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Monthly Archives: January 2013

$UHR to Buy Jewelry Brand From $HWD for $1 Billion

Swatch Group AG (UHR), the biggest maker of Swiss timepieces, agreed to buy the Harry Winston watch and jewelry unit for about $1 billion, adding a luxury label in its biggest acquisition.

Swatch Group will pay Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (HWD)$750 million and assume as much as $250 million in debt, the Biel- based company said in a statement today. Harry Winston Diamond, whose name was mentioned by Marilyn Monroe in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” said it will now be known as Dominion Diamond Corp. and focus on its diamond-mining operations.

The acquisition will help Swatch compete against Cie. Financiere Richemont SA’s Cartier brand in the market for high- end jewelry and watches decorated with precious stones. Swatch, the biggest purchaser of polished diamonds, had a gap in its portfolio after a collaboration with Tiffany & Co. (TIF)dissolved into a legal dispute in 2011, according to Rene Weber, an analyst at Bank Vontobel in Zurich.

“Swatch was always missing a jewelry-watch brand and Harry Winston definitely fits into that category,” he said. “After the Tiffany disaster, they now have another brand to expand.”

The stock rose as much as 4.8 percent to a record 516 Swiss francs. They were 3.3 percent higher at 508.5 francs at 12:27 p.m. in Zurich….”

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India’s Inflation Moderates, Boosting Rate-Cut Case

“Indian inflation slowed to a three- year low in December, boosting scope for a reduction in interest rates to revive the economy.

The wholesale-price index rose 7.18 percent from a year earlier, after climbing 7.24 percent in November, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi today. That’s the slowest since December 2009. The median of 34 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 7.37 percent gain.

India’s central bank signaled Dec. 18 that monetary policy should shift toward aiding growth, predicting the fastest inflation in major emerging nations will cool in an economy expanding at the weakest pace in a decade. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, due to unveil the budget next month, has called for cheaper credit to back efforts to spur investment.

“The Reserve Bank of India can support growth only at the margin,” Suvodeep Rakshit, an economist at Kotak Securities Ltd. in Mumbai, said before the report. It will cut the repurchase rate at most by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent at the Jan. 29 review, since it faces “a serious dilemma” of trying to help the economy while containing prices, Rakshit said.

The yield on the 8.15 percent government bonds due June 2022 declined to 7.80 percent as of 4:44 p.m. in Mumbai, from 7.87 percent on Jan. 11. The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX)advanced 1.2 percent, while the rupee strengthened 0.5 percent to 54.4906 per dollar.

Interest Rates…”

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$NWSA to Increase Stake in $SKYD

Sky Deutschland AG (SKYD) agreed on a $1 billion financing deal with shareholder News Corp. (NWSA) and a group of lenders that allows Rupert Murdoch’s company to increase its stake in the German pay-television unit to 54.5 percent.

Sky will sell 77.9 million new shares at 4.46 euros each to News Adelaide, a unit owned by New York-based News Corp., to raise 347.4 million euros ($465 million), Munich-based Sky said today. Sky Deutschland also agreed with banks led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) over 300 million-euro five-year credit facilities that are guaranteed by News Corp. Sky rose 4.3 percent to 4.80 euros at 9:24 a.m. in Frankfurt.

Sky’s stock was the best performer in the 27-company Bloomberg Europe 500 Media Index last year, having almost tripled. Chief Executive Officer Brian Sullivan is counting on higher-paying subscribers to help Sky reach its target for an operating profit in 2013, which would be the first since News Corp. began investing in the company about five years ago.

“The market had long anticipated the second leg of equity financing,” Conor O’Shea, a media analyst with Kepler Capital Markets in Paris, wrote in a note today. Speculation around a full News Corp. takeover will increase once the rights issue is complete, O’Shea said….”

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The Fed’s Evans Spoke in Japan, Comments Helped to Boost Equities in Asia and Europe

 

Most European stocks rose after Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the central bank should continue to support economic recovery. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares excluding Japan climbed.

Electricite de France SA jumped 4.4 percent after the French government agreed to compensate EDF fully for the deficits incurred from its mandatory public-service investments. Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA advanced 2.7 percent after Ardagh Group offered to buy its glass-container unit for $1.7 billion. TNT Express NV (TNTE) plunged 40 percent after United Parcel Service Inc. said it expects regulators to block its takeover of TNT.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 287.29 at 11:27 a.m. in London as two shares on the measure gained for every one that fell. The equity benchmark dropped last week amid the highest valuation in 11 quarters and concern that quickening inflation in China will limit the scope for economic stimulus. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March climbed less than 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index advanced 0.5 percent.

“Despite the Federal Open Market Committee minutes earlier this month giving traders a shock reminder that the unlimited quantitative easing wasn’t a permanent monetary policy and may one day end, Evans reassured traders that the policy would remain in place until well after the economy got back on track to self sustainability,” Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at Capital Spreads in London, wrote in a note.

The number of shares traded on the Stoxx 600 companies was 30 percent higher than the average of the last 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The U.S. government should put “in place policies that slowly but surely bring the prospects of future revenues into balance with future spending,” Evans said in remarks in Hong Kong today. “Under this scenario, monetary policy has an important contribution to make.”

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Yields Climb for Spanish and Italian Debt as Industrial Production Shrinks in November

“Spanish government securities declined, with the 10-year debt falling for the first time in three days, after a report showed euro-area industrial production unexpectedly shrank in November.

Italy’s bonds also dropped after a report showed factory output in the nation slid more than economists forecast. German bunds rose for the first time in three days, paring their worst start to a year since the introduction of the euro in 1999 as investors returned to the region’s safest assets. French two- year notes were little changed as the nation prepares to sell as much as 7.2 billion euros ($9.62 billion) of bills.

“There might be a little bit of a reversal” in Italian and Spanish bonds, said Elisabeth Afseth, a fixed-income analyst at Investec Bank Plc in London. “I doubt that there is any major change in trend. If we get continual setbacks and weak economic data then they might struggle.”

Spanish 10-year yields rose eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, to 4.97 percent at noon London time. The 5.85 percent bond due January 2022 fell 0.58, or 5.80 euros per 1,000-euro face amount, to 106.315. The yield touched 4.84 percent on Jan. 11, the lowest since March 1.

The yield on similar-maturity Italian bonds rose two basis points to 4.15 percent, after sliding to 4.09 percent on Jan. 11, the least since Nov. 10, 2010.

Industrial production in the 17-nation euro area dropped 0.3 percent from October, when it declined a revised 1 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had forecast an increase of 0.2 percent, according to the median of 37 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey….”

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Nikkei Newswire Reports $AAPL is Scaling Back Production, Stock Drops Hurting NASDAQ Futures

Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares declined after the Nikkei newswire reported that the company scaled back production plans for the iPhone because sales have trailed expectations.

The stock fell as much as 4.5 percent to $497 in early U.S. trading. It dropped to $520.30 at the close in New York on Jan. 11 and has lost 26 percent from a September record.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, reduced its original targetto order 65 million iPhone 5 displays this quarter by about half, Nikkei said, citing an unidentified senior executive at a component maker it didn’t name. IPhone sales are slowing because smartphones have saturated developed markets, where Apple is strongest, said James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities Service in London.

“We’re getting close to saturation,” said Cordwell, who ratesApple shares “overweight” and doesn’t own any. “The real growth is going to come from emerging markets, and Apple’s share in emerging markets is much lower than it is in other markets at the moment due to such high prices.”

Bethan Lloyd, a spokeswoman for Apple in the U.K., didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

Android Rivalry…”

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China’s Xinhua Slams $YUM, $CA, & $VOW for Poor Quality Standards

Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) and other foreign companies are “digging their own graves” in China by failing to ensure quality standards in the nation, the official Xinhua News Agency said in an editorial.

These companies “risk losing the profits they came to China to seek if they don’t correct their practices,” Xinhua said. The government is serious about cracking down on illegal activities by all companies, including international ones, according to the editorial.

Yum’s vice chairman apologized on Jan. 10 after the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said in December it found antibiotic levels that didn’t meet prescribed standards in batches of chicken supplied to the Louisville, Kentucky-based company between 2010 to 2011. French hypermart chain Carrefour SA (CA) and Germany’s Volkswagen AG (VOW) were also singled out by Xinhua, which criticized multinational firms for “capitalizing on loopholes in Chinese law and regulations to escape punishment.”

“Yum’s understated apology is rooted in its arrogance and propensity for unfairly treating Chinese consumers, who usually regard foreign brands as being safer and of higher quality than domestic brands,” Xinhua wrote in the editorial.

Sam Su, vice chairman of the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut stores, said in a letter posted on KFC’s official microblog the company’s self-inspection processes and internal communications had been lacking. Amy Sherwood, Yum’s Kentucky-based spokeswoman, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail sent by Bloomberg News after regular office hours….”

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China to Allow More Foreign Investment in the Mainland

China’s stocks rose the most in a month after the head of the securities regulator said the nation can increase by 10 times the size of two investment programs that allow foreign investors to buy securities.

China can raise quotas to allow foreigners as well as offshore yuan holders in Hong Kong to buy stocks and bonds in the mainland, said Guo Shuqing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Citic Securities Co. led a rally for brokerages on the prospect that increased demand for equities would boost profit. Hebei Sailhero Environmental Protection High-tech Co. (300137) jumped 10 percent and Tasly Pharmaceutical Group Co. surged to a record high as worsening pollution in Beijing may spur demand for health care and environmental protection.

The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) rose 3.1 percent to 2,311.74 at the close, the biggest advance since Dec. 14. The CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) jumped 3.8 percent to 2,577.73, as gauges of financial, technology and health-care companies jumped more than 4 percent. TheHang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) added 1.3 percent.

“Guo’s comments are very significant as it shows the government is trying to get bullish on stocks and it’s a policy signal as well,” Hao Hong, Hong Kong-based managing director of research at Bank of Communications Co., said in a phone interview. China is trying to improve the quality of its economic growth and investing in environmental technology and health care fit into this plan, he said.

The Shanghai measure has risen 18 percent from an almost four-year low on Dec. 3, while the CSI 300 climbed 22 percent on signs economic growth is picking up. Government reports last week showed exports expanding more than economists forecast, while inflation accelerated….”

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Analysts Warn Over China Statistics

China’s unexpected surge in exports last month renewed concern from analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) that statistics from the nation can be unreliable.

The 14.1 percent jump from a year earlier was the biggest positive surprise since March 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The increase didn’t match goods movements through ports and imports by trading partners according to UBS, while Goldman Sachs and Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. cited a divergence from overseas orders in a manufacturing index.

Smaller trade gains could signal a less robust recovery from a seven-quarter slowdown just as Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan says the economic rebound is a sign of improving global demand. Accurate statistics from the world’s second-biggest economy are increasingly important for domestic and foreign investors and for China’s government, ANZ’s Liu Li-Gang says.

“China’s influence on the global economy has become bigger, so not only Chinese policy makers but also business people and the rest of the world need better data,” said Liu, Hong Kong- based chief economist for Greater China, who formerly worked for the World Bank. “Unreliable data could have a negative impact on resource allocation and business planning.”

The Beijing-based customs administration, which reported the December trade figures on Jan. 10, said it couldn’t immediately respond to a faxed request from Bloomberg News for comment on the banks’ skepticism.

The Shanghai Composite Index, China’s benchmark stock gauge, rose 3.1 percent after the head of the securities regulator said the nation can increase the amount foreigners can invest in Chinese securities….”

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Commodities Lead the Global Rally As the Yen Hits 20 Month Lows

“The yen weakened to a 20-month low against the euro as traders prepared for more monetary stimulus from the Bank of Japan. (8301) Wheat led commodities higher, while Chinese stocks rose the most in a month as regulators said foreign-investment quotas can increase.

The yen depreciated 0.3 percent to 119.36 versus the euro at 6:15 a.m. in New York after dropping to 120.13. U.S. Treasuries advanced, pushing 10-year yields one basis point lower to 1.86 percent. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials rose 0.7 percent, with wheat gaining 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.1 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.1 percent and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures added less than 0.1 percent….”

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Abe Has Got Bernanke’s Back With a Half Trillion in Bond Purchases

“Shinzo Abe is set to become the best friend of investors in Treasuries as Japan’s prime minister buys U.S. government bonds to weaken the yen and boost his nation’s slowing economy.

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party pledged to consider a fund to buy foreign securities that may amount to 50 trillion yen ($558 billion) according to Nomura Securities Co. and Kazumasa Iwata, a former Bank of Japan deputy governor. JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. says the total may be double that. The purchases would further weaken a currency that has depreciated 12 percent in four months as the nation suffers through its third recession since 2008….”

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Is This Love Into Stand Up & Patience

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfqTjiHWQqU 450 300] [youtube:..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9VQye6P8k0 450 300]

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Health Files: Aspartame Now Aminosweet, Being Marketed as a Natural Sweetener

rtificial sweeteners especially aspartame has gotten a bad rap over the years, most likely due to studies showing they cause cancer. But not to worry Ajinomoto the company that makes

Aspartame has changed the name to AminoSweet. It has the same toxic ingredients but a nice new sounding name. And if you or your child happens to be allergic to Aspartame, well don’t take it personally it’s just business.

Despite the evidence gained over the years showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global market . In continues to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things.

Most consumers are oblivious to the fact that Aspartame was invented as a drug but upon discovery of its’ sweet taste was magically transformed from a drug to a food additive. HFA wants to warn our readers to beware of a wolf dressed up in sheep’s clothing or in this case Aspartame dressed up as Aminosweet….”

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“Let us briefly examine a few adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame:

• Psychological/Psychiatric – severe depression, irritability, aggression, anxiety, personality changes, insomnia, phobias.

• Gastrointestinal – nausea, diarrhea (sometimes with blood in stools), abdominal pain, pain when swallowing.

• Skin and Allergies – itching without a rash, lip and mouth reactions, hives, aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma.

• Chest – palpitations, tachycardia, shortness of breath, recent high blood pressure.

• Neurologic – epileptic seizures, headaches, migraines and (some severe) dizziness, unsteadiness, confusion, memory loss, severe drowsiness and sleepiness, paresthesia or numbness of the limbs, severe slurring of speech, severe hyperactivity and restless legs, atypical facial pain, severe tremors.

• Eyes – blindness in one or both eyes, decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision, pain in one or both eyes, decreased tears, trouble with contact lenses, bulging eyes.

• Ear – tinnitus, ringing or buzzing sound, severe intolerance of noise, marked hearing impairment.

• Endocrine and Metabolic – loss of control of diabetes, menstrual changes, marked thinning or loss of hair, marked weight loss, gradual weight gain, aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), severe PMS.

• Other symptoms – frequency of voiding and burning during urination, excessive thirst, fluid retention, leg swelling and bloating.

 ‘Disease syndromes’

These ‘disease syndromes’ are commonly misdiagnosed because aspartame symptoms mock textbook ‘disease’ symptoms. Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Epstein-Barr, Post-Polio Syndrome, Lyme Disease, Grave’s Disease, Meniere’s Disease, ALS, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), EMS, Hypothyroidism Fibromyalgia, Lupus, non-Hodgkin’s, Lymphoma, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)….”

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FDA Finally Proposes Overhaul of Food Safety for Produce, Dairy, Seafood and Drinking Water

“Two years after Congress ordered the changes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally unveiled new rules designed to overhaul the nation’s food-safety system.

The regulations, characterized as the most far-reaching in more than 70 years, would impose tough new standards for fruit and vegetable producers and food manufacturers.

 

Federal officials are hoping the revised system will reduce the number of food-poisoning cases in the United States. Currently, about 48 million Americans consume contaminated foods annually, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.

 

Among other requirements included in the 1,200 pages of regulations, farmers must provide adequate restroom and hand-washing facilities for farm workers. Food processing companies will have to do the same….”

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Reddit Co-Founder Commits Suicide

“The Internet genius behind the popular Web site Reddit.com committed suicide at his Brooklyn home today, police sources and friends said.

Cops discovered Aaron Swartz unconscious at 9:30 a.m. and are now investigating whether he hanged himself, law enforcement sources said.

Swartz helped create Reddit and drafted an early version of the RSS format, a “Web feed” that syndicates popular headlines.

Friends yesterday called him a prolific intellectual — and a computer geek legend — who had long suffered from depression.

“We have lost someone today who had more work to do — and who made the world a better place,” his pal Cory Doctorow wrote on the blog Biong Boing.

Swartz was also an avid Internet activist, who pushed to make web files open to the public. He opposed the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” which keeps hackers from swiping web content such as music and movies.

But that mindset got him into trouble in June 2012, when federal officers arrested him for allegedly downloading academic journals on the subscription-only website JSTOR.com.

He pleaded not guilty to fraud in 2012 — but the case remained open at the time of his death. He faced decades in prison and a fortune in fines….”

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Sign Up for a Chance to Live in a Armed Defensible Neighborhood Fortress; Marxists, Socialists, Liberals and Establishment Republicans Need Not Apply

“A group of like-minded patriots, bound together by pride in American exceptionalism, plan on building an armed community to protect their liberty.

The group, named Citadel, intends to purchase 2,000 to 3,000 acres for the project in western Idaho.  The community will comprise of 3,500 to 7,000 families of patriotic Americans who “voluntarily choose to live together in accordance with Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of Rightful Liberty.”

According to the Citadel website, Rightful Liberty means that “neighbors keep their noses out of other neighbors’ business, that neighbors live and let live.”

Citadel explains that residents in the community will be bound by the following:

  • Patriotism
  • Pride in American Exceptionalism
  • Our proud history of Liberty as defined by our Founding Fathers, and
  • Physical preparedness to survive and prevail in the face of natural catastrophes –such as Hurricanes Sandy or Katrina — or man-made catastrophes such as a power grid failure or economic collapse.

Residents should also agree that being “prepared for the emergencies of life and being proficient with the American icon of Liberty — the Rifle — are prudent measures.”

Some of the benefits of the Citadel community include a safe, well-prepared, patriotic community where children will be educated in school, not indoctrinated.

The community will be protected by a perimeter wall that will be inaccessible to “tourists.”  Each neighborhood within the community will have lower walls, dividing the town into defensible sections…..”

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“I Want Tree (sic) Seats on Your Board” Ichan Buys a 1.56% Stake in $RIG

Source

“(Reuters) – Transocean Ltd (RIG.N) has disclosed that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has acquired a 1.56 percent stake in the offshore rig contractor and is looking to increase that holding, according to a statement on its Web site.

Icahn is seeking regulatory approval to acquire shares worth more than $682.1 million, according to the statement. If he gets approval, Icahn would become one of Transocean’s largest shareholders with just over 5 percent ownership in Transocean, based on its closing stock price of $54.09 on January 11.

Transocean’s biggest shareholder is Capital World Investors, a division The Capital Group Companies Inc, which owned 5.12 percent of Transocean as of October 15, according to Thomson Reuters (TRI.N) data.

Icahn’s move comes less than two weeks after Transocean agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle U.S. government charges over BP Plc’s (BP.L) massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2012 . Transocean employed nine of the 11 workers killed in the accident.”

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