The Korea Herald

Billionaires Paulson, Soros dump gold

Aug 15, 2013

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who told investors as recently as last month that they should own gold, cut his holdings in the metal by more than half as prices plunged into a bear market. Paulson & Co., the largest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded product for the metal, pared its stake to 10.2 million shares in the three months ended June 30 from 21.8 million at the end of the first quarter, according to a government filing Wednesday. The New York-based
Eurozone to exit recession as Germany, France rebound

Aug 14, 2013

FRANKFURT (AFP) ― The troubled eurozone looks poised to exit its long recession with new data on Wednesday showing that the region‘s two heavyweights, Germany and France, are bouncing back to growth. The German economy, Europe’s biggest, expanded by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2013, the federal statistics office Destatis calculated.Analysts had been pencilling in growth of around 0.5 percent for the period from April to June after gross domestic product stagnated in the first quarter.Gr
Icahn sets sights on Apple, talks to CEO Tim Cook

Aug 14, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Activist investor Carl Icahn thinks Apple should be doing more to revive its stock price, and wants to help CEO Tim Cook with the resuscitation.Icahn, an outspoken billionaire renowned for pouncing on out-of-favor stocks, signaled he has Apple Inc. in his sights in two short messages posted Tuesday on his Twitter account. Until now, he had been deploying Twitter as a weapon in his attack on Dell Inc.’s proposed sale to a group led by its CEO, Michael Dell.The Twitter posts a
U.S. sues to block airline merger

Aug 14, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The U.S. Justice Department and several states sued Tuesday to block the $11 billion merger between American Airlines and US Airways, saying it would reduce competition and push up fares.Justice officials said US Airways was pushing the merger specifically to reduce competition and boost returns.And they insisted that ― contrary to arguments that the long-gestating merger is key to American’s bankruptcy restructuring program ― both airlines could stand on their own profitably
BlackBerry puts itself up for sale

Aug 13, 2013

TORONTO (AP) ― BlackBerry will consider selling itself after the long-awaited debut of its new phones failed to turn around the struggling smartphone maker. The company said Monday that its board has formed a special committee to explore “strategic alternatives” in hopes of enhancing the company’s value and boosting adoption of its BlackBerry 10 platform. The company said its options could also include joint ventures, partnerships, or other moves. The Canadian company’s U.S-traded stock closed
Japan companies’ quarterly profits more than double

Aug 12, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Major Japanese firms wrapped up the latest earnings season on a high note, more than doubling their net profit in the three months to June, a new report showed Monday.Brokerage SMBC Nikko Securities said its review of company financial results showed combined net profits surged about 112 percent from the April-June quarter a year earlier, while operating profit jumped 33 percent among some of Japan Inc.’s biggest names.A pick-up in consumer spending and a sharp decline in the yen,
Japan economy up sluggish 2.6 percent for quarter

Aug 12, 2013

Japan's economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate of 2.6 percent last quarter, suggesting demand has been slow to pick up despite strong public spending and ultra-lax monetary policies.More than 3.0 percent growth in annual terms had been forecast for the April-June period, after the economy expanded at a 4.1 percent pace in January-March.The GDP figure reflects a 0.6 percent increase from the previous quarter, as the recovery was sustained, despite the weaker than anticipated growth.The data
Tumblr founder to get $110m to remain at Yahoo

Aug 11, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Yahoo’s recently completed acquisition of Internet blogging service Tumblr includes a $110 million payment to Tumblr founder David Karp as long as he remains on the job for the next four years. The retention payment disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday is part of the windfall that Karp and Tumblr investors realized by agreeing to sell the service for $1.1 billion in May. Karp turned 27 last month. He started Tumblr in 2007, a few years after he dropped out of high schoo
China probes drugmaker Sanofi for alleged bribery

Aug 11, 2013

BEIJING (AP) ― Chinese authorities have launched an investigation against French drugmaker Sanofi following a news report that accused the company of bribing hundreds of Chinese doctors in 2007. An unnamed whistleblower told the Guangzhou-based, state-owned 21st Century Business Herald that the French company had paid 503 doctors a total of $274,000 to prescribe Sanofi products, disguising the payments as grants for research programs. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that the Be
U.S. denies Apple request in e-books case

Aug 11, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― A judge on Friday refused a request by Apple to temporarily suspend her ruling that it violated antitrust laws by conspiring with publishers to raise electronic book prices in 2010, and she said it appeared collusion was continuing even after her findings. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, ruling from the bench in Manhattan, declined to withdraw the effect of last month’s ruling while Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. appeals. The judge said she wasn’t ready to rule on the go
N.Z. ministers to visit China over Fonterra contamination

Aug 11, 2013

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully will visit China in about a week as the country deals with the fallout from a contamination scare at the world’s largest dairy exporter, Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. McCully will be followed in a “few weeks or months” by trade minister Tim Groser and Prime Minister John Key will visit the country once a report into the incident is completed, Key’s spokeswoman Kelly Boxall said by telephone Sunday. New Zealand’s dollar fell to a one-month low after
Markets rise on China recovery hopes

Aug 11, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Another round of largely better-than-expected Chinese economic data lifted Asian and European stock markets on Friday, though Wall Street lagged as trading volumes were low due to the summer lull. Figures showed inflation in July steady at an annual rate of 2.7 percent. That was below market expectations for a modest increase to 2.8 percent. Meanwhile, industrial production rose 9.7 percent in the year to June, ahead of expectations for a 9 percent increase. The only modest disappo
Obama calls on Greece to balance growth, austerity

Aug 9, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama called on Greece Thursday to balance austerity with growth as it seeks to recover from financial crisis, invoking a need for the Greek people to “see a light at the end of the tunnel.”Capping a meeting at the White House, Obama commended Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras for pursuing bold, sweeping structural reforms to deal with its debt burden. The two leaders said they agreed that at the same time, Greece must find ways to grow its economy and creat
Apple’s patent fight with Google revived

Aug 8, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday revived an Apple smartphone patent complaint against Motorola Mobility.A three-judge panel sided with Apple, telling the U.S. International Trade Commission to reconsider part of its ruling last year that Motorola did not infringe on the iPhone maker’s patented touchscreen technology.“The ITC succumbed to the bias of hindsight as the record bears significant objective evidence that Apple’s patent was innovative,” a three-judge appellate pan
China trade shows signs of recovery

Aug 8, 2013

China’s exports and imports rebounded in July, exceeding estimates and adding to signs that the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing following a two-quarter slowdown. Shipments abroad rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said in Beijing Thursday. That compares with the median estimate for a 2 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey and June’s 3.1 percent drop. Imports advanced 10.9 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $17.8 billion. Improved tra