The Korea Herald

IMF says deal reached on $4.8 bn loan for Egypt

Nov 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday it had reached a deal with Egyptian authorities on a 22-month loan totaling some $4.8 billion to help the country overcome economic difficulties.The staff-level agreement is expected to be submitted to the IMF's executive board for approval in a few weeks, a statement said."The Egyptian authorities have developed a national program that seeks to promote economic recovery, address the country's fiscal and balance of payments deficit
Vestas boat sets speed record for fastest wind-powered craft

Nov 20, 2012

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the biggest wind turbine maker, said the Sailrocket 2 boat it sponsors set two sailing records, becoming the fastest wind-powered vessel.Sailrocket 2 set the best average speed recorded over a 500-meter stretch of water, posting a mark of 59.23 knots (109 kilometers an hour) that eclipsed the previous best of 55.65 knots set in 2010 by American kite surfer Rob Douglas, Vestas said today in a statement on its website."The boat was really flying across the water today," pr
UBS trader Kweku Adoboli guilty of one count of fraud

Nov 20, 2012

LONDON (AFP) -- UBS trader Kweku Adoboli, who gambled away $2.3 billion of the Swiss bank's money, was found guilty of one count of fraud in London on Tuesday.The jury at Southwark Crown Court was still deliberating on one other charge of fraud and four counts of false accounting between October 2008 and September 2011.Ghanaian-born Adoboli, 32, who stands accused of Britain's biggest ever fraud, admitted the losses but denied any wrongdoing.During the two-month trial he claimed senior managers
French downgrade widens gulf with Germany as talks loom

Nov 20, 2012

France's loss of the top credit rating at Moody's Investors Service may weaken President Francois Hollande's leverage in European budget talks and deepen concern in Germany over its neighbor's lagging competitiveness.The downgrade late yesterday of Europe's second-biggest economy underscores the concern expressed by allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Socialist Hollande's failure to recognize the urgency of France's woes risks a deepening of Europe's slump."This downgrade will cer
U.S. housing recovery boosts economy

Nov 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― From purchases and prices to builder sentiment and construction, the U.S. housing market is making consistent gains.The latest evidence came in reports Monday that sales of previously occupied homes rose solidly in October and that builders are more confident than at any other time in 6 1/2 years.New-home sales and home-price indexes have reached multi-year highs. And Lowe’s Cos. on Monday reported a surge in net income, a sign that home-improvement retailers are benefiting.The
U.S. overtakes EU as top export market for China

Nov 20, 2012

BEIJING (AFP) ― China said Tuesday that the United States has overtaken the European Union as its biggest export market, as the continent’s debt crisis has sent demand slumping.“The biggest is the U.S. and the EU is second,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters at a regular briefing. “The EU used to be the biggest.” China’s exports to the United States in the first 10 months of this year totaled $289.3 billion, while shipments to the EU came to $276.8 billion, according to Chi
Intel CEO to retire in surprise move

Nov 20, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Intel CEO Paul Otellini dropped a bombshell on the company’s board of directors last week, telling them in private that he plans to retire from the world’s largest maker of microprocessors in May. Otellini’s move comes at a time when Intel faces a shaky economy and a mobile gadget craze that is eating away at demand for its PC chips ―and it gives the company just six months to find a new leader. Intel’s board expected the 62-year-old Otellini to remain chief executive until
BOJ keeps key rates unchanged

Nov 20, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― The Bank of Japan held off launching fresh easing measures on Tuesday after wrapping up a two-day policy meeting, despite growing calls for further stimulus to spur the world’s third-largest economy.The decision came days after the frontrunner to become Japan’s next prime minister vowed aggressive monetary easing to fix the nation’s economic woes. The bank also kept interest rates unchanged at between zero and 0.1 percent.However, the BOJ said Japan’s economy “has been weakening so
5 U.S. banks have cut loan balances by $6.3b

Nov 20, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Five of the biggest U.S. banks have cut struggling homeowners’ mortgage balances by $6.3 billion, part of a total $26.1 billion in home loan relief provided under a landmark settlement over foreclosure abuses.More than 309,000 borrowers received some form of mortgage relief between March 1 and Sept. 30, according to a report issued Monday by Joseph Smith, monitor of the settlement.That translates to roughly $84,385 per homeowner, according to the report, which is based on mort
Moody’s slashes top French rating

Nov 20, 2012

Ratings agency cuts France’s government bond rating 1 notch citing weak growth prospects
Germany earns 3 billion euros From EU phase 2 carbon sales

Nov 20, 2012

Germany sold its last European Union carbon permits for immediate delivery in the bloc's second phase, completing three years of sales that earned the nation almost 3 billion euros ($3.84 billion).Europe's largest economy today sold 868,000 permits at 6.56 euros a metric ton on the European Energy Exchange AG. EEX has hosted 269 German sales of a total 129 million tons starting in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In 2008 and 2009, the country sold 80 million permits through its sta
Moody's downgrades France 1 notch on weak growth

Nov 20, 2012

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded France's government bond rating, citing the country's weak economic growth outlook and its exposure to Europe's economic crisis.The rating agency lowered France's rating one notch on Monday from Aaa _ its top rating _ to Aa1. The outlook for the rating remains negative, meaning it could face future downgrades.Moody's says France's long-term growth outlook is slowing and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict how resilient it will be to futu
Subaru trumps Toyota as market rewards China shutout

Nov 19, 2012

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga has become a market darling for something he failed to do: build a factory in China. The maker of Subaru cars, the only major Japanese auto brand without a plant in the world’s largest vehicle market, has jumped 83 percent in Tokyo trading this year for the biggest gain on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. Fuji Heavy’s smaller presence in China has helped shield it from a consumer backlash triggered by a territorial dispute between Asia’s two l
Jaguar Land Rover-Chery to invest $1.75 billion in China plant

Nov 19, 2012

Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover unit and Chery Automobile Co. will invest 10.9 billion yuan ($1.75 billion) to build a manufacturing plant in eastern China and create a new brand to cater to the nation’s consumers. The 50:50 venture will also set up a research and development center and construct an engine plant as part of the investment, according to a statement by Jaguar Land Rover. The company didn’t say in its release which models will be built at the new factory, targeted for completio
Twinkies likely to survive sale of Hostess

Nov 19, 2012

DETROIT (AP) ― Twinkie lovers, relax.The tasty cream-filled golden spongecakes are likely to survive, even though their maker will be sold in bankruptcy court.Hostess Brands Inc., baker of Wonder Bread as well as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho’s, will be in a New York bankruptcy courtroom Monday to start the process of selling itself.The company, weighed down by debt, management turmoil, rising labor costs and the changing tastes of America, decided on Friday that it no longer could make it thro