Thu, Feb 18, 2010 page5

• Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■STOCKS

  Berkshire unveils changes

  Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp during the last three months of last year, documents filed on Tuesday showed. Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed those moves and several other changes to its roughly US$58 billion US stock portfolio in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing offers a snapshot of the Omaha-based company’s holdings as of Dec. 31. Berkshire added to its stakes in Iron Mountain Inc, Becton Dickinson & Co, Republic Services Inc and Wells Fargo. But the filing also said Berkshire has received permission from the commission to omit some information to protect its trading strategy, so the document offers an incomplete picture.

  ■REAL ESTATE

  Canada tightens mortgages

  Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Tuesday announced tighter mortgage rules to curb real estate speculation that is fueling record sales and could lead to a housing bubble. “There’s no clear evidence of a housing bubble, but we’re taking proactive, prudent and cautious steps today to help prevent one,” Flaherty said. “Our government is acting to help prevent Canadian households from getting overextended, and acting to help prevent some lenders from facilitating it.” As of April 19, Canadians will face higher standards to qualify for a mortgage; lower borrowing limits when refinancing their current mortgage, a step enacted to avoid “unsustainable debt levels as interest rates go up,” Flaherty told a press conference.

  ■INTERNET

  Google upsets privacy group

  A privacy watchdog group complained to federal regulators on Tuesday about Google’s new Buzz social networking service, saying it violates federal consumer protection law. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed its complaint with the Federal Trade Commission just days after Google Inc altered the service to address mounting privacy concerns. Despite the changes, EPIC argues that privacy violations remain because Google automatically signs up Gmail users for Buzz, rather than waiting for them to do so themselves, or “opt in” for the service. EPIC wants the commission to require Google to make Buzz a “fully opt-in” service.

  ■AUTOMOBILES

  Ford to cut workers

  Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday that it plans to cut 900 workers at a US plant that makes the Mustang, which saw sales drop sharply last year, but most will get positions at other facilities. Ford will reduce shifts from two to one in July at the AutoAlliance International plant in Michigan. The plant, which is jointly owned with Mazda Motor Corp, also makes the Mazda6 midsize sedan. The plant employs nearly 2,300 people. Most of the layoffs will be hourly manufacturing workers, but some salaried positions also will be cut, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said. A majority of workers will be offered positions at other plants, she said.

  ■STEEL

  Tata Q4 profit plunges

  Tata Steel, the world’s eighth-largest steelmaker, reported on Tuesday a 42 percent drop in consolidated quarterly profit that included results from British unit Corus. It blamed low steel prices for the performance. For the three months to December, consolidated net profit slumped to 4.72 billion rupees (US$102 million) from 8.13 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said.

  ■ELECTRONICS

  LGD ‘infringed patents’

  LG Display Co (LGD) infringed four of Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp’s (友達光電) US patents for flat-panel video technology, a judge decided. The decision on Tuesday involves the first part of a multifaceted case in which Seoul-based LG claimed AU and another Taiwanese electronics firm, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), infringed its patents. Further decisions are pending. “LGD possessed the requisite intent to induce infringement,” and the four AU patents are valid, US District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr in Wilmington, Delaware, wrote in a 77-page decision.

  ■ENERGY

  Samsung, ENCO ink deal

  Samsung C&T Corp, South Korea’s second-biggest construction company, and ENCO Utility Services of the US plan to build solar-power plants in California. Electricity from the 130-megawatt project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Co for 25 years, Samsung said in a statement yesterday, without mentioning the project cost. The plan is Samsung C&T’s second foreign alternative energy project in a month. The company announced a US$6.7 billion wind and solar power project with state-run Korea Electric Power Corp in Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 21.

  ■SINGAPORE

  Exports continue to rise

  Exports jumped last month for a third straight month as global demand for the city-state’s electronics and petrochemicals surged. Exports excluding oil rose 21 percent from a year earlier to S$12.1 billion (US$8.6 billion), Trade and Industry Ministry figures released yesterday showed. Last month’s trade figures suggest the economy will grow sharply in the first quarter compared with a year earlier when the country was mired in a deep recession.

  ■JAPAN

  Official wants new tax

  Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki said the nation should impose a tax on financial transactions to curb market volatility that could threaten economic growth. “We’re seeing speculative funds flowing carelessly around the world — one day in stocks and real estate other times in oil and grains — and this is destroying the lives of ordinary people,” Minezaki wrote in an e-mail to supporters and reporters on Monday. “We have to implement the Tobin Tax as part of international solidarity,” he said, adding that the levy could also boost revenue.

  ■INVESTMENT

  Fund doubles bet on gold

  Billionaire investor George Soros’ hedge fund more than doubled its bet on the price of gold during the fourth quarter, a portion of the firm’s total US-listed equity holdings of US$8.8 billion at the end of last year. The New York-based firm also disclosed in a filing on Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it bought almost 95 million shares of Citigroup during the quarter, worth US$313 million by the end of the year. Soros reported no holdings of the troubled bank’s shares at the end of the third quarter.

  ■ELECTRONICS

  New BlackBerry browser

  Research In Motion Ltd debuted a new Web browser for its BlackBerry devices on Tuesday, touting the program as easier and faster to use as the phone maker pursues consumer customers. The new WebKit browser, available this year, will download files quicker and display Web sites better, co-chief executive officer Mike Lazaridis said. He declined to be more specific on the debut.
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