Hollingsworth Daily Post

• U.S. Economy Isn't Out of the Deflation Woods Yet: Interactive Analysis Deflation remains a possibility in the U.S. because the drivers of last year’s price declines are still in effect, an analysis shows.


• Singapore Withdraws Red Carpet for Overseas Workers on Political Concern After luring investor Jim Rogers, actor Jet Li, Filipino maids and Bangladeshi construction workers with one of Asia’s most open immigration policies, Singapore is becoming a little less welcoming to foreigners.


• AIG Document New York Fed Kept Secret Shows Goldman Minted Most Toxic CDOs When a congressional panel convened a hearing on the government rescue of American International Group Inc. in January, the public scolding of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner got the most attention.


• Thermo Fisher Seeks Greater Biotechnology Role in $6 Billion Millipore Bid Millipore Corp. said it hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as financial adviser to help its board evaluate “strategic alternatives” including a possible merger or sale.


• ABB Taps Emerging Markets, Guards Cash to Navigate Through `Thunderstorm' ABB Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan plans to expand in Brazil and India and remain selective with acquisitions, saying Europe and the U.S. may need more time to emerge from the steepest economic slump in half a century.


• Venezuela Has $5 Billion Stockpile to Shore Up Unregulated Bolivar Rate Venezuela’s central bank may inject more than $5 billion of dollar-denominated securities into the financial system this year to strengthen the bolivar in the unregulated foreign-exchange market, a government official said.


• U.S. Stock Slump Fits With Bull-Market Pattern: Chart of the Day U.S. stocks are falling into “a recurring pattern” of volatility this year as the economy’s rebound gains momentum, according to Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.


• NCR May Make Acquisitions to Add Digital, Mail-In Movie Rentals, CEO Says NCR Corp., the company that owns Blockbuster Inc.’s movie-rental vending machines, will consider acquisitions to expand into digital and mail-in movie rentals, Chief Executive Officer Bill Nuti said.


• GM's Sale of Saab Division to Spyker Cars Said to Likely Close This Week General Motors Co.’s sale of Saab Automobile to Spyker Cars NV will probably close this week, moving the Detroit carmaker closer to trimming its U.S. brands by half, two executives involved with the deal said.


• Cyberactivists Get Help From YouTube, U.S. to Thwart Repressive Regimes Cameran Ashraf was instant-messaging from Los Angeles with an activist in Iran during anti-government protests Feb. 11 when the chat went dead.

Bloomberg Daily News 24th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• AIG Document New York Fed Kept Secret Shows Goldman Minted Most Toxic CDOs When a congressional panel convened a hearing on the government rescue of American International Group Inc. in January, the public scolding of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner got the most attention.


• Cyberactivists Get Help From YouTube, U.S. to Thwart Repressive Regimes Cameran Ashraf was instant-messaging from Los Angeles with an activist in Iran during anti-government protests Feb. 11 when the chat went dead.


• Thermo Fisher Seeks Greater Biotechnology Role in $6 Billion Millipore Bid Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world’s largest maker of lab instruments, offered about $6 billion for Millipore Corp., seeking to expand its biotechnology business, according to a person close to the situation.


• ABB Taps Emerging Markets, Guards Cash to Navigate Through `Thunderstorm' ABB Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan plans to expand in Brazil and India and remain selective with acquisitions, saying Europe and the U.S. may need more time to emerge from the steepest economic slump in half a century.


• GM's Sale of Saab Division to Spyker Cars Said to Likely Close This Week General Motors Co.’s sale of Saab Automobile to Spyker Cars NV is likely to close this week, moving the U.S. company closer to trimming its U.S. brands by half, two executives involved with the deal said.


• EDF Said to Consider Asset Swap for $2.2 Billion Stake in Italy's Edison Electricite de France SA may use power assets and cash to buy a 1.6 billion euro ($2.2 billion) stake in Edison SpA, Italy’s second-largest power producer, three people with knowledge of the discussions said.


• AIG `Death Spiral' Ends With Bailout Support Bringing Stability to Revenue American International Group Inc., the troubled financial firm that threatened to bring down the U.S. economy, is showing stable revenue for its insurance units and improving its ability to repay taxpayers 17 months after a bailout that swelled to $182.3 billion.


• China New Village in the Sky Makes Chanos Predict Dubai One Thousand Times The township of Huaxi in the Yangtze River Delta is a proud symbol of how Chinese communists embraced capitalism to lift 300 million people out of poverty during the past three decades.


• Greece Said to Have Arranged Swap Contracts With About 15 Securities Firms Greece arranged swap agreements with about 15 securities firms, including some payments from banks that may have helped hide the country’s true deficit, according to a person with direct knowledge of the contracts.


• Ford Jobless Recovery Means No New U.S. Hiring as Mulally Overhauls Plants Ford Motor Co.’s $1.6 billion U.S. investment plan will retool plants to build fuel-efficient autos to compete with Toyota Motor Corp. models. Hiring workers paid on par with Toyota’s will have to wait.


• Homebuilding Stocks Seen Rising Too Far, Too Fast: Chart of the Day Homebuilders’ soaring share prices this year are anything but “a signal of things to come,” according to Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer & Co.


• Coal Rally Gaining Steam as China Fuel Shortage Sparks $59 a Ton Estimates A rally that has boosted coal prices 21 percent from their lows last year may have further to go as the coldest U.S. winter in nine years and China’s record imports increase demand and drain stockpiles.


• Bacon Doubling Down on Oil as Tepper Buys Airlines Portend Stock Rebound The world’s most successful hedge funds are snapping up energy producers, mining companies and airlines, a sign that managers from Louis Bacon to David Tepper are convinced the economy will accelerate.


• Carlyle's Ta Chong Bank Uses `McDonald's Strategy' as Koh Awaits Approach Ta Chong Bank Ltd., the Taiwan lender controlled by Carlyle Group LP, will woo retail customers with a “McDonald’s strategy” and boost profit fivefold by 2012 to attract potential buyers, President Edmund Koh said.

Bloomberg Daily News 23rd February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• China New Village in the Sky Makes Chanos Predict Dubai One Thousand Times The township of Huaxi in the Yangtze River Delta is a proud symbol of how Chinese communists embraced capitalism to lift 300 million people out of poverty during the past three decades.


• Republicans Voting Against Stimulus Asked Obama for Help Getting Stimulus Alabama Republicans Jo Bonner and Robert Aderholt took to the U.S. House floor in July, denouncing the Obama administration’s stimulus plan for failing to boost employment. “Where are the jobs?” each of them asked.


• Euro's Worst to Come as Derivatives Show Greece Hammerlocking ECB on Rates Derivative traders are signaling that the euro’s slump to a nine-month low will continue even if European Union leaders bail out Greece.


• Bacon Doubling Down on Oil as Tepper Buys Airlines Portend Stock Rebound The world’s most successful hedge funds are snapping up energy producers, mining companies and airlines, a sign that managers from Louis Bacon to David Tepper are convinced the economy will accelerate.


• Tiger Woods's Televised Apology Freezes Wall Street Trading: Chart of Day For a few minutes, Tiger Woods was bigger than Ben S. Bernanke.


• Facebook Said to Offer More Ways to Pay for Tractors, Fish Food in Games Facebook Inc. is expanding a service called Facebook Credits that gives it a 30 percent cut of sales from tractors, fish food and guns in online games, according to four people who have held discussions with the company.


• Mittal Puts Credibility to Test in $9 Billion Bharti Offer for Zain Africa For Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s founder and chairman, there’s a lot riding on the planned $9 billion purchase of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain, not least of which is his credibility.


• Spitzer Says Brokerage Fees, Now Reinstated, Fueled `Improper Practices' Eliot Spitzer, the former New York attorney general whose 2005 curbs on insurance-broker compensation were reversed by regulators this week, said the fees that he banned “created inherent conflicts.”


• Firestone Flees Moscow `Mafia' Police as Browder Hermitage Dispute Widens Jamison Firestone, who spent 18 years helping U.S. companies navigate Russia’s legal system, said he fled the country because he’s the next target of “mafia” law-enforcement officials he says were responsible for the death of his colleague Sergei Magnitsky.


• Yanukovych's Russian Overtures May Signal Ukraine's Shifting Allegiance Ukraine’s President-elect Viktor Yanukovych may be stepping up efforts to move the former Soviet state closer to Russia and end a standoff that’s obstructed gas flows and heightened regional tensions for half a decade.


• Zamboni Laments Brand Confusion Over Vancouver Winter Olympic Ice Machines It wasn’t a Zamboni. That’s the message from Frank J. Zamboni & Co. after reports from the Winter Olympics suggested the ice-cleaning machines that leaked and forced delays in speedskating events were made by the U.S. manufacturer.


• Eastern Europe Bolstered by Greek Woes as Lower Deficits Lure Pimco, HSBC Investors are returning to eastern Europe a year after the region’s banking crisis triggered a global market selloff, as concern Greece may be unable to fund itself bolsters countries with lower borrowing needs.

Bloomberg Daily News 22nd February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Mittal Puts Credibility to Test in $9 Billion Bharti Offer for Zain Africa For Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s founder and chairman, there’s a lot riding on the planned $9 billion purchase of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain, not least of which is his credibility.


• Eastern Europe Bolstered by Greek Woes as Lower Deficits Lure Pimco, HSBC Investors are returning to eastern Europe a year after the region’s banking crisis triggered a global market selloff, as concern Greece may be unable to fund itself bolsters countries with lower borrowing needs.


• Microsoft Risks Margins as $19 Billion Office Business Fights Off Google Microsoft Corp. President Stephen Elop is preparing for the biggest shakeup to the $19 billion Office business in a decade as the company races Google Inc. to sell Internet-based programs.


• IPhone Catch-Up Leaves Nokia, Carriers Flooding Show With Rival Services Apple Inc.’s iPhone has more applications than any other mobile phone. Now the world’s wireless companies are trying to catch up.


• Dubai World Said to Prepare $22 Billion Debt-Restructuring Plan for March Dubai World will present a proposal to creditors in March to restructure about $22 billion of debt after its advisers complete valuing the assets of the state- owned company, a person close to the Dubai government said.


• Making Partner Becomes Less Likely as Big U.S. Law Firms Face Cash Crunch Making partner, the brass ring for law firm associates who toil slavishly for a decade after law school, has become an elusive dream as shrinking revenue cut promotions at some of the largest U.S. firms.


• Lula Loses to `Chipmunks' as Brazilians Reject Election-Year `Propaganda' A new movie about Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, one of the most expensive ever produced in Brazil, is falling short of its blockbuster expectations as the president’s record popularity fails to bring box-office profits.


• Blizzards That Struck Eastern U.S. Make it Hard to Decipher Economic Data Blizzards that hammered the East Coast of the U.S. and winter storms that blasted through the deep South earlier this month also disrupted economic data.


• Pimco Buys Brazil Debt in Redux of $1 Billion Lula Bet That Trounced Peers Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, posted its best year in emerging markets by loading up on Brazilian debt ahead of the 2002 presidential elections. Eight years later, the company is using a similar tack.


• Bharti's Mittal Says $9 Billion Price For Zain Africa `Not Over the Top' Sunil Mittal, the billionaire chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd., said the price India’s largest mobile-phone company is offering for most of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain is “not over the top.”


• Gundlach's Grudge Match With TCW Might Cost `The Godfather' $500 Million Jeffrey Gundlach has a black eye and a cut on the bridge of his nose, and he winces as he rubs his side.


• Moroccan Rains Give Stocks Lift Over BRICs After Missing Last Year's Rally Morocco’s stocks are laggards no more as the strongest rains in three decades help boost agricultural output in the only emerging-market nation where equities fell in 2009.

• Bloomberg Daily News 18th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Pimco Buys Brazil Debt in Redux of $1 Billion Lula Bet That Trounced Peers Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, posted its best year in emerging markets by loading up on Brazilian debt ahead of the 2002 presidential elections. Eight years later, the company is using a similar tack.


• Microsoft Risks Margins as $19 Billion Office Business Fights Off Google Microsoft Corp. President Stephen Elop is preparing for the biggest shakeup to the $19 billion Office business in a decade as the company races Google Inc. to sell Internet-based programs.


• Caving to Congress Creeps Into Market Perceptions Looking for Obama's Veto President Barack Obama may be heading for a clash with the bond vigilantes who plagued Bill Clinton, the last Democratic president.


• Greek Tax-Dodgers Threaten Papandreou Plan to Cut EU's Highest Budget Gap Apostolis Rigas took his Opel sedan for a 220-euro ($354) service at a repair shop in northern Athens. When he asked for a receipt, the price jumped to 260 euros as his mechanic would have to declare the income and pay tax.


• Falkland Battle Lines Forming as British Drillers Search for Jurassic Oil Argentina is driving up exploration costs for U.K. oil companies seeking to drill near the disputed Falkland Islands, escalating tensions over the remote South Atlantic archipelago that led the two countries to war in 1982.


• Birthday Bouquet for Kim Jong Il May Signal North Korean Succession Ploy North Korea celebrated Kim Jong Il’s birthday today with tens of thousands of flowers. The most intriguing blossom is a new variety of begonia sent on his son’s birthday that may signify preparations for a succession.


• Rising Treasury Yields Seen Spurring U.S. Equity Gains: Chart of the Day Higher yields on Treasury securities are “the most likely catalyst” for U.S. stocks to end more than a decade of price swings and move higher, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.


• Bank Bailout in Ireland Gets Lucky Break From Real Estate Prices in London It was the collapse of Ireland’s real estate market that crippled the country’s banks. It may be the British property market that helps save them.


• Rand to Weaken as World Cup Boost Is Undercut by Interest Rates Pressure Just as half a million people head to South Africa for the Fifa World Cup, which Bank of America- Merrill Lynch says will add $1.1 billion to the economy, traders are betting the rand will decline more than any major currency.


• GM Saving $10.7 Billion Means Cash for Trucks, Whitacre's 2010 Profit Goal General Motors Co. said it has slashed $10.7 billion from annual costs, freeing up money for marketing and vehicle upgrades while boosting Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre’s push for a 2010 profit.


• European Union Finance Chiefs to Resist Obama's Plans for Banking Overhaul European Union finance ministers are uniting to oppose President Barack Obama’s proposal to limit banks’ size and risk-taking, saying his plan may run counter to EU policy, according to a draft document.


• `Something's Brewing' on China Yuan Increase, Goldman Sachs's O'Neill Says Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Economist Jim O’Neill said China may be poised to let its currency strengthen as much as 5 percent to slow the world’s fastest growing major economy.

Bloomberg Daily News 17th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily News

• Caving to Congress Creeps Into Market Perceptions Looking for Obama's Veto President Barack Obama may be heading for a clash with the bond vigilantes who plagued Bill Clinton, the last Democratic president.


• Greek Tax-Dodgers Threaten Papandreou Plan to Cut EU's Highest Budget Gap Apostolis Rigas took his Opel sedan for a 220-euro ($354) service at a repair shop in northern Athens. When he asked for a receipt, the price jumped to 260 euros as his mechanic would have to declare the income and pay tax.


• Birthday Bouquet for Kim Jong Il May Signal North Korean Succession Ploy North Korea celebrated Kim Jong Il’s birthday today with tens of thousands of flowers. The most intriguing blossom is a new variety of begonia sent on his son’s birthday that may signify preparations for a succession.


• GM Saving $10.7 Billion Means Cash for Trucks, Whitacre's 2010 Profit Goal General Motors Co. said it has slashed $10.7 billion from annual costs, freeing up money for marketing and vehicle upgrades while boosting Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre’s push for a 2010 profit.


• Rand to Weaken as World Cup Boost Is Undercut by Interest Rates Pressure Just as half a million people head to South Africa for the Fifa World Cup, which Bank of America- Merrill Lynch says will add $1.1 billion to the economy, traders are betting the rand will weaken more than any major currency.


• European Union Finance Chiefs to Resist Obama's Plans for Banking Overhaul European Union finance ministers are uniting to oppose President Barack Obama’s proposal to limit banks’ size and risk-taking, saying his plan may run counter to EU policy, according to a draft document.


• `Something's Brewing' on China Yuan Increase, Goldman Sachs's O'Neill Says Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Economist Jim O’Neill said China may be poised to let its currency strengthen as much as 5 percent to slow the world’s fastest growing major economy.


• Shipping Costs Rise 32% in Survey as 55 Boats Wait for Coal From Newcastle The fastest expansion in world trade in three years is clogging up ports from Australia to Brazil, driving a 31 percent jump in charter rates by December.


• Samsung to Challenge Apple's IPad With Tablet Computer, Mobile Chief Says Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, plans to offer a tablet computer to ride the wave of demand it expects for Apple Inc.’s iPad.


• Weber Clear Frontrunner to Succeed Trichet as ECB President, Survey Shows Germany’s Axel Weber leads the race to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Central Bank after Portugal’s Vitor Constancio was nominated for the deputy’s job.


• Investor Stephen Jarislowsky `Convinced' That Canada Has a Housing Bubble Stephen Jarislowsky, chairman of Montreal-based investment adviser Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., said he is “convinced” there’s a bubble in Canada’s housing market, fueled by government measures that encouraged consumers to take on debt.


• Buffett's Newest CEO Rejoices at Farewell to Analysts, Hedge-Fund Managers Matthew Rose, chief executive officer of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., welcomed Warren Buffett as his company’s new owner while showing analysts and hedge-fund managers the door.


• Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt U.S. Safety Probes, Documents Show At least four U.S. investigations into unintended acceleration by Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles were ended with the help of former regulators hired by the automaker, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.

• Bloomberg Daily News 16th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• European Union Finance Chiefs to Resist Obama's Plans for Banking Overhaul European Union finance ministers are uniting to oppose President Barack Obama’s proposal to limit banks’ size and risk-taking, saying his plan may run counter to EU policy, according to a draft document.


• Weber Clear Frontrunner to Succeed Trichet as ECB President, Survey Shows Germany’s Axel Weber leads the race to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Central Bank and Portugal’s Vitor Constancio is likely to be his deputy, a survey of economists shows.


• Shipping Costs Rise 32% in Survey as 55 Boats Wait for Coal From Newcastle The fastest expansion in world trade in three years is clogging up ports from Australia to Brazil, driving a 32 percent jump in charter rates by December.


• Samsung to Challenge Apple's IPad With Tablet Computer, Mobile Chief Says Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, plans to offer a tablet computer to ride the wave of demand it expects for Apple Inc.’s iPad.


• `Something's Brewing' on China Yuan Increase, Goldman Sachs's O'Neill Says Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Economist Jim O’Neill said China may be poised to let its currency strengthen as much as 5 percent to slow the world’s fastest growing major economy.


• Buffett's Newest CEO Rejoices at Farewell to Analysts, Hedge-Fund Managers Matthew Rose, chief executive officer of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., welcomed Warren Buffett as his company’s new owner while showing analysts and hedge-fund managers the door.


• Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt U.S. Safety Probes, Documents Show At least four U.S. investigations into unintended acceleration by Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles were ended with the help of former regulators hired by the automaker, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.


• Beijing Seen Vacant for 50% of Commercial Space as Chanos Predicts a Crash Jack Rodman, who has made a career of selling soured property loans from Los Angeles to Tokyo, sees a crash looming in China. He keeps a slide show on his computer of empty office buildings in Beijing, his home since 2002. The tally: 55, with another dozen candidates.


• BlackRock Says Greece Is No Lehman Brothers With EU Support, Buys Its Debt BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest asset manager, increased its Greek bond holdings, betting the European Union won’t allow the nation to default as Prime Minister George Papandreou cuts the bloc’s biggest deficit.


• Rap Moguls Go From Lil' Wayne to Oil Business, Show Sincerity With Tattoo An oil well tattooed on the shaved head of Bryan “Birdman” Williams and a Web site for a company called Bronald Oil & Gas LLC indicate that two men known for their gushers in rap music are getting into the energy business.


• Expats Bound for Jobs in India Run Up Against `Out of Line' Visa Limits T.V. Mohandas Pai says he wants to hire more expatriates for Infosys Technologies Ltd., India’s second-largest software exporter, as the global economic recovery boosts sales. Stricter visa rules prompted by unskilled Chinese workers are holding him back.


• AT&T, Verizon May Have to Share Internet Lines With Rivals Under FCC Plan AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. would be forced to lease fast Internet lines to rivals providing Web services to small businesses under a proposal being weighed by U.S. regulators.


• Lobbying May Push Fiduciary Rules for Brokers Off Congress Reform Agenda Lobbying by insurers and banks including Morgan Stanley may result in the elimination of a proposed new standard that would make retail brokers more accountable to their clients.


• Gensler Turns Back on Wall Street to Push Stronger Derivatives Legislation Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is shattering any illusions that his 18 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. would make him sympathetic to Wall Street’s effort to weaken derivatives legislation.


• Nissan May Need New Small-Car Partner After Suzuki's Deal With Volkswagen Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, said it may need to find a new partner to manufacture its European small cars after Volkswagen AG bought a stake in Suzuki Motor Corp., which supplies Nissan’s Pixo model.

Bloomberg Daily News 15th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Bankers Concoct Liverpudlian Stew Disguising CDO Scraps as Tasty Morsels Since its inception, the derivatives market has echoed the fairground hawkers’ call to “scream if you want to go faster.” Among the new derivatives, collateralized-debt obligations (CDOs) were particularly hot.


• `Blind Pools' Lose Appeal as Ziman, Callahan Plan Real Estate IPO Comeback Richard Ziman and Timothy Callahan want to raise money in the equity market after selling their real estate companies for a combined $12 billion before the property crash. Investors may balk at bankrolling their return.


• Greece Says Call for Help Would Send `Worst Signal' as Bond Yields Surge Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said he can’t call for outside aid as his government struggles to cut the European Union’s largest budget deficit.


• Anglo, Vale Help Push Bond Sales to Record, Signaling Mining Acquisitions Record bond sales by global mining companies such as Anglo American Plc and Vale SA have bolstered raw material producers’ war chests for acquisitions, expansions and buybacks as they prepare for sustained global recovery.


• Sugar Shortage May Turn Acute in Third Quarter on Demand From U.S., Mexico A global sugar shortage, which drove prices to the highest level in three decades, may peak in the third quarter this year on demand from the U.S., Mexico, India and Pakistan, according to U.K.-based Tropix Capital Management.


• French Holders of Czar Bonds to Sue Russia, Seek Kremlin's Paris Property A group representing French holders of czarist bonds says it will sue Russia in a bid to seize Paris property bought by the Kremlin and reclaim part of a century-old debt valued at as much as 100 billion euros ($137 billion).


• Calculating Death Risk Makes Swedish Insurance Actuary a Gold-Medal Curler Olympic curler Anette Norberg says weighing the risk of death and disease for Folksam Group gives her an advantage that may result in her second gold medal at the Winter Games this month.


• `Genghis Khan,' Barings CEO Seek Success in Britain Where Goodwin Failed Peter Norris and Vernon Hill, forced out of the banks they once ran amid scandals, are taking on the U.K.’s biggest lenders to rebuild their reputations in Britain’s new banking gold rush.


• No Job Growth for Small Business Inspires Doubts Over Sustainable Recovery Small businesses are becoming the Achilles heel of the U.S. recovery by limiting growth and job creation.


• Overhaul Failure Will Spur Mergers as U.S. Health Industry Pursues Savings Insurers, drugmakers and hospitals will likely slash costs and merge companies to maneuver through a U.S. health-care landscape marked by rising medical expenses and the loss of millions of potential paying customers.


• Cocoa Peaking Means Kraft Gets Cadbury as Chocolatier Profit Margins Widen The longest cocoa rally in three decades is ending as growers boost output, widening profit margins for chocolate makers who’ve already shrunk the size of candy bars and substituted cheaper ingredients to save money.

Bloomberg Daily News 09th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Akio Toyoda Hears Emulating Bill Ford a Necessity to Salvage Toyota Legacy As Akio Toyoda struggles to salvage the decades-old bond with customers that made Toyota Motor Corp. the world’s largest automaker, he can borrow the playbook from a rival who learned how to obtain victory from defeat: Bill Ford.


• Cocoa Peaking Means Kraft Gets Cadbury as Chocolatier Profit Margins Widen The longest cocoa rally in three decades is ending as growers boost output, widening profit margins for chocolate makers who’ve already shrunk the size of candy bars and substituted cheaper ingredients to save money.


• Mexico Central Bank's Sanchez `Ready to Be Surprised' by Economic Recovery Mexico’s economy may expand more than expected in 2010 as the nation recovers from last year’s global slump, central bank Deputy Governor Manuel Sanchez Gonzalez said in an interview yesterday.


• Poland May Fulfill EU Budget Deficit-Cutting Demand in 2012, Official Says Poland may fulfill European Union demands to cut its budget deficit below the 3 percent of gross domestic product cap required for euro adoption in 2012 as economic growth accelerates, a senior government official said.


• America's Cup Sinks as Bertarelli Battle With Ellison Chases Off Santander Billionaires Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli have turned an America’s Cup boom into bust.


• Skype Rival Fring of Israel Lures Mobile-Phone Users to Free Video Calls Israeli startup Fring, backed by founders of instant messenger ICQ, is bringing free video calls to mobile phones and offering wireless services similar to those of Skype Technologies SA.


• Acer Plans to Expand Server Sales This Year in Competition With H-P, Dell Acer Inc., the world’s second-largest personal-computer vendor, plans to boost sales of more- profitable servers this year as it takes on Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. in offering computers to companies.


• Hershey Meltdown Looms With Reese Shadowing West in Failed Cadbury Merger Hershey Co. Chief Executive Officer David J. West didn’t expect his Pennsylvania overseer to be in Mayfair’s Stafford Hotel when he showed up for talks with Cadbury Plc last October.


• G-7 Discussion Paper Says Nations Must Allow Greater Currency Flexibility Major economies with inflexible currencies must consider strengthening them if the global economy is to be weaned off its dependence on U.S. spending and Asian savings, according to a report prepared for a meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven.


• Lipitor Patent Expiration May Bring Earnings `Windfall' to CVS, Walgreen Profit at CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. pharmacy chains, may rise at least 20 percent starting next year as branded drugs with more than $100 billion in sales become available as generics.


• Airport Body Scans Increase Radiation Exposure Risk, Safety Committee Says Air passengers should be made aware of the health risks of airport body screenings and governments must explain any decision to expose the public to higher levels of cancer-causing radiation, an inter-agency report said.


• Aviva, Zurich Financial May Face a `Spiral' of New Asbestos Claims in U.K. Ernie Terry needed a moment to regain his breath after climbing the stairs at his house in Bisley, south of London.


• Taiwan Pushes China Steel, Biggest Polluters to Enter Global Carbon Market Taiwan is forcing some of its largest companies such as China Steel Corp.’s Dragon Steel unit to cut emissions or begin buying carbon credits on global markets.


• `Piigs' Don't Fly in Barclays Notes as Portugal, Greece Grapple With Debt At Barclays Capital, Piigs won’t fly.


• Playboy Surfers Are Targets for VW Polos in $4 Billion Web Video Ads Push Christian Baudis has profiled the perfect target for Volkswagen Polo online video advertisements in Germany: a man aged 25 to 39 who watches soccer matches, checks out the Playboy site and reads Der Spiegel magazine.

Bloomberg Daily News 8th February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Toyota's Electronics Said to Be Probed as Cause of Unintended Acceleration Electronic throttle systems are under review by U.S. safety officials as a possible cause of sudden acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, as alleged in at least seven lawsuits.


• Bank of America Said to Pay Investment Bankers Average Bonus of $400,000 Bank of America Corp., the nation’s largest lender, will pay investment-banking employees bonuses of about $4.4 billion for last year, or an average of $400,000 each, a person close to the bank said.


• Asian Stocks, Commodities Gain as U.S. Home Sales Stoke Recovery Optimism Asian stocks rose for a second day and commodity prices advanced after a report showed U.S. pending home sales increased, spurring confidence in the recovery of the world’s biggest economy.


• Greek Deficit Plan to Get EU Endorsement as Papandreou Pledges Wage Freeze The European Commission today will ask finance ministers to endorse Greek measures to reduce the European Union’s biggest budget deficit as Prime Minister George Papandreou promised more action, including a freeze on state workers’ pay.


• Energy Bond Sales Hit Three-Month High as New Issues Slow: Credit Markets Energy companies are increasing bond sales at the fastest rate since October as investors snap up debt of companies with rising profits while the pace of offerings slows.


• Mitsubishi UFJ Posts Third Straight Quarterly Profit as Stock Losses Wane Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank by market value, posted a third straight quarterly profit as losses on stock holdings declined and fee income increased.


• Giannoulias to Defend Obama's Senate Seat After Winning Democratic Primary Democrat Alexi Giannoulias will try to spare his party the embarrassment of losing President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat this fall in a race against Republican Mark Kirk.


• Obama Still Plans to Meet with Dalai Lama as China Warns of Damage to Ties President Barack Obama plans to meet with the Dalai Lama later this month, ignoring Chinese warnings that it would further damage U.S.-China ties already strained by a proposed arms sales to Taiwan and a dispute over censorship of the Internet.


• Stanford Beats Harvard as Fundraising at Colleges Plummets Most Since 1969 Donations to U.S. colleges and universities fell by 12 percent, the most in at least four decades, as a result of the recession, the Council for Aid to Education said.

• Bloomberg Daily News 03 February 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Pfizer Mystery Drug for Alzheimer's Awaits Validation of Russian Promise Doctors may learn next month that Dimebon, a 27-year-old hay fever treatment and one of the most mysterious compounds yet tried to fight dementia, is poised to become their newest and perhaps best weapon against Alzheimer’s.


• Germany Said to Want GM to Boost Opel Restructuring Aid Before State Help Germany wants General Motors Co. to increase its contribution to the Opel unit’s reorganization before considering whether to provide state aid, according to two people familiar with the matter.


• Kim Jong Il Doubles North Korea Factory Visits to Prop Up Failing Economy North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has doubled the number of trips he makes to factories and power stations, signaling his regime’s growing efforts to prop up a failing economy hit by United Nations sanctions.


• Sugar Boom's End in Sight on `Huge Increase' in Brazil Output, Licht Says Raw sugar prices probably will decline from a 29-year high this year as a “huge increase” in production driven mainly by Brazil may balance the market, according to German research company F.O. Licht.


• Sick U.K. Economy Has Edinburgh Stock Pickers Seeking Earnings From Abroad Edinburgh’s managers of U.K. stock funds are taking the “U.K.” out of their investments.


• Recovery in U.S. Accelerating as Corporate Spending Rises Most Since 2006 Evidence of a self-sustaining U.S. recovery is emerging on the factory floors of Texas Instruments Inc. The second-largest U.S. chipmaker will spend almost $1 billion this year to expand three factories and open a fourth to fill orders.


• Roubini Sees `Very Dismal U.S. Growth as Summers Rues `Human Recession' Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who anticipated the financial crisis, said the U.S. growth outlook remains “very dismal” and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said the economy is still mired in a “human recession.”


• Politicians Can't Wait for Bankers to Find Global Harmony on Regulations Politicians under pressure from angry voters to show progress on financial reform are losing patience with bankers waiting to reach global harmony on new rules.

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Politicians Can't Wait for Bankers to Find Global Harmony on Regulations Politicians under pressure from angry voters to show progress on financial reform are losing patience with bankers waiting to reach global harmony on new rules.


• Wells Fargo Shunning `Carry Trade' Bets $1 Billion on Interest Rate Uptick Wells Fargo & Co., unlike its three biggest competitors, is so convinced interest rates will rise that it sacrificed as much as $1 billion last year cutting back on fixed-income investments.


• Roubini Sees `Very Dismal' U.S. Growth as Summers Rues `Human Recession' Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who anticipated the financial crisis, said the U.S. growth outlook remains “very dismal” and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said the economy is still mired in a “human recession.”


• Debt-Laden Dubai May Spend `Billions' to Expand One Airport, Build Another Dubai Airports, the government-owned airfield operator, plans to seek approval for expansion plans costing “billions of dirham,” undeterred by the emirate’s need for a $20 billion bailout last year.


• China Boss of Davos as Nobody Dared to Inquire What Went Wrong With Google Google Inc.’s opposition to censorship in China was the one topic left off the table in Davos -- at China’s request.


• Goldman Ousts JPMorgan as World's Best Broker as Speed Shakes Up Trading The near darkness behind the bulletproof doors of a windowless Secaucus, New Jersey, warehouse is humming with tens of thousands of computers as U.S. exchanges open on a December Friday.


• Toyota Dealers May Lose $2.47 Billion in Monthly Revenue as Sales Halted U.S. dealers who sell Toyota Motor Corp.’s namesake brand may lose as much as $2.47 billion in combined monthly revenue because of the halt of sales of eight models, including the popular Camry and Corolla sedans.


• UBS Man Drops Bonus, Escapes Trading Floor for Luxury Ski-Maker Near Davos UBS AG senior currency strategist Benedikt Germanier decided that he had become just another factory hen on a trading floor where money was everything that counted. So he ditched his bonus and banker life in the U.S. for a pair of handmade skis.


• Cooper Manning Finds Niche in Energy Stocks, Leaving Football to Brothers Kurt Warner retired today after 12 seasons as one of the National Football League’s most accurate quarterbacks and the leading passer in Super Bowl history.


• Plentiful-Job Gauge Shows Imminent Rebound in U.S. Payrolls: Chart of Day Economists who expect a revival of U.S. employment growth this month have history on their side, according to Thomas J. Lee, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist.


• Northrop Skipping Tanker Would Mark Profit Discipline Under New Chief Bush Northrop Grumman Corp.’s threat to pull out of bidding for the $35 billion U.S. aerial tanker program resonates with investors who want new Chief Executive Officer Wes Bush to ensure profitability at the third-largest U.S. defense contractor.


• Stock Tax May Reduce U.S. Trading Volume 90%, Interactive Brokers CEO Says Taxing equity trades may reduce U.S. stock market volume by 90 percent, Interactive Brokers Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Peterffy said.

Bloomberg Daily News 1st February 2010