The Korea Herald

German court backs bailout fund

Sept 12, 2012

German top court clears euro rescue fund, fiscal pact KARLSRUHE, Germany (AFP)— The eurozone cleared a key hurdle towards resolving its debt crisis Wednesday as Germany‘s top court approved a new European firewall for ratification, with some minor conditions.In a landmark ruling watched around the world, the Constitutional Court overturned a raft of legal challenges aimed at preventing President Joachim Gauck from signing two crucial crisis-fighting tools into law.Delivering a momentous decision
S. Korea's job creation slows in August

Sept 12, 2012

South Korea's jobless rate edged down in August from a month earlier but job creation slowed markedly amid worries the overall economic conditions are toughening at home and abroad, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3 percent last month, down from 3.1 percent tallied in the previous month, marking the lowest level for this y
Moody's warns of U.S. rating cut

Sept 11, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government’s debt rating could be heading for the “fiscal cliff” along with the federal budget.Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said it would likely cut its “Aaa” rating on U.S. government debt, probably by one notch, if budget negotiations fail.If Congress and the White House don’t reach a budget deal, about $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and tax increases will automa
HP plans to dump 2,000 more workers

Sept 11, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Hewlett-Packard Co. is planning to cut about 2,000 more jobs than it had previously announced as CEO Meg Whitman tries to turn the company around.In a regulatory filing Monday, the computer and printer maker said it will eliminate 29,000 jobs by October 2014, up from the 27,000 cuts it announced in May when HP employed about 350,000 people.The company, which is based in Palo Alto, California, didn’t explain why it had raised the number. The revision comes amid signs that the
Philips to shed 2,200 jobs globally

Sept 11, 2012

THE HAGUE (AFP) -- Philips said Tuesday it would shed 2,200 jobs globally as part of its restructuring program in a move to save the Dutch electronics giant an additional 300 million euros ($384 million).“The company has identified additional opportunities, among others in the healthcare and lighting sectors, to further decrease inefficiency and complexity,” Philips said in a statement.“These additional structural saving opportunities of 300 million euros will bring the overall savings program f
Audi threatens BMW’s 7-year lead in luxury vehicle sales

Sept 11, 2012

Audi AG trimmed Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s lead in 2012 luxury-car sales to just 2,110 vehicles in August, threatening BMW’s seven-year hold on the top position in premium auto deliveries. The Volkswagen AG luxury brand boosted eight-month sales 13 percent to 961,000 vehicles, compared with BMW’s 7.8 percent increase to 963,110 autos, according to the two companies’ monthly sales reports. BMW, the world’s largest-maker of luxury cars, led by 40,513 vehicles through August of last year. VW is
Japan finance services minister dead: reports

Sept 11, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's financial services minister was found dead at his home on Monday in what police believe was a possible suicide, media said.Tadahiro Matsushita, 73, who was also the state minister in charge of postal reform for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, was found collapsed at his house in Tokyo and confirmed dead at hospital shortly afterwards, public broadcaster NHK said.Kyodo News and Jiji Press, citing police sources, reported that Matsushita was thought to have taken his own life.
Germany risks recession by enforcing euro austerity: Soros

Sept 11, 2012

Billionaire investor George Soros said German-led austerity demands worsen the debt crisis and risk pushing Germany into a depression that’s already taking hold of the euro area’s rim.A policy of fiscal retrenchment “is pushing Europe into a deeper and longer depression,” Soros said during a speech in Berlin Monday. “The German public doesn’t yet feel it and doesn’t quite believe it, but it’s all too real in the periphery and it will reach Germany in the next six months or so. My message is that
Spain opposes bailout that dictates cuts

Sept 11, 2012

MADRID (AFP) ― Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ruled out Monday any economic bailout that dictates spending cuts or touches old-age pensions.As global markets anticipated a rapid international rescue for the eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy, Rajoy refused to be rushed into a deal or to contemplate surrendering key powers over the budget.“I could not accept that they tell us which are the concrete policies in which we have to cut or not cut,” the 57-year-old leader said in his first televis
Spanish leader rules out bailout that dictates cuts

Sept 11, 2012

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ruled out Monday any economic bailout that dictates spending cuts or touches old-age pensions.As global markets anticipated a rapid international rescue for the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy, Rajoy refused to be rushed into a deal or to contemplate surrendering key powers over the budget."I could not accept that they tell us which are the concrete policies
Toyota failing to recover value on sales with competition

Sept 10, 2012

Toyota Motor Corp. , roaring back after three years of recession, recalls and natural disasters, will struggle to regain its former dominance as it grapples with improved competition worldwide. Under Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda, the company’s profits are rising, it’s on pace to regain the global sales lead this year, and its $138 billion stock-market value is more than the next two biggest, Volkswagen AG and Honda Motor Co., combined. Still its shares aren’t as highly valued as they were
Japan halves growth estimate

Sept 10, 2012

Japan’s economy expanded in the second quarter at half the pace the government initially estimated, underscoring the risk of a contraction as Europe’s debt crisis caps exports. Gross domestic product grew an annualized 0.7 percent in the three months through June, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo Monday, less than a preliminary calculation of 1.4 percent. The median forecast of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a revised 1 percent gain. The current-account surplus fell 41 percent
Long way to go in Greece troika talks

Sept 10, 2012

ATHENS (AFP) ― Talks between the Greek government and its international lenders on an austerity package to keep the country afloat still have a “long way to go,” a government source said on Sunday.“We still have a long way to go. We have not completed anything, we spoke in general terms,” the source said after talks between Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and representatives of the so-called troika of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.A troika member sa
Germany keeps up austerity drive after ECB help

Sept 10, 2012

BERLIN (AFP) ― Germany’s finance minister warned Sunday that debt-laden eurozone states must stick to promised reforms and cuts despite last week’s offer of help from the European Central Bank that calmed markets.In a wide-ranging interview with the Bild am Sonntag weekly, Wolfgang Schaeuble also expressed confidence that Germany’s top court would not shoot down the eurozone’s proposed new rescue fund on Wednesday.“It would be a grave mistake to interpret the ECB decision incorrectly as meaning
U.S. Treasury to sell $18 bil. of AIG stock

Sept 10, 2012

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Sunday that it has launched a public offering of $18 billion of its common stock in AIG, the giant insurer bailed out by the U.S. government.The Treasury will also grant a 30-day option to the offering's underwriters to purchase up to an additional $2.7 billion of AIG common stock to cover any over-allotments.AIG intends to buy up to $5 billion of common stoc