From Staff Reports Monsanto Co. (MON) said Tuesday it has purchased the Brazilian corn-seed company Agroeste Sementes for about $100 million. The specific terms of the all-cash deal were not released. Monsanto said the deal included all of Agroeste's businesses, including its corn-seed brands. Monsanto said the purchase will enhance its own existing corn-planting portfolio. […]
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Countrywide to Cut as Many as 12,000 Workers, Changes Lending Operation
By Mike Caggeso Staff Writer Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) announced Friday that it plans to lay off 10,000 to 12,000 more employees — about 20% of its workforce — within the next three months. Most of the reductions will be from areas most impacted by the subprime mortgage meltdown. In its announcement, the company took […]
The One Buffett Book Every Investor Should Read
By William Patalon III Managing Editor Money Morning There are scads of books on the market purporting to tell the story of super-investor Warren E. Buffett. I know, because during my days as a business journalist, I read – or at least perused – almost all of them. And, as my lovely wife Robin will […]
Turkey Economy Slows, Interest Rate Cuts Looming
From Staff Reports By most standards, 3.9% GNP growth is pretty good. But not for Turkey, where the second quarter figure is down from 6.9% in the previous quarter, marking its slowest growth since Q1 2002. Turkey’s economy has enjoyed five-straight years of growth. In 2005, Turkey’s economy grew at a 7.4% clip. In 2006, […]
Patent Overhaul Bill Passes House, Senate is Next
From Staff Reports The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved an overhaul of the patent system that high-tech firms had been seeking in order to slash the number and cost of the patent-infringement lawsuits that in the past have been just part of the cost of doing business. The House voted 220 to 175 […]
S&P Rates "Most Vulnerable" Nations
From Staff Reports Latvia, Iceland, Bulgaria and Turkey could be among the nations hurt the most if the global credit crunch continues to escalate, said a new Standard & Poor's Inc. ranking of 15 countries from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. S&P's so-called "Liquidity Vulnerability Index" tries to measure the sovereign vulnerability of […]
China Communication Construction Taunts Barred U.S. Investors With 136% First-Half Profits, 130% YTD Stock Gains
By Mike Caggeso Staff Writer China Communication Construction Co. released striking first-half numbers that parallel the country's massive trade explosion. Profits rose 136%, revenue rose 24% and earnings per share leaped 90% during the first half, CCCC reported in its first half-year earnings statement since its December 2006 IPO in Hong Kong. Infrastructure construction, which […]
Central Banks Engaged in a Constant Battle with Liquidity
From Staff Reports While central banks in the United States and Europe did their best to infuse their respective economies with liquidity, central banks in China and Japan were doing just the opposite. The People's bank of China last week sold $20 billion worth of three year treasury bills hoping to siphon off excess funds […]
Billionaire's Plans for Macau Casino Resort Stung by Global Credit Crunch
By William Patalon III Managing Editor The Money Map Report Even billionaires aren’t immune to the subprime-mortgage crisis and the accompanying global credit crunch. Only a week after the Las Vegas Sands Corp. opened its luxurious Venetian Macao hotel and resort just off the China coast, the Macau casino plans of Australian billionaire media mogul […]
China Faces Challenges In Both R&D Policy, Information Technology Competitiveness
By Jason Simpkins Staff Writer For all of its repeatedly reported strengths as it continues to flex its global muscles, China faces a very significant obstacle in its bid to become a major international power: A serious short-sightedness when it comes to its information-technology sector. Although China wants to become a global leader in high-technology […]