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Business this week December 6th 2001 >From The Economist print edition Decline and fall Enron filed for bankruptcy protection. The energy-trader laid off over 5,000 staff, some 25% of its workforce, and tried to sell assets to raise cash and reduce debts that could total over $30 billion. Enron also launched a $10 billion lawsuit against Dynegy, which had pulled out of a takeover bid. Dynegy countersued to get its hands on a valuable gas pipeline. These are just two amid a welter of lawsuits and official investigations into the unorthodox financial deals that brought Enron down. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36108_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_88> article: The amazing disintegrating firm America's biggest steel makers are talking of consolidation as a way to compete with large global rivals. US Steel and Bethlehem discussed a merger that could lead to job cuts and plant closures in an industry dogged by overcapacity. But the steel makers want government help: more import restrictions plus cash to pay for retired employees. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36107_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_87> article: US steel producers talk mergers E+ <http://www.economist.com/images/dingbats/e5.gif> <http://www.economist.com/images/20011208/CWW055.gif> America's stockmarkets surged upwards, on hopes that the recession may prove short-lived. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 10,000 and the Nasdaq Composite went over 2,000, both reaching their highest levels since early September. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36106_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_86> article: Private equity E+ <http://www.economist.com/images/dingbats/e5.gif> Ford gave warning that losses in the fourth quarter would be four times higher than the gloomy estimates of analysts. Job losses and plant closures seem certain to follow in a restructuring plan that the Detroit car maker plans to announce in January. Gerry Levin, chief executive of AOL Time Warner and architect of the merger that created the company, announced that he would step down next May. Richard Parsons, the company's co-chief operating officer, will take the helm of the world's biggest media empire. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36105_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_85> article: Face value: AOL Time Warner's new boss A former chairman of Sotheby's, Alfred Taubman, was found guilty of conspiring with the auction house's main rival, Christie's, to fix prices in the early 1990s. Mr Taubman may face a jail sentence plus a heavy fine. Too many chips Overproduction continues to dog the high-tech memory-chip market. Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea began alliance talks with America's Micron Technology that could lead to debt-laden Hynix cutting production on older lines but gaining access to American markets. Micron would in turn gain a presence in China through the Korean firm. A full merger, to create the world's biggest memory-chip maker, has not been ruled out. Joachim Milberg, BMW's professorial chairman, made a surprise decision to quit a year ahead of time. The quiet engineer dismantled a disastrous takeover of Britain's Rover Group and kept profits buoyant despite a waning global economy. Helmut Panke, the company's chief financial officer, will succeed him. Burger King's chief executive, John Dasburg, was reportedly poised to lead a leveraged buy-out of the fast-food chain, which could be worth some $3 billion. Diageo, the burger company's British owner, wants out of the business to concentrate on its alcoholic drinks. The European Commission fined Switzerland's Roche and four other chemical firms euro135m ($120m) for fixing the price of food additives. Belgium's Interbrew, France's Danone and other small breweries were also fined a total of euro90m for fixing beer prices. These fines follow recent penalties of euro855m imposed on 13 firms accused of fixing vitamin prices. The dire state of world advertising was confirmed by Cordiant Communications. The British advertising company issued its third profit warning in four months and said that business was likely to get worse still. It announced further job cuts to take the total for the year to 1,100, some 10% of the workforce. Russia paid lip service to OPEC's pleas to cut its oil exports. It said it will reduce exports by 5%, or 150,000 barrels a day, but sceptics note that Russian output typically falls at this time of year anyway. Other non-OPEC countries have talked of similar cuts. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36104_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_84> article: Russia and OPEC E+ <http://www.economist.com/images/dingbats/e5.gif> Merrill Lynch and Unilever's pension fund settled out of court in a £130m ($182m) lawsuit. Unilever had sued Merrill for negligent management of its pension money. Merrill is rumoured to have offered more than £70m to end the case. The win could inspire similar lawsuits against underperforming fund managers. The future of transport Dean Kamen, an American technology guru, at last unveiled an invention that had been so secret that it merited two codenames, “Ginger” and “IT”. Segway proved to be an individual electric transporter resembling a rotary lawnmower but capable of 20kph and with a 27km range. “An improvement on walking,” claims the inventor. See <http://theeconomist.s.maildart.net/link_36118_6703900_2_142057444_87298 492_1_89> article: Inventor reveals motorised scooter ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
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