or reduce spiraling medical and hospital costs. Critz, 50, was elected during a special 2010 election
following the death of Representative John Murtha, for whom he
had worked as a congressional aide. Labor Endorsements Critz won endorsements by organized labor, while Altmire
seemingly benefited from redistricting with a majority of the
voters in the new district already his constituents. Critz’s campaign paid for ads to run 1,800 times on network
television through April 23 at an estimated cost of $742,440,
compared with 1,221 ads for Altmire at a cost of $605,870,
according to New York-based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks
advertising. In another Pennsylvania contest, U.S. Representative Tim Holden, a 10-term Democrat, lost a primary challenge to lawyer
Matthew Cartwright. Holden’s district was changed by the
Pennsylvania legislature to include the Democratic-dominated
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre region. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Cartwright led
Holden 57 percent to 43 percent. Holden, a member of the Blue
Dog Coalition, had won his previous races in a Republican-
leaning district. ‘Too Beholden’ The non-partisan Campaign for Primary Accountability ran
ads in the district attacking Holden, 55, as “too beholden” to
Wall Street interests and called Cartwright as a “true-blue
Democrat” who “will stand up for the middle class and stand up
to big banks and Wall Street.” The League of Conservation
Voters ran ads critical of Holden’s environmental record. Center Forward, a group with ties to the Blue Dog
Coalition, aired ads critical of Cartwright. Holden aired ads
1,234 times at a cost of $408,300, compared with Cartwright’s
848 ads at a cost of $329,890, CMAG data show. To contact the reporter on this story:
James Rowley in Washington at
jarowley@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jodi Schneider at
jschneider50@bloomberg.net | 2012 | critz-defeats-altmire-in-house-democratic-primary-in-pa-1- |
Oaktree Said to Expect Closing on at Least $4 Billion | By Sabrina Willmer | 2012-04-25T15:34:34Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/oaktree-said-to-expect-closing-on-at-least-4-billion.html | 4 | 25 | 4a535a430805437cb15c2974e35f4441 | Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK) , the
world’s largest distressed-debt investor, expects to close on at
least $4 billion in May for its next distressed-debt fund,
according to three prospective investors. The Los Angeles-based firm, which went public this month,
started raising Oaktree Opportunities Fund IX LP in October,
targeting $4 billion with a limit of $6 billion. The fund had
closed on around $1.1 billion by Feb. 16, said two of these
investors. Oaktree is among a number of firms raising money to take
advantage of struggling economies in the U.S. and Europe . Apollo
Global Management LLC (APO) has been marketing a fund to purchase
nonperforming loans in Europe and Avenue Capital has gathered
money for its second European distressed debt fund. Oaktree, which also has a fund family that does control
deals for European companies, will be able to invest as much as
50 percent of capital from this fund outside of the U.S. and
Canada , according to marketing materials from October. The fund will primarily invest in secured debt obligations
such as publicly traded and privately placed debt securities,
bank loans and mortgages, unsecured debt obligations and equity
of U.S. companies, according to the document. John Frank, managing principal at Oaktree, declined to
comment. S&P Downgrade When the U.S. was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s in the
third quarter, Oaktree Capital started investing the $2.7
billion supplementary fund to its $4.5 billion eighth fund,
raised in the summer of 2010. Fund VIII was producing a 1 times
multiple and 1.61 percent net internal rate of return as of
Sept. 30, according to performance data by the Washington State
Investment Board. Two potential investors said the firm has not mentioned
raising a supplemental fund in its marketing for the new fund,
though it has the right to raise one if it chooses to. Oaktree has been creating smaller funds since the OCM
Opportunities Fund VII LP, which was raised prior to the 2008
financial crisis and at its peak held more than $14 billion in
its main and supplemental funds. Oaktree ultimately decided
against deploying the last $1.1 billion of the supplemental fund
after opportunities waned in early 2009. OCM Opportunities Fund VII LP was generating a 1.2 times
multiple and 6.32 percent net IRR as of Sept. 30, according to
performance data from Washington State Investment Board. The
supplemental fund, OCM Opportunities Fund VII B LP, was
producing a 1.5 times multiple and 16.72 percent net IRR. Oaktree sold shares in an IPO on April 11. The stock has
declined 7.3 percent since then, to $39.86 at 11:31 a.m. in New
York . To contact the reporter on this story:
Sabrina Willmer in New York at
swillmer2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christian Baumgaertel at
cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net | 2012 | oaktree-said-to-expect-closing-on-at-least-4-billion |
Japan Has No Plan to Halt U.S. Beef Imports on Mad-Cow Case | By Aya Takada | 2012-04-25T04:19:52Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/japan-has-no-plan-to-halt-u-s-beef-imports-on-mad-cow-case-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 14223e769b864ce89a9c367df8eb8db1 | Japan won’t suspend U.S. beef
imports even after the discovery of mad-cow disease in
California , said an agriculture ministry official. “We are importing beef from the U.S. under rules agreed
between the two nations, based on the assumption that mad-cow
disease has not yet been eradicated,” Minoru Yamamoto, director
at the ministry’s international animal health affairs office,
said today by phone. “We don’t plan to halt imports because of
the discovery in the U.S.” The first U.S. case of the brain-wasting disease in six
years was found in a dairy cow before it entered the food chain
and posed any threat to consumers, John Clifford, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture ’s chief veterinarian, told reporters
yesterday in Washington . The cow was identified as part of
routine testing for the disease, Clifford said. 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 Japan resumed
purchases in 2005 of American beef, which had been banned after
of the first discovery of the disease in the U.S. in 2003. Futures for June delivery climbed 0.3 percent to $1.11875 a
pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at 12:51 p.m. in Tokyo
after falling yesterday to the lowest level since July 1. Before yesterday’s discovery, the health ministry was
planning to relax the import restriction after getting approval
from the nation’s Food Safety Commission, as risks for mad-cow
disease have receded internationally, Hideshi Michino, director
at the ministry’s import food safety office, said on April 11. ‘Delay’ Process The ministry has proposed to raise the age limit to 30
months, widening opportunities for U.S. beef shippers to boost
sales to Japan, the largest export market before the 2003 ban. A
commission panel on the disease held its fourth meeting
yesterday to discuss the proposed change. “The latest mad-cow case in the U.S. may delay Japan’s
decision-making process, as experts at the Food Safety
Commission will probably take time to examine it,” said Susumu Harada, senior director at the Tokyo office of U.S. Meat Export
Federation, a sales-promotion organization. ‘Atypical’ The latest case was “atypical,” the USDA’s Clifford said,
meaning the form of the disease was very rare and not generally
associated with an animal consuming infected feed. Such cases
can occur spontaneously in older animals, said Guy Loneragan, an
epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health at
Texas Tech University in Lubbock. 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
today in an interview with Bloomberg Television. U.S. beef sales to Japan may gain 24 percent to 150,000
metric tons in 2012, the seventh straight year of expansion, as
restrictions on shipments ease and a strong yen will curb import
costs, Philip Seng, the federation president, said on April 11.
The forecast is based on assumption that the easing of
restrictions will occur, he said, without giving a timeframe. U.S. beef exports, including variety meat, may reach 1.3
million to 1.35 million tons (2.9 billion to 3 billion pounds)
this year, up from an estimated 1.28 million tons in 2011, the
federation has projected. Japan was the third-largest export
market for U.S. beef after Mexico and Canada last year. To contact the reporters on this story:
Aya Takada in Tokyo at
atakada2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Richard Dobson at
rdobson4@bloomberg.net | 2012 | japan-has-no-plan-to-halt-u-s-beef-imports-on-mad-cow-case-1- |
Real Madrid Coach Mourinho Says He’ll Remain With Team | By Alex Duff | 2012-04-26T10:10:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/real-madrid-coach-mourinho-says-he-ll-remain-with-spanish-club.html
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho
said he’ll stay at the Spanish soccer club after being linked
with the manager’s post at English Premier League team Chelsea
in media reports. Real Madrid lost to Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout
last night in their Champions League semifinal. The 49-year-old
Portuguese coach was attempting to win the elite European club
competition with his third different team after victories with
Porto and Inter Milan. “If the club thinks I can keep doing things | 4 | 25 | 3e2838be35c2e531562072e22bb2f3880a15df7a | Bernabeu stadium last night after the loss. “This group still
has a lot of room to improve.” Mourinho, in his second season at Real Madrid, left Chelsea
in 2007 after guiding the Blues to two Premier League titles.
The Daily Mirror reported on Feb. 29 that he may return when it
reported he was spotted on a “secret London house-hunting
mission” in west London. Three days ago, the Daily Mail , another U.K. tabloid, said
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich might offer Mourinho a salary of
9 million pounds ($14 million) to lure him back. Interim coach Roberto di Matteo led Chelsea since Andre Villas-Boas was fired on March 5. Chelsea beat Barcelona two
days ago to reach the May 19 Champions League final, which will
be played at Bayern’s Allianz Arena. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Duff in Madrid at
aduff4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at
celser@bloomberg.net | 2012 | real-madrid-coach-mourinho-says-he-ll-remain-with-spanish-club |
RBNZ Signals Extended Rate Pause on Strength of Currency | By Tracy Withers | 2012-04-25T21:09:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rbnz-signals-extended-rate-pause-on-strength-of-currency.html | 4 | 25 | 88808b59f3d6131a9fb4cefe0d61a8c0a6c13d62 | New Zealand ’s central bank left
interest rates at a record low as sluggish economic growth and a
rising currency ease inflation pressure. “The New Zealand dollar has stayed elevated despite recent
falls in commodity prices,” Governor Alan Bollard said in a
statement in Wellington today after keeping the official cash
rate at 2.5 percent. “Should the exchange rate remain strong
without anything else changing the bank would need to reassess
the outlook for monetary policy settings.” The decision was
forecast by all 16 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Investors are betting the central bank won’t raise interest
rates until next year because annual inflation is less than the
midpoint of the 1 percent to 3 percent range the governor is
required to target. Consumer prices rose 1.6 percent in the year
through March, less than Bollard forecast last month when he
signaled the cash rate would be unchanged for much of 2012. “With the economy continuing to struggle to grow at an
above-trend pace and with inflation pressures still benign,
there is no case to be made for tightening policy in the
foreseeable future,” Darren Gibbs , chief New Zealand economist
at Deutsche Bank AG in Auckland, said before the statement. New Zealand’s dollar was little changed after Bollard’s
comments. It bought 81.50 U.S. cents at 9:06 a.m. in Wellington
from 81.35 cents immediately before the statement. The currency
has gained 4.9 percent this year, the second-best performer of
16 tracked by Bloomberg. Bollard has left the cash rate unchanged since March last
year to allow the economy to recover after the nation’s
deadliest earthquake in 80 years in Christchurch, its second-
largest city, and the surrounding Canterbury province, which
killed 185 people and closed the central city. To contact the reporter on this story:
Tracy Withers in Wellington at
twithers@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net | 2012 | rbnz-signals-extended-rate-pause-on-strength-of-currency |
CBI and INDIAN CDs Deals:Indian Money Market | By Shraddha Kothari | 2012-04-25T12:53:08Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/cbi-and-indian-cds-deals-indian-money-market.html | 4 | 25 | c7e90f9dff334c2a977f7c191b334b3ab2c4c75f | Following is a table showing certificate of
deposits issued by Indian banks.The data has been provided by Derivium Tradition
Securities(I) Pvt. Ltd ,NVS Brokerage Ltd ,Mata Securities India Pvt Ltd And SPA
Securities Ltd. Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: 1e9a880a65b14c9e933a8d7f19805ea9 | 2012 | cbi-and-indian-cds-deals-indian-money-marke |
Bayer First in Germany to Pay Supervisory Board Stock, FTD Says | By Allison Connolly | 2012-04-25T07:10:17Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bayer-first-in-germany-to-pay-supervisory-board-stock-ftd-says.html | 4 | 25 | 2d1f114a091a4016d58f03209208c6ba907d1e86 | Bayer AG (BAYN) is the first in Germany to
compensate its supervisory board with company stock, Financial
Times Deutschland reports today. Members of Bayer’s board must invest 25 percent of their
compensation in the drug and chemicals maker, a practice that is
common in the U.S. but not here, the newspaper said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Allison Connolly in Frankfurt at
aconnolly4@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | bayer-first-in-germany-to-pay-supervisory-board-stock-ftd-says |
China-Bashing Is Popular but Could Do More Harm Than Good | By the Editors | 2012-04-25T21:58:16Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-bashing-is-popular-but-could-do-more-harm-than-good.html
President Barack Obama and the
presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney , both act as if
lecturing China about its undervalued currency is a good way to
show they care about U.S. jobs. We hope Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton will be able to set such rhetoric aside
next week when they head to Beijing for a fourth round of talks
on strategic and economic cooperation. Make no mistake: China’s exchange-rate policy represents a
threat to the world’s financial and economic stability. By
keeping its currency cheap to support export-driven growth,
China is doing more than just putting the squeeze on other
countries’ manufacturers. With dollars piling up from its trade
surplus , China is flooding the rest of the world with easy
money. That encourages more borrowing and spending, contributing
to debt crises like the one from which the global economy is
still struggling to recover. Pushing China to revalue its currency, though, is no way to
fix the problem. Economic reality is applying ample pressure
without any help from the U.S. China’s share of world exports is
reaching the point where further expansion will be unprofitable.
The country’s overheated export machine is driving up prices and
wages inside China. This real appreciation has the same effect
as nudging up the exchange value of the yuan: Chinese goods
become more expensive, and hence less competitive, abroad. Slowly Rising Yuan China has also been letting the nominal exchange rate
slowly rise. As of Wednesday, a yuan bought 15.9 cents, up from
14.6 cents two years ago and 12.1 cents in 2005. What, then, might U.S. politicians achieve by taking a
tough stand on the currency? For one, such pressure could
actually prevent Chinese officials from pursuing exchange-rate
liberalization, for fear of looking as if they’re capitulating
to foreign interests. Worse, if the U.S. | 4 | 25 | db32d52f718740cd8586a8a69d13e032 | slowing global growth and a previous increase in the exchange
rate of the yuan. During the same period, the U.S. current-
account deficit hardly budged. Given the uncertain benefits and abundant risks, the U.S.
would be better off doing nothing than adding its voice to that
of the growing ranks of China-bashers. If it wants to address
the root causes of global trade and finance imbalances, the U.S.
could focus on limiting the government’s appetite for borrowing
to cover its budget deficits, or on reforming a tax system that
encourages consumers and companies to take on debt. Low Rates On the Chinese side, officials are aware there’s much to do
beyond nudging up the exchange rate. China’s consumers, for
example, would have more spending money if they didn’t have to
keep their savings in banks that pay penuriously low interest
rates . China also would free its consumers to save less and
spend more if it created retirement and health-care safety nets. True, such reforms are more difficult to pursue and sell to
constituents than a public fight with a foreign power that is
seen as stealing U.S. jobs (the populist American perspective)
or looking to contain its ambitions (the nationalist Chinese
view). But they would make a more desirable and lasting
difference. Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View . Today’s highlights: the View editors on saving social security ;
Noah Feldman on Arizona immigration arguments ; Caroline Baum on
the fiscal future ; Ezra Klein on money and politics ; Susan
Crawford on cyber protection ; Steven Neil Kaplan on inequality
and unemployment ; Jared Diamond on the roots of Japan’s economic
malaise . To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board:
view@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | china-bashing-is-popular-but-could-do-more-harm-than-good |
U.S. Five-Year Notes May Yield 0.905% at Auction, Survey Says | By Cordell Eddings | 2012-04-25T15:15:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-five-year-notes-may-yield-0-905-at-auction-survey-says.html | 4 | 25 | b2468d37de0140a799d0f1a75a2a2759fd389bb4 | The Treasury’s $35 billion sale of
five-year notes may draw a yield of 0.905 percent, according to
the average forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 11 of the
Federal Reserve ’s 21 primary dealers. The securities, which mature in April 2017, yielded 0.895
percent in pre-auction trading. The notes sold at a record low
auction yield of 0.88 percent at the Dec. 20 sale. Bids for
today’s offering are due by 11:30 a.m. New York time. Today’s offering is the same size as the past 19 monthly
five-year debt auctions. The March five-year note sale’s bid-to-cover ratio , which
gauges demand by comparing the amount bid with the amount
offered, was 2.85, compared with the 2.88 average ratio at the
past 10 offerings. Indirect bidders, an investor category that includes
foreign central banks, purchased 41.9 percent of the notes at
the March offering, compared with the 10-auction average of 43.5
percent. Direct bidders , non-primary dealers that place their bids
directly with the Treasury, bought 11.3 percent of the
securities at last month’s offering. That compares with the
average of 12.1 percent at the past 10 sales. Five-year notes have returned 0.5 percent this year,
compared with a 0.04 percent gain for the broader Treasury
market, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Today’s auction is the second of three note sales totaling
$99 billion this week. The U.S. sold $35 billion of two-year
notes yesterday at a yield of 0.27 percent, with a bid-to-cover
of 3.76, the most since November 2011. The Treasury will auction
$29 billion of seven-year securities tomorrow. This week’s note offerings combined with the April 19
auction of $16 billion in five-year Treasury Inflation Protected
Securities will raise $56.7 billion of new cash, as maturing
securities held by the public total $58.3 billion. The Fed’s primary dealers trade government securities with
the central bank and are obligated to bid in U.S. debt auctions. To contact the reporter on this story:
Cordell Eddings in New York at
ceddings@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dave Liedtka at
dliedtka@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-s-five-year-notes-may-yield-0-905-at-auction-survey-says |
House Defense Panel Backs Sub Pentagon Seeks to Postpone | By Tony Capaccio and Roxana Tiron | 2012-04-25T18:23:32Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/house-defense-panel-backs-sub-pentagon-seeks-to-postpone.html | 4 | 25 | 30814a1bd96ffbcee83fbe351ce036a7c7586387 | A House defense panel moved to
restore funding for a second Virginia-class submarine the Navy
struck from fiscal 2014 plans as part of Pentagon budget-
cutting. The House Armed Services Committee’s seapower panel
recommends adding a down payment, or “advance procurement,” in
the fiscal 2013 budget, according to documents released today.
It also proposes giving the Navy authority to “incrementally”
fund the nuclear-powered submarine in fiscal 2014 and beyond. The panel’s recommendations will be considered by the full
committee next week as it shapes its fiscal 2013 defense
authorization bill. The Republican-led Armed Services Committee
will be the first 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. The submarine proposal indicates lawmakers won’t hesitate
to refashion a spending proposal that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said should be passed as a package without
modifications that risk reversing the proposed savings. 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 Corp. (GD) ’s
Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat unit. Instead, the
Pentagon now proposes buying one boat in fiscal 2014, while
delaying another until fiscal 2018. ‘Peerless’ Submarine The House panel recommended a multiyear contract to buy as
many as 10 Virginia-class submarines, up from the nine the Navy
proposed. The Pentagon has said the Navy could save $4.4
billion, or 14 percent, on a multiyear contract for nine of the
vessels. Representative Jim Langevin, a Democrat from Rhode Island,
said the panel’s proposal “marks a major development toward
maintaining the current two-boat-per-year production level of
the peerless Virginia-class submarines, which are critical to a
national security strategy increasingly focused on the Asia-
Pacific region.” Electric Boat builds the submarines at the company’s
Quonset Point, Rhode Island , and Groton, Connecticut ,
facilities. “Slowing down production would put these benefits at risk
and is estimated to actually increase the cost of production for
taxpayers by $600 million,” Langevin said today in an e-mailed
statement. The Navy would receive more than $700 million in funding
for advance procurement of material in fiscal 2013 under the
House panel’s plan, according to Langevin. A 10-vessel block
purchase would create “further efficiencies and creating more
certainty for the submarine industrial base,” Langevin said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Tony Capaccio in Washington at
acapaccio@bloomberg.net ;
Roxana Tiron in Washington at
rtiron@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Walcott at
jwalcott9@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ouse-defense-panel-backs-sub-pentagon-seeks-to-postpone |
USDA Says Mad Cow Test Drop Is No Meat-Supply Threat | By Stephanie Armour and Alan Bjerga | 2012-04-26T14:36:38Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/testing-for-mad-cow-disease-falls-90-since-2005-usda-says.html
The number of cattle tested for mad
cow disease has fallen almost 90 percent since 2005, according
to U.S. Agriculture Department statistics, a drop that consumer
groups say endangers America’s food supply . U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday said that
animal testing is adequate, a day after his department confirmed
the nation’s first known case of mad cow disease in six years, a
dead dairy animal on its way to a rendering plant in central
California. About 40,000 cattle were tested in the year ended Sept. 30,
down from 399,575 in 2005, according to USDA data. The drop-off
followed a surge in testing conducted to establish the
prevalence of the disease as the agency was trying to understand
the risk and create a long-term monitoring system, John Clifford, the USDA’s chief veterinarian, said in an interview. He said testing is only one component of the agency’s
strategy to combat mad cow disease, which includes limiting the
consumption of certain parts of cattle and restricting the
content of their feed. Chris Waldrop, director of the Food
Policy Institute of the Consumer Federation of America , a
Washington-based safety advocacy group, said the testing decline
means the U.S. is relying too much on other safeguards, which
aren’t foolproof. Need for Firewalls “If you’re not going to test as much, your firewalls
better be perfect, and there are loopholes in the firewalls,”
Waldrop said. “After going so long without having a case in the
U.S., and now we have one, it warrants another look at the
surveillance program and ramping it up, at least temporarily, to
see if there is something new going on.” USDA investigations typically include tests of animals that
were in the same herd as the diseased cow, as well as feed the
animal may have consumed, Clifford said. Even when an animal
tests positive for a form of BSE not connected to feed, as in
this case, the investigative procedures are the same, he said.
Any offsrping of the infected animal are also checked. The USDA has not yet publicly identified the farm where the
animal came from, or if the cow had any calves. Clifford would
not comment on the current investigation. Monthly Fluctuation The new case won’t spur more tests, as one case of the
disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in six years
doesn’t necessarily indicate increased BSE prevalence, Clifford
said. The 2004 surge in testing was “an effort to collect as
many samples as we could over 12 to 18 months to determine
prevalence in the U.S.,” Clifford said. “After that, we went
to a regular surveillance level that far exceeds international
standards.” The surveillance tests focus on older cattle and animals
that may be exhibiting symptoms of the brain-wasting disease, he
said. About 40,000 animals are sampled each year, less than 0.1
percent of the U.S. cattle herd, according to USDA records. Testing has fluctuated in recent months, from 2,434 samples
in April 2012, down from 4,855 in March and 5,417 in February,
according to the USDA. Analysis of the 2004 to 2006 data concluded the prevalence
of BSE in the U.S. is less than 1 case per million adult cattle,
according to the agency. As of Jan. 1, the country’s herd of
cattle and calves totaled 90.8 million animals , according to the
USDA. More testing isn’t necessary now that the USDA has a handle
on the extent of the disease, said Eric Mittenthal, a spokesman
with the American Meat Institute, a trade group based in
Washington that includes Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) and Cargill Inc. among
its members. “Some critics have argued that every animal needs to be
tested,” Mittenthal said in an e-mail. “That’s like saying
that kindergarteners should be tested for Alzheimer’s,” he
said. “USDA appropriately focuses its surveillance on older
animals and animals that are displaying clinical signs of the
disease,” he said. Random Tests Still, random tests aren’t enough to ensure that diseased
cows don’t taint the food supply, Michael Hansen, a staff
scientist at the nonprofit Consumers Union of Yonkers, New York ,
said yesterday. U.S. testing “is very consistent with international
standards and we want to make sure we abide by those
international standards,” the USDA’s Vilsack said. Jim Cullor, a professor of infectious disease in the School
of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis,
said the discovery of the latest case shows the U.S.
surveillance system is effective. In addition to the monitoring tests, the USDA protects the
food supply by prohibiting parts from other cows and related
animals to be used in cattle feed. Scientists say the disease is
spread by cattle eating rations that contain tissue from
infected animals. Since the first case in 2003, the agency has
also required slaughterhouses to remove and dispose of certain
“risk materials,” such as spinal cord and nerve tissue, to
keep it from human consumption. No Food Threat Officials said the infected animal found recently at a
Baker Commodities Inc. facility in Hanford, California , never
entered the human food chain, and that the disease isn’t spread
through milk. Tests indicate the animal had atypical BSE, a form
not normally associated with infected feed. A nationwide animal identification program that can track
animals to their source is also necessary to ensure that threats
are quickly handled, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro , a
Connecticut Democrat, said in a statement. “We were lucky to identify this case,” DeLauro said,
“but we must invest in a strong national identification system
that has the potential to improve animal traceability and ensure
the health of our domestic livestock.” Vilsack yesterday said a new rule on animal identification
should be released “very, very soon.” Identification System A nationwide animal identification system that would let
officials track sick livestock back to their farms of origin | 4 | 25 | ded3a01b1a284fa4a755cb2c93ffdfe2 | the Department of Agriculture since 2003, after the first U.S.
BSE case surfaced, in a cow born in Canada . A voluntary animal ID plan was abandoned in 2010 after some
ranchers refused to participate, citing cost and concerns that
the proposed registry would give competitors proprietary
information. The rule Vilsack referred to, which the USDA proposed in
August, would require registration and tagging of livestock
moved between states, with guidelines tailored to different
species. It would be put in place gradually, applying first to
older animals in the U.S. cattle herd. To contact the reporters on this story:
Stephanie Armour in Washington at
sarmour@bloomberg.net ;
Alan Bjerga in Washington at
abjerga@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
jmorgan97@bloomberg.net | 2012 | esting-for-mad-cow-disease-falls-90-since-2005-usda-says |
U.K. Pound Falls Versus Dollar, Euro as First-Quarter GDP Drops | By Paul Dobson | 2012-04-25T08:33:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-k-pound-falls-versus-dollar-euro-as-first-quarter-gdp-drops.html | 4 | 25 | ca85d4849b4978b2a78e850079ae08f5c3391333 | The pound fell against the dollar
and the euro after a report showed U.K. gross domestic product
fell 0.2 percent in the first quarter. Sterling weakened 0.3 percent to $1.6103 at 9:31 a.m.
London time and depreciated 0.4 percent to 82.05 pence per euro. To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Dobson in London at
pdobson2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Daniel Tilles at
dtilles@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-k-pound-falls-versus-dollar-euro-as-first-quarter-gdp-drops |
H&R Block to Cut 350 Jobs, Search for New Finance Chief | By Will Daley | 2012-04-25T20:27:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/h-r-block-to-cut-350-jobs-search-for-new-finance-chief.html | 4 | 25 | ee5cfe372e275a65154a1bdd8f995dee99b9a5c0 | H&R Block Inc. (HRB) , the biggest U.S.
tax preparer, plans to cut 350 jobs and close about 200 company-
owned offices as part of a realignment. Also, H&R Block said it is searching for a new chief
financial officer and that CFO Jeff Brown will remain with the
company during the search process. Once a successor is
found, Brown will transition to chief accounting and risk
officer, the Kansas City, Missouri-based company said in a
statement. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Will Daley at
wdaley2@bloomberg.net | 2012 | -r-block-to-cut-350-jobs-search-for-new-finance-chief |
Ex-Wildenstein Lawyer Charged in Tax Inquiry, Challenges Says | By Heather Smith | 2012-04-25T11:32:34Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ex-wildenstein-lawyer-charged-in-tax-inquiry-challenges-says.html | 4 | 25 | 140766bc5d3be0094c1db0e615e7352e9505c0c6 | A lawyer for the late Alec
Wildenstein, brother to the current head of the family art
business, was charged in February with money laundering by an
investigating judge leading a probe of tax fraud allegations
against the family, Challenges said, citing unnamed sources. Olivier Riffaud is contesting a 750,000 euro ($991,275)
bail set as a condition for his release, the magazine said. Riffaud acted as tax lawyer and notary for Wildenstein when
he moved back to France in 2004. He was in charge of settling a
review of whether his client’s lifestyle could be covered by his
declared income and whether Wildenstein may have hidden money
from tax authorities, the magazine said. Riffaud didn’t immediately return calls by Bloomberg News
to his Paris office for comment on the report. To contact the reporter on this story:
Heather Smith in Paris at
hsmith26@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at
aaarons@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ex-wildenstein-lawyer-charged-in-tax-inquiry-challenges-says |
Tribeca Festival Presents Murder, Horror, Texan Dummies | By Greg Evans | 2012-04-25T02:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/tribeca-festival-presents-murder-horror-texan-dummies.html
In 1966, a black waiter in a
whites-only Mississippi restaurant shared his heartbreak with
the nation. He may or may not have been murdered for it. His name was Booker Wright, and he’s given voice in Raymond
De Felitta’s moving documentary “Booker’s Place: A Mississippi
Story.” De Felitta’s film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film
Festival and opens in Los Angeles and New York this week, is the
culmination of an intriguing family saga. The director’s father, also a filmmaker, gave Wright his
first, fateful moment in the national spotlight. Frank De Felitta, now 90, worked for NBC in the 1960s when
he directed a documentary called “Mississippi: A Self
Portrait.” In that 1966 film, he interviewed residents of Greenwood, a
town notorious for its many lynchings. One of those interviewed was Wright. Dressed in a waiter’s
white jacket and black bow-tie, Wright jovially recited a steak-
house menu that the restaurant’s owners refused to commit to
writing | 4 | 25 | 495ea6f8ef03480a96c8f1f1439c4a1d | Revisionaries” is a revealing look at how politics has
infiltrated education. The film chronicles the Texas State Board of Education’s
2009-2010 hearings to determine science and social studies
curricula. Representing a huge market for textbooks, the Texas board
is crucial to publishers who supply the nation’s classrooms. The
board members are locally-elected officials, with or without
academic training. “Somebody’s got to stand up to experts,” says Don
McLeroy, the affable, arrogant Young-Earth Creationist who
emerges as the documentary’s central figure. He’s as pleasant as
he is enraging. “The Revisionaries” was reviewed at the Tribeca Film
Festival. Rating: *** ‘War Witch’ A young girl is forced to shoot her own parents in the
opening moments of “War Witch,” Canadian director Kim Nguyen’s
harrowing drama of child soldiers in Africa . Even without being excessively graphic, the horrors that
unfold in this lyrical film might be unbearable without the
lovely, understated performance of newcomer Rachel Mwanza. As a 12-year-old village girl kidnapped by rebels and
forced into brutality, Mwanza guides the audience through a
nightmare beyond most comprehension. “War Witch” was reviewed at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Rating: *** (Greg Evans is a critic for Muse, the arts and leisure
section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.) Today’s Muse highlights include Jeremy Gerard on Broadway
and Ryan Sutton on restaurants . To contact the writer on the story: Greg Evans at
gregeaevans@yahoo.com . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Manuela Hoelterhoff in New York at
mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | ribeca-festival-presents-murder-horror-texan-dummies |
Buffett-Backed BYD Falls After Forecasting Profit Drop | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-26T07:21:19Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/buffett-backed-byd-says-first-half-net-may-fall-up-to-95-.html | 4 | 25 | 443ff0da37b9f5bc7e099a726666021697c78645 | BYD Co. (1211) fell the most in a month in
Hong Kong trading after the Chinese carmaker partly owned by
Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) forecast first-half
profit may slump as much as 95 percent. BYD sank as much as 6.1 percent to HK$19.82, the biggest
intraday dip since March 26, before trading at HK$19.90 as of
3:13 p.m. in Hong Kong. The company’s Shenzhen-traded shares
retreated as much as 3.8 percent to 26.36 yuan, the lowest level
since March 28. Net income for the six months ended June 30 may drop to
between 13.8 million yuan ($2.2 million) and 68.8 million yuan
because of reduced earnings from solar energy and mobile
handsets, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer said in a statement to
the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. Demand for BYD’s cars
also slowed after the government ended buying incentives and the
popularity of its top-selling F3 sedan waned. “The whole solar industry has a tremendous amount of
excess capacity,” said Theodore O’Neill , an analyst at
Wunderlich Securities in New York . “If you’re in an industry
that’s borderline profitless and you’re a smaller player like
BYD, it’s maybe going to be worse than profitless.” First-quarter vehicle sales fell 8 percent from a year
earlier to 108,755 vehicles, the company said. China ’s total
passenger-car sales slipped for the first time since 2005,
dropping 1.3 percent from a year earlier, as the slowing economy
and rising fuel costs curbed buying. BYD blamed the forecast
decline in profit mainly on a “great loss” in its solar cell
business. Solar Cell Prices Profit in the first three months of the year slumped 90
percent to 27 million yuan, down from 266.7 million yuan a year
ago. The company had earlier given guidance indicating a
decrease of 65 percent to 95 percent. Sales were little changed
at 11.7 billion yuan. “The persistent decline in the global solar energy market
has led to a substantial decrease in the price of solar cell
products,” BYD said in the filing. For handsets, the market
share of the company’s major clients declined, it said. BYD has risen 19 percent this year in Hong Kong trading,
compared with a 12 percent gain for the benchmark Hang Seng
Index . The stock fell 2.2 percent to close at $2.62 in U.S.
over-the-counter trading, after the filing. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Liza Lin in Shanghai at
llin15@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Young-Sam Cho at
ycho2@bloomberg.net | 2012 | buffett-backed-byd-says-first-half-net-may-fall-up-to-95- |
Greek Energy Cash Crisis Risks Supply, Report Says | By Marcus Bensasson | 2012-04-25T15:19:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/greek-energy-cash-crisis-risks-supply-report-says.html | 4 | 25 | bebc38e19a35d01c7fa7f4af466f51a9171ea71c | Greece ’s energy industry needs
emergency lending because the country is at risk of supply
disruption, according to a report by the energy regulator. Greece should provide at least 350 million euros ($463
million) of emergency loans to the energy distribution companies
by the end of the month, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Greek unit
said in a report for the Independent Regulatory Authority,
according to a summary posted on the regulator’s website. The
funds would come from the Finance Ministry controlled Deposits
and Loan Fund , according to the report. “All of the players in the electricity market supply chain
face significant funding problems,” PwC said in the report’s
summary. “Additional delays in cash flow , however marginal, at
any stage of the chain will have a significant impact on the
country’s supply.” Some of the emergency loans to the industry, which can be
repaid in 2013 through the sale of carbon emission permits,
should be channeled towards DEPA SA, the state-controlled
natural gas supplier, according to the report. “It is a fact that the energy market faces liquidity
problems, just like other sectors, which are a result of the
more general problems the Greek economy now faces,” Energy
Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an e-mailed statement.
The Energy Ministry “is working closely with the Finance
Ministry , and is in constant contact with all the responsible
energy bodies,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Marcus Bensasson in Athens at
mbensasson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Craig Stirling at
cstirling1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | greek-energy-cash-crisis-risks-supply-report-says |
AIG Sues Ex-International Lease Executives Over Trade Secrets | By Edvard Pettersson | 2012-04-25T04:01:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/air-lease-says-aig-s-trade-secrets-lawsuit-is-baseless-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 355f6451e0d825032e29fc1dbeddcd02f7f3e191 | American International Group Inc. (AIG)
sued the former chief executive officer of its International
Lease Finance Corp. aircraft lending business, saying he stole
confidential information when he left the company and started
Air Lease Corp. (AL) AIG filed a complaint yesterday in Los Angeles Superior
Court accusing Steven Udvar-Hazy and 10 other former
International Lease Finance executives of breach of fiduciary
duty and stealing trade secrets, among other claims, when they
left the company in 2010. AIG seeks to recover “several
hundreds of millions” of dollars, according to the complaint. “We regret having to file this suit, but the defendants’
misconduct left us no choice but to go to court to protect our
rights and the rights of our shareholders, including our largest
shareholder, the American taxpayer,” Mark Herr, a spokesman for
New York-based AIG, said in an e-mailed statement. AIG said Udvar-Hazy tried to buy all or part of
International Lease Finance, the Los Angeles-based company he
started in 1973 and sold to AIG in 1990 for $1.3 billion. AIG
was soliciting bids for International Lease Finance in 2008 when
the insurer needed to raise capital to repay an $85 billion U.S.
government loan, according to the complaint. Fleet of Planes Udvar-Hazy couldn’t reach an agreement in January 2010 to
buy a fleet of planes from International Lease Finance to start
his business because he wouldn’t be allowed to solicit other
executives or use confidential data, according to AIG’s
complaint. He “resigned from ILFC, and then stole what ILFC
refused to sell,” according to the complaint. Among the trade secrets AIG says the former executives
stole were leased aircraft valuation summaries, terms sheets and
contracts of dozens of leases, the “sin list” of customer
payment history, and lease agreements some of these executives
were actively working on. Air Lease said in a statement that International Lease
Finance resorted to filing a lawsuit because it hasn’t been able
to compete and perceives Air Lease as a growing threat.
International Lease Finance has “struggled with an aging fleet,
heavy debt load, and loss of talent,” Air Lease said. Herr said in a follow-up statement that Air Lease’s
allegations were “spurious” and a “smoke screen to distract
attention from it illegal conduct.” The case is AIG v. Air Lease, BC483370, Superior Court of
California ( Los Angeles ). To contact the reporter on this story:
Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at
epettersson@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | air-lease-says-aig-s-trade-secrets-lawsuit-is-baseless-1- |
Obama Presses on College Costs as Romney Vies for Youth Vote | By Margaret Talev | 2012-04-25T21:22:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/obama-presses-on-college-costs-as-romney-vies-for-youth-vote-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 41be4a15753644258b2fbbe0cffa200f | President Barack Obama hit college
campuses and late-night television to urge Congress to freeze
student-loan interest rates as he engaged Republican Mitt Romney
in a competition for young voters. Obama and Romney tailored their economic message to attract
college-age voters in what both sides say will be a close
election in November as graduates face a weak job market and a
ballooning debt load from education loans. “We’ve been in your shoes,” Obama told students today at
the University of Iowa in Iowa City, his third and last stop on
a trip through three electoral battleground states. The
president said he and first lady Michelle Obama carried student
debt until about eight years ago. “We can’t price the middle
class out of a college education.” Romney, who declared himself the Republican presidential
nominee last night after sweeping five primary contests, has
agreed with Obama on stopping the rise in student-loan rates
while blaming the administration for an economy in which “50
percent of recent college graduates are unemployed or
underemployed.” With Obama drawing attention to the issue, Congress began
moving on legislation to prevent the loan rate from rising, with
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , a Nevada Democrat, and House
Speaker John Boehner , an Ohio Republican, promising legislation
this week. Key Constituency Voters age 18 to 29 were a key constituency for Obama in
the 2008 election, with national exit polls showing he received
66 percent of their vote. He holds a 17-percentage-point lead
over Romney among those voters in the current campaign,
according to an online survey by Harvard University’s Institute
of Politics. Forty-three percent preferred Obama with 26 percent backing
Romney, according to the survey conducted from March 23 through
April 9, with 30 percent saying they are undecided. The margin
of error was plus or minus 1.7 percentage points. Between speeches yesterday at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado in
Boulder, Obama, 50, taped an appearance on NBC’s “Late Night
With Jimmy Fallon ” to emphasize his message. Coinciding with the trip to the three campuses, Rolling
Stone magazine put the president on its cover and published an
interview with Obama. Election Contrast Obama told the publication that Republicans in Congress and
on the presidential campaign trail have moved “far out of the
mainstream” of voters, and that will provide a “sharp”
contrast for the general election. Reflecting his broader
campaign strategy, Obama indicated he would seek to paint Romney
as extreme on issues such as regulation, immigration and the
budget that played prominently in the primary campaign. “I don’t think that their nominee is going to be able to
suddenly say, ‘Everything I’ve said for the last six months, I
didn’t mean,’” Obama said in Rolling Stone. “I’m assuming that
he meant it.” Romney’s campaign went on the offensive before Obama left
Washington yesterday morning. “Four years ago, the president was able to fool a number
of our college students into supporting his campaign, and the
result has been the highest level of unemployment for youth in
our country’s recorded history,” Hank Brown, a former
Republican U.S. senator who also served as president of the
University of Colorado , said on a conference call organized by
the campaign. Republican Appeal Brown predicted a “dramatic turnaround” on college
campuses with larger numbers voting for Republican candidates,
including Romney, who he said is “younger and more dynamic”
than the party’s 2008 nominee, Senator John McCain , who was 72
at the time of the election. Romney is 65. Boehner today accused Obama of “trying to invent a fight”
over the student-loan interest rate . “We can and will fix the problem without a lot of
campaign-style theatrics,” he told reporters in Washington. Obama sought to show the students he identifies with their
financial plight. Without mentioning his rival’s name, he also
drew a distinction with Romney, who helped form the private-
equity firm Bain Capital LLC in Boston and is the son of a
former auto industry executive. He said in North Carolina that
he and Michelle Obama “didn’t come from families of means.” Not ‘Talking Points’ “I didn’t just get some talking points on this,” Obama
told the crowd at the university’s Carmichael Arena. Obama drew
cheers and shouts of “four more years” from the crowd before
and after the speech. The three states Obama is visiting were crucial to his 2008
victory. Iowa and Colorado have been swing states, while Obama’s
win in North Carolina was the first by a Democratic presidential
candidate since 1976. The president first proposed the student loan rate freeze
in his fiscal 2013 budget. The rate will increase to 6.8
percent on July 1 from 3.4 percent unless lawmakers act. The two
parties still have to work out differences over paying for the
rate freeze, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates
will cost $6 billion. The increase would affect about 7.4 million students,
according to the White House, adding an average of $1,000 a year
in payments. Romney said he wants Obama and Congress to extend the
freeze “responsibly” by offsetting the cost in “a way that
doesn’t harm the job prospects of young Americans.” College Costs Obama also is calling on Congress to increase funding for
work-study programs and extend a tuition tax credit. The average cost of tuition and fees at a public, four-year
college has almost tripled since the 1995-1996 academic year and
has more than doubled for a private-school education, according
to data from the College Board , a New York-based nonprofit group
whose members include universities. Educational-loan debt has ballooned to $1 trillion,
surpassing the amount owed on credit cards in the U.S.,
according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That
includes federally backed and private loans taken out by
students and their parents to pay for college and graduate
school. To contact the reporter on this story:
Margaret Talev in Iowa City, Iowa, at
mtalev@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steven Komarow at
skomarow1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | obama-presses-on-college-costs-as-romney-vies-for-youth-vote-1- |
Colombian Stocks: Empresa de Energia, Ecopetrol, Fabricato | By Christine Jenkins | 2012-04-25T20:21:35Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/colombian-stocks-empresa-de-energia-ecopetrol-fabricato.html | 4 | 25 | d6e48231aac9a2ad96bdd85b518c068148e03284 | The following companies had unusual
price changes in Bogota trading. Stock symbols are in
parentheses, and prices are as of the close of trading. The IGBC Index (IGBC) rose 0.9 percent to 14,957.25, while the
Colcap Index increased 0.7 percent to 1,749.43. Empresa de Energia de Bogota SA (EEB CB), a Colombian
electricity distributor, jumped 5.6 percent to 1,035 pesos. EEB
gained the most in eight months after saying first-quarter net
income more than doubled from a year earlier to 540 billion
pesos ($306.5 million). Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL) , Colombia ’s largest oil company,
advanced 2.7 percent to 5,420 pesos. Ecopetrol said it found oil
in a new well at its Tisquirama block in northern Colombia and
expects to “significantly” increase production in the area. Fabricato SA (FABRI) , a Colombian textile maker, fell
0.6 percent to 89 pesos. The company reported a first-quarter
net loss of 9.9 billion pesos in a filing to the financial
regulator late yesterday. Sales decreased 3.6 percent from a
year ago to 145.2 billion pesos, the company said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Christine Jenkins in New York at
cjenkins28@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Papadopoulos at
papadopoulos@bloomberg.net | 2012 | colombian-stocks-empresa-de-energia-ecopetrol-fabricato |
South Korea’s Reaction to Mad Cow ‘Political,’ Pinkston Says | By Rose Kim | 2012-04-25T03:17:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/south-korea-s-reaction-to-mad-cow-political-pinkston-says.html | 4 | 25 | f11e23465250bdaa99a4a76dbd74313010365bb6 | Daniel Pinkston, an analyst at the
International Crisis Group , comments on the South Korean
government’s reaction to a case of mad cow disease confirmed in
U.S. He spoke on the phone in Seoul today. South Korea will take steps “soon” after the U.S.
confirmed its first case of mad cow disease in six years,
according to e-mailed statement from agriculture ministry. Park Sang Ho, a ministry official, said earlier today the
government will halt customs clearance of U.S. beef imports. “It’s a political economy story. It’s not a public health
story. It’s 98, 99 percent political economy story, and 1 or 2
percent public health and food-chain security story. “Farmers and livestock ranchers in South Korea have
political clout, political influence. “Politically, it’s more acceptable to grant protection to
them than to just give them income transfers, even though it’s
more expensive to South Korea as a whole. “Because of the political sensitivity and political
influence of these rural voters, the government will look for
any and every opportunity to grant them protection, and here’s
another example of that.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Rose Kim in Seoul at
rkim76@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Brett Miller at
bmiller30@bloomberg.net | 2012 | south-korea-s-reaction-to-mad-cow-political-pinkston-says |
Nexen First-Quarter Profit Drops 15% on Production Fall | By Jeremy van Loon | 2012-04-25T21:18:33Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/nexen-first-quarter-profit-drops-15-on-production-fall.html | 4 | 25 | 8e75f2e412d8ecafcd3e68056b909128f362e143 | Nexen Inc. (NXY) , the Canadian oil
producer that’s gained 18 percent this year, said first-quarter
profit declined 15 percent after unplanned maintenance drove
down production and development of new wells was slower than
expected. Net income fell to C$171 million ($174 million), or 32
cents a share, from C$202 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier,
according to a statement today. Per-share profit was 22 cents
less than the average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by
Bloomberg. Production after royalties averaged 192,000 barrels a
day, compared with 207,000 barrels a year earlier. Unplanned maintenance at Syncrude Canada Ltd., an oil-sands
company in which Nexen holds a 7.2 percent stake, reduced
output, along with the end of a contract in Yemen and declining
production in the U.S. Maintenance is expected to continue in
the current quarter, Interim Chief Executive Officer Kevin
Reinhart, said during a conference call today. “We had a couple of challenges in the quarter,” Reinhart
said. Development of new wells in the North Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico progressed slower than the Calgary-based company
anticipated during the period. Transportation Costs Higher-than-expected transportation and administration
costs offset higher prices for oil, causing the company to miss
estimates, George Toriola, an analyst at UBS Securities Canada
Inc., said in a research note today. Toriola rates the shares
buy and does not own the stock. Cash flow from operations in the quarter was unchanged at
C$1.27 a share, the company said. Sales rose 3.4 percent to
C$1.7 billion from a year earlier. Former Chief Executive Officer Marvin Romanow stepped down
in January amid a slumping share price and missed production
targets. The board is looking for a permanent replacement,
Reinhart said. There are no plans to sell the company or assets,
he said. The company, which gets 80 percent of its production from
oil and liquids, boosted output from its Long Lake oil-sands
project 10 percent and began producing at its Usan field off the
coast of West Africa in the quarter. Nexen is also considering exporting liquefied natural gas
from its operations in northern British Columbia to Asia ,
Reinhart said. Canadian regulators have already approved such
proposals. The company expects to meet second quarter and 2012 output
forecasts, it said. It estimates full-year production will
average 185,000 to 220,000 barrels a day. Nexen rose 0.5 percent to C$19.10 in Toronto. The stock has
13 buy and 10 hold ratings from analysts. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeremy van Loon in Calgary at
jvanloon@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Susan Warren at
susanwarren@bloomberg.net | 2012 | nexen-first-quarter-profit-drops-15-on-production-fa |
Vale to Redesign Giant Ore Ships to Protect Crews From Pirates | By Michelle Wiese Bockmann | 2012-04-25T10:19:43Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/vale-to-redesign-giant-ore-ships-to-protect-crews-from-pirates.html | 4 | 25 | 1039618332b0d6e123993f8fada08667ef106686 | Vale SA (VALE5) , the world’s second-largest
mining company, plans to change designs for some of its new
iron-ore ships, the biggest ever built, to include safe rooms
protecting crews against hijackings by Somali pirates. Some ships will have purpose-built emergency strongrooms,
known as citadels, where crews can await rescue if pirates board
the vessels, Peter Kavanagh, company security officer for Rio de
Janeiro-based Vale, said on the sidelines of a Hanson Wade
conference in Hamburg yesterday. Vale is the world’s biggest
producer of iron ore, a steelmaking raw material. Pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden , the Red Sea and off
Somalia, an area larger than Europe , jumped almost fivefold
between 2007 and 2011 to a record 236, according to the London-
based International Maritime Bureau. Ship owners need to
strengthen citadels on existing vessels because pirates can too
often shoot through their doors and windows, Kavanagh said. “We’re the only company I know of that’s doing it,” he
said. “I don’t think a lot of people are there yet. It’s too
easy to call something a citadel when it really isn’t.” Vale, which already owns and operates 52 vessels, is
building 35 of the world’s biggest iron-ore carriers, of which
it will own 18. The redesign will apply to those company-owned
vessels yet to be delivered, according to Kavanagh. Some of the
ships cross the Indian Ocean to Oman to deliver the raw material
to a pelletizing plant, he said. Food, Medicine The strongrooms, recommended under industry guidelines,
will have independent satellite communication as well as food
and medicine for three days, according to Kavanagh. They also
will enable crews to control ships, he said. Diverting ships from risky areas lengthened journey times
by three days, adding $70,000 a day in extra fuel costs, or
about 78 percent of the additional security expense, he said.
Vale used armed guards on all vessels sailing to Oman since
July, Kavanagh said. There are about 5,000 pirates operating in the region, with
about 20 percent “taken out of the game” through counter-
piracy operations, Phil Haslam, chief of staff of the European
Union Naval Force Somalia, said at the same event. The increased naval interventions and better on-board
security helped cut first-quarter attacks by Somali pirates to
43 from 97 a year earlier, the IMB said April 23. Vale ranks second among miners by market value after BHP
Billiton Ltd. To contact the reporter on this story:
Michelle Wiese Bockmann in London at
mwiesebockma@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alaric Nightingale at
anightingal1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | vale-to-redesign-giant-ore-ships-to-protect-crews-from-pirates |
Hirst’s Smelly Show, Jon Regen’s Pop: London Weekend | By Farah Nayeri | 2012-04-26T23:00:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/jon-regen-odiferous-hirst-coffee-fest-london-weekend.html | 4 | 25 | 3624df3060ee4e81a80eb303403772ec | Jon Regen is in town to show off
his jazz-meets-pop album “Revolution.” It features Andy Summers of the Police on catchy tracks
such as “Spirits of the Soul,” which Regen will play with P.J.
Phillips on bass and John Miller on drums. Hear Regen before he
gets big: His sound has echoes of Bruce Hornsby and Billy Joel ,
and he’s good enough to beat both. April 27-29 at Pizza Express Jazz Club, 10 Dean Street,
Soho, W1D 3RW and May 2 at the Pheasantry, 152 Kings Road,
Chelsea, SW3 4UT. Information: http://pizzaexpresslive.com and
http://www.jonregen.com/ Saturday There’s a faint smell wafting through a corner of the
crowded Damien Hirst retrospective at Tate Modern. A bleeding cow’s head lies in a vitrine, feasted on by
freshly incubated flies that get zapped on the spot by an
insect-o-cutor. The dead bovine is starting to emit an acrid
odor; the show goes on for another four and a half months. Another dead cow is chopped in half and pickled. You can
walk through the two halves, tightly sealed in individual
vitrines. Or you can contemplate living creatures: butterflies
that hatch inside a hot room and flit around. There’s a line to
go in; the butterflies would die in the stampede, otherwise. “ Damien Hirst ” is at Tate Modern, Bankside, London,
through Sept. 9. Information: http://www.tate.org.uk or
+44-20-7887-8888. Saturday Night Catch it while you can: “The King’s Speech” is closing
two months early on May 12, despite fairly positive reviews.
(The producers say it probably came out too soon after the
movie). But Charles Edwards is absolutely worth seeing as the
future king. Information: http://www.kingsspeechtheplay.com/ or
+44-844-482-5136. Good Mexican food can be hard to find in London. The latest
venue is La Bodega Negra, a restaurant and cafe near the
Wyndham’s Theatre. The food is spicy and the drinks are cool.
Just don’t go there in search of fine dining. Information:
http://www.labodeganegra.com/ or +44-20-7758-4100. Sunday Drink yourself awake at the coffee festival. You’ll catch baristas and professional coffee roasters in
action, and sample a cup or two from an independent cafe (i.e.
not a high-street chain), with unexpected ingredients such as
salt and popcorn-infused milk. The London Coffee Festival runs April 27 to 29 at the Old
Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London E1 6QL. Information:
http://www.londoncoffeefestival.com . Hawksmoor Spitalfields, near Brick Lane, is known for
serving some of the finest steaks in London. The new bar
downstairs is gaining fans for its cocktails and snacks. 157 Commercial Street, E1 6BJ. Information: +20-7426-4850
or http://thehawksmoor.com/locations/spitalfields#map Today’s Muse highlights include: Martin Gayford reviews Ron
Mueck’s art show in London: Rich Jaroslovsky on Kindle ; Jason
Harper on the Ford Taurus SHO . (Farah Nayeri writes for Muse, the arts and leisure section
of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.) To contact the writer on the story:
Farah Nayeri in London at
farahn@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Manuela Hoelterhoff at
mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | jon-regen-odiferous-hirst-coffee-fest-london-weekend |
Philippine Stocks: Empire East, Metro Pacific, Philex, SM Prime | By Ian Sayson | 2012-04-25T07:58:05Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ayala-bloomberry-metro-sm-prime-philippine-equity-preview.html | 4 | 25 | 349f1174da3f45c19d3f4f541858c797 | Shares of the following companies
had unusual moves in Philippine (PASHR) trading. Stock symbols are in
parentheses and prices are as of the close in Manila . The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PCOMP) gained 0.7 percent to
5,204.84, a record close. Empire East Land Holdings Inc. (ELI) jumped 14 percent
to 74 centavos, the highest close since Aug. 4. The builder said
its directors approved the sale of shares through a one-for-four
rights offer at a price of 1 peso each. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPI) increased 7.1
percent to 4.53 pesos, the highest close since Sept. 18, 2009.
Metro Pacific and Ayala Corp. (AC) agreed to bid jointly for
government light-rail projects. The two companies will own 50
percent of the projects and related real estate developments,
they said. Ayala climbed 2.2 percent to 428.20 pesos, the most
since April 13. Philex Petroleum Corp. (PXP) surged by the daily limit
of 50 percent to 24.30 pesos, the highest close since the stock
began trading on Sept. 13. The shares rose on speculation the
company is “sitting on a huge gas reserve,” said James Lago,
head of research at PCCI Securities Brokers Corp. The stock
climbed 17 percent yesterday after the company said its unit
Forum Energy Plc expects to announce an “improvement” in
resources when it presents data from its Service Contract 72
exploration area later this week. Philex Mining Corp. (PX) ,
owner of Philex Petroleum, increased 8.3 percent to 24.20 pesos,
the highest close since Oct. 28. SM Development Corp. (SMDC) , a property developer,
climbed 1 percent to 7.05 pesos. The company may start projects
in China in late 2012, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Henry Sy Jr. said today. SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) , the nation’s biggest
shopping mall operator, increased 1.3 percent to 17 pesos, the
steepest gain since March 30. First-quarter profit climbed 15
percent to 2.4 billion pesos ($56.3 million), Chief Financial
Officer Jeffrey Lim said. The company will sell as much as 7
billion pesos of notes in a private placement to fund expansion,
he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ian Sayson in Manila at
isayson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Darren Boey at
dboey@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ayala-bloomberry-metro-sm-prime-philippine-equity-preview |
Russian Equity Movers: Aeroflot, Rosneft, Sberbank, VTB Group | By Denis Maternovsky | 2012-04-25T14:26:42Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/russian-equity-movers-aeroflot-rosneft-sberbank-vtb-group.html | 4 | 25 | 14042cde515a5d7fa9d8c11c3bf31b71c1628796 | The 30-stock Micex Index (INDEXCF) advanced
0.6 percent to 1,466.22 by 5:56 p.m. in Moscow, heading for its
first gain in three days. The following are among the most active stocks in the
Russian market today. Stock symbols are in parenthesis. OAO Aeroflot (AFLT RX), Russia ’s biggest air carrier, rose
the most in almost two weeks after Kommersant reported the
company is considering buying Belarus’s Belavia airline. Shares
climbed as much as 3.2 percent, the strongest intraday gain
since April 13, and traded 2.7 percent higher at 47.79 rubles. OAO Rosneft (ROSN RX), the country’s largest oil company,
added 0.1 percent to 208.58, paring an earlier gain of as much
as 0.9 percent, as the oil price retreated for a third day after
Iran ’s envoy in Moscow said his country is considering a Russian
proposal to halt the expansion of its atomic program to avert
new sanctions. VTB Group (VTBR RX), Russia’s second-biggest bank, rose 1.4
percent to 6.433 kopeks, heading for its highest close this
week. The Moscow-based lender’s supervisory board recommended
raising dividend payout for 2011 by about 52 percent to 9.2
billion rubles, or 0.088 kopeks per common share, VTB said on
its website today after reporting a 54 percent jump in annual
net income attributable to shareholders to 89.4 billion rubles
($3.04 billion), missing analyst estimates. OAO Sberbank (SBER
RX), the country’s biggest lender, jumped 1.4 percent to 93.99
rubles. To contact the reporter on this story:
Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at
dmaternovsky@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
gserkin@bloomberg.net | 2012 | russian-equity-movers-aeroflot-rosneft-sberbank-vtb-group |
Rupee Halts Two-Day Slide as U.S. Corporate Earnings Improve | By Lilian Karunungan | 2012-04-25T04:30:26Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rupee-halts-two-day-slide-as-u-s-corporate-earnings-improve.html | 4 | 25 | c302851734e7c50c410246f2bf1773966badd96c | India ’s rupee halted a two-day
slide after U.S. corporate earnings improved the outlook for the
global economy, spurring demand for emerging-market assets. The rupee held this month’s loss at 3.5 percent after
earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose
12 percent in the first quarter and results beat analysts’
estimates by 9.4 percent, according to the 145 listed in the
gauge that have released results since April 10. Apple Inc.
reported earnings yesterday that almost doubled last quarter.
Wipro Ltd., India’s third-largest software exporter, reported
today that fourth-quarter net income increased 7.2 percent,
matching analysts’ estimates. “Risk appetite looks pretty supported,” said Goh Puay Yeong, a Singapore-based foreign-exchange strategist at Credit
Suisse Group AG. “Earnings from the U.S. came out quite
strongly. We’ll probably see the rupee slightly higher against
the dollar.” The rupee traded at 52.7175 against the greenback as of
9:54 a.m. in Mumbai, compared with 52.6975 yesterday, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg. It touched 52.87 yesterday, the
lowest level since Jan. 9. One-month implied volatility for the
rupee, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options,
fell 16 basis points, or 0.16 percentage point, to 10.48 percent. Six-month offshore non-deliverable contracts were at 54.72
per dollar, compared with 54.74 yesterday. Forwards are
agreements to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non-
deliverable contracts are settled in dollars. To contact the reporter on this story:
Lilian Karunungan in Singapore at
lkarunungan@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry at
shendry@bloomberg.net | 2012 | rupee-halts-two-day-slide-as-u-s-corporate-earnings-improve |
Anglo Says Chile Court Rejects Codelco Petition on Dividends | By Carli Cooke and Matthew Craze | 2012-04-25T17:40:42Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/anglo-says-chile-court-rejects-codelco-petition-on-dividends-2-.html | 4 | 25 | f4dbacbbbc637872b75ea867da6e752482b946af | Anglo American Plc (AAL) said a Chilean
court rejected a petition by Codelco to have 49 percent of the
dividends paid by Anglo’s local unit frozen in escrow amid a
dispute between the companies over copper assets. Codelco’s April 17 application to the 14th Civil Court of
Santiago also sought to install a court appointee into Anglo’s
Chilean operations, the London-based mining company said in an
e-mailed statement today. “The measures sought by Codelco had no justification
whatsoever and sought to improperly interfere with the operation
of Anglo American’s business interests in Chile,” Anglo said. State-owned Codelco is seeking to exercise an option dating
back from 1978 to buy 49 percent of Sur. The unit includes the
Los Bronces mine, where Anglo completed a $2.8 billion expansion
last year, and two of the world’s best undeveloped copper
deposits, according to John MacKenzie , head of copper at Anglo. After Codelco sought the additional measures, Anglo
revealed to the court that it paid out dividends of $409 million
from the unit in March, Codelco said today in a statement on its
website. Of that amount, 49 percent should be subtracted from
the purchase price when the state-owned company wins the court
case, Codelco said. Anglo, which sold 24.5 percent of Sur to Japan ’s Mitsubishi
Corp. (8058) in November for $5.39 billion, said Codelco breached terms
by trying to take up the option prematurely. Anglo gained 2.3 percent to 2,360 pence in London . To contact the reporters on this story:
Carli Cooke in Johannesburg at
clourens@bloomberg.net ;
Matthew Craze in Santiago at
mcraze@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Viljoen at
jviljoen@bloomberg.net | 2012 | anglo-says-chile-court-rejects-codelco-petition-on-dividends-2- |
China’s 22-Day Moving Average for the Cost of Crude Falls 3.7% | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T03:56:47Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-s-22-day-moving-average-for-the-cost-of-crude-falls-3-7-.html | 4 | 25 | eb29fc53f858270de6fb4d32a1575aa3b5026e99 | China ’s 22-day moving average for
the three benchmark crude grades that the government monitors to
set fuel prices fell 3.7 percent as of yesterday from the last
fuel-price adjustment on March 19. Under a mechanism introduced by the government in 2008,
gasoline and diesel tariffs may be adjusted when the 22-day
moving average of Brent, Dubai and Cinta changes more than 4
percent from the last official price revision. While the
government hasn’t provided the weighting for the grades,
Bloomberg’s calculations assume all three are equally weighted. Prices in the following table are in U.S. dollars a barrel
and are according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Jing Yang in Shanghai at
jyang251@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alexander Kwiatkowski at
akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net | 2012 | china-s-22-day-moving-average-for-the-cost-of-crude-falls-3-7- |
Midmorning Negative EPS Surprises, April 25 | By Wendy Soong | 2012-04-26T15:34:03Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/midmorning-negative-eps-surprises-for-u-s-companies-april-25.html | 4 | 25 | eafa0194b8ba56c298ab501780e16e218fcd06dc | (Corrects to delete Nielsen Holdings from story published April 25.) The following U.S. companies reported negative
earnings surprises today. This list ranks percent surprises of actual earnings
to earnings estimates. Earnings estimates provided by Bloomberg.
* - Company in Standard & Poor’s 500 Index To contact the reporter on this story:
Wendy Soong in New York at at csoong@Bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alex Tanzi at at
atanzi@Bloomberg.net | 2012 | idmorning-negative-eps-surprises-for-u-s-companies-april-25 |
China’s Stocks Decline on Concerns About Economy, Earnings | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T02:05:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-s-stocks-decline-on-concerns-about-economy-earnings.html | 4 | 25 | a37b5df5fe4365d8dfe11386c0a4ca3effc392e1 | China’s stocks fell after some
industrial companies reported slumping earnings and a major
government ministry signaled the nation’s economic slowdown may
worsen. Tangshan Jidong Cement Co. dropped 1.9 percent in Shenzhen
trading after it reported a wider first-quarter loss. Steelmaker
Beijing Shougang Co. declined to a three-week low after it
forecast a loss in the first half from a profit a year ago. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to
2,383.22 at 9:50 a.m. local time. The CSI 300 Index declined 0.1
percent to 2,601.80. China’s economic performance still faces downward pressure,
the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a
statement ahead of a briefing in Beijing today. Chinese
companies are seeing increasing operational difficulties, it
said. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Allen Wan at
awan3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | china-s-stocks-decline-on-concerns-about-economy-earnings |
China Repo Rate Jumps Most in Two Weeks as Deposit Growth Slows | By Kyoungwha Kim | 2012-04-25T08:52:39Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/china-s-repo-jumps-most-in-two-weeks-as-deposit-growth-slowing.html | 4 | 25 | 06225254b0c92c3bbbc32d862e1cdabdcd2aaa99 | China ’s benchmark money-market rate
rose the most in more than two weeks on speculation deposit
growth at banks is slowing, causing cash shortages. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China
Construction Bank Corp., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural
Bank of China Ltd. lost more than 1 trillion yuan ($159 billion)
in combined deposits in the first two weeks of April, the 21st
Century Business Herald reported last week, citing an
unidentified person. Lending was mostly unchanged, the report
said. The seven-day repurchase rate climbed 19 basis points, the
most since April 6, to 3.93 percent in Shanghai , according to a
weighted average compiled by the National Interbank Funding
Center. It has risen 48 basis points this month after declining
215 basis points in the first three months of the year. “The seven-day repo is very much dependent on banks’
liquidity, which in turn is driven by deposits,” said Wee-Khoon Chong, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Societe Generale . The
rise in the repo rate since last month is “a reflection of
slowing deposit growth,” he said. China’s economic prospects are still “grim,” the Ministry
of Industry and Information Technology said in Beijing today.
Gross domestic product rose 8.1 percent in the three months
through March from a year earlier, the least since 2009. Bond Auction The People’s Bank of China didn’t gauge demand for bill
sales, suggesting it won’t sell debt maturing in less than a
year tomorrow, according to a trader at a primary dealer
required to bid at the auctions. The central bank asked banks to
submit orders for 91-day repurchase agreements , the trader said. The Ministry of Finance sold at least 30 billion yuan of
three-year bonds at an average yield of 2.91 percent today,
according to a trader at a finance company that participates in
government debt auctions. That compared with the 2.90 percent
median estimate of seven fixed-income analysts and traders in a
Bloomberg News survey. The one-year swap rate, the fixed cost needed to receive
the seven-day repurchase rate, increased one basis point to 3.24
percent in Shanghai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield on 3.51 percent government bonds due February
2022 was little changed at 3.536 percent, according to the
National Interbank Funding Center. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Kyoungwha Kim in Singapore at
kkim19@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sandy Hendry at
shendry@bloomberg.net | 2012 | china-s-repo-jumps-most-in-two-weeks-as-deposit-growth-slowing |
Murdoch Tells Inquiry He Didn’t Seek Favors From Prime Ministers | By Erik Larson and Robert Hutton | 2012-04-25T23:01:32Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/rupert-murdoch-tells-inquiry-abuses-went-beyond-phone-hacking.html
Rupert Murdoch told a media-ethics
inquiry triggered by News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal in
Britain that he never sought favors from any prime minister to
bolster the company’s commercial interests. News Corp. doesn’t consider business needs when deciding
which politicians to back in its newspapers, Murdoch said under
oath in London yesterday. The 81-year-old chairman spoke as the
company’s closeness to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron ’s
Cabinet led to the resignation of Adam Smith , an adviser to
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt . “I’ve never asked a prime minister for anything,” Murdoch
said after questions about his New York-based company’s
political ties going back 30 years. “I took a particularly
strong pride in the fact we’ve never pushed our commercial
interests in our papers.” Murdoch’s son, News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer
James Murdoch , gave the inquiry details Aug. 24 on the company’s
interaction with lawmakers as it sought to buy the 61 percent of
British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) it didn’t already own. Hunt,
the minister who had to rule on the deal, faced calls in
Parliament yesterday to resign after e-mails released at the
hearing showed leaks to News Corp. during his deliberations. BSkyB Timing The elder Murdoch said it was a coincidence News Corp.
revealed its plan to take over BSkyB, the U.K.’s biggest pay-
television provider, a month after Cameron was elected in May
2010. “I don’t think we gave any thought to the timing of it
except that it would be good to talk to all the directors when
they were together,” said Murdoch, who will appear for a second
day of questioning today. News Corp. abandoned the 7.8 billion-pound ($12.6 billion)
bid at the peak of the phone-hacking scandal last year. Shares (NWSA) of News Corp. rose 4 cents to $19.27 in New York
trading yesterday. Murdoch showed skill as a “crafty silver fox” in the way
his answers avoided any damage, said Duncan Lamont , a lawyer at
Charles Russell LLP who represents some of News Corp.’s
broadcast competitors. Robert Jay, the inquiry’s lawyer who questioned Murdoch,
stopped the hearing early yesterday “and will have saved some
good stuff for today | 4 | 25 | 63bbcc178bbb453dbd2029fad1fa0a4c | in London for tea after the 2010 election, to thank him for the
support of his newspapers, Murdoch said. He told the new prime
minister his titles would “watch carefully” to make sure he
kept his campaign promises, and didn’t discuss BSkyB, he said. Murdoch and Cameron met repeatedly after the politician
became leader of the opposition Conservative Party in 2005,
including a 2008 trip where Cameron flew on a Murdoch family
member’s jet to meet the Murdochs on a yacht in the
Mediterranean, the executive said. “Politicians go out of their way to impress people in the
press, and I don’t remember discussing any heavy political
things with him at all,” Murdoch said. “There may have been
some issues discussed passingly. It was not a long meeting.” Smith, Hunt’s special adviser, stepped down yesterday,
saying he had “gone too far” in his contacts with News Corp.
Hunt told lawmakers that while he had authorized contact, “I
didn’t know the volume of those communications or the tone of
those communications.” Cameron told lawmakers that Hunt has his “full support”
and should be allowed to stay in his post while the inquiry
continues. Politicians Not Told “Rupert Murdoch kept stressing that it is a myth that he
ever wanted favors from the politicians in return for supporting
them,” Mark Lewis , a lawyer for victims of phone hacking, said
after the testimony. “It’s a shame that no one ever told the
politicians.” The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, began last year
after evidence emerged that phone hacking at the company’s News
of the World tabloid was rampant and police opened probes into
bribery and computer hacking by journalists at News Corp.’s
other U.K. titles. About 45 people have been arrested, including
former News Corp. journalists, and the company closed the News
of the World in July in response to public outrage over the
scandal. Political Influence The review is shedding light on the extent of News Corp.’s
political influence since Murdoch started buying British
newspapers in 1969. Some phone-hacking victims told the inquiry
News Corp.’s U.K. unit was able to cover up the scandal for
years due to its links to lawmakers and police. The comments are Murdoch’s first public testimony since he
appeared at a parliamentary committee probing the scandal in
July, a day he called the “most humble” of his life. Murdoch
said abuses in the U.K. media went beyond voice-mail
interceptions by journalists at the News of the World. Since July, News Corp.’s internal committee probing phone
hacking and bribery has “actively cooperated” with London ’s
Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Department of Justice , turning
over evidence of possible illegal activity, Murdoch said
yesterday in a statement to the committee. 1981 Lunch Murdoch also said he never sought to curry favor with
politicians when asked about a 1981 lunch with former Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher , when he was buying the Times, or
during Tony Blair ’s decade in office. “In the 10 years he was in power, I never asked Mr. Blair
for anything, nor indeed did I receive any favors,” Murdoch
said. “I try very hard to set an example for ethical
behavior.” James Murdoch said April 24 that he discussed the BSkyB bid
with Cameron at a private Christmas dinner in 2010. The “tiny
side conversation” took place two days after Cameron had
removed responsibility for deciding whether to allow the
takeover from Business Secretary Vince Cable , Murdoch said.
Cable had been recorded by undercover journalists saying he had
“declared war” on the Murdoch family. In July, Cameron said “the clock has stopped” on
Murdoch’s influence over British politics. He made the comment
the same month that ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ,
who resigned in 2007, was arrested in the phone-hacking probe.
Coulson was Cameron’s press chief until January 2011, when he
quit as a result of the scandal. Regulator Ofcom is examining whether News Corp. is “fit
and proper” to own its 39 percent stake in BSkyB. The watchdog
opened a separate probe into BSkyB’s Sky News channel this week
to investigate e-mail hacking by a reporter. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with
News Corp. units in providing financial news and information. To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in London at
elarson4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at
aaarons@bloomberg.net | 2012 | rupert-murdoch-tells-inquiry-abuses-went-beyond-phone-hacking |
House Republicans Seek Initiative on Student-Loan Rate | By James Rowley and Kathleen Hunter | 2012-04-26T16:15:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/senate-democrats-seek-to-boost-obama-on-student-loan-rate.html | 4 | 25 | dabe9f5cb3834996bce91cffc940b6ac | House Republican leaders moved to
seize the initiative for preventing college student-loan rates
from doubling as they tried to blunt the political impact of
President Barack Obama’s re-election pitch for the youth vote. House Speaker John Boehner announced that the Republican-
controlled House will vote tomorrow on legislation to extend for
another year the 3.4 percent rate that students pay on
government education loans. Unless Congress acts by July 1, the
rate will rise to 6.8 percent. Senate Democrats and Republicans
are offering competing plans for freezing the interest rates. Boehner unveiled the Republican legislation as Obama took
his campaign this week to campuses in three battleground states:
the University of North Carolina , the University of Colorado and
the University of Iowa. The Democratic president also appeared
on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ” to promote his plan. Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said today that Obama’s
campaign should reimburse the Treasury for his trips to create a
“fake fight” over student loans . Both parties knew the
interest-rate increase “wasn’t going to take effect,” the
speaker said. Obama and Mitt Romney , who declared himself the Republican
presidential nominee after sweeping five primary contests on
April 24, are vying for the youth vote in a race that pollsters
project will be close in the November election. Unemployed or Underemployed The former Massachusetts governor joined Obama in urging
lawmakers to freeze interest rates students pay for the
government loans while blaming him for an economy in which “50
percent of recent college graduates are unemployed or
underemployed.” Senate Democrats and the White House are seeking a one-year
freeze in the interest rate. The $6 billion cost would be offset
by limiting a tax provision that allows some owners of so-called
S-corporations to avoid paying Medicare payroll taxes on their
earnings, Senator Tom Harkin , an Iowa Democrat, told reporters. The 50-year-old president told students in Iowa City, Iowa,
yesterday that he and first lady Michelle Obama were paying off
student loans as recently as eight years ago. “We’ve been in
your shoes,” he said at the University of Iowa. “We can’t
price the middle class out of an education.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , a Nevada Democrat, plans
to introduce a bill modeled on Obama’s rate-freeze plan. A
Senate Democratic leadership aide said the student loan
legislation will come up for a vote in May after the Senate
returns from next week’s recess. Boehner made his announcement outside his office at a press
conference that was called 10 minutes before he appeared at the
podium. Seven Years of College “I know this issue well,” Boehner said. “It took me
seven years to work my way through college, working every job I
could get my hands on.” Boehner said the $6 billion cost of preserving the 3.4
percent rate for another year would be financed under his
proposal from a disease prevention and public-health fund in the
health-care overhaul law Congress passed in 2010 when Democrats
were in the majority. Boehner derided that source as one of the “slush funds”
in the health-care measure. The Republican bill would rescind
the remaining $11.9 billion from the fund and use $5.9 billion
to freeze loan interest rates for a year. The rest would be used
for deficit reduction. Disease Prevention House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters today
that Democrats will urge their members to vote against the
Republican student-loan measure because it would be financed by
eliminating child-immunizations, cervical cancer screenings and
other disease prevention programs. Republicans would pay for freezing the interest rate by
waging “another assault on women’s health,” said Pelosi of
California . Boehner said politicians in Washington shouldn’t be
“exploiting the challenges that young Americans face for
political gain.” Boehner rejected a reporter’s suggestion that he was
joining Obama to try to get the youth vote. “Please, this issue
is not a partisan issue” because “no one here expected that
interest rates were going to go up in July,” he said.
The bill is H.R. 4628. To contact the reporters on this story:
James Rowley in Washington at
jarowley@bloomberg.net ;
Kathleen Hunter in Washington at
khunter9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jodi Schneider at
jschneider50@bloomberg.net | 2012 | senate-democrats-seek-to-boost-obama-on-student-loan-rate |
Vestjysk Bank, Aarhus Lokalbank Win EU Approval for Rescue Aid | By Aoife White | 2012-04-25T09:50:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/vestjysk-bank-aarhus-lokalbank-win-eu-approval-for-rescue-aid.html | 4 | 25 | 8cf335be3cb5c27f1dda576fcb27f1cc4d76291e | Vestjysk Bank A/S (VJBA) and Aarhus
Lokalbank A/S won temporary European Union approval for rescue
aid from the Danish government. The European Commission authorized the aid to the banks,
which agreed to merge in January, to address funding challenges
and help them meet new capital requirements . Denmark must submit
a restructuring plan within six months for the EU to grant final
approval for the financial help, regulators said in an e-mailed
statement today. Vestjysk Bank, based in Lemvig, Denmark, will convert
state-held hybrid capital of about 297 million kroner ($52
million), giving the state a majority holding, it said in
January. To contact the reporter on this story:
Aoife White in Brussels at
awhite62@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | vestjysk-bank-aarhus-lokalbank-win-eu-approval-for-rescue-aid |
Sekisui’s Profit May Reach Record by 2015 on China Homes | By Kathleen Chu and Katsuyo Kuwako | 2012-04-25T06:13:53Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sekisui-s-profit-may-reach-record-by-2015-on-china-homes.html | 4 | 25 | 1ceaef699071aba06914da75dadc4dec858edbd0 | Sekisui House Ltd. (1928) , Japan’s second-
biggest home builder, said it expects operating profit to
increase almost 80 percent to a record in three years as
business in China starts to generate earnings. The Osaka-based company expects operating profit, or sales
minus the cost of goods, to reach 125 billion yen ($1.5 billion)
for the year ending January 2015, compared with 70.9 billion yen
last fiscal year, said Chairman Isami Wada. Similar profit from
its international businesses may grow to as much as 25 billion
yen by the year ending January 2015, compared with the 3 billion
yen estimate for the current year, he said. Sekisui and its bigger competitor, Daiwa House Industry Co. (1925) ,
are expanding abroad to counter falling demand at home as
Japan ’s population begins to decline. Sekisui, which develops
and sells houses and apartments in China, Australia , Singapore
and the U.S., expects its overseas business division that was
created this year to account for as much as one fifth of the
company’s total profit in three years. “We are starting from zero,” said Wada in an interview in
Tokyo yesterday. “We expect profits from overseas projects to
be realized around the business year ending January 2015.” The stock gained 1.5 percent to 758 yen, the highest in
more than week, at the close in Tokyo trading after advancing as
much as 1.9 percent earlier. Sekisui started to buy sites for overseas projects in 2009
and doubled the acquisition of land in 2010 and tripled the
purchase to 138.5 billion yen in 2011, according to the company. First in China Sekisui became the first Japanese home builder to open a
factory in Shenyang, China this month. The factory makes
building materials and interior goods including kitchen systems
and bathroom products, which are supplied to Sekisui’s projects
in the country. With the opening of the factory, Sekisui expects gross
margin for overseas business to reach 25 percent current fiscal
year, compared with 18 percent for the entire company said. “We would like to bring our expertise into China,” said
Wada, who’s also chief executive officer. “Profit in China is
far higher than that of Japan.” Japanese home builders are turning overseas to seek growth
as the nation’s housing starts fell below 1 million units since
2009, according to data by the land ministry. Daiwa, Japan’s
biggest home builder, has focused on rental apartments in China
since 1985 and began developing and selling homes in the country
in 2007. ‘Too Risky’ Sekisui plans to invest about 220 billion yen this fiscal
year in overseas projects, more than triple the spending planned
by Daiwa House for the same period, according to Yoji Otani, an
analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Tokyo . “Such big investments in a short period is too risky,”
said Otani. “It’s better to make a gradual investment.” A quarter of Japan’s 125 million people will be older than
65 in 2014, compared with 14 percent in the U.S., according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. Japan is the world’s oldest society,
with a median age of 44, according to the United Nations ’ World
Population Ageing 2009 report. “There is no such business that doesn’t involve some sort
of risk,” said Wada. “There are more risks in just focusing on
Japan.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Kathleen Chu in Tokyo at
kchu2@bloomberg.net ;
Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at
kkuwako@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andreea Papuc at
apapuc1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | sekisui-s-profit-may-reach-record-by-2015-on-china-homes |
Copec Raised $2.5 Billion for Acquisitions, Projects | By Eduardo Thomson | 2012-04-25T15:23:17Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/copec-raised-2-5-billion-for-acquisitions-projects-correct-.html | 4 | 25 | 3407a077adc6ee4fd9ea3a5c86bd401c624fb56c | (Corrects first paragraph to say funds were raised last
year.) Empresas Copec SA (COPEC) , the forestry and
fuel distribution holding company owned by Chile’s Angelini
family, said it raised more than $2.5 billion for acquisitions
and project development last year. Chairman Roberto Angelini made the comments at a
shareholder meeting in Santiago today. To contact the reporter on this story:
Eduardo Thomson in Santiago at
ethomson1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Attwood at
jattwood3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | copec-raised-2-5-billion-for-acquisitions-projects-correct- |
Hollande Vows Not to Ratify Euro Pact, Auguring Merkel Clash | By Helene Fouquet and Tony Czuczka | 2012-04-25T16:40:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/hollande-says-france-won-t-ratify-euro-fiscal-pact-as-it-stands.html | 4 | 25 | 9994d794c3334b678be902c97a172e28 | French Socialist Francois Hollande,
the leading presidential candidate, said France won’t ratify the
European agreement pushed by Germany to tighten budget rules if
he’s elected. “There will be a re-negotiation,” Hollande told
journalists today in Paris. “Either there will be a new treaty,
or there will be a modification of the existing treaty. It’s
about negotiation.” The comments put Hollande on a collision course with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel , who has championed debt reduction as
the key to ending the region’s fiscal crisis. Hollande, who has
also pledged to eliminate France’s budget deficit, is aiming to
use popular support at home to strengthen his hand in talks to
promote an alternative. Merkel and her ruling party are standing firm on German-led
remedies, including the commitment to cut debt that was signed
last month by all 17 euro-area leaders, among them Hollande’s
opponent, President Nicolas 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.” Hollande finished first among 10 candidates in the first
round of France’s presidential election with 28.6 percent of the
vote. Incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy finished second with
27.2 percent. The two face off in a decisive electoral contest
on May 6. 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. 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 0.1 percent to $1.3207 at 6:25 p.m. in Paris.
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.” Holland also said that he’d like the European Stability
Mechanism to be backed by the ECB in order to increase its
lending capacity. “I’d like the ESM to have a link with the ECB so it can
have the necessary firepower,” he said. To contact the reporters on this story:
Helene Fouquet in Paris at
hfouquet1@bloomberg.net ;
Tony Czuczka in Berlin at
aczuczka@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at
jhertling@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ollande-says-france-won-t-ratify-euro-fiscal-pact-as-it-stands |
Pfizer Experimental Drug Reduces Autism Signs in Mouse Study | By Shannon Pettypiece | 2012-04-25T19:19:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/pfizer-experimental-drug-reduces-autism-symptoms-in-mouse-study.html | 4 | 25 | ec592ded92cd2690e281c5817698e827afbd4baa | An experimental drug for depression
being developed by Pfizer Inc. (PFE) reduced signs of autism in mice
in a study, a finding that may shed light on the cause of the
disorder and jump-start research into ways to treat it. The treatment, named GRN-529, targets the brain chemical
glutamate, tied to socialization and behavior. When given to
mice displaying signs of autism, it suppressed repetitive
actions and anti-social behavior, according to the research
published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Pfizer and the National Institutes of Health funded the study. There are no drugs on the market to treat the symptoms or
causes of autism. Until recently, scientists believed the brains
of autistic patients were hard-wired before diagnosis, making
treatment with a drug difficult, said Daniel Smith , an autism
researcher at Pfizer. That changed with findings the disorder
may be caused by malfunctioning genes that have a real-time
effect on the brain, said Smith, a co-author of the study. “It is only in the past five years that there have been
large human studies identifying the genetic mutations linked to
autism,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “From that we
can now explore those genetic pathways in more detail.” Pfizer shares rose 1.5 percent to $22.96 in New York time.
The stock has gained 14 percent in the past 12 months. In the latest research, mice that were given the Pfizer
drug displayed less repetitive grooming and jumping, and spent
more time interacting with other animals. Autism, a disorder that may affect one in 88 U.S. children,
hurts brain development and is linked to poor social interaction
and communication skills, repeated body movements, and unusual
attachments to objects. Pfizer, based in New York, plans to continue studying the
drug in animals, Smith said. Novartis AG and Roche Holding AG (ROG) , both based in Basel ,
Switzerland , and the closely held U.S. company Seaside
Therapeutics LLC are testing similar medicines in humans with
fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by mental
retardation, behavior problems, and delayed speech. About 30 percent of patients with fragile X meet the
diagnostics criteria for autism, the study said. To contact the reporter responsible for this story:
Shannon Pettypiece at
spettypiece@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at
rgale5@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | pfizer-experimental-drug-reduces-autism-symptoms-in-mouse-study |
Nigeria Plans to Keep June Qua Iboe Crude Exports at 12 Lots | By Sherry Su | 2012-04-25T16:03:14Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/nigeria-plans-to-keep-june-qua-iboe-crude-exports-at-12-lots-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 88ffab45e3676bf347dfc5094bcaec53766265b8 | Nigeria , Africa ’s largest oil
producer, plans to keep benchmark Qua Iboe crude exports in June
unchanged from May at 12 cargoes, according to a loading plan
obtained by Bloomberg News. The country will also ship three lots of Yoho blend in
June, also stable from May, a separate plan showed. All
consignments are for 950,000 barrels each. 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:
Sherry Su in London at
lsu23@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at
sev@bloomberg.net | 2012 | nigeria-plans-to-keep-june-qua-iboe-crude-exports-at-12-lots-1- |
Aeroflot Considers Buying Belavia From Belarus, Kommersant Says | By Stephen Bierman | 2012-04-25T04:02:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/aeroflot-considers-buying-belavia-from-belarus-kommersant-says.html | 4 | 25 | 12b4b616c99019ea261696d286c0c58703cf9435 | OAO Aeroflot is examining the
possibility of buying Belavia when Belarus privatizes the
airline next year, Kommersant said, citing an unidentified
person close to the Aeroflot board. Management may look at the matter as early as this week,
Kommersant reported. To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Bierman in Moscow at
sbierman1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Will Kennedy at
wkennedy3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | aeroflot-considers-buying-belavia-from-belarus-kommersant-says |
Pound Drops From Seven-Month High as U.K. Re-Enters Recession | By Lucy Meakin | 2012-04-25T15:20:37Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/pound-falls-as-u-k-economy-re-enters-recession-gilts-advance.html | 4 | 25 | 152131730b0245e08e6b8ba9936d1b0d | The pound dropped from a seven-
month high against the dollar after the U.K. economy
unexpectedly slipped back into recession, backing the case for
the Bank of England to extend its asset-purchase program. The U.K. currency fell the most in two months against the
euro after the Office for National Statistics said gross
domestic product shrank 0.2 percent last quarter, after
contracting 0.3 percent in the previous three months. Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg forecast growth of 0.1 percent. Standard
Chartered Plc said it was ending its bet the euro would drop
against the pound after the “unexpectedly weak” growth report.
Gilts declined. “The pound is clearly selling off on the back of this
data,” said John Hydeskov , chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S in
London . “It could be the point where investors say ‘Hang on,
are we really buying the currency from an economy also in
recession, just like the euro zone ?’” The pound weakened 0.1 percent to $1.6130 at 4:17 p.m.
London time after rising to $1.6171, the highest since Sept. 6.
The U.K. currency fell 0.1 percent to 81.80 pence per euro after
dropping as much as 0.6 percent, the most since Feb. 22. It
reached 81.44 pence yesterday, the strongest since August 2010. Short-sterling futures advanced after the GDP report as
investors cut bets on higher interest rates . The implied yield
on the contract expiring in June 2013 dropped four basis points
to 1.09 percent. U.K. policy makers kept their benchmark rate at 0.5 percent
at their April 4-5 meeting. Bank of England officials will
consider whether to extend their 325 billion-pound quantitative-
easing program when they next meet on May 9-10. Scrapping Bets The growth report “has tempered expectations the economy
will outperform,” Ned Rumpeltin, head of Group-of-10 currency
strategy at Standard Chartered in London, wrote today in a note
to clients. “Fundamentals still imply further medium-term
declines, however we will look to re-enter at better levels,”
he said. The yield on the 10-year gilt climbed four basis points, or
0.04 percentage point, to 2.14 percent. The 4 percent bond due
March 2022 declined 0.43, or 4.30 pounds per 1,000 pound face
amount, to 116.45. “Today’s U.K. GDP data was very bad,” Geoff Kendrick ,
head of European currency strategy at Nomura International Plc
in London, wrote in an e-mailed note. “However, with the U.K.
remaining AAA, I think the bigger issue is that despite negative
growth, buying gilts is still more attractive than buying
European paper.” Poised to Fall Ten-year gilt yields are poised to retreat after testing
above the 50-day moving average of 2.18 percent last week,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They may encounter so-
called resistance around their April low of 2.01 percent.
Resistance refers to a level where sell orders may be clustered. Gilts have handed investors a loss of 1.2 percent this
year, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the
European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. That’s the
third worst performance among 26 sovereign markets tracked by
the indexes after Spain and Greece . Sterling has strengthened 1.6 percent in the past month,
the best performer among the 10 developed-nation currencies
tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The euro
dropped 0.9 percent, and the dollar slid 0.3 percent. To contact the reporter on this story:
Lucy Meakin in London at
lmeakin1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Daniel Tilles at
dtilles@bloomberg.net | 2012 | pound-falls-as-u-k-economy-re-enters-recession-gilts-advance |
U.S. Mad Cow Case May Boost Australian Exports, Group Says | By Elisabeth Behrmann | 2012-04-25T03:07:35Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-mad-cow-case-may-boost-australian-exports-group-says-1-.html | 4 | 25 | a48dbc554338e6034387fad38c565753d50c991a | A case of mad-cow disease reported
in the U.S. may boost Australian beef exports to Japan and South
Korea , an industry group said. “We need to see how this affects the Korean and Japanese
markets,” David Byard, executive officer of the Australian Beef
Association , said by telephone today. “It all depends on how
the Japanese and the Koreans take this.” Australia last year overtook Brazil as the largest shipper
of beef, with its three biggest markets, Japan, the U.S. and
South Korea. The government is monitoring the situation, the
Department of Agriculture said in an e-mailed statement, adding
Australia “does not import beef or beef products from cattle of
U.S. origin.” The brain-wasting disease has been found in a dairy cow in
central California , John Clifford, the USDA’s chief
veterinarian, told reporters in Washington yesterday. Its meat
did not enter the food chain and the carcass will be destroyed,
Clifford said. South Korea will halt customs clearance of any
new U.S. beef imports, Park Sang Ho, an official at the Asian
nation’s farm ministry, said by phone today. Japan has no plan to suspend U.S. beef imports “at the
moment” even after the discovery, Minoru Yamamoto, director of
the animal health division at the farm ministry said by phone. Fourth Case It was the fourth confirmed case of the disease in the U.S.
cattle herd since the first was discovered in December 2003 in
an animal that came from Canada . Dozens of countries shuttered
their doors to U.S. shipments following that discovery and
nations including Japan and China have maintained some
restrictions ever since. 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. Australia’s beef and veal exports, valued at A$4.3 billion
($4.4 billion) during fiscal 2011, may increase 1.6 percent next
year as production gains on heavier carcass weights, according
to a March 6 report from government forecaster the Australian
Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. To contact the reporter on this story:
Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at
ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rebecca Keenan at
rkeenan5@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-s-mad-cow-case-may-boost-australian-exports-group-says-1- |
Emirates NBD Net Drops After One-Time Gain, Beats Estimates | By Arif Sharif | 2012-04-25T14:20:22Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/emirates-nbd-net-drops-after-one-time-gain-beats-estimates-2-.html | 4 | 25 | e16a8fdc5c474f2fa38b342ca0bc3083 | Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES) , the United Arab
Emirates ’ biggest bank, said net income fell 55 percent in the
first-quarter as a gain from the sale of a stake in a subsidiary
last year wasn’t repeated. The profit beat analysts’ estimates. Net income dropped to 641 million dirhams ($175 million),
or 10 fils a share, from 1.41 billion dirhams, or 24 fils a
share, in the year-earlier period, the bank 56 percent owned by
the Dubai government said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai today.
That topped the 570 million-dirham median estimate of three
analysts, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Emirates NBD made
1.84 billion dirhams last year from selling 49 percent of its
credit-card processing unit Network International LLC. Banks in the second-largest Arab economy are recovering
from a slowdown in lending triggered by the global financial
crisis and a real estate crash in Dubai, which hurt investment
banking and led to an increase in bad loans. Emirates NBD’s
provisions, including for loan losses, fell 20 percent in the
first quarter to 1.1 billion dirhams, pushing the ratio of non-
performing loans to gross loans to 14.1 percent in March from
13.8 percent in December, the bank said. The bank expects lending to rise by as much as five percent
in 2012, Chief Financial Officer Surya Subramanian told
reporters on a conference call today. Loan growth in the first
quarter “is in line with our full-year expectation of a 4 to 5
percent growth,” he said. Bond Sales Emirates NBD and its unit have already raised 7.4 billion
dirhams this year from bond sales and private placements,
Subramanian said. The bank’s loan book was unchanged at 204.1
billion dirhams at the end of March compared with December.
Deposits rose 8 percent from December to 208.5 billion dirhams. Although funds from bond sales “comes to us at a higher
cost, the impact of which will flow through from the second
quarter, we expect this to be offset by the excellent
performance in retail deposit growth,” he said. First-quarter net interest income rose 8 percent to 1.78
billion dirhams, while non-interest income jumped 49 percent to
909 million dirhams, the bank said. Net interest margin, the
difference between what the bank earns from loans and what it
pays out on deposits, fell to 2.63 percent in the quarter from
2.85 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the bank said. “These results reflect the concern that we have about
asset quality,” Shabbir Malik, an analyst at EFG-Hermes Holding
SAE said in a phone interview from Dubai today. Revenue has
increased “mainly because of stronger investment returns, but
the interest income is down because of lower spreads,” he said. New Rules The lender’s shares fell 2.8 percent to 2.81 dirhams at the
close in Dubai today, extending their decline this year to 4.4
percent. That compares with a 7.4 percent gain in the Bloomberg
GCC 200 Financial Index. (BGCCFINL) Emirates NBD said it expects its non-performing-loan ratio
to rise to between 14 percent and 15 percent this year and as
high as 16 percent in 2013. The bank is one of the biggest
lenders to investment company Dubai Group LLC, which is in talks
with banks to reschedule $6 billion of loans. Emirates NBD is assessing the impact of new central bank
rules on limiting lending to the emirate’s government and state-
owned companies and will discuss the issue with central bank,
Chief Executive Officer Rick Pudner said in the call. U.A.E. banks can lend no more than 100 percent of their
capital to local governments and the same to government-related
entities, the central bank said April 4. There was no limit
under previous rules. Emirates NBD’s exposure to sovereign loans
was 130 percent of regulatory capital at the end of 2011,
according to the 2011 financial statements. The new rules “will affect the levels of allowable lending
to various government entities,” said Pudner. “It will have an
affect but we need to sit down along with other banks and also
the central bank to discuss the overall timing of this impact
and how we are going to address it.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Arif Sharif in Dubai at
asharif2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Maedler at
cmaedler@bloomberg.net | 2012 | emirates-nbd-net-drops-after-one-time-gain-beats-estimates-2- |
Fed Officials Reduce 2012 Unemployment Forecast to 7.8% to 8% | By Craig Torres and Jeff Kearns | 2012-04-25T18:00:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/fed-officials-reduce-2012-unemployment-forecast-to-7-8-to-8-.html | 4 | 25 | a9f34f3cf7ad59afdbca9a50d36928af31edc946 | Federal Reserve officials reduced
their forecast for unemployment after payroll gains averaged
more than 200,000 a month during the first quarter, while policy
makers affirmed a plan to keep the benchmark lending rate around
zero at least through late 2014. Officials forecast the unemployment rate would average 7.8
percent to 8 percent in the final three months of this year
versus a forecast of 8.2 percent to 8.5 percent in January,
according to central tendency estimates. The new forecasts are
still far above policy makers’ estimates for full employment,
which range from 4.9 percent to 6 percent. Unemployment is forecast at 7.3 percent to 7.7 percent next
year and 6.7 percent to 7.4 percent in 2014. The gradual return
of the jobless rate to a level Fed officials view as being in
line with full employment may explain why the Federal Open
Market Committee today restated its plan to pursue a zero-
interest-rate policy for another two-and-a-half years. Seven of 17 Fed officials expect borrowing costs to remain
below 1 percent at the end of 2014, compared with nine in
January, while 10 expected rates to be 1 percent or higher,
versus eight in January. The Fed has kept the benchmark lending
rate close to zero since December 2008. The Fed released the expectations of the five Fed board
members and 12 district bank presidents after the FOMC today
said it expects “economic growth to remain moderate over coming
quarters and then to pick up gradually.” Central Tendency Ten officials vote on the policy statement, while the
interest-rate and economic projections reflect the views of all
17 Fed officials. The so-called central tendency economic
forecasts exclude the three highest and three lowest
projections. Prices as measured by the personal consumption expenditures
price index are seen rising 1.9 percent to 2 percent this year,
versus a gain of 1.4 percent to 1.8 percent in January. A 17
percent increase in the cost of unleaded gasoline, according to
data tracked by AAA, has pushed price measures higher this year.
U.S. central bankers have defined their inflation target as 2
percent a year. Recent economic reports indicate that consumer spending and
services are gaining strength as manufacturing cools. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years
dropped 4.2 percent, more than forecast and the biggest decrease
since January 2009, data from the Commerce Department showed
today. Sales of non-military capital equipment excluding planes
climbed for a second month. Retail sales in March rose more than forecast, and the
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index in the week ended April 15
matched the highest level in four years. Limit Gains A slowing labor market may limit further gains in household
demand. Payroll growth slowed in March to 120,000 jobs, the
smallest gain in five months. The unemployment rate fell to 8.2
percent from 8.3 percent as people left the labor force . Fed officials estimated the economy will expand 2.4 percent
to 2.9 percent this year, compared with a January forecast of
2.2 percent to 2.7 percent. They see growth of 2.7 percent to
3.1 percent in 2013 and 3.1 percent to 3.6 percent in 2014. To contact the reporters on this story:
Craig Torres in Washington at
ctorres3@bloomberg.net ;
Jeff Kearns in Washington at
jkearns3@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Wellisz at
cwellisz@bloomberg.net | 2012 | fed-officials-reduce-2012-unemployment-forecast-to-7-8-to-8- |
El Pais May Cut Headcount Using Labor Reform, El Economista Says | By Angeline Benoit | 2012-04-25T06:46:11Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/el-pais-may-cut-headcount-using-labor-reform-el-economista-says.html | 4 | 25 | f41c2ed9467852ba47116efd27e6d0fe822d408b | Promotora de Informaciones SA (PRS) is
considering a “significant number” of dismissals at the
newspaper El Pais following the implementation of changes in
labor rules, El Economista reported, citing workers’
representatives. To contact the reporter on this story:
Angeline Benoit in Madrid at
abenoit4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Craig Stirling at
cstirling1@bloomberg.net | 2012 | el-pais-may-cut-headcount-using-labor-reform-el-economista-says |
Sina Shuts Down Users’ Microblogs as China Fights Online Rumors | By Mark Lee | 2012-04-25T12:42:57Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sina-shuts-down-users-microblogs-as-china-fights-online-rumors.html | 4 | 25 | 85f5de50d0ea7821aae9c8cdf9490cff09dec62c | Sina Corp. (SINA) , operator of the
Twitter-like Weibo service in China, shut four user accounts for
spreading rumors as authorities tighten control of information
spread through microblog services. The accounts were shut after people used the service to
“fabricate and circulate harmful political rumors on the
Internet,” the company said in a notice sent to microblog users
yesterday. Sina identified the accounts by their Chinese-
language usernames, without naming the owners. China on Mar. 31 ordered a 72-hour halt on the comment
functions on Sina and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s microblog
services, after authorities detained six people for spreading
rumors of a coup attempt in Beijing. Those rumors on March 20
helped spark the biggest jump in four months in the cost of
insuring against a default on Chinese government bonds . “The rumor situation is a big problem,” said Bill Bishop ,
an independent media consultant in Beijing, who also received
the notice from Sina. “It’s not Weibo’s fault, but Weibo is not
helping the problem.” Liu Qi, a spokesman for Sina in Beijing, didn’t immediately
reply to an e-mail or calls to his mobile phone seeking comment
today. Chinese authorities detained the six people last month for
“fabricating or disseminating online rumors” that military
vehicles had entered Beijing and that “something wrong” was
happening in the Chinese capital, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported on Mar. 31. The ban against commenting on
microblog entries began that day and ended April 3. Bo Xilai The speculation about a coup attempt came five days after
Bo Xilai, earlier seen as a contender for promotion to China ’s
top decision-making body, was removed as Communist Party chief
of the municipality of Chongqing. China announced April 10 that
Bo had been suspended from his party positions and that his wife
was suspected of being involved in the murder of British
businessman Neil Heywood. Government oversight of microblogging services has
tightened as they’ve grown in popularity. Sina and Tencent each
have more than 300 million registered microblog users. In December, China began requiring users in cities
including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to register their real
names. That rule will be expanded to other regions, Wang Chen ,
minister of the State Council Information Office, said in
January. Sina accounted for 65 percent of China’s microblog market
by pageviews in December, compared with 27 percent for Tencent (700) ,
according to a Jan. 12 report by BOCOM International. To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Lee in Hong Kong at
wlee37@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
mtighe4@bloomberg.net | 2012 | sina-shuts-down-users-microblogs-as-china-fights-online-rumors |
Treasuries Pare Losses After $35 Billion Sale of 5-Year Notes | By Paul Cox | 2012-04-25T15:32:31Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/treasuries-pare-losses-after-35-billion-sale-of-5-year-notes.html | 4 | 25 | 2c534f6e57af7fb13e69446c61fee33159ebbcf9 | Treasuries pared losses after the
U.S. sold $35 billion in five-year notes before the Federal
Reserve is forecast by economists to refrain from taking new
actions to stimulate the economy. To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Cox at
pcox16@bloomberg.net | 2012 | reasuries-pare-losses-after-35-billion-sale-of-5-year-notes |
Lira Gains to Strongest in Seven Weeks on Basci Tightening Bets | By Selcuk Gokoluk | 2012-04-25T14:39:36Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/lira-gains-to-strongest-in-seven-weeks-on-basci-tightening-bets.html | 4 | 25 | ca9429b6ef28adb0c5cbe061ed620da09eab0429 | The lira appreciated to the
strongest level in more than seven weeks on bets the central
bank will introduce new measures tomorrow to combat inflation. The lira gained 0.5 percent to 1.7711 per dollar by 5:07
p.m. in Istanbul, the highest intraday level since March 5.
Today’s rise in the lira is higher than all but two other
emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The yield on
two-year benchmark debt dropped one basis point, or 0.01
percentage point, to 9.44 percent, falling for a third trading
session. The central bank is committed to reducing inflation to 5
percent by mid-2013 and will reveal new measures on April 26,
Governor Erdem Basci said in an interview with Bloomberg HT on
April 21 on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund
meeting in Washington . The bank is due to release the inflation
report tomorrow. “Expectations for a more hawkish stance from the central
bank have emerged in tomorrow’s meeting,” Emre Balkeser , head
of trading at Garanti Investment in Istanbul, said in e-mailed
comments. Turkey’s inflation rate held at 10.4 percent last month,
close to a three-year high and the steepest among major emerging
markets worldwide after Argentina’s. Its current-account deficit
is about 10 percent of gross domestic product, the biggest among
60 major economies tracked by the International Monetary Fund as
a proportion of GDP. To contact the reporter on this story:
Selcuk Gokoluk in Istanbul at
sgokoluk@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Gavin Serkin at
gserkin@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ira-gains-to-strongest-in-seven-weeks-on-basci-tightening-bets |
Vilsack Says Animal ID Rule Coming, Mad Cow Tests Adequate | By Alan Bjerga | 2012-04-25T17:20:51Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/vilsack-says-animal-id-rule-coming-mad-cow-tests-adequate-1-.html
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack said a new rule on animal identification should be
released “very, very soon,” and that current levels of mad
cow-disease testing are adequate. Consumers shouldn’t be worried about the safety of U.S.
food, Vilsack said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, a
day after his department announced that routine testing had
uncovered the nation’s fourth case of mad cow disease, in a
dairy animal at a rendering facility in central California . The
discovery spurred fresh calls for increased monitoring of the
U.S. meat supply. “We have a good surveillance system and have been
successful in reducing the number” of cases of mad cow disease,
or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Vilsack said. “We’re very
confident in the sampling we currently do.” A nationwide animal identification system that would let
officials track sick livestock back to their farms of origin | 4 | 25 | 160f37a20a374c2b8b2133cc246d867fb2766d60 | the Department of Agriculture since 2003, after the first BSE
case surfaced. Cattle futures plummeted 22 percent in the week
after the announcement, and beef exports didn’t top 2003 levels
until 2010. A voluntary animal ID plan was abandoned in 2010 after some
ranchers refused to participate, citing cost and concerns that
the proposed registry would give competitors proprietary
information. The rule Vilsack referred to, which the USDA proposed in
August, would require registration and tagging of livestock
moved between states, with guidelines tailored to different
species. It would be put in place gradually, applying first to
older animals in the U.S. cattle herd. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alan Bjerga in Washington at
abjerga@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
jmorgan97@bloomberg.net | 2012 | vilsack-says-animal-id-rule-coming-mad-cow-tests-adequate-1- |
Dogan Online Seeks Four-Fold Sales Growth by 2015 on E-Commerce | By Ercan Ersoy | 2012-04-25T14:29:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/dogan-online-seeks-four-fold-sales-growth-by-2015-on-e-commerce.html | 4 | 25 | 16b499633d52aeb69e158e2d048a45e9304ea102 | Dogan Online, a Turkish e-commerce
and Internet advertising company, targets $2.5 billion of annual
sales by 2015, growing more than four times from this year’s
estimated $600 million, its chief executive said. Dogan Online, controlled by the Dogan family who owns Dogan
Sirketler Grubu Holding AS (DOHOL) , operates Turkey ’s oldest full-price
e-commerce website hepsiburada.com among nine websites which
include private shopping site daybuyday.com and had sales of 700
million liras ($395 million) in 2011, chief executive Yenal
Gokyildirim said in an interview April 20. Turkish e-commerce transactions expanded 57 percent to 22
billion liras in 2011 from a year earlier, according to the
Istanbul-based Interbank Card Center, which monitors credit card
transactions in the country. Rapid growth has given rise to more
than 30 Internet companies starting up in January alone in
Turkey. Forrester Research Inc. (FORR) says e-commerce will grow 12
percent annually in Europe over the next five years. “More than half of our growth will come from
hepsiburada.com operations,” Gokyildirim said. “Our aim is to
widen the gap between us and our competitors.” Hepsiburada.com
gets about 15.5 million visitors a month, with half the figure
representing unique visitors, he said. As many as 4 million of Turkey’s estimated 35 million
Internet users do online shopping, Gokyildirim said. “That
shows the growth potential of the industry.” Dogan Online, which is buying evmanya.com, a startup
shopping website for home decoration goods, is in talks with as
many as four other companies, said Gokyildirim, who worked at
Royal Philips Electronics BV for 14 years before joining Dogan.
The owners of the company may consider an initial public
offering of its shares, although that isn’t a priority, he said. Dogan Online is “open to negotiations” for a stake sale
and there are some foreign companies interested in such an
acquisition, Gokyildirim said. “This is something we may
consider in the medium-term, not immediately,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul at
eersoy@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Benedikt Kammel at
bkammel@bloomberg.net | 2012 | dogan-online-seeks-four-fold-sales-growth-by-2015-on-e-commerce |
South Korea’s Economy Expands at Fastest Pace in a Year | By Eunkyung Seo | 2012-04-26T02:27:45Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/south-korea-s-economy-expands-at-fastest-pace-in-a-year.html | 4 | 25 | b5b3da459aae409b98e0aa1c36e95bcd | South Korea ’s economy expanded at
the fastest pace in a year even as austerity measures in Europe
and a slowdown in China cloud the outlook for exports. Stocks
and the won rose. Gross domestic product rose 0.9 percent in the first
quarter from the previous three months, when it gained 0.3
percent, the Bank of Korea said today. That matches the median
estimate of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Government spending and investments by semiconductor chip
makers boosted the economy as European nations stepped up
efforts to ease a debt crisis that has crimped Asian exports.
The U.K. sinking into its first double-dip recession since the
1970s highlights the threat that global demand will falter as
developed nations cut spending to improve their finances, and
Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong Soo said last week that
“downside risks” will probably remain high for some time. “GDP has recovered from a momentary soft patch in the
fourth quarter that was largely caused by heightened
uncertainties over the European debt crisis, which have since
eased,” Wai Ho Leong, a senior regional economist at Barclays
Capital in Singapore , said in a note after the report. The
central bank may keep interest rates unchanged this year, “with
a growing chance of a hike in the second half.” The won rose 0.2 percent to 1,138.55 per dollar as of 10:30
a.m. in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The
Kospi stock index advanced 0.3 percent. N.Z. Holds Rate Asian stocks rose for a second day as Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s prepared to do more to
stimulate growth and after South Korea’s economic report. The
MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.6 percent as of 10:32 a.m. in
Tokyo . Earlier today, New Zealand’s central bank left interest
rates at a record low, citing benign inflation, and signaled the
rising currency may delay an increase in borrowing costs. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, a report may show
Singapore’s industrial production fell 5.8 percent in March from
a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Thailand’s
exports probably grew 0.5 percent last month from a year earlier,
a separate survey shows ahead of data due today. In Europe, a report today will probably show inflation
slowed in April in Germany , the euro region’s biggest economy.
Consumer prices, calculated using a harmonized European Union
method, rose 2.2 percent from 2.3 percent in March, a survey
showed ahead of data scheduled for release today. Reports on
Italian business confidence and euro-area confidence are also
due today. U.S. Jobs In the U.S., fewer Americans filed applications for
unemployment benefits last week, with jobless claims projected
to fall by 11,000 to 375,000 in the week ended April 21,
according to the median estimate of 47 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News before a report today. South Korea’s economy grew 2.8 percent from a year earlier,
today’s report showed. “The biggest challenge facing South Korea’s economy now is
weakening export momentum, with Europe suffering a slump and
many emerging countries slowing,” Park Sang Hyun, chief
economist at HI Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul, said
before the GDP report. “The central bank is unlikely to raise
interest rates for an extended period.” Exports increased 3.4 percent in the first quarter from the
previous quarter, when overseas shipments declined 2.3 percent,
today’s report showed. Corporate investment in facilities rose
10.8 percent from the previous quarter, when it fell 4.3 percent,
while government spending increased 3.1 percent after dropping
0.8 percent. Asian Demand “We’re performing relatively well given the weak global
economy,” Kim Young Bae, director general at the central bank’s
statistics department, told reporters in Seoul today. “Our
economy seems to be moving along the path that we have expected.” Kim said that the government’s aggressive fiscal spending
and sizable investment by semiconductor chip makers gave an
additional boost to the first quarter. Hong Kong ’s export figures this week highlighted weakness
in Asian demand as China’s economy cools after a crackdown by
the government on real-estate speculation. In Europe, the U.K.
yesterday reported an economic contraction in the first quarter
that may fuel an anti-austerity backlash. The risks for South Korea are also geopolitical, with North
Korea escalating threats and testing a rocket after Kim Jong Un
became the totalitarian state’s new leader. The North celebrated
the 80th anniversary of its military, two days after threatening
to turn Seoul to “ashes.” Record Profits Signs are mixed within the South Korean economy. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) posted a record operating profit in
the first quarter as gains from selling phones and TVs helped
mask a slump in earnings at the chip business. At the same time,
Posco, the world’s third-biggest steelmaker by output, said net
income fell because of rising raw-material costs and waning
demand for the metal used in cars, ships and buildings. “The economy seems to have turned around a corner but any
recovery will come slowly,” said Kim Nam Hyun, a Seoul-based
fixed income analyst at Eugene Investment & Futures. The International Monetary Fund raised its global growth
forecast for the first time in more than a year on April 17,
estimating a 3.5 percent expansion this year. Two days later,
Managing Director Christine Lagarde said a “timid” world
recovery is threatened by dark clouds including deleveraging,
oil prices and unemployment. Europe is the “epicenter” of
potential risks, she said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Eunkyung Seo in Seoul at
eseo3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net ;
Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net | 2012 | south-korea-s-economy-expands-at-fastest-pace-in-a-year |
PNB and CORPY CDs Deals:Indian Money Market | By Shraddha Kothari | 2012-04-25T13:08:44Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/pnb-and-corpy-cds-deals-indian-money-market.html | 4 | 25 | adafbc26f7eb353281aef114bcdf2037011e4a2c | Following is a table showing certificate of
deposits dealt by Indian companies.The data has been provided by Mata Securities
India Pvt Ltd,NVS Brokerage Ltd, SPA Securities Ltd. and Trust Financial
Consultancy Services.
Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: f5298b75f2c64b86b064ad4e2c98124b | 2012 | pnb-and-corpy-cds-deals-indian-money-marke |
Chavez Allies Contemplating Election Without Him, Tal Cual Says | By Charlie Devereux | 2012-04-25T16:56:41Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/chavez-allies-contemplating-election-without-him-tal-cual-says.html | 4 | 25 | a74d44b6b908b10f6726890f3c93d2a7aa7fca50 | Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ’s
allies are preparing for a scenario in which his battle with
cancer will prevent him from competing in October’s vote, Tal
Cual reported , citing Wilmar Castro, head of planning for
Chavez’s re-election campaign. Chavez’s allies should also be prepared for a scenario in
which they will have to campaign with a weakened Chavez or where
the elections are canceled altogether, the Caracas-based daily
cited Castro as saying during a meeting of different factions of
the re-election campaign. Campaigning with a Chavez weakened by his cancer would be
unworkable, Castro said according to Tal Cual. The possibility
that the election could be canceled has increased, which Castro
blamed on the opposition, Tal Cual reported without providing
further details. The Information Ministry didn’t immediately reply to an e-
mail requesting comment. To contact the reporter on this story:
Charlie Devereux in Caracas at
cdevereux3@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Joshua Goodman at
jgoodman19@bloomberg.net | 2012 | chavez-allies-contemplating-election-without-him-tal-cual-says |
Draghi Says Euro Area Is in ‘Most Difficult’ Austerity Phase | By Jonathan Stearns | 2012-04-25T10:50:06Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/draghi-says-euro-area-is-in-most-difficult-austerity-phase.html
European Central Bank President
Mario Draghi comments on fiscal austerity in the euro area,
Spain’s budget plans, special ECB measures to tackle the
financial crisis and the outlook for prices in Europe . Draghi spoke to a European Parliament committee today in
Brussels. On the impact of fiscal austerity and structural changes: “We are probably in the most difficult phases of a process
where austerity, where fiscal consolidation, has been, or is
being, undertaken and is now starting to, in a sense,
reverberate its contractionary effects.” “We haven’t seen yet the benefits of this. At the same
time, we are convinced that we have to persevere, to continue on
that path.” “Structural reforms hit vested interests.” “We are just in the middle of the river that we are
crossing. The only answer to this is to persevere and for the
ECB to create an environment which would be as forthcoming, as
favorable, to this process as possible.” “Now the ball is entirely, squarely, in the court of
governments and banks.” “They have to give evidence. And they are | 4 | 25 | 9fd06d3fbd9b577cba4c61ee48b5851937d547ef | using this time in a productive way.” On the Spanish government’s fiscal-austerity plans: “Remarkable progress has been achieved and is being
achieved.” “We have no reason to doubt about the absolute commitment
of the Spanish government to undertake the necessary reforms.” “From this viewpoint, I think, the whole union is close to
Spain and certainly the ECB.” On the ECB’s Securities Markets Program: “The SMP is neither eternal nor infinite.” “It’s been there. But we should not forget that the
primary mandate, that basically the ECB has to act within the
limits of its primary mandate and of the treaty.” “The limits of the treaty prohibit monetary financing. The
primary mandate of the ECB is ensuring price stability in the
medium term for the whole of the euro area.” “We have to, in a sense, walk this, in a sense, thin but
delicate balance where we want to preserve the credibility of
the ECB because it’s one of the few things left.” “To do so means that we have to act within the limits of
our treaties.” “We don’t want to pre-commit. And frankly there is also
another reason why we abstain from making announcements in
either direction now. The reason is that the uncertainty about
the present situation is very, very high.” “Any exit strategy is premature given the current economic
situation.” On the ECB’s Long-Term Refinancing Operations: “We are confident that central bank liquidity has come
very close to the real economy.” “Let me emphasize that our non-standard measures are not a
constraint on setting interest rates in line with what is
required to ensure price stability in the medium term.” “The Governing Council will use all the instruments at its
disposal to counter possible upside risks to price stability
should they materialize.” “We also hear concerns that the Eurosystem is exposing
itself to excessive risks. I would like to underscore that the
expansion of our balance sheet is being managed with extreme
prudence.” “All non-standard measures are temporary in nature.
Moreover, liquidity support cannot substitute for capital or for
sound fiscal and structural policies that bring about
sustainable growth and stability in the European economy.” On the outlook for prices: “The Governing Council continues to expect annual
inflation rates to fall below 2 percent in early 2013.” “Underlying price pressures should remain modest.” “Risks to the outlook for price developments are broadly
balanced.” “Upside risks could stem from higher-than-expected oil
prices and further indirect tax increases; downside risks could
arise from weaker-than-expected economic activity.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at
jstearns2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net | 2012 | draghi-says-euro-area-is-in-most-difficult-austerity-phase |
Chilean Stocks: CFR, Endesa, Iansa, Masisa, Vapores Were Active | By Eduardo Thomson | 2012-04-25T20:03:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/chilean-stocks-cfr-masisa-sud-americana-de-vapores-are-active.html | 4 | 25 | b0cc938777921d092e69bf4d2d42fd97c0ddbb32 | The following companies had unusual
price changes in Chilean trading. Stock symbols are in
parentheses, and prices are as of the close in Santiago. The Ipsa index was little changed at 4,566.37. The MSCI
Chile index rose 0.2 percent to 2,595.02. CFR Pharmaceuticals SA (CFR) rose 2.1 percent to 119.5
pesos, the steepest gain in a month. The Chilean drug
manufacturer was rated buy in new coverage at Santiago-based
brokerage IM Trust SA. Cia. Sud Americana de Vapores SA (VAPORES CC) gained 2.7
percent to 54.62 pesos, ending a five-day losing streak. Chile ’s
largest container shipping company hired management consulting
firm McKinsey & Co. to advise on ways to improve efficiency. Empresas Iansa SA (IANSA) rose 1.7 percent to 39.12
pesos. Chile’s largest sugar producer posted net income of $9.12
million in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $5.36
million a year earlier. Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA (ENDESA CC) fell 0.6
percent to 888.98 pesos after erasing an earlier gain of as much
as 0.6 percent. Chile’s largest power generator reported today
first quarter net income of 66.2 billion pesos ($136 million)
from 96.9 billion pesos a year earlier. The average estimate of
three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News was 73.5 billion
pesos. Masisa SA (MASISA) increased 1.6 percent to 54.40 pesos.
The Chilean wood panels producer agreed to pay $8.8 million for
a resin plant in Mexico , according to a statement posted on the
website of Chile’s securities regulator. To contact the reporter on this story:
Eduardo Thomson in Santiago at
ethomson1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Papadopoulos at
papadopoulos@bloomberg.net | 2012 | chilean-stocks-cfr-masisa-sud-americana-de-vapores-are-active |
Sprint Loss Is Smaller Than Projected as IPhone Boosts Sales | By Scott Moritz | 2012-04-25T20:22:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/sprint-loss-is-smaller-than-projected-as-iphone-boosts-bills.html | 4 | 25 | 3aee0e24003a4eae96dd6cf1717ffcf3 | Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) , the third-
largest U.S. wireless carrier, posted a smaller first-quarter
loss than analysts predicted as rising monthly bills provided
some relief to a company plagued by user defections. The loss widened to 29 cents a share from 15 cents a year
earlier, Overland Park , Kansas-based Sprint said today in a
statement. Analysts projected a loss of 41 cents, the average of
estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 5.1 percent to $8.73
billion, compared with the $8.7 billion analysts predicted. Sprint, which has reported five straight annual losses,
boosted contract customers’ average monthly bills 6.6 percent
from a year earlier to $59.88 as users spent more on smartphone
data plans. The carrier’s addition of the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone last
year is helping it regain some ground lost to larger rivals
Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. (T) , which posted rising sales and
earnings this month. “This was easily the most impressive quarter of the three
telcos that have reported to date,” said Kevin Smithen, an
analyst at Macquarie Capital USA Inc. in New York with an
outperform rating on the stock. Operating earnings “exceeded
all the estimates.” Sprint fell 1.6 percent to $2.43 at the close in New York.
The shares have tumbled 49 percent in the past 12 months. IPhone Sales Sprint sold 1.5 million iPhones, helped by its $99.99-a-
month unlimited calling-and-data plan that Verizon Wireless and
AT&T don’t offer. Smithen estimated 1.2 million and Walt Piecyk,
an analyst at BTIG LLC in New York , predicted 1.4 million. The monthly bill for contract customers exceeded the $59.25
average of eight analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. “Data prices are rising for the consumer and as a result
Sprint, AT&T and Verizon are reporting higher” earnings, Piecyk
said. Sprint lost 192,000 contract customers, driven by its
Nextel unit, which is preparing to shut down a network using
older technology. Analysts projected a loss of 54,558 such users
on average. Contract users for the Sprint brand rose by 263,000.
AT&T gained 187,000 contract subscribers in the first quarter,
and Verizon Wireless added 501,000 such customers. Sprint’s operating income before depreciation and
amortization was $1.2 billion. Analysts had estimated earnings
on that basis of $937 million. The net loss expanded to $863
million from $439 million a year earlier. Slowing Market Sprint Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse is boosting
spending to catch up with the bigger competitors. The U.S.
wireless market is nearing saturation, putting Sprint, AT&T and
Verizon Wireless into more intense competition as they try to
get customers to upgrade to smartphones such as the iPhone that
let users browse the Web and stream video. The number of wireless devices, including tablets, now
exceeds the number of people in the U.S., said Bob Roche, a
statistician with CTIA, a wireless industry trade group. Roche
says so-called wireless penetration is 105 percent. Sprint’s capital spending increased 44 percent to $800
million in the first quarter. The company is trying to catch up
with AT&T and Verizon Wireless in faster network technology
called long-term evolution, or LTE. Sprint reiterated it expects
to have LTE service in six major cities, including Dallas and
Baltimore, by mid-year. AT&T said yesterday that it had LTE service in 35 markets
and that it expects to double that number by year-end. Verizon
Wireless , which has a one-year lead on the pack, said this month
that it had LTE service in 230 cities. Rising Costs The push to take on AT&T and Verizon Wireless leaves Sprint
coping with rising expenses that include a four-year $15.5
billion contract to sell the iPhone and $10 billion for network
expansion over the next two years. The company sold $4 billion
of bonds in November and $2 billion in February, a sign its
expansion plans are underfunded. The company has $8.8 billion in cash, short-term
investments and credit lines, Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer said on a conference call. He also said the company
was in discussions to get between $1 billion to $3 billion in
vendor financing from its equipment suppliers. Spending on the network plan will probably double this
quarter, Euteneuer said. The spending surge will cause free cash
flow to turn negative later this year, he said. And with the
planned shutdown of the Nextel network, subscriber losses will
worsen, he said. Smithen said these developments were expected as the
company makes its transition to LTE. Sprint’s pain will lead to
gains for investors, he said. “Sprint is the most attractive U.S. telco under our
coverage, with the potential to more than double over the next
two years,” Smithen said. Sprint also considered buying smaller rival MetroPCS
Communications Inc. (PCS) , only to have its board vote down the
acquisition, two people familiar with the plan said in February.
The board decided the stock and cash transaction, which may have
cost as much as $8 billion including debt, would have been too
expensive given the current level of Sprint’s stock price. To contact the reporter on this story:
Scott Moritz in New York at
smoritz6@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Turner at
nturner7@bloomberg.net | 2012 | sprint-loss-is-smaller-than-projected-as-iphone-boosts-bills |
London Marathon Runner Gets $1 Million in Donations After Death | By Bob Bensch | 2012-04-25T23:01:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/london-marathon-runner-gets-1-million-in-donations-after-death.html | 4 | 25 | ce373ca902357fd59bc727cecce933355b372873 | An Englishwoman who died in last
weekend’s London Marathon has raised a record $1.13 million in
donations for a U.K. charity. Claire Squires had set up the fundraising website before
the race. She collapsed and died less than a mile from the
finish of the 26.2-mile race four days ago. The 30-year-old was
running to raise money for Samaritans, a U.K. counseling service
for people with depression. The website has raised more than 710,000 pounds ($1.15
million), most of which came after the race. The funds, pledged
by more than 62,000 people, are a record by an individual
fundraiser for Samaritans, the charity said. “Claire’s family have been incredibly moved by the measure
of support and donations from the public, and are amazed by the
amount raised so far, which continues to rise,” the
hairdresser’s relatives said in a statement released yesterday
by London Marathon officials. “These donations are a lasting
testament to their beloved daughter and the cause in which she
believed so passionately.” Squires was running for Samaritans because her mother Cilla
has done volunteer work for the charity for 24 years. Further
investigations into the cause of her death are continuing,
according to the family’s statement. To contact the reporter on this story:
Bob Bensch in London at
bbensch@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net . | 2012 | ondon-marathon-runner-gets-1-million-in-donations-after-dea |
Cop-Led ‘Death Race’ Renews Focus on N.J. Police Misdeeds | By Elise Young and Terrence Dopp | 2012-04-25T04:01:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/cop-led-death-race-renews-focus-on-n-j-police-misdeeds.html | 4 | 25 | 34cc097de4cc4b009621ee4370b9c4e6 | The police-escorted “Death Race”
of exotic cars that sped to Atlantic City put the latest smudge
on a New Jersey agency marred by racial profiling, claims of
hazing and a high-speed wreck that left a governor near death. Less than three years ago, the U.S. Justice Department
ended a decade of monitoring traffic stops made by state
troopers, prompted by complaints that some members of the 2,700-
strong force had targeted minorities. Colonel Rick Fuentes, head
of the New Jersey State Police, said then that his officers were
upholding “best practices of police professionalism.” Fuentes suspended two troopers amid investigations of the
high-speed caravan along the Garden State Parkway March 30 and
transferred a barracks commander. Ultimately, Fuentes reports to
Attorney General Jeff Chiesa, an appointee of Governor Chris Christie . The first-term Republican on April 23 said providing a
police escort to speeding Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis
“was a dumb thing to do.” “I hate for this to be a blemish on the rest of the
organization who do great things all year long,” Fuentes told
reporters yesterday at the Statehouse in Trenton. He said
troopers follow guidelines for “hundreds” of escorts each
year, sometimes assisting agencies such as the New York Police
Department and the U.S. Secret Service, which protects the
president. He called the March 30 incident an “aberration.” Risky Business Complaints about the caravan to the New Jersey Turnpike
Authority, which oversees the toll road, returned public focus
to the risks of high-speed travel conducted by troopers. The
incident, first reported by the Star-Ledger newspaper, prompted
state probes and the suspensions. Two State Police cruisers, lights flashing, led the group
of sports cars south on the parkway at speeds estimated at 100
miles (160 kilometers) an hour. One motorist who complained,
Wayne Gantt of Little Egg Harbor, called it “Death Race 2012.” The two suspended officers were taken off the job without
pay April 23. In a related move, the commander of the Totowa
barracks was transferred until any involvement on his part can
be determined, according to a statement from Chiesa’s office. “The ‘Death Race 2012’ is yet another incident within a
troubled State Police culture that’s not surprising, considering
my fight to expose corruption,” Justin Hopson, 38, a former
trooper, said by telephone yesterday. He sued the agency in
December 2003, claiming he had been a victim of hazing. Targeted for Hazing Hopson, now a private detective in Mount Pleasant, South
Carolina , claimed he had been targeted over a whistle-blower
case by a loosely knit and secretive group of white officers
called the “Lords of Discipline.” In a January 2005 report,
the attorney general’s office said it had punished seven
troopers for harassing colleagues, while finding no evidence
that the group named by Hopson existed. In October 2007, the state settled the matter with a
$400,000 payment to Hopson, who left the agency. Six months earlier, then-Governor Jon Corzine , a Democrat,
received serious injuries in a high-speed wreck with a trooper
behind the wheel. The sport-utility vehicle carrying Corzine was
going 91 miles (145 kilometers) an hour when it ran off the
parkway. The driver, Trooper Robert Rasinski, was declared
“culpably inefficient” and sanctioned by Fuentes following an
investigation. Corzine credited Rasinski with saving his life. Hiring Again The State Police, set up in 1921, patrols New Jersey’s
highways, protects the governor and operates medical evacuation
flights. Christie has added $1 million to the agency’s budget,
giving it the first chance to hire since 2010. While local
public-safety departments cope with payroll cuts, plans call for
adding 225 troopers to the force this year. Last year, the state chapter of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, the oldest and largest
U.S. civil-rights organization, threatened to sue if the State
Police didn’t try to hire more minority candidates. This month,
the agency indicated it plans to recruit among minorities more
actively for the next class of trainees. The monitoring that ended in 2009 stemmed from an incident
in April 1998, when two white troopers shot three unarmed men
during a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike . The incident
led to accusations that racial profiling was used to determine
which cars to stop. In 1999, the agency agreed to federal
oversight as it sought to eradicate the practice. Troubling Development The high-speed caravan sends a disturbing signal, according
to Reverend Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black
Ministers Council of New Jersey. “It sends a very troubling message and says if you are in
a particular group, or are special or have some level of
privilege, then the state police will actually help you violate
the law and give you an escort down one of the state’s major
highways,” Jackson said yesterday by telephone. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson , a Democrat from Teaneck who is
a former Bergen County undersheriff, said he was satisfied with
the response by Chiesa and Fuentes to “Death Race” complaints. He also wondered why the incident had occurred. “What’s in a person’s mind to say, ‘Gee, this will be a
good idea to have these guys fly down the turnpike, parkway and
Atlantic City Expressway at high speeds, and we’re going to
escort them and not get caught,’” he said by telephone.
“That’s incredible to me.” To contact the reporters on this story:
Elise Young in Trenton at
eyoung30@bloomberg.net ;
Terrence Dopp in Trenton at
tdopp@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Merelman at
smerelman@bloomberg.net | 2012 | cop-led-death-race-renews-focus-on-n-j-police-misdeeds |
Health Insurers’ Customer Rebates May Reach $1.3 Billion | By Alex Wayne | 2012-04-26T16:25:20Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/health-insurers-to-give-back-1-2-billion-analyst-says.html
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) , WellPoint
Inc. (WLP) and other health insurers may have to forfeit to consumers
$1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in profits from last year because
of changes to U.S. law that limit revenue from premiums. Rebates for exceeding the limits, called medical loss
ratio, will amount to about 6 percent of the industry’s $21
billion in profits from 2011, said Matthew Borsch, a Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. (GS) analyst. For consumers, that translates into
rebates of as much as $517 a person, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation . The rebates are being promoted as one of the successes of
the 2010 health-care law, as the Obama administration awaits
word from the Supreme Court on whether portions of the overhaul
violate the Constitution. Changes to the health system included
limiting to no more than 20 percent the premium revenue insurers
can keep for administrative costs and profit. “Today’s news is yet another sign of how the Affordable
Care Act is already strengthening the health-care system,”
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an
e-mail. “The 80-20 rule ensures that consumers get a good value
from the money they spend on their insurance plan by requiring
80 cents on every premium dollar to go towards better health
care instead of overhead and executive bonuses.” The largest checks based on the national average, $127
each, will go to people who don’t have insurance through their
employer and instead buy coverage on their own, Kaiser, a
nonprofit research group in Menlo Park , California , said in a
report today. People employed by large companies will receive
rebates averaging about $14 each, the foundation said. Insurers
will pay those rebates to the companies, not to individuals. Excess Costs “Greater regulatory scrutiny of private insurance is
improving value and helping to get excess costs out of the
system,” Kaiser President and Chief Executive Officer Drew Altman , said in a statement. Kaiser estimated that the rebates will total $1.3 billion,
while Borsch at Goldman said the figure will be $1.2 billion, or
5.7 percent of $21 billion in 2011 profits. Both relied on data
insurers submitted to state regulators last week. The cost to the industry is “more positive than
negative,” as the government had forecast refunds of about $1.4
billion, Borsch said in a note to clients yesterday. Eight publicly traded insurers, also including Bloomfield,
Connecticut-based Cigna Corp. (CI) and Aetna Inc., would pay a
combined $850 million of those rebates this year because they
exceeded the limits, Borsch said. UnitedHealth will pay the
most, $307 million, Borsch estimated. A spokesman for the
company, Daryl Richard, said Borsch’s estimate is accurate. ‘Unpredictable’ Costs Aetna, based in Hartford, Connecticut , will pay about $177
million, and Indianapolis-based WellPoint $94 million, Borsch
estimates. Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) , based in Bethesda,
Maryland , will pay about $50 million, he projected. Nonprofit
Blue Cross Blue Shield plans will owe $250 million, Borsch said. The industry expected to pay rebates, Robert Zirkelbach , a
spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington-
based trade group, said in a phone interview last week. “Given the inherent unpredictable nature of health-care
costs, it won’t be surprising if some plans are paying rebates
to customers in certain markets,” he said. Aetna (AET) , the third-biggest U.S. insurer, was able to better
price some plans for 2012 after seeing which ones generated
rebates last year, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Zubretsky said
in a telephone interview. State Waivers “If there was a particular geography in the country that
was in significant rebate status for 2011, we may have chosen to
take those funds and include them in the pricing of the product
for 2012,” he said. Rebates may be lower than forecast because insurers
“proactively” reduced their premiums to avoid paying back
customers, Borsch said. His estimate doesn’t reflect waivers the
government granted to insurers in seven states, allowing them
higher profit limits, he said. Those waivers won’t affect rebates that plans pay by more
than about 1 percent, he said. Minnetonka, Minnesota-based
UnitedHealth is the biggest U.S. health insurer by sales. People in Texas and Florida | 4 | 25 | 820aa704cbd84996bbb58dd0aeb3fff8 | receive the largest rebates, Kaiser said. Texas consumers and
businesses will receive $186 million; Florida rebates will total
$149 million. Hawaii is the only state where no one will receive a
rebate, Kaiser said. Rebates could take the form of either checks sent to
insurers’ customers or discounts on future premiums, Kaiser
said. Consumers probably won’t see any notable reduction in their
premiums because other provisions of the health law are
increasing costs, Zirkelbach said. “If the goal is to bring down the rising cost of health
care, having this arbitrary cap on administrative costs isn’t
the way to do it,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Wayne in Washington at
awayne3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at
rgale5@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ealth-insurers-to-give-back-1-2-billion-analyst-says |
May Cow Case May Pose No Threat to U.S. Feed-Crop Demand | By Jeff Wilson | 2012-04-25T09:13:58Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/may-cow-case-may-pose-no-threat-to-u-s-feed-crop-demand.html | 4 | 25 | cdc6976aeffe48bcab9ba422e2502912 | The first U.S. case of mad cow
disease in six years may not disrupt the nation’s corn and
soybean exports because global demand for crops used as
livestock feed is surging, said Roy Huckabay , an executive vice
president at Chicago agriculture broker Linn Group. “Mad cow will have little impact on domestic feed
demand,” Huckabay said. “Drought in South America is boosting
demand for U.S. soybeans and soybean meal. China is buying U.S.
corn, and that is the tip of an iceberg of new demand. China
will buy 10 million metric tons of corn this calendar year, up
from 5 million currently on the export books.” A dairy cow at a rendering plant in California was
identified by a routine test for the brain-wasting disease,
known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the government said.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that the
animal didn’t enter the human food chain and there is “no
reason to believe” other cattle are affected. Corn and soybeans from the U.S., the world’s largest
producer of both crops, are used mostly for feed, food and
biofuels. Record global corn crops have failed to meet demand
for three straight years, reducing stockpiles to the lowest
since 2007, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Global
inventories of soybeans will fall 20 percent before the next
harvest, the biggest drop since 1996, the USDA estimates. “The discovery of the disease means that the surveillance
process is working, and that means very limited impact on corn
or soybean demand,” Steve Nicholson , the chief economist for
International Food Products Corp. in Fenton, Missouri , said in a
telephone interview. “The global demand for food, especially
from China, is not going to slow, even if the world economy
continues to struggle.” Temporary Losses Before yesterday, there were three confirmed cases of BSE
in the U.S., including a Canadian-born cow in 2003 in Washington
State. Each time, corn and soybeans prices fell temporarily
before regaining losses within several days, said William Tierney, the chief economist for AgResource Co. in Chicago. Soybeans for July delivery rose 1.2 percent to $14.825 a
bushel today, the highest for the most active contract in more
than three years, as a freeze threatened the Argentine crop.
July corn gained 0.4 percent to $6.105 a bushel in Chicago . U.S. corn inventories on March 1 slumped to the lowest for
that time of year since 2004, the USDA said March 30. The
agency’s estimate of consumption in the three months ended Feb.
29 unexpectedly rose 3.1 percent to a record 3.64 billion
bushels. Reserves before the start of the harvest this year will
fall to the lowest since 1996. Cash Premium July corn in Chicago traded at a 67.5-cent premium to
December futures today, a sign of tighter domestic inventories. In Decatur, Illinois , a corn-processing hub that is
headquarters to Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) , buyers paid an
average premium of 27 cents a bushel above the Chicago futures
price to take delivery of corn in April, the most in at least
four years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. A year earlier,
they were paying a premium of 3.6 cents. “The strong cash basis and inverted futures markets are
signs that corn supplies are extremely tight and demand has not
slowed from exporters, livestock producers and ethanol
producers,” Tierney said. Tightening global supplies will drive prices in the next
several months, he said. “China is buying both corn and
soybeans.” Corn will remain supported on speculation that China, the
world’s biggest grower after the U.S., is increasing purchases
to build state reserves, Linn Group’s Huckabay said. U.S. exporters sold 480,000 metric tons of corn to unknown
destinations, the USDA said yesterday. China may have purchased
as much as 1 million tons last week to increase stockpiles,
researcher Grain.gov.cn said this week. The cost of importing
U.S. corn on April 19 fell to the lowest this month, according
to Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeff Wilson in Chicago at
jwilson29@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
sstroth@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ay-cow-case-may-pose-no-threat-to-u-s-feed-crop-demand |
Aetna, Akamai, Citrix, H&R Block: U.S. Equity Movers | By Whitney Kisling | 2012-04-26T20:39:46Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/chevron-citrix-las-vegas-sands-u-s-equity-preview.html | 4 | 25 | 5cbb1592b5d14723aaa3e78452683c83 | Shares of the following companies
had unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in
parentheses, and prices are as of 4 p.m. in New York . Aetna Inc. (AET) fell 8.2 percent, the most since April
2009, to $45.31. The third-largest U.S. health insurer reported
first-quarter earnings excluding some items of $1.34 a share,
falling short of the average analyst estimate of $1.40. Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) declined 14 percent, the
most since July 28 to $33.15. The operator of a server network
said Chief Executive Officer Paul Sagan will leave by the end of
2013. Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALALF) slumped 15 percent to $1.64,
the lowest price since March 21. France ’s largest
telecommunications equipment supplier reported a first-quarter
loss as sales missed estimates because European clients withheld
spending. Ancestry.com Inc. (ACOM) gained 5.2 percent to $25.71,
the highest price since Feb. 15. The world’s largest online
provider of family histories reported first-quarter earnings of
30 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 23
cents. Arris Group Inc. (ARRS) rose 7.8 percent, the most since
July 28, to $12.61. The maker of Internet equipment forecast
second-quarter revenue of at least $330 million, exceeding the
average analyst estimate of $313.6 million. AXT Inc. (AXTI) sank 15 percent, the most since Oct. 27,
to $5.15. The Fremont, California-based maker of products in
wireless telecommunications had its rating cut at B Riley & Co.
and Northland Securities Inc. Celgene Corp. (CELG) fell 6.4 percent, the most since
February 2011, to $72.92. The biopharmaceutical company reported
first-quarter earnings excluding some items of $1.08 a share,
missing the average analyst estimate of $1.13. Cirrus Logic Inc. (CRUS) climbed 19 percent to $27.39,
the highest price since July 2001. The supplier of parts for
Apple’s iPhone and iPad posted fourth-quarter profit of 36 cents
a share, beating the 34-cent earnings estimate by analysts on
average. Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) surged 12 percent, the most
in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, to $86.76. The software
maker forecast earnings in 2012 will be at least $2.75 a share,
topping the average analyst estimate of $2.72. Crocs Inc. (CROX) fell 8.1 percent, the most since Oct.
18, to $20.26. The plastic-clogs maker projected second-quarter
adjusted earnings of no more than 63 cents a share, falling
short of the 65-cent profit estimated by analysts on average. Equinix Inc. (EQIX) rallied 13 percent to $169.28,
highest price since at least 2003. The operator of Internet data
centers raised its full-year sales forecast and said BT Group
Plc (BT/A LN) picked its data centers to provide
interconnectivity between trading venues throughout the world’s
top financial markets. Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (FURX) slumped 23 percent,
the second-most in the Russell 2000 Index, to $15.10. The drug
company’s partner, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502 JT), failed
to win clearance to sell its new diabetes treatment in the U.S.,
with regulators asking for more information on the use of the
medicine in other countries. HeartWare International Inc. (HTWR) rose 12 percent, the
most since November 2010, to $77.52. The company’s implantable
pump for heart-transplant candidates won the backing of U.S.
advisory panel members who said the device would provide dying
patients a lifeline. H&R Block Inc. (HRB) plunged 11 percent to $14.95 for
the third-largest retreat in the S&P 500 . The biggest U.S. tax
preparer plans to cut 350 jobs and close about 200 company-owned
offices as part of a realignment. The Kansas City , Missouri-
based company also forecast sales in 2012 will be about $2.9
billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.11 billion. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) climbed 5.1
percent, the most since January 2011, to $73.59. The maker of
military communications and electronics equipment boosted its
full-year profit forecast. Logitech International SA (LOGI) surged 21 percent, the
most since October 2007, to $9.46. The world’s biggest maker of
computer mice reported earnings that beat estimates and
announced measures including job cuts to save about $80 million
a year. MarineMax Inc. (HZO) jumped 24 percent, the most since
April 2009, to $11.06. The U.S. retailer of recreational boats
said same-store sales rose 26 percent in the second quarter. MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) slumped 11 percent to
$7.08, the lowest price since March 2010. The Richardson, Texas-
based pay-as-you-go wireless carrier reported first-quarter
earnings and subscriber figures missed estimates. Smaller rival Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP)
plunged 20 percent to $6.14 after reporting a wider loss than
analysts expected during the first quarter. Monster Worldwide Inc. (MWW) increased 9.7 percent, the
most since March 6, to $8.95. The online recruiting service
reported first-quarter profit, excluding some items, of 4 cents
a share, beating estimates. Netgear Inc. (NTGR) jumped 14 percent to $38.49, the
highest price since March 28. The maker of modems and routers
posted first-quarter sales of $325.6 million, beating the
average analyst estimate of $317.3 million. NII Holdings Inc. (NIHD) tumbled 23 percent, the most in
the Russell 1000 Index, to $14.41. The mobile-phone carrier that
sells in Latin America under the Nextel brand said it earned 6
cents a share in the first quarter. Analysts, on average,
estimated 22 cents, according to a Bloomberg survey. Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) rose 9.3 percent, the
most since November 2009, to $24.91. The maker of speech-
recognition software reported preliminary second-quarter profit
and revenue that topped analysts’ estimates. O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) advanced 6.2 percent to
$102.64, the highest price since it went public in 1993. The
U.S. auto-parts chain reported first-quarter sales and profit
that beat analysts’ estimates. PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) gained 10 percent, the most since
Dec. 20, to $9.58. The largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue
reported a narrower first-quarter loss as it reduced costs and
sold houses at higher prices. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) rose 9 percent to
$138.60, the highest price since at least 1991. The drugmaker
increased its 2012 sales forecast for the eye drug Eylea for a
second time since February. Skechers U.S.A. Inc. (SKX) gained 14 percent, the most
since July 28, to $16.96. The maker of Shape-ups toning shoes
reported a first-quarter loss of 7 cents a share, narrower than
the 27-cent loss predicted by analysts on average. SolarWinds Inc. (SWI) advanced 20 percent to $45.38, the
highest price since it went public in 2009. The provider of
network management software reported earnings that beat the
average analyst estimate by 18 percent, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. (TQNT) fell 13 percent, the
most since Oct. 27, to $4.81. The chipmaker forecast a second-
quarter loss of at least 10 cents a share, compared with the 4-
cent profit estimated by analysts on average. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) slipped 1.8 percent,
the most since Dec. 8, to $78.25. The world’s largest package-
delivery company reported first-quarter profit that trailed
analysts’ estimates amid slowing growth in overseas shipping. Valassis Communications Inc. (VCI) declined 16 percent,
the most since April 2009, to $18.91. The provider of targeted-
mail services reported first-quarter earnings of 60 cents a
share, missing the average analyst estimate by 10 percent,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR) slipped 8.9 percent,
the most since Aug. 8, to $63.60. The maker of radiation
equipment forecast third-quarter profit of no more than 95 cents
a share, missing the average analyst estimate of $1.02. Vasco Data Security Inc. (VDSI) sank 22 percent, the
most since February 2009, to $7.57. The maker of security
software said first-quarter earnings and revenue missed the
average analyst projection because of the timing of the receipt
of new orders and production delays. Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) increased 6.8 percent
to $74.41, the highest price since it went public in 1993. The
Parsippany, New Jersey-based generic-drug maker said it will
acquire closely held Actavis Group HF for 4.25 billion euros
($5.62 billion). Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) rose 6.8 percent, the most since
December 2008, to $36.65. The maker of programmable chips used
in mobile-phone base stations forecast sales this quarter that
may beat some analysts’ estimates. To contact the reporter on this story:
Whitney Kisling in New York at
wkisling@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Baker at
nbaker7@bloomberg.net | 2012 | chevron-citrix-las-vegas-sands-u-s-equity-preview |
Vale Falls After Reporting Declining Profit, Output | By Juan Pablo Spinetto and Peter Millard | 2012-04-26T20:09:58Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/vale-quarterly-profit-falls-after-iron-ore-prices-decline-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 6602bd89b344430ea47dd05266165074 | Vale SA (VALE5) , the world’s second-largest
mining company, rose the most in a week after Chief Executive
Officer Murilo Ferreira said the company will rebound from weak
sales in the first quarter. Vale rose 1.7 percent to 41.78 reais at 4:28 p.m. in Sao
Paulo , the biggest gain since April 18. It earlier fell to the
lowest in more than six weeks after profit dropped for a third
straight quarter on declining iron-ore prices and output. Before
today, Vale fell 12 percent in the past 12 months, compared with
a 7.8 percent decline in the benchmark Bovespa Index. (IBOV) Net income slumped 44 percent in the quarter after slowing
Chinese demand pushed down iron-ore prices and heavy rains
curtailed production and raised costs. It fell to $3.83 billion,
or 74 cents a share, from a record $6.83 billion, or $1.29, a
year earlier, Rio de Janeiro-based Vale said yesterday in a
regulatory filing. Net sales fell 16 percent to $11.1 billion. “The first quarter is always the worst due to weather,”
Ferreira said on a conference call with analysts. “We will meet
our targets” for iron-ore exports this year, he said. The company in January declared force majeure on iron-ore
shipments because of severe rains in three Brazilian states,
affecting sales. Iron-ore production fell 2.2 percent in the
first quarter to 70 million metric tons after operations were
impeded in southeastern Brazil , the company said April 17. March Rebound Vale’s production and sales rebounded in March and should
continue strong in the second quarter after heavy rains curbed
output in the first two months of the year, Bruno Piagentini, an
equity analyst at Coinvalores Corretora de Valores, said in a
telephone interview from Sao Paulo. “The market realized the drop in sales and the rise in
costs in the first quarter was temporary,” Piagentini said.
“Vale is returning to the company that we’re familiar with.” BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) , the world’s largest mining company,
reported a 14 percent gain in production of the steelmaking raw
material in the three months ended March 31. Vale sold iron ore at an average $109.26 a metric ton, 13
percent less than a year earlier. Average sale prices for nickel
fell 27 percent, while copper prices decreased 19 percent, the
company said. Strong demand from Chinese steel mills will support iron-
ore prices and Vale is “optimistic” about increases, Murilo
said. Falling Prices Iron-ore prices slumped to $116.90 per metric ton in
October, the lowest since December 2009, from $191.90 in the
first quarter of 2011. The company is the world’s biggest iron-
ore producer and the second-biggest for nickel after Moscow-
based OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel. (MNOD) “Given the unfavorable weather conditions at the beginning
of the year that created transportation difficulties for the
product, the result is in line with our expectations,” Victor Penna, an equity analyst at Banco do Brasil SA, said in a note
to clients yesterday. The cost of goods sold by Vale rose 2 percent to $5.69
billion as the company hired more workers and faced dredging and
maintenance charges because of the rains on its open pit mines.
Sales, general and administrative expenses grew 26 percent to
$529 million, Vale said in yesterday’s statement. Annual Profit For the year, Vale’s profit is expected to decline to $18.2
billion from $22.9 billion in 2011, according to the average of
16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Vale shipped 65.2 million tons of iron ore and pellets in
the quarter, 4.2 percent less than a year earlier. Pellets are a
processed form of iron ore used by the steel industry . “The demand for our products continues to be strong,”
Vale said in the statement, adding that iron ore and pellet
shipments in March surged to 31.7 million tons. “There are
indications of a good performance for Chinese steel production
in April driven by the recovery in the demand for construction
and infrastructure,” it said. Nickel sale volumes declined 3.4 percent to 56,000 tons in
the quarter, while copper shipments rose 9.4 percent to 58,000
tons, the company said. Potash sales volumes fell 4.5 percent to
128,000 tons, Vale said. China Sales Vale sold 47 percent of its iron ore and pellets to Chinese
customers in the first quarter, up from 41 percent a year
earlier. Europe bought 16 percent, down from 20 percent a year
earlier. “The impact of the recession in Europe persisted, causing
the share of our shipments to the region to continue to trend
downward,” Vale said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Juan Pablo Spinetto in Rio de Janeiro at
jspinetto@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dale Crofts at
dcrofts@bloomberg.net | 2012 | vale-quarterly-profit-falls-after-iron-ore-prices-decline-1- |
Barclays Accused Over Libor Fixing in U.K. Rate Swaps Lawsuit | By Kit Chellel | 2012-04-25T12:29:30Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/barclays-accused-over-libor-fixing-in-u-k-rate-swaps-lawsuit.html | 4 | 25 | f181519bda553853eb2d143904e68871704f8b10 | Barclays Plc (BARC) was accused of
undermining the integrity of the London interbank offered rate
in a lawsuit filed by a care home company which claims it was
sold unfair interest rate swaps linked to the measure. Companies in the Guardian Care Homes Ltd. group sued
Barclays for repayment of about 12 million pounds ($19.3
million) and for termination of the swaps. “Barclays knew of its own conduct in relation to the
fixing of Libor rates and therefore knew, or ought to have
known, that the Libor representations were untrue,” Guardian’s
lawyers said in legal papers, citing the regulatory
investigations and press reports. Libor, the benchmark borrowing rate between banks which is
used as the basis for $360 trillion of securities, is the
subject of regulatory probes worldwide examining whether
lenders manipulated rates for their own benefit. The conduct of Barclays and that of other banks “was such
as to undermine the integrity of Libor rates,” the lawyers said
in the filings. Guardian claims that the Libor-fixing claims
invalidated the interest swaps it bought and said it’s seeking
documents from the bank to determine “the full nature and
extent of Barclays’ conduct.” Barclays considers the action “is completely without
merit” and “will contest it vigorously,” Jon Laycock, a
spokesman for the bank, said in an e-mailed statement. “Barclays is satisfied that it provides sufficient
information to enable a client to make an informed, commercial
decision about the products it offers,” Laycock said. To contact the reporter on this story:
Kit Chellel in London at
cchellel@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at
aaarons@bloomberg.net | 2012 | barclays-accused-over-libor-fixing-in-u-k-rate-swaps-lawsui |
NewPage Creditors Win More Time to Sue Over 2007 Buyout | By Steven Church | 2012-04-25T21:51:58Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/newpage-creditors-win-more-time-to-sue-over-2007-lbo-correct-.html | 4 | 25 | 9e95c6cbc6e609ec5f301ef9ac8cd81a772d55f9 | Creditors of NewPage Corp., the
bankrupt maker of coated papers in North America , won more time
to file a lawsuit over a 2007 leveraged buyout that boosted the
company’s debt load by $1.7 billion. U.S. Bankruptcy JudgeKevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware,
gave a committee of unsecured creditors until May 4 to prepare a
lawsuit challenging NewPage’s purchase of competitor Stora Enso
North American Inc. “By any measure, the 2007 acquisition saddled the debtors
with a significant amount of additional secured and unsecured
debt,” the committee said in court papers. NewPage, based in Miamisburg, Ohio , in September filed the
biggest bankruptcy of 2011 by assets, listing $3.4 billion in
assets and $4.2 billion in debt as of June 30. The company’s $2.7 billion in secured debt exceeds the
value of its assets, NewPage attorney Martin J. Bienenstock, of
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, said today in court. Under U.S. Bankruptcy
Code , that would mean the unsecured, lower-ranking creditors
represented by the committee are unlikely to recover anything. The committee has been investigating whether the 2007
buyout and a later 2009 refinancing can be challenged as so-
called fraudulent transfers that harmed lower-ranking creditors,
according to court records. Committee attorney Luc Despins said first-lien lenders are
likely to be among the targets of the lawsuit creditors plan to
file. Gross said he was concerned that the battles between the
committee and higher-ranking creditors may run up such high
legal bills that NewPage and its employees could suffer. “This case has been so contentious so far,” Gross said.
“To some extent this has been like a psycho-therapy session.” The case is In re NewPage Corp. 11-12804, U.S. Bankruptcy
Court , District of Delaware (Wilmington). To contact the reporter on this story:
Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware, at
schurch3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Pickering at
jpickering@bloomberg.net | 2012 | newpage-creditors-win-more-time-to-sue-over-2007-lbo-correct- |
Dreyfus Cash Management Funds Daily Values as of Apr 24, 2012. | By | 2012-04-25T08:57:53Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/dreyfus-cash-management-funds-daily-values-as-of-apr-24-2012-.html | 4 | 25 | 609180f1ec704e03bbd26ec33756580e | The following
are the closing values for the Dreyfus Cash Management
Funds as of Apr 24, 2012. Name of the Fund Daily Weekly Maturity
Assets
Cusip # Yield% Yield% <days>
<000’s>
________________________________________________________________
____
_____________________INSTITUTIONAL
SHARES___________________________
0288 Dreyfus Cash Management, Institutional Shares 26188J-20-6 0.06 0.07 34
21,718,964 (MILLRATE: .000001596) 0289 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Institutional Shares 262006-20-8 0.00 0.00 55
13,797,507 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0227 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Institutional
Shares 262006-88-5 0.00 0.00 51
3,791,586 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0521 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Institutional
Shares 261908-10-7 0.01 0.01 52
14,834,040 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0761 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Institutional
Shares 261941-10-8 0.00 0.00 53
17,899,275 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0132 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Institutional
Shares 261950-10-9 0.08 0.06 24
407,321 (MILLRATE: .000002070) 0264 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-20-5 0.01 0.02 28
1,909,346 (MILLRATE: .000000269) 0287 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Institutional
Shares 261954-10-1 0.05 0.06 20
301,029 (MILLRATE: .000001464) 0099 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Institutional Advantage
Shares 26200V-10-4 0.12 0.13 32
21,204,365 (MILLRATE: .000003314) 6139 Dreyfus Liquid Assets, Inc., Class 2 Shares 262015-20-9 0.01 0.01 09
3,507,840 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 6188 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management,
Institutional Shares 26202K-70-0 0.07 0.07 29
157,099 (MILLRATE: .000001874) ________________________INVESTOR
SHARES_____________________________
0670 Dreyfus Cash Management, Investor Shares 26188J-30-5 0.00 0.00 34
3,050,485 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0672 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Investor Shares 262006-30-7 0.00 0.00 55
1,562,190 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0610 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Investor Shares 262006-70-3 0.00 0.00 51
495,357 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0673 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Investor Shares 261908-20-6 0.01 0.01 52
2,361,726 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0674 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Investor Shares 261941-20-7 0.00 0.00 53
4,080,725 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0676 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Investor Shares 261950-20-8 0.00 0.00 24
245,321 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0675 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-30-4 0.00 0.00 28
365,738 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0677 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Investor Shares 261954-20-0 0.00 0.00 20
220,099 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0100 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Investor
Advantage Shares 26200V-30-2 0.00 0.00 32
11,146 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6189 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management,
Investor Shares 26202K-80-9 0.00 0.00 29
225,135 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _____________________ADMINISTRATIVE
SHARES__________________________
0566 Dreyfus Cash Management, Administrative Shares 26188J-40-4 0.00 0.00 34
925,779 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0567 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Administrative Shares 262006-40-6 0.00 0.00 55
1,082,217 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0557 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Administrative
Shares 262006-80-2 0.00 0.00 51
535,568 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0568 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Administrative
Shares 261908-30-5 0.01 0.01 52
571,007 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0582 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Administrative
Shares 261941-30-6 0.00 0.00 53
735,703 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0584 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Administrative
Shares 261950-30-7 0.00 0.00 24
212,365 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0583 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-40-3 0.00 0.00 28
73,468 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0585 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Administrative
Shares 261954-30-9 0.00 0.00 20
24,804 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0093 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Administrative
Advantage Shares 26200V-20-3 0.05 0.06 32
687,413 (MILLRATE: .000001403) 6187 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management,
Administrative Sh 26202K-88-2 0.00 0.00 29
2,334 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _______________________SERVICE SHARES___________________________
6183 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Service Shares 261908-50-3 0.01 0.01 52
29,203 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________SELECT SHARES___________________________
6184 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Select Shares 261908-60-2 0.01 0.01 52
20,693 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________PARTICIPANT
SHARES___________________________
0596 Dreyfus Cash Management, Participant Shares 26188J-50-3 0.00 0.00 34
798,952 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0597 Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Participant Shares 262006-50-5 0.00 0.00 55
235,643 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0587 Dreyfus Government Prime Cash Management, Participant
Shares 262006-60-4 0.00 0.00 51
197,608 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0598 Dreyfus Treasury & Agency Cash Management, Participant
Shares 261908-40-4 0.01 0.01 52
737,325 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0592 Dreyfus Treasury Prime Cash Management, Participant Shares 261941-40-5 0.00 0.00 53
2,871,200 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0594 Dreyfus Municipal Cash Management Plus, Participant Shares 261950-40-6 0.00 0.00 24
23,207 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0593 Dreyfus Tax Exempt Cash Management Funds 26202K-50-2 0.00 0.00 28
13,607 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0595 Dreyfus New York Municipal Cash Management, Participant
Shares 261954-40-8 0.00 0.00 20
11,799 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0094 Dreyfus Institutional Cash Advantage Fund, Participant
Advantage Shares 26200V-40-1 0.00 0.00 32
192,676 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6190 Dreyfus California AMT-Free Municipal Cash Management,
Participant Shares 26202K-60-1 0.00 0.00 29
42,040 (MILLRATE: .000000001) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT FUNDS
AND THE DREYFUS ELECTRONIC TRADING SYSTEM TYPE DREY AND HIT
GO BUTTON. TO SPEAK TO A DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CLIENT
ADMINISTRATOR,
PLEASE CALL (800)346-3621 OR (718)895-1650. Anibal Arrascue in the Bloomberg Princeton office. (609)279-5084 #<619612.996834.2.1.77.31389.25># | 2012 | dreyfus-cash-management-funds-daily-values-as-of-apr-24-2012- |
Mad Cow Case May Be Bearish for Corn, Dennis Gartman Says | By Whitney McFerron | 2012-04-25T10:41:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/mad-cow-case-may-be-bearish-for-corn-dennis-gartman-says.html | 4 | 25 | 1a1a28d88730c06f9aaf8c3033d7f4ac0b881555 | The discovery of a case of mad cow
disease in the U.S. may have “a bearish effect” on corn and
soybean meal prices if fears about the illness spread, economist
Dennis Gartman wrote in his daily newsletter. The first U.S. case of the illness, or atypical bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, in six years was found in a dairy cow
in central California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
yesterday. Corn and soybean meal are primary ingredients in
livestock feed. “When it comes to mad cow disease psychology and fear
trump science and fact, harsh though that may seem,” Gartman
wrote today. “For now, all we can do is wait to see what
happens, fearing that this may not be a one-off event, but
expecting and hoping that it shall be.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Whitney McFerron in London at
wmcferron1@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Deane at
jdeane3@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ad-cow-case-may-be-bearish-for-corn-dennis-gartman-says |
Huawei Expects Sales to Rise 20% This Year on Smartphones | By Bloomberg News | 2012-04-25T10:49:00Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/huawei-expects-sales-to-rise-20-this-year-on-smartphones.html | 4 | 25 | 4dcf0f77b7b1a87f2a67ddbcfcace2adc1ab3c29 | Huawei Technologies Co., China ’s
largest maker of phone equipment, will boost research spending
by 20 percent this year to fuel an expansion into smartphones
and cloud computing, the acting chief executive officer said. Spending will increase to $4.5 billion from $3.76 billion
last year, Eric Xu Zhijun said at Huawei’s annual analyst day at
its headquarters in Shenzhen today. The company disclosed this
week that Xu is one of three rotating CEOs serving six-month
terms. Xu’s rotation began this month. Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder and a former member of
China’s military, and the co-CEOs are increasing the company’s
focus on consumer mobile devices and business computing services
after profit was cut by half in 2011. Huawei expects sales to
increase as much as 20 percent this year amid demand from
carriers and for its smartphones, Controller C.T. Johnson said. “We have to expand our investment in research and
development, and improve our innovation,” Xu said at the
conference. The company’s chipset-making ability is a key advantage and
it can make money from its smartphone offerings, Xu said. Profit fell to 11.6 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in 2011,
compared with 24.7 billion yuan a year earlier, Huawei reported
April 23. Profit dropped as the company spent more on research
and development, global expansion of new businesses targeting
sales of consumer devices including smartphones, and computer
services for businesses. Rotating CEOs Sales rose 11.7 percent to 203.9 billion yuan ($32 billion)
in 2011, the company reported this week. In addition to Xu, Deputy Chairmen Guo Ping and Ken Hu Houkun are also part of the rotating CEO pool, spokesman Ross Gan said in an April 23 interview. Ren, 67, retains the titles
of CEO and deputy chairman of Huawei, according to the company’s
annual report released the same day. Huawei disclosed the members of its senior leadership team
and board of directors for the first time in April 2011 after
concerns were raised in markets including the U.S., where Ren’s
military background has been cited by lawmakers as a potential
security risk in regards to Huawei’s expansion. The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
began a probe in November of whether Huawei poses a security
threat. Australia ’s government also said Huawei wouldn’t be allowed
to bid for work on its national broadband network because of
security concerns. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:
Edmond Lococo in Beijing at
elococo@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Tighe at
mtighe4@bloomberg.net | 2012 | uawei-expects-sales-to-rise-20-this-year-on-smartphones |
Austria Injects $1.3 Billion Into KA Finanz on Greek Losses | By Boris Groendahl | 2012-04-25T14:12:12Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/austria-injects-1-3-billion-into-ka-finanz-on-greek-losses-1-.html | 4 | 25 | 910584e3f14bef30a434f72a25c3b6701ea81755 | Austria injected 998 million euros
($1.3 billion) into nationalized KA Finanz AG after the lender
lost more than 1 billion euros on its bonds and credit-default
swaps in Greece ’s debt restructuring. KA Finanz, whose predecessor, Kommunalkredit Austria AG,
was nationalized in 2008, received the funds after canceling its
share and non-voting capital, the company said in a statement
today, causing a loss for its previous owners, Oesterreichische
Volksbanken AG (VBPS) and Dexia SA. (DEXB) Austria also provided an asset
guarantee to narrow the Vienna-based lender’s 2011 loss. “The portfolio of KA Finanz with a 76.6 percent share of
European risks depends significantly on the stability of
European financial markets,” KA Finanz said in the statement.
“The 2011 business year was characterized by the turmoil on
euro-area financial markets and the Greek debt restructuring.” KA Finanz is the so-called bad bank of Kommunalkredit,
which Austria took over when the company was near collapse after
the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. insolvency in 2008. While
Kommunalkredit continues as a municipal lender and is being
privatized, KA Finanz took on securities, loans and CDS that
aren’t part of that main business and is winding down those
assets. The biggest part of the capital KA Finanz is canceling is
434 million euros of so-called participation capital, it said in
the statement. Dexia and Volksbanken provided about 280 million
euros of that, according to KA Finanz’s 2009 annual report . Dexia Loss The capital cut together with a shareholder contribution by
Austria and the guarantee will help clear KA Finanz’s balance
sheet of the losses made in the Greek debt swap. Its remaining
net loss after those measures was 534.4 million euros, it said
in the statement. Under the 2008 bailout agreement, Volksbanken and Dexia
sold their stakes in Kommunalkredit to Austria for a nominal 1
euro and turned 372 million euros of loans they had given to
Kommunalkredit into participation capital, which is equivalent
to equity. When the bank was split into Kommunalkredit and KA
Finanz, Dexia ended up with about 150 million euros of
participation capital in KA Finanz, while Volksbanken holds
about 130 million euros. Volksbanken wrote off that investment
in its 2011 results. KA Finanz has reduced its risks, including the assets it
took over from Kommunalkredit and the debt it guaranteed by
writing CDSs, to 17.7 billion euros by the end of March from
21.3 billion euros at the end of June 2011. To contact the reporter on this story:
Boris Groendahl in Vienna at
bgroendahl@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Frank Connelly at
fconnelly@bloomberg.net | 2012 | austria-injects-1-3-billion-into-ka-finanz-on-greek-losses-1- |
U.S. DOE Weekly Petroleum Status Report for April 20 (Text) | By Kristy Scheuble | 2012-04-25T14:38:54Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/u-s-doe-weekly-petroleum-status-report-for-april-20-text-.html | 4 | 25 | 9a10a107d95538a709ab9a6631909050aa1d703b | Following is the text of the weekly
Petroleum Status Report from the U.S. Department of Energy: Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending April 20, 2012 U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged just under 14.5 million
barrels per day during the week ending April 20, 23 thousand
barrels per day above the previous week’s average. Refineries
operated at 84.7 percent of their operable capacity last week.
Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging about 8.8
million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased
last week, averaging nearly 4.2 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 8.8 million barrels per
day last week, up by 48 thousand barrels per day from the
previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have
averaged 8.9 million barrels per day, 235 thousand barrels per
day above the same four-week period last year. Total motor
gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline
blending components) last week averaged 620 thousand barrels per
day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 107 thousand barrels per
day last week. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding
those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 4.0
million barrels from the previous week. At 373.0 million
barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the upper limit of
the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline
inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels last week and are
in the upper limit of the average range. Both finished gasoline
inventories and blending components inventories decreased last
week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.1 million
barrels last week and are in the middle of the average range for
this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by
1.1 million barrels last week and are above the upper limit of
the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories
remained unchanged last week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period have
averaged 18.7 million barrels per day, down by 3.2 percent
compared to the similar period last year. Over the last four
weeks, motor gasoline product supplied has averaged nearly 8.7
million barrels per day, down by 4.2 percent from the same
period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied has averaged
3.8 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, up by 0.1
percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product
supplied is 0.4 percent lower over the last four weeks compared
to the same four-week period last year. To contact the reporter on this story:
Kristy Scheuble in Washington at
kmckeaney@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net | 2012 | u-s-doe-weekly-petroleum-status-report-for-april-20-text- |
BofA’s Rubinoff Said to Quit After Losing Role | By Cristina Alesci and Hugh Son | 2012-04-25T03:11:02Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bofa-s-rubinoff-said-to-quit-after-losing-role.html | 4 | 25 | 57b58257f089b247255bce03d9988cdc8389ad22 | Bank of America Corp. ’s Michael Rubinoff quit after losing his role earlier this year as co-head
of global corporate and investment banking, according to two
people with knowledge of the decision. Rubinoff stepped down this week as chairman of that
business, said the people, declining to be identified because
the move hasn’t been announced. He didn’t respond to messages
left at his Bank of America office, and John Yiannacopoulos, a
company spokesman, declined to comment. Rubinoff joins a growing number of senior executives to
leave the company’s investment bank, which is led by co-Chief
Operating Officer Thomas K. Montag. Andrea Orcel , the division’s
chairman and a top dealmaker, and James Forbes, who oversaw $30
billion in the bank’s principal investments, joined UBS AG in
the past month. Jonathan Moulds, president of Europe and
emerging markets , is retiring in June. Christian Meissner was named sole leader of global
corporate and investment banking in January, less than a year
after he, Rubinoff and Paul Donofrio were appointed to co-head
that unit. Montag shook up the division after the broader
investment bank, including trading, posted an annual profit that
plunged by half to $2.97 billion in 2011 as Europe’s sovereign-
debt crisis roiled markets. Deepening Relationships At the time, Rubinoff, 49, was given the chairman title
along with Purna Saggurti, and was made responsible for
deepening relationships with chief executive officers and
directors of large corporations. Bank of America has worked on
Safra Group’s agreement to pay more than 1 billion Swiss francs
($1.1 billion) for a controlling stake in wealth manager Bank
Sarasin & Cie. AG (BSAN) , according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Rubinoff said he plans to work for the Safra family,
according to the people. Safra Group controls Brazil ’s Banco
Safra SA and is led by Joseph Safra, the world’s 52nd-richest
person , according to Forbes magazine. Robert Siegfried, a
spokesman for Sao Paulo-based Banco Safra, declined to comment. In a memo to employees, Montag called Rubinoff an
“accomplished” banker to some of the world’s largest financial
firms who helped Bank of America strengthen its capital level
through asset sales. Orcel, who will serve as co-head of UBS’s investment bank,
joined Merrill Lynch & Co. in 1992. He was among the biggest
dealmakers when the firm was independent, leading the team that
helped Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc buy ABN Amro Holding NV
in 2008 in the biggest banking takeover. Orcel was named
chairman of global banking and markets after Bank of America
acquired Merrill Lynch in 2009. To contact the reporters on this story:
Cristina Alesci in New York at
calesci2@bloomberg.net ;
Hugh Son in New York at
hson1@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Scheer at
dscheer@bloomberg.net | 2012 | bofa-s-rubinoff-said-to-quit-after-losing-role |
Mad Cow Case Won't Hit Russia's Grain Sales, SovEcon Says | By Marina Sysoyeva | 2012-04-25T11:12:13Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/mad-cow-case-won-t-hit-russia-s-grain-sales-sovecon-says.html | 4 | 25 | 939c9ef9782639f4af8263c5ff8ed6eda84f986c | Andrei Sizov Jr., managing director
of Moscow-based SovEcon consultancy, commented on the discovery
of mad cow disease in the U.S. and its potential influence on
corn and soybean sales from Russia , by phone from Moscow today. “This won’t have any impact on Russia’s grains sales.” “Russia does not export soybeans.” “Corn will have record shipments of more than 1.5 million
metric tons in the current season.” To contact the reporter on this story:
Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at
msysoyeva@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ad-cow-case-won-t-hit-russia-s-grain-sales-sovecon-says |
Ex-Morgan Stanley Executive Pleads Guilty in Conspiracy | By Joel Rosenblatt and Thom Weidlich | 2012-04-26T04:01:01Z | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/ex-morgan-stanley-executive-pleads-guilty-in-conspiracy.html | 4 | 25 | 1fbb2aa7fe1543e8b04a4caa286eda8f | Garth R. Peterson, a former Morgan
Stanley (MS) executive, pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in
the transfer of a multimillion dollar ownership interest in a
Shanghai building to himself and a Chinese public official. Peterson, 42, who was a managing director in Morgan
Stanley’s real estate investment business, pleaded guilty
yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to conspiring
to evade accounting controls, the Justice Department said in an
e-mailed statement. “I decided from the beginning that that I would mislead
Morgan Stanley about who would be investing as a Chinese
partner,” Peterson told U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein .
“I know what I did was wrong and I apologize for my actions.” Peterson “lied and cheated his way to millions in personal
profit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, head
of the Justice Department ’s criminal division, said in the
statement. “Because of his corrupt conduct, he now faces the
prospect of prison time.” Peterson is scheduled to be sentenced July 17. He faces as
long as five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000,
prosecutors said. Morgan Stanley is required, under the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act, to maintain the internal accounting controls
Peterson violated, according to the Justice Department. The
controls ensure accountability for the bank’s assets and prevent
employees from paying or promising anything of value to foreign
government officials, the Justice Department said. Received Training From 2002 to 2008, Peterson received training on the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from Morgan Stanley seven times,
and he was reminded about his duty to comply with it at least 35
times, the Justice Department said. Peterson told Morgan Stanley that the bank’s interest a
Shanghai real estate deal was being sold to a state-controlled
entity, though it was actually sold to a shell company
controlled by Peterson, a Chinese official and a Canadian
lawyer, according to the Justice Department. Morgan Stanley sold the real estate at a discount, allowing
the conspirators to realize an immediate profit of more than
$2.5 million, according to the statement. Peterson and his co-
conspirators collected equity distributions from the deal as the
real-estate appreciated in value, the Justice Department said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also accused
Peterson of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and
securities laws in a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in
New York , according to a separate statement from that agency. Finder’s Fees Peterson arranged to have at least $1.8 million paid to
himself and the Chinese official that he disguised as finder’s
fees, the SEC said in its statement. Peterson, who led Morgan
Stanley’s effort to build a Chinese real estate portfolio, also
agreed as part of a settlement with the SEC to be permanently
barred from the securities industry and relinquish his interest
in the Shanghai real estate investment, currently valued at
about $3.4 million, the SEC said. A May 2 settlement hearing is scheduled for the SEC case. “We cooperated fully with the government, and we are very
satisfied with this outcome,” Mark Lake, a spokesman for the
New York-based Morgan Stanley, said in a statement. “Mr.
Peterson’s intentional circumvention of Morgan Stanley’s
internal controls was a deliberate and egregious violation of
our values and policies.” Frank Wohl, Peterson’s lawyer, declined to comment after
the hearing on the guilty plea. The criminal case is U.S. v. Peterson, 12-cr-00224, U.S.
District Court, Eastern District of New York ( Brooklyn ). The
civil case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Peterson,
12-cv-02033, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
(Brooklyn). To contact the reporters on this story:
Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at
jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net ;
Thom Weidlich in New York at
tweidlich@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at
mhytha@bloomberg.net | 2012 | ex-morgan-stanley-executive-pleads-guilty-in-conspiracy |