บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 152
Sales boost for tech giant Cisco
Internet equipment maker Cisco Systems has reported a rise in sales, cheering investors fearful that a slowing US economy would take its toll.
Sales rose 10.4% to $9.8bn (£5bn) in the three months ended 26 April from a year earlier, beating forecasts and sending Cisco's shares higher.
But Cisco said net profit fell 5.4% to $1.8bn due to acquisition expenses.
Cisco's earnings are regarded as an indicator of how the technology sector is faring globally.
'Solid report'
Analysts said the results may alleviate concerns about Cisco's business and the technology sector.
Chief executive John Chambers had warned in February that sales could suffer as the economy slowed.
Shares in Cisco, which specialises in routers and switches that direct internet traffic, rose 3% in after-hours trading.
"It's a good solid report relative to expectations and relative to the macro environment," said Mark McKechnie, analyst at American Technology Research.
"Cisco's good at executing but it can't be all that bad if it's beating numbers."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 386915.stm
Published: 2008/05/06 21:23:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Internet equipment maker Cisco Systems has reported a rise in sales, cheering investors fearful that a slowing US economy would take its toll.
Sales rose 10.4% to $9.8bn (£5bn) in the three months ended 26 April from a year earlier, beating forecasts and sending Cisco's shares higher.
But Cisco said net profit fell 5.4% to $1.8bn due to acquisition expenses.
Cisco's earnings are regarded as an indicator of how the technology sector is faring globally.
'Solid report'
Analysts said the results may alleviate concerns about Cisco's business and the technology sector.
Chief executive John Chambers had warned in February that sales could suffer as the economy slowed.
Shares in Cisco, which specialises in routers and switches that direct internet traffic, rose 3% in after-hours trading.
"It's a good solid report relative to expectations and relative to the macro environment," said Mark McKechnie, analyst at American Technology Research.
"Cisco's good at executing but it can't be all that bad if it's beating numbers."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 386915.stm
Published: 2008/05/06 21:23:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 153
Oil down after record-busting run
Oil prices have fallen, after setting record highs every day last week.
US light crude slid 53 cents to $125.43 a barrel in New York, while London's Brent crude fell 55 cents to $124.85.
Last week, a mixture of strong demand, currency fluctuations, and continuing supply concerns, pushed US light crude to a record of $126.20 in New York.
Oil producers group Opec and analysts have suggested that oil may climb as high as $200 a barrel, a level that could hamper the global economy.
Higher or lower?
Oil prices have jumped 25% since the beginning of the year when they first broke through $100 a barrel.
Since then, trading has been volatile, dominated by geopolitical and economic concerns.
Oil prices have been pushed higher by supply disruption in Iraq, Nigeria and the UK's North Sea, and strong demand from China, which is buying crude to feed its economic boom.
US consumers are also set to use much more petrol during the summer months as driving holidays are popular.
At the same time, concerns about the US economy and a weak US dollar have prompted many investors to move their cash from assets such as stocks and currencies, and into commodities such as oil.
Monday's drop in crude prices comes after some strengthening of the US dollar, and as crude and fuel inventories were seen at stable levels.
Producers cartel Opec, which supplies 40% of the world's oil, has refused to call an early meeting to discuss the current high oil price, insisting supply and demand fundamentals were balanced.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 395673.stm
Published: 2008/05/12 10:18:45 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Oil prices have fallen, after setting record highs every day last week.
US light crude slid 53 cents to $125.43 a barrel in New York, while London's Brent crude fell 55 cents to $124.85.
Last week, a mixture of strong demand, currency fluctuations, and continuing supply concerns, pushed US light crude to a record of $126.20 in New York.
Oil producers group Opec and analysts have suggested that oil may climb as high as $200 a barrel, a level that could hamper the global economy.
Higher or lower?
Oil prices have jumped 25% since the beginning of the year when they first broke through $100 a barrel.
Since then, trading has been volatile, dominated by geopolitical and economic concerns.
Oil prices have been pushed higher by supply disruption in Iraq, Nigeria and the UK's North Sea, and strong demand from China, which is buying crude to feed its economic boom.
US consumers are also set to use much more petrol during the summer months as driving holidays are popular.
At the same time, concerns about the US economy and a weak US dollar have prompted many investors to move their cash from assets such as stocks and currencies, and into commodities such as oil.
Monday's drop in crude prices comes after some strengthening of the US dollar, and as crude and fuel inventories were seen at stable levels.
Producers cartel Opec, which supplies 40% of the world's oil, has refused to call an early meeting to discuss the current high oil price, insisting supply and demand fundamentals were balanced.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 395673.stm
Published: 2008/05/12 10:18:45 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 154
Further loss for mortgage giant
Freddie Mac, the second-biggest provider of US mortgage financing, has reported another loss as the domestic housing market slump persists.
It posted a loss of $151m (£77.6m) in the first three months of 2008, compared with a shortfall of $2.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Freddie Mac shares rose 9% as the loss was smaller than analysts had expected, due to an accounting change.
It said it also plans to raise $5.5bn to strengthen its finances and expand.
"Market and credit conditions remained challenging during the first quarter of 2008," said Richard Syron, Freddie Mac's chairman and chief executive officer.
Mr Syron said that Freddie Mac "on the whole" had a better first quarter than the third and fourth quarters of last year.
"We showed strong momentum in market share, business volumes, margins and total revenue," he said.
More losses
Freddie Mac set aside $1.2bn for losses as a result of rising mortgage delinquency rates, falling home prices and sales.
Ratings agency Moody's forecasts that Freddie Mac will be hit with up to $7.5bn total losses from soured mortgages over the next two years.
The firm, together with Fannie Mae, was created by the US government to make it easier for more people to get on the housing ladder.
They were later privatised, but are still known as government-sponsored enterprises and are able to borrow at a lower rate of interest, because bond markets believe that they would not be allowed to go bankrupt.
As many private sector banks look to reduce their mortgage business, the US government has increasingly looked to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to step up and help restore stability to the market.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 401154.stm
Published: 2008/05/14 16:36:30 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
humdrum
- Verified User
- โพสต์: 1961
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 155
สวัสดีครับคุณอา
อ่านข่าวนี้แล้ว คิดถึงไปโน้นเลยครับ ที่เสฉวนที่แผ่นดินไหว
อาการ After shock in Financial World คงยังไม่หมดง่ายๆ
แล้วก็ไปคิดถึง ที่ อ. มังเกอร์บอกครับ
Where you have complexity, by nature you can have fraud and mistakes. Youll have more of that than in a company that shovels sand from a river and sells it. This will always be true of financial companies, including ones run by governments. If you want accurate numbers from financial companies, youre in the wrong world.
http://www.tilsonfunds.com/brkmtg05notes.pdf
นั่งคิดตั้งนาน ยังไม่เข้าใจดี
คิดว่า คงไม่มีใครเข้าใจประโยคนี้ เท่าคุณอา Mr.Boo แล้ว
อ่านข่าวนี้แล้ว คิดถึงไปโน้นเลยครับ ที่เสฉวนที่แผ่นดินไหว
อาการ After shock in Financial World คงยังไม่หมดง่ายๆ
แล้วก็ไปคิดถึง ที่ อ. มังเกอร์บอกครับ
Where you have complexity, by nature you can have fraud and mistakes. Youll have more of that than in a company that shovels sand from a river and sells it. This will always be true of financial companies, including ones run by governments. If you want accurate numbers from financial companies, youre in the wrong world.
http://www.tilsonfunds.com/brkmtg05notes.pdf
นั่งคิดตั้งนาน ยังไม่เข้าใจดี
คิดว่า คงไม่มีใครเข้าใจประโยคนี้ เท่าคุณอา Mr.Boo แล้ว
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 157
Hope of rice exports cuts prices
Rice prices have fallen after the prospect of exports from Pakistan and Japan eased fears of a global shortage of the staple grain.
Pakistan, the world's fifth-biggest exporter, said it would permit shipments of 1 million tonnes of rice.
Rough rice for delivery in July fell to $19.32 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade, its lowest since April 2, according to Bloomberg data.
Japan is also in talks with the Philippines over rice exports.
Rice prices hit a record of $25.07 per 100 pounds on 24 April as big producers such as Vietnam and India cut exports to safeguard domestic supplies.
Sharp falls
The Bloomberg news agency said that rice prices had fallen for a fifth consecutive day and were heading for the biggest weekly decline in almost four years.
Pakistan rice exporters "can easily" sell about 1 million tonnes on the international market, Mohammad Azhar Akhtar, chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, said.
The country had halted shipments on 2 May, Pakistan's Business Recorder newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, Japan is in talks with the Philippines, the world's largest importer, about shipments from Japan's stocks of overseas rice, reports said.
The surge in rice prices, and other crops such as wheat, had triggered fears of a global food crisis.
Food shortages led to sometimes-violent protests in the Philippines, Haiti and Egypt earlier this year.
World food prices fell in April for the first time in 15 months, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Its food price index fell to 216.7 from 217.0 in March, having surged from a figure of 141.7 in April 2007.
Wheat prices are also now down around 40% from a February peak.
The news of food price falls could ease shortages, although analysts have cautioned against being too optimistic.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 404310.stm
Published: 2008/05/16 10:33:25 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rice prices have fallen after the prospect of exports from Pakistan and Japan eased fears of a global shortage of the staple grain.
Pakistan, the world's fifth-biggest exporter, said it would permit shipments of 1 million tonnes of rice.
Rough rice for delivery in July fell to $19.32 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade, its lowest since April 2, according to Bloomberg data.
Japan is also in talks with the Philippines over rice exports.
Rice prices hit a record of $25.07 per 100 pounds on 24 April as big producers such as Vietnam and India cut exports to safeguard domestic supplies.
Sharp falls
The Bloomberg news agency said that rice prices had fallen for a fifth consecutive day and were heading for the biggest weekly decline in almost four years.
Pakistan rice exporters "can easily" sell about 1 million tonnes on the international market, Mohammad Azhar Akhtar, chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, said.
The country had halted shipments on 2 May, Pakistan's Business Recorder newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, Japan is in talks with the Philippines, the world's largest importer, about shipments from Japan's stocks of overseas rice, reports said.
The surge in rice prices, and other crops such as wheat, had triggered fears of a global food crisis.
Food shortages led to sometimes-violent protests in the Philippines, Haiti and Egypt earlier this year.
World food prices fell in April for the first time in 15 months, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Its food price index fell to 216.7 from 217.0 in March, having surged from a figure of 141.7 in April 2007.
Wheat prices are also now down around 40% from a February peak.
The news of food price falls could ease shortages, although analysts have cautioned against being too optimistic.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 404310.stm
Published: 2008/05/16 10:33:25 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 158
Soros warns global boom is over
By Steve Schifferes
BBC News economics reporter
Billionaire investor George Soros has given his gloomiest assessment of the state of the US and world economies.
He told BBC business editor Robert Peston that the "acute phase" of the credit crunch may be over but effects on the real economy are yet to be felt.
He warned the "financial bubble" of the last 25 years could be drawing to an end and the post World War II "super-boom" era could also be over.
He predicted a "more severe and longer" US slowdown than most people expect.
And he said that the UK was worse-placed than America to weather the coming economic storm, because it had such a large financial sector and has had the biggest increase in house prices.
Gloomy bankers
Mr Soros said that the current mandate of most of the world's leading central banks - where their main focus was fighting inflation - meant there was limited scope for cutting interest rates to help economies recover.
As for the Bank of the England, he said, "it was like a Greek tragedy", because they "couldn't do a U-turn" until there was a full-blown recession, which would finally take away the price pressures.
It was "inevitable" that they would keep rates too high for the good of the economy, he added.
In part, Mr Soros is echoing the gloomy forecast of the world's central bankers in recent weeks.
The head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, recently told the BBC that the "market correction was still on-going".
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, warned in the Bank's inflation report that UK inflation would rise above its target while the economy would slow sharply.
Moral hazard
Mr Soros believes that central bankers are partly to blame for the credit crunch because of their past behaviour in bailing out the financial sector whenever it got into trouble for over-lending, the so-called moral hazard problem.
He said that the central banks should explicitly target asset bubbles such as housing booms and try to stop them getting out of control, which is something they have resisted doing so far.
And he said that tougher but smarter regulation would be needed in the future in order to reduce the excess supply of credit in the economy.
These could include measures to force banks to put aside more reserves in good times to help cushion them in bad times.
Misguided markets
Mr Soros believes that oil and other commodities are over-priced, but he sees little chance of the price of oil coming down until there is a big slowdown in the richer economies.
He sees the price of oil as being driven by higher demand in developing countries such as China, where subsidised energy costs mean there is less price-sensitivity.
He also said that stock markets are still underestimating the severity and length of the economic downturn, especially in the US, and are now having a "bear market rally".
Profiting from the crisis
Mr Soros has credibility partly because he is prepared to invest his own money to back up his convictions.
The private investment fund he has resumed managing made a return of 34% last year betting that the credit crunch was more severe than many people expected.
Mr Soros was the man reported to have made $1bn in September 1992, betting correctly that the British currency would have to be devalued and leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Mr Soros has devoted much of time since then to philanthropy, especially in Eastern Europe.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 408620.stm
Published: 2008/05/19 22:32:45 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
By Steve Schifferes
BBC News economics reporter
Billionaire investor George Soros has given his gloomiest assessment of the state of the US and world economies.
He told BBC business editor Robert Peston that the "acute phase" of the credit crunch may be over but effects on the real economy are yet to be felt.
He warned the "financial bubble" of the last 25 years could be drawing to an end and the post World War II "super-boom" era could also be over.
He predicted a "more severe and longer" US slowdown than most people expect.
And he said that the UK was worse-placed than America to weather the coming economic storm, because it had such a large financial sector and has had the biggest increase in house prices.
Gloomy bankers
Mr Soros said that the current mandate of most of the world's leading central banks - where their main focus was fighting inflation - meant there was limited scope for cutting interest rates to help economies recover.
As for the Bank of the England, he said, "it was like a Greek tragedy", because they "couldn't do a U-turn" until there was a full-blown recession, which would finally take away the price pressures.
It was "inevitable" that they would keep rates too high for the good of the economy, he added.
In part, Mr Soros is echoing the gloomy forecast of the world's central bankers in recent weeks.
The head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, recently told the BBC that the "market correction was still on-going".
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, warned in the Bank's inflation report that UK inflation would rise above its target while the economy would slow sharply.
Moral hazard
Mr Soros believes that central bankers are partly to blame for the credit crunch because of their past behaviour in bailing out the financial sector whenever it got into trouble for over-lending, the so-called moral hazard problem.
He said that the central banks should explicitly target asset bubbles such as housing booms and try to stop them getting out of control, which is something they have resisted doing so far.
And he said that tougher but smarter regulation would be needed in the future in order to reduce the excess supply of credit in the economy.
These could include measures to force banks to put aside more reserves in good times to help cushion them in bad times.
Misguided markets
Mr Soros believes that oil and other commodities are over-priced, but he sees little chance of the price of oil coming down until there is a big slowdown in the richer economies.
He sees the price of oil as being driven by higher demand in developing countries such as China, where subsidised energy costs mean there is less price-sensitivity.
He also said that stock markets are still underestimating the severity and length of the economic downturn, especially in the US, and are now having a "bear market rally".
Profiting from the crisis
Mr Soros has credibility partly because he is prepared to invest his own money to back up his convictions.
The private investment fund he has resumed managing made a return of 34% last year betting that the credit crunch was more severe than many people expected.
Mr Soros was the man reported to have made $1bn in September 1992, betting correctly that the British currency would have to be devalued and leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Mr Soros has devoted much of time since then to philanthropy, especially in Eastern Europe.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 408620.stm
Published: 2008/05/19 22:32:45 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 159
Top bankers 'leaving US for Asia'
The number of high-flying investment bankers moving from the US to Asia is set to increase, experts have said, as a result of the credit crunch.
A senior Credit Suisse executive is the latest in a string of "dealmakers" to relocate from New York to Hong Kong.
Big takeover deals are scarce in the US and Europe as the credit squeeze has made it hard for firms to source funds.
But corporate activity has remained buoyant in Asia, driven by Chinese firms and foreign private equity.
'Follow the money'
According to Dealogic, which supplies IT solutions to the banking industry, the number of acquisitions by private equity in Asia - excluding Japan - rose 15% in the first quarter of the year while worldwide deals fell.
Vikram Gandhi, head of Credit Suisse's Global Financial Institutions Group, is moving to Hong Kong to personally oversee the firm's corporate finance business in the region.
Credit Suisse is a leading corporate adviser on merger and acquisitions in the region and is involved in deals, according to Dealogic, worth $12.5bn this year.
"Investment bankers follow the money," said Scott Moeller, a Professor at the Cass Business School and former executive with Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
"With sovereign wealth funds having a lot of money, with Asia having escaped the worst of the credit crunch and with the crunch having hit the US and Europe the hardest, it is not surprising at all.
"Once you get critical mass in a location, it begins to snowball and that is what is happening in Asia."
Market competition
As investment banking profits are squeezed in US and Europe by the credit crunch, institutions are turning to Asia where many Chinese and Hong Kong firms are flush with cash, having raised capital by listing shares in recent times.
The dynamism of the Chinese economy and the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a financial centre meant this management trend was likely to continue even when financial markets returned to normality in the US and Europe, Professor Moeller added.
But indecision in China about how Hong Kong and Shanghai should compete as financial hubs was likely to ensure the former did not overtook London or New York, he said.
"I would be more worried if I was in a third tier financial centre like Paris or Frankfurt than in London or New York," he said.
"I don't think London or New York will be losing their crowns as leading financial centres any time soon."
The most recent Global Financial Services Centre Index ranked Hong Kong in third place behind London and New York.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 410501.stm
Published: 2008/05/20 16:19:47 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
The number of high-flying investment bankers moving from the US to Asia is set to increase, experts have said, as a result of the credit crunch.
A senior Credit Suisse executive is the latest in a string of "dealmakers" to relocate from New York to Hong Kong.
Big takeover deals are scarce in the US and Europe as the credit squeeze has made it hard for firms to source funds.
But corporate activity has remained buoyant in Asia, driven by Chinese firms and foreign private equity.
'Follow the money'
According to Dealogic, which supplies IT solutions to the banking industry, the number of acquisitions by private equity in Asia - excluding Japan - rose 15% in the first quarter of the year while worldwide deals fell.
Vikram Gandhi, head of Credit Suisse's Global Financial Institutions Group, is moving to Hong Kong to personally oversee the firm's corporate finance business in the region.
Credit Suisse is a leading corporate adviser on merger and acquisitions in the region and is involved in deals, according to Dealogic, worth $12.5bn this year.
Mr Gandhi, who will continue to run the group's Americas business, will follow in the footsteps of executives from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group who have also migrated to Asia in recent months.Once you get critical mass in a location, it begins to snowball and that is what is happening in Asia
Professor Scott Moeller, Cass Business School
"Investment bankers follow the money," said Scott Moeller, a Professor at the Cass Business School and former executive with Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
"With sovereign wealth funds having a lot of money, with Asia having escaped the worst of the credit crunch and with the crunch having hit the US and Europe the hardest, it is not surprising at all.
"Once you get critical mass in a location, it begins to snowball and that is what is happening in Asia."
Market competition
As investment banking profits are squeezed in US and Europe by the credit crunch, institutions are turning to Asia where many Chinese and Hong Kong firms are flush with cash, having raised capital by listing shares in recent times.
The dynamism of the Chinese economy and the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a financial centre meant this management trend was likely to continue even when financial markets returned to normality in the US and Europe, Professor Moeller added.
But indecision in China about how Hong Kong and Shanghai should compete as financial hubs was likely to ensure the former did not overtook London or New York, he said.
"I would be more worried if I was in a third tier financial centre like Paris or Frankfurt than in London or New York," he said.
"I don't think London or New York will be losing their crowns as leading financial centres any time soon."
The most recent Global Financial Services Centre Index ranked Hong Kong in third place behind London and New York.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 410501.stm
Published: 2008/05/20 16:19:47 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
humdrum
- Verified User
- โพสต์: 1961
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 160
ขอยืมประโยคนี้ไปให้เพื่อนช่วยกันแปลหน่อยครับ เห็นเขาเล่นคำว่า snowball น่าสนใจดีครับOnce you get critical mass in a location, it begins to snowball and that is what is happening in Asia
ขอบคุณครับ
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 161
Car firms clash over Bond credentials
By Jorn Madslien
Business reporter, BBC News
A genteel disagreement about whether James Bond prefers Bentleys to Aston Martin has raised eyebrows in the world of luxurious cars.
The spat comes as the latest James Bond novel, Devil May Care, is published to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming, the author who invented the spy during the early years of the Cold War.
In the new book, written by Sebastian Faulks "writing as Ian Fleming", Commander Bond is buzzing about in a convertible two-seater Bentley, dubbed R-type Continental.
"It's quite nice from a historical perspective, as James Bond drove Bentleys in the books," observes Richard Charlesworth, director of royal and VIP relations at Bentley Motors.
"Fleming himself was a Bentley fan and a Bentley driver," continues Mr Charlesworth, who also oversees Bentley's heritage collection.
"He was brought up at a time when the Bentley brothers were winning a lot of races.
"The way he wrote it, James Bond almost had a love affair with his Bentleys, almost more important than his conquests of women."
Such apparent efforts by Bentley to muscle in on what has long been seen as Aston Martin-territory are met with guffaws by chief executive Ulrich Bez.
"Who would want to read the book?" he cries. "The film is what made James Bond famous."
In the films, Commander Bond "requires the best of British", insists Mr Bez.
"And that's an Aston Martin."
Product placement?
In this year's Bond-film, Quantum of Solace, actor Daniel Craig will be back behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DBS. (A well publicised fact, not least since a delivery-driver recently accidentally drove one of them into a lake.)
"We are there, and someone else is trying to be there," Mr Bez shrugs. "What Ian Fleming was doing is a different story."
Retorts Bentley's Mr Charlesworth: "Had we made any effort, he'd have a right to be dismissive, but we've not.
"We're not paying to be in the book," he adds - though he has arranged for a classic Bentley to be loaned to the publishers to support the book launch, which will also feature a £750 Bentley Special Series leather-bound edition.
The same is true for Aston Martin, Mr Bez insists; even though it might come across as pretty costly product placement, Aston is not, apparently, paying to be featured in the films.
"Those involved in a love affair do not pay for each other," he declares cryptically.
Instead, Aston merely lends its cars to the film makers whose stuntmen give them a good thrashing before the wrecks are handed back to the company.
"For me, they are pieces of art," grins Mr Bez, who is proud to display the crashed cars at VIP-events at the company's gleaming factory.
Loyal, but only to Queen and country
Aston Martin has made much of Commander Bond's long-lasting loyalty, though historically the carmaker's love affair with the spy has been unstable.
In Casino Royale, which was made when Aston Martin was still owned by Ford, Mr Bond let down many purists when he appeared behind the wheel of a Mondeo.
In previous films he has driven a string of models, including American cars such as a Lincoln Continental, a Ford Galaxie 500, and a Chevrolet Impala.
And, perhaps more famously, Commander Bond has captained a submarine version of the Lotus Esprit.
In Octopussy he stole an Alfa Romeo, and he has driven a string of BMWs.
In From Russia with Love, he even drives a Bentley, albeit briefly.
Bond in the books
In books, the commander has been even less loyal, in part because Mr Fleming's novels were supplemented with Bond-books by other authors - Kingsley Amis under the pseudonym Robert Markham, John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson - and now, Sebastian Faulks.
The greatest departure from Commander Bond's traditional taste in cars came during the 1980s when John Gardner had him driving Saabs.
On other occasions he has driven a Land Rover, a Simca Aronda and a Sunbeam Alpine, explains Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications.
"Ian picked the cars he liked himself at the time," she explains.
And in the Bond-books he wrote himself, "Bond's personal car was always a Bentley".
"The Aston Martin was one of the [MI6] pool cars."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 410108.stm
Published: 2008/05/27 10:17:53 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
By Jorn Madslien
Business reporter, BBC News
James Bond almost had a love affair with his Bentleys, almost more important than his conquests of women
Richard Charlesworth, Bentley Motors
A genteel disagreement about whether James Bond prefers Bentleys to Aston Martin has raised eyebrows in the world of luxurious cars.
The spat comes as the latest James Bond novel, Devil May Care, is published to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming, the author who invented the spy during the early years of the Cold War.
In the new book, written by Sebastian Faulks "writing as Ian Fleming", Commander Bond is buzzing about in a convertible two-seater Bentley, dubbed R-type Continental.
"It's quite nice from a historical perspective, as James Bond drove Bentleys in the books," observes Richard Charlesworth, director of royal and VIP relations at Bentley Motors.
"Fleming himself was a Bentley fan and a Bentley driver," continues Mr Charlesworth, who also oversees Bentley's heritage collection.
Who would want to read the book? The film is what made James Bond famous
Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin
"He was brought up at a time when the Bentley brothers were winning a lot of races.
"The way he wrote it, James Bond almost had a love affair with his Bentleys, almost more important than his conquests of women."
Such apparent efforts by Bentley to muscle in on what has long been seen as Aston Martin-territory are met with guffaws by chief executive Ulrich Bez.
"Who would want to read the book?" he cries. "The film is what made James Bond famous."
In the films, Commander Bond "requires the best of British", insists Mr Bez.
"And that's an Aston Martin."
Product placement?
In this year's Bond-film, Quantum of Solace, actor Daniel Craig will be back behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DBS. (A well publicised fact, not least since a delivery-driver recently accidentally drove one of them into a lake.)
"We are there, and someone else is trying to be there," Mr Bez shrugs. "What Ian Fleming was doing is a different story."
Retorts Bentley's Mr Charlesworth: "Had we made any effort, he'd have a right to be dismissive, but we've not.
"We're not paying to be in the book," he adds - though he has arranged for a classic Bentley to be loaned to the publishers to support the book launch, which will also feature a £750 Bentley Special Series leather-bound edition.
The same is true for Aston Martin, Mr Bez insists; even though it might come across as pretty costly product placement, Aston is not, apparently, paying to be featured in the films.
"Those involved in a love affair do not pay for each other," he declares cryptically.
Instead, Aston merely lends its cars to the film makers whose stuntmen give them a good thrashing before the wrecks are handed back to the company.
"For me, they are pieces of art," grins Mr Bez, who is proud to display the crashed cars at VIP-events at the company's gleaming factory.
Loyal, but only to Queen and country
Aston Martin has made much of Commander Bond's long-lasting loyalty, though historically the carmaker's love affair with the spy has been unstable.
In Casino Royale, which was made when Aston Martin was still owned by Ford, Mr Bond let down many purists when he appeared behind the wheel of a Mondeo.
In previous films he has driven a string of models, including American cars such as a Lincoln Continental, a Ford Galaxie 500, and a Chevrolet Impala.
And, perhaps more famously, Commander Bond has captained a submarine version of the Lotus Esprit.
In Octopussy he stole an Alfa Romeo, and he has driven a string of BMWs.
In From Russia with Love, he even drives a Bentley, albeit briefly.
Bond in the books
In books, the commander has been even less loyal, in part because Mr Fleming's novels were supplemented with Bond-books by other authors - Kingsley Amis under the pseudonym Robert Markham, John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson - and now, Sebastian Faulks.
The greatest departure from Commander Bond's traditional taste in cars came during the 1980s when John Gardner had him driving Saabs.
On other occasions he has driven a Land Rover, a Simca Aronda and a Sunbeam Alpine, explains Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications.
"Ian picked the cars he liked himself at the time," she explains.
And in the Bond-books he wrote himself, "Bond's personal car was always a Bentley".
"The Aston Martin was one of the [MI6] pool cars."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 410108.stm
Published: 2008/05/27 10:17:53 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 162
Anger over star's quake remarks
Actress Sharon Stone has sparked criticism in China after claiming the recent earthquake could have been the result of bad "karma".
The US star, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, linked the recent disaster to Beijing's policy on Tibet.
She said: "I thought, 'Is that karma?' When you are not nice, bad things happen to you."
But Stone added she "cried" after the Tibetan Foundation asked her to help quake victims.
Stone, 50, said: "They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry.
Stone made her comments last week in a brief interview with a Hong Kong film crew.
"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else," Stone said in footage widely available on the internet.
"And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?"
Ng See-Yuen, founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, called Stone's comments "inappropriate".
According to a story in trade magazine Hollywood Reporter, he vowed not to show Stone's films in his theatres.
Film boycott
UME has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, China's biggest urban movie markets.
Stone's comments also created a swell of anger on the internet, including at least one Chinese website devoted solely to disparaging her comments.
The Beijing Times also reported that some major Beijing department stores had removed advertisements for cosmetic and couture giant Christian Dior, which feature Stone's image.
The earthquake struck south-west China on 12 May, leaving 68,109 people dead, with another 19,851 still missing.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/e ... 423089.stm
Published: 2008/05/28 09:42:31 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Actress Sharon Stone has sparked criticism in China after claiming the recent earthquake could have been the result of bad "karma".
The US star, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, linked the recent disaster to Beijing's policy on Tibet.
She said: "I thought, 'Is that karma?' When you are not nice, bad things happen to you."
But Stone added she "cried" after the Tibetan Foundation asked her to help quake victims.
Stone, 50, said: "They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry.
"It was a big lesson to me that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who aren't nice to you."I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else
Sharon Stone
Stone made her comments last week in a brief interview with a Hong Kong film crew.
"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else," Stone said in footage widely available on the internet.
"And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?"
Ng See-Yuen, founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, called Stone's comments "inappropriate".
According to a story in trade magazine Hollywood Reporter, he vowed not to show Stone's films in his theatres.
Film boycott
UME has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, China's biggest urban movie markets.
Stone's comments also created a swell of anger on the internet, including at least one Chinese website devoted solely to disparaging her comments.
The Beijing Times also reported that some major Beijing department stores had removed advertisements for cosmetic and couture giant Christian Dior, which feature Stone's image.
The earthquake struck south-west China on 12 May, leaving 68,109 people dead, with another 19,851 still missing.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/e ... 423089.stm
Published: 2008/05/28 09:42:31 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 164
'Record' Premier League wage bill
Premier League clubs are spending a greater proportion of their cash on wages than ever before, a report into football finances has found.
The revenues of top-flight English sides topped £1.5bn for the first time in the 2006/7 season, Deloitte said.
But the ratio of footballers' wages to turnover hit its highest level since the league began in 1992.
Pursuing on-pitch success meant clubs spent on players to the detriment of their finances, the report said.
Only eight of the 20 Premier League clubs recorded an operating profit in 2006/7 - half the number which did so a year earlier.
However, strong English representation in the Champions League - with three semi-finalists in successive years - suggested that quality in the Premier League was continuing to improve, it added.
'Sustainable level'
Wages paid by top-flight English sides grew by 13% from the previous season to £969m
One club, Reading, saw its wage bill more than double, while Portsmouth and West Ham United spent 49% and 41% more respectively on paying their players. Chelsea had the highest wage bill, totalling £132.8m
Spending was partly driven by the arrival of a new three-year broadcasting deal - worth £1.7bn - which began in August last year.
This will propel Premier League revenues for the 2007/8 season to about £1.9bn, the report estimated.
"A number of clubs essentially spent some of the money on new players and wages in advance," said one of the report's authors, Deloitte's Alan Switzer.
"They knew the broadcast revenue was coming so it was acceptable to do so, but what would be more worrying would be if clubs' wage bills increased even more significantly in coming years."
The wages-to-turnover ratio hit 63%, up from 62% in 2005/6 and 48% in 1996/7, though Mr Switzer said this was "still at a sustainable level".
"Wages will have gone beyond £1bn for the season which has just ended. It will be interesting to see what happens next, and how high they will go."
'Trophy assets'
Much of the investment has been at clubs which have seen new owners at the helm, said Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte's sports business group.
"The improvement in cost control which would demonstrate a normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at Premier league clubs," he said.
"It seems that, as in prior decades, we are seeing football clubs treated as 'trophy assets', except with clubs now owned by billionaires from a range of nationalities rather than local businessmen made good, reflecting the global appeal of the game."
Elsewhere in Europe, the top flight of the French, Italian and Spanish leagues saw about the same proportion of turnover being spent on wages as in the Premier league.
However in Germany, only 45% of income went on salaries.
The Bundesliga had the highest operating profit margin in Europe, the report said, at 18%.
However the report noted that "the price of Bundesliga's clubs' very good financial performance seems to be a struggle to reach the latter stages of European club competition in recent years".
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 423254.stm
Published: 2008/05/28 23:01:25 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Premier League clubs are spending a greater proportion of their cash on wages than ever before, a report into football finances has found.
The revenues of top-flight English sides topped £1.5bn for the first time in the 2006/7 season, Deloitte said.
But the ratio of footballers' wages to turnover hit its highest level since the league began in 1992.
Pursuing on-pitch success meant clubs spent on players to the detriment of their finances, the report said.
Only eight of the 20 Premier League clubs recorded an operating profit in 2006/7 - half the number which did so a year earlier.
However, strong English representation in the Champions League - with three semi-finalists in successive years - suggested that quality in the Premier League was continuing to improve, it added.
TOP PREMIER LEAGUE WAGE BILLS 2006/7
Chelsea - £132.8m (£114m)
Manchester Utd - £92.3m (£85.4m)
Arsenal - £89.7m (£82.9m)
Liverpool - £77.6m (£68.9m)
Newcastle Utd - £62.4m (£52.2m)
(2005/6 wages in brackets)
Source: Deloitte
'Sustainable level'
Wages paid by top-flight English sides grew by 13% from the previous season to £969m
One club, Reading, saw its wage bill more than double, while Portsmouth and West Ham United spent 49% and 41% more respectively on paying their players. Chelsea had the highest wage bill, totalling £132.8m
Spending was partly driven by the arrival of a new three-year broadcasting deal - worth £1.7bn - which began in August last year.
This will propel Premier League revenues for the 2007/8 season to about £1.9bn, the report estimated.
"A number of clubs essentially spent some of the money on new players and wages in advance," said one of the report's authors, Deloitte's Alan Switzer.
"They knew the broadcast revenue was coming so it was acceptable to do so, but what would be more worrying would be if clubs' wage bills increased even more significantly in coming years."
The wages-to-turnover ratio hit 63%, up from 62% in 2005/6 and 48% in 1996/7, though Mr Switzer said this was "still at a sustainable level".
"Wages will have gone beyond £1bn for the season which has just ended. It will be interesting to see what happens next, and how high they will go."
'Trophy assets'
Much of the investment has been at clubs which have seen new owners at the helm, said Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte's sports business group.
However, the failure of clubs to produce a strong bottom line suggested that club owners might not have a "real desire" to make significant profits.FANCY THAT: 2006/7 SEASON FACTS
Arsenal's matchday revenue grew 105% to £91m in its first season at the Emirates Stadium
Premier League gross spending on transfers was £492m
The top four spenders in the Championship (Sunderland, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Derby County) occupied the top four league spots
Source: Deloitte
"The improvement in cost control which would demonstrate a normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at Premier league clubs," he said.
"It seems that, as in prior decades, we are seeing football clubs treated as 'trophy assets', except with clubs now owned by billionaires from a range of nationalities rather than local businessmen made good, reflecting the global appeal of the game."
The "key strategy" to making money for the club was in selling it on by building up a brand value, he added, "rather than a more tangible ongoing measure such as profitability".PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS WITH LOWEST STADIUM UTILISATION
Bolton Wanderers - 75%
Middlesbrough - 76.3%
Blackburn Rovers - 76.8%
Wigan Athletic - 76.9%
Sunderland - 89%
Figure relates to average % of stadium filled for home games
Source: Deloitte
Elsewhere in Europe, the top flight of the French, Italian and Spanish leagues saw about the same proportion of turnover being spent on wages as in the Premier league.
However in Germany, only 45% of income went on salaries.
The Bundesliga had the highest operating profit margin in Europe, the report said, at 18%.
This was helped by Germany having Europe's highest average attendances - with fans drawn by the continent's lowest ticket prices.PREMIER LEAGUE TEAMS WITH MOST DEBT 2006/7
Chelsea - (£620m)
Manchester Utd (£605m)
Arsenal - (£268m)
Fulham - (£182m)
West Ham Utd (£142m)
Figures are total debt at end of 2006/7 season
Source: Deloitte
However the report noted that "the price of Bundesliga's clubs' very good financial performance seems to be a struggle to reach the latter stages of European club competition in recent years".
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 423254.stm
Published: 2008/05/28 23:01:25 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 165
Lehman denies liquidity problems
Lehman Brothers, one of America's largest investment banks, has denied rumours it is facing funding problems.
The firm said it had not borrowed money from the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday and had liquidity of "well above" $40bn (£20.4bn).
The denials, however, failed to reassure the market, as Lehman Brothers' shares closed down 10%.
There was also speculation the bank would have to raise up to $4bn in additional capital from investors.
In March, Lehman Brothers raised $3bn from shareholders to bolster its balance sheet.
At that time, it had to counter reports it was suffering from similar problems to Bear Stearns which collapsed after confidence in the bank failed and clients withdrew funds.
"We did not access the primary broker-dealer facility," said Lehman Brothers Treasurer Paolo Tonucci, speaking about a US Federal Reserve lending facility available on Tuesday.
"The last time we accessed the facility was on 16 April for testing purposes. We ended the first quarter with liquidity of $34 billion and finished the second quarter with well over $40 billion," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 434776.stm
Published: 2008/06/03 23:55:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Lehman Brothers, one of America's largest investment banks, has denied rumours it is facing funding problems.
The firm said it had not borrowed money from the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday and had liquidity of "well above" $40bn (£20.4bn).
The denials, however, failed to reassure the market, as Lehman Brothers' shares closed down 10%.
There was also speculation the bank would have to raise up to $4bn in additional capital from investors.
In March, Lehman Brothers raised $3bn from shareholders to bolster its balance sheet.
At that time, it had to counter reports it was suffering from similar problems to Bear Stearns which collapsed after confidence in the bank failed and clients withdrew funds.
"We did not access the primary broker-dealer facility," said Lehman Brothers Treasurer Paolo Tonucci, speaking about a US Federal Reserve lending facility available on Tuesday.
"The last time we accessed the facility was on 16 April for testing purposes. We ended the first quarter with liquidity of $34 billion and finished the second quarter with well over $40 billion," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 434776.stm
Published: 2008/06/03 23:55:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
humdrum
- Verified User
- โพสต์: 1961
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 166
'Record' Premier League wage bill
สวัสดีครับคุณอา เรื่องนี้เป้นเรื่องของอะไรบางอย่าง ผมนึกก่อนนะครับ ผมนึกไม่ออก... ด้านลบของอะไรสักอย่าง ใช่ ผมรู้แล้วครับ ทุกอย่างมี limitaions ใช่ครับ limitations of competitive advantage
เมื่อเราทุ่มเทให้กับสิ่งที่เป้น competitive advantage ที่เป็น "คน" มากเกินไป นี่คือข้อเสีย ..ผมไม่ทราบถึง conclusions ที่ผิดไปหรือปล่าวครับคุณอา
:roll:
สวัสดีครับคุณอา เรื่องนี้เป้นเรื่องของอะไรบางอย่าง ผมนึกก่อนนะครับ ผมนึกไม่ออก... ด้านลบของอะไรสักอย่าง ใช่ ผมรู้แล้วครับ ทุกอย่างมี limitaions ใช่ครับ limitations of competitive advantage
เมื่อเราทุ่มเทให้กับสิ่งที่เป้น competitive advantage ที่เป็น "คน" มากเกินไป นี่คือข้อเสีย ..ผมไม่ทราบถึง conclusions ที่ผิดไปหรือปล่าวครับคุณอา
:roll:
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 167
ถึงหลานโหน่ง......
นี่อาจจะเป็นธุรกิจที่เป็น value creating/investing ที่น่าสนใจมากอีกประเภทนึง
คนหัวแหลมอย่างหลาน น่าสนใจค้นคว้าศึกษาไว้เป็นงานอดิเรกที่สนุกและเท่ห์ได้อีกhobbyนึงนะ
จากคุณตา....เอ้ย....คุณอา Mr. Boo
นี่อาจจะเป็นธุรกิจที่เป็น value creating/investing ที่น่าสนใจมากอีกประเภทนึง
คนหัวแหลมอย่างหลาน น่าสนใจค้นคว้าศึกษาไว้เป็นงานอดิเรกที่สนุกและเท่ห์ได้อีกhobbyนึงนะ
จากคุณตา....เอ้ย....คุณอา Mr. Boo
However, the failure of clubs to produce a strong bottom line suggested that club owners might not have a "real desire" to make significant profits.
"The improvement in cost control which would demonstrate a normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at Premier league clubs," he said.
"It seems that, as in prior decades, we are seeing football clubs treated as 'trophy assets', except with clubs now owned by billionaires from a range of nationalities rather than local businessmen made good, reflecting the global appeal of the game."
The "key strategy" to making money for the club was in selling it on by building up a brand value, he added, "rather than a more tangible ongoing measure such as profitability".
Elsewhere in Europe, the top flight of the French, Italian and Spanish leagues saw about the same proportion of turnover being spent on wages as in the Premier league.
However in Germany, only 45% of income went on salaries.
The Bundesliga had the highest operating profit margin in Europe, the report said, at 18%.
This was helped by Germany having Europe's highest average attendances - with fans drawn by the continent's lowest ticket prices.
However the report noted that "the price of Bundesliga's clubs' very good financial performance seems to be a struggle to reach the latter stages of European club competition in recent years".
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 168
More firms 'have ties with Burma'
More companies now have business links with Burma's ruling military junta, according to pressure group Burma Campaign UK.
Fifty new companies have been added to the group's "dirty list" of companies, including Toyota, Kuoni, BBC Worldwide and Qantas.
The group claims the firms directly or indirectly finance the Burmese regime.
Three of the companies listed said their commercial activities did not support the regime.
Many of the companies on the list are involved in the oil and gas sector or with tourism.
"The foreign exchange these firms generate allowed the regime to double the size of its army," he added.
The jump in the number of firms appearing on the list is the result of investment in Burma's gas sector and new information, the group said.
Cars
Car maker Toyota said it had sold fewer than 40 vehicles in Burma, predominantly to embassies or the United Nations.
"We do not sell vehicles to government agencies nor officials," a spokesperson for the company said.
However, Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), a Toyota subsidiary, has a small interest in a joint venture in the country as a result of a merger with Tomen, a trading company, in 2006.
Burma Campaign said the venture involved a state-controlled firm and its vehicles were used by the Burmese military.
Toyota said the venture did not manufacture or sell Toyota vehicles.
"In view of the current sitution in Myanmar, we have conveyed our concerns to TTC and asked them to reconsider their business," the spokesperson added.
Holidays and guidebooks
Tour operator Kuoni, which featured in the list for the first time, said that it only worked with privately-run hotels, minibus and river boat operators in the country.
All contracts were checked by Kuoni's head of corporate responsibility, it said.
Kuoni offers holidays to Burma to Swiss and French customers, but it said the tours were not available in the UK because of a lack of interest.
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, appeared on the list after it took a majority stake in Lonely Planet last year.
Lonely Planet first published a guide book to the country in 1979.
It said that publishing a guide book to the country "does not of itself represent support or otherwise for the current regime".
"It provides information and lets readers decide for themselves."
Other guide book publishers on the list include Insight Guides and Fodor's, which is published by Random House.
Forced labour
Burma Campaign UK said that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had asked tourists not to visit Burma because it helped fund the regime and gave it legitimacy.
Forced and child labour was used to develop many tourist facilities, it added.
Burma Campaign says more than 100 firms, such as Rolls Royce, British American Tobacco and DHL, have withdrawn from the country since the group began compiling the list six years ago.
Qantas appears on the list because of its controlling stake in Jetstar Asia, which, according to Burma Campaign, flies to the country in partnership with Myanmar Airways International.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 433145.stm
Published: 2008/06/03 12:38:00 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
More companies now have business links with Burma's ruling military junta, according to pressure group Burma Campaign UK.
Fifty new companies have been added to the group's "dirty list" of companies, including Toyota, Kuoni, BBC Worldwide and Qantas.
The group claims the firms directly or indirectly finance the Burmese regime.
Three of the companies listed said their commercial activities did not support the regime.
Many of the companies on the list are involved in the oil and gas sector or with tourism.
"By being there, these companies are financing a regime that is one of the most brutal regimes in history," said Johnny Chatterton, campaigns officer at Burma Campaign UK.We do not sell vehicles to government agencies nor officials
Toyota spokesperson
"The foreign exchange these firms generate allowed the regime to double the size of its army," he added.
The jump in the number of firms appearing on the list is the result of investment in Burma's gas sector and new information, the group said.
Cars
Car maker Toyota said it had sold fewer than 40 vehicles in Burma, predominantly to embassies or the United Nations.
"We do not sell vehicles to government agencies nor officials," a spokesperson for the company said.
However, Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), a Toyota subsidiary, has a small interest in a joint venture in the country as a result of a merger with Tomen, a trading company, in 2006.
Burma Campaign said the venture involved a state-controlled firm and its vehicles were used by the Burmese military.
Toyota said the venture did not manufacture or sell Toyota vehicles.
"In view of the current sitution in Myanmar, we have conveyed our concerns to TTC and asked them to reconsider their business," the spokesperson added.
Holidays and guidebooks
Tour operator Kuoni, which featured in the list for the first time, said that it only worked with privately-run hotels, minibus and river boat operators in the country.
All contracts were checked by Kuoni's head of corporate responsibility, it said.
Kuoni offers holidays to Burma to Swiss and French customers, but it said the tours were not available in the UK because of a lack of interest.
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, appeared on the list after it took a majority stake in Lonely Planet last year.
Lonely Planet first published a guide book to the country in 1979.
It said that publishing a guide book to the country "does not of itself represent support or otherwise for the current regime".
"It provides information and lets readers decide for themselves."
Other guide book publishers on the list include Insight Guides and Fodor's, which is published by Random House.
Forced labour
Burma Campaign UK said that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had asked tourists not to visit Burma because it helped fund the regime and gave it legitimacy.
Forced and child labour was used to develop many tourist facilities, it added.
Burma Campaign says more than 100 firms, such as Rolls Royce, British American Tobacco and DHL, have withdrawn from the country since the group began compiling the list six years ago.
Qantas appears on the list because of its controlling stake in Jetstar Asia, which, according to Burma Campaign, flies to the country in partnership with Myanmar Airways International.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 433145.stm
Published: 2008/06/03 12:38:00 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
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Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
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บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 169
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7447994.stm
ดูวาฬออกลูก (มีหนังโฆษณา ๓๐วินาทีคั่นก่อน โปรดอดทนรอ)
ดูวาฬออกลูก (มีหนังโฆษณา ๓๐วินาทีคั่นก่อน โปรดอดทนรอ)
Rabbit VS. Turtle
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Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 170
Takeover bid for Budweiser firm
US brewer Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser beer, has said it has received an unsolicited takeover bid from Belgian-Brazilian rival InBev.
The firm said the proposal was for $65 (£23.4) per share in cash - a deal that would be worth $46bn.
Anheuser said that it would "review the merits" of a possible tie-up that would combine InBev's brands, including Stella Artois, with Anheuser's.
Brewers are looking to consolidate amid higher costs and a consumer downturn.
Anheuser said in a statement: "The board will review the merits of the proposal consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its financial and legal advisers.
"The board will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders."
St Louis, Missouri-based Anheuser saw its shares close up 2.1% at $58.4 in New York on reports that a bid was imminent.
But after the announcement, its shares soared more than 9% in after-hours trading, which means they are likely to rise when the stock exchange opens on Thursday.
'Natural next step'
If a deal is successful, it would overtake SABMiller as the world's biggest brewer by volume.
As part of its proposal, InBev said it would make St Louis the headquarters for the enlarged firm's North American region and focus on Budweiser as its flagship brand.
InBev, which also owns brands Hoegaarden and Brahma, has also proposed to reflect Anheuser-Busch's heritage in the new company's name and has committed itself to keep all of Anheuser's US breweries open.
Carlos Brito, InBev chief executive, said: "We view this combination as a natural next step for both companies, who already enjoy successful partnerships in the US, Canada and South Korea."
Anheuser brands account for almost half of all US beer sales. It also owns a 50% share in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo and a 27% share in China brewer Tsingtao, which would allow it to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing beer markets.
Page last updated at 22:46 GMT, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 23:46 UK
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Anheuser makes America's best-selling beers including Budweiser
US brewer Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser beer, has said it has received an unsolicited takeover bid from Belgian-Brazilian rival InBev.
The firm said the proposal was for $65 (£23.4) per share in cash - a deal that would be worth $46bn.
Anheuser said that it would "review the merits" of a possible tie-up that would combine InBev's brands, including Stella Artois, with Anheuser's.
Brewers are looking to consolidate amid higher costs and a consumer downturn.
Anheuser said in a statement: "The board will review the merits of the proposal consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its financial and legal advisers.
"The board will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders."
St Louis, Missouri-based Anheuser saw its shares close up 2.1% at $58.4 in New York on reports that a bid was imminent.
But after the announcement, its shares soared more than 9% in after-hours trading, which means they are likely to rise when the stock exchange opens on Thursday.
'Natural next step'
If a deal is successful, it would overtake SABMiller as the world's biggest brewer by volume.
As part of its proposal, InBev said it would make St Louis the headquarters for the enlarged firm's North American region and focus on Budweiser as its flagship brand.
InBev, which also owns brands Hoegaarden and Brahma, has also proposed to reflect Anheuser-Busch's heritage in the new company's name and has committed itself to keep all of Anheuser's US breweries open.
Carlos Brito, InBev chief executive, said: "We view this combination as a natural next step for both companies, who already enjoy successful partnerships in the US, Canada and South Korea."
Anheuser brands account for almost half of all US beer sales. It also owns a 50% share in Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo and a 27% share in China brewer Tsingtao, which would allow it to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing beer markets.
Page last updated at 22:46 GMT, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 23:46 UK
เป็นผม ผมไม่ขาย
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 173
Brewers' shares boosted by offer
Belgian firm Inbev's move to become the world's biggest brewer has boosted shares in the firm, which makes Stella Artois, by 7.5%.
The unsolicited bid for Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser, also pushed up shares in the American target by 8.5%.
Anheuser said on Wednesday that it was "reviewing the merits" of the $46bn ($24bn) proposal, but analysts say it will have to do a deal.
Anheuser was the world's biggest brewer before being overtaken by SABMiller.
Analysts suggest Anheuser-Busch has concentrated too much on its home market, where the popularity of wines, spirits and foreign beers has increased at the expense of American-brewed beers.
"They've squandered 5 years on being US-centric and not doing all the things they needed to do to join the global gang," said Tom Pirko, from US brewing industry advisory firm Bevmark.
Companies like Inbev and SAB have grown through acquisition.
"We view this combination as a natural next step for both companies, who already enjoy successful partnerships in the US, Canada and South Korea," Inbev chief executive, Carlos Brito, said when the bid was announced on Wednesday.
If the deal went ahead, Inbev said it would aim to make Budweiser a globally-known brand like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
At the close of trade, both companies' shares had fallen back slightly.
In New York, Anheuser-Busch finished up $3.05, or 5.2%, at $61.40. While Inbev shares ended 6.2% higher at 50.21 euros.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 451254.stm
Published: 2008/06/12 22:01:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Belgian firm Inbev's move to become the world's biggest brewer has boosted shares in the firm, which makes Stella Artois, by 7.5%.
The unsolicited bid for Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser, also pushed up shares in the American target by 8.5%.
Anheuser said on Wednesday that it was "reviewing the merits" of the $46bn ($24bn) proposal, but analysts say it will have to do a deal.
Anheuser was the world's biggest brewer before being overtaken by SABMiller.
Analysts suggest Anheuser-Busch has concentrated too much on its home market, where the popularity of wines, spirits and foreign beers has increased at the expense of American-brewed beers.
"They've squandered 5 years on being US-centric and not doing all the things they needed to do to join the global gang," said Tom Pirko, from US brewing industry advisory firm Bevmark.
Companies like Inbev and SAB have grown through acquisition.
"We view this combination as a natural next step for both companies, who already enjoy successful partnerships in the US, Canada and South Korea," Inbev chief executive, Carlos Brito, said when the bid was announced on Wednesday.
If the deal went ahead, Inbev said it would aim to make Budweiser a globally-known brand like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
At the close of trade, both companies' shares had fallen back slightly.
In New York, Anheuser-Busch finished up $3.05, or 5.2%, at $61.40. While Inbev shares ended 6.2% higher at 50.21 euros.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 451254.stm
Published: 2008/06/12 22:01:35 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
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Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 174
Inflation dangers 'threaten Asia'
The threat of high inflation remains a major worry for Asia, and could undo the progress made in the past 20 years, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says.
ADB managing director Rajat M Nag said inflation in 2008 would exceed the 5.1% annual figure predicted in April.
Rising fuel and food prices were the chief dangers behind inflation that affected Asia "good growth story".
Rising inflation could also hit investment and corporate earnings, and destabilise governments in the region.
In Vietnam inflation is more than 25% and the government has said the issue is the biggest challenge it faces.
Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines and Indonesia are facing inflation rates of between 7.5% and 11%.
'Regressive' taxation
The ADB has forecast 7.6% growth for the region in 2008, down from 8.7% in 2007, which was the highest in two decades.
Mr Nag said Asian monetary and fiscal authorities should "recognise inflation as a very major concern" and indicated that raising interest rates could be one solution.
Inflation "can endanger growth in Asia," he said, adding that "central banks should take all steps, including looking at rates as what India has done quite appropriately."
On Wednesday India's central bank raised a key short-term borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point to 8.0%.
Rising food prices have been spurred by rising fuel costs that have increased production and transport costs.
Loans offered
Asian nations such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia recently cut fuel subsidies in the face of rising world oil prices, which may send inflation even higher.
"Inflation is the most regressive form of taxation and it hits the poor most. In Asia, roughly about a billion people are vulnerable to the food and fuel price increases," Mr Nag said.
He said governments had to ensure "targeted cash support" for the poor to protect them from the price increases, he said.
Asia is home to two-thirds of the world's poor. It cut its poverty rate to about 19% from 33% in 1990, but Mr Nag said this improvement was under threat because of inflation.
In April the Asian Development Bank offered to support countries dealing with the effects of rising food prices.
It said loans could be made available to countries so that they can subsidise the price of staples to help the poor.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 455296.stm
Published: 2008/06/15 08:43:30 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
The threat of high inflation remains a major worry for Asia, and could undo the progress made in the past 20 years, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says.
ADB managing director Rajat M Nag said inflation in 2008 would exceed the 5.1% annual figure predicted in April.
Rising fuel and food prices were the chief dangers behind inflation that affected Asia "good growth story".
Rising inflation could also hit investment and corporate earnings, and destabilise governments in the region.
On Friday India said its inflation had risen at its fastest rate in seven years. And earlier in June South Korea said its inflation had hit a seven-year high as a result of rising energy and food costs.In Asia, roughly about a billion people are vulnerable to the food and fuel price increases
Rajat M Nag, Asian Development Bank
In Vietnam inflation is more than 25% and the government has said the issue is the biggest challenge it faces.
Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines and Indonesia are facing inflation rates of between 7.5% and 11%.
'Regressive' taxation
The ADB has forecast 7.6% growth for the region in 2008, down from 8.7% in 2007, which was the highest in two decades.
Mr Nag said Asian monetary and fiscal authorities should "recognise inflation as a very major concern" and indicated that raising interest rates could be one solution.
Inflation "can endanger growth in Asia," he said, adding that "central banks should take all steps, including looking at rates as what India has done quite appropriately."
On Wednesday India's central bank raised a key short-term borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point to 8.0%.
Rising food prices have been spurred by rising fuel costs that have increased production and transport costs.
Loans offered
Asian nations such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia recently cut fuel subsidies in the face of rising world oil prices, which may send inflation even higher.
"Inflation is the most regressive form of taxation and it hits the poor most. In Asia, roughly about a billion people are vulnerable to the food and fuel price increases," Mr Nag said.
He said governments had to ensure "targeted cash support" for the poor to protect them from the price increases, he said.
Asia is home to two-thirds of the world's poor. It cut its poverty rate to about 19% from 33% in 1990, but Mr Nag said this improvement was under threat because of inflation.
In April the Asian Development Bank offered to support countries dealing with the effects of rising food prices.
It said loans could be made available to countries so that they can subsidise the price of staples to help the poor.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 455296.stm
Published: 2008/06/15 08:43:30 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 175
Honda makes first hydrogen cars
Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle.
The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on hydrogen and electricity, emitting only water vapour.
Honda claims the vehicle offers three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, petrol-powered car.
Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars, which are initially available only to lease, over the next three years.
One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.
US actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the first to take delivery of the vehicle, the firm added.
'Monumental step'
The car will initially be available for lease in California starting in July, and then in Japan later this year.
It is being built on the world's first dedicated production line for fuel-cell vehicles in Japan.
"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel-cell cars will be part of the mainstream," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.
Honda says it expects to lease a few dozen units in the US and Japan in 2008, and about 200 units within three years.
It said the cost of the car, on a three-year lease, would be $600 (£300) a month.
The FCX Clarity is based on Honda's previous-generation hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX concept car. Honda delivered around 34 of these cars, mainly in the US, of which 10 remain in use.
Booming demand
Many car makers are developing cleaner, more economical vehicles because of high fuel prices and as consumers become more concerned with the environment.
Toyota said it was struggling to keep up with booming demand for its hybrid vehicles because it was unable to make enough batteries.
Hybrid vehicles, such as Toyota's top-selling Prius, switch between a petrol engine and electric motor.
Toyota Motor Corp's executive vice president, Takeshi Uchiyamada, told the Associated Press that new battery production lines couldn not be added until next year.
"Hybrids are selling so well we are doing all we can to increase production," he said. "We need new lines."
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker said on Monday it wanted to produce a Golf which consumed three to four litres of petrol per 100 kilometres compared with 4.3 litres currently for the most fuel-efficient model.
"In the next few years, we are not going to do without petrol and diesel motors, but the future belongs to the electric car," VW chairman Martin Winterkorn told German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 456141.stm
Published: 2008/06/16 10:22:20 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle.
The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on hydrogen and electricity, emitting only water vapour.
Honda claims the vehicle offers three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, petrol-powered car.
Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars, which are initially available only to lease, over the next three years.
One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.
The first five customers are all based in southern California because of the proximity of hydrogen fuelling stations, Honda said.This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology
John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda
US actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the first to take delivery of the vehicle, the firm added.
'Monumental step'
The car will initially be available for lease in California starting in July, and then in Japan later this year.
It is being built on the world's first dedicated production line for fuel-cell vehicles in Japan.
"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel-cell cars will be part of the mainstream," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.
Honda says it expects to lease a few dozen units in the US and Japan in 2008, and about 200 units within three years.
It said the cost of the car, on a three-year lease, would be $600 (£300) a month.
The FCX Clarity is based on Honda's previous-generation hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX concept car. Honda delivered around 34 of these cars, mainly in the US, of which 10 remain in use.
Booming demand
Many car makers are developing cleaner, more economical vehicles because of high fuel prices and as consumers become more concerned with the environment.
Toyota said it was struggling to keep up with booming demand for its hybrid vehicles because it was unable to make enough batteries.
Hybrid vehicles, such as Toyota's top-selling Prius, switch between a petrol engine and electric motor.
Toyota Motor Corp's executive vice president, Takeshi Uchiyamada, told the Associated Press that new battery production lines couldn not be added until next year.
"Hybrids are selling so well we are doing all we can to increase production," he said. "We need new lines."
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker said on Monday it wanted to produce a Golf which consumed three to four litres of petrol per 100 kilometres compared with 4.3 litres currently for the most fuel-efficient model.
"In the next few years, we are not going to do without petrol and diesel motors, but the future belongs to the electric car," VW chairman Martin Winterkorn told German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.
HOW A HYDROGEN (PROTON EXCHANGE) FUEL CELL WORKS
1 Hydrogen: Constantly pumped in at negative terminal
2 Oxygen: Pumped in at opposite positive terminal
3 Catalyst: Helps electrons break free from hydrogen atoms
4 Membrane: Allows hydrogen ions through but blocks electrons
5 Circuit: Electrons flow through circuit to positive terminal
6 Electrons and hydrogen ions combine with oxygen, forming water
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 456141.stm
Published: 2008/06/16 10:22:20 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 176
---
Chinese steel imports 'injure' US
The $1.4bn US steel pipe-making industry has been "injured" by subsidised imports from China, a US commission has concluded.
The US International Trade Commission said the Chinese products had been sold at "less than fair value".
As a result, the Department of Commerce will impose duty of up to 700% on the imported goods.
This is the first time a US industry has successfully won protection from subsidised Chinese products.
Until last year, the US government refused to consider complaints from industry about the dumping of Chinese products as it did not classify China as a market economy.
The policy was changed in the face of growing anger from industrial producers who claimed they could not compete with much cheaper imports from China.
The tariffs on the imports of steel pipe will range from 99% to 701%.
The circular steel pipe affected by this judgement is used for home plumbing and sprinkler systems.
It is made by 21 producers in the US employing almost 2,500 people.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 466798.stm
Published: 2008/06/20 21:20:42 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Chinese steel imports 'injure' US
The $1.4bn US steel pipe-making industry has been "injured" by subsidised imports from China, a US commission has concluded.
The US International Trade Commission said the Chinese products had been sold at "less than fair value".
As a result, the Department of Commerce will impose duty of up to 700% on the imported goods.
This is the first time a US industry has successfully won protection from subsidised Chinese products.
Until last year, the US government refused to consider complaints from industry about the dumping of Chinese products as it did not classify China as a market economy.
The policy was changed in the face of growing anger from industrial producers who claimed they could not compete with much cheaper imports from China.
The tariffs on the imports of steel pipe will range from 99% to 701%.
The circular steel pipe affected by this judgement is used for home plumbing and sprinkler systems.
It is made by 21 producers in the US employing almost 2,500 people.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 466798.stm
Published: 2008/06/20 21:20:42 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 177
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Dollar millionaire club 'expands'
The number of people worth more than US$1m (£507,000) rose to 10.1 million in 2007, a wealth survey suggests.
Despite the growing credit crisis, there were 600,000 more members of the global millionaires' club than there were a year earlier.
Their combined wealth also rose, by 9.4% to $40.7 trillion, according to Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini.
The fast-growing economies of India, China and Brazil saw the biggest rises in the number of wealthy individuals.
The number worth more than $30m increased by 8.8%, while their total wealth grew by 14.5%.
The financial turmoil which began in the summer of last year and saw the decline of the US housing market and a crisis in the world's credit markets hit developed economies hard in the second half of 2007.
But the report indicated that emerging economies continued to be relatively robust.
Despite concerns about slowing economic growth this year, the report also predicted that the wealth of the world's richest people would total $59.1 trillion by 2012, an average annual growth rate of 7.7%.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 472436.stm
Published: 2008/06/24 21:45:46 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Dollar millionaire club 'expands'
The number of people worth more than US$1m (£507,000) rose to 10.1 million in 2007, a wealth survey suggests.
Despite the growing credit crisis, there were 600,000 more members of the global millionaires' club than there were a year earlier.
Their combined wealth also rose, by 9.4% to $40.7 trillion, according to Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini.
The fast-growing economies of India, China and Brazil saw the biggest rises in the number of wealthy individuals.
The number worth more than $30m increased by 8.8%, while their total wealth grew by 14.5%.
"It was a year of two halves," said Ileana Van Der Linde from Cap Gemini. "We saw divergent paths starting in July."WHERE THE WEALTHIEST ARE
North America - $11.7 trillion
Europe - $10.6 trillion
Asia Pacific - $9.5 trillion
Latin America - $6.2 trillion
Middle East - $1.7 trillion
Africa - $1 trillion
Source: The World Wealth Report
The financial turmoil which began in the summer of last year and saw the decline of the US housing market and a crisis in the world's credit markets hit developed economies hard in the second half of 2007.
But the report indicated that emerging economies continued to be relatively robust.
Despite concerns about slowing economic growth this year, the report also predicted that the wealth of the world's richest people would total $59.1 trillion by 2012, an average annual growth rate of 7.7%.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 472436.stm
Published: 2008/06/24 21:45:46 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 178
--
Budweiser brewer rejects takeover
Anheuser-Busch, the brewer best known for Budweiser, has rejected a $46.3bn (£23.3bn) takeover offer from its Belgian-Brazilian rival InBev.
Its board said the offer undervalued the company, but added that it was open to consider any proposals that would provide full value to its shareholders.
Anheuser-Busch's board said the offer also failed to take into account its "Blue Ocean" cost-cutting initiative.
But the company's shares still traded well below the $65 a share offered.
They closed in New York at $61.35 and rose to $61.90 in after-hours trading after the bid was rejected.
InBev is the world's second largest brewer, with brands such as Stella Artois and Beck's, and if the takeover were to be successful it would take over the number one spot from SAB Miller.
There was manoeuvring by InBev during the day that suggested it might be prepared to attempt to bypass Anheuser-Busch's board.
The company filed a case in a Delaware court to confirm the ability of shareholders to remove the current directors.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 476771.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 06:11:19 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Budweiser brewer rejects takeover
Anheuser-Busch, the brewer best known for Budweiser, has rejected a $46.3bn (£23.3bn) takeover offer from its Belgian-Brazilian rival InBev.
Its board said the offer undervalued the company, but added that it was open to consider any proposals that would provide full value to its shareholders.
Anheuser-Busch's board said the offer also failed to take into account its "Blue Ocean" cost-cutting initiative.
But the company's shares still traded well below the $65 a share offered.
They closed in New York at $61.35 and rose to $61.90 in after-hours trading after the bid was rejected.
InBev is the world's second largest brewer, with brands such as Stella Artois and Beck's, and if the takeover were to be successful it would take over the number one spot from SAB Miller.
There was manoeuvring by InBev during the day that suggested it might be prepared to attempt to bypass Anheuser-Busch's board.
The company filed a case in a Delaware court to confirm the ability of shareholders to remove the current directors.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 476771.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 06:11:19 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 179
..
Oil prices hit Japanese inflation
Rising oil and commodity prices sent Japanese inflation rising to the highest for a decade in May.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.5% from the same month in 2007.
Household spending fell 3.2% in the month, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Japan struggled with deflation until last year, but Friday's figures showed consumers reining in their spending as the prices of basic items rose.
Non-fresh food prices soared, with spaghetti up 32.2%, instant noodles up 20.7% and white bread rising 12%.
Japanese drivers were hit particularly hard as the government reinstated a fuel tax that had been suspended in April.
"The impact of higher raw material prices on corporate earnings and consumer sentiment still warrants close attention," said Japanese Economics Minister Hiroko Ota.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 477089.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 10:06:07 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Indian inflation at record levels
There are growing fears that further rises in Indian interest rates will be needed after inflation hit its highest rate since records began 13 years ago.
Wholesale prices went up by 11.42% in the 12 months to 14 June, which was higher than had been expected.
Earlier in the week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates from 8.0% to 8.5% in an attempt to keep inflation under control.
It was the second increase in interest rates in two weeks.
The government has cut duties on items such as crude oil as well as cutting exports of rice to try to keep prices down, but interest rates are still expected to have to go up again.
"We expect inflation to head higher in the coming months and peak somewhere between 12 to 13%," said A Prasanna from ICICI Securities.
"In order to reinforce its policy stance, the RBI will hike rates in the course of the year."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 477251.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 10:47:22 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Oil prices hit Japanese inflation
Rising oil and commodity prices sent Japanese inflation rising to the highest for a decade in May.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.5% from the same month in 2007.
Household spending fell 3.2% in the month, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Japan struggled with deflation until last year, but Friday's figures showed consumers reining in their spending as the prices of basic items rose.
Non-fresh food prices soared, with spaghetti up 32.2%, instant noodles up 20.7% and white bread rising 12%.
Japanese drivers were hit particularly hard as the government reinstated a fuel tax that had been suspended in April.
"The impact of higher raw material prices on corporate earnings and consumer sentiment still warrants close attention," said Japanese Economics Minister Hiroko Ota.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 477089.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 10:06:07 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Indian inflation at record levels
There are growing fears that further rises in Indian interest rates will be needed after inflation hit its highest rate since records began 13 years ago.
Wholesale prices went up by 11.42% in the 12 months to 14 June, which was higher than had been expected.
Earlier in the week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates from 8.0% to 8.5% in an attempt to keep inflation under control.
It was the second increase in interest rates in two weeks.
The government has cut duties on items such as crude oil as well as cutting exports of rice to try to keep prices down, but interest rates are still expected to have to go up again.
"We expect inflation to head higher in the coming months and peak somewhere between 12 to 13%," said A Prasanna from ICICI Securities.
"In order to reinforce its policy stance, the RBI will hike rates in the course of the year."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 477251.stm
Published: 2008/06/27 10:47:22 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
-
Mr. Boo
- สมาชิกกิตติมศักดิ์
- โพสต์: 1841
- ผู้ติดตาม: 0
บทความน่าสนใจทางธุรกิจจาก BBC Business
โพสต์ที่ 180
..
Timeline: Bill Gates and Microsoft
The history of the personal computer is inextricably linked to the life story of Bill Gates - the boy from Seattle who had the audacious vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home".
EARLY INTEREST IN COMPUTERS
28 October 1955
Bill Gates is born to a wealthy Seattle family. He is the second child of William H Gates II, an attorney, and Mary Gates, a leading charity volunteer.
1968
Gates starts at Lakeside, an exclusive private school. He is two years junior to fellow student Paul Allen.
The Lakeside Mothers' Club buys the school a Teletype machine - a special typewriter that can send electronic messages down a phone line to a primitive computer at the local university.
Gates and Allen develop a passion for the machine and frequently sneak into the school at night to write programmes on it.
1972
Gates uses the Teletype machine to devise the Lakeside School timetable. It is a complicated job but Gates ensures the girls he finds most attractive are scheduled to be in his classes.
DROPPING OUT
1973
Gates graduates from Lakeside and starts at Harvard. His primary subject is "Pre-Law" but he also takes classes in Mathematics and Economics. He becomes friends with a student living along the hall called Steve Ballmer.
December 1974
An article appears in Popular Electronics magazine about an exciting new "personal computer", the Altair 8800, which has been developed by a company called MITS.
It uses the Intel 8080 microprocessor, making it the world's first mass-produced microcomputer. MITS is inviting readers to develop a programming language for it.
Early 1975
Gates and his old school friend Allen call MITS and claim to have developed a BASIC language interpreter that will work with the Altair. MITS agrees to see it. Gates and Allen work night and day to get the programme ready in time.
Some two-and-a-half thousand miles away in Silicon Valley, California, a loose association of computer "hobbyists", called the Homebrew Computer Club, is also taking an interest in the Altair. Among its number are Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs.
Allen travels to Albuquerque in New Mexico where MITS is based and successfully demonstrates the version of the programming language BASIC that he and Gates have developed. MITS is delighted and makes Allen vice-president and director of software.
FOUNDING MICROSOFT
Summer 1975 - Spring 1976
Gates joins Allen in Albuquerque, developing BASIC for the Altair. During this time, they start to refer to their own venture as Micro Soft or Micro-Soft.
February 1976
Gates' "Open Letter to Hobbyists" is published in the Homebrew Computer Club newsletter. He makes the radical demand that computer enthusiasts respect the copyright of software developers.
Spring 1976
Gates returns to Harvard to resume his studies.
1 April 1976
Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, who have formed Apple Computer, launch their first product - the Apple I personal computer.
26 November 1976
Gates and Allen register the trademark "Microsoft". Their work has become independent of MITS. Gates has given up his Harvard studies altogether, and he and Allen are taking on staff.
December 1978
Microsoft's revenues exceed $1m.
1 January 1979
Gates and Allen move Microsoft from Albuquerque to their home state of Washington. They open offices in Bellevue, a few miles from where they grew up.
11 June 1980
Gates hires his old Harvard friend Steve Ballmer as the company's first business manager.
BREAKTHROUGH DEAL
Summer and Autumn 1980
Gates agrees to produce the operating system for the personal computer being developed by IBM, the world's leading computer company. Crucially, Microsoft retains the right to license the operating system (MS-DOS) to other computer manufacturers.
1 July 1981
Microsoft is incorporated. Gates gets 53% of the company; Allen 31% and Ballmer 8%. The initial stock price is 95 cents.
1981
Microsoft's revenues reach $16m. The company employs 128 people.
1983
Allen is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Although his treatment is successful, he never returns to full-time work at Microsoft.
1985
Microsoft's revenue reaches $140m. The company employs 910 staff.
OPENING WINDOWS
20 November 1985
Microsoft releases a graphical extension to its MS-DOS operating system. This is the first retail version of Windows.
February 1986
Microsoft moves to Redmond, a leafy suburb of Seattle. This is where the company's headquarters have been located ever since.
13 March 1986
Microsoft goes public. On the first day of trading, the share price rises from $21 to $28.
1987
A young Texan called Melinda French joins Microsoft as a marketing manager. She and Gates start dating.
18 March 1988
Apple files a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that the "look and feel" of Windows is too similar to the Apple "graphical user interface". The legal battle is to last six years and Apple eventually loses.
1989
Microsoft Office is released.
22 May 1990
Windows 3.0 is launched and sells 100 000 copies in two weeks. Microsoft had also been working with IBM on a similar product - called OS/2.
20 August 1990
Microsoft executives attending a special meeting at the Shumway Mansion decide to abandon OS/2 and focus on Windows 3.0. Headlines later declare that Microsoft and IBM had "divorced".
RIVALS HIT BACK
1992
Some of Microsoft's competitors start to meet to share concerns about the increasing dominance of Gates' company.
October 1992
Forbes declares Gates to be the richest man in America, worth $6.3bn.
20 January 1993
Microsoft's market value overtakes that of computer giant IBM.
5 February 1993
The Federal Trade Commission is deadlocked when it meets to rule on whether Microsoft has broken anti-trust rules. The matter is referred to the Justice Department in August.
20 March 1993
On his way back from Palm Springs with Melinda French, Gates diverts their private plane to Omaha. Gates' friend, billionaire Warren Buffet, takes them to a jewellery shop he owns. Gates buys French an engagement ring.
1 January 1994
Gates marries Melinda French.
9 June 1994
Gates' mother, Mary, dies of cancer at the age of 64.
14 October 1994
The company Netscape offers its Mosaic Navigator as a free download on the internet.
December 1994
Spoof stories start circulating that Microsoft has plans to buy the Catholic Church. Microsoft issues a press release denying the story.
5 July 1995
Forbes declares Gates the richest man in the world, a position he holds continuously until 2008.
INTERNET DAWNS
26 May 1995
Gates reveals the future direction in which he wants to take Microsoft. In his "Internet Tidal Wave" memo to senior staff, he says: "I now assign the internet the highest level of importance."
24 August 1995
With a lavish publicity drive, Windows 95 and Microsoft's online service MSN are launched.
September 1995
Gates takes his second proper holiday in 20 years when he travels to China with his family and close friends.
October 1995
With seven million copies of Windows 95 already sold, Microsoft's profits climb by 58% in a year.
7 December 1995
Gates announces Microsoft's internet strategy to the world's press. In his controversial "Pearl Harbor" speech, he reveals plans for Microsoft's own internet browser - Explorer.
August 1996
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0.
1996
Netscape asks the Department of Justice to investigate Microsoft's discount to computer manufacturers that install Internet Explorer 3.0.
May 1998
The Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of 20 states sue Microsoft for illegally thwarting competition.
25 June 1998
Microsoft launches Windows 98.
August 1998
Gates spends three days giving his deposition by video to the Department of Justice inquiry.
September 1998
Google is incorporated by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin
January 2000
Ballmer is appointed chief executive of Microsoft. He and Gates later acknowledge that they both had a difficult time adjusting to their new roles.
7 June 2000
Following the Department of Justice inquiry, Judge Jackson rules that Microsoft should be split into two units: one to produce operating systems, the other to make other software components. He calls Microsoft an "abusive monopoly".
2000
Microsoft's revenues reach $229bn. The dot-com crash does not affect it as badly as many other companies in the sector. The company's headcount climbs to over 39,000.
DIGITAL DECADE
2000
The Gates family launches the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organisation intended to "reduce inequalities in the United States and around the world". They donate billions of dollars of their own money, and it soon becomes the world's biggest philanthropic organisation.
June 2001
The Court of Appeal overturns Judge Jackson's order to break up Microsoft into two corporations. However, it upholds his ruling that Microsoft illegally used licensing agreements with internet service providers and PC manufacturers to freeze out the Netscape internet browser.
25 October 2001
Microsoft launches Windows XP.
15 November 2001
Microsoft branches out into the gaming console market with its high-profile launch of the Xbox. This product is a direct competitor to Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.
March 2004
The European Commission brings anti-trust action against Microsoft.
August 2004
Google's flotation paves the way for a dramatic acceleration in the company's growth: two months later it overtakes Yahoo!'s market capitalisation with a value of $50bn.
January 2005
The Gates' endowments to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reach almost $29bn.
NEW FRONTIERS
15 June 2006
Gates announces that he will step back from Microsoft in two years to concentrate on his philanthropic endeavours. He reveals he has a carefully thought-through "transition" period planned and that he hopes to remain chairman of the company for life.
January 2007
Windows Vista and Office 2007 are launched.
7 June 2007
Gates returns to Harvard to collect an Honorary degree.
1 Feb 2008
Microsoft makes a bid of $44.6bn for search engine company Yahoo!. For the first time in its history, Microsoft plans to borrow some of the necessary funds. Yahoo! rejects the bid.
27 February 2008
Microsoft is fined a record 899m euros by the European Commission because of the company's failure to comply with earlier anti-trust rulings. Microsoft is appealing against the fine.
Summer 2008
The Microsoft headcount is now almost 90,000 worldwide.
27 June 2008
Gates is leaving his full-time role at Microsoft to concentrate on the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 457191.stm
Published: 2008/06/18 18:50:55 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Timeline: Bill Gates and Microsoft
The history of the personal computer is inextricably linked to the life story of Bill Gates - the boy from Seattle who had the audacious vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home".
EARLY INTEREST IN COMPUTERS
28 October 1955
Bill Gates is born to a wealthy Seattle family. He is the second child of William H Gates II, an attorney, and Mary Gates, a leading charity volunteer.
1968
Gates starts at Lakeside, an exclusive private school. He is two years junior to fellow student Paul Allen.
The Lakeside Mothers' Club buys the school a Teletype machine - a special typewriter that can send electronic messages down a phone line to a primitive computer at the local university.
Gates and Allen develop a passion for the machine and frequently sneak into the school at night to write programmes on it.
1972
Gates uses the Teletype machine to devise the Lakeside School timetable. It is a complicated job but Gates ensures the girls he finds most attractive are scheduled to be in his classes.
DROPPING OUT
1973
Gates graduates from Lakeside and starts at Harvard. His primary subject is "Pre-Law" but he also takes classes in Mathematics and Economics. He becomes friends with a student living along the hall called Steve Ballmer.
December 1974
An article appears in Popular Electronics magazine about an exciting new "personal computer", the Altair 8800, which has been developed by a company called MITS.
It uses the Intel 8080 microprocessor, making it the world's first mass-produced microcomputer. MITS is inviting readers to develop a programming language for it.
Early 1975
Gates and his old school friend Allen call MITS and claim to have developed a BASIC language interpreter that will work with the Altair. MITS agrees to see it. Gates and Allen work night and day to get the programme ready in time.
Some two-and-a-half thousand miles away in Silicon Valley, California, a loose association of computer "hobbyists", called the Homebrew Computer Club, is also taking an interest in the Altair. Among its number are Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs.
Allen travels to Albuquerque in New Mexico where MITS is based and successfully demonstrates the version of the programming language BASIC that he and Gates have developed. MITS is delighted and makes Allen vice-president and director of software.
FOUNDING MICROSOFT
Summer 1975 - Spring 1976
Gates joins Allen in Albuquerque, developing BASIC for the Altair. During this time, they start to refer to their own venture as Micro Soft or Micro-Soft.
February 1976
Gates' "Open Letter to Hobbyists" is published in the Homebrew Computer Club newsletter. He makes the radical demand that computer enthusiasts respect the copyright of software developers.
Spring 1976
Gates returns to Harvard to resume his studies.
1 April 1976
Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, who have formed Apple Computer, launch their first product - the Apple I personal computer.
26 November 1976
Gates and Allen register the trademark "Microsoft". Their work has become independent of MITS. Gates has given up his Harvard studies altogether, and he and Allen are taking on staff.
December 1978
Microsoft's revenues exceed $1m.
1 January 1979
Gates and Allen move Microsoft from Albuquerque to their home state of Washington. They open offices in Bellevue, a few miles from where they grew up.
11 June 1980
Gates hires his old Harvard friend Steve Ballmer as the company's first business manager.
BREAKTHROUGH DEAL
Summer and Autumn 1980
Gates agrees to produce the operating system for the personal computer being developed by IBM, the world's leading computer company. Crucially, Microsoft retains the right to license the operating system (MS-DOS) to other computer manufacturers.
1 July 1981
Microsoft is incorporated. Gates gets 53% of the company; Allen 31% and Ballmer 8%. The initial stock price is 95 cents.
1981
Microsoft's revenues reach $16m. The company employs 128 people.
1983
Allen is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Although his treatment is successful, he never returns to full-time work at Microsoft.
1985
Microsoft's revenue reaches $140m. The company employs 910 staff.
OPENING WINDOWS
20 November 1985
Microsoft releases a graphical extension to its MS-DOS operating system. This is the first retail version of Windows.
February 1986
Microsoft moves to Redmond, a leafy suburb of Seattle. This is where the company's headquarters have been located ever since.
13 March 1986
Microsoft goes public. On the first day of trading, the share price rises from $21 to $28.
1987
A young Texan called Melinda French joins Microsoft as a marketing manager. She and Gates start dating.
18 March 1988
Apple files a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that the "look and feel" of Windows is too similar to the Apple "graphical user interface". The legal battle is to last six years and Apple eventually loses.
1989
Microsoft Office is released.
22 May 1990
Windows 3.0 is launched and sells 100 000 copies in two weeks. Microsoft had also been working with IBM on a similar product - called OS/2.
20 August 1990
Microsoft executives attending a special meeting at the Shumway Mansion decide to abandon OS/2 and focus on Windows 3.0. Headlines later declare that Microsoft and IBM had "divorced".
RIVALS HIT BACK
1992
Some of Microsoft's competitors start to meet to share concerns about the increasing dominance of Gates' company.
October 1992
Forbes declares Gates to be the richest man in America, worth $6.3bn.
20 January 1993
Microsoft's market value overtakes that of computer giant IBM.
5 February 1993
The Federal Trade Commission is deadlocked when it meets to rule on whether Microsoft has broken anti-trust rules. The matter is referred to the Justice Department in August.
20 March 1993
On his way back from Palm Springs with Melinda French, Gates diverts their private plane to Omaha. Gates' friend, billionaire Warren Buffet, takes them to a jewellery shop he owns. Gates buys French an engagement ring.
1 January 1994
Gates marries Melinda French.
9 June 1994
Gates' mother, Mary, dies of cancer at the age of 64.
14 October 1994
The company Netscape offers its Mosaic Navigator as a free download on the internet.
December 1994
Spoof stories start circulating that Microsoft has plans to buy the Catholic Church. Microsoft issues a press release denying the story.
5 July 1995
Forbes declares Gates the richest man in the world, a position he holds continuously until 2008.
INTERNET DAWNS
26 May 1995
Gates reveals the future direction in which he wants to take Microsoft. In his "Internet Tidal Wave" memo to senior staff, he says: "I now assign the internet the highest level of importance."
24 August 1995
With a lavish publicity drive, Windows 95 and Microsoft's online service MSN are launched.
September 1995
Gates takes his second proper holiday in 20 years when he travels to China with his family and close friends.
October 1995
With seven million copies of Windows 95 already sold, Microsoft's profits climb by 58% in a year.
7 December 1995
Gates announces Microsoft's internet strategy to the world's press. In his controversial "Pearl Harbor" speech, he reveals plans for Microsoft's own internet browser - Explorer.
August 1996
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0.
1996
Netscape asks the Department of Justice to investigate Microsoft's discount to computer manufacturers that install Internet Explorer 3.0.
May 1998
The Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of 20 states sue Microsoft for illegally thwarting competition.
25 June 1998
Microsoft launches Windows 98.
August 1998
Gates spends three days giving his deposition by video to the Department of Justice inquiry.
September 1998
Google is incorporated by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin
January 2000
Ballmer is appointed chief executive of Microsoft. He and Gates later acknowledge that they both had a difficult time adjusting to their new roles.
7 June 2000
Following the Department of Justice inquiry, Judge Jackson rules that Microsoft should be split into two units: one to produce operating systems, the other to make other software components. He calls Microsoft an "abusive monopoly".
2000
Microsoft's revenues reach $229bn. The dot-com crash does not affect it as badly as many other companies in the sector. The company's headcount climbs to over 39,000.
DIGITAL DECADE
2000
The Gates family launches the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organisation intended to "reduce inequalities in the United States and around the world". They donate billions of dollars of their own money, and it soon becomes the world's biggest philanthropic organisation.
June 2001
The Court of Appeal overturns Judge Jackson's order to break up Microsoft into two corporations. However, it upholds his ruling that Microsoft illegally used licensing agreements with internet service providers and PC manufacturers to freeze out the Netscape internet browser.
25 October 2001
Microsoft launches Windows XP.
15 November 2001
Microsoft branches out into the gaming console market with its high-profile launch of the Xbox. This product is a direct competitor to Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.
March 2004
The European Commission brings anti-trust action against Microsoft.
August 2004
Google's flotation paves the way for a dramatic acceleration in the company's growth: two months later it overtakes Yahoo!'s market capitalisation with a value of $50bn.
January 2005
The Gates' endowments to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reach almost $29bn.
NEW FRONTIERS
15 June 2006
Gates announces that he will step back from Microsoft in two years to concentrate on his philanthropic endeavours. He reveals he has a carefully thought-through "transition" period planned and that he hopes to remain chairman of the company for life.
January 2007
Windows Vista and Office 2007 are launched.
7 June 2007
Gates returns to Harvard to collect an Honorary degree.
1 Feb 2008
Microsoft makes a bid of $44.6bn for search engine company Yahoo!. For the first time in its history, Microsoft plans to borrow some of the necessary funds. Yahoo! rejects the bid.
27 February 2008
Microsoft is fined a record 899m euros by the European Commission because of the company's failure to comply with earlier anti-trust rulings. Microsoft is appealing against the fine.
Summer 2008
The Microsoft headcount is now almost 90,000 worldwide.
27 June 2008
Gates is leaving his full-time role at Microsoft to concentrate on the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/b ... 457191.stm
Published: 2008/06/18 18:50:55 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Rabbit VS. Turtle
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