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Thaicom Gains Most in 18 Months on China Partner: Bangkok Mover

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/thaicom-gains-most-in-six-months-on-china-partner-bangkok-mover.html

Thaicom Pcl (THCOM) , Thailand ’s satellite monopoly, gained the most in 18 months in Bangkok trading after saying it agreed to form a new partnership to help sell its high-speed Internet services in China. The shares surged 9.3 percent to 25.25 baht at the close, the biggest gain since July 2011. The stock was the third-best performer on the SET100 Index (SET100) , which rose 1.1 percent. Thaicom, controlled by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, signed an initial agreement on Dec. 30 with a unit of Hong Kong- based Synertone Communication Corp. (1613) to become the new provider of its Ipstar services in China, according to a regulatory filing today. Thaicom has banked on higher revenue from its Ipstar satellite, an orbiter that offers high-speed Internet services, to return to profit after four years of annual losses. “The announcement is very positive for Thaicom because sales of Ipstar services in China have been very disappointing,” Chirasit Vuttigrai, an analyst at DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) Co. in Bangkok, said by telephone. “This raises optimism that the Ipstar business in China will significantly improve with the new partner.” Under the agreement, Synertone will become the sole provider of Ipstar service capacity available for mainland China, Thaicom said. The Chinese market accounts for about 24 percent of total capacity of its Ipstar satellite, it said. The orbiter is the company’s biggest satellite. Thaicom may buy an equity stake in Synertone, according to the Thai company. A final agreement between Thaicom and Synertone must be signed by March 31, it said. The partnership will enable Synertone to explore a new source of revenue and expand its customer base for specialized communication products, the company said in a separate statement on Dec. 30. Thaicom posted an annual loss every year between 2008 and 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It had a profit of 50 million baht ($1.6 million) in the first nine months of 2012, compared with a net loss of 175.6 million baht in the same period a year earlier, it said Nov. 13. To contact the reporter on this story: Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net

Barclays’ Hayes to Return to BOE to Run Forecasting Division

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-05/barclays-hayes-to-return-to-boe-to-run-forecasting-division.html

Simon Hayes , chief U.K. economist at Barclays Plc, will return to the Bank of England after eight years to run its economics forecast division, replacing Robert Woods. Hayes had worked at the central bank until leaving in 2005 to join Barclays in London. The BOE announced the appointment in an e-mailed statement and said he will run the Conjunctural Assessment and Projections Division, which oversees production of quarterly forecasts used by the Monetary Policy Committee. Woods joined the BOE on secondment from the U.K. Treasury in October 2010, and will return there in the spring of next year, the central bank said. He took over the division in 2012, part of an overhaul of the economics unit as former Governor Mervyn King approached the end of his term. The head of CAPD “will provide strategic oversight of the economic judgments and background analysis presented to the MPC,” according to an ad for the position on the BOE’s website last month. “They will facilitate the incorporation of insights from staff, analysis and models from Monetary Analysis and the wider bank.” Hayes will report to BOE Chief Economist Spencer Dale in his new role. To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

IHS’s Ren Says Rate Cut Suggests May Numbers May Be Soft

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-07/ihs-s-ren-says-rate-cut-suggests-may-numbers-may-be-soft.html

Ren Xianfang, a Beijing-based economist with IHS Global Insight Ltd. comments by phone on China ’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time since 2008. “Possibly because the May numbers are still very soft, the government wants to take some pre-emptive moves before the numbers are released. This will help boost sentiments definitely.” “They still have concerns about inflation and property bubbles, but I think the larger concern has become stability of growth. If you don’t have overall macroeconomic stability, there is no point for you to try and control the housing market bubbles. So providing stimulus is for that purpose as I think stability is paramount now.” “This was in-line with the broad policy steps they have been taking even with the fiscal stimulus. The government this time around is looking at both a short term boost and longer term structural adjustment. This is just the same as the structural stimulus that they have recently unveiled.” “Interest rate liberalization has been a topic that they have been discussing for such a long time and they want to incorporate that into this latest package as well, so that they are not just looking at short term stimuli but also longer term. That will give the banks more flexibility and I think that will not just help to improve efficiency, but also alleviate some of the short-term liquidity crunches which businesses experienced last year.” To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Daryl Loo in Beijing at dloo7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nicholas Wadhams at nwadhams@bloomberg.net

HOLIDAY ENTERTAI February Sales Fall 17.41% (Table) : 9943 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-07/holiday-entertai-february-sales-fall-17-41-table-9943-tt.html

HOLIDAY ENTERTAI said unconsolidated sales in February fell 17.41% to NT$259,771,000 from NT$314,528,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 2/2012 2/2011 Sales 259,771 314,528 YOY% -17.41% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 625,141 603,810 YOY% 3.53% =================================================================

BAE May Win $599 Million Indian Gun Deal, Mail on Sunday Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-27/bae-may-win-599-million-indian-gun-deal-mail-on-sunday-reports.html

BAE Systems Plc may sell 145 field guns and an associated support package to India for 372 million pounds ($599 million), the Mail on Sunday reported, without saying how it learned the information. The potential sale involves BAE’s M777 howitzer, which has generated sales totaling more than 1 billion pounds to the U.S., Canada and Australia , since it started development in 1999, the paper reported. The weapon has become one of Britain’s most successful defense exports, according to the report. 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

Blackstone Said to Approach Hurd About Running Dell After Buyout

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-20/blackstone-said-to-approach-hurd-about-running-dell-after-buyout.html

Blackstone Group LP (BX) , which is considering a bid for Dell Inc. (DELL) , has approached Oracle Corp. (ORCL) President Mark Hurd about running the computer maker, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The private-equity firm hasn’t made a formal offer to Hurd, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the overture was private. Blackstone is considering whether to make a rival proposal to Dell’s planned $24.4 billion buyout by its founder, Michael Dell, and Silver Lake Management LLC, people with knowledge of the matter said this week. Hurd is the former chief executive officer of Hewlett- Packard Co. (HPQ) During his tenure, the company retook leadership in the personal-computer market from Dell, boosted its stock-market value by more than half to $97.7 billion and expanded into new businesses including computer services and networking gear. Deborah Hellinger , a spokeswoman for Redwood City, California-based Oracle, declined to comment yesterday, as did David Frink , a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell. Fortune reported yesterday that Hurd is one of Blackstone’s top choices for CEO, in the event that Michael Dell doesn’t stay on in the position. Hurd’s exit from Hewlett-Packard, after the board said he violated the company’s standards of business conduct, kicked off a three-year period of management upheaval and strategy shifts. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Czech Austerity Revolt Threatens Cabinet as Slump Bites

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-21/czech-austerity-revolt-threatens-cabinet-as-slump-bites.html

Czech Premier Petr Necas is battling to save his government as a revolt mounts against an austerity drive that threatens to deepen the nation’s recession. The 47-year-old lost his parliamentary majority in April when his coalition crumbled after budget and personnel rows. He must secure enough lower-house support to overturn last week’s Senate rejection of tax increases to cut the fiscal deficit below the European Union’s limit next year. The vote is likely to take place after parliament reconvenes in Prague on Sept. 4. Governments across Europe are struggling to hold on as austerity measures enacted to combat the euro-area debt crisis plunge their economies back into recession, four years after the start of the global financial crisis. The Czech economy has contracted for three quarters as Necas’s previous budget cuts curbed domestic demand and the debt crisis hurt exports. The lower house’s repeat vote “on this package will be, in a way, a vote about the government’s existence,” Jiri Pehe, a former adviser to late President Vaclav Havel and director of New York University in Prague, said by phone on Aug. 17. “It’s possible that Necas will link it to a confidence motion, or threaten early elections if the proposal isn’t approved, tactics he used before and that worked for him.” Maintaining Confidence Necas, who credits previous austerity measures with helping reduce borrowing costs, says his latest plan will maintain investor confidence by cutting the deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product next year through an increase in the sales tax and a levy on the highest incomes. Budget cuts are “an absolute priority” as the country risks higher borrowing costs if the fiscal strategy “loses credibility,” he said in an Aug. 18 interview with newspaper Lidove Noviny. Scrapping the tax increases would only be done by “a different government with a different premier,” he said. The yield on the two-year Czech bond fell to a record low of 0.513 percent today, about one-fifth what Italy pays to borrow for two years, according to generic data compiled by Bloomberg. The koruna slid 0.8 percent, the most among major emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg, to 24.967 per euro by 2:10 p.m. in Prague. Deficit Cutting The two-year-old Cabinet has cut investment, raised the sales tax and curbed spending on public wages, helping to push the budget shortfall to 3.1 percent of GDP last year, from 4.8 percent in 2010. The $215 billion economy shrank 0.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, the third consecutive contraction , as households curbed spending in response to Europe’s worsening economy. The Czech Republic , which isn’t part of the 17-country euro region, relies on the 27-nation EU to buy 80 percent of exports, including from companies such as carmaker Skoda Auto AS. “The Czech economy is fundamentally healthier than most European economies, but it’s still lagging behind in performance,” Vaclav France, an analyst at Raiffeisenbank AS in Prague, said. “The government should be very cautious about austerity measures.” The Czech Republic, which joined the EU in 2004, expanded more than 5 percent for 13 quarters on an annual basis through 2007. Even with a spike in deficits following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008, Czech public debt at 41 percent of GDP last year was about half of the EU average. Belgium , a euro-area member with about the same population and an economy more than twice as large, had debt of 98 percent of GDP and a deficit of 3.7 percent of GDP in 2011. Its two-year yield was 0.437 percent today. The Czech Republic has benefited from positive investor sentiment and a “solid track record of fiscal prudence” underpins its policy credibility, which keeps funding costs low, Moody’s Investors Service said in a note yesterday. ‘Credit Negative’ While the Cabinet is committed to cutting the deficit, “the unsupportive macroeconomic environment continues to hinder consolidation efforts and could jeopardize the stabilization of debt ratios, which would be credit negative,” said Moody’s, which rates the Czech Republic at A1. Apart from the opposition Social Democrats , the plan to raise taxes has also been criticized by President Vaclav Klaus, an economist who founded Necas’s Civic Democratic Party , or ODS, after the collapse of communism two decades ago, as well as the premier’s own lawmakers. Tax increases during a recession would further curtail economic growth and “border on economic suicide,” Klaus told newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes in an interview published Aug. 18. Necas shouldn’t “force deputies to vote in a way that would violate the long-standing program of the ODS,” which traditionally eschews tax increases, lawmaker Petr Tluchor said Aug. 17, according the CTK newswire. ‘Real Test’ Rejection of the proposed package “could result in a coalition breakup,” Jaromir Sindel , an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Prague, said by phone. The vote in the lower house will be a “real test of the coalition’s integrity,” Sindel said, expecting lawmakers to eventually approve the bill. Opposition to austerity measures has upended governments across Europe. The region’s three-year-old sovereign-debt crisis has resulted in the ouster of leaders in Ireland, Portugal , Greece , Italy, the Netherlands, Romania , Spain , Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. Private consumption will fall this year because of weak real disposable-income growth and negative sentiment , with full- year GDP to shrink 0.9 percent in 2012, the central bank forecasts. Retail sales declined in every month in the second quarter, while consumer confidence fell to the lowest level in almost 13 years in May, according to the statistics-office data. Weak Demand “We’ve been registering very weak household consumption in several recent quarters, and its growth rate seems to be the weakest in the modern history of the independent Czech Republic,” Vladimir Tomsik , a central bank vice-governor, said in an Aug. 15 interview. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, stepping up efforts to push through the austerity plan, last week evoked “nasty Wall Street imperialists” that will “dictate” policy to nations with irresponsible finances. “A country that loses access to the markets and to credit lines stops being sovereign and free,” he said during the Senate debate on the legislation. Number Crunching The Social Democrats have a majority in the Senate, with the ruling coalition holding 100 mandates in the 200-seat lower house. That’s one vote short of the majority needed to override Senate motions. While Necas doesn’t have clear backing from all his lawmakers for the tax increase, declining public support for the three ruling parties in opinion polls is adding to pressure on deputies to back his policies, according to Pehe. “There’s a number of politicians who know that if the government falls, their political existence is over,” Pehe said. “The likelihood of the government surviving is greater than that of it falling.” -- Editors: Jeffrey Donovan , Alan Crosby To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Laca in Prague at placa@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net

Ex-RBC, BofA Prop Traders to Start Mortgage Hedge Fund

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-26/ex-rbc-bofa-prop-traders-to-start-mortgage-hedge-fund.html

Former Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of America Corp. proprietary traders plan to start a mortgage hedge fund at New York-based Tandem Global Management LP next month, joining at least half-a-dozen money managers wagering that home-loan bonds will rise in value. Stuart Lippman, 40, chief investment officer of the Tandem Mortgage Opportunity Fund, was formerly a managing director and senior portfolio manager in the non-agency mortgage credit business of Royal Bank of Canada’s proprietary trading group, according to a presentation dated May 25 that was obtained by Bloomberg News. David Liu, 43, chief strategist and portfolio manager at the new fund, managed portfolios in the global proprietary trading group at Bank of America. The fund would focus primarily on U.S. non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage- backed securities and asset-backed securities, Lippman said in a telephone interview. He and Liu plan to start the fund at the end of July with $100 million and raise as much as $500 million in 12 to 18 months. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Hayman Capital Management LP, Cerberus Capital Management LP and Canyon Partners LLC are among firms that have started or are seeking money for pools to invest in U.S. residential mortgages without government backing. Declining prices of such bonds in 2011 lured funds to invest in the market, which paid off this year as values soared after European regulators sought to stem the sovereign-debt crisis and the Federal Reserve was able to sell $19.2 billion of the notes, underscoring demand. ‘Excellent Opportunity’ The $1.1 trillion market for bonds tied to U.S. residential mortgages that lack guarantees from government-supported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or U.S.-owned Ginnie Mae gained 10.5 percent in the first five months of 2012 after losing 6.9 percent last year, according to Amherst Securities Group LP. “We view the opportunity set for smaller-sized managers in the space as extremely interesting at the moment,” Lippman said. “Since the end of the first quarter the market has experienced some retracement and dislocation providing entrants with an excellent opportunity set across asset types.” Before RBC, Lippman worked at UBS AG in the investment bank, where he built the secondary trading desk in both asset- backed securities and subprime mortgages, Tandem said in the presentation. Before that, he was a senior portfolio manager at Alliance Capital Management LP. Liu was head of mortgage credit research at UBS prior to his role at Bank of America. Before that, he was vice president of asset-backed securities research at Deutsche Bank AG. Lippman and Liu are currently fundraising for the fund. Lippman declined to say how much in assets Tandem has firmwide. Tandem was founded in 2008 by Kevin Murphy , Joe Petri and James Tammaro. The firm also has an emerging markets fund run by Ruggero de’ Rossi, partner and chief investment officer, it said in the presentation. To contact the reporters on this story: Kelly Bit in New York at kbit@bloomberg.net ; Nathaniel Baker in New York at nbaker14@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net

Sri Lanka Second Quarter GDP: Details

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-13/sri-lanka-second-quarter-gdp-details-table-.html

The following table shows Sri Lanka’s real GDP output for second quarter from the Department of Census and Statistics in Colombo. Note: Figures are based at 2002 prices. Prior figures are taken from earlier releases and may be revised. Source: Department of Census and Statistics. To contact the reporter on this story: Manish Modi in New Delhi at mmodi6@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net .

Ethanol Weakens Against Gasoline on Slack Use and Ample Supply

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-14/ethanol-weakens-against-gasoline-on-slack-use-and-ample-supply.html

Ethanol futures in Chicago weakened against gasoline on reduced demand and ample supply. The additive’s discount to the motor fuel expanded to 33.6 cents a gallon from 31.68 cents yesterday, based on December futures prices. Gasoline’s premium was 99.8 cents on Sept. 28. Ethanol stockpiles of 18.1 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 2 were 10 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Energy Department data released Nov. 7. Consumption of gasoline fell the most since Jan. 7, 2005, after Hurricane Sandy shut filling stations and kept drivers off the roads in the heavily populated U.S. Northeast. “The underlying fundamentals aren’t changing that much and that’s why the price isn’t changing that much,” said Mike Blackford, a consultant at INTL FCStone in Des Moines , Iowa. Denatured ethanol for December delivery climbed 0.6 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $2.343 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Futures have risen 6.4 percent this year. Gasoline for December delivery advanced 2.52 cents, or 1 percent, to $2.679 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract covers reformulated gasoline, which is made to be blended with ethanol before delivery to filling stations. Corn for March delivery gained 3 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $7.2925 a bushel in Chicago. One bushel makes at least 2.75 gallons of ethanol. Losing Money Based on December contracts for corn and ethanol, producers are losing 30 cents on each gallon of the fuel made, up from 29 cents on yesterday, excluding the revenue that can be made from the sale of dried distillers’ grains, a byproduct of ethanol production that can be fed to livestock, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Companies have tempered production because of price declines. New Energy Corp., operator of an ethanol plant in South Bend , Indiana , filed for bankruptcy protection Nov. 9 with plans to sell its assets. Ethanol production has fallen 14 percent this year to 827,000 barrels a day, or 12.3 billion gallons on an annualized basis, as of Nov. 2, Energy Department data show. The agency plans to release supply data at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Washington , a day later than usual because of the Veterans Day holiday on Nov. 12. Ethanol prices “can’t go a lot lower or it shuts too much production and it can’t go too high because people would come online and produce too much,” Blackford said. “The market’s doing what it should be doing, which is staying flat.” Prices would rise if imports waned and demand from foreign buyers increased, he said. Ethanol exports in August, the most recent month for which data is available from the Energy Department, averaged 39,000 barrels a day, the lowest level since November 2010. The country became a net importer of ethanol in August for the first time since November 2010, according to the Energy Department. 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

Sotheby’s Has $2.4 Million Profit as Art Market Rebounds

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-06/sotheby-s-quarterly-loss-narrows-as-sales-rise-costs-trimmed.html

Sotheby’s (BID) , which aims to sell a Jeff Koons sculpture tomorrow of the Pink Panther embracing a topless blonde for $30 million, reported a first-quarter profit. The New York auctioneer earned $2.4 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.2 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, it said in a statement. Revenue increased 17 percent to $119.6 million. The earnings were in line with estimates. Five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg projected profit of 3.6 cents a share. They had estimated revenue of $119 million. “This is one of our best first quarters on record,” Chief Executive William Ruprecht said today in an e-mailed statement. Auction sales increased 23 percent, offset in part by a 16 percent increase in operating expenses. Sotheby’s typically posts a small loss or profit in the first and third quarters. Its biggest auctions are held in the second and fourth quarters. It sells contemporary art tomorrow night in New York , with Koons’s “Pink Panther” estimated for $20 million to $30 million. Christie’s, which is privately held, holds its contemporary sale Wednesday night. Sotheby’s shares are up about 40 percent in the past 12 months as the auction market has rebounded. Sotheby’s shares rose 86 cents to $46.54 today in New York Stock Exchange trading. At year-end, Sotheby’s said it accounted for 49 percent of the auction sales of fine art and decorative art, jewelry and collectibles between the two major auction houses, up from 44 percent in 2009. Its annual sales almost doubled to $4.3 billion. To contact the reporter on this story: Philip Boroff in New York at pboroff@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net .

The Senate Rises Above Politics (If Only in Fiction)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-15/the-senate-rises-above-politics-if-only-in-fiction-.html

The phrase “the politics of personal destruction” entered the American lexicon during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Since 1998, it has become conventional wisdom that we are living through a uniquely vicious and polarized political period, a time when opponents no longer want to defeat each other, but to annihilate each other. Pundits speak of red and blue states as if a new Civil War was raging. Rumors and slanders that would once have been confined to the fringe -- such as the idea that President Obama is faking his birth certificate, or is secretly a Muslim -- enter mainstream discourse. One of the most commonly named symptoms of the breakdown of political civility is the polarization in the Senate. Once a chamber full of gentlemen and statesmen, the story goes, the Senate is today as bitterly partisan as the House. And the combination of Senate tradition with extreme politics is said to be producing an unprecedented gridlock. Senators place indefinite holds on presidential nominees. Most notably, the filibuster, once a rarely used piece of political theater, has become routine, meaning that 60 votes are now required to pass any major legislation in the Senate -- a supermajority that the Democrats briefly attained in 2009, and used to pass the Affordable Care Act. Beloved Washington It is all a long way from the world depicted in Allen Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller “Advise and Consent,” which was published in 1959. That novel shows that “the politics of personal destruction” are hardly a product of our own times. On the contrary, it tells the story of a virtuous senator driven to suicide by the scandal-mongering of his opponents. Yet Drury also depicts the Senate as a place of high ideals, jealous of its honor, where party divisions matter less than principles and friendships. Drury is in love with Washington , in a way that seems antique today, with politicians of all parties running as enemies of “the Beltway.” Drury loves to describe how a Senate quorum is called, what goes on at a Georgetown party, even how the Tidal Basin looks when the cherry blossoms come out. The plot of “Advise and Consent” centers on the president’s nomination of Robert Leffingwell to be secretary of state, and the novel follows four main characters and a host of subsidiary ones as they fight to confirm or defeat the nominee. In Leffingwell, a patrician liberal who got his start in politics as a New Dealer, there are strong echoes of Alger Hiss, whose career was similar. Soon enough the nominee is plunged into a confrontation with a Whittaker Chambers figure out of his past, who accuses him of having once been part of a Communist cell. Drury effectively weights the novel against Leffingwell, painting him as a wishy-washy peacenik who will jeopardize America’s resolve to fight back against Soviet aggression. The closest thing in the novel to an outright villain is Senator Fred Van Ackerman, a young, fire-breathing liberal who rallies support for Leffingwell by giving speeches of the better-dead- than-Red variety: Drury takes care to paint him as a demagogue verging on a psychotic. On the other hand, Leffingwell’s chief opponent, Seabright Cooley, is a long-serving Dixiecrat in the Strom Thurmond mold, who may be a racist and spoilsman, but whose heart is always shown to be in the right place. The spectrum of opinion mirrors that of the Democratic Party in the 1950s, but Drury goes out of his way not to use party labels. He writes only of “the majority party” and “the minority party,” a token of his belief that in the Senate, partisanship matters much less than principle and personal relationships. Deadly Secret Through a series of contrivances, the fate of the nomination comes to rest on the shoulders of Utah Senator Brigham Anderson, a widely admired young politician with a dangerous secret. Years earlier, during World War II, he had a gay love affair with a fellow soldier. Today, we are accustomed to thinking of the 1950s as the great age of repression and homophobia, but in “Advise and Consent” we find a best-selling novel that treats homosexuality with total sympathy, reserving all its condemnation for the gay-baiting politicians who would use it to destroy Anderson. Threatened with exposure unless he gives up his opposition to Leffingwell, Anderson commits suicide, becoming a martyr to prejudice and to the honor of the Senate. (Drury based this plot on the real-life case of Lester Hunt , who committed suicide in his Senate office in 1954, after political opponents threatened to publicize his son’s arrest for soliciting a male prostitute.) The driving force behind the blackmail of Anderson, it turns out, is the president himself. An unnamed figure who resembles the elusive Franklin Roosevelt more than the straightforward Dwight Eisenhower, the president is depicted in an ambiguous light that reflects Drury’s conflicted attitude toward power itself. Watching the president in action, the humble, Harry Truman-like vice president reflects: “This, he supposed, was greatness -- this ineffable combination of sincerity, insincerity, straightforwardness, duplicity, determination, adaptability and sheer downright guts. Thank God he wasn’t great, he told himself with a surge of innocent relief.” In another novel, the destruction of Anderson would be all you needed to know about the price of power and the ruthlessness of the powerful. Even Robert Penn Warren’s Willie Stark doesn’t do anything quite so loathsome. Yet Drury allows the senators of “Advise and Consent” a chance to reassert their basic decency and integrity, and to show another face of American politics: principled, nonpartisan and solely dedicated to the nation’s welfare. Van Ackerman, the persecutor of Anderson, is censured and effectively cast out of the Senate. Conscience Prevails When the Leffingwell nomination finally comes up for a vote, the majority leader instructs his followers to vote their conscience, not the party line. “The system had its problems, and it wasn’t exactly perfect,” Drury writes, “yet...there was a vigor and a vitality and a strength that nothing, he suspected, could ever quite overcome, no matter how evil and crafty it might be.” And in the novel’s last sequence, both parties and all branches of government rally together in the face of a threatening message from the Soviet Union , which -- in this post-Sputnik, pre-Apollo novel -- is supposed to have just landed the first man on the moon. Politics stops at the water’s edge, yet another old truth of American politics that today sounds antiquated, if not hypocritical. “Advise and Consent” concludes with a paean to “a few scraps of things, the memory of a meeting in Philadelphia, a speech at Gettysburg,” and other icons of American myth. Today, the noble individuals who populate Drury’s Senate seem similarly mythical -- relics of a bygone age that we will not recapture, no matter how much we miss it. (Adam Kirsch is a senior editor at the New Republic and a columnist for Tablet magazine. He is the author of “Why Trilling Matters.” The opinions expressed are his own. Read Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 5 of his series on classic political novels.) Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View. Subscribe to receive a daily e-mail highlighting new View editorials, columns and op-ed articles. Today’s highlights: the editors on the messy Medicare debate and on rejuvenating India’s economic miracle ; Jonathan Alter on Paul Ryan’s gift to Democrats; Caroline Baum on why conservatives don’t mind meddling in private affairs; Ezra Klein on how Ryan could be Democrats’ worst nightmare ; Jonathan Mahler on the U.S. popularity of European soccer ; Russell G. Ryan on giving the Securities and Exchange Commission too much power. To contact the writer of this article: Adam Kirsch at adam.kirsch@hotmail.com To contact the editor responsible for this article: Katy Roberts at kroberts29@bloomberg.net

Kasparov Flees Russia on Detention Fears Amid Putin Crackdown

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-06/kasparov-flees-russia-on-detention-fears-amid-putin-crackdown.html

Garry Kasparov , the former chess world champion turned critic of President Vladimir Putin , has left Russia and said he won’t return for fear of being detained, days after a government adviser fled the country citing pressure from law enforcement. “Right now, I have serious doubts that I would be able to travel out again if I returned to Moscow,” Kasparov, leader of the opposition Solidarity group, said in audio recording on his website dated June 4 from Geneva, where he spoke at a human-rights event. “For the time being, I am refraining from returning to Russia.” In April, Kasparov scotched rumors of “his political death” and insisted he wasn’t leaving the country in a message on his Twitter Inc. account. Denis Bilunov, a spokesman for Kasparov and another leader of the Solidarity group, confirmed he’s no longer in Russia and has no plans to return. Kasparov joins a wave of departures by prominent economists and journalists after coming under scrutiny by investigators. Sergei Guriev, an associate of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and rector of the New Economic School in Moscow, fled Russia to avoid possible prosecution in a criminal case. Journalist Masha Gessen, who wrote a biography on Putin, said she was leaving Russia for New York with her three children. ‘Little Paranoid’ “Some people are getting scared because they are fearful of unpleasant people in the security services,” Mattias Westman, chief executive officer of Prosperity Capital Management Ltd., which oversees about $4.5 billion in Russian assets, said by mobile phone from London. “We don’t yet see a crackdown on businessmen but people are a little paranoid right now.” Another leading critic of Putin, Alexey Navalny, is on trial and faces as long as 10 years in prison over charges that he defrauded a state timber company. He denies any wrongdoing and says the case is payback for helping lead the biggest protests against Putin’s 13-year rule in 2011. Twelve people were indicted last month for mass rioting at a May 6, 2012 rally at Moscow’s Bolotnaya square on the eve of Putin’s inauguration, with closed court hearings scheduled to start today in the Russian capital. Putin, a former colonel in the KGB, reclaimed the presidency last year from Medvedev, who’d stood in for him for four years. As president, Medvedev pushed to lower the state’s presence in the economy and combat corruption. In January, Medvedev said he may run for the top post again when Putin’s third term ends in 2018. Three ministers in Medvedev’s Cabinet have been fired or forced out in the past seven months, most recently Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov , the government’s chief of staff. To contact the reporters on this story: Evgenia Pismennaya in Moscow at epismennaya@bloomberg.net ; Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net

Leumi Rises Most in Two Weeks on Cost Cuts of Up to $108 Million

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-12/leumi-rises-most-in-two-weeks-on-cost-cuts-of-up-to-108-million.html

Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. (LUMI) rose the most in two weeks after the board of the country’s largest lender by assets approved measures that will cut costs by as much as 400 million shekels ($108 million) a year. The shares advanced 2.5 percent, the most since Jan. 26 in intraday trading, to 12.25 shekels at 11:47 a.m. in Tel Aviv. The steps will include eliminating about 800 jobs, according to an e-mailed statement today. To contact the reporter on this story: Shoshanna Solomon in Tel Aviv at ssolomon22@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

Chilean Stocks: Andina, Cap, Multiexport and Vapores

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/chilean-stocks-andina-cap-multiexport-and-vapores.html

The following companies had unusual price changes in Chilean trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 4 p.m. New York time. The Ipsa index fell 1.7 percent to 4,284.86, its seventh consecutive day of losses, its longest losing streak since November 2009. Cap SA (CAP CC) fell 2.4 percent to 21,508 pesos. Chile’s largest steel producer and iron miner may report fourth quarter earnings today. The company also announced it will spend $167 million to prepay bonds issued in 2005. Cia. Sudamericana de Vapores SA (VAPORES CC) retreated 4.7 percent to 421.69 pesos. Latin America’s largest container shipping company has fallen 10.8 percent in the last three days as crude prices surged to $100 a barrel in New York, signaling higher transport costs. Embotelladora Andina SA (ANDINAB CC) rose 0.1 percent to 2,059.3 pesos. Chile’s largest Coca-Cola bottler announced today it has called a shareholder meeting for April 27 to discuss a 13.4 pesos per series A shares and 14.8 pesos per series B share dividend. Multiexport Foods SA (MULTIFOO CC) fell 2.1 percent to 195.58 pesos. Chile’s largest listed salmon farmer has fired 400 employees as part of a company restructuring, El Mercurio wrote, citing Chief Executive Officer Andres Lyon. 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

Ex-Credit Suisse Broker Tzolov Ends Up With Four-Year Sentence

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/ex-credit-suisse-broker-tzolov-given-five-year-term-for-securities-fraud.html

Julian Tzolov , a former Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) broker who fled prosecution before pleading guilty to securities fraud , was sentenced to four years in prison after initially getting a five-year term earlier in the day. Tzolov, 38, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York. He was accused of fraudulently selling securities that cost corporate clients more than $1.1 billion. Before sentence was passed, Tzolov said he regretted his decision to run away. “I have been going to bed at night and waking up every morning not being able to forgive myself, how I could let fear cloud my judgment and let down people who have been treating me honestly and professionally,” Tzolov told the judge. “I made the most colossal mistake of my life.” The judge cut the original five-year term after recalculating the penalty for bail jumping, according to Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Tzolov, and Robert Nardoza , a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Tzolov, a native of Bulgaria , was returned to New York from Spain in July 2009 after fleeing for three months. Tzolov pleaded guilty when he returned to the U.S. and has been in custody since. He testified as a prosecution witness against Eric Butler, his former partner. The jury found Butler guilty in August 2009. Weinstein sentenced Butler, 39, in January 2010 to five years in prison. Butler is free on bail while he appeals his conviction. Weinstein sentenced Tzolov to 2 1/2 years for securities fraud, two conspiracy counts and seven wire-fraud counts. He added another 1 1/2 years, to run consecutively, for bail jumping. He granted probation for a count of immigration fraud. ‘Clearly Disappointed’ “I understand the sentence,” Brafman said after the initial hearing. “I’m clearly disappointed but we’ll deal with it.” Brafman had asked Weinstein to sentence his client to time served. He told Weinstein that his client has essentially been in isolation for two years because he has no family in the U.S. Tzolov, wearing a blue prison uniform, broke down in tears while discussing his 89-year-old father who is ill and “is in the last stage of his life.” In pleading guilty, Tzolov said he and Butler intentionally misled clients about securities purchased on their behalf, falsely claiming they were backed by federally guaranteed student loans. The men told clients the investments, actually backed by riskier corporate debt and subprime mortgages, were a safe alternative to bank deposits or money-market funds, said prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn. ‘Substantial Assistance’ Prosecutors in a filing yesterday asked for leniency for Tzolov because of his “substantial assistance,” including his aid in convicting Butler. “This defendant did cooperate and effectively laid out the fraud that was committed and the fact that the banks and their customers have closed their eyes to their obligations to the public,” Weinstein said in sentencing Tzolov. “Credit Suisse was careless in supervising various people.” David Walker , a spokesman for Zurich-based Credit Suisse, declined to comment. Weinstein also ordered Tzolov to pay $1.11 million in restitution to victims and $250,000 in forfeiture to the government. Tzolov and Butler worked as partners in Credit Suisse’s corporate cash management group, a division that helped clients manage excess corporate cash holdings, according to court papers. They routinely falsified the names of the securities they put their clients in by, for example, adding “ed” or “student loan” and deleting “housing,” according to prosecutors. Higher Commissions The brokers earned higher commissions from selling securities backed by corporate debt and mortgages than from selling those backed by student loans. Their clients included GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) and STMicroelectronics NV. (STM) Butler and Tzolov were allowed to keep $4.45 million in signing bonuses under a July 2010 arbitration ruling lost by their former employer, Morgan Stanley (MS) , at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The two men joined New York-based Morgan Stanley after leaving Credit Suisse. The cases are U.S. v. Tzolov, 08-cr-370, 09-cr-475 and 10- cr-83, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in Brooklyn, New York, federal court at tweidlich@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net .

Hedge Funds Ask SEC to Let Them Solicit Private Funds Without Registration

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/hedge-funds-ask-sec-to-let-them-go-public-in-private-offerings.html

The Managed Funds Association is urging U.S. regulators to remove restrictions on solicitation and advertising in private offerings to make it easier for hedge funds to raise money and promote their products. The Securities and Exchange Commission should amend its rules to allow private funds to “engage in communication and offering activity while remaining in compliance,” Richard H. Baker, the Washington-based lobby group’s president and chief executive officer, said in a letter requesting the rule change. An SEC advisory group on small and emerging companies voted for a similar recommendation on Jan. 6. The change would let hedge funds avoid the SEC’s registration process while openly seeking money from so-called accredited investors, those deemed sophisticated enough to understand riskier offerings. Changes in securities markets and regulations have rendered the 30-year-old restrictions unnecessary, Baker wrote in the letter dated yesterday. “We believe eliminating the ban would reduce the cost of capital for private funds and lead to greater efficiency in private offerings,” Baker wrote. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro asked her staff to rethink the measure after President Barack Obama directed federal agencies last year to ensure their rules promote economic growth while using the least burdensome tools to achieve regulatory ends. The U.S. House of Representatives in November approved legislation proposed by California Republican Kevin McCarthy that would let closely held companies advertise for investors. A similar measure awaits action by the Senate. “The industry is viewed as secretive, creating an unwarranted negative inference by investors and regulators,” Baker said. Removing curbs on advertising and solicitation would be “an important step in allowing a wider audience to learn about the industry,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Hamilton in Washington at jhamilton33@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lawrence Roberts at lroberts13@bloomberg.net .

ICICI Among Indian Banks That Face Moody’s Downgrade

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/icici-among-indian-banks-that-face-moody-s-downgrade.html

ICICI Bank Ltd. (ICICIBC) , HDFC Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. (AXSB) were placed under review for a downgrade of their financial strength rating by Moody’s Investors Service as the lenders are currently above India’s sovereign debt rating. The review will take into account the banks’ cross-border diversification of operations and their domestic sovereign debt holdings, among other factors, Moody’s said in a statement today. Most banks globally will be rated at the same grade as the nation where they are based, the ratings company said. India is rated at Baa3, the lowest investment-grade level. India’s sovereign credit outlook was lowered this month to negative by Standard & Poor’s , taking the nation a step closer to junk status and dealing a further blow to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ’s economic agenda. S&P reaffirmed its BBB- long- term India rating, while citing concerns that economic growth has slowed and the current-account deficit has widened. “Moody’s believes that the creditworthiness of financial institutions with low cross-border operational diversification and/or high balance-sheet exposures to the debt of their domestic sovereign is closely linked to that sovereign’s credit strength,” according to the statement today. Such lenders “are unlikely to have standalone credit assessments above the sovereign.” Economy Falters India’s economic expansion moderated to 6.1 percent in the quarter ended Dec. 31, the slowest pace in almost three years, as costlier credit hurt consumer spending and dented investment. The slowdown sapped tax receipts even as subsidies and a job- guarantee program for rural workers fanned spending. ICICI, HDFC (HDFCB) and Axis currently have standalone financial strength ratings, or baseline credit assessments of C-/Baa2, Moody’s said. The review of those ratings may take about three months, the credit assessor. The debt and deposit ratings for all three banks are unaffected, according to the statement. ICICI, India’s second-largest lender by assets, rose 1.6 percent to 882.35 rupees at close in Mumbai. HDFC, the country’s second-largest bank by market value, fell 0.2 percent to 542.5 rupees and Axis declined 1.3 percent to 1,106.95 rupees. The BSE India Bankex Index (BANKEX) , a gauge for 14 Indian lenders, rose by 0.6 percent. “The rating action by Moody’s is not a change in the sovereign rating of India and not affect ratings of any instruments issued by ICICI Bank,” including bonds or deposits, ICICI said in an e-mailed statement today. “Our ALM is well matched with asset repayments in fiscal 2012-13 broadly covering our bond and loan repayment obligations.” ALM refers to the asset-liability mix. “We do not need to access bond markets for refinancing,” the Mumbai-based lender said in the statement. “We will look at accessing the markets to raise funds for new lending depending on the cost and the rates at which we can deploy the funds.” HDFC spokesman Neeraj Jha and Axis spokesman Julius Samson declined to comment immediately when contacted. To contact the reporter on this story: Chitra Somayaji in Hong Kong at csomayaji@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net

PPR Said to Explore Leveraged Buyout Financing for Conforama

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/ppr-said-to-explore-leveraged-buyout-financing-for-conforama-business.html

PPR SA is exploring financing options for Conforama, including arranging a loan to finance a potential leveraged buyout to attract private-equity bidders, as it weighs a sale of France’s second-largest furniture retailer, said four people with knowledge of the matter. The Paris-based company is asking lenders to make proposals for a so-called staple financing that could be used to fund a Conforama LBO by private-equity firms, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified because the talks are confidential. PPR values the business at about 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion), a person familiar with the matter said in June. PPR, which also owns mail-order retailer Redcats and the Fnac music and video-store chain, is seeking to sell its retail assets to focus on building its luxury and lifestyle businesses. PPR may acquire more brands to bolster its Puma and Gucci Group divisions after selling “one or two” of the retail units, Chief Executive Officer Francois-Henri Pinault said yesterday. Conforama will hold presentations and discuss business plans with the lenders in the coming weeks, the people said. PPR will make a decision on whether to proceed with a Conforama sale by the middle of next month, one of the people said. PPR has also asked banks to explore a recapitalization to pay a dividend or a way to monetize the furniture retailer’s real estate assets, two of the people said. No Discussions Colony Capital LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s GS Capital Partners and Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd. have expressed interest in the unit, people familiar with the matter said in June. Marne-La-Vallée, France-based Conforama, which sells products including sofas, lamps, freezers and televisions, has a value of about 1.3 billion euros, Luca Solca , an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London, estimated in a Sept. 30 report. Colony Capital and GS Capital Partners bought a controlling stake in BUT, France’s third-largest furniture retailer, in January 2008 and have sought to combine the business with Conforama, three people familiar with the matter said in June. Steinhoff, Africa’s largest furniture maker, is looking for opportunities in France, said Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste in a June 11 interview. Conforama , which operates 239 stores worldwide, the majority of which are in France, focuses on the mass discount market. More Profitable Charlotte Judet, a spokeswoman for PPR, declined to comment on any possible interest in Conforama. A spokeswoman for Colony and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Mariza Nel , a spokeswoman for Steinhoff, said the company doesn’t comment on speculation. While PPR aims to sell at least one retail unit this year, it isn’t in a hurry and won’t sell assets cheaply, Pinault said May 19. The disposals might happen this year or next, he said at the time. Conforama’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 32 percent to 83 million euros in the first six months of 2010 as sales rose 6.2 percent, PPR said in July. The furniture retailer will be “significantly” more profitable this year than last year, Conforama CEO Thierry Guibert said in a June 30 interview. To contact the reporters on this story: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris at achassany@bloomberg.net ; Andrew Roberts in Paris at aroberts36@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net .

HEALTH & LIFE CO November Sales Fall 2.30% (Table) : 1781 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-09/health-life-co-november-sales-fall-2-30-table-1781-tt.html

HEALTH & LIFE CO said unconsolidated sales in November fell 2.30% to NT$52,876,000 from NT$54,120,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 11/2011 11/2010 Sales 52,876 54,120 YOY% -2.30% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 727,308 1,163,670 YOY% -37.50% =================================================================

Biogen Second-Quarter Profit Rises as Avonex Sales Increase

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-24/biogen-reports-second-quarter-profit-rises-boosts-forecast.html

Biogen Idec Inc., the third-largest U.S. biotechnology company, reported profit that topped analysts’ estimates as sales increased from its top-selling multiple sclerosis medicine Avonex and cancer therapy Rituxan. Second-quarter net income surged 34 percent to $386.8 million, or $1.61 a share, from $288 million, or $1.18, a year earlier, the Weston, Massachusetts-based company said today in a statement. Earnings excluding some items of $1.82 topped by 26 cents the average of 21 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue beat estimates by about $90 million. Biogen said profit this year is expected to be more than $6.20 a share, 5 cents higher than its May 1 forecast. The company has been increasing sales of Avonex, Rituxan and Tysabri, another MS therapy, while developing new medicines to introduce to the market. “The quarter looks terrific, probably one of the stronger quarters you’ll see in this earnings season,” Eric Schmidt , an analyst with Cowen & Co., said in a telephone interview today. “It’s a blowout quarter, driven by the top line.” Biogen rose less than 1 percent to $139.48 at 4 p.m. New York time. The shares have gained 27 percent this year. Sales Jump Revenue in the quarter rose 18 percent to $1.42 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.33 billion. Sales of Avonex climbed 16 percent to $762 million, while Rituxan increased 31 percent to $285 million. Tysabri revenue was little changed at $280 million, Biogen said. The company’s first pill for MS, BG-12, is being weighed for approval by regulators in the U.S. and Europe , and late- stage data are expected this year on experimental medicines being developed for Lou Gehrig ’s disease and hemophilia. “In the next six months, we go into a really interesting period for Biogen Idec where the pre-launch activity for these late-stage programs intensifies,” Paul Clancy, Biogen’s chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re in this unique situation where the company is blessed with four pivotal readouts over the next nine months, and we’re doing commercial preparations.” To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at mtirrell@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Euro-Region Slowdown Caused Overreaction, Estonia’s Kaasik Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-23/euro-region-slowdown-caused-overreaction-estonia-s-kaasik-says.html

Investors “overreacted” to signs the euro region’s economic recovery is losing momentum as data have yet to confirm the situation is worsening, Estonian central bank Deputy Governor Ulo Kaasik said. Gross domestic product in the 17-nation euro area rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the least since the region emerged from recession in 2009. It’s too early to say whether the developments of the financial markets in recent weeks will affect the economy, Kaasik said in an interview in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, yesterday. “The euro region’s recovery has been fast and faster than what was expected a year ago,” Kaasik said. “Now, when growth has slowed in the second quarter, it has somehow surprised the markets which have overreacted in a negative way. In fact, we don’t have clear data showing that the situation is worsening.” The second-quarter growth figure compared with 0.8 percent expansion in the first quarter and a 0.3 percent median estimate of 34 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Economic growth is slowing around the globe. The Federal Reserve this month pledged to keep interest rates near zero for another two years to bolster a recovery that’s moving “considerably slower” than expected. European policy makers are struggling to contain a debt crisis, while Japan has cut its annual growth forecast on weaker export prospects. ‘Significant’ Risks Given recent developments, a worse-than-expected development of the euro area’s economy can’t be ruled out as “risks are significant and there is a lot of uncertainty,” said Kaasik, 36. Kaasik and Madis Muller, a former fund manager with the World Bank , were appointed in May as deputy central bank governors for five-year terms, replacing Marten Ross and Rein Minka. Estonia adopted the euro in January, with Governor Andres Lipstok becoming a voting member of the European Central Bank council. European stocks rebounded from a two-year low yesterday amid speculation the Federal Reserve may this week signal additional stimulus measures. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.8 percent to 224.9 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London. The gauge retreated 6.1 percent last week, extending its decline from this year’s high to 23 percent. The four-week rout in equities has wiped out more than $8 trillion in global stock values before central bankers from around the world prepare to meet in Jackson Hole , Wyoming. Estonia’s euro adoption has had a “certain” role in boosting growth to 8.4 percent in the first half from a year earlier, the European Union’s fastest, and increasing investor confidence, Kaasik said. CDS Spreads The $19 billion economy started expanding in the second quarter of 2010 following its deepest recession in two decades, on demand for its products from Sweden and Finland. Exports grew 43 percent from a year earlier in June, the slowest pace in four months, the statistics office said earlier this month. Five-year Estonian credit-default swaps traded at 125 points on Aug. 19, while the spread to Latvia’s CDS has increased to 133 points from 112 points before the turmoil on global markets, according to data from CMA. The spread to Lithuania’s CDS has increased to 132 points from 110. “Markets view Estonia more positively as the CDS spreads with our neighbors Latvia and Lithuania are increasing,” Kaasik said. “Our CDS prices have increased by similar magnitude as those of Sweden and Finland, while Latvia’s and Lithuania’s have clearly risen more.” 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

Uganda Is Losing U.S.-Backed Fight Against LRA Rebels, Rights Watch Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-11/uganda-is-losing-u-s-backed-fight-against-lra-rebels-rights-watch-says.html

U.S. support for Ugandan troops in their fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army has failed after the campaign led the rebels to spread into neighboring countries, Human Rights Watch said today. The New York-based rights group called on the U.S. to propose a regional solution that would protect civilians and target the LRA’s leaders, according to an e-mailed statement. The U.S. will release a new strategy document later this month. “The LRA’s top leaders can be found, but the current strategy of supporting Ugandan army operations is clearly not working,” said Human Rights Watch senior Africa researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg. “A new approach is needed to protect civilians and to bring together improved intelligence and capable units to apprehend the LRA’s top leaders.” Since 2007, the LRA has killed about 2,000 civilians in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Congolese and Ugandan armies are conducting joint operations against the group with support from United Nations peacekeepers. The offensive has pushed the rebels into remote parts of Congo, Central African Republic and Southern Sudan. President Barack Obama signed legislation in May to create a new strategy “to eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability” posed by the LRA. The strategy will be announced by Nov. 24, according to the law. U.S. Response In an e-mailed statement, a U.S. State Department spokesman said the Ugandan army “remained the most effective national military pursuing the LRA.” The army has “significantly degraded the capabilities of the LRA, has conducted itself well, and has reduced the ability of the organization to abduct and hold captives,” the statement said. Only about 200 to 400 LRA rebels remain along with hundreds of abductees, according to Human Rights Watch. Uganda’s army has battled a two-decade insurgency in the north of the country by the LRA. The group, led by Joseph Kony , started fighting after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the 1980s purged the army of members of the Acholi community, whose interests the LRA says it is defending. Kony, a former Catholic altar boy who says the LRA is inspired by the Ten Commandments, faces International Criminal Court charges of murder, mutilation, rape and the abduction of thousands of children for use as soldiers. Kony is now thought to be on the border between Central African Republic and Sudan’s Darfur region, Human Rights Watch said. The group also called on the UN to deploy more peacekeepers to LRA-affected areas. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kavanagh in Kinshasa mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net .

Pakistan Taliban’s Deputy Chief Killed in Drone Attack, WSJ Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-29/pakistan-taliban-s-deputy-chief-killed-in-drone-attack-wsj-says.html

The deputy commander of the Pakistani Taliban movement has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan , the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials it didn’t name. Wali-ur-Rehman died in North Waziristan, the paper said in the first drone attack since the May 11 general election in Pakistan. Three Pakistani security officials and residents confirmed the killing, it reported without identifying them. A Taliban spokesman called the reports false, the Associated Press said. Prime Minister-designate Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to begin a third term in office next week and has vowed to open peace talks with the Taliban in a bid to end their insurgency. Along with other Pakistani leaders, Sharif has called for an end to drone attacks in the tribal area, saying the civilian casualties they cause help the guerrillas recruit support. Pakistan said in a statement it was concerned “over the U.S. drone attack that occurred in North Waziristan” today. “The drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty,” the foreign ministry in Islamabad said in the statement without commenting on reports of Wali-ur-Rehman’s death. U.S. President Barack Obama said May 23 that his country will reduce the number of attacks by the pilotless aircraft in countries where it is fighting Islamist extremists and would tighten the rules governing who can be targeted. The U.S. military, instead of the Central Intelligence Agency, will be the lead authority for drone strikes, administration officials said. $5 Million Officials at the media unit of Pakistan’s army didn’t immediately return calls seeking details of today’s drone strike. The U.S. in 2010 announced a bounty of $5 million each on Wali-ur-Rehman and the chief of Pakistan’s Taliban insurgency, Hakimullah Mehsud. It has also urged Pakistan’s army to extend offensives against the Taliban and allied militants to parts of North Waziristan from where guerrillas attack U.S. and Afghan forces across the border. To contact the reporters on this story: Haris Anwar in Islamabad at hanwar2@bloomberg.net ; Augustine Anthony in Islamabad at aanthony9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net

Publicis Aims to Increase Dividend Payout, CEO Tells Investir

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-21/publicis-aims-to-increase-dividend-payout-ceo-tells-investir.html

Publicis Groupe SA will “gradually” increase its dividend payout toward 35 percent to 40 percent of annual earnings, compared with 23.6 percent for 2011, Chief Executive Officer Maurice Levy told French weekly newspaper Investir in an interview. Levy didn’t give a timeframe for the dividend payout hikes, according to the Investir interview. To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris at fabiobv@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net ; Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

Global Demand for U.S. Assets Unexpectedly Weakens as China Trims Holdings

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-16/global-demand-for-u-s-assets-fell-in-march.html

Global demand for U.S. long-term financial assets such as government bonds slowed in March as investors shifted into shorter-term securities and China trimmed its portfolio of Treasuries. Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $24 billion during the month, compared with net buying of $27.2 billion in February, according to statistics issued today in Washington. Including short-term securities such as stock swaps, foreigners purchased a net $116 billion, compared with net buying of $95.6 billion the previous month. The Treasury’s reporting on long-term securities helps gauge confidence in the U.S. economy as well as fiscal and monetary policy. The data capture international purchases of government notes and bonds, stocks, corporate debt and securities issued by U.S. agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , which buy home mortgages. “Foreigners had a little more confidence in the recovery in March,” and they shifted into swaps, equities and riskier assets from Treasury securities, said Kevin Chau, a foreign exchange strategist at IDEAglobal in New York. China remained the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, after its holdings fell by $9.2 billion to $1.145 trillion in March from $1.154 trillion in February, according to the Treasury’s statistics. Japan , Hong Kong Japan, the second-largest holder, increased its holdings by $17.6 billion to $907.9 billion in March from $890.3 billion in February. Hong Kong, counted separately from China, reduced its holdings by $2.5 billion to $122.1 billion in March from $124.6 billion in February. Before today’s report was issued by the Treasury, economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected long-term U.S. financial assets would show net buying of $33 billion in March. Seven economists participated in the survey, and their estimates ranged from $10 billion to $45 billion. Total foreign purchases of Treasury notes and bonds were $26.8 billion in March compared with purchases of $30.6 billion in February. Foreign demand for U.S. agency debt from companies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac registered net buying of $9.49 billion in March after selling of $1.49 billion in February. Net foreign purchases of equities were $14.7 billion in March after net purchases of $6.1 billion in February. Investors purchased a net $3.77 billion in U.S. corporate debt in March after selling $2.54 billion in February. Slower Than Forecast In the first quarter, the U.S. economy grew at a slower- than-forecast annual rate of 1.8 percent as government spending declined by the most since 1983, according to Commerce Department statistics released April 28. In the fourth quarter of last year, gross domestic product grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate. In emerging European economies, public finances have “sharply deteriorated” and banks are burdened by “large numbers” of nonperforming loans, the International Monetary Fund said in a report May 12. The European Union and the IMF were forced to organize bailouts for Greece and Ireland last year and are preparing a rescue plan for Portugal. China and the U.S. remain at odds over foreign exchange policy. After meetings last week in Washington , Chinese Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said the U.S. and China agree that the yuan should be allowed to strengthen. However, “the view from the U.S. side is that the yuan should rise continuously at a faster appreciation pace,” Zhu said. “We have differences on the degree of appreciation.” To contact the reporters on this story: Vincent Del Giudice in Washington at Or vdelgiudice@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Levine on Wall Street: The Business of Private Equity Is Business

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-26/levine-on-wall-street-the-business-of-private-equity-is-business.html

Is private equity a business ? A private equity firm buys a bunch of different companies that make different sorts of widgets and then owns and manages them. In the olden days you'd have called this a "conglomerate." If you asked the chief executive officer of a conglomerate what his company did, he'd say "oh we make military aircraft and mining equipment and toasters and clothes for dogs" or whatever. If you ask the CEO of a private equity firm what his company does, he'll say "we're investors." But basically same thing. But it matters: A Boston court in a pension case recently ruled that Sun Capital Partners, a private equity fund, is "engaged in a trade or business," not just an investor, under pension funding laws. The scary risk for private equity would be if the Internal Revenue Service applies this reasoning to tax law, which would expose private equity funds and their investors both to more taxes and more interactions with the IRS. Which is not really what they're into. More here. Should bankers get bigger bonuses ? Britain sued in the European Court of Justice to try to overturn the European Union rules that would limit bankers' bonuses to twice their base pay, arguing that this would force banks to raise base pay and thus have higher fixed costs, which would make them riskier in an economic downturn. This is quite right as far as it goes: The system of paying bankers and traders mostly in once-a-year discretionary lump sums probably does make banks structurally more stable. On the other hand the argument is that it makes them culturally riskier: A person who works all year for a shot at a once-a-year discretionary lump sum is a person who is comfortable taking on a lot of risk. You gotta weigh the fact that paying big bonuses makes banks safer in a crisis, against the possibility that it makes them more likely to have crises. Can JPMorgan make it stop ? The number for JPMorgan Chase's global mortgage-bond maybe settlement is up to $11 billion, "including $4 billion for consumer relief." The $11 billion means nothing, it was $3 billion a few days ago, it's still ongoing, it'll be a trillion dollars by Monday, I dunno. The consumer relief stuff is interesting: As far as I can tell, this settlement is addressed exclusively to claims that JPMorgan ripped off investors in mortgages, by lending those investors' money to people who weren't going to pay it back. Giving $4 billion of the settlement money to people who got loans and now can't pay them back seems sort of backwards. But oh whatever it's all mortgage badness let's throw billions of dollars at it why not. Stock exchanges might have a backup plan NYSE and Nasdaq have had some technical difficulties recently, as you might have heard, and are now discussing a solution where each backs up the other's pricing data feeds so that if one exchange goes down its stocks can be traded on the other exchange. It is a little weird that this can't happen now: After all, pretty much every stock is traded on multiple exchanges, besides its home listing exchange, so when the home exchange goes down for repairs you'd think you could just trade the stock on the other exchanges. But, nope : those data feeds, run by the home exchanges, turn out to be critical. You can't trade a Nasdaq-listed stock on the Philadelphia Exchange, say, while Nasdaq is down, because without the data feeds you don't know what the trading price is on the Pacific Exchange, and securities rules require you to trade at the best price nationwide. This interconnectedness of exchanges is what makes technical difficulties at NYSE and Nasdaq so damaging. But maybe it can be solved by more interconnectedness.

California Can Cut Medi-Cal Reimbursements, Court Rules

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-13/california-can-cut-medi-cal-reimbursements-court-rules.html

California can cut reimbursement rates for medical-care providers in Medi-Cal, the state health program for the poor, a federal appeals court ruled, overturning a lower-court judge who had blocked the reductions. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco today said the California Department of Health Care Services and U.S. Health and Human Services secretary acted properly in reviewing and approving the cuts. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder said last year that the hospital groups and service providers who sued to stop the reductions were likely to succeed. “The secretary’s approval of California’s requested reimbursement rates, including her permissible view that prior to reducing rates states need not follow any specific procedural steps, such as considering providers’ costs, is entitled to deference,” the appellate panel said. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last year approved the proposal to reduce Medi-Cal reimbursement rates. The cuts were part of the state’s 2011-12 budget and were expected to save $623 million, according to an Oct. 27, 2011, statement by the Department of Health Care Services. The California Hospital Association said in its complaint that the cuts of more than 20 percent would mark a return to rates that courts have found violate the federal Medicaid Act. The reductions would threaten the ability of many hospitals to operate skilled nursing units, the group said. ‘Fiscal Crisis’ “The state’s fiscal crisis does not outweigh the serious irreparable injury the plaintiffs would suffer absent the issuance of an injunction,” Snyder said in her ruling last year. In a separate decision, the lower-court judge had also blocked the state from cutting Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for pharmacies by 10 percent, saying that there was enough evidence pharmacies may have to reduce services or close, and that Medi- Cal beneficiaries would lose access to drugs. Both the hospital and pharmacy cuts were to be retroactive to June 1, 2011. Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, said in a phone interview that the group is reviewing the ruling and hasn’t decided yet what its next step will be. “We are certainly disappointed,” Emerson-Shea said. “We are very concerned about access to care.” Hospitals that operate skilled nursing units that provide complex medical care for elderly patients won’t be able to absorb the lower rates as they’re already reimbursed by Medi-Cal below their costs, Emerson-Shea said. Some hospitals may be forced to close these units outright, she said. The case is Managed Pharmacy Care v. Sebelius, 12-55067, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (San Francisco.) 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

S&P 500 Futures, Euro Drop on Report of Imminent S&P Downgrades in Europe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/s-p-500-futures-euro-drop-on-report-of-imminent-s-p-downgrades-in-europe.html

U.S. stock-index futures and the euro extended losses, while European shares turned lower, following a report that several euro-region countries may face imminent credit downgrades by Standard & Poor’s. Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in March fell 0.8 percent to 1,281.4 at 9:12 a.m. in New York following the report by Dow Jones Newswires, which cited European Union sources. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.4 percent after rallying as much as 0.7 percent earlier. The euro slumped 0.8 percent to $1.2710, near a 16-month low. Treasuries extended gains, sending the 10- year note’s yield down five basis points to 1.88 percent. Earlier losses came after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a drop in profit, sending shares of the largest U.S. bank by assets down 3.7 percent. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net

Blind Dissident Has China's Tweeters Seeing Red

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-03/blind-dissident-has-china-s-tweeters-seeing-red.html

On Wednesday evening, Exercise Book, a user of the Sina Weibo microblog, posted a message for his 2.5 million followers: “I’ve finally figured out where the safest place in China is…” The message was anything but cryptic. Only hours earlier, state-run Chinese media began reporting what much of the world had known for almost a week : Legal activist Chen Guangcheng, who is also blind, had escaped from house arrest in Shandong Province and was granted refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Chinese netizens were quick to jump on the startling news, and by 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, they’d posted more than 4,500 comments to Exercise Book’s Weibo post. At least a third of the responses speculated where the safest place in China was, with the vast majority guessing the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. As subtle, uncensored rejoinders to Chinese official statements go, this was powerful. Nonetheless, Exercise Book and his followers likely didn't see the U.S. as a proverbial “ beacon of hope .” Rather, like other netizens across China ’s microblogging platforms, they were using the best means available to criticize the Chinese Communist Party and government. To be sure, parsing Chinese public opinion from the country’s fractious but tightly regulated and censored microblogs is a tenuous act. Chinese microbloggers represent the most educated and wealthiest strata of society, and less than one third of the Chinese population. Meanwhile, microblog censors -– at the behest of Chinese internet authorities -– delete posts perceived as harmful to the party and government while restricting searches on sensitive topics. Therefore, the name “Chen Guangcheng,” and terms that might be associated with him, such as “blind lawyer,” do not bring up results. In the case of Chen Guangcheng , that’s convenient: He is not a household name in China and very few netizens appear to be familiar with his activism against forced sterilizations and abortions that led to years of persecution and home detention. His daring escape to Beijing, followed by his refuge at the U.S. embassy and the ensuing  diplomatic tussle , have not created big news in China. State-run coverage of Chen has mainly focused on his presence at the embassy , with some criticism of the U.S. -- and a little schadenfreude at its current diplomatic predicament. But as stripped down as those official Chinese reports are, they seem to have struck a nerve with a sizable number of Chinese netizens who re-tweet them -– and comment on them -- by the thousands. (Note: Censors, for the moment, give comment threads wider latitude than actual posts, or tweets.) On Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua, China’s state-owned news agency, posted a Chen-related message to its official Sina Weibo account: By Thursday morning, that tweet had been re-posted more than 6,000 times and garnered nearly 2,000 comments -– many of which jumped on the suggestion that the U.S. “reflect.” One of the most biting responses was from an anonymous microblogger in Hangzhou, who suggested that Chinese behavior toward Chen Guangcheng is the real threat to U.S.-China relations. It’s a devastating critique that, if posted separate from a comment thread, would almost certainly be deleted: Nonetheless, from an official Chinese perspective, there’s a big difference between criticizing individual government officials' decisions, and criticizing the structure and legitimacy of the Communist Party and its government. As this second Chen-related post from Xinhua showed, the former is occasionally tolerated and the latter is not: This has received 2,000 re-tweets and 35 comments. Any attempt to add a new comment to the 35 is met with the message: “Sorry, the content is in violation of relevant regulations and policies and cannot be published.” The message, for netizens, is clear: Do not criticize the system. Critical comments on the Foreign Ministry’s views on the rule of law in China exist on microblogs, but they are reserved for the actions of individual officials. For example, the independent Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper in Guangzhou posted the same news to its Sina Weibo account, but received comments such as this scathing one from a user with the English-language handle GhostInTheHell: Answers to those questions won’t come soon, but it’s also unlikely that the questions will stop. China’s netizens are becoming savvier about their news, their rulers and the role they play in making the latter responsive to the former. Wednesday night, NB Jianbo , an entrepreneur in Ningbo, a boomtown south of Shanghai, summarized that new role in an affecting tweet that referenced news about Chen Guangcheng and several additional “sensitive” news stories from recent weeks: So far, there are five comments to this post. The second is the most eye-catching, however. It technically reads: “The Communist Party won’t let us be patriotic.” But in place of the characters for Communist Party, it uses a small hammer and sickle character. (Adam Minter is the Shanghai correspondent for the World View blog. The opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the author of this blog post: Adam Minter at ShanghaiScrap@gmail.com To contact the editor responsible for this post: Katherine Brown at kbrown114@bloomberg.net

Weight Training May Help Lower Diabetes Risk in Men

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-06/weight-training-may-help-lower-diabetes-risk-in-men.html

Weight training alone or with aerobic exercise may lower diabetes risk in men, Harvard University research showed, while a German study found that physical activity keeps those with the disease alive longer. Lifting weights 30 minutes a day, five times a week, may reduce a man’s chance of developing Type 2 diabetes by as much as 34 percent, and when combined with aerobic exercise like brisk walking or running, cuts the risk as much as 59 percent, according to the Harvard research posted online today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The German study showed that people with diabetes who were moderately active had a 38 percent lower risk of dying compared with those who didn’t exercise. The Harvard study is the largest on the benefits of weight training and aerobic activity on diabetes, while the German research is the biggest to look at exercise and mortality in diabetics, the authors said. More studies are needed to find better ways to motivate people to exercise, said Mitchell Katz , director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal. “How to increase motivation to stay active is the $1 million question facing physicians and health care experts and not just because of diabetes,” Katz said in an Aug. 5 e-mail. “A number of diseases including cardiac disease, the most common cause of death in the U.S., and cancer, the second-most common,” are reduced through exercise, he said. About 346 million people worldwide have Type 2 diabetes, and diabetes-related deaths may double between 2005 and 2030, according to the World Health Organization. 150 Minutes In the study from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Denmark, the researchers looked at 32,002 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1990 to 2008. During that time 2,278 men developed diabetes. Men who did weight training one to 59 minutes a week reduced their diabetes risk by 12 percent, those who engaged in weight training 60 to 149 minutes a week reduced their risk by 25 percent and those who weight trained for at least 150 minutes a week lowered it by 34 percent compared with those who did no weight training, the authors said. Combining 150 minutes a week of weight training with 150 minutes of aerobic exercise reduced diabetes risk by 59 percent. “When we use our muscles as in weight training our body’s insulin resistance goes down meaning we more readily move blood sugar from the bloodstream into the cells and we require less insulin to do that so that the blood sugar levels stay lower and put less demand on the pancreas to produce insulin,” said Walter Willett, the author of the first study and chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Couch Consequences “The more we paint the full picture of the consequences of staying on the couch, the more people we are likely to motivate to put some activity into their lives,” Willett said in an Aug. 3 telephone interview. “This is looking at one part of the picture -- diabetes -- but more importantly to people, even a few minutes a day of strength training it can make an important difference. There are immediate benefits of feeling better.” The second study, led by researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal, looked prospectively at 5,859 patients with diabetes and found that those who engaged in moderate amounts of exercise were at a lower risk of death compared with those who were inactive. In an analysis of 12 studies, the researchers found that higher levels of total physical activity, leisure-time physical activity and walking were related to a lower risk of overall mortality and death from heart diseases. “Compared with being inactive, being moderately active may already improve survival in persons with diabetes,” said Diewertje Sluik, the lead study author and a doctor of public health with the nutrition institute, in an e-mail today. “Unfortunately, not many diabetes patients engage in regular physical activity. Therefore, it is necessary to promote active lifestyles among persons with diabetes and future research should determine why persons do not adhere to this advice.” To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Buffett Rule Tax Bill Would Raise $47 Billion Over 10 Years

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-20/buffett-rule-tax-bill-would-raise-31-billion-over-10-years.html

Implementing a “Buffett rule” to require a minimum 30 percent tax rate for the highest U.S. earners would raise $47 billion over the next decade, according to a government projection. The estimate for the proposal backed by President Barack Obama comes from the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s scorekeepers. Lawmakers updated the projection late today to reflect different assumptions about how taxpayers would adjust their capital gains realizations from an earlier $31 billion version. “The president’s so-called Buffett rule is a dog that just won’t hunt,” Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah , the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a statement, adding that the proposal would have little effect on reducing the federal budget deficit. “It was designed for no other reason than politics. There is no economic rationale for it.” The $47 billion would have covered about half the cost of the 10-month extension of a payroll tax cut that Congress enacted last month. In a broader context, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Obama’s 2013 budget plan would expand the deficit by $6.4 trillion over the next decade. The bill would reduce that by 0.7 percent. At the request of the Republican staff on the Finance Committee, the Joint Committee on Taxation analyzed a bill written by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat. Minimum Rate The proposal would require a minimum rate for taxpayers with adjusted gross income exceeding $1 million. The bill would phase in the tax so that it would fully affect taxpayers with incomes exceeding $2 million, and it would allow charitable contributions to be deducted. “No matter how you slice it, that’s real money that could help bring down our deficit,” Whitehouse said in a statement today. “Most important: It’s simply the right thing to do.” Obama has said he sees the Buffett rule as a guideline for a tax-code overhaul. His budget didn’t include a specific proposal like Whitehouse’s. The so-called rule is named for billionaire Warren Buffett , who says tax rates on investment income should be raised. Expiring Rates Under current law, wages and other ordinary income are taxed at a top rate of 35 percent and capital gains and dividends are taxed at a top rate of 15 percent. The Joint Committee on Taxation analyzed the bill under a scenario in which expiring income-tax cuts would be allowed to lapse. Under that scenario, wages and dividends would be taxed at a top rate of 39.6 percent, capital gains would be taxed at a top rate of 20 percent and a 3.8 percent tax on unearned income would be in effect. Continuing current tax policy beyond this year, as many Republicans want, would prevent those rates from going up and keep the effective tax rates of more high-income taxpayers under the 30 percent mark. Under that scenario, which isn’t part of today’s estimate, the bill would raise more money for the government. The bill is S. 2059. To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Rubin in Washington at rrubin12@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net

Radware Tumbles on Juniper’s Licensing Deal With Competitor

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/radware-tumbles-on-juniper-s-licensing-deal-with-competitor.html

Radware Ltd. (RDWR) , an Israeli technology company, sank the most in 19 months in New York after Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) announced a licensing deal with competitor Riverbed Technology Inc. Radware, the Tel Aviv-based developer of technology to help networks run more efficiently, declined 11 percent to $32.69 by 12:58 p.m. in New York, poised for the biggest retreat since December 2010. The slump lead declines on the Bloomberg Israel- US Equity Index of the most traded Israeli companies in New York. Juniper, the world’s No. 2 maker of networking gear, announced yesterday after the market closed a $75 million deal with Riverbed to license products that help boost application performance. Radware said its partnership with Juniper, which was announced in October, remains intact. “The reason its shares are reacting like this is because some people had expectations that Juniper would go with Radware for this deal,” Joseph Wolf , an analyst for Barclays Plc in said by phone from Tel Aviv. To contact the reporters on this story: Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tal Barak Harif at tbarak@bloomberg.net ;

Suzlon Chairman Tells Employees That Family Won't Sell Stake, Shares Slide

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-09/suzlon-chairman-tulsi-tanti-tells-employees-that-family-won-t-sell-stake.html

Tulsi Tanti, chairman of India ’s largest wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd ., told employees that his family isn’t selling its stake in the company. The shares fell as much as 12 percent and were down 9 percent to 44.4 rupees in Mumbai trading as of 3:14 p.m. local time, the biggest intra-day drop since Aug. 16, after the company said in an e-mailed response to questions that the Tanti family is “wholly and absolutely committed to Suzlon and will not exit.” In a Feb. 4 statement sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Suzlon denied a report by NDTV Profit television channel that the Tanti family may sell its stake to Spain ’s Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA, calling it “speculative in nature and inaccurate.” That statement is unchanged, the e-mail said. To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at npearson7@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net .

Sonae Plans to Open More Than 25 Zippy Stores in Latin America

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-15/sonae-plans-to-open-more-than-25-zippy-stores-in-latin-america.html

Sonae (SON) SGPS SA, a Portuguese retailer, opened its first store in the Dominican Republic this month and plans to have more than 25 stores in Latin America by 2016, the company said. The store, part of the Zippy chain selling childrens’ clothing, opened in Santo Domingo through a franchising agreement with the Phoenix Group , the Maia, Portugal-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. “The expansion plan for Latin America forecasts the opening of more than 25 stores until 2016” in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, according to Sonae. To contact the reporter on this story: Henrique Almeida in Lisbon at halmeida5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net

Stark Says Greece Faces Consequences if Program Not Carried Out

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/stark-says-greece-faces-consequences-if-program-not-carried-out.html

European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark said there will be “consequences” if Greece does not carry out all the economic-adjustment conditions of its European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout program. “There is no other option other than to complete the program,” Stark said in an interview with Austrian state broadcaster ORF today. “The working assumption is fulfillment of the program.” To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Groendahl in Vienna at bgroendahl@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net

Australian Consumer Confidence Stagnates After RBA Rate Cut

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-16/australian-consumer-confidence-stagnates-after-rba-rate-cut-1-.html

Australian consumer confidence stagnated near the lowest level this year as concern about the global economy countered the central bank’s deepest interest- rate cut in three years, a private survey showed. The sentiment index for May rose 0.8 percent to 95.3, a Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC) and Melbourne Institute survey taken May 7-11 of 1,200 consumers showed today in Sydney. From a year earlier, confidence was down 8.3 percent. “This is a disappointing result,” Bill Evans , Westpac’s chief economist, said in a statement, noting the polling followed the rate reduction and a May 10 report showing the unemployment rate fell below 5 percent for the first time in a year. “Increasingly disturbing news around Europe and specifically Greece is likely to have unnerved households.” The report reflects mortgage rates falling by an average 37 basis points after the Reserve Bank of Australia this month slashed the overnight cash rate target by half a percentage point to a two-year low of 3.75 percent, Westpac said. Almost 90 percent of Australian mortgages have variable rates. In minutes of its May 1 meeting released yesterday, the RBA explained that it lowered the benchmark by 50 basis points instead of the more widely forecast 25 points to ensure consumers borrowed at an “appropriate” level. Fiscal Tightening While monetary policy is loosened, fiscal policy is tightening. Prime Minister Julia Gillard ’s government unveiled a budget on May 8 that aims to return to surplus next year and scrapped a planned cut in company taxes to fund payouts for low- and middle-income earners. The plan’s “results were disappointing, with only 9.9 percent of respondents indicating that the budget would ‘improve’ family finances, while 36 percent indicated the budget would ‘worsen’ family finances,” Evans said. The budget includes a payment to families of as much as A$820 ($815) for each child in high school, while households with two children will receive an extra A$600 a year starting July 2013 using revenue from the mining tax. The government has also introduced an insurance plan for the disabled and boosted its national dentistry health-care coffers by A$513 million to reduce waiting lists at dentists. Rate-Cut Room Gillard said in an interview after the budget that a return to surplus gives the central bank “maximum room” to adjust rates if needed and ease pressure on manufacturers that have been hobbled by currency gains. Traders are pricing in an 89 percent chance of a quarter-point cut at the RBA’s June 5 meeting, swaps data compiled by Bloomberg show. “We expect household will continue to be cautious and backs our call that RBA will follow up with a 25 basis-point cut in June,” said Celeste Tay, a Singapore-based economist at 4cast Ltd. Even after the RBA’s latest rate reduction, Australia has the highest benchmark borrowing cost among major developed economies. Policy rates are near zero in the U.S. and Japan , 1 percent in the euro area and Canada , and a record-low 2.5 percent in neighboring New Zealand. In his statement, Evans said “there is ample scope for further rate cuts.” He said that while the RBA may wait until July before easing again, “developments overseas along with today’s evidence that the recent cut has had little impact on confidence could easily see the bank bring the decision forward to the next board meeting.” Currency’s Fall The local currency, which soared to a post-1983 floating record of $1.1081 in July, has declined about 10 percent since then and this week fell below parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time this year. Earlier today the so-called Aussie traded as low as 99.30 U.S. cents and it was at 99.36 cents at 11:03 a.m. in Sydney. Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5.2 percent in March, the lowest level since April 2011, a government report showed last week. The economy is being powered by demand for energy and minerals located in the nation’s north and west from emerging countries including India and China , driving a more than 30 percent rise in the local currency in the past three years. That’s put pressure on non-resource industries such as manufacturing and tourism in the most-populous states of New South Wales and Victoria. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Lukoil Takes $1 Billion Impairment on Conoco Oilfield Venture

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/lukoil-takes-1-billion-impairment-on-conoco-oilfield-venture.html

OAO Lukoil (LKOH) , Russia ’s second-largest oil producer, recorded a $955 million impairment charge after a venture with ConocoPhillips (COP) found less oil than expected. Lukoil recorded the charge in the fourth quarter at its OOO Narianmarneftegaz venture with ConocoPhillips, it said in a statement. Lower production at the northern Yuzhnoye Khylchuyu deposit due to “unanticipated geological reasons” resulted in estimated field reserves falling to 142 million barrels at the end of 2011 from 505 million barrels in 2008. “It’s a paper loss reflecting the problems with the asset, which were already in the market,” Artem Konchin, an oil and gas analyst at UniCredit SpA (UCG) , said by phone from Moscow. Net income of $1.35 billion compared with profit of $2.19 billion in the same period a year earlier, the Moscow-based company said in a filing today. That missed the average estimate of $2.69 billion in a Bloomberg survey of 15 analysts. Full-year net income at Lukoil reached a record $10.4 billion. Russian oil producers have posted record earnings for 2011 after unrest in the Middle East pushed average prices for the country’s Urals export blend to more than $100 a barrel. Lukoil has moved to expand internationally in West Africa, Iraq, Venezuela and Vietnam, after taxes and laws limited its access to Russian resources. This may mean additional expenses as international prospects lack the benefit of geological data inherited from the Soviet era. The company’s expenses for wells that failed to find commercial oil almost doubled to $417 million last year, Lukoil said in the statement. Dry wells, as they are called, cost $181 million in Ghana, $149 million in the Ivory Coast and $27 million in Vietnam, Lukoil said. Revenue rose to $133.7 billion in 2011 from $105 billion in 2010, Lukoil said. 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

Trichet Says ECB Stands Ready to Supply Unlimited Liquidity

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-23/trichet-says-ecb-stands-ready-to-supply-unlimited-liquidity.html

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank “stands ready” to keep supplying unlimited liquidity to banks. Trichet was speaking at an event in Washington today. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gabi Thesing at gthesing@bloomberg.net

MOTOMAX ELECTRIC August Sales Fall 30.08% (Table) : 4529 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/motomax-electric-august-sales-fall-30-08-table-4529-tt.html

MOTOMAX ELECTRIC said unconsolidated sales in August fell 30.08% to NT$28,155,000 from NT$40,267,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 8/2011 8/2010 Sales 28,155 40,267 YOY% -30.08% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 174,758 215,161 YOY% -18.78% =================================================================

Icahn Seen as Nothing Compared With Dell Turnaround

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-12/icahn-seen-as-nothing-compared-with-dell-turnaround.html

When Michael Dell took his company public in 1988, the personal-computer maker’s biggest competitors were International Business Machines Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. and Gateway 2000. The headstrong founder was later quoted joking that his daughter’s first words were to “kill IBM” and his other rivals. A quarter century later, as Dell takes his Round Rock, Texas-based company private in a $24.9 billion transaction following shareholder approval yesterday, the landscape has shifted. The PC business is dwindling, leaving Dell Inc. (DELL) out of step with a technology world moving to smartphones and tablets dominated by companies including Apple Inc. and Google Inc. This presents Michael Dell and his team a challenging balancing act even outside the pressure of quarterly earnings reports. As the company seeks to become less reliant on selling PCs, transforming into a bigger provider of hardware, software and services for corporations, it faces competitors including Cisco Systems Inc., EMC Corp. and Oracle Corp. Results in the quarters since the go-private deal was announced show that Dell’s trials are poised to deepen. “I have a lot of respect for Michael Dell but I don’t think he has greater insights than anybody else with what to do with Dell,” said Michael Cusumano, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. “He’s been scratching his head for 10 years.” Hard Road Once the go-private deal closes, the scratching ends and the hard work begins. Dell plans to continue investing in PCs and tablets, especially in emerging countries, and will price products to gain market share at the sacrifice of profits. The CEO will also focus on using Dell’s server business to sell higher-margin products to corporate customers. At the same time, Dell is looking to acquire companies in the $500 million to $1 billion range, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The shareholder vote, announced at Dell headquarters, ended seven months of jockeying between Michael Dell and financial partner Silver Lake Management LLC and investors led by billionaire Carl Icahn. The takeover of the third-largest PC maker is the biggest LBO since Blackstone Group LP took Hilton Worldwide Inc. private in 2007. Michael Dell based his pitch for going private on the idea that he could boost spending on acquisitions, sales staff and research and development, while expanding the company’s reach in emerging countries, according to regulatory filings. Undertaking those investments as a public entity would “weaken earnings and cause greater volatility” in the stock price , Dell told the board. ‘Our Roots’ “In taking Dell private we plan to go back to our roots,” Michael Dell said on a conference call. Once the world’s No. 1 PC maker, Dell has become a patchwork of desktops and notebooks, less-than-popular tablets, plus enterprise software and data-center gear. Sales this year are expected to fall to about $57.2 billion, according to the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, from $62.1 billion two years ago. Operating profit may drop 20 percent to $2.4 billion. Leading the decline are PCs, which still account for two-thirds of Dell revenue when including related products like monitors and printers. Operating income in that group dropped 71 percent in the fiscal second quarter that ended Aug. 2. From April to June, global PC shipments decreased 10.9 percent to 76 million, according to market researcher Gartner Inc., the fifth straight period of decline. Post Buyout Dell’s PC strategy post-buyout represents a bet it can remain a force in that market even as sales dwindle. Its plans include pushing PCs in China and other emerging markets and, to pare costs and compete better with Apple, simplifying its longstanding build-to-order model, offering customers fewer choices. Only about 20 percent of Dell’s PC sales are to consumers while business and government buy the rest, according to Jayson Noland , an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in San Francisco. It also is emphasizing revenue and cash flow over profits, the company has said in filings, an option easier to take as a private company. Dell used to walk away from PC sales it didn’t deem profitable enough, such as the craze for $300 mini-laptops that seized the consumer market a few years ago, said Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch. Now, Dell is more willing to shave prices. Margins First “We’ve seen a strategic change at the company,” said Chris Whitmore, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG. “In the past, they were willing to cede share in PCs to preserve margins and satisfy public markets by running it for profitability.” For its corporate business, Dell is looking to exploit its strong market share in server computers -- now a close second to Hewlett-Packard Co. in unit shipments, according to Gartner -- as a means to selling more higher-margin software, storage and networking gear. In June, Marius Haas, president of Dell’s enterprise solutions division, and his old boss at Hewlett-Packard, current Oracle co-president Mark Hurd, announced a deal that lets Dell customers buy servers pre-configured to run Oracle’s database and other software more reliably. “We’re not just throwing out empty calories to pick up unit share,” Haas said recently. Haas will be responsible for acquisitions of companies that make storage and networking gear, which he would then package for businesses with Dell servers. Track Record Dell’s track record on enterprise-related acquisitions hasn’t been stellar. It has spent $13 billion since 2009 to buy more than 20 companies including computer terminal maker Wyse Technology Inc. and networking company Force10 Networks Inc. Returns on those deals, meant to bolster sales of software, storage and servers to corporations, haven’t hit the company’s 15 percent target, and many have required more investment to grow, according to a July presentation by the special committee of Dell’s board overseeing the buyout. Sales generated from these companies also aren’t offsetting the drop in PC shipments, said Noland. “Tech turnarounds are tough,” he said. “The argument is they can transform more quickly if they’re private. So far the pace at which they’ve executed a turnaround has been slower than the rate of decline in the PC market.” ‘Broad Reset’ Dell is “digesting” acquisitions it’s made, said Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden yesterday. “We’ve done obviously a pretty broad reset on the strategy over the last five years.” Turning private may complicate Dell’s acquisition plans as it doesn’t have access to public equity capital markets. Its debt will rise to less than $20 billion after the buyout from around $7 billion, according to Gladden. Dell will spend less than $1.2 billion a year to service the debt from the buyout, he said, describing the added borrowing as “incremental.” Going private gives the company more leeway on spending and acquisitions, he said. “We can be a bit more aggressive,” he said. “You can’t just kind of go crazy and spend however you want. You still have to be disciplined.” Michael Dell, who built his company from a dorm-room PC assembler, is also reckoning with a tough roster of competitors ranging from Apple and Lenovo Group Ltd. in personal computing to Cisco, IBM, Oracle, EMC and a healthier Hewlett-Packard in enterprise. Most of them are buying to get bigger too. “There are a lot of CEOs who have tried to take companies private to get away from the market and rationalize the company and figure out what to do next,” said MIT’s Cusumano. “It’s an uphill battle.” To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net

Ethiopia, China Communications in $1.5 Billion Rail Deal

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/ethiopia-china-communications-sign-1-5-billion-rail-deal-1-.html

Ethiopia signed a $1.5 billion agreement with state-run China Communications Construction Co. to build a railway to carry potash from mines being developed in the nation’s northeast. The 360-kilometer (224-mile) line will transport passengers and freight along a route to neighboring Djibouti’s Tadjourah port, which is being built. It should be completed by July 2015, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. CCCC (1800) , a Chinese government-owned transportation infrastructure company, will be “mobilizing substantial resources to guarantee completion of the project,” the ministry said, citing the company’s vice president, Zhou Yongheng. Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-most populous nation, is in the middle of a five-year plan to modernize and upgrade its infrastructure and industries. The government last year signed two agreements with Chinese companies to build a 4,744- kilometer (2,948-mile) rail network to Djibouti. Landlocked Ethiopia lost its access to the sea after Eritrea voted for independence in 1993. The new rail line will run between the cities of Mekele and Hara Gebaya. Canada’s Allana Potash Corp. (AAA) , Sainik Potash Plc of India, Ethiopian Potash Corp. (FED) and Melbourne-based BHP Billiton Ltd. are all developing projects to extract potash, a fertilizer ingredient, in the Afar region. To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa at wdavison3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bryson Hull at bhull5@bloomberg.net

MEMC Slides on Forecast for First-Quarter Solar Sales

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-13/memc-sees-7-8-rise-in-semiconductor-sales-changes-name.html

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR) , the second-largest U.S. polysilicon maker, fell the most in nine months after forecasting a decline in solar project development this quarter. MEMC, which also announced plans today to change its name to SunEdison Inc. and invest in more solar projects that use its material, dropped 13 percent to $4.70 at the close in New York, the biggest decline since May 17. The company sees sales of 10 megawatts to 38 megawatts of solar projects in the first quarter, down from 52 megawatts in the prior quarter. Total sales for 2013 will be 420 megawatts to 490 megawatts, a 28 percent increase from the 383 megawatts sold last year, the St. Peters, Missouri-based company said in a statement today. “The decision to hold projects on the balance sheet instead of selling them will be viewed negatively by some,” Jeffrey Osborne, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in New York , said in an e-mail. “It soaks up the use of cash with a long-term financial return as opposed to a quick flip of a project sale.” MEMC makes polysilicon wafers that can be used in semiconductors and solar cells. The company bought SunEdison LLC, a solar project developer, in 2009. The proportion of revenues that came from solar projects and materials climbed to 68 percent last year, from 59 percent in 2010, the company said. Global Market There may be $1 trillion in global solar project investment through 2020, Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Chatila said at the company’s investor meeting today. MEMC is targeting quarterly project sales of 150 megawatts to 200 megawatts in what he called “a hyper growth situation.” The company said in a separate release today it plans to form SunEdison Capital, a unit to finance and invest in the solar power plants it’s developing. Carlos Domenech, an MEMC executive vice president, will be president of the new division, which will fund both internal and external solar projects and may acquire new solar developments. On the semiconductor side, MEMC forecast a slower first half with an “industry recovery” in the second half boosting sales. Revenue for the unit will be $940 million to $990 million for 2013. The company reported $918 million in semiconductor sales last year. Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. is the biggest U.S. polysilicon producer. To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net ; Justin Doom in New York at jdoom1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

Jansa Sees Slovenia ‘on Safe Side’ on Bailout by Year End

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-05/jansa-sees-slovenia-on-safe-side-on-bailout-by-year-end.html

Slovenia won’t need an international rescue package if stabilization measures are adopted by the end of the year, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said. The government is pushing ahead with measures to stabilize the ailing banking industry, to consolidate public finances as well as overhaul the pension system and the labor market, Jansa told reporters today in Bratislava, Slovakia. “With all these efforts, passing necessary decisions by year’s end, I think Slovenia is on the safe side and we will come out of waters when there are question marks about a possible bailout,” Jansa said. “This will also improve the country’s situation on financial markets.” Rising bad loans at lenders in Slovenia such as Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. and Nova Kreditna Banka (KBMR) Maribor d.d. and the faltering economy are at the center of investors’ concern that the Adriatic nation may become the sixth euro-region member to ask for international aid. If all government efforts are implemented, Slovenia will not need a rescue program, central bank Governor Marko Kranjec said at Brdo, Slovenia, yesterday, where the Governing Council of the European Central Bank held its meeting. ‘Significant Action’ Slovenia has taken “significant action” with efforts “on all fronts - fiscal consolidation, efforts on structural reforms and the banking system,” ECB President Mario Draghi said in an interview with public broadcaster TV Slovenija late yesterday. Lawmakers in the capital Ljubljana on Oct. 3 approved legislation to stabilize the country’s banking industry. They voted to create a special agency that will assume lenders’ bad loans and swap them for government-guaranteed bonds worth as much as 4 billion euros ($5.22 billion) that could be eligible as collateral with the ECB, according to Finance Minister Janez Sustersic. When asked whether the ECB will accept Slovenian state bonds as collateral, Jansa said the government has had a “good discussion” with the ECB about a plan to help the banking industry, adding that the Frankfurt-based bank gave its support to government’s measures. To contact the reporters on this story: Radoslav Tomek in Bratislava at rtomek@bloomberg.net ; Boris Cerni in Ljubljana at bcerni@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

ARGENTINE DAYBOOK: Central Bank Bought Record $278 Million

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-22/argentine-daybook-central-bank-bought-record-278-million.html

The central bank bought a record $278 million in the foreign exchange market yesterday as companies demand more pesos to pay year-end salaries. WHAT TO WATCH: * The national statistics agency releases the economic activity report for October at 4 p.m. local time. Economic activity rose 7.5 percent in October from a year earlier, down from 7.7 percent in September, according to the median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg. ECONOMY/COMMODITIES: * The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange releases its weekly crop report in the afternoon. EQUITIES: * The Merval (MERVAL) Index yesterday fell 0.1 percent to 2,440.87, led by Molinos Rio de la Plata SA, which fell 2 percent to 29.5 pesos, the biggest loss in more than a week. MARKETS: * The peso was unchanged at 4.2920 per dollar. The currency has declined 7.3 percent against the dollar this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires at eraszewski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net

BP Not Linked to Decision to Free Lockerbie Bomber Al-Megrahi, U.K. Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-15/bp-not-linked-to-decision-to-free-lockerbie-bomber-al-megrahi-u-k-says.html

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said there was no link between the Scottish government’s decision to free jailed Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al- Megrahi and activities undertaken by BP Plc in Libya. There is “no link between the Scottish executive’s decision to release Megrahi” and BP, Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field told reporters in London today. To contact the reporter on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.net

Egyptians Vote in Contest Between Islamist, Mubarak Aide

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-15/egyptians-vote-in-contest-between-islamist-mubarak-aide.html

Egyptians cast ballots for their first president since Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year, in a runoff election widely portrayed as a choice between reviving the old regime and endorsing a new Islamist one. The contest between Ahmed Shafik, who briefly served as Mubarak’s last premier, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, comes two days after the country’s highest court ordered the dissolution of parliament, where Islamists have a majority. That raised concerns among activists that the ruling military may engineer a return of the ousted regime. Mursi “is the better of two bad options,” Gamal Abdel- Azim, a 49-year-old physician, said as he queued at a polling station in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. “I was against Hosni Mubarak’s regime, so it doesn’t make sense for me to choose the return of the old regime in an even stronger way.” While the first round of voting last month had been billed as the country’s first free and fair presidential election, the ruling generals and election officials have warned of stiff penalties for anyone who tries to rig or disrupt the vote. Several local and international groups, including the Carter Center , are observing the ballot. Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said authorities had received information some people planned to disguise themselves as police or military personnel to “carry out hostile acts,” the official Middle East News Agency reported today. Vanishing Ink Authorities arrested several people who were allegedly handing out pens to voters in Alexandria that contained vanishing ink, state television reported. MENA reported that only pens made available by the election commission can be used. Many Egyptians have voiced unease about the two candidates, who were among the most divisive politicians to stand in the first round. Shafik and Mursi only garnered a combined total of about 50 percent of the vote last month. Ahead of this round, calls for a boycott mounted, leading officials and candidates to urge Egyptians to vote. Polling stations will stay open an extra hour, until 9 p.m., MENA reported. The Brotherhood seized on the June 14 court rulings, which also included throwing out a law that would have driven Shafik from the race, as evidence of efforts to restore Mubarak’s regime. Both the group and youth activists described the decision, along with the military’s newly-granted powers to arrest civilians, as a “coup.” ‘Period of Silence’ The two-day vote “comes amid methodical attempts to thwart the Egyptian revolution,” Mursi’s campaign said in an e-mailed statement today, even though yesterday marked the start of the so-called “period of silence” that bans campaigning. Activists had called for a mass rally yesterday to protest the rulings. The call drew only hundreds of people to Cairo’s Tahrir Square , instead of the tens of thousands who rallied during the uprising against Mubarak last year. “We’ve had enough of protests and demonstrations and million-man marches,” Farah Mohsen, a 24-year-old mother of three, said in an interview in Dar el-Salam, a district in Cairo. “I don’t want the old regime, but I also don’t want this mess.” Mohsen, whose husband has struggled to find work for more than a year after being fired as a driver from a tour company, said she was voting for Shafik. Brotherhood Support Support for the Brotherhood, whose political arm won almost half the seats in Parliament’s lower house, has waned amid disputes between the party and the interim government, judiciary and military. The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported today that the Islamist-led legislature had passed 11 laws since winning power about six months ago. “We’ve had enough of the Brotherhood’s games,” Baher el- Nahhas, a 37-year-old civil servant, said in an interview in Cairo, as he waited to cast his vote for Shafik. “This country needs leadership and progress, and all they’ve done is slow us down after the uprising.” About 50 million Egyptians are eligible to vote, with about half this number turning out in the first round that narrowed the candidate field down from 13 to the current two. The court rulings have raised concerns that political turmoil will persist since the president will likely take office without a constitution that defines his powers. Fitch Ratings yesterday cut Egypt ’s foreign-currency debt by one step to B+, four levels below investment grade, citing “increased uncertainties surrounding the political transition” after the verdict. Foreign reserves dropped by more than half since the beginning of last year and a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund loan is yet to be approved. Bond Losses Egypt’s bonds extended losses yesterday and credit risk jumped the most in almost a month after the June 14 rulings. Five-year credit default swaps rose 22 basis points to 648, according to CMA, which is owned by GME Group Inc. and compiles data from the privately negotiated market. Dina Darwish, a 23-year-old graphic designer, said she planned to invalidate her vote by marking both names on her ballot. “Neither candidate is good,” Darwish, who supported socialist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi in the first round, said in an interview in Cairo. “The Muslim Brotherhood is not the solution, and voting for Shafik would be like going back to the very beginning.” Election Pledges Mursi cast himself as the “candidate of the revolution,” signaling he may appoint a Christian vice president, while trying to allay concerns that he would curtail individual freedoms. Shafik has run on pledges to restore law and order and keep Egypt secular. He sought to appeal to youth activists by promising that he would not censor the Internet. The military has repeatedly said it is not backing any of the candidates, though the developments over the past few days raised suspicions among many voters. “Is this a coincidence?” said Mohamed el-Haj, a 47-year- old shop clerk and Mursi supporter, referring to the timing of the court verdict and the handing of new powers to the military to arrest civilians. “The military has been staging a play all along and the final act is this election that will bring Shafik to power.” -- With assistance from Ahmed A. Namatalla and Mariam Fam in Cairo. Editors: Ben Holland , Karl Maier , Digby Lidstone, Nasreen Seria. To contact the reporters on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net

Lubrizol Says Explosion Report on Hotline Was in Error (1))

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-28/lubrizol-says-explosion-report-on-hotline-was-in-error-1-.html

Lubrizol Corp. (LZ) , the chemical maker being acquired by Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said it was in error in reporting on a community hotline that there had been an explosion at its plant in Bayport, Texas. There was no blast at the site, Mark Sutherland, a spokesman for Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol, said today in a telephone interview. The erroneous message at 2 p.m. local time was posted today to the Community Awareness Emergency Response hotline serving east Harris County. The message was intended as an internal company test, Sutherland said. “It was a test with an inadvertent disclosure,” Sutherland said. “How it got outside, I don’t know.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Kaskey in Houston at jkaskey@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net .

SYNNEX TECH INTL May Sales Rise 29.40% (Table) : 2347 TT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-10/synnex-tech-intl-may-sales-rise-29-40-table-2347-tt.html

SYNNEX TECH INTL said unconsolidated sales in May rose 29.40% to NT$4,340,089,000 from NT$3,353,918,000, according to a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. (Figures are in thousands of New Taiwan dollars) ================================================================= 5/2011 5/2010 Sales 4,340,089 3,353,918 YOY% 29.40% -----------------Year-to-date----------------- Sales 24,296,595 18,430,164 YOY% 31.83% =================================================================

Baltic Growth Forecasts Raised at Swedbank on World Outlook

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-24/swedbank-raises-baltic-2013-economic-growth-forecasts.html

Swedbank AB (SWEDA) , the largest lender in the Baltic region, raised its 2013 economic-growth forecasts for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania , citing a better outlook for global demand. Estonia’s economy will probably expand 4.2 percent next year, compared with a January forecast of 4 percent, the bank said in an e-mailed report today. Latvia’s economy may grow 3.5 in 2013, while Lithuania’s gross domestic product may expand 4.3 percent, it said. The bank also raised Latvia’s 2012 growth forecast to 2.5 percent from a previous estimate of 2 percent, the report said. Swedbank also said Lithuanian chances to qualify for euro adoption as planned in 2014 have “significantly narrowed” because of consumer-price growth. The country is more likely to switch currencies in 2015, it said. To contact the reporter on this story: Milda Seputyte in Vilnius at mseputyte@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net

Microsoft Spurs Technology Rally as Amazon Shares Gain 4.5%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/microsoft-spurs-rally-in-technology-stocks-as-amazon-gains-5-.html

Computer and Internet stocks led gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) surged the most since September and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) climbed to the highest level in six weeks. Microsoft rose 3.7 percent to $25.20 at 4 p.m. in New York , and Amazon advanced 4.5 percent to $201.25. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 increased 1.4 percent, the most among 10 groups in the index. Spending on computers by companies and governments in the U.S. will grow 5.6 percent in 2011, about double the estimated increase for gross domestic product, according to International Data Corp. Since the S&P 500 bottomed on March 16, technology shares have posted the third-worst returns in the S&P 500 among the 10 industries. “There probably was a bit more pessimism that was really merited, and some of that pessimism is coming out,” said Michael Yoshikami , chief investment strategist at YCMNet Advisors, which manages $1 billion in Walnut Creek, California. Investors “are putting back on some risk.” Technology is the biggest industry in the benchmark measure of U.S. equities, making up 18 percent of its value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, gained a day before Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is scheduled to discuss Microsoft Office 365, which is a subscription for cloud, or Internet-based, versions of many of Microsoft’s Office programs. ‘Very Good’ “This idea of companies broadly adopting cloud-based technology is very good for the group in general, and specifically software,” said Brad Reback, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst in Atlanta. “There’s a real opportunity to continue to drive strong secular growth for many of the software names.” Amazon rose after Morgan Stanley added the world’s largest online retailer to its “Best Ideas” list. Revenue and margins are likely to beat investors’ estimates in the final three months of 2011, the busiest period of the year for the company, Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a note today. Amazon is growing at more than twice the rate of the broader e-commerce industry and will continue gaining market share over the next five to 20 years, Devitt said. The company is currently undervalued given its sales momentum and the potential for margin expansion, he said. Devitt predicted that Amazon’s stock will rise to $245 a share. The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,280.10 today after losing 2.1 percent in the past three days. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities has fallen 6.1 percent since its high on April 29. “When you have days like this, you’d expect the market to be looking for the right places to buy, and technology happens to be a place people have been looking to buy,” said Hayes Miller , the Boston-based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management Inc., which oversees about $51.5 billion. “It’s time to be optimistic.” To contact the reporters on this story: Cecile Vannucci in New York at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net ; Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

Komercni Banka Snaps Three-Day Rout on Greek Accord Speculation

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/komercni-banka-snaps-three-day-rout-on-greek-accord-speculation.html

Komercni Banka AS (KOMB) , the Czech unit of Societe Generale SA that last year took impairment charges on its holdings of Greek government bonds, snapped a three-day rout amid speculation Greece will secure a bailout. The stock jumped as much as 3.1 percent and traded up 2 percent to 3,661.5 koruna by 9:47 a.m. in Prague. The Czech Republic’s PX (PX) gauge of companies, where Komercni Banka has a 17 percent weighting, advanced 1.3 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Krystof Chamonikolas in Prague at kchamonikola@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Aberdeen’s Daly Says China May Hike Reserve Ratio on Inflation

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-07/aberdeen-s-daly-says-china-may-hike-reserve-ratio-on-inflation.html

Kevin Daly , a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc. in London , comments on China ’s monetary policy outlook and Indonesia’s rating outlook. Daly, who helps manage $6.5 billion in emerging-market funds, spoke today at a briefing in Hong Kong. The People’s Bank of China yesterday lifted the one-year deposit and lending rates by a quarter of a percentage point each to 3.5 percent and 6.56 percent respectively. On China: “China will continue to tighten policy if inflation remains on the high side. If it remains at a 6 and 6.5 percent range for July, we’re likely to see further tightening. You are probably back to another 50 basis points hike in the required reserve ratio. Policy rates probably not because obviously they want to drain more liquidity from the financial sector. It’s going to be very data-dependent after August.” You will see inflation peaking in the next several months probably at around 6.5 percent. We’re likely to see a pause in tightening measures and that will start to provide some support to the market. We have less concern about growth. In some way, adjustment is underway in China. We see growth as probably coming out at around 8.5 percent this year.’’ On Indonesia : “Indonesia has one of the lowest fiscal deficit positions among the emerging countries. Its fiscal balance remains very strong and there’s a big increase in foreign direct investment as well. It’s a resource-rich country, which is benefiting from not just the mix of commodities but also the coal shortage in China and India. What’s probably holding back the upgrade are the subsidies, which stand at about 3 percent of its GDP. The expectation is you are likely to see some move on subsidies over the next year. That would be a signal for rating agencies that this is a positive sign.” To contact the reporter on this story: Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

Prudential Veteran Accounts `Dishonest,' American Legion Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-01/prudential-life-insurance-accounts-unlawful-american-legion-tells-court.html

Prudential Financial Inc. ’s practice of collecting interest on unpaid veterans’ life-insurance benefits is “unlawful and dishonest,” the American Legion told a judge yesterday. The American Legion, the largest U.S. veterans’ service organization with 2.5 million members in almost 14,000 posts worldwide, asked permission to file a legal brief supporting a pending case in Springfield, Massachusetts, against Prudential Insurance Co. of America, a unit of Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial. The pending lawsuit by the families of deceased veterans accuses the insurer of failing to pay beneficiaries in a lump sum as required by U.S. law and the language of the policies. Instead, the lawsuit says that Prudential strongly encourages beneficiaries to keep the money in accounts with the company, which pays them a small amount of interest. The “practice is unlawful and dishonest,” the American Legion said in its court filing. “It is especially objectionable because sophisticated money managers are making an unwarranted and unlawful profit from the deaths of those who have given the most to preserve our nation’s way of life.” Bob DeFillippo , a spokesman for Prudential Financial, declined to comment on the filing. He has previously said that the company informs beneficiaries of their payment options and that they may immediately withdraw the money from their Prudential Alliance Accounts and invest it wherever they choose. ‘Fallen Heroes’ Prudential held $662 million of survivors’ money in its corporate general account as of June 30, according to information provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prudential’s general account earned 4.2 percent in 2009, mostly from bond investments, according to regulatory filings. The company has paid survivors holding Alliance Accounts 0.5 percent in 2010. More than 100 insurance carriers earn investment income on $28 billion owed to life insurance beneficiaries, Bloomberg Markets magazine reported in July. Insurers keep the money in their general account, paying only when the beneficiaries write drafts, or “checks” on the account, Bloomberg reported. The American Legion brief filed yesterday cites the Bloomberg stories. The American Legion, which Congress chartered in 1919 to represent the interests of veterans, seeks permission in its submission yesterday to join the lawsuit and to file a brief opposing the so-called retained asset accounts used by Prudential. The brief was included as part of the filing. Prudential’s “disingenuous practices take advantage of the grieving families of America’s fallen heroes,” the American Legion says. “This procedure is morally objectionable and unlawful. It should be stopped.” Transfer Request Prudential has asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying the insurer’s delivery of a “checkbook” to beneficiaries complies with its legal obligation. Lawyers for beneficiaries who brought the case yesterday filed a separate brief opposing Prudential’s request. The suit seeks class-action, or group, status on behalf of other beneficiaries. Prudential is also seeking to transfer this and a similar case in California to the federal court in New Jersey, where the insurer previously won a favorable ruling in another lawsuit over retained asset accounts. The case is Lucey v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America, 10-30163, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Springfield). To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in federal court in New York at dglovin@bloomberg.net ; David Evans in Los Angeles at davidevans@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net .

Petrominerales Posts Record Gain on New Well Flow: Bogota Mover

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-18/petrominerales-posts-record-gain-on-new-well-flow-bogota-mover.html

Petrominerales Ltd. (PMG) rallied the most on record after the Canadian driller said output jumped by at least 8.8 percent from first-quarter levels as a new well in Colombia added to production. Petrominerales rose 12 percent to 12,500 pesos at 12:29 p.m. in Bogota after early increasing as much as 16 percent, the biggest intraday gain since the shares started trading in August 2011. The stock was the biggest winner today on the Colombian Colcap index , which rose 0.9 percent. The Curito-1 exploration well in central Colombia produced an average 5,973 barrels of oil per day initially with an electric pump, the company said in a statement yesterday. Under natural conditions without the pump, the well has been flowing at a stabilized rate of more than 2,700 barrels a day. The company said its total output is now more than 24,000 barrels a day, up from an average of 22,063 barrels a day in the three months through March. Rising output “should modestly ease” concern about funding challenges, Jared Dziuba, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a research report today. Petrominerales, which is selling assets after its cash balance tumbled by 89 percent over the past year, has received interest from prospective buyers in stakes in Colombian oil pipelines, Chief Executive Officer Corey Ruttan said in a telephone interview yesterday. Holders of convertible bonds are expected to exercise an option to demand repayment of about $200 million in August, he said. Petrominerales, which reported a 35 percent drop in first-quarter output from a year earlier, is seeking to “maintain and modestly grow production this year,” Ruttan said. To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Jenkins in Bogota at cjenkins28@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Autogrill Aims to Expand in India, Asia, Chief Tells Messaggero

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-13/autogrill-aims-to-expand-in-india-asia-chief-tells-messaggero.html

Autogrill SpA aims to expand in India and other Asian countries, Chief Executive Officer Gianmario Tondato told il Messaggero. “We want to grow in international markets, especially emerging economies,” the newspaper cited the CEO as saying in an interview. He singled out Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore as possible locations, it reported. The company is the world’s biggest manager of airport and highway restaurants. To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net .

South Africa 216-4 at Lunch, Leads England by 210 Runs in Test

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-19/south-africa-216-4-at-lunch-leads-england-by-210-runs-in-test.html

South Africa reached 216-4 at lunch on the fourth day of the final cricket Test against England at Lord’s, a lead of 210 runs. Hashim Amla is 94 not out, with AB de Villiers on 24. Dale Steyn was the only batsman dismissed this morning, the nightwatchman scoring 9 runs. England must win to remain No. 1 in the International Cricket Council ’s Test rankings, while a draw is enough for South Africa to leapfrog the hosts. The Proteas won the first Test by an innings and 12 runs with the second rain-affected game drawn. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Cone at jcone@bloomberg.net

Stocks Drop as Dollar Index Touches 2-Year High on Fed

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-11/stocks-drop-as-dollar-index-touches-2-year-high-on-fed.html

U.S. stocks fell and the Dollar Index touched a two-year high as Federal Reserve meeting minutes disappointed investors looking for a definitive signal that the central bank plans more stimulus. Commodities trimmed gains and Treasuries were little changed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.3 percent to 1,338.17 at 2:12 p.m. in New York after drifting between gains and losses for most of the day. The Dollar Index, a gauge of the currency against six major peers, rose 0.2 percent to 83.578, the highest since July 2010. The S&P GSCI Index of commodities increased 0.6 percent, paring a gain of as much as 1.5 percent, as gold futures lost 0.7 percent. Stocks turned lower and the dollar rallied as minutes from the Fed’s June meeting showed a few Federal Reserve policy makers said the central bank will probably need to take further action to boost the labor market and meet its inflation target. “A few members expressed the view that further policy stimulus likely would be necessary to promote satisfactory growth in employment and to ensure that the inflation rate would be at the Committee’s goal,” according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee ’s June 19-20 gathering released today in Washington. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael P. Regan in New York at mregan12@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net

Obamas Report Income of $608,611 as Tax Rate Declines

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-12/obamas-report-income-of-608-611-as-tax-rate-declines.html

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama earned $608,611 in adjusted gross income in 2012, down 23 percent from 2011 as royalties from the president’s books kept declining, tax returns showed. Obama and his wife paid $112,214 in federal income taxes, according to the returns released yesterday, for an 18.4 percent rate. That’s less than the 20.5 percent rate they paid the year before. While still making more than 10 times the U.S. median income, they made less money in 2012 than in any year since 2004, when Obama -- then a state legislator -- was running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois and started attracting national attention. By taking widely used deductions for state and local taxes, mortgage interest and charitable contributions, the Obamas were able to get themselves out of the top marginal tax bracket, which was 35 percent last year. “Obama’s returns are very sanitized,” said Steven Bankler, a certified public accountant in San Antonio, Texas , who has analyzed previous presidential tax returns. That’s because the president is a “very, very conservative” investor, mainly putting his money in U.S. government bonds. In 2012, the Obamas made $150,034 in charitable contributions and paid $45,046 in mortgage interest on their home in Chicago. Fisher House Their largest charitable contribution -- $103,871 -- went to the Fisher House Foundation, which assists military families. They also donated money to the American Red Cross, the National AIDS Fund, the University of Hawaii Foundation and Washington’s Sidwell Friends School, which their daughters attend. In 2012 returns released for Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife, Jill, showed they had $385,072 in adjusted gross income and paid $87,851 in federal taxes for a 22.8 percent rate. The Bidens donated $7,190 to charity. The Obamas reported paying $29,450 in Illinois income taxes. Households making between $500,000 and $1 million paid an average federal income tax rate of 20.6 percent in 2012, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That’s not a perfect comparison to the Obamas’ 18.4 percent rate, in part because some of their federal taxes are payroll taxes on income from book sales. Obama’s salary as president is $400,000. Business Income The president’s book earnings have declined during his time in office. This year, the Obamas reported business income of $258,772, down from $441,369 in 2011 and $1.4 million in 2010. The Obamas’ adjusted gross income in 2012 was 11 percent of what they made in 2009, his first year in office and the peak of his income from two books, “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.” In 2010 he published a book aimed at children, “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters.” The tax increases on top earners that Obama signed into law in January take effect for tax year 2013 and some of them may make the president pay a higher rate when he files next year. So will the health-care law he signed in 2010, which included tax increases that took effect this year. Obama would also pay more in taxes if the budget he proposed this week is passed by Congress. He called for limiting the value of itemized deductions and other tax breaks of top earners to the value they would get if they were in the 28 percent tax bracket, which ends at $223,050 of taxable income for married couples. The Obamas’ taxable income was $335,026. ‘Pay More’ “Under the president’s own tax proposals, including limitations on the value of tax preferences for high-income households, he would pay more in taxes while ensuring we cut taxes for the middle class and those trying to get in it,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement on the White House website. Obama proposals that could increase his taxes include a new limit on adding money to tax-advantaged retirement accounts once they reach $3.4 million, Bankler said. Obama contributed $50,000 of his book earnings to a type of retirement plan for self- employed workers, according to his return. “That’s the irony,” Bankler said. The Obamas would pay about $3,300 more in taxes under the laws that took effect in January, based on figures from their 2012 return, according to an analysis by Tony Nitti, a tax partner at WithumSmith & Brown in Aspen, Colorado. More of their earnings would be subject to tax because their adjusted gross income exceeds $300,000. Congress reinstated limits on the value of deductions and personal exemptions starting at that threshold for 2013. Still, the loss of those breaks wouldn’t change the Obamas’ tax liability much because they also are subject to the alternative minimum tax, Nitti said. Payroll Taxes The added tax bite mainly would come from higher payroll taxes and two new levies starting this year as a result of the 2010 health-care law, he said. Congress let a two-percentage- point cut in the payroll tax expire at the end of last year for all taxpayers. The Obamas also are subject to a new 0.9 percent surtax on wages and 3.8 percent added tax on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000. The Obamas would owe even more in the analysis if the president’s original proposal had passed, Nitti said. Obama wanted to raise income-tax rates for individuals making more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000. Instead Congress raised the top rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent for taxable income above $400,000 for singles and $450,000 for couples. ‘Spared’ Taxpayers “There were a lot of taxpayers that were spared at the last minute,” Nitti said. “You need to look no further than the president of the United States.” The Obamas reported $11,462 in taxable interest and $2 in dividends while taking a $3,000 capital loss against their ordinary income. According to financial disclosure forms released last year, at the end of 2011, their net worth was between $2.6 million and $8.3 million. Between $1.6 million and $6.25 million of that amount was invested in U.S. Treasury notes and bills. The disclosure forms list amounts in ranges rather than specific amounts. To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Rubin in Washington at rrubin12@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net

Cameron Recruits Ex-U.S. Police Commissioner to Advise on Riots

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-13/cameron-recruits-ex-u-s-police-commissioner-to-advise-on-riots.html

Prime Minister David Cameron has recruited former U.S. police commissioner Bill Bratton to advise the British government on tackling gang culture after widespread rioting ravaged cities and left five people dead. Bratton will fly to the U.K for a series of meetings later this year as Cameron responds to the past week’s outbreak of looting and arson, the premier’s office said in a statement. Bratton, 63, will “share his experience of tackling gangs while police chief in Boston , New York and Los Angeles ,” according to last night’s statement. He’s providing advice in a “personal capacity” and won’t be paid for the role, it said. Riots that began in north London on Aug. 6 quickly spread across the capital and to cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said today he’s committed to reducing police spending and that the challenges facing Britain are not simply about budgets but “deep-seated social problems.” Bratton was a candidate to take charge of London’s Metropolitan Police, known as the Met, in 2004, two years into his stint as commissioner of the LA force, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. Bob Kiley, an American who was in charge of the London subway, had urged Bratton to apply for the post after working with him in New York City , the paper reported. Eviction Notice London police have arrested 1,222 people following the past week’s disorder, and 704 people have been charged, according to the Met website. In Manchester, northwest England , more than 200 people have been arrested, Greater Manchester Police said today. A man in his twenties has been charged with robbing a Malaysian student after pretending to assist him after an attack in Barking, London, the Met said today. Video pictures showed men approaching the victim under the guise of providing help, only to rifle through his bag and steal a games console. The student was released from hospital with a broken jaw. Councils are also cracking down on suspected looters, with a mother served an eviction notice from her 225,000-pound ($366,000) flat in Battersea after her son was charged with violent disorder and attempting to steal goods from a Currys electrical store, according to the Daily Mail newspaper. Under housing rules, tenants can be thrown out if anyone is involved in crime, the newspaper said. Fatalities The unrest began in the London suburb of Tottenham after a local man, Mark Duggan, was shot and killed by police who stopped his car intending to make an arrest. The violence has seen gasoline bombs thrown and cars, homes and shops torched. Three men died when they were hit by a car while protecting property in Birmingham, another lost his life after being shot in Croydon, south London, and Richard Mannington Bowes, 68 was killed in riots in Ealing in the west of the capital. Some British communities have been left behind by the rest of the nation and cut off from its “economic lifeblood,” Osborne said today. His remarks to the British Broadcasting Corp. come after Cameron, who cut short his holiday to deal with the disorder, rejected opposition demands for a review of policing cuts following Britain’s worst rioting since the 1980s. The government is reducing the number of officers by 30,000 across the country as it seeks to narrow the budget deficit. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Shannon in London at sshannon4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net

Rubber Falls Most in a Week as Debt Woes Raises Growth Concern

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23/rubber-falls-most-in-a-week-as-debt-woes-raises-growth-concern.html

Rubber tumbled the most in more than a week as a reduction in Greece ’s credit rating and a selloff in global equities boosted concern that the economic recovery may falter, curbing demand for the commodity used in tires. The October-delivery contract lost as much as 4 percent to 363 yen a kilogram ($4,429 a metric ton) before settling at 367.9 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. The contract gained 1.8 percent last week, the second weekly advance. Asian stocks extended a global decline, with the regional benchmark index heading for a two-month low, as Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit rating three levels and the euro weakened, reducing the outlook for export earnings. The index of U.S. leading indicators slipped in April after nine months of increases, while manufacturing in the Philadelphia area grew in May at the slowest pace in seven months. “Concern about U.S. and European economies spurred sales of industrial commodities,” Kazuhiko Saito , an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo, said today by phone. “Rubber was sold in tandem with oil and base metals.” Fitch Ratings cut Greece three levels to B+, four steps below investment grade, from BB+. Fitch said even a “soft” restructuring of debt being studied by European Union policy makers would be considered a default. Fitch said Greece could face a further reduction in its creditworthiness. “The biggest concern about Europe is the risk of contagion and of credit markets drying up globally,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Platypus Asset Management Ltd. in Sydney. “The memory of the global financial crisis is fresh in everyone’s mind, and everybody’s preference is that we don’t go there again.” China Demand “Supply is outpacing demand and declining inventories in China reflects that orders from there are still low,” said Chaiwat Muenmee, analyst at Bangkok-based commodity broker DS Futures Co. Natural-rubber stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 215 tons to 13,946 tons last week, the bourse said on May 20. Inventories reached 11,851 tons earlier this month, the lowest level since 2003. Rubber also declined amid expectation that supply from Thailand, the world’s largest exporter, will increase as the low-production period is set to end this month, Saito said. Natural-rubber output will expand as farmers resume harvesting after the traditional low-production season, easing global supplies, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries said in a monthly report in April. Production from its member countries, representing 92 percent of global supply, may climb 10.5 percent to 2.3 million tons in the three months through June, the report said. Output in the first quarter is estimated to have advanced 6.1 percent to 2.27 million tons, the group said. The physical price of Thai rubber declined 0.3 percent to 154.25 baht ($5.08) a kilogram today, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand. In Shanghai, September-delivery rubber lost 2.1 percent to close at 30,830 yuan ($4,741) a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Aya Takada in Tokyo at atakada2@bloomberg.net Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

Why ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Resonates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-30/why-you-didn-t-build-that-resonates.html

Jonathan Chait says the president’s "you didn't build that" speech revived racial resentments about redistributive fiscal policy, partly because the president was speaking in a “black dialect.” Maybe this was a problem with the speech, but the key problem was much simpler: The president was needlessly insulting. He wasn’t just calling on successful people to pay more in tax but was being dismissive of their accomplishments. I agree with David Frum that the most toxic part of the speech is Barack Obama talking about the sources of success: I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. Really? The president is always struck by people who take credit for their own successes? Obviously, every successful outcome in life -- and every failed one -- arises from a combination of internal and external factors. But the president’s tone when he said this, amused by the very idea of people taking credit for their achievements, was off-putting. Frum mostly talks about why this statement irks rich people, but I believe it resonates badly with people at all income levels. Lots of people -- most, I hope -- are proud of something they’ve achieved in their lives and feel like that achievement owes much to their own hard work and talents. You don’t have to make over $250,000 a year to be annoyed when the president mocks people for taking credit for their achievements. And it’s an especially jarring statement because of what it’s used to justify -- higher taxes, with the implication being that they are called for because people do not deserve their own pre-tax wealth. People are rightly unnerved by an argument that amounts to “we can tax you because you didn’t deserve this anyway.” Faced with such an argument, defending your own contribution to your success isn’t just a point of pride -- it’s an argument you must make to defend the principle that you are entitled to your own private property. The president’s speech calls to mind a second-season West Wing episode, in which speechwriter Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) explains to the staff of some liberal house members why he won’t insert a line in President Bartlet’s upcoming speech. They want the president to attack Republican tax cut proposals as financing “private jets and swimming pools” for the wealthy. As Seaborn argues: Henry, last fall, every time your boss got on the stump and said, "It's time for the rich to pay their fair share," I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year, which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share, and the fair share of twenty-six other people. And I'm happy to 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work, and it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads, but I don't get twenty-seven votes on Election Day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it, is all I'm saying. When Barack Obama has made an argument for progressive taxation that even Aaron Sorkin finds distasteful, he has erred. That’s not a problem that has anything to do with the president being black. Chait seems taken aback by how much his post offended conservative writers. But when Chait argues the “real reason” attacks on the president are working is racial resentment (and, for good measure, that racial resentment is “the entire key to the rise of the Republican Party ” since the 1960s), the implication is that complaints about the “you didn’t build that” speech are per se invalid. Chait didn’t directly accuse anybody of being a racist, but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be annoyed about his post. It’s true that racial undertones are everywhere in American discourse. But not everything that has a racial component is principally about race. Scott Brown ’s campaign mashed up “you didn’t build that” with Elizabeth Warren ’s similar remarks, which share the president’s derisive tone but of course lack any African-American speaking rhythms. The Brown hit is effective -- and it shows that the president’s speech would have been problematic from the mouth of a white politician, too. (Josh Barro is lead writer for the Ticker.  E-mail him and  follow him on Twitter.) Read more breaking commentary from Josh Barro and other Bloomberg View columnists and editors at  the Ticker .

Obama Critics Overstate Rules’ Effects, Sunstein Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-05/obama-s-critics-overstate-regulations-effects-sunstein-says.html

Critics of the regulations imposed during President Barack Obama ’s administration have overstated their effects on the U.S. economy , said Cass Sunstein, who left his post this year as the administration’s top regulator. “If you’ve got any kernel of a complaint, you turn it into a mountain” in an election year, said Sunstein, now a professor at Harvard Law School and a contributor to Bloomberg View. Sunstein, 57, spoke at the Bloomberg Link at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs until August. He said the Obama administration has proposed fewer regulations than those of his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush. Sunstein said he tried to bring an approach that relied on cost-benefit analysis, so that the public could see what it was getting from regulations. “The cost-benefit analysis I think is first and foremost a technical exercise, but it has a big democratic payoff, democratic with a small d,” he said. Sunstein also said he appreciated input from members of Congress, who usually had constructive information about the effect of regulations. Tom Miller , a spokesman for the Republican National Committee , singled out Sunstein for criticism in responding to his remarks. “Barack Obama’s regulations have choked business growth and nobody is more out of touch with how to spur small business than legal professor Cass Sunstein,” Miller said in an e-mail. To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Rubin in Charlotte, North Carolina at rrubin12@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net

Partner to Offer Television Services This Year, TheMarker Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/partner-to-offer-television-services-this-year-themarker-says.html

Partner Communications Co., the country’s second largest mobile-phone company, plans to offer television services in six months, TheMarker reported. The service will use a hybrid receiver that will deliver free channels and pick up Internet content, the newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information. A spokeswoman for Partner declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon Wrobel in Jerusalem at swrobel4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

Fed Said to Seek Bids on $1.4 Billion of Bonds From AIG

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/fed-said-to-seek-bids-on-1-4-billion-of-bonds-from-aig-rescue.html

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York began an auction of mortgage bonds acquired in the bailout of insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) , according to three people with direct knowledge of the offering. The New York Fed is collecting bids on more than $1.4 billion of securities and expects offers on April 6 or sooner, according to the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to discuss the sales process. Jack Gutt, a spokesman for the New York Fed, declined to comment. The Fed is selling mortgage bonds in blocks after refusing an offer from New York-based AIG to buy the entire pool for $15.7 billion. Barclays Plc (BARC) , Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Morgan Stanley (MS) were among investment banks trying to aggregate bids from clients for the securities, people familiar with their plans said last month. The New York Fed and the Board of Governors “judged that the public interest in maximizing returns from any sale and promoting financial stability would be better served by an alternate approach,” rather than by accepting AIG’s offer, the Fed said in a statement last week. BlackRock Inc. (BLK) , the New York Fed’s investment manager, is managing the offerings. To contact the reporter on this story: Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net

Vietnam Economic Growth Slows to 5.43% After Rate Increases

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-29/vietnam-s-economic-growth-slows-to-5-43-on-rate-increases.html

Vietnam’s growth slowed in the first quarter after the central bank raised key interest rates to among the highest levels in Southeast Asia to tame inflation. Gross domestic product climbed 5.43 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, according to a preliminary estimate released by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi today, compared with 7.34 percent in the fourth quarter. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has lowered the target for credit growth and ordered a tighter monetary policy as he struggles to prevent inflation climbing from a 25-month high. Price gains, a widening trade deficit, currency weakness and the near-bankruptcy of the nation’s largest shipbuilder have contributed to a slide in the stock market this year. “The slowdown is happening quite sharply, and while inflation is accelerating,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based economist at Credit Agricole CIB. “Good news for Vietnam will only come with weaker consumer price inflation.” The benchmark VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange has declined about 5.7 percent this year, compared with a 3.7 percent fall in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The VN Index declined 0.5 percent to 457.09 at 10:25 a.m. local time today. The yield on the benchmark five-year bond rose five basis points to 11.92 percent yesterday, the biggest jump since March 7, according to a daily fixing price from banks compiled by Bloomberg. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Quickening Inflation Consumer prices increased 13.89 percent in March from a year earlier, stoked by costlier fuel and electricity and higher import costs caused by devaluations of the dong. Kowalczyk expects inflation to peak at 14.5 percent in the second quarter. The State Bank of Vietnam raised borrowing costs on March 8, increasing its refinancing and discount rates to 12 percent each. That matched the level of the repurchase rate, which has been raised six times from 7 percent in early November. Thailand , the Philippines, India and South Korea also boosted rates in March to damp inflationary pressure, while China and Malaysia told lenders to set more cash aside in reserve. Indonesia paused after raising its benchmark to 6.75 percent last month, the next highest policy rate behind Vietnam’s among major Southeast Asian economies. The central bank devalued the dong for the fourth time in 15 months on Feb. 11 as it strives to narrow the nation’s trade deficit, which widened to $1.15 billion this month from a revised $1.11 billion in February. That contrasts with the rise in most Asian currencies against the dollar in the past year. Ratings Cut Officials have urged less use of gold and dollars in a bid to stabilize the currency as they try to steady the economy after Fitch Ratings , Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s cut Vietnam’s credit rating in 2010. The government has “recognized that their attention and focus should be on addressing instability even if this comes at the expense of slower growth,” the World Bank said in a report last week. Such policies, if successful, will help Vietnam “regain its pre-crisis growth potential in the medium term,” it said, predicting 6.3 percent expansion in 2011. Dung said last month he aims to curb credit growth to less than 20 percent this year from an earlier target of 23 percent. He also intends to narrow the budget deficit to less than 5 percent of GDP from a goal of about 6 percent in 2010, and cap the jump in money supply at 15 percent to 16 percent this year. Industry and construction, which accounted for 43 percent of the economy in the first quarter, grew 5.47 percent during the period from a year earlier, according to today’s report. Services, which made up 42 percent of GDP, expanded 6.28 percent. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries, which accounted for the remaining 15 percent of the economy, grew 2.05 percent. Economic Potential While accelerating inflation and the impact of Japan ’s worst earthquake threaten slower growth across Asia, some businesses are judging Vietnam’s potential outweighs challenges. Companies from Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) , the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, to Wintek Corp. (2384) , a Taiwanese manufacturer of panels for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, are shifting production to the nation to benefit from cheaper labor compared with China. Taichung, Taiwan-based Wintek said last week it intends to invest as much as $150 million in a new plant in Bac Giang province in the north. Espoo, Finland-based Nokia plans to open a plant near Hanoi to make low-end phones. Overseas shipments climbed 25.5 percent last year to $71.63 billion, equivalent to about 75 percent of an economy that expanded 6.8 percent last year, the highest pace since 2007. Vinashin Shortcomings Dung is on course to serve another five-term after being reelected to the Communist Party’s top decision-making body in January. He earlier faced criticism over state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, or Vinashin, which the government said in August risked bankruptcy. Dung and others acknowledge “shortcomings” in managing the company, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said last week. Damping inflation without compromising growth “requires major structural reforms to correct imbalances,” including reducing the power of state-owned companies in the economy, said Le Anh Tu Packard, a West Chester, Pennsylvania-based economist at Moody’s Analytics. Bank lending rates are currently about 20 percent, according to Ho Chi Minh City-based Dragon Capital. That’s “just too high,” said Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, general director of Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp. (REE) , also based in Ho Chi Minh City and one of the first enterprises to list on Vietnam’s stock exchange when it opened in 2000. “When we decide not to borrow from the banks, it means we have to reduce our activities and control the ones we carry out more carefully,” Thanh said. --Jason Folkmanis in Ho Chi Minh City. With assistance from Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen and Diep Ngoc Pham in Hanoi. Editors: Sunil Jagtiani, K. Oanh Ha To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Folkmanis in Ho Chi Minh City at folkmanis@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Carbon Projects Cancel Emission Credits for Doha Climate Talks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-20/carbon-projects-cancel-emission-credits-for-doha-climate-talks.html

Emission-reduction projects have proposed to voluntarily cancel 25,000 metric tons of carbon credits to offset greenhouse gases from this month’s United Nations climate talks and to highlight plunging prices. The Project Developer Forum, a London-based lobby group for companies that cut heat-trapping gases in emerging nations, will send the credits to the Clean Development Mechanism registry’s voluntary cancellation account to offset estimated emissions from travel and accommodation of 10,000 participants at the talks in Doha, Qatar. The value of CERs has plunged 93 percent in the past two years, according to data from the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Credits for December fell 3.5 percent today to 82 euro cents ($1.05) a ton as of 12:49 p.m., ICE data show. Still, the so-called CDM has triggered $32 billion in clean-energy investment in the developing world since it was formed as part of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol , the forum said. “The imminent failure of the Clean Development Mechanism is the greatest threat yet to clean energy in the developing world,” Gareth Phillips , chairman of the PD Forum, said in the statement. “The plummeting value of CERs places this future in grave danger.” The group called on climate envoys to adopt demanding emission reduction targets and allow use of CERs to meet those limits, according to the statement. Advanced developing countries should pay for some credits as part of their own effort to reduce greenhouse gases, the forum said. To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lars Paulsson at lpaulsson@bloomberg.net

KenolKobil Targets African Expansion Amid Kenyan `Government Interference'

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-25/kenolkobil-targets-african-expansion-amid-kenyan-government-interference-.html

KenolKobil Ltd., a Kenyan fuel retailer that operates in nine African nations, said it plans to make acquisitions in four more countries as part of a strategy to expand outside its home market. KenolKobil, based in Nairobi, is targeting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia , Djibouti and Malawi, Patrick Kondo, head of mergers and acquisitions at the company, told reporters at a briefing today. “Some of them are at an advanced stage, some of them are in the early stages,” he said. KenolKobil, which has a 25 percent share of the Kenyan oil market, is expanding abroad amid what it calls “government interference” in the domestic oil industry. It has operations in Kenya, Uganda , Tanzania , Rwanda , Burundi, Zambia, Ethiopia , Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The state-owned Kenya Pipeline Co. was ordered by the country’s High Court in February to pay KenolKobil 5.2 billion shillings ($61.7 million) without interest for contravening a transportation and storage agreement. In October, KenolKobil said it settled a four-year dispute on pending claims against Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd., in which the government holds a 50 percent stake, over processing fees. KPRL said it was owed 600 million shillings by KenolKobil, which in turn said it was owed 5.3 billion shillings as a result of losses incurred after KPRL withheld refined oil and prevented two ships from delivering crude ordered by KenolKobil. ‘Reasonable Return’ Markets outside Kenya are “where we believe we can get a reasonable return on our investment without interference,” Managing Director Jacob Segman told reporters today. “Over time, Kenya is losing its net contribution to the bottom line.” He declined to say what proportion of the company’s current profit is generated outside Kenya. Last year, KenolKobil announced plans to expand in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The company has since acquired a 21,000 cubic- meter (741,608 cubic-feet) storage depot at the Mozambican port of Beira, and a liaison office in Harare, the Zimbabwe capital, Kondo said. Initial operations in the two countries will involve importing fuel in bulk and selling it to fuel-marketing companies, he said. Kenya’s biggest fuel retailer by market value, KenolKobil last month acquired a fuel depot, a dry-goods warehouse and an office complex from Societe d’Importation et de Commercialisation de Petroliers in Burundi. In January, it bought the assets of Phoenix Uganda Petroleum Ltd., consisting of a fuel terminal, an office block and three gas stations. In the 12 months through December, non-fuel products contributed 10 percent to KenolKobil’s net income. The company plans to grow that contribution to 25 percent over the next six to 10 years, Segman said. To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net .

Hong Kong Stocks Reverse Losses as Chinese Banks Extend Gains

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-02/hong-kong-stocks-drop-as-u-s-jobless-claims-unexpectedly-rise.html

Hong Kong stocks (HSI) rose, reversing earlier losses, as Chinese financial companies extended gains, offsetting declines among exporters. Bank of China Ltd. (3988) and Ping An Insurance Group Co. led the advance among Chinese financial companies on speculation the industry will benefit from government moves to ease lending curbs and stimulate the economy. Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd. (551) , a Nike Inc. shoe supplier that gets about 30 percent of sales from the U.S., fell 1.3 percent after an unexpected rise in the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits. “A lot of the potential downside has been priced in,” said Andrew Sullivan , principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray Asia Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Its hard to tell whether valuations have reached the trough until we know what’s going on in Europe .” The Hang Seng Index gained 0.2 percent to 19,040.39 as of the 4 p.m. close in Hong Kong, erasing losses of as much as 0.7 percent. The measure advanced 7.6 percent this week as China lowered reserve requirements and the Federal Reserve led five other central banks in cutting the cost of emergency funding for European lenders. The gauge plunged 9.4 percent in November. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong advanced 0.7 percent to 10,350.51 after surging yesterday by the most since December 2008. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net ; To contact the reporter on this story: Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net .

Polish Stocks Climb Most in Week as Mining Stocks Jump on Taxes

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-14/polish-stocks-climb-most-in-week-as-mining-stocks-jump-on-taxes.html

Polish stocks climbed for a second day, with the benchmark index heading for the biggest advance in in a week, as coal and copper producers jumped after a court ruling on mining taxes. The WIG20 Index increased 1.6 percent to 2,230.84 at 2:10 p.m. in Warsaw, trimming this week’s drop to 0.8 percent. Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka SA (LWB) , the country’s second-largest publicly traded coal producer, soared as much as 4.6 percent to 112.9 zloty, the biggest intraday gain in a week, and last traded 3.6 percent higher at 111.8 zloty. The company had reserves of 73 million zloty ($23 million) at the end of June for payments of a tax that was struck down by the Constitutional Tribunal, Tomasz Zieba, a spokesman for the company, said today. Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa SA rose for a second day, adding 1.2 percent to 97.7 zloty, after the European Union’s largest coking-coal producer said it may book financial gains of about 435 million zloty after the court ruled that mining excavations should not be considered as construction works and should be free of real-estate taxes. KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH) , Poland’s sole copper-mining company, climbed 1.4 percent to 160 zloty, heading for the highest close this week. Dariusz Wyborski, a KGHM spokesman, had no immediate comment on the benefits for the company after the ruling. PKO Bank Polski SA, Poland’s biggest lender, added 3.3 percent to 30.9 zloty, increasing for a second day, and Bank Pekao SA (PEO) advanced 2.1 percent to 131.9 zloty, extending yesterday’s 3.8 percent rally. To contact the reporter on this story: Pawel Kozlowski in Warsaw pkozlowski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Indian Bonds Gain as Demand May Improve on Easing Cash Shortage

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/indian-bonds-gain-as-demand-may-improve-on-easing-cash-shortage.html

India ’s 10-year bonds rose on speculation demand for the notes will improve as a cash shortage in the financial system eases. Average daily borrowings by lenders from the central bank for meeting fund shortfalls decreased to 401 billion rupees ($8.3 billion) this quarter, the least in a year, Reserve Bank of India data show. Three-month interest-rate swaps, derivatives used to guard against fluctuations in money-market rates, declined eight basis points this week to 8.43 percent. “The cash situation is improving and making investments in bonds attractive,” said Anoop Verma , a fixed-income trader at Development Credit Bank Ltd. in Mumbai. The yield on the 7.8 percent bonds due April 2021 fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 8.33 percent as of the 5 p.m. close in Mumbai, according to the central bank’s trading system. The rate has dropped three basis points this week. To contact the reporter on this story: Anoop Agrawal in Mumbai at aagrawal8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

Eager Heirs Used Arsenic to Speed Up the Process: Lewis Lapham

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-24/eager-heirs-used-arsenic-to-speed-up-the-process-lewis-lapham.html

Sandra Hempel talks with Lewis Lapham about her book, "The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science." (Source: Bloomberg) Running time 22:12

Australian Government Won't Be `Stampeded' by Retailers Over Online Sales

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-19/australian-government-won-t-be-stampeded-by-retailers-over-online-sales.html

The Australian government won’t be “stampeded’ by retailers over the threat to businesses from goods sold by offshore websites, Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten said. ‘‘We respect the fact that large retailers have ongoing concerns,’’ Shorten told Bloomberg News today in an e-mail. ‘‘But we will not be stampeded into making rash decisions because of a vocal minority, especially when the majority of the sector and consumer groups support our sensible, measured approach.’’ Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. , Australia’s largest furniture and electrical retailer, and Premier Investments Ltd. , whose chairman, Solomon Lew, was a former executive chairman of Coles Myer Ltd., are among retailers who criticized a government inquiry into the future of retailing announced yesterday. They say the probe will be too slow to tackle the danger from the growth in online purchases from abroad. Prime Minister Julia Gillard ’s administration yesterday announced the inquiry into the impact of globalization on domestic retailers. It said the Productivity Commission will report its findings in 2011 as the government seeks to safeguard the future of an A$242 billion ($239 billion) industry. The Commission also plans to start a ‘‘compliance campaign” to ensure that sales taxes and customs duty concessions on imports aren’t being exploited, Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor said in yesterday’s statement. Too Late The inquiry will be completed “too late” to stop some retailers going out of business shortly after Christmas, Harvey Norman’s executive chairman Gerry Harvey said in a telephone interview yesterday. The Australian National Retailers Association -- which represents companies including Woolworths Ltd. , Australia’s biggest retailer, as well as Harvey Norman and others -- and the Australian Retailers Association, whose members are smaller companies, today backed the government’s approach. “We’re all trying to achieve the same end here,” ARA’s Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said by telephone from Sydney. “The government has taken a very holistic approach to this review, and I think to try and force the government’s hand without knowledge of what the actual problem is means you may end up fixing it the wrong way.” He said only about 3 percent of Australia’s retail market is currently affected by a problem that is nonetheless “growing exponentially.” The government “has taken seriously the concerns of the retail sector in difficult economic conditions,” ANRA’s Chief Executive Margy Osmond said in a statement e-mailed today. The associations together represent the bulk of Australia’s retailing industry. Evading Duty “You’ve got every second person in the country importing things from overseas, evading duty, not paying sales tax,” Harvey said yesterday. “It’s gaining momentum at a rapid rate. Rather than clip it in the bud, they’ll end up doing something about it, but it will be too late.” Premier Investments’ Lew, who has also been a Reserve Bank of Australia board member, echoed Harvey’s sentiments. “What we all agree on is that the Australian retail sector is hurting and the government appears to be on the side of the overseas retailers,” he said in an e-mail today. He called on the government to immediately abolish the sales tax for all purchases under the present A$1,000 threshold, rather than only in the case of offshore purchases. ‘All we’re asking for is an even playing field,’’ Lew said. “Then consumers really will see savings.” Premier is Australia’s largest specialty-clothing retailer. Australian Dollar The threat to retailers has been exacerbated by a strengthening currency, which has increased the spending power of consumers shopping overseas. The Australian dollar has advanced 18 percent since the end of June, the most of 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, reaching parity with the greenback in October for the first time since July 1982. “There is no denying that retailers are doing it tough,” Shorten said today. “But having no GST on a relatively small number of overseas imports is not the chief reason for slow retail in Australia. Other factors, including the high Australian dollar, ongoing aftershocks of the global financial crisis and the fact that Australians are simply spending less this Christmas are much larger concerns.” Harvey said an alliance of retailers has been formed to press the case. The group includes Westfield Group , the world’s largest owner of shopping centers, and Myers Holdings Ltd. , Australia’s biggest department store chain, the Weekend Australian newspaper reported yesterday. Ad Campaign The report said the alliance is planning newspaper and television advertisements similar to those used by the mining industry against a resources tax, which played a part in toppling former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. A separate article in the Weekend Australian said mining companies are planning new advertisements against the government, believing they were misled over the so-called mineral resources rent tax. “All certain people are doing at the moment is joining together to try and figure out what to do,” Harvey said. “If that means mounting an advertising campaign at the same time as the miners are going to do theirs or whatever, certainly if the government’s faced with a double onslaught like that, and the slightest little thing happens out there, see you later government.” To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Wyly Brothers, Alcatel, BP, Roche, Facebook in Court News

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-02/facebook-wyly-brothers-bp-roche-visa-new-star-westlb-in-court-news.html

Samuel Wyly and Charles Wyly, the Texan brothers and entrepreneurs who funded ads helping George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns, were sued by U.S. regulators who accused them of misleading investors while selling hundreds of millions of dollars in stock. The Wylys used “an elaborate sham system of trusts and subsidiary companies” in the Isle of Man and Cayman Islands over a 13-year period to hide control of securities linked to companies where they were board members, the Securities and Exchange Commission said July 29 in a lawsuit filed in New York federal court. They illegally kept investors in the dark as they sold off holdings, and in one case made illegal insider trades, the SEC said. “The cloak of secrecy has been lifted from the complex web of foreign structures used by the Wylys to evade the securities laws,” the SEC’s deputy enforcement director, Lorin Reisner, said in a statement. “They used these structures to conceal hundreds of millions of dollars of gains in violation of the disclosure requirements for corporate insiders.” The brothers “intend to vigorously defend themselves --and expect to be fully vindicated,” said their attorney, William A. Brewer III in Dallas. For more, click here. Barnes & Noble Files Lawsuits Against Alcatel, Xerox Barnes & Noble Inc. , which makes the Nook electronic reader and sells books from its website, sued Xerox Corp. and Alcatel- Lucent SA over demands the bookseller pay royalties for patents. The U.S. subsidiary of Alcatel says the Nook violates seven of its patents, New York-based Barnes & Noble said in a lawsuit filed July 29. Xerox says that barnesandnoble.com violates four its patents, the book seller said in a separate court filing July 29. Neither claim is valid, Barnes & Noble said in its lawsuit. It asked the court to rule in its favor. “We filed the declaratory judgment actions to make clear, as outlined in the complaints, that we are not infringing any valid Xerox and Alcatel-Lucent patents,” Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said in an e-mail. “We cannot further comment on pending litigation.” Mary Ward, a spokeswoman for Alcatel-Lucent, declined to comment in an e-mail. A Xerox spokeswoman didn’t respond to an e-mail asking for comment. The cases are barnesandnoble.com LLC v. Xerox Corp., 1:10- cv-05758, and Barnes & Noble Inc. v. Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc., 1:10-cv-05759, both in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. For the latest new suits news, click here. For copies of recent civil complaints, click here. Lawsuits/Pretrial U.S. Justice Staff Said to Urge Subpoenas for BP Managers U.S. Justice Department attorneys conducting a criminal probe of the BP Plc well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico have recommended that a grand jury be convened and BP managers subpoenaed to determine if any laws were broken, a person familiar with the investigation said. The subpoenas also would target employees of rig operator Transocean Ltd. , said the person, who was briefed by the attorneys and asked not to be identified. London-based BP is the majority owner of the well that exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Offshore drilling regulators from the Interior Department agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service would be summoned to testify about the process under which BP received permits to drill the well about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, and whether any improper relationships existed between agency employees and the company, the person said. Contractors that worked for BP and Transocean aboard the rig also might be compelled to testify, according to the person. Senior Justice Department officials still have to approve a grand jury, which would be a special panel or one that sits regularly. The recommendations were made by department attorneys in Washington and New Orleans, the person said. The panel would probably meet in New Orleans, the person said. Hannah August, a Justice Department spokeswoman, and Kathy English, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of the Eastern District of Louisiana, declined to comment. For more, click here. Fugitive Polly Peck Founder Granted Bail in London Asil Nadir, the founder of Polly Peck International Plc who fled to northern Cyprus in 1993, can return to the U.K. on bail before standing trial in London for embezzling 30 million pounds ($47 million). Nadir’s bid for bail was granted and he must attend court in London on Sept. 3, Judge David Bean said at a hearing July 30 at the Old Bailey criminal court. Within eight hours of returning to the U.K. he must be fitted with an electronic security tag, Bean said. Nadir’s lawyer, William Clegg, told Bean his client had agreed with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, which is prosecuting the case, to return to London, surrender his passport, visit the police every week and attend his criminal trial. “Mr. Nadir is today anxious to return to this country and face his trial,” Clegg said before the ruling. Nadir has already taken an option to rent an apartment in London, his lawyer said. Nadir fled the U.K. after he was charged with theft and false accounting. Polly Peck was a food-packaging firm that collapsed in 1990 after it failed to pay creditors. Administrators found more than 700 million pounds were unrecoverable from the subsidiaries. Victor Temple, a lawyer for the SFO, said during the hearing that the agency would not oppose bail if Nadir appeared in court to request it. For the latest lawsuits news, click here. Trials/Appeals Singapore Death Penalty Book Author Won’t Apologize Alan Shadrake, the British author charged for contempt of court for challenging the integrity and independence of Singapore’s judiciary, said he wouldn’t apologize for his book on the city’s death penalty. “I want to have my day in court,” he said after his trial was adjourned July 30 to allow his lawyer more time to prepare a defense of fair criticism and fair comment. “I didn’t spend three years writing the book only to run away,” Shadrake said. The 75-year-old writer is also being investigated for criminal defamation by Singapore authorities. His book “Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore’s Justice in the Dock,” suggests that the government “succumbs to political and economic pressures” in meting out the death penalty, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said in court papers. Shadrake can “tender an unreserved apology in unqualified terms,” David Chong, chief counsel of the Attorney-General’s civil division, said in court July 30. “Justification is no defense” for contempt of court, Chong said. Refusing to apologize would count as an“aggravating factor,” the Attorney-General’s office said in a statement July 30. “An apology tendered to the court, if unqualified and sincere, may mitigate the punishment,” according to the statement. The book “insinuates that the Singapore judiciary is a tool of the People’s Action Party to muzzle political dissent” through the award of “heavy damages in defamation actions brought without legal basis,” the Attorney General’s office said in the court papers. The book contains comments that imply the Singapore judiciary was “guilty of impropriety” by being “biased particularly against the weak, poor or less educated,” according to the papers. Shadrake’s lawyer M. Ravi asked Justice Quentin Loh to order Chong “not to put unnecessary fear in the media” after the prosecutor told journalists not to cite contentious statements from the book or risk being in contempt as well. The case is Attorney-General v. Alan Shadrake OS720/2010 in the Singapore High Court. For more, click here. For the latest trial and appeals news, click here. On the Docket Roche Holding to Face Hollywood Stars in Accutane Trial Roche Holding AG faces a lineup of Hollywood stars in the New Jersey trial of an actor’s lawsuit alleging he suffered the loss of his colon after taking the company’s Accutane acne drug. James Marshall, who played U.S. Marine Louden Downey in the 1992 hit movie “A Few Good Men,” claims his acting career was derailed by his use of Accutane, which Roche no longer sells. Marshall will ask a jury to award at least $11 million in damages at a trial starting next week that will feature testimony from stars such as Martin Sheen and Brian Dennehy, according to court filings. Sheen, Dennehy and Director Rob Reiner will testify that Marshall, 43, was headed for stardom before bowel ailments allegedly caused by Accutane forced doctors to remove his colon, Michael Hook, the actor’s lawyer, said in an interview. Basel, Switzerland-based Roche faces thousands of lawsuits claiming it failed to warn patients that the drug could cause inflammatory bowel disease in some users, Hook said. “The jury will hear that James Marshall had the potential to be the next James Dean-like star,” Hook said. “That dream is gone because he took something to treat acne.” Roche officials said July 30 that Accutane’s safety label contained a warning about the risks of inflammatory bowel disease for more than 20 years. Marshall’s case has been combined with claims by two other former Accutane users for trial before Judge Carol Higbee in state court in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The case is Greenblatt v. Hoffman-La Roche Inc., ATL-l- 1246-06, New Jersey Superior Court, Atlantic County (Atlantic City). For more, click here. Court Filings Facebook Lawsuit Most Popular Docket on Bloomberg A lawsuit by a New York man who claims he owns 84 percent of Facebook Inc., the world’s biggest social networking service, was the most-read litigation docket on the Bloomberg Law system last week. Paul Ceglia, of Wellsville, New York, sued Facebook and its founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Elliot Zuckerberg in state court in New York’s Allegany County on June 30. In the suit, Ceglia claims that a contract he and Zuckerberg signed in April 2003 entitles Ceglia to ownership of most of the privately held company. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on July 21 that he is “quite sure” he never signed such a contract. Zuckerberg, speaking in a TV interview with ABC World The case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg, 10-CV-00569, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York (Buffalo). For more, click here. To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Amon in Brooklyn, New York, at eamon2@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net .

Nokia Strengthens Symbian Phones Against Android in China

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-24/nokia-announces-further-symbian-revamp-on-affordable-handsets.html

Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) , the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones by units, announced three Symbian smartphones equipped with an extra wireless technology called near-field communications to stem market share losses to Google Inc.’s Android. Within Asia there’s “a big requirement” for these types of products, Colin Giles, the company’s sales chief, said in an interview in Hong Kong. Giles is also the interim head for Nokia’s business in China, where he’s reorganizing operations after the company’s shipments in the country plummeted 41 percent last quarter to 11.3 million phones. Nokia is trying to extend its 10-year-old Symbian product line to maintain sales as it shifts to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone 7 operating system for high-end smartphones. The models announced today start at 180 euros ($260) and use NFC to communicate with nearby devices including other smartphones. Rivals using Google Inc. (GOOG) ’s Android system are already driving prices for low-end smartphones below 100 euros, further expanding the fastest-growing handset segment. “We have said we are transitioning to the Windows Phone, and that’s our overall objective,” Giles said in the interview. “At the same time we plan to continue to enhance the Symbian platform.” Nokia will continue rolling out updates to Symbian through next year, Giles said. He also reiterated commitments to support Symbian products to 2016. Android Sales Android was the best-selling smartphone operating system worldwide in the second quarter as sales rose more than fourfold to 43.3 percent of the market, led by Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp. (2498) , according to Gartner Inc. Apple had an 18.2 percent share. Nokia’s handset revenue in China fell 34 percent in the second quarter, helping trigger a profit warning, as retailers sold out overstock from the first quarter when revenue rose 30 percent. The company also faced softening demand in the Chinese market, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop said in the July 21 results presentation. Nokia replaced managers in China and named the 48-year-old Giles as interim head for the country. Giles had previously served as Nokia’s head of China and northeast Asia. “We have made a number of changes in our China business in the past couple of months, and some of the issues we announced a couple of months ago around challenges with our inventory have been fixed,” Giles said. “I can say today that our inventories are at healthy levels.” He declined to give a forecast for Nokia’s China sales. ‘Angry Birds’ The Espoo, Finland-based company accounted for 24 percent of China’s mobile-phone market by shipments in the second quarter, declining from 32.2 percent three months earlier, according to research company Analysys International. Second- placed Samsung’s market share increased to 21.6 percent from 21.4 percent, according to the Beijing-based researcher. Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland , began including NFC hardware on mass-market handsets last year with the C7, sold in the U.S. as the Nokia Astound. NFC permits users to exchange photos and contacts directly, activate headsets and speakers by tapping them, bring up Web pages by tapping specially tagged posters, and access features in games. Google, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) , and other handset makers are also trying out NFC, some versions of which can be used for electronic payments. Nokia announced a previous update called “Symbian Anna” in April, adding a faster browser and a portrait-mode keyboard for touchscreens. That update shipped on two new devices this summer and was rolled out to existing users of N8 family devices on Aug. 18. The company said in February it aimed to sell 150 million more Symbian handsets. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net ; Diana ben-Aaron in Helsinki at dbenaaron1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net ; Kenneth Wong in Berlin at kwong11@bloomberg.net

Azerbaijan Raises Minimum Capital Requirement for Banks Fivefold

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-03/azerbaijan-raises-minimum-capital-requirement-for-banks-fivefold.html

Azerbaijan ’s central bank raised the minimum consolidated capital required for banks to operate in the Caspian Sea nation fivefold to 50 million manat ($64 million). The minimum statutory capital for opening banks was also increased five times to the same amount, the central bank said in an e-mailed statement today. The decision, taken during a July 25 meeting of the central bank’s board, takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, the bank said. Azerbaijan is the third-largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia and Kazakhstan. To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net

Bullard Calls U.S. Job Growth ‘Encouraging’ Last Three Months

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/bullard-calls-u-s-job-growth-encouraging-last-three-months.html

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said U.S. job growth in the past three months has been “an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy.” Payroll growth averaging about 200,000 jobs a month has been “impressive” and supports his forecast for the economic expansion to accelerate to about 3 percent this year, Bullard said today in an interview in Washington. U.S. employers added 157,000 jobs in January after a revised 196,000 advance in the prior month, the Labor Department reported today. The unemployment rate increased to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Matthews in Atlanta at smatthews@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Chrysler Reports $436 Million Second-Quarter Profit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-31/chrysler-reports-436-million-second-quarter-profit.html

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker controlled by Fiat SpA (F) , reported second-quarter net income of $436 million as the company plans to extend gains in passenger- car sales with the new Dodge Dart compact. The quarterly profit compared with a year-earlier loss of $370 million, the Auburn Hills , Michigan-based company said yesterday in a statement. Chrysler’s second-quarter 2011 results included a one-time $551 million cost for repaying government loans. Sales increased 23 percent to $16.8 billion. Chrysler affirmed its forecast that net income will rise to about $1.5 billion this year, buoying results for its Turin, Italy-based majority owner as Europe ’s debt crisis sends sales in the region to a fifth-consecutive drop. Chrysler’s U.S. sales of passenger cars surged 42 percent during the second quarter from a year earlier, driven by demand for 200 and 300 sedans, according to researcher Autodata Corp. “Chrysler really has hit the ball out of the park here in the first half, gaining additional market share in the U.S.,” Richard Hilgert, an analyst for Morningstar Equity Research, said in a telephone interview before the results were released. The results “could mean potential upside” for Fiat’s earnings, Hilgert, who is based in Chicago , said in an e-mail after Chrysler’s statement. The Italian automaker may say that earnings before interest, taxes and one-time items, which it calls trading profit , surged 82 percent to 957.8 million euros ($1.17 billion) for the second quarter, the average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Shares Drop Fiat shares traded down 6 cents, or 1.3 percent, to 4.13 euros as of 12:28 p.m. in Milan today, ahead of the carmaker’s earnings release later this afternoon. The shares have climbed 16 percent this year. “When Fiat reports its numbers, we will see how better cash generation at Chrysler will translate into the group net debt figure,” said Erich Hauser, an analyst with Credit Suisse in London. Chrysler results were below his estimates, he said. Chrysler reported it had $12.1 billion in cash at the end of the quarter, up from $11.3 billion as of March 31. Net industrial debt dropped to $432 million from $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter. Chrysler’s car sales gains probably will continue in the second half because of the Dart, which will reach full inventory at dealers by September, Hilgert said. “Our portfolio became more balanced with our car mix increasing on a year-over-year basis, showing that our car offerings are becoming more competitive,” Sergio Marchionne , chief executive officer of Chrysler and Fiat, said in an e-mail to employees. “We are building on this trend, as the all-new Dodge Dart began arriving at dealerships during the second quarter.” Merger Plans Marchionne plans to merge the two companies and increase sales to more than 100 billion euros by 2014. Fiat will boost its ownership stake of Chrysler to 61.8 percent by exercising an option to buy an additional 3.3 percent from the United Auto Workers’ retiree health-care trust, or VEBA, the company said in a July 3 statement. An initial public offering for Chrysler is unlikely to be a 2012 event, “if it’s an event at all,” Marchionne said on an April 26 conference call. The slump in financial markets and valuations of competing automakers make it unlikely that Fiat and the VEBA, which owns the remainder of Chrysler, will reach an agreement clearing the way for a full merger of the automakers in the near term, Morningstar’s Hilgert said. “With the markets being where they are at this point and auto stocks not really being at the valuations that we saw maybe a year and a half ago or so, the two probably aren’t going to meet at this point in terms of valuation,” he said. 300 Sedan Chrysler Group’s total U.S. sales rose 30 percent from a year earlier to 834,068 cars and light trucks during the first half, according to Woodcliff Lake , New Jersey-based Autodata. Sales of the Chrysler brand’s 200 more than doubled and 300 sedans almost tripled in the first half from a year earlier. The company topped the industry’s 15 percent increase, boosted by demand for redesigned or refreshed models such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicle. Chrysler’s U.S. market share rose 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 11.5 percent, Autodata said. Fiat’s first-quarter operating losses in Europe almost doubled to 207 million euros. Marchionne said this month that the company will shut another plant in Italy after closing one in Sicily last year unless it can come up with a viable plan to use excess capacity to build cars for North America. Fiat has delayed the introduction of new models in Europe and is cutting investment in the region by 500 million euros. Chrysler probably will continue to offset slumping results for Fiat “at least through 2013” because of Europe’s market conditions and Italy’s austerity measures, Hilgert said. To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Trudell in Southfield, Michigan at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net

Brazil Real Falls to Four-Year Low on Fed, Sparking Intervention

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-20/brazil-real-touches-four-year-low-on-fed-spurring-intervention.html

Brazil’s real dropped to a four-year low, prompting the central bank to intervene for a third day this week to stem the selloff after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled yesterday that it may taper monetary stimulus. The currency slid for a fifth day, depreciating 1.5 percent to 2.2575 per U.S. dollar , the weakest on a closing basis since April 2009. The real and the Mexican peso are the worst performers in the past month among 24 emerging-market dollar counterparts tracked by Bloomberg. The Ibovespa (IBOV) equity index rose 0.7 percent today after sinking into a bear market on June 11. Mexico’s IPC tumbled 3.9 percent. The real extended its one-month decline to 9.6 percent, which would be the biggest since September 2011. The currency pared its drop today as the central bank sold $2.99 billion of foreign-exchange swap contracts in the seventh day of intervention in three weeks. It also offered $3 billion at two auctions of currency credit lines. “It’s very hard to actually impact the currency on a sustainable basis,” Eduardo Suarez , a Latin America strategist at Bank of Nova Scotia , said in a phone interview from Toronto. “As long as they keep doing swaps, I think they can slow it but not stop it. They face a really challenging situation.” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that policy makers may start winding down the pace of asset purchases later in 2013 and may end them around the middle of next year. Risks to the outlook for the U.S. economy and the labor market have diminished, the Federal Open Market Committee said yesterday at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington. Treasury Buybacks Brazil’s Treasury bought back local fixed-rate and inflation-linked bonds today to bolster demand for the securities amid a market rout fueled by the speculation the Fed will pare back stimulus. Today’s repurchase offer was the third unscheduled one in a week. Yesterday’s auction produced no buybacks, the Treasury said. The Treasury said it bought back 239,000 inflation-linked NTN-Bs, 600,000 fixed-rate NTN-Fs and 402,500 fixed-rate LTNs, The government will offer to repurchase more bonds tomorrow. Yields on fixed-rate bonds due in 2023, among the securities the Treasury is offering to buy, have soared 1.35 percentage points this month to 11.88 percent, the highest level since Brazil began selling them last year. “The Treasury is doing its best to calm the market,” Ricardo Tibau, a fixed-income trader at Renascenca DTVM, said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. Moody’s View Lackluster growth and rising debt levels in Brazil are making it “more difficult to support” the positive outlook on the nation’s Baa2 credit rating, Mauro Leos , senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service, said yesterday in a phone interview from New York. Standard & Poor’s cut the outlook on its equivalent BBB rating for Brazil to negative on June 6. Swap rates due in January climbed 10 basis points, or 0.10 percentage point, to a 14-month high of 9.10 percent today on speculation that a weakening real will spur the central bank to maintain the pace of increases in borrowing costs. Annual inflation accelerated for nine straight months through March to 6.59 percent, exceeding the upper end of the monetary authority’s target range of 2.50 percent to 6.50 percent. The inflation rate eased to 6.49 percent in April and was 6.50 percent in May. A series of street protests showed little sign of abating after officials in Brazil’s two largest cities bowed to popular demand and canceled an increase in bus fares. The central bank raised its target lending rate by 50 basis points on May 29 to 8 percent to curb inflation, surprising 38 of 57 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who had expected a second straight increase of 25 basis points. To contact the reporter on this story: Blake Schmidt in Sao Paulo at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Berkshire to Pay CaixaBank $780 Million in Reinsurer Bet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-30/berkshire-to-pay-caixabank-780-million-in-reinsurer-bet.html

Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to pay 600 million euros ($780 million) to reinsure a book of individual life policies at CaixaBank SA (CABK) , Spain ’s third-biggest lender. CaixaBank will book a one-time 524 million-euro pretax gain from the deal with Berkshire, the Barcelona-based lender said in a filing to regulators in Madrid today. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire will get future profits from the portfolio, which generated premium revenue of 231 million euros last year, according to a spokesman for the bank who asked not to be identified in line with company policy. Berkshire has profited as a source of liquidity during times of crisis, including deals in 2008 to inject $5 billion into Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and assume liability for a portion of coverage written by Swiss Re Ltd. New European regulations and the region’s debt crisis may push some companies to cede risk or raise capital, Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., the reinsurer that counts David Einhorn as its chairman, has said. “The current problems being caused by the debt crisis and other economic problems, will certainly create opportunities,” Greenlight Re Chief Executive Officer Bart Hedges said on a February conference call. “We think that we’ll be able to find good partners that need capital support.” Spanish banks are raising funds to bolster their balance sheets as they absorb losses from a government-ordered cleanup of their real estate assets. CaixaBank said last month it made 4.41 billion euros of provisions in the first nine months of the year to fully cover the 2.44 billion-euro requirements of a decree from February and 600 million euros of the 2.1 billion euros in charges it needs to make under another decree from May. Insurance Float The lender’s VidaCaixa unit will continue to service the policies. Buffett built Berkshire over more than four decades as CEO from a failing textile maker into a company that sells insurance, hauls freight, generates electricity and operates manufacturing and retail businesses. The company had $47.8 billion (BRK/A) in cash at the end of September. The billionaire has used insurance premiums held before claims payments are made to fund investments and acquisitions. The so-called float climbed to more than $70 billion last year from $39 million in 1970. To contact the reporters on this story: Noah Buhayar in New York at nbuhayar@bloomberg.net ; Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net ; Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net

Netas Declines in Istanbul After Reporting 1st-Quarter Loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-04/netas-declines-in-istanbul-after-reporting-1st-quarter-loss-1-.html

Netas Telekommunikasyon AS (NETAS) , a maker of telecommunications equipment, fell after reporting a loss in the first quarter from a profit a year earlier. The shares dropped 3.9 percent to 235.50 liras at the close in Istanbul, taking their weekly slide to 4.3 percent. The stock is up 92 percent this year, compared with a 15 percent rise in Turkey ’s ISE National 100 Index. Netas swung to a 34.5 million-lira ($19.6 million) loss, compared with a 3.2 million-lira profit a year ago. To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at bharvey11@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Rouen Grain Exports Jump 62% on Most Wheat Shipped Since 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-21/rouen-grain-exports-jump-62-on-most-wheat-shipped-since-2011.html

Grain exports from the French port of Rouen, Europe ’s biggest wheat-shipping hub, jumped 62 percent as loadings of the cereal reached the highest level since November 2011 on demand from North Africa. Shipments rose to 275,504 metric tons in the week through yesterday from 169,950 tons in the prior period, the Seine River port wrote in an e-mailed report today. Wheat cargoes more than doubled to 220,004 tons from 108,950 tons. Algeria was the biggest destination, taking 97,449 tons of soft wheat, up from 81,550 tons a week ago, while Morocco took 87,085 tons of the grain from none a week earlier. Cargoes to Tunisia included 27,500 tons of soft wheat and 52,500 tons of feed barley, compared with 55,000 tons of barley last week. Rouen accounted for 41 percent of France ’s grain exports by sea in 2010-11, exceeding the 17 percent share for La Pallice on the Bay of Biscay and Dunkirk on the North Sea with 11 percent of the total, according to port figures. Rouen grain loadings by destination, in metric tons: 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

LLX Set for Third Week of Gains as BNDES Extends Loan Maturity

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/llx-set-for-third-week-of-gains-as-bndes-extends-loan-maturity.html

LLX Logistica SA (LLXL3) , the port operator Eike Batista ceded control of last month, rose for a third week as the company renewed a 518 million-real ($235 million) bridge loan with Brazil’s state development bank. The shares gained 0.5 percent to 1.92 reais at 12:42 p.m. in Sao Paulo, pushing this week’s advance to 14 percent. The stock has more than doubled in the past two months. LLX’s unit LLX Acu Operacoes Portuarias SA said yesterday that it extended the maturity of the loan for three more years. Batista, once worth $34.5 billion, agreed to relinquish control of LLX to private-equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners LLC last month as the former billionaire tries to raise cash amid missed targets and ballooning debt at companies he founded including OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA. To contact the reporter on this story: Julia Leite in New York at jleite3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

German Company-Car Study Urges Government to Cut Subsidies

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-03/german-company-car-study-urges-government-to-cut-subsidies-1-.html

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s government should change the way it taxes company cars to reduce revenue loss through subsidies and cut harmful emissions, a study commissioned by the Environment Ministry said. The government should replace the current system that taxes the private use of company cars based on their list price with a system based on the purchase price and kilometers traveled, according to the study by the Cologne-based Fifo economic institute posted on its website. The revised rules should also discourage companies from buying cars that use a lot of gasoline, it said. Volkswagen AG (VOW) , Daimler AG (DAI) and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) fell at least 2 percent earlier today after the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper carried a report on the study. European carmakers slid as much as 2.4 percent as a group, the worst performance among 19 industry groups in the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Even so, the study envisaged a “rather limited impact” on the industry. “There will be fewer trips, but company car users are unlikely to give up their cars altogether,” it said. The study doesn’t reflect any “current initiative” by Merkel’s government, Elke Mayer, a spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry in Berlin, said by phone. The ministry is examining the study and hasn’t reached any conclusions, she said. Cut Revenue Loss The overhauled system would reduce revenue loss from the subsidization of company-car use by as much as 4.6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) per year, generate as much as 900 million euros in social-insurance contributions and cut emissions by as much as 5.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to the study. The report echoes the 2009 coalition agreement between the parties in Merkel’s government, in which they agreed to review the “appropriateness” of the taxation of the private use of company cars. Of the 2.1 million cars sold in Germany per year on average between 2007 and 2009, 1.1 million were company cars, of which 750,000 were used privately, the study said. Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, closed 1.7 percent lower in Frankfurt at 132.50 euros. BMW fell 1.7 percent to 63.37 euros. Daimler, the world’s biggest makers of luxury cars, fell 1.6 percent to 51.65 euros. To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

Yield Below Sweden Curbs Demand in Czech Government Bond Auction

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-23/yield-below-sweden-curbs-demand-in-czech-government-bond-auction.html

The Czech Republic sold the minimum planned amount of new 3 1/2-year bonds at today’s auction as yields below higher-rated Sweden damped investor demand. The country issued 3 billion koruna ($157 million) of notes due in July 2016, compared with a target of 3 billion koruna to 5 billion koruna, central bank data shows. Investors bid for 4.6 billion koruna of the debt, rated A1 at Moody’s Investors Service, and the average accepted yield was 0.63 percent. Top- rated Swedish bonds of the same maturity yield 1.1 percent. Optimism that Europe will contain its economic crisis is pushing bondholders to lower-rated debt offering higher returns from Spain to Hungary. The Czech Finance Ministry today also sold 3.8 billion koruna of bonds maturing in 2022, near the top of the 2 billion koruna to 4 billion koruna plan. Bids totaled 8 billion koruna and the yield was 1.96 percent, compared with similar securities trading at 1.82 percent in Sweden and 1.51 percent in Germany , data compiled by Bloomberg show. “Shorter Czech yields are no longer competitive,” Marek Drimal, an economist at Komercni Banka AS (KOMB) in Prague , said by phone after the auction. “Demand for the longer bond was solid because it still offers a nice yield premium.” Czech bonds have the highest credit ratings in central and eastern Europe, on par with Estonia, and are the cheapest to insure with credit-default swaps. The Czech swaps fell one basis point today to 58, after touching a three-year low of 57 on Jan. 4. The contracts for France traded at 85 today. The swaps, which drop as perceptions of creditworthiness improve, pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a government or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements. ’Safe Haven’ The koruna gained less than 0.1 percent today to 25.599 per euro by 2:55 a.m. in Prague. Demand for Czech debt surged after the government curbed sales in the last quarter of 2012 and said its gross borrowing this year will fall by about 25 percent to 230.7 billion koruna ($12.5 billion). The Finance Ministry doubled its cash reserve to about 140 billion koruna last year, a “sufficient cushion in the event of market instability,” Petr Pavelek, head of the ministry’s debt-management department, said on Dec. 12. Lower-than-expected borrowing costs helped trim the central government’s budget deficit to 101 billion koruna last year compared with the target of 105 billion koruna, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said on Jan. 3. That is ’’credit positive’’ and supports the perception of the Czech Republic as “a regional safe haven,” Moody’s analysts Jaime Reusche in New York and Dietmar Hornung in Frankfurt wrote in a Jan. 8 research note. The A1 rating is Moody’s fifth-highest grade, four steps above Italy and five above Spain. “The ministry is in a comfortable situation thanks to its high financing reserve,” Komercni Banka ’s Drimal said. “Yields are likely to rise in future auctions as investors are leaving safe-haven bonds and hunting for higher returns elsewhere.” To contact the reporter on this story: Krystof Chamonikolas in Prague at kchamonikola@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wojciech Moskwa at wmoskwa@bloomberg.net

Health-Care Law Upheld as Constitutional by Judge in First Legal Victory

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-07/u-s-judge-upholds-health-reform-law-as-constitutional-in-michigan-ruling.html

A U.S. judge upheld the constitutionality of the health-care overhaul President Barack Obama signed in March, rejecting an argument by a self-described Christian law center in the first court victory for the new law. U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh in Detroit today denied the Thomas More Law Center ’s request for an injunction against the law and said the group failed to prove the statute is unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. Steeh also rejected a challenge to the provision that imposes a financial penalty for having no insurance. “The minimum coverage provision, which addresses economic decisions regarding health-care services that everyone eventually, and inevitably, will need, is a reasonable means of effectuating Congress’s goal,” Steeh wrote. Today’s court ruling is the first to uphold the constitutionality of the law, which Michigan and 20 other states are challenging in separate lawsuits. A U.S. judge in Virginia already has refused to dismiss a claim seeking to overturn the law, and a federal judge in Florida said he is inclined to do the same. Steeh rejected claims by the U.S. that the Thomas More center didn’t have standing and that the case wasn’t ready for litigation. The government had said the court had no justification for hearing the lawsuit because the insurance requirement won’t take effect until 2014. ‘Essential Part’ “It certainly appears that the government has an interest in knowing sooner, rather than later, whether an essential part of its program regulating the national health care market is constitutional, although in this case it is not the government asking for the review,” Steeh wrote. Robert Muise, an attorney for Thomas More, said he will appeal today’s ruling. The center, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is dedicated to the “defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians,” according to its website. The law center, the plaintiff in the Michigan case along with four uninsured individuals, argued before Steeh in July that the statute creates a tax, in the form of compulsory insurance, that Congress lacks the power to enact. The center also claimed the law would violate religious freedoms by using its members’ tax dollars to pay for abortions. ‘Reasonable Means’ “The court found that the minimum coverage provision of the statute was a reasonable means for Congress to take in reforming our health-care system,” Tracy Schmaler , a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington, said in an e-mailed statement. “The department will continue to vigorously defend this law in ongoing litigation.” States seeking to overturn the law, including Michigan, claim its requirement that Americans buy health insurance exceeds the authority given to Congress by the Constitution. The U.S. contends Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce allows it to impose mandatory insurance premiums because $43 billion in unpaid medical bills are absorbed each year into a national market. A federal judge in Pensacola, Florida, has said he will decide by next week whether to throw out that state’s lawsuit challenging the law. He said he probably will allow at least part of it to proceed. Michigan is a plaintiff in that case. Another suit, brought in Virginia, survived an initial motion to dismiss and faces further arguments on Oct. 18. The case is Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, 10cv11156, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit). To contact the reporter on this story: William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net .

Guillen Ousted as Marlins Manager After Team Finishes Last

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-23/marlins-fire-guillen-as-manager-after-finishing-29-games-back.html

Ozzie Guillen was ousted as manager of the Miami Marlins after the Major League Baseball team finished last in the National League’s five-team East division. The franchise hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since beating the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series as the Florida Marlins. The team finished this season with a 69-93 record, 29 games behind division-champion Washington, after signing shortstop Jose Reyes and other high-priced free agents and moving into a $515 million retractable-roof stadium. Guillen, who led the Chicago White Sox to a World Series title in 2005, spent one season with the Marlins and had three years left on his contract. “After careful consideration following the disappointment of the 2012 season, we decided to dismiss Ozzie,” Larry Beinfest, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, said in a statement. “Our managerial search begins immediately and our hope is that a new manager, along with roster improvements, will restore a winning culture.” Guillen’s relationship with team owner Jeffrey Loria was tumultuous. Loria suspended Guillen for five games this season for remarks supporting former Cuban President Fidel Castro. Guillen later apologized. On Sept. 21, Guillen criticized the team’s performance to reporters while in New York and said Loria needed to “look in the mirror” and ask why the team has had so many managers. The Marlins have had six managers since Loria bought the team in 2002. Guillen, 48, signed a four-year, $10 million contract in September to manage the Marlins, who opened their stadium in Miami’s Little Havana section this season. Free Agents The team spent almost $200 million on free agents this year, including $106 million on Reyes and $58 million on pitcher Mark Buehrle , and still failed to challenge for a playoff spot. Guillen also feuded with players throughout the season. Relief pitcher Heath Bell, who signed a $27 million free-agent contract before the season, told Miami radio station WQAM on Sept. 25 that the team needed a manager that everybody “respects and looks up to.” Bell, who lost his closer’s job with the Marlins, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Oct. 20. In April, Guillen, a Venezuela native who has lived in the Miami area for a decade, was quoted in Time magazine as saying “I love Fidel Castro.” He then clarified his comments, according to the magazine. “I respect Fidel Castro ,” Guillen told Time. “You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that mother-----r is still here.” The population of Miami-Dade County, which helped fund the Marlins’ ballpark after a decade of negotiations, is 34 percent Cuban, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. In the city of Miami, where Marlins Park is located, there are 137,301 people of Cuban origin out of a total population of 399,457, also 34 percent. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was among those who condemned Guillen’s remarks. Guillen was manager of the White Sox for eight years, compiling a 678-617 record. To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

Senegal’s Wade to Face Ex-Prime Minister in Second-Round Vote

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/senegal-s-wade-to-face-ex-prime-minister-in-second-round-vote.html

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade will face his former prime minister in a runoff after he failed to win a majority of votes needed to clinch a third term in office in the West African nation. Wade, 85, got 34.8 percent of ballots counted after the Feb. 26 vote, Radio Futurs Medias reported, citing results from the Court of Appeal today in Dakar, the capital. Macky Sall, the 50-year-old candidate who came second, got 26.5 percent. A candidate needed at least 50 percent of votes to win in the first round. The runoff will be held March 18. The election was held a month after the country’s Constitutional Court approved Wade’s bid to extend his 12 years in office. Opposition groups including Mouvement 23 said his candidacy violated a rule limiting presidential terms to two. Wade said the rule didn’t apply to him because he was already in office when it was enacted. M23 was among the groups that organized days of protests which turned violent amid clashes with police, leaving at least nine dead, according to Amnesty International. “Macky Sall will need to go and see the other candidates to get their blessing and become the chosen candidate of the M23 coalition,” said Abdou Fall, Senegal analyst with Pretoria , South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies. “If he is going to win, he will need their support,” he said by phone from Dakar. Appeal Sall was prime minister from 2004 to 2008. He pledged to boost growth in Senegal’s $13 billion economy by attracting investors and cutting corruption in an interview Feb. 12. He told reporters yesterday that he would lower presidential mandates to five years from the current seven years if he wins. Wade must earn the support of Senegalese who decided not to vote, Fall said, putting the figure at around 40 percent. “If he can appeal to these people, he has a chance.” The yield on Senegal ’s $500 million Eurobonds dropped for a second day, falling 8 basis points to 8.607 percent late yesterday in London , according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Voting was “held in acceptable conditions of freedom and transparency,” said Koffi Sama, former prime minister of Togo and head of the Economic Community of West African States’ observer mission. “No major incidents or irregularities” were found, he said in a Feb. 27 statement. The tension that led to weeks of protest has eased, said Fall. “There is a sense of resignation and a feeling of satisfaction that there is going to be a second round,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Rose Skelton in Dakar at rskelton7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net

Aer Lingus Confirms Acting CFO Macfarlane as Its Chief Financial Officer

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-04/aer-lingus-confirms-acting-cfo-macfarlane-as-its-chief-financial-officer.html

Aer Lingus Group Plc said today it appointed Andrew Macfarlane as Chief Financial Officer and as an executive director with immediate effect. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Louisa Fahy at lnesbitt@bloomberg.net

WTI Crude Rises to Nine-Month High on Syrian Conflict

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-18/wti-crude-rises-as-syrian-conflict-bolsters-concern.html

West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to a nine-month high as the Syrian conflict bolstered concern that the flow of supplies from the Middle East may be disrupted and on signs that economic growth is accelerating. Futures advanced 0.7 percent to the highest settlement since Sept. 14. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to sign a statement at the Group of Eight summit calling for the establishment of a “transitional government” in Syria. Reports showed that permits to build single-family homes in the U.S. rose to a five-year high in May. WTI’s discount to Brent oil traded in London shrank to the narrowest level since 2011. “Geopolitical concerns are on the minds of investors and continue to push prices higher,” said John Kilduff , a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “In addition to the tensions in the Middle East, there’s positive economic news. The economic outlook is improving and that’s supportive for oil.” WTI crude for July delivery increased 67 cents to settle at $98.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 11 percent below the 100-day average at 4:34 p.m. Prices were little changed after the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. inventories fell 4.29 million barrels last week to 392 million. The July contract rose 72 cents to $98.49 a barrel at 4:33 p.m. The contract traded at $98.40 before the report was released at 4:30 p.m. Brent Futures Brent oil for August settlement climbed 55 cents, or 0.5 percent, to end the session at $106 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was the highest settlement since April 9. Volume for all contracts was 38 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade shrank to a $7.35 premium to WTI based on August contracts, the narrowest using closing prices since January 2011. U.S. equities increased for a second day. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.8 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent. Backed by Lebanon’s Shiite militia Hezbollah and aid from Iran and Russia , Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops have shifted the momentum of the civil war with an offensive against the rebels. President Barack Obama ratcheted up U.S. support for the opposition last week with a decision to send them arms. Russian Statement Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters at the summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland , that the G-8 communique on Syria won’t set a deadline for forming a new body with executive powers. Ryabkov said statements from the U.S. and U.K. that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons were “groundless” and warned that providing arms to the Syrian rebels will be a major blow to the chances for peace. The Middle East accounted for 33 percent of global crude output in 2012, according to BP Plc (BP/) ’s Statistical Review of World Energy. Syrian oil exports, which were never among the highest in the region, have almost completely ended. Syria borders Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani said yesterday that he’ll make the country’s nuclear program more transparent as he seeks to ease tension with the U.S. and reduce “brutal” sanctions. The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, while the Islamic republic insists its atomic program is to generate electricity. Applications to build one-family homes in the U.S. rose 1.3 percent to a 622,000 pace, the fastest since May 2008, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. Housing starts climbed 6.8 percent to a 914,000 annualized rate. Low Inflation The cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, signaling inflation remains under control. The consumer price index was up 0.1 percent after falling 0.4 percent in April, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase of 0.2 percent. The lack of inflation gives Federal Reserve policy makers, meeting today and tomorrow in Washington, more leeway to address unemployment as they consider whether to dial down their record monetary stimulus. “ Oil prices are solid,” said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC, an Austin, Texas-based energy consultant. “Today’s numbers show that we’re looking at modest economic growth without inflation. The Fed won’t have to reign in stimulus since inflation is under control.” The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim , Germany , said its index of German investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, increased to 38.5 from 36.4 in May. U.S. Stockpiles The U.S. government will probably report tomorrow that crude supplies fell last week as refineries bolstered operating rates, a Bloomberg survey showed. Stockpiles declined 500,000 barrels, according to the median of 12 analyst estimates in a survey conducted before the release of Energy Information Administration data. Refinery operation rates probably increased 0.5 percentage point to 88 percent. “The oil market remains vulnerable,” said Michael Lynch , president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “We have ample supplies and weak demand, which isn’t a good recipe for $100 oil.” Implied volatility for at-the-money WTI options expiring in August was 18.6 percent, compared with 18.9 percent yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Electronic trading volume on the Nymex was 475,711 contracts as of 4:35 p.m. It totaled 623,501 contracts yesterday, 3 percent above the three-month average. Open interest was 1.86 million contracts, down from the previous session’s record 1.861 million. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

News Corp. Ordered to Pay Coulson’s Phone-Hacking Legal Fees

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/news-corp-ordered-to-pay-coulson-s-phone-hacking-legal-fees-1-.html

Andy Coulson , the former press chief to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron , won an appeal forcing News Corp. (NWSA) to pay his legal fees in phone-hacking and bribery cases linked to his editorship at the News of the World tabloid. Coulson’s 2007 termination contract, which had provisions for covering future legal expenses, requires News Corp. (NWSA) ’s U.K. publisher to cover his costs linked to criminal charges because the allegations relate to his past duties at the title, the Court of Appeal ruled in London today. The accord was signed a month after two of the tabloid’s employees were sentenced to prison for phone-hacking offenses related to the royal family. “A defense to criminal charges cannot have been outside the contemplation of the parties” because the contract was signed with an editor “on whose watch interception of communications offenses had been carried out,” a panel of three judges said in the ruling. Refusing to pay such fees would “deprive the indemnity of all practical use.” Coulson, 44, was charged in July with conspiring between 2000 and 2006 to intercept the mobile-phone messages of more than 600 people, including U.S. actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. He was charged Nov. 20 with bribing public officials for stories. Rebekah Brooks, who stepped down as chief executive officer of the U.K. unit two days before her arrest last year, was also charged in the cases. Coulson’s lawyer, Jo Rickards of DLA Piper, declined to comment on the judgment. Daisy Dunlop , a spokeswoman for News Corp.’s U.K. unit, News International, didn’t return a call for comment. Hacking Scandal The ruling comes one day before a judge-led inquiry into press ethics that was triggered by the hacking scandal will issue a report on the U.K. media’s relationship with the public, police and politicians. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch closed the News of the World in July 2011 in response to public anger over revelations that journalists accessed messages on a murdered schoolgirl’s mobile phone nearly a decade earlier. The investigation spawned parallel probes of computer hacking and bribery and led to the arrests of more than 80 people, including the unit’s former head of security and its top lawyer. Coulson started incurring costs in January 2011, when the Metropolitan Police Service opened a new probe into phone hacking in response to evidence the earlier case failed to uncover everyone involved. While News International initially paid Coulson’s legal costs, it refused shortly after his arrest in July last year. A lower court ruled in December 2011, before Coulson was charged, that News Corp. wasn’t required to pay his legal fees and ordered him to pay the company’s legal costs in the case. Coulson resigned from News International in 2007, after Mulcaire and the tabloid’s Royal Family reporter Clive Goodman were jailed for phone hacking. The ex-editor quit as Coulson’s aide last year when he was implicated in the new probe. 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

Sealed Air Bonds Reach 102 Cents on Dollar on First Trading Day

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-19/sealed-air-bonds-reach-102-cents-on-dollar-on-first-trading-day.html

Bonds from Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) , the maker of Bubble Wrap, rose on the first day of trading. Sealed Air’s $750 million of 8.125 percent, eight-year notes, sold at par on Sept. 16, traded at a mid-price of 102 cents on the dollar as of 11 a.m. according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. The Elmwood Park, New Jersey-based company’s $750 million of 8.375 percent, 10-year debt, issued at par, also rose to 102 cents. Sealed Air’s junk-bond sale was the largest since HCA Inc. issued $5 billion of debt on July 26, Bloomberg data show. High-yield, high-risk debt is rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and lower than BBB- by Standard & Poor’s. To contact the reporter on this story: Zeke Faux in New York at zfaux@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net

BentleyForbes Explores Restructuring Loan on Atlanta Skyscraper

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-10/bentleyforbes-explores-restructuring-of-loan-on-55-story-tower-in-atlanta.html

BentleyForbes Group Inc. , the closely held owner of Atlanta’s Bank of America Plaza, said it asked for a loan on the 55-story office tower to be put in special servicing so a debt restructuring can be explored. The $363 million loan on the building, the tallest in the U.S. Southeast, was transferred yesterday to special servicer LNR Partners from Wells Fargo & Co ., according to New York-based credit-rating company Fitch Ratings. “BentleyForbes requested the loan for Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta to be moved to special servicing to begin the process of reviewing options on the underlying capital structure ,” Tony Manos, the company’s chief operating officer, said today in a statement. LNR and BentleyForbes will work together “to determine next steps moving forward,” he said. Payments on the loan are current, according to Manos. BentleyForbes bought the 1.25 million-square-foot (116,000- square-meter) Bank of America Plaza for $438 million in 2006, the year before commercial real estate prices peaked. Atlanta’s construction boom left the city with one of the highest vacancy rates among major U.S. markets after the credit crisis threw the economy into recession, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. To contact the reporters on this story: Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at hyu@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net .

Ukrainian Court Sentences Former Premier Tymoshenko to Seven Years in Jail

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-11/ukrainian-court-sentences-former-premier-tymoshenko-to-seven-years-in-jail.html

A Ukrainian court ordered former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko imprisoned for seven years for abuse of power while in office, a judge said today in Kiev. To contact the reporter on this story: Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

China Revamping Policies to Promote Private Investment in Local Industries

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-26/china-revamping-policies-to-promote-private-investment-in-local-industries.html

China is revamping policies to encourage more private investments in domestic industries including health care and railways, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement today. The commission, China’s top economic planning agency, will soon publish a draft of policy changes, the statement said. -- Feiwen Rong. Editors: Jim McDonald To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7563 or frong2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Roesler Says Debt Crisis Threatens German Growth, Bild Reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-09/roesler-says-debt-crisis-threatens-german-growth-bild-reports.html

German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the European debt crisis may affect the economic development in Germany, Bild reported today, citing Roesler. While the government’s 0.7 percent growth projection still stands, it will evaluate this in the fall, Roesler said, according to the German newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story: Niklas Magnusson in Hamburg at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net

Spain Debt Reaches Record as Rajoy Becomes Crisis Focus: Economy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-16/spain-debt-reaches-record-as-rajoy-becomes-crisis-focus-economy.html

Spain ’s public-debt burden surged to the most in at least two decades, underlining concerns about its ability to reorder state finances as contagion from the debt crisis focuses on the euro area’s fourth-biggest economy. The nation’s overall debt last year amounted to 68.5 percent of gross domestic product, exceeding the government’s forecast of 67.3 percent, data on the Bank of Spain’s website showed today. That compares with 66 percent in the third quarter and 61.2 percent at the end of 2010. “Spain seems to be the main risk in the near future for Europe ,” Stephane Deo, chief European economist at UBS AG, wrote in a note today. “There are enormous challenges ahead, including the debt-recession spiral in Portugal and Spain.” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy spooked investors on March 2 when he defied European colleagues by loosening his deficit target for 2012 amid the second recession in as many years. Even as the European Central Bank ’s loans to banks prop up demand for Spanish bonds, the nation’s borrowing costs have risen 30 basis points since Rajoy’s comments. The increase in Spanish debt was driven by the nation’s 17 semi-autonomous regional governments, whose borrowings swelled 17 percent from a year earlier as they overshot their budget- deficit goals. Debt Forecast The European Commission forecasts that Spain’s debt will have almost doubled to 78 percent of GDP by next year from where it was when Europe’s sovereign debt crisis began, as the country’s deficit-reduction efforts are hobbled by a relapse into recession. The International Monetary Fund expects the economy to contract 1.7 percent this year. Euro-area finance chiefs agreed this week that Spain’s deficit goal for 2012 was unachievable after the shortfall came in at 8.5 percent of GDP last year, compared with a 6 percent target. For 2012, European finance ministers agreed to ease the goal to 5.3 percent from an initial 4.4 percent. “So far the government has disappointed,” UBS’s Deo said. “An ambitious reduction of the deficit is needed.” Elsewhere today, minutes of last month’s Bank of Japan meeting showed that board members are concerned that increased bond purchases by the central bank may be viewed as financing government deficit spending. They said it was important “to clearly recognize and explain to the public” that the purchases are not “for the purpose of monetization,” according to the document released on the BOJ website. Singapore Exports Also in Asia , data in Singapore showed exports rebounded in February as shipments of pharmaceuticals and electronics surged. Non-oil domestic exports increased 30.5 percent from a year earlier, after a revised 2.4 percent drop in January, the trade promotion agency said in a statement. The median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 16.2 percent gain. In Europe, data from the European Union’s statistics office showed that exports rose for a third month in January, adding to signs the region’s economy is regaining strength after shrinking in the fourth quarter. Exports from the euro-area advanced a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent from December, when they increased 0.9 percent. 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

U.S. Meat-Industry Proposal May Cut Jobs, Boost Costs, Lobbying Group Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/u-s-meat-industry-proposal-may-cut-jobs-boost-costs-lobbying-group-says.html

A U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to boost competition in meat processing may eliminate 104,000 jobs and boost retail costs by 3.3 percent, a meatpacker lobbying group said. About 30,000 jobs would be lost among farmers, processors and other groups directly related to the meat industry, while 74,000 jobs in “supplier and ancillary industries” will be cut, according to a study released today by the American Meat Institute. Consumer costs would increase by $2.7 billion from $80.6 billion spent annually on meat. The rule, proposed by the USDA in June, would require meatpackers to justify their choice of one farmer supplier over another. This may make packers vulnerable to lawsuits, spurring them to eliminate most marketing contracts with producers, said Mark Dopp , the institute’s general counsel. The study assumes prices that meatpackers pay for livestock will mirror spot markets, which are more volatile and would boost costs, he said. “The way this rule is written is going to fundamentally change packer behavior,” Dopp said on a conference call with reporters. “It is going to largely make marketing agreements go away.” The proposed rule would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by $14 billion, and federal, state and local governments would face $1.36 billion in lost tax revenue, according to the Washington-based group. Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s biggest pork processor, and Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. chicken processor, are members. ‘Fair Shake’ The USDA is accepting comments on the proposed rule and cannot comment on the lobbying group’s study, agency spokesman Caleb Weaver said. “USDA has a responsibility to look out for all of our farmers and make sure that the playing field is as level as it can possibly be, so that farmers and ranchers of all sizes get a fair shake,” Weaver said in an e-mail. “We will take all of the comments we receive very seriously.” Bill Bullard , the chief executive officer of producer group R-CALF USA, said the economic impact will be “minimal” because “absolutely no language” in the rule prohibits packers from entering marketing accords with producers. The institute “grossly over-exaggerated any costs,” he said in a telephone interview from Billings, Montana. “This study is based on the premise that packers will decide not to participate in marketing programs,” Bullard said. “We believe that is nothing but a hollow threat to prevent packers from disclosing information about their cattle- procurement practices.” There are about 950,000 cattle farms in the U.S., compared with 1.6 million in 1980, and the hog industry has declined to 71,000 farms from 666,000, according to the USDA. The average poultry grower makes about 34 cents per bird, while processing companies make about $3.23 per bird, the USDA said. To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in Chicago at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net

Rajoy Seeks Formula for Spanish Banks in Talks With EU Leaders

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-07/spanish-banks-may-need-100-billion-euro-bailout-epp-chief-says.html

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he’s talking to other European leaders about how to shore up the country’s banks as a lawmaker said the industry may need a $126 billion international bailout. Rajoy said he wouldn’t give estimates on how much capital the nation’s lenders need until he has reports from two international consultants, due this month, and from the International Monetary Fund , due on June 11. “After that I will give my figure and the government will say what the system needs to be recapitalized,” he told a news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Madrid today. “I’ve been talking to my European Union colleagues, and to Prime Minister Rutte, to take a decision on this matter.” European stocks rose today after China cut interest rates and amid speculation that leaders of the 17-member euro region are preparing a rescue operation tailored to Spain, which has been struggling to shore up its banking system. Rajoy is pushing against German opposition to changing the rules of Europe’s rescue mechanisms to allow them to recapitalize banks directly. Spanish banks may need as much as 100 billion euros ($126 billion) in aid which could be funneled through the nation’s bank-bailout fund, Antonio Lopez Isturiz, the general secretary of the European People’s Party, said today in an interview with TVE in Madrid. Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said yesterday that the stress-test reports from Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman will be ready in the next 10 to 15 days. Spain’s 10-year bond yield fell to 6.088 percent today from 6.282 percent yesterday -- retreating from the 7 percent threshold that triggered bailouts in Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- after the Treasury met its issuance goal at a bond auction. Investors bought 2.07 billion euros of Spanish securities, surpassing the maximum target of 2 billion euros. To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Ross-Thomas in Madrid at erossthomas@bloomberg.net ; Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

Goldman Sachs Allowed to Move Murals to Build London Offices

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-18/goldman-trading-murals-for-london-office-faces-flood-hotspot-2-.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) will be allowed to move a set of protected murals from a building in the City of London financial district, a decision that may clear the way for the investment bank’s new European headquarters. The vote by the City’s council gives a Goldman Sachs unit the option to develop an office building at 70 Farringdon Street, about a minute’s walk from its existing London headquarters on Fleet Street. Planning permission for a 54,400-square-meter (585,500- square-foot) office development at the Farringdon Street site was first granted in 2005 and renewed in September 2011. The murals, nine semi-abstract ceramic panels by artist Dorothy Annan, were listed for preservation last year and “incorporate stylistic images of telecommunications equipment,” according to documents given to council members in advance of the vote. Goldman Sachs had been “somewhat concerned that their development may be scuppered” by having to keep the murals in place, Peter Rees, chief planning officer for the City of London , told council member’s today. Joanna Carss, a spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs in London, declined to comment. The murals will initially be stored and may eventually be displayed near the Guildhall School of Music, about a mile from the Farringdon Street site, the documents provided to the council said. Goldman Sachs’ new office building is unlikely to be a suitable location for the murals “at least in the view of the developers,” Rees said at the meeting. ‘Sewer Overload’ Goldman Sachs bought an adjoining site at Plumtree Court in February, according to documents filed with the U.K.’s Land Registry. An application is expected for a “comprehensive redevelopment” of the sites, the City of London said in the documents provided to the borough’s council. Goldman Sachs will have to show how it plans to “reduce the risk of sewer overload in this area” during development, the City of London told the New York-based bank’s planning adviser DP9 Ltd. in an Aug. 30 letter. The area is a “flood risk hotspot,” according to the letter. Vibrations during construction may also lead “to water main bursts and or sewer collapses,” the City wrote. The borough released the letter following a request by Bloomberg News. Goldman Sachs’s London Property unit had assets of 73.7 million pounds ($120 million) through December and paid 103.4 million pounds for a development site this year, according to a filing with Companies House in August. Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd., controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau, bought River Court, part of Goldman Sachs existing European headquarters, from a group of Irish investors advised by Warren Private Clients Ltd. for about 280 million pounds last year. To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ross Larsen at Rlarsen2@bloomberg.net