On Monday March 14, 2011, 6:17 pm EDT
Japan central bank feeds
markets money after quake
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's
central bank pumped a record $184 billion into money markets and took other
measures to protect a teetering economy Monday, as the Tokyo stock market
nose-dived following a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The benchmark Nikkei 225
stock average slid 6.2 percent in its first day of trading since the
8.9-magnitude quake centered on northeastern Japan struck Friday, triggering
enormous waves that swamped towns and killed thousands.
Escalating concerns about
the financial and economic fallout -- plus the risk of meltdown at damaged
nuclear power reactors -- triggered a plunge that hit all sectors of the stock
market. The broader Topix index lost 7.5 percent.
The Bank of Japan moved
quickly to try to keep financial markets calm. By flooding the banking system
with cash, it hopes banks will continue lending money and meet the likely surge
in demand for post-earthquake funds.
Japan quake to cost
insurers almost like Katrina
LONDON (AP) -- Japan's
devastating earthquake and tsunami may cost the global insurance industry as
much as $60 billion, which would make the disaster the most expensive ever
behind Hurricane Katrina, according to early estimates.
Global insurance stocks
took a hit on Monday as traders reacted to images of flattened towns and
ravaged coast lines, but analysts stressed there are some mitigating factors,
including the fact that damage to residential property is covered by a
state-backed system and that nuclear damage is excluded from policies.
Analysts said those
elements mean insurance costs will likely fall short of those associated with
the Gulf Coast's Hurricane Katrina in 2005, though the full cost of Friday's
8.9 magnitude quake won't be known for some time.
Expenses will continue to
mount due to ongoing aftershocks from the massive March 11 earthquake off the
coast of northeast Japan and shutdowns at electronics factories, car
manufacturers and oil refineries. The official death toll of 2,800 is expected
to rise above 10,000.
Berkshire Hathaway to buy
Lubrizol for $9B in cash
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Warren
Buffett's company said Monday it will spend about $9 billion cash to add
specialty chemical maker Lubrizol Corp. to the eclectic mix of businesses
inside Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The purchase may help
satisfy Buffett's appetite for large acquisitions to boost Berkshire's earnings
power, but the deal is still significantly smaller than last year's $26.7
billion acquisition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.
Two years ago, Berkshire
invested $3 billion in preferred shares of Dow Chemical to help finance Dow's
$16.5 billion purchase of specialty chemical maker Rohm & Haas in 2009.
That deal likely gave Buffett insight into the high-margin specialty chemical
business.
In Monday's deal, Berkshire
will pay $135 per share, a 28 percent premium to Lubrizol's closing stock price
Friday of $105.44. The transaction also includes about $700 million in net
debt.
Lubrizol, of Wickliffe,
Ohio, makes chemicals for pharmaceutical companies, fuel additives for gasoline
and diesel and other ingredients for the transportation sector. Last month, it
reported that its fourth-quarter profit climbed 17 percent because of a $19
million tax benefit and higher sales. The company's revenue grew 11 percent to
$1.32 billion.
Markets back European debt
crisis deal -- for now
LONDON (AP) -- Greece was
the big winner in the markets Monday after the EU agreed to a surprisingly
broad package of measures to tackle the debt crisis that has for over a year
threatened the existence of the euro currency.
On the weekend, eurozone
leaders increased the lending power of the bailout fund and revealed it can be
used to buy bonds directly from governments in exceptional circumstances -- but
only if they agree to further austerity measures. They also eased the bailout
terms for Greece, significantly brightening its financial outlook.
The deal took markets by
surprise, especially as German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been sounding an
increasingly strident tone against paying up for profligate governments.
Though analysts said the
deal doesn't mean the crisis has come to an end -- the governments in the
so-called "periphery" have years and years of austerity ahead of them
-- the hope in the markets is that the EU is better prepared to deal with
another debt crisis flare-up.
Chinese premier rejects
faster currency rise
BEIJING (AP) -- China's
premier ruled out allowing a faster rise in its tightly controlled currency to
cool surging inflation, saying Monday that Beijing has to consider the impact
on Chinese companies and jobs.
Premier Wen Jiabao repeated
Chinese complaints that the U.S. Federal Reserve's efforts to spur American
growth are partly to blame for global inflation, though he avoided mentioning
the Fed by name.
Chinese prices rose 4.9
percent in February, driven by an 11 percent jump in politically sensitive food
costs despite government efforts to increase supplies and curb a bank lending
boom that analysts say is partly to blame.
Wen rejected letting the
yuan rise faster against the dollar, a move analysts say could cool prices by
making oil and other imports cheaper in Chinese currency terms. Beijing has
restrained the yuan's rise since the 2008 global crisis to help exporters that
employ millions of workers compete abroad.
Qatar pays $2.8 billion for
Spanish power stake
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
(AP) -- An arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund agreed Monday to buy more than
6 percent of Spanish power utility Iberdrola SA for just over 2 billion euros,
strengthening the gas-rich Gulf nation's financial ties to Europe.
As part of the deal, Qatar
Holding and Iberdrola said they will work together to develop new
electricity-related business projects, mainly in fast growing and emerging
markets.
Qatar Holding will pay
euro2.02 billion ($2.82 billion) for the stake, which will mostly come from
nearly issued shares. It said the deal is part of its strategy of building a
diverse portfolio of global businesses.
UPS CEO gets 2010 total
compensation of $9.5M
NEW YORK (AP) -- The
chairman and chief executive of United Parcel Service Inc. received total compensation
last year valued at $9.5 million, a 73 percent jump from 2009, according to an
analysis by The Associated Press.
Scott Davis, 58, received a
base salary of $1 million in 2010, the same as the year before, according to a
filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bulk of his
compensation, though, was in the form of stock awards. Davis' stock was worth
about $7.8 million at the end of last year, more than double the $3.9 million
his shares were worth at the end of 2009.
He also received option
awards valued at $437,514 last year, about the same as 2009. His
performance-based cash bonus jumped 78 percent to $232,000 from $130,523 in
2009.
Davis' perks for things
like life insurance, financial planning and health care benefits slipped
slightly from 2009, down 4 percent to $30,097.
Corning CEO got $9.35
million in 2010
CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- The
chief executive and chairman of Corning Inc. saw his pay package rise by 19.6
percent last year, as the specialty glassmaker benefited from surging demand
for ultra-thin glass used in television monitors, smart phones and touch-screen
tablets.
Wendell Weeks, 51, received
total compensation valued at $9.35 million in 2010, up from $7.82 million the
previous year, according to an Associated Press analysis of a proxy statement
filed Monday.
His base salary of $1.07
million rose 3.8 percent from the previous year. But his combined
performance-based cash bonus and stock and options awards jumped 22.6 percent
to $7.85 million, from $6.4 million in 2009.
Weeks became CEO in April
2005. He succeeded James Houghton, the patriarch of the company that his
great-great-grandfather founded in 1851.
Weeks' pay package included
a performance-based cash bonus of $6.72 million, and options awards valued at
$1.13 million.
It also comprised $429,114
in perquisites, or "perks," up 12.2 percent from 2009. They included
a retirement plan contribution totaling $178,715; $149,296 for home and
personal security; and $85,241 for the personal use of company aircraft.
India's inflation worse
than expected in Feb
MUMBAI, India (AP) --
India's inflation quickened to an uncomfortable 8.3 percent in February, while
solid growth in production and exports failed to stem the outflow of foreign
portfolio investment in Asia's third largest economy.
The inflation figure
announced by the government Monday was higher than expected and suggests the
central bank may continue raising interest rates when it meets later this week.
Central bankers across Asia are struggling to tame rising prices and India has
been among the most aggressive in hiking rates.
The figure topped a
CNBC-TV18 poll that forecast 7.8 percent inflation and was higher than
January's 8.2 percent increase.
The government also said
December inflation was 9.4 percent, rather than 8.4 percent as previously
announced.
Food inflation -- long
blamed for India's rising prices -- has eased since January, but manufacturing
inflation, which the central bank watches closely, jumped 1.3 percent from
January.
Uncertainty in global oil
markets has worsened inflation jitters in a country that imports three-quarters
of its oil.
Time Warner Cable launches
iPad app with live TV
NEW YORK (AP) -- Time
Warner Cable Inc. is launching an iPad application that plays live TV, becoming
the first cable or satellite company to do so.
The app will be free to
download on Tuesday morning, but it will only work for people who subscribe to
both video and Internet service from the New York-based cable company. Even
then, it only works in the home, when the iPad is connected to the company's
cable modem via a Wi-Fi router.
Rob Marcus, the company's
chief operating officer and president, said the app will play 30 basic cable
channels in high definition to start, but that number should expand soon.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average lost 51.24, or 0.4 percent, to 11,993.16. The Nasdaq composite dipped
14.64, or 0.5 percent, to 2,700.97.
The S&P index, the
basis for most U.S. mutual funds, fell 7.89 points, or 0.6 percent, to
1,296.39.
Benchmark West Texas
Intermediate for April delivery added 3 cents to settle at $101.19 per barrel
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped below $99 earlier in the
session. In London Brent crude lost 17 cents to settle at $113.67 on the ICE
Futures exchange.
In other Nymex trading for
April contracts, heating oil added 3.48 cents to settle at $3.0638 per gallon
and gasoline futures lost 2.74 cents to settle at $2.9603 per gallon.