WITH more than 2,000 nautical miles still to go in Race 9, New York and Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper appear to be glued together at the front of the fleet.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Glasgow Clipper holds onto slender lead
GLASGOW: Scotland with Style Clipper continues to hold on to a slender lead as both Hull & Humber and New York push the team hard in the light and difficult conditions.
Citi, RAMS in talks on mortgage- backed securities
(SYDNEY) Citigroup and RAMS Home Loans Group Ltd are in discussions with investors about selling residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), sources said yesterday, in what would be the first such issue this year.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Crews search for optimal sail plans
THE early stronger winds that the teams
have been enjoying are starting to
reduce now and will continue to drop
the further south the fleet races.
Flying Finn Raikkonen strolls to Spanish F1 win
(BARCELONA) Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen extended his lead in this year's title race to nine points yesterday when he drove to a comfortable victory in an incident-filled Spanish Grand Prix.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Following their fathers' footsteps
(NEW YORK) Nico Rosberg, Nelson Piquet Jr and Kazuki Nakajima, three sons of former Formula One drivers who are racing in the series, probably resemble one another more than they do their famous fathers.
Microsoft Q3 profit falls 11% to US$4.39b
(SEATTLE) Microsoft Corp's third-quarter profit fell 11 per cent, the software maker reported as executives renewed their warning that they may go hostile or walk away from their US$44 billion-plus offer for Yahoo Inc if Yahoo does not agree to a deal by today.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
US consumer confidence weakest in 26 years: survey
(NEW YORK) US consumer confidence fell for a third straight month in April, hitting its weakest in 26 years, on heightened worries over inflation and the sagging housing market, a survey showed yesterday.
Rockefeller gives US$100m to Harvard
(NEW YORK) David M Rockefeller is giving US$100 million to Harvard University, his alma mater. It is the largest gift by an alumnus in the university's history.
Friday, April 25, 2008
World Watch
(LONDON) Britain's economy slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2008 when it expanded by the weakest rate for three years, data showed yesterday.
UK court allows regulator to challenge banks' overdraft fees
(LONDON) Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, HSBC Holdings plc and six other UK banks lost the first part of a lawsuit brought by an antitrust regulator challenging lenders' policy of charging customers who exceed overdraft limits.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
New home sales slip to 16 1/2-year low
(NEW YORK) Sales of new homes plunged in March to the lowest level in 16 1/2 years as housing slumped further at the start of the spring sales season.
Merrill, other banks sell US$13b debts
(NEW YORK) Investment banks including Merrill Lynch & Co, UBS and Wachovia Corp sold more than US$13 billion in new debt on Tuesday in a move to shore up their balance sheets.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Microsoft rolls out web-based software
(SAN FRANCISCO) Microsoft is preparing to take its most ambitious step yet in transforming its personal computer business into one tied more closely to software running in remote data centres.
Murdoch leaves door open to joint Yahoo bid with Microsoft
(WASHINGTON) News Corp's Rupert Murdoch left the door open on Monday to a joint bid with Microsoft Corp to buy Yahoo, a day ahead of Yahoo's quarterly financial report.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Infineon takes 1b euro hit
(FRANKFURT) Infineon Technologies, the German semiconductor maker, will write down the value of its Qimonda memory chip unit by one billion euros (S$2.1 billion) as it prepares to dispose of the division. Qimonda shares have lost almost half their value this year as memory chip prices plunged because of excess supply.
UBS blames weak risk control for huge losses
(ZURICH) Switzerland's biggest bank UBS said yesterday that weak risk control and a pay structure that invited risky deals were among key factors leading to its massive sub-prime related losses.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bank of America Q1 profit falls 77% on credit losses
(NEW YORK) Bank of America Corp (BOA), the largest US retail bank, yesterday said quarterly profit fell a larger-than-expected 77 per cent, dragged down by more than US$5 billion of writedowns and credit-related costs.
Risk-takers hungry for some action again
(NEW YORK) US stocks zoomed last week, with blue-chip indexes reaching their highest levels since at least Feb 1.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
US firms ride weak dollar to boost profits overseas
(NEW YORK) The dollar's plunge might be preventing Americans from taking that European vacation this summer, but it could be the very thing saving their retirement accounts from buckling.
Wall St firms borrowing less from Fed's emergency fund
(WASHINGTON) Big Wall Street investment companies are reducing their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending programme, a sign that credit problems may be easing.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sub-prime probe may uncover fraud: FBI
(WASHINGTON) The FBI's probe of the sub-prime mortgage industry could uncover fraud involving Wall Street investment banks, private equity firms or hedge funds, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday.
New York Times sinks into red with US$335k Q1 loss
(NEW YORK) The New York Times reported a US$335,000 first-quarter loss on Thursday, falling far short of both analysts' expectations and its US$23.9 million profit for the quarter a year ago.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Warm welcome
JAMAICA and Liverpool 08 both finished overnight, to take sixth and seventh place respectively, crossing the finish line in light airs in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Dining out in a classy new setting
Interior of the restaurant in the new opera house in Oslo. The opera house is designed by Shoehetta, the same architects who designed the new Alexandria Library in Egypt and the Serpentine Gallery Pavillion in Hyde Park in London.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
US senator presses for plans to curb oil speculators
(NEW YORK) As oil prices set another record, a top US senator has asked federal regulators how they plan to curb speculation in the oil market to ward off potential higher prices caused by speculative activity.
New tax on oil profits in Venezuela
(CARACAS, Venezuela) Venezuela's Congress has approved a law forcing foreign oil companies to pay a tax on windfall profits when crude tops US$70 a barrel.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Uniquely Singapore clinches victory
UNIQUELY SINGAPORE took line honours in Santa Cruz on Wednesday after a painstaking approach to the line in light airs.
Record IPO cancellations as stocks fall
(LONDON) A record number of companies cancelled initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first quarter as stock markets fell and concerns about a recession sapped demand for new shares, a survey by Ernst & Young said.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
High pressure system takes hold
THE North Pacific High has re-established itself very strongly in the vicinity of the entire fleet. This has further benefited the yachts further north, enabling them to achieve a better sailing angle and faster speeds towards the Californian coast.
Party's over for banks: supervisor
(WASHINGTON) Banks will have to accept that regulators demand higher capital provisioning for risk in response to the latest crisis in financial markets, the head of the Basel Committee of bank supervisors said on Sunday.
Monday, April 14, 2008
US business inventories increase 0.6% in Feb
(NEW YORK) Inventories at US businesses in February increased as sales slumped by the most in more than a year, indicating companies will need to cut back on orders.
US commodity boom hurts food banks
(WASHINGTON) Soaring commodity prices, while a boon to American farmers, have left US food banks scrambling for donations amid a spike in demand with the economic downturn forcing more people to their doors.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Cadbury should swallow Hershey or be swallowed
(LONDON) As Cadbury Schweppes moves closer to being a pure confectionery company by selling its North American Dr Pepper drinks unit, industry analysts say it should now pull off a merger deal before it becomes a target.
Strong Asian demand for Tiffany jewellery
TIFFANY & Co's total international sales outside the United States grew 21 per cent last year, with Singapore and Asia growing faster than that, says James Quinn, president of the American jewellery company who oversees the company's global expansion strategy.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Prada prototypes up for auction
PRADA collectors, take note! Exclusive prototypes from Prada's Spring/Summer 2008 will be auctioned online on prada.com from April 15 to May 6.
Regulators to review capital guidelines, says Bernanke
(NEW YORK) Financial markets regulators must strengthen oversight, ensuring that banks have enough capital and that accounting rules aren't 'destabilising', Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.
Friday, April 11, 2008
GE casts pall over Wall St as earnings fall short
(LONDON) Worse-than-expected results from United States conglomerate General Electric turned a tentative stock rally on its head yesterday and added further pressure on the US dollar.
Import prices rise more than forecast on oil
(WASHINGTON) Prices of goods imported into the US rose more than forecast in March, reflecting a surge in energy costs and a weaker dollar.
Top investment banker sees Wall St banks cutting 35% jobs
(NEW YORK) Kenneth Moelis, the former president of UBS AG's investment bank, said Wall Street firms may have to eliminate as much as 35 per cent of employees as leveraged lending dwindles and the pace of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) slows.
UK's central bank cuts rates by 25 basis points to 5.0%
(LONDON) The Bank of England (BOE) cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point yesterday in an attempt to cushion the economy from the global credit squeeze. It was its third reduction in five months.
Banks move to head off new regulations
(FRANKFURT) The world's major banks will impose new guidelines on themselves to ease the current financial crisis, in a bid to head off new regulations that would hurt their businesses.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Microsoft launches tool for avoiding traffic jams
(SAN FRANCISCO) Microsoft is introducing a web- based service for driving directions that incorporates complex software models to help users avoid traffic jams.
Yahoo to combine operations with AOL
(NEW YORK) Yahoo is close to an agreement to combine operations with Time Warner's AOL unit in a bid to fend off Microsoft's US$44.6 billion takeover offer, a person familiar with the situation said.
OECD nations open to sovereign funds
(PARIS) The 30-member nations of OECD are open to investments by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) that are made 'for commercial, not political' reasons,the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.
Fed mulls options to boost lending power
(NEW YORK) The Federal Reserve is considering contingency plans to bolster its lending power, in case measures it has taken to rescue the troubled credit markets fail, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wholesale inventories rise more than forecast in Feb
(WASHINGTON) Inventories at US wholesalers rose more than forecast in February, reflecting the biggest slump in sales in more than a year. The 1.1 per cent gain followed a revised 1.3 per cent increase in January that was larger than previously reported, the Commerce Department said yesterday in Washington. Sales dropped 0.8 per cent, the most since January 2007.
Looking forward to sail again
DURBAN 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com moved closer to joining the rest of the fleet on their way to Santa Cruz, California.
Cutback in bank lending puts US economy at risk
(NEW YORK) Bank holding companies including Citigroup and Bank of America have the thinnest safety cushion against losses in seven years.
LBO freeze cuts Q1 fees to Wall St by 75%
(LONDON) The freeze in leveraged buyouts (LBOs) has slashed fees for investment banks by more than 75 per cent as Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the industry's two biggest firms, put takeover plans on hold.
Small meetings are better
SMALL corporate meetings have a virtue - they're small. That means that they usually cost less than big meetings. They can be held at smaller hotels. Their agenda can be better attuned to the particular needs and interests of participants. And they are all the more valuable in a tough business climate.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Pulitzers honour Bob Dylan
(LOS ANGELES) How does it feel to share the limelight with rock legend Bob Dylan?
Mark Penn out as Hillary's chief strategist
(NEW YORK) Mark Penn, the much-criticised chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, is out as her top adviser. He quit after coming under fire for his firm's role in promoting trade with Colombia.
Rising prices threaten supplies
(LONDON) From Cairo to New Delhi to Shanghai, the run on rice is threatening to disrupt worldwide food supplies as much as the scarcity of confidence on Wall Street earlier this year roiled credit markets.
Africa in grip of social unrest
(DAKAR) African governments are nervously confronting a mounting wave of often deadly social unrest caused by the soaring cost of food and fuel.
Durban 2010 and Beyond gets new mast
HEADWINDS being produced on the
south side of the North Pacific high
pressure system means the yachts in the
Clipper fleet are tacking their way
towards Santa Cruz.
Central bank should shun rate rises
(MUMBAI) India should use measures that drain excess money from the financial system instead of raising interest rates, to curb inflation at a three-year high, said former central bank governor Bimal Jalan.
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