The Korea Herald

Fiat to cut 1,500 jobs

Dec 9, 2012

Fiat SpA, which expects to lose 700 million euros ($903 million) in Europe this year, will eliminate 1,500 jobs at its Polish operations to reduce production. The cuts will come at a plant in Tychy as well as from sales staff in the country, the Turin, Italy-based carmaker said in a statement Friday. Fiat will build fewer than 350,000 cars in 2012 in Poland, and less than 300,000 in the country next year, the company said. The European auto market is on track to hit a 17-year low in 2012. Fiat a
Lagarde says ‘fiscal cliff’ threatens U.S. supremacy

Dec 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Friday the looming “fiscal cliff” in the United States threatens the country’s international supremacy and the fragile global recovery.In an interview with BBC World News, Lagarde noted the U.S. fiscal cliff, a combination of severe tax increases and spending cuts due in January, would probably wipe out growth in the world’s largest economy. “The real issues are, in a way, the supremacy of the United States and its leadership role in the world,
Fitch lowers HSBC rating

Dec 9, 2012

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, had its Long-term Issuer Default Rating downgraded by Fitch Ratings to “AA-” from “AA” as it braces itself for stiffer regulation and additional compliance costs. The ratings company also downgraded the lender’s HSBC Bank Plc unit to “AA-” from “AA” and its Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. unit to “AA-” from “AA,” it said in a statement Friday. The outlook for all three was revised to stable from negative. Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver’
ECB: Recession ending in 2014

Dec 9, 2012

All euro-area countries will post positive economic growth in 2014 as policy measures help pull nations out of recession, European Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio said.Core economies in the euro region such as Germany and France will recover sooner, enjoying growth in the second half of next year, while it takes those with deeper economic contractions longer to improve, Constancio told reporters in Santiago after participating in a meeting of policy makers from Europe and Latin Amer
Apple to move Mac production ...to U.S. next year

Dec 7, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC’s “Rock Center,” but aired Thursday morning on “Today” and posted on the network’s website.In a separate int
Starbucks promises to pay more U.K. tax

Dec 7, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Starbucks bowed to mounting pressure over its tax affairs in Britain and revealed Thursday that it would pay about $16 million in each of the next two years.Having been slammed by the country’s lawmakers of “immorally” avoiding tax, Starbucks’ U.K. managing director Kris Engskov said the firm had agreed to pay more than required by law.“With the backdrop of these difficult times, in the area of tax, our customers clearly expect us to do more,” he told the London Chamber of Commerce
Greek jobless rate up to record 26 percent

Dec 7, 2012

ATHENS (AP) ― Greece’s unemployment rate rose to a new record of 26 percent in September, underscoring the economic plight in the country as it heads toward a sixth year of recession.The Greek Statistical Authority said Thursday that 1.295 million people ― more than one-fourth of the workforce in this nation of 10 million ― were recorded as unemployed in September. Unemployment rose from 25.3 percent the previous month and 18.9 percent a year earlier.Greek unemployment has surged to the highest
ADB cuts Asia’s economic growth forecasts

Dec 7, 2012

HONG KONG (AFP) ― The Asian Development Bank on Friday cut its economic growth forecasts for the region, which has been dragged back by a continued slowdown in India despite positive data out of powerhouse China.The ADB lowered its 2012 growth forecast for developing Asia, which comprises 45 nations, marginally from 6.1 percent to 6.0 percent. It also revised downward the 6.7 percent growth outlook for 2013 to 6.6 percent.It is the second time the bank has slashed growth estimates for the region
Laos ratifies WTO membership

Dec 7, 2012

Laos has ratified its membership of the World Trade Organization, state media said on Friday, the latest step in the small Southeast Asian nation's 15-year effort to join the global body.The Laotian parliament on Thursday formally gave its approval, paving the way for the country's entrance to the 157-member organisation in early 2013, according to a report in the government mouthpiece Vientiane Times.It said most lawmakers "supported the government's decision to join the WTO, saying it was a go
Global tablet market to more than double by 2016

Dec 6, 2012

Global tablet sales, led by Apple Inc.’s iPad, will more than double to 282.7 million units in four years as consumers increasingly shun personal-computers in favor of smaller handheld devices, according to IDC. Robust sales of the iPad, as well as new entrants powered by software from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., prompted IDC to boost its 2016 tablet forecast 8.1 percent from a prior projection of 261.4 million, the Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher said in a statement. The growth
Citigroup to cut 11,000 jobs

Dec 6, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Citigroup said Wednesday that it will cut 11,000 jobs, a bold early move by new CEO Michael Corbat.The cuts amount to about 4 percent of Citi’s workforce. The bulk of them, about 6,200 jobs, will come from Citi’s consumer banking unit, which handles everyday functions like branches and checking accounts.Citi said that it will sell or scale back consumer operations in Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey and Uruguay and focus on 150 cities around the world “that have the highest gr
Apple's downward spiral accelerates

Dec 6, 2012

Apple shares suffered their worst decline in years Wednesday as selling momentum gained steam for the longtime tech star and world's largest company by value.Apple stock tumbled 6.43 percent to close at $538.79, and is now down some 23 percent from its record high earlier this year above $700.There has been no single catalyst for Apple losing its luster, although some analysts say it has lost its edge in innovation, and that its iconic iPhone and iPad are facing tougher competition.Another facto
S&P cuts Greece rating to 'selective default'

Dec 6, 2012

Standard & Poor's cut Greece's already junk-level debt rating to "selective default" Wednesday after the country launched an operation to buy back debt at a big discount.Greece was cut from CCC, the lowest level before default, S&P said, because its invitation to investors to sell back the Greek bonds they hold at discounts to face value "constitutes the launch of what we consider to be a distressed debt restructuring.""The offer, in our view, implies the investor will receive less value than th
Obama, Boehner speak by phone on 'fiscal cliff'

Dec 5, 2012

President Barack Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner spoke for the first time in days Wednesday in a telephone discussion over the fiscal cliff, following several days of political sparring over steps to prevent a looming year-end series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts.The call, disclosed by a Boehner spokesman, raises the possibility that negotiations will soon resume between the White House and congressional leaders to head off what some economists warn could b
Yahoo buys more mobile expertise in latest deal

Dec 5, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Yahoo has bought another Silicon Valley mobile startup as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to create more compelling products for smartphones and tablet computers.Tuesday’s acquisition of OnTheAir follows Yahoo’s recent purchase of a mobile startup called Stamped. In both cases, Yahoo was drawn more by the engineering talent working at the startups than the services that they have been offering.Yahoo Inc., which is based in Sunnyvale, California, didn’t disclose how much it paid for