The Korea Herald

China starts prime loan rate as new benchmark in market push

Oct 27, 2013

China started publishing a new lending rate based on quotes from banks and signaled it may eventually replace the current benchmark set by the People’s Bank of China, deepening a shift to market-based interest rates. China’s interbank funding center, under the PBOC, will calculate a weighted average “loan prime rate” each day from costs charged to the best clients by nine major lenders including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the Beijing-based central bank said in a statement Friday
JPMorgan to pay $5 billion settlement

Oct 27, 2013

Firm paying $5 billion to resolve U.S. claims over mortgage securities sold to Fannie, Freddie
World currency turbulence hits earnings

Oct 27, 2013

PARIS (AFP) ― Emerging markets have helped rake in a corporate earnings bonanza in recent years, but a sudden plunge in their currencies in mid-2013 due to an expected cut in U.S. stimulus has sorely hit sales and profit.Quarterly results at companies from Coca-Cola to IBM, Unilever to Casino and luxury group LVMH show that currency volatility has hit the bottom line.“The ‘emerging risk’ is a source of concern in the first release of third quarter results,” economists at broker Aurel BGC said.Th
Fed expected to hold tight on stimulus after shutdown

Oct 26, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Skewed data and the economic setback of the partial government shutdown face Federal Reserve policymakers as they review their economic stimulus program on Tuesday and Wednesday.The broad consensus is that, in their first meeting with Janet Yellen as the official heir-apparent to chairman Ben Bernanke, the Federal Open Market Committee will opt again to wait for more evidence of economic strength.That will prolong the guessing game of when the "taper" of QE3, the Fed's $85 bi
Twitter pitch to IPO investors hinges on growth potential

Oct 26, 2013

Twitter Inc. will make the case to potential investors in its initial public offering that it needs to keep spending to grow, and profit will come once it can reap the benefits of those investments. “The magnitude of our investments has limited our margins,” Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta said in a video posted today to accompany the investor road show, which begins next week and will take Gupta and Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo from their San Francisco home to cities including New Yo
Apple, Google must face group antitrust hiring lawsuit

Oct 26, 2013

Apple Inc., Google Inc. and two other Silicon Valley companies must face a group lawsuit representing more than 64,000 technical employees claiming their incomes were held down by the companies’ agreements not to recruit one another’s workers. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, yesterday granted class-action certification. Koh’s ruling follows an April ruling rejecting the employees’ bid to proceed as a class -- partly because they failed to demonstrate that all or almost all
JPMorgan to pay $5.1 billion to settle mortgage claims

Oct 26, 2013

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $5.1 billion to settle Federal Housing Finance Agency claims related to home loans and mortgage-backed securities the bank sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, resolving part of a $13 billion accord the company has been negotiating. The deal includes $4 billion to end a 2011 lawsuit accusing the bank of selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac faulty mortgage bonds, the FHFA said today in a statement. The remaining $1.1 billion settles claims that the bank sold the co
Japan says winning war on deflation

Oct 25, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan on Friday hailed a key inflation indicator touching a five-year high as proof its growth blitz, dubbed Abenomics, was winning the war on falling prices, but analysts warned consumer spending had yet to gain traction.Stripping out volatile fresh food and energy prices, which have largely driven recent increases, prices did not fall in September ― deflation-plagued Japan’s best result since December 2008.The broader consumer price index, which measures a basket of everyday good
Japan consumer prices rise for 4th straight month

Oct 25, 2013

Japan's consumer prices rose in September for the fourth straight month, boosted mainly by higher energy costs, in the latest set of data showing fitful progress toward revitalizing the economy.The core consumer price index, which excludes food, was up 0.7 percent compared with 0.8 percent in August, the Management and Coordination Agency said. With food prices factored in, the index was up 1.1 percent.The government is striving to end a long bout of deflation through aggressive monetary easing
Twitter sets $17 to $20 per share range for IPO

Oct 25, 2013

Twitter has set a price range of $17 to $20 per share for its initial public offering and says it could raise as much as $1.6 billion in the process. The pricing is relatively conservative considering that Twitter is poised to pull off the year's hottest IPO.Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it will put forth 70 million shares in the offering. If all the shares are sold, the underwriters can buy another 10.5 million shares.At the $20 share price, Twitter's market value would
Microsoft 1Q profit, sales top views; shares jump

Oct 25, 2013

Microsoft posted quarterly revenue and earnings Thursday that easily topped Wall Street forecasts, marking a healthy start to a companywide overhaul it announced in July that should help the software giant transform into a devices and services company.Its stock rose nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading.“Our devices and services transformation is progressing,” CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement with the company's fiscal first-quarter results. Ballmer said in August he'll step down within 12
More Americans than forecast filed jobless claims

Oct 24, 2013

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as California continued to work through a backlog.Jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 350,000 in the week ended Oct. 19 from a revised 362,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 340,000. Applications in California remained elevated and analysts weren’t able to determine how many non- federa
Boeing soars on strong demand for new planes

Oct 24, 2013

Boeing is riding a wave of demand for new fuel-efficient planes from airlines around the globe. Now the trick is to build them fast enough. With a backlog of orders worth $344 billion, Boeing has been speeding up production of its big commercial planes. It now says it will boost output of the new 787 by 40 percent by the end of the decade. On Wednesday, Boeing reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised its full-year outlook. Its shares hit an all-time high. Along with automa
China manufacturing gauge tops forecasts in recovery boost

Oct 24, 2013

China’s manufacturing strengthened more than anticipated this month, a sign that the nation’s recovery is extending into the fourth quarter. The preliminary 50.9 reading for a Purchasing Managers’ Index released Thursday by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compared with a 50.4 median estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. Premier Li Keqiang has presided over the biggest home-price gains in major Chinese cities in more than two years as well
Panasonic to halve chipmaking staff

Oct 24, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Panasonic is set to cut its chip division workforce in half, axing thousands of jobs as the electronics giant overhauls its battered balance sheet after record losses, Japanese media reports said Thursday.The plan to shrink Panasonic’s money-losing semiconductor business could also see it sell off some chip manufacturing plants, the leading Nikkei business daily said, without citing sources.Panasonic, which has chip factories both in Japan and overseas, would axe 7,000 jobs from th