Online shopping for holiday rose 13%

Holiday shopping online was strong right through Christmas, with consumers spending a record $30.8 billion for the season, according to a research firm report issued Wednesday.

Online sales for the 56 days ended Dec. 27 rose 13% from the same period in 2009, according to Reston, Va,-based comScore. There was a 17% year-over-year surge in the week that ended Dec. 26 -- the day after Christmas.

via money.cnn.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Amazon's Kindle 3 Sales Figures?

No matter how you estimate it, you seem to come up with the same number – so I feel confident in saying that Amazon has sold close to 8 million Kindle 3 devices in just the last year.

via beyond-black-friday.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Amazon Says New Kindle is Its Top-Selling Product

Giant online retailer Amazon.com announced on Monday that the latest version of its popular Kindle E-reader has become the top-selling item in the company’s history — surpassing the previous champ, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7).

On Christmas Day, Amazon said, more people activated new Kindles and bought more E-books than any other day in the company’s history. Kindle (Wi-Fi) and Kindle 3G devices were the best-selling products on Amazon this holiday season, the company said.

via wired.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Sara Lee Weighs São Paulo-based JBS Takeover

“In the latest example of cash-rich emerging-market companies seeking to snap up American business icons, Brazilian meat-processing giant JBS SA is pursuing a takeover of Sara Lee Corp., said people familiar with the matter.”

 

WSJ.COM

 

 

 

Bridgestone expects to cut rubber consumption

Bridgestone Corp., the world’s largest tiremaker, expects to cut rubber consumption by 50 percent in the next decade after prices more than quadrupled to a record from their 2008 low, BusinessWeek reports. 

Google wants Groupon and Amazon wants LivingSocial

"In a bold move that would mark Google Inc.'s biggest acquisition and a major push into local advertising, the Internet giant is in talks to buy local deals site Groupon Inc.", WSJ reports.

"The No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space – LivingSocial, is in advanced talks for a major strategic investment by online retail giant Amazon and others at a very hefty valuation of several billion dollars.", accoording to AllThingsDigital, web site.

Rice May Triple in 18 Months

Rice, the staple food of more than three billion people, may as much as triple in 18 months as flooding in exporters including Thailand tightens supplies and demand climbs, BusinessWeek reports.

Siemens to Signing Electric Car Charging Contract in China

Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, said it is close to signing a contract to supply a Chinese city with electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.

Siemens, whose businesses include high-speed trains, medical equipment and power turbines, is seeking to provide electric-vehicle charging and components for automakers such as General Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG in the world’s biggest auto market. China is offering buyers of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars subsidies of as much as 60,000 yuan ($9,000) to help cut pollution and reduce oil dependency.

Read more at Businessweek

China goes into oil overdrive

China’s national oil companies have spent $24.6bn on overseas acquisitions so far this year, accounting for one-fifth of all global deal activity in the oil and gas sector over the period, according to analysis prepared for the Financial Times.

China’s energy demand has doubled since 2000 and the country overtook the US to become the world’s largest energy user this summer, according to the International Energy Agency.

Read at ft.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Germany attacks US economic policy

"Germany’s export success was not based on exchange rate tricks but on increased competitiveness. In contrast, the American growth model is in a deep crisis. The Americans have lived for too long on credit, overblown their financial sector and neglected their industrial base. There are lots of reasons for the US problems – German export surpluses are not part of them.

Germany has put itself on a collision course with the US over the global economy, after its finance minister launched an extraordinary attack on policies being pursued in Washington.

Wolfgang Schäuble accused the US of undermining its policymaking credibility, increasing global economic uncertainty and of hypocrisy over exchange rates. The US economic growth model was in a “deep crisis,” he also warned over the weekend."

Read at the Financial Times 

Seth Godin: How media changes politics

Mass media is dying, and it appears that mass politicians are endangered as well.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Starbucks Unveils New Store Concept

A very different kind of Starbucks is on tap. It serves regional wine and beer. It offers an expansive plate of locally made cheeses -- served on china. The barista bar is rebuilt to seat customers up close to the coffee.

(...)

Starbucks, which turns 40 next year, is entering middle age with a keen desire to improve the way that its customers -- and its stockholders -- respond to the brand. For customers, the company wants to make the stores seem friendlier and more a part of the neighborhood. For stockholders, the company wants stores to be more profitable by targeting greater evening use. 

(FloridaToday.com)

Portugal: Só 30% dos alunos portugueses conclui o 12º ano

Apenas 30% dos alunos portugueses concluem os 12 anos de escolaridade, segundo dados revelados hoje por Joaquim Azevedo, professor da Universidade Católica e membro do Conselho Nacional de Educação.

(...)

A cada 109 mil alunos que entram no primeiro ano de escolaridade em Portugal só 32 mil chegam ao 12.º ano.

via Diário Económico

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Google's Wind Farm

Google is investing in a wind power project:

When built out, the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone will stretch 350 miles off the coast from New Jersey to Virginia and will be able to connect 6,000MW of offshore wind turbines. That’s equivalent to 60% of the wind energy that was installed in the entire country last year and enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households.

More at Google Official Blog

Soros Says Germany Threatens Europe With ‘Deflationary Spiral’

Germany’s push for European fiscal prudence amid tepid growth and sovereign-debt burdens is “liable to send the euro zone into a deflationary spiral,” billionaire investor George Soros said.

German leaders have insisted on fiscal austerity measures in the euro zone while continuing to cut their own deficits as exports have led to the fastest economic growth since reunification. German gross domestic product grew at 9 percent in the second quarter and unemployment has continued to fall.

Read at businessweek.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Facebook Splits Stock 5-for-1

Privately held Facebook Inc. on Friday announced a 5-for-1 stock split, a move the social network giant said would enable it to make larger stock grants to employees.


Facebook has twice previously split its stock on a 4-for-1 basis, in July 2006 and October 2007, and has no plans for an initial public offering of the company's shares.

With users at half a billion and counting, Facebook is closely watched by investors hoping to one day buy public shares in the fast-growing company.

Recent bids for Facebook stock on Sharespost were at $85 a share and $80 a share, and contracts for Facebook shares at the end of August were made for $72 a share and $75 a share.

In June 2009, Reuters reported that shares of Facebook were being quoted on the secondary market for between $10 and $10.50 a share.

One person closely involved in the trading of private company shares said splitting the stock would allow Facebook to give employees and recruits a larger number of shares, even though the total value of the shares would not change.

Earlier this week, Facebook board member Peter Thiel told Reuters the company would probably sell shares to the public at some point, but not before late 2012.

WSJ.com
Reuters.com

About the future of the media industry

Print is going to fade away fairly quickly; 

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times as doing "a pretty good job," while the work of some others is "lousy".

CNN Founder Ted Turner

Reading Machine: #MustRead posts and articles from across the web

How Nokia Fell from Grace
By failing to understand changes in its market and remaining geographically removed, the mobile-phone maker ceded control to Apple and others
BusinessWeek


5 Winning Social Media Campaigns to Learn From
Companies are starting to broaden what they consider online advertising, and are opting to run some amazing social media campaigns. Rather than slapping a banner ad on a site, social media campaigns take full advantage of the web’s unique properties like interactivity, community-building, and the ability to specialize local offers.
Mashable.com


The Real Value of Social Media for Social Good
Chris Hughes wants to connect "people who want to change the world.” A Mashable interview with Chris about the social good space, online organization, and Jumo.
Mashable.com


How has the crisis changed the teaching of economics?
How have the financial crisis and recession affected the way economics is taught? How should economic instruction change?
Economist.com

Zuckerberg: Being Private Is Better

Facebook will not hit the public markets "anytime soon," says CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, using the sites new question and answers feature.

The reason: Facebook wants to take "big risks," with new products that might come under harsh scrutiny from the public markets. "Being private is better," says Zuckerberg.

Business Insider

Asia-Pacific to Pass North America as Biggest Ad Market in 2014

The Asia-Pacific region will overtake North America as the largest advertising market “soon after 2014,” according to a report.

Increased consumer spending in China and India helped Asia-Pacific fare better in the economic slowdown than the rest of the world. Companies worldwide have been boosting spending after cuts during the economic slowdown and designating more of their budgets to digital media and emerging markets.

The report predicts Asia-Pacific ad spending will reach $173.2 billion in 2014.

Total global online ad spending will rise 12 percent to $62 billion this year, eMarketer said. By 2014, online will account for 17 percent of total media spending.

Bloomberg

Worldwide Mobile Operating System Market Share

Via Business Insider

Burger King Agrees to $4 Billion Bid From 3G Capital - Bloomberg

Burger King Holdings Inc. agreed to be acquired by 3G Capital in a deal valued at $4 billion including debt, giving the New York investment firm control over the second-largest U.S. hamburger chain.

Bloomberg

More at The New York Times

Burger King Is in Talks Over Possible Sale

Burger King Holdings Inc. has been in talks with potential buyers in recent weeks about a possible sale of the second-largest hamburger chain, people familiar with the matter said.

...

Burger King has been a public company since 2006, but it already has passed through the hands of buyout firms. In 2002 a group led by TPG Capital LLC, Bain Capital LLC and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners bought the company for about $1.5 billion from Diageo PLC. They still own 32% of Burger King, and have significant representation on the company's board.

...

Today Burger King has a market capitalization of about $2.26 billion, and operates more than 12,000 restaurants around the world in more than 75 countries. 

Via: The Wall Street Journal 

More:
The Economist
Bloomberg

China Overtakes Japan as World's Second-Biggest Economy

China surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy last quarter, capping the nation’s three- decade rise from Communist isolation to emerging superpower.

Read full history at Bloomberg

Germany Powers Fastest Europe Expansion in Four Years

Europe’s economy expanded more than economists forecast in the second quarter as the fastest growth in Germany in two decades powered the region’s recovery. Europe’s largest economy, grew in the quarter at the fastest pace since reunification.

In Germany, GDP jumped 2.2 percent from the previous three months, while the French economy expanded 0.6 percent and growth in the Netherlands accelerated to 0.9 percent. The second-quarter data also show that the euro area outpaced the U.S., which grew 0.6 percent, based on the EU statistics office measure.

Still, some euro-area countries continue to struggle. Greece, which was forced to seek a EU-led bailout in May, experienced a 1.5 percent contraction, while [Portugal] and Spain’s economy grew 0.2 percent.

...

The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, will probably expand 3.3 percent this year, the Washington-based fund said. The euro- region economy may grow 1 percent, with Chinese GDP seen increasing 10.5 percent and India’s economy expanding 9.4 percent, it forecast.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet: “We consider that both the second quarter and probably also the third quarter are likely to be better than expected. But we are certainly not declaring victory nor would we say that we’re in a period of active growth.”

Full article:

Germany Powers Fastest Europe Expansion in Four Years - BusinessWeek

Google to Allow Trademarked Keywords Following European Union Ruling - Bloomberg

Google Inc. will allow advertisers on its sites across Europe to use trademarked terms as “keywords” that link Internet searches to ads.

The policy change brings Google’s trademark practice in Europe in line with company rules in about 190 countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. The change, effective from Sept. 14, follows a ruling by the European Union’s highest court in March that Google doesn’t breach EU law by selling trademark-protected names as keywords.

via bloomberg.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Study Says Most Brands Still Irrelevant on Twitter

Attention brands: Twitter users aren't talking to you or about you. In fact, they barely know you exist.

Read at adage.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Condé Nast Hopes to Wean Itself From Ad Revenue - NYTimes.com

The goal of the overhaul, is to transform Condé Nast into a business that relies less on advertising revenue and more on the income it makes from charging consumers to read its products on both digital and print platforms.

via nytimes.com

Posted via email from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Youth Without Work: can we experience a revolution, shortly?

Europe is aging and young people has no work:

Youth unemployment rose by six percentage points in the OECD area from 2007 to 2009, with Spain experiencing an alarming 42% youth unemployment rate in 2010.
In Italy, 60% of people aged 18-34 (and 30% among people aged 30-34) were living with their parents as a result of their inability to support themselves.

Can our ‘system’ collapse? Will an inter-generational conflict be unavoidable? Can a revolutionary wave similar to 1968 happen in a near future?

Edoardo Campanella for Project Syndicate published a must read essay, here.

EU approved British Airways's merger with Spain's Iberia and AMR Alliance

British Airways won European Union antitrust approval for its proposed trans-Atlantic alliance with American Airlines and its planned merger with Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España. BA's merger with Iberia will create Europe's third-largest airline by revenue. (Business Week)

The alliance pact between the airlines allows them to share revenue, combine their marketing and flight planning, and collaborate on pricing. The European Union's clearance means they are immune from usual antitrust rules that forbid collusion between companies on prices and markets so as to allow consumers to benefit from lower prices. (WSJ)

Virgin Atlantic has been vocal in its opposition to the deal between BA and American Airlines. Its boss, Sir Richard Branson, said consumers would lose out. "We have fought this monster monopoly for the past 13 years and are still resolute in our belief that this decision is shameful and consumers will suffer greatly as a result of this deal," he said. (BBC News)

Amazon enters online grocery market

Amazon today launched a grocery division offering free delivery on thousands of household goods.

The online retailer, which launched in the UK in 1998 as a bookseller, will offer 22,000 top grocery lines including Pampers, Ariel, Uncle Ben's, Dolmio, Kraft, Schwartz, Kenco, Carte Noir, Walkers and Oreo, and leading pet food products Bakers and Purina One.

As well as selling individual items the Amazon.co.uk Grocery store allows customers to save money by bulk-buying items such as nappies, washing powders, pasta, rice, herbs, cooking oils and spices.

Via Guardian.co.uk

Apple's iAds: a new era for advertising?

The new iAd platform launches today and a new era of advertising may born. Steve Jobs dreamed about a system that can generate more than $800 million a year for Apple and also big money for the huge community of developers who have built thousands of apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

The main idea is simple and can (again!) work perfectly for Apple. Like revenue from music, video and apps Apple already sells, iAds will be another source of fresh money for creative people and Apple itself. In this case, developers will keep 60 percent of all proceeds from the ads Apple sells and distributes.

This is Nissan Leaf iAd announcement for iPhone and iPad, one of the first iAds to market. The future is now?

Durex iBaby: a new marketing campaign supported by an app for iPhone

Durex wants to convince you to use their condoms, so they decided to develop an application for iPhone that starts working when you rub two iPhone on one another. Guess what.....  a virtual baby will be "created" and you became the father! This is a powerful campaign, mixing together viral and social marketing.

Check the video.

Electric cars have to be connected cars

Worldwide, the number of vehicles equipped with GPS and navigation systems will double over the next five years, says ABI research director Larry Fisher. But revenues for those systems will shrink by two-thirds. Overall, the automotive infotainment market will drop to $24.8 billion in 2015, from more than $29.5 billion in 2010, according to the research firm’s forecasts.

 earth2tech.com has a nice article explaining why green car makers need to find mobile partners.

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

FT.com: Audi to relaunch A2 city model with ‘apps’

Audi is developing a “revolutionary” new version of its pioneering but defunct A2 model that would allow drivers to download mobile phone-like “apps” to customise the car’s interior, features and driving style.

The car, in addition to its downloadable features, would be electric-powered, ultra-lightweight and designed for use in “megacities” with populations of 5m to 10m or more, a senior executive at the German carmaker told the Financial Times.

FT.com: Audi to relaunch A2 city model with ‘apps’

Tata Motors Plans to Build Jaguar, Land Rover Models in China

Tata Motors Ltd., India’s largest truckmaker, plans to build Jaguar cars and Land Rover sport- utility vehicles in China as it seeks to cut costs and expand sales of the luxury brands in emerging markets.

Tata bought Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 from Ford Motor Co. for $2.5 billion. The Mumbai-based company, including the newly combined U.K. luxury-vehicle division, returned to annual profit in the last fiscal year as truck and bus sales rose in India and Jaguar Land Rover reduced its workforce and scaled back spending to achieve a pretax profit.

Read more, @BusinessWeek

KLM Economy Comfort Product with Ramana at Manchester Airport T2

Smile! This is a new guerilla marketing campaign for KLM. Spread the virus!

UAL and Continental agree to merge: Love is in the air

THE announcement of a merger to form the world’s largest airline, with the capacity to carry nearly 150m passengers a year, might once have caused a flurry of excitement. But the $3 billion all-share deal to bring together United Airlines (UAL) and Continental Airlines was greeted on May 3rd with a politely stifled yawn. Industry rivals, employees of the two carriers and even consumer advocates—all potential losers from the combination—expressed mild misgivings but concluded that such consolidations were a sign of the times.

Vi@www.economist.com

United and Continental Agree to Merge

United Airlines and Continental Airlines on Monday announced a $3 billion merger that would create the world’s biggest airline.

The all-stock deal would form a coast-to-coast American behemoth with a leading presence in the top domestic markets, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, along with an extended network to Asia, Latin America and Europe.

More at, NYT: United and Continental Agree to Merge

A teia e a mentira, J Pacheco Pereira no @publico

(…)

É assim que Portugal está, apanhado, preso numa rede de mentiras, tecida como se uma multidão de aranhas o mumificasse numa teia para lhe sugar o último dos fluidos e o deixar ali, seco e desfeito, ao vento, até se tornar o pó, de onde todos viemos e para onde todos vamos.

... já somos parte de uma mentira tão entrelaçada com as outras que não conseguimos ter sentido nem direcção.

(…)

A democracia não é o país das "multidões" que vivem na demagogia e nunca o reino da mentira, o principal dissolvente social, se institucionalizou como um hábito, um quotidiano, uma respiração. Não é só enganados e querendo ser enganados, é também enganando. Enganando, vivendo num trem de vida sem meios para o pagar. Vivendo no engano da dívida que será o absoluto acordar para os que terão que o pagar. Vivendo num presente de distracções adiando para o futuro a factura. Cada crédito pessoal para comprar uma viagem às Caraíbas, ou um novo plasma, é o sinal da nossa mentira. O tal estado de negação. A web of lies.

… o exemplo vem de cima. Vem do Governo....

O ministro das Finanças, esse, leva todos os dias com uma dose de realidade tão forte que não pode sonhar muito. Mas o resto do Governo está ali a participar numa mentira colectiva: a de que há governo em Portugal.

(…)

Os porteiros podiam fazer de ministros que não se dava por ela. 

(…)

E o primeiro, esse então produz rede como uma activa obreira aracnídea. 

(…)

J Pacheco Pereira, Público, 20100424

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

¿Quién será la próxima Grecia?

Simon Derrick, estratega jefe de divisas de Bank of New York Mellon, asegura que “parece claro qué ficha de dominó se ve ahora en peligro de caer en el tablero europeo”: Portugal.

VIA: expansion.com

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Wine Spectator atribui 100 pontos ao Porto Dow´s Vintage 2007

Excelência. Raridade. Reconhecimento.

Dow´s Vintage 2007 é o primeiro vinho do Porto do século XXI a conseguir 100 pontos atribuidos pela mais importante revista mundial de vinho, a americana Wine Spectator. No século passado, apenas oito vintages tinham conseguido alcançar esta marca de excelência.

A pontuação reconhece e dignifica em primeiro lugar o grupo Symington, mas confirma o prestígio mundial do vinho do Porto.

O Público lembra que:

nunca qualquer marca de champanhe, com toda a história, fama e glamour que carrega esta denominação, obteve a pontuação máxima. E do Velho Mundo vitícola apenas quatro vinhos da Borgonha e 24 de Bordéus conseguiram chegar aos 100 pontos.

O preço de venda ao público de cada garrafa é de 65 euros.

The iPad isn't a computer, it's a distribution channel - O'Reilly Radar

In this context the iPad isn't a computing device at all. Jobs is using his knack for design and user experience to build, not a better computer, but a better distribution channel. One that is controlled, constrained, and can re-take distribution as the point of monetization. You aren't buying a computer when you buy an iPad, you are buying a 16GB Walmart store shelf that fits on your lap - complete with all the supplier beat downs, slotting fees, and exclusive deals that go with it - and Apple got you to pay for the building.

via radar.oreilly.com

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

If history is any guide, printed and digital books will long co-exist

Bookstores and publishers may be hurting, but this does not mean that the book itself is in trouble -- at least not immediately.

More than three billion books are sold annually in America alone. In comparison, Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer, will only sell an estimated three million of its Kindle this year. 

Full text @ economist.com

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Bill Gates Start-Up in Talks on Small Nuclear Reactor

Toshiba is talking to TerraPower, a company backed by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, about joint development of a nuclear reactor with the potential to run for 100 years without refuelling.

Via FT.com

Daimler and Renault explore tie-up

Daimler and Renault are discussing acquiring mutual equity stakes as part of their talks on co-operation, two people briefed on the matter have told the Financial Times.

If the talks are successful, the German and French carmakers, which in December said they were discussing working together on small cars, would take stakes in each other as part of “a longer-term framework for co-operation”, one of the people said on Monday.

Via FT.COM

Apple's Cook Gets $22 Million Bonus - WSJ.com

Apple awarded Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook a cash-and-stock bonus worth about $22 million for filling in while Steve Jobs, the consumer electronics giant's chief executive, was on medical leave.

The bonus, disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday, gives Mr. Cook $5 million in cash and 75,000 restricted stock units, half of which will vest on March 10, 2011, and the other half on March 10, 2012. At Friday's closing price, those shares would be worth a little more than $17 million.

More at WSJ.com

Sr. Primeiro Ministro, afinal pagamos ou não mais impostos?

 

(Primeira Página do Jornal Expresso, Sábado 13.03.2010)

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Blogger Template Designer

Google is launching the new Blogger Template Designer . That's super!

A poor man called Steve Jobs

Pink Floyd Suing EMI Label Over Online Royalties - BusinessWeek

Pink Floyd, the band that recorded the best-selling album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ is suing record label EMI Group Ltd. in London over online royalty payments and the sale of single tracks.

The band is asking for clarification to their more than 10- year-old recording contract with EMI, Pink Floyd’s lawyer, Robert Howe, said at a hearing in a London court today. When their contract was negotiated in 1998 and 1999, “both parties were faced with a whole new world of potential exploitation,” Howe said.

VIA BusinessWeek / Bloomberg

Euro's Next Battleground: Spain

The euro zone's No. 4 economy, Spain has an unemployment rate of 19%, a deflating housing bubble, big debts and a gaping budget deficit. Its gross domestic product contracted 3.6% in 2009 and is expected to shrink again this year, leaving Spain in its deepest and longest recession in a half-century.

Via WSJ

Google Cleared to Buy Energy in Bulk

U.S. energy regulators approved a request by Google Inc. to become an electricity marketer, allowing the Internet giant to buy and sell bulk power like a utility.

(…)

The Internet company currently doesn't own generation facilities or transmission lines to deliver power(…) Most electricity marketers are utilities or power generators, but some large power users such as grocer Safeway Inc. and consumer-products maker Kimberly-Clark Corp. have been granted the authority by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Google has said its interest in the power markets stems from a desire to manage its own energy supplies and gain better access to renewable power. The company doesn't provide information on its electricity use, but operates massive networks including large data centers. 

(...)

WSJ.Com

El consumo de los hogares vuelve a crecer tras dos años a la baja

El consumo de los hogares españoles volvió a crecer en el cuarto trimestre de 2009, al avanzar el 0,3% sobre el tercero, según los datos de Contabilidad Nacional del Instituto Nacional de Estadística, que constatan que en ese periodo el PIB todavía retrocedía el 0,1%. Una cifra que confirma que España es la única entre las grandes economías que sigue en recesión

(...)

El gasto de las familias no crecía desde hacía dos años -desde el cuarto trimestre de 2007

(...)

ElPaís.Com

Krugman and the 'Euromess'

The real story behind the euromess lies not in the profligacy of politicians but in the arrogance of elites — specifically, the policy elites who pushed Europe into adopting a single currency well before the continent was ready for such an experiment. (...)

To make the euro work, Europe needs to move much further toward political union, so that European nations start to function more like American states. (...)

But that’s not going to happen anytime soon. What we’ll probably see over the next few years is a painful process of muddling through: bailouts accompanied by demands for savage austerity, all against a background of very high unemployment, perpetuated by the grinding deflation I already mentioned. (...)

Paul Krugman for The New York Times

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Obama Is Hiring a Twitterer - WSJ

Calling all job-seekers:

President Barack Obama is looking for an official Twitterer.

via blogs.wsj.com

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Nissan May Need New Small-Car Partner After Suzuki Deal With VW

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, said it may need to find a new partner to manufacture its European small cars after Volkswagen AG bought a stake in Suzuki Motor Corp., which supplies Nissan’s Pixo model.

BusinessWeek

Amazon.com Resumes Selling Some Macmillan Books on Web Site

(...)

Under the agreement, Macmillan will set the price of e-books, with most new titles costing $12.99 to $14.99. That compares with the $9.99 Amazon.com had been charging for most bestsellers. Macmillan will also get a 70 percent cut of sales, the publisher said. Amazon.com had typically given authors 50 percent of the list price and set the retail price, according to the Authors Guild, a New York-based group that advocates for writers.

(...)

Via BusinessWeek

Top 10 Themes from 2010 Davos

Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics, signed a summary at Business Week with the top 10 key themes from this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos:

1.     The state of the world is not good.
2.     Everywhere new collaborative models are emerging to solve global problems.
3.     Rethinking the financial services industry's role in society.
4.     Executive pay, especially for bankers, needs fixing.
5.     Sustainability's time has come. Business is moving from talk to action.
6.     The world needs better governments.
7.     It turns out that the Internet does change everything.
8.     Girls, women, and gender: A sea change is underway.
9.     We need new measures of progress.
10.    A new big idea: The Global Commons.

A #MustRead article, on Businessweek.com

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

La cerveza en España, cosa de tres / EL MUNDO

España: Mahou San Miguel, Heineken y Damm controlan el 93% de un mercado que aporta casi 6.000 millones de euros a la economía nacional y 225.000 empleos.

La cerveza en España, cosa de tres / EL MUNDO

FT.com / Technology - Apple faces legal scrap over iPad trademark

Apple may face a legal battle with Fujitsu of Japan and ­STMicroelectronics, Europe’s largest chipmaker, over use of the iPad name for its tablet computer. STMicro trademarked the name for its proprietary semiconductor technology in 2000 in Europe and has been using the name since.

Fujitsu has made a handheld computer called the iPad for use by shop assistants since 2002, and has an outstanding trademark application for the name.

via ft.com

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

España caerá menos de lo previsto, pero será la única gran economía en recesión

El Fondo Monetario Internacional mejora en una décima las previsiones para el PIB español en 2010, pero aun así la sitúa como la única gran economía en recesión en este ejercicio (-0,6%), según publica hoy el organismo en su informe Perspectivas de la Economía Mundial.

Via Expansion.com

G.M. Strikes Deal to Save Saab

General Motors struck a preliminary deal Tuesday to sell its Swedish unit Saab to Spyker Cars, a tiny Dutch maker of high-end sports cars, saving Saab from what seemed like certain extinction after earlier bids had collapsed.
(...)
Taking over Saab will be a huge leap for Spyker, which sells 30 to 50 made-to-order cars a year for about a quarter-million dollars each. In 2008, Saab produced more than 90,000 cars. And while Saab has 3,400 workers, mainly in Trollhattan, Spyker has just 110.

(Via, New York Times)

Daily Media Use Among American Children and Teens Up Dramatically to About 53 Hours a Week

A MustRead report published by The Kaiser Family:

Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of medi.

Complete report here: kff.org

 

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Twitter / Over capacity: Again and Again...

via twitter.com

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

Cadbury Accepts Kraft Offer

"

Kraft Foods Inc. on Tuesday clinched a deal to acquire Cadbury PLC for £11.9 billion ($19.44 billion), in a trans-Atlantic tie-up that ends the nearly 200-year independence of Britain's most famous candy company.

(...)

Tuesday's deal unites Cadbury, which focuses solely on candy and traces its roots to 1824, with its larger and more diversified U.S. counterpart. Kraft covets Cadbury in part because of the U.K. company's access to fast-growing developing markets such as India and Brazil.

(...)

Combining with Cadbury would catapult Kraft into the highest tier of the global confectionery industry, potentially expanding Kraft's sales outside of North America and Europe. Already, Cadbury is the biggest confectioner in growth markets such as India, Mexico, Egypt and Thailand, according to consulting firm Euromonitor International, and emerging markets provide 38% of the company's global sales, compared with about 20% at Kraft. Cadbury's sales in the Asia-Pacific region alone amount to about 20% of the company's revenue. Cadbury has about $500 million in sales in Mexico, while Kraft has about $350 million there, according to Barclays Capital analyst Andrew Lazar.

"

Via WSJ.com

Samsung amenaza el liderazgo de Nokia en móviles

"Por primera vez en la historia de la telefonía móvil, en noviembre se ha producido un empate en esta región entre Nokia y Samsung, tras vender cada una 3,5 millones de terminales, lo que les otorga una cuota del 31%, según datos de GFK. En el total de Europa, la coreana ha registrado 31,1% de cuota, con lo que se ha quedado a 2,5 puntos de Nokia. "

Expansión

Overview of the P&G Social Media Lab: collaborate, learn, deploy

Overview of the P&G Social Media Lab

View more presentations from deb schultz.

Nestle Targets Malnutrition in Elderly to Fight Danone’s Gains - BusinessWeek

"

Nestle SA plans to unveil drinks to fight malnutrition among the elderly today in an effort to revive its nutrition business, which has trailed sales and profit forecasts every year since they were set in 2006.

(...)
The Vevey, Switzerland-based maker of Kit Kat bars and Nescafe coffee is struggling to keep pace with smaller rival Danone SA in health and medical nutrition, a market that Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. says is growing at 9 percent a year. Nestle’s nutrition sales rose 2 percent in the first nine months of 2009, short of the 11 percent growth in Danone’s medical nutrition unit and a fifth of the Swiss company’s long-term goal.

"
Via, BusinessWeek

Why VW Is the Car Giant to Watch

"Volkswagen is bent on displacing Toyota as the world's biggest car company—and it just may succeed

When Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said two years ago that he was determined to zoom past Toyota to become the world's biggest automaker, the notion seemed laughable. At the time, the German automaker sold 3 million fewer vehicles than Toyota, was losing ground in the U.S., and had a reputation for iffy quality. Toyota, then set to pass General Motors as the best-selling carmaker on the planet, seemed unassailable.

Today Toyota is vulnerable, and Winterkorn's ambitions seem a lot less outlandish. In November, for the first time, VW built more cars than its Japanese rival. Toyota still sells more each year, but VW has closed the gap to less than 1.5 million cars. Quality continues to be an issue for VW in the U.S., but Toyota is the one suffering negative headlines after a series of embarrassing recalls. Toyota's CEO—in an act of extreme self-flagellation—has even said his company's best days may be behind it.

"

From: BusinessWeek.com

España pierde todos los turistas ganados desde 2003

" En 2009 llegaron a España 52 millones de turistas extranjeros, lo que supone un descenso del 8,7% en comparación con el año anterior. En valores absolutos, España perdió 5,4 millones de turistas el pasado año, y se sitúa en niveles cercanos a los registrados en 2003, cuando la cifra fue de 52,5 millones. "

Expansion.com

Desemprego na OCDE ficou estável em Novembro em 8,8 por cento

"A taxa de desemprego no conjunto dos 30 países desenvolvidos da OCDE manteve-se estável em Novembro, face a Outubro, em 8,8 por cento, revelou hoje a organização. Em relação ao ano anterior, ficou 2,1 pontos percentuais acima (uma subida de 31,3 por cento).

(...)
Portugal estava em Novembro com uma taxa de desemprego de 10,3 por cento, bastante acima da média da OCDE e um pouco superior à da zona euro."

Via Público

Heineken to Buy Femsa's Beer Unit

Heineken said Monday that it would buy the beer operations of Femsa, one of Mexico’s biggest brewers, in an all-share transaction that values the business at $7.6 billion. The move further consolidates the beer industry into a few global players.

The move will make Heineken a “more competitive player in Latin America, one of the world’s most profitable and fastest-growing beer markets,” Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman and chief executive of the Nethlerlands-based company, said in a statement.

The New York Times

Britain must grow more sustainable food, says Benn | Environment | guardian.co.uk

"Proposals for national food strategy calls for UK farming revolution in response to climate change and food security"

Britain must grow more food, while using less water and reducing emission of greenhouse gases, to respond to the challenge of climate change and growing world populations, the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said yesterday.

"Food security is as important to this country's future wellbeing, and the world's, as energy security. We need to produce more food. We need to do it sustainably. And we need to make sure what we eat safeguards our health," he said.

Environment | guardian.co.uk

La Chine devient le premier exportateur mondial

La Chine devient le premier exportateur mondial:

"En publiant ses données économiques pour le mois de décembre, la Chine est devenue le premier exportateur mondial, ravissant cette place largement symbolique à l'Allemagne.

Les exportations chinoises ont augmenté de 17,7 % au mois de décembre en glissement annuel, selon les chiffres des douanes cités par la télévision d'Etat, pour s'établir à à 130,7 milliards de dollars. Dans l'ensemble de l'année 2009, la Chine a exporté pour plus de 1 200 milliards de dollars. Excédentaire, la Chine a également enregistré un solde positif de 195 milliards de dollars sur l'année. "

Google's Eric Schmidt on why bankers deserve little sympathy and Obama does - Telegraph

Google's Eric Schmidt on why bankers deserve little sympathy and Obama does - Telegraph: "Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, tells Kamal Ahmed why America
needs to take its share of the blame for the financial crisis and what 2010
holds for the world economy."

Honda to boost annual world production by 6 percent: report

Honda to boost annual world production by 6 percent: report: "TOKYO (Reuters) - Automaker Honda Motor Co plans to produce 3.59 million units in the world next financial year to start in April, up 6 percent from this financial year's outlook on rising sales, Asahi newspaper reported on Saturday.

Japan's high debt not a problem short-term: IMF | Reuters

Japan's public debt is very high but is not a serious problem in the short-term as private savings are abundant and investors continue to buy government bonds, a senior International Monetary Fund official told the Nikkei newspaper.

via reuters.com

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web

China December exports, imports surge on economic strength | Reuters

Growth in China's exports and imports last month blew past expectations, providing fresh evidence of the vigor of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again.

via reuters.com

Posted via web from Zoid's reading the Wide Web