Business with Reuters - International Herald Tribune

Chinalco and Alcoa buy stake in Rio Tinto

By ERIC ONSTAD AND LUCY HORNBY / Reuters

The Chinese and U.S. aluminium producers teamed up to buy a 12 percent stake in Rio Tinto, days ahead of a deadline for suitor BHP Billiton to make a firm offer for Rio or walk away.

China's inflation hits American price tags

By DAVID BARBOZA

Higher costs in China could spell the end of an era of ultra-cheap goods, as well as the beginning of China's rise from the lowest rungs of global manufacturing.

Inflation hits record pace in euro zone

Société Générale chairman may be questioned

Reuters

Top prosecutor says Bouton likely to face judges investigating rogue trader

Head of Lone Star's South Korean unit found guilty of stock price manipulation

By KIM YEON-HEE AND MARIE-FRANCE HAN / Reuters

Paul Yoo was sentenced Friday to five years in jail over driving down the stock price of Korea Exchange Bank's former credit card unit.

MARKETS

Asian stocks, except Japan, rise on bond insurer's reassurance

Reuters

The benchmark Nikkei average slid as Sony lost more than 5 percent after cutting its earnings outlook.

Ericsson announces job cuts after slim proft

Reuters

The world's biggest maker of mobile networking equipment said it would cut annual costs by $630.3 million in the face of what it sees as little or no growth in the market this year.

Motorola weighs a shift in cellphones

By LAURA M. HOLSON

Motorola said Thursday that it was exploring the possibility of selling or spinning off its cellular phone business as a way to make the company more profitable.

Google earnings trail estimates, leading to fears on ad outlook

Bloomberg News

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, at the offices of Google in New York. Google's results suggested that the cooling U.S. economy may hit Web companies.

Google, owner of the most popular Internet search engine, reported Thursday profit and sales that trailed analysts' estimates, signaling that an economic slowdown may be cutting into online shopping and Web surfing.

Brussels warns France on protecting Société Générale

By NICOLA CLARK AND JAMES KANTER

France has a history of butting heads with European regulators when it has moved to shield national champions from takeovers and bankruptcy.

Post a comment

Nissan posts 16 percent rise in quarterly profit

Reuters

The firm's vehicle sales have recovered recently thanks to hit products like the Rogue SUV in North America and Qashqai SUV in Europe, helping it make more use of its domestic car factories despite a shrinking Japanese market.

Inflation hits record pace in euro zone

By DAVID JOLLY

Analysts see the data as stiffening the European Central Bank's resolve to hold fast on interest rates next week.

Fund chief warns that two pillars of the markets might crumble.

By VIKAS BAJAJ AND JULIE CRESWELL

William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, predicted two bond insurers could lose $24 billion.

William Ackman, who runs a New York hedge fund called Pershing Square, predicted that MBIA and Ambac might lose $24 billion on complex mortgage investments they have guaranteed.

OPEC is expected to heed market, not Bush

By JAD MOUAWAD

Despite pleas from the United States, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might soon cut its output to offset a seasonal spring slowdown in demand.

Astra Agro to expand palm oil plantations

By HARRY SUHARTONO / Reuters

The largest listed plantation firm in Indonesia has more than 235,000 hectares, or about 581,000 acres, of land in Sumatra and Kalimantan, mostly planted with palm oil.

Russia opens door to investing oil reserves in Western stocks and bonds

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

Moscow has cleared the way to invest some of its large oil earnings in Western stocks and bonds. This is stirring misgivings in Western governments because of the potential threats to national security.

Video: Will backlash follow China investment?

Market downturn gives East Europeans a painful lesson on risk

By VANESSA GERA / AP

A video screen showing Warsaw Stock Exchange indexes.

In the region, individual investors are experiencing for the first time jolting losses amid the global market dive fed by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and fears of a recession there.

China using more street-by-street surveillance technology

By KEITH BRADSHER

The U.S. Commerce Department is drafting new rules on what security equipment American companies can sell to China.

Top Japanese banks hit by subprime losses

By DAVID DOLAN / Reuters

Soured bets on subprime mortgage products have cost Mitsubishi UFJ, and Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho $4.7 billion so far.

FLOYD NORRIS

Bad news for U.S. housing industry

This is a case of the rich getting richer, and the poor being left holding the bag, or at least holding, and perhaps losing, the homes they wish they had never bought.