Bank of Japan Keeps Policy on Hold as Expected

CNBC - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday decided to keep monetary policy on hold, but one board member tried unsuccessfully to loosen the central bank's commitment to achieving its 2 percent inflation target within two years. In a unanimous vote, the BOJ maintained its pledge to increase base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen ...

BOJ keeps policy on hold Kiuchi proposes looser price target timeframe

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan on Wednesday decided to keep monetary policy on hold, but one board member tried unsuccessfully to loosen the central bank's commitment to achieving its 2 percent inflation target within two ...

Merck signs $5 billion share buyback agreement with Goldman Sachs

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

(Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said it has entered into a $5 billion share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, as the drug giant looks to prop up shareholder value in face of stiff competition from makers of less-costly ...

Corero appoints high tech executive to lead worldwide sales

Atlanta News.Net - Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 -0400

HUDSON, MA, May 21, 2013 – Corero Network Security, the First Line of Defense for enterprises globally against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and ...

STOCKS NEWS MALAYSIA-CIMB rises after strong Q1 earnings

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 11:46pm EDT Shares in CIMB Group Berhad, southeast Asia's fifth-largest bank by assets, were up after its first quarter results came in higher than expected. The bank reported late on Tuesday a 37 percent jump in net profit, boosted by asset sales, but remained cautious on its outlook. In a research note on Wednesday, Kenanga Research stuck to its "outperform" call ...

China Big Four Banks New Lending Surged in May - Report

Fox Business - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

China's four largest banks issued 233 billion yuan ($38 billion) new loans in the first 21 days of May, up 30% from the same period a month earlier, the 21st Century Business Herald reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.The surge in demand for new loans came mainly from local governments spending on infrastructure projects and the property sector, the report said.Total new lending in ...

Mall of America nets up to $250 million in tax breaks

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Bloomington behemoth to double its size with more stores, movie theaters, hotels, and maybe a water park. To help ensure the project moves forward, up to $250 million in tax breaks were approved this week by the Minnesota Legislature. In recent years, the megamall’s pleas for public subsidies have failed. This year, lawmakers supported a controversial new funding mechanism that draws ...

$150M loan unraveled for Petters associates banker testifies

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Barclays Bank was on the verge of giving James Fry and business partner Frank Vennes a $150 million line of credit to invest with Tom Petters when the bank learned of Vennes’ criminal background and brought the transaction to a screeching halt, a Barclays official testified at Fry’s trial Tuesday. "I was taken aback," testified Barclays Capital director Andrew Shuster as ...

Best Buy reports first-quarter loss on restructuring costs

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Best Buy Co. Inc. on Tuesday reported a loss for its fiscal first quarter as it sold its stake in Best Buy Europe and works on a turnaround plan that includes cutting costs and closing some stores. Its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations, as cost cuts helped offset tough pricing competition during the quarter. But shares fell over 4 percent Tuesday. The company has been working on ...

Raj lawyer wants tapes tossed

New York Post - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Rajat Gupta’s conviction on insider trading charges was the absolute correct verdict given the evidence presented at trial - but some of that evidence should be tossed, his lawyer said today. "It may in fact be true" that Gupta’s conviction for passing illegal tips to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam was a "virtual certainty," his lawyer Seth Waxman argued before ...

Microsoft Reveals The Xbox One

Forbes - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Microsoft promises the Xbox One will be more than just a game console, but a "living room" with a TV tuner and cable box. Users will be able to switch between watching TV and gaming instantly through the Kinect ...

Gold Rally Was a Misunderstanding

CNBC - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

market over the last several years has been based on a misunderstanding of the global economy's problems and a misunderstanding of what quantitative easing is. Investors are just starting to realize that their framework for analysis can't account for what's happening in the world right now. They are gradually learning that the economics they learned from textbooks needs updating. ...

Hersheys Bites Into China Without Chocolate

CNBC - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Steven Schiller, Senior VP, Global Sweets & Refreshment introduces Hershey's new brand of milk candy in the mainland, called the Lancester in English, or Yo-Man in ...

Labour leaders in Bangladesh urge Wal-Mart Gap to sign factory accord

Asia News Network - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The local arm of IndustriALL, a global union federation, yesterday appealed to Wal-Mart and Gap to join a legally binding accord immediately to ensure safety in Bangladesh's garment factories.A total of 37 international clothing retailers have already signed the agreement designed by IndustriALL to contribute financially towards minimising occupational risks in Bangladesh's garment ...

Australia Forecaster Sees Resource Investment Dip

Fox Business - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The value of investment in Australia's resources industry may collapse by more than two-thirds over the next five years as major projects are completed and companies scale back expansion plans, according to the government's commodity forecaster.While spending on major mining and energy projects remains at record highs--with 268 billion Australian dollars (US$263 billion) currently ...

Minn. agency approves 4th Magnetation plant

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

DULUTH, Minn. - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's citizens board has approved a company's plans to build its fourth iron ore recovery plant on the Iron Range. Tuesday's vote was unanimous. Grand Rapids-based Magnetation plans to build the plant near Coleraine in Itasca County. Magnetation hopes to have the plant up and running by early 2015, eventually producing up to 2 ...

19 retailers line up against Visa-MasterCard accord

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Starbucks Corp. are among 19 retailers opting out of a $7.25 billion antitrust settlement with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over fees charged to merchants to process credit-card transactions. The proposed settlement would maintain and strengthens an anticompetitive system that allows Visa and MasterCard to fix so-called swipe fees for banks, the companies said ...

Sony shares rise on report company may discuss spinoff

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Shares of Sony Corp. rose 9.3 percent in the United States on Tuesday after Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported the company's board may discuss spinning off its entertainment division. American depositary receipts in Tokyo-based Sony advanced to close at $22.91 in New York, their biggest gain since May 14, when investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point proposed selling as much as 20 ...

Schafer Maturing medical device industry must change

Star Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

For Norm Dann, it’s pretty simple. "If the medical device industry is going to survive," he said, "the business model has got to change." It’s now a mature, slow-growth industry, he said. It has to make simpler and less costly products. And companies have to significantly shrink their hugely expensive sales and marketing organizations. These are not the ...

Australia shares inch higher on Wall St banks weak

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 9:43pm EDT (Adds details, comments, stocks on the move) SYDNEY May 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares inched 0.1 percent higher on Wednesday, led by blue-chip miners after comments from two voting U.S. Federal Reserve presidents eased fears the Fed was contemplating an imminent cut in its stimulus programme, helping Wall Street close at all-time highs. Bellwether miners BHP ...

Microsofts New Xbox One Can Measure Heart Rate

Forbes - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

made no official healthcare announcement today. At least none that I'm aware of. They did, however, announce their latest home entertainment console - the new Xbox One (pictured above) - and that does make for some really interesting speculation on the intersection of home entertainment and home health. That intersection hasn't arrived - but it's definitely coming and it's ...

Oracle of Omaha May Be Irreplaceable

CNBC - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Confidence on Upswing, Mergers Make Comeback If this deal was better for Berkshire than 3G, you may ask why 3G would agree to it. I suspect that it is really paying to be associated with the Oracle of Omaha and his magic. Mr. Buffett has a unique ability to not only score a low acquisition price, but he can scare off competitors and attract other investors. Boards of target companies also appear ...

Corn Prices Fall as Crop Gets Planted

CNBC - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Corn futures Tuesday skidded to multi-week lows on reports that U.S. farmers are catching up with crop plantings at a record-setting pace.The U.S. Department of Agriculture Monday reported that 71 percent of the corn crop was in the ground, versus 28 percent last week. In the last five years, an average 79 percent has been planted by this time of year.The increase of 43 percentage points amounts ...