October 15, 2011   75 notes

UK’s Osborne: euro zone must deliver something “impressive”


Finance ministers and central bankers gathered in Paris for a meeting of the G20 group had told their euro zone counterparts to provide a detailed solution to the currency bloc’s woes at an Oct. 23 summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, Osborne said.”We have heard from euro zone colleagues the action they are working on but I think they will have left Paris under no misunderstanding that there is a huge amount of pressure on them to deliver a solution to the crisis,” he told reporters during a break in the meetings.”(The crisis) remains the epicentre of the world’s current economic problems. And the 23 October European Council is clearly the moment when people are expecting something quite impressive,” Osborne said.Any solution to the debt crisis in the euro zone would need to involve recapitalising weaker euro zone banks, resolving Greece’s debt problems and “maximising the firepower” of the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund, Osborne said, without providing details.Britain was open to providing extra money for the International Monetary Fund, but not if it was used to set up a special vehicle that would only benefit euro zone countries, Osborne added.”The IMF should remain an institution focused on the global economy and supporting economies around the world, rather than creating a specific vehicle just to assist the Europeans,” he said. “Additional IMF resources must not be a substitute for the euro zone committing its own resources to supporting its own currency.”

October 14, 2011   41 notes

UPDATE 1-Daily Mail parent to merge online property unit with Zoopla


Oct 14 (Reuters) - British media group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) said it agreed to merge its online property business with Zoopla Ltd, a property search and information firm, as it looks to gain market share from Rightmove , Britain’s most visited property website.As part of the deal, the consumer media business of DMGT, A&N Media, will retain a 55 percent stake in the newly-formed company, with Zoopla holding the rest. Zoopla operates the property search website Zoopla.co.uk.”In a market that has had a single dominant player in Rightmove for many years, this will create a viable and effective alternative for estate agents and housebuilders across the UK,” DMGT said in a statement.The company, whose flagship Daily Mail newspaper is Britain’s top-selling mid-market tabloid, warned last month that it expected full-year earnings to be at the lower end of forecasts after weak advertising, particularly in travel and retail, hit its consumer business.In August, the company agreed to sell its U.S. retail trade show management business for about 106 million pounds to private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.DMGT’s shares, which are down almost 30 percent since the beginning of the year, were trading up about 1 percent at 398.8 pence by 0956 GMT on Friday on the London Stock Exchange, outperforming a 0.7 percent rise in the FTSE mid-cap index .

October 13, 2011   30 notes

“Shock Wave” tops best-sellers list


Hardcover Fiction Last Week1. “Shock Wave” by John Sandford (Putnam, $27.95) -2. “The Affair” by Lee Child (Delacorte, $28) 13. “Survivors” by James Wesley, Rawles (Atria, $24) -4. “Neverwinter Saga, Book II” by R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast, $27.95) -5. “Lethal” by Sandra Brown (Grand Central, $26.99) 46. “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, $26.95) 57. “1225 Christmas Tree Lane” by Debbie Macomber (Mira, $16.95) 28. “Aleph” by Paulo Coelho (Knopf, $24.95) 69. “A Dance with Dragons” by George R.R. Martin (Bantam, $35) 810. “The Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman (Scribner, $27.99) -Hardcover nonfiction1. “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard (Holt, $28) 12. “Boomerang” by Michael Lewis (Norton, $25.95) -3. “I Never Thought I’d See the Day!” by David Jeremiah (FaithWords, $24.99) -4. “Seriously … I’m Kidding” by Ellen DeGeneres (Grand Central, $26.99) -5. “Every Day a Friday” by Joel Osteen (FaithWords, $24.99) 36. “This Is Herman Cain!” by Herman Cain (Threshold, $25) -7. “Jacqueline Kennedy” Foreword by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion, $60) 28. “The Ultimate Question 2.0” by Fred Reichheld with Rob Markey (Harvard Business Press, $27.95) 239. “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, $27) 410. “That Used to Be Us” by Thomas L. Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28) 8

October 13, 2011   36 notes

“Shock Wave” tops best-sellers list


Hardcover Fiction Last Week1. “Shock Wave” by John Sandford (Putnam, $27.95) -2. “The Affair” by Lee Child (Delacorte, $28) 13. “Survivors” by James Wesley, Rawles (Atria, $24) -4. “Neverwinter Saga, Book II” by R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast, $27.95) -5. “Lethal” by Sandra Brown (Grand Central, $26.99) 46. “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, $26.95) 57. “1225 Christmas Tree Lane” by Debbie Macomber (Mira, $16.95) 28. “Aleph” by Paulo Coelho (Knopf, $24.95) 69. “A Dance with Dragons” by George R.R. Martin (Bantam, $35) 810. “The Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman (Scribner, $27.99) -Hardcover nonfiction1. “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard (Holt, $28) 12. “Boomerang” by Michael Lewis (Norton, $25.95) -3. “I Never Thought I’d See the Day!” by David Jeremiah (FaithWords, $24.99) -4. “Seriously … I’m Kidding” by Ellen DeGeneres (Grand Central, $26.99) -5. “Every Day a Friday” by Joel Osteen (FaithWords, $24.99) 36. “This Is Herman Cain!” by Herman Cain (Threshold, $25) -7. “Jacqueline Kennedy” Foreword by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion, $60) 28. “The Ultimate Question 2.0” by Fred Reichheld with Rob Markey (Harvard Business Press, $27.95) 239. “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, $27) 410. “That Used to Be Us” by Thomas L. Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28) 8

October 12, 2011   14 notes

Chicago police arrest 21 protesters for trespassing


The arrests came a day after thousands of people including teachers, religious leaders and union workers marched in downtown Chicago to voice mounting anger over joblessness and economic woes in protests that snarled rush-hour traffic.Those marches, organized by the “Stand Up Chicago” coalition, had appeared to target financial events in the city including a conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association, which was also subject to protesters’ ire on Tuesday.Organizers said Monday’s march was inspired by, but not formally affiliated with, the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York last month and sparked smaller protests nationwide.On Tuesday, 16 people were arrested at a protest at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago where the annual conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association was underway, the Chicago Police spokesman said.The people arrested at the conference were facing charges of misdemeanor trespassing, he said.Separately, five women aged 55 to 80 from the Action Now group were also arrested after they took garbage from a foreclosed home owned by Bank of America Corp and dumped it in one of the bank’s branches, the group’s website said.Police said that group was also facing charges of misdemeanor trespassing.Action Now, which calls itself an organization of working families fighting for change, said Bank of America had not properly shuttered the foreclosed home from which the group took the furniture and garbage.”Since Bank of America will not go to our neighborhoods and clean up their vacant properties, Action Now members brought the neighborhood to them,” the group said on its website.Bank of America did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment.Chicago has also seen several weeks of daily protests outside the Federal Reserve Bank by “Occupy Chicago,” an echo of the larger Wall Street protests.

October 12, 2011   31 notes

Deals of the day — mergers and acquisitions


** The family that runs 99 Cents Only Stores changed buyout partners to take the retailer private at a higher price than an earlier proposal in March, marking the latest private equity backed deal in discount retail.** Broadband technology and software provider ARRIS Group Inc said it is to buy BigBand Networks for $2.24 per share in cash to strengthen its networked video technology capabilities.** Western Wind Energy said it received an unsolicited takeover bid from Algonquin Power and Utilities for at least C$150 million ($145.5 million).** Canada’s B2Gold Corp said it agreed to buy Auryx Gold Corp for about C$130 million in a cash-and-stock deal.** Jones Group Inc , a maker of clothing, shoes and accessories, is in talks to sell its stagnating jeanswear division for up to $400 million as it focuses on its more profitable luxury brands.** Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp (SIPC), a wholly-owned unit of state-owned Sinopec Group, has completed the purchase of an 18 percent stake in Chevron Corp’s Indonesian deep-water project for $680 million, a Sinopec official told Reuters on Tuesday.** Payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc said its unit Heartland School Solutions acquired privately held School-Link Technologies Inc for an undisclosed amount, to expand its market share in the school services payments industry.** Murata Manufacturing Co plans to acquire Finland’s sensor maker VTI Technologies for 20 billion yen ($261 million), including debt, as it seeks to expand in the growing market for smaller and low-energy sensors.** Eurasian Natural Resources Corp plans to buy the outstanding 75 percent of Kazakh coal producer Shubarkol Komir for up to $600 million plus assumed debt of about $50 million.** UK-based holding company Chime Communications PLC said it will buy Gulliford Consulting Limited for an initial consideration of 2.5 million pounds ($3.9 million) in a cash and stock deal.