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The Canadian Press Business News Budget for Jan. 7
(Canadian Press DataFile Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BUSINESS EDITORS: Here are The Canadian Press Business Business budget lines as of 10 p.m. EST. Plans may change as circumstances warrant. Queries should be addressed to the national desk at 416-507-2150. To contact CP Business by email, send messages to business(at)thecanadianpress.com.
In addition to the following, a story slugged Jobs-Economy has moved Business and National. Another story, Potash-Death-Charges is Moving west regional (D) and Business (B). And a story sluggled LT-Argentina-Central-Bank has moved Business and International. Please guard against duplication.
TORONTO _ Canada's residential real estate market is expected to remain unusually strong through the first half of this year after a strong finish to 2009, according to a survey published Thursday by Royal LePage. The Royal LePage analysis is consistent with other recent reports on the state of the Canadian real estate market, which has rebounded over the past 12 months after sales dried up in late 2008 and hit a multi-year low in January 2009. 900 words. By David Paddon. Housing-Lepage, 1st Writethru. Moved Business and National.
TORONTO _ Toronto lawyer Stan Grmovsek has been sentenced to 39 months in prison for his role in a massive insider trading scheme that netted him and a friend about US$9 million. The sentence is the first insider trading conviction under new federal laws that came into place in 2004 and is believed to be the largest prison sentence for such an offence in Canada. 650 words. By Kristine Owram. BC-Grmovsek-Sentencing, 1st Writethru. Moved National and Business.
TORONTO Financially troubled Coalcorp Mining Inc. (TSX:CCJ) is selling the bulk of its remaining assets in a move to pay off bondholders and pursue a $161-million lawsuit against former company officers and directors. 800 words. By B.H. McKenna. Coalcorp-Mining, 4th Writethru. Moved.
TORONTO _ Young members of 'generation debt' may be more likely to recognize a fake Louis Vuitton than the term financial literacy, but its value is slowly seeping into their classrooms. Six-in-ten boomers are supporting their adult children, and said they were financially self-sufficient by age 21 but expect their children are self-sufficient by 25, A recent survey from Investors Group, 673 words. Money-Monitor. Moved.
MONTREAL - Shell Canada has announced that it will shut down its east-end Montreal refinery and turn it into a storage facility in a long-rumoured move that will likely mean job cuts at the 75-year-old facility. 800 words. By Sidhartha Banerjee. Shell-Refinery-Que., 3rd Writethru. Moved.
CALGARY _ North America's potash producers may have a tougher time than they think trying to squeeze a better price out of the fertilizer they sell around the world, an analyst said Thursday after it was revealed that talks have broken off between China and the company handling Canadian potash exports, Canpotex. 650 words. By Lauren Krugel. Potash-China. Moved.
UNDATED - Vancouver miner Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) CEO says its acquisition of a 70 per cent interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile, snatching the prize from Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX), is a ``homerun'' for the company's growth strategy. 650 words. By Sunny Freeman. Goldcorp-New-Gold. Moved.
NEW YORK _ Oil prices fell below $83 a barrel Thursday as the dollar strengthened and investors worried a 20 per cent rally in the last few weeks isn't justified amid sluggish U.S. crude demand. 600 words. See Photo Oil-Prices, 2nd Writethru. Moved.
NEW YORK _ Last-minute holiday shoppers brought relief to America's retailers, handing them modest sales gains for the season and prompting several chains to raise their fourth-quarter profit outlooks. 850 words. By Anne D'Innocenzio. US-Retail-Sales, 2nd Writethru Budget. Moved.
WASHINGTON _ A U.S. government report Thursday on claims for unemployment aid signalled that layoffs are easing and that the U.S. economy could be on the verge of posting the first monthly gain in jobs in two years. 600 words. US-Economy, 2nd Writethru. Moved.
MIAMI _ Lennar Corp. says orders for new homes increased for the first time in more than three years as homebuyers took advantage of lower prices and a federal tax credit. The company posted a profit for the fourth quarter, helped by a tax adjustment. By Alex Veiga. Earns-Lennar. Moved.
TOKYO _ Japan's new finance minister is wasting little time making waves, jolting the foreign exchange market by calling for a weaker yen as doubts surface about his ability to guide a recovery in the world's No. 2 economy. 750 words. By Tomoko A. Hosaka. AP Photo. Japan-Finance-Minister, 1st Writethru. Moved.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. _ Constellation Brands Inc., which markets Mondavi wine, Svedka vodka and Corona beer, said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 47 per cent on restructuring-related costs and weaker U.S. wine sales. 550 words. By Ben Dobbin. US-Earns-Constellation Brands, 1st Writethru. Moved.
WASHINGTON _ The Federal Reserve Bank of New York pressed AIG to withhold details of controversial deals that funneled billions in bailout money to Goldman Sachs and other banks, emails show. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was president of the New York Fed at the time. By Daniel Wagner. Geithner-Fed-AIG, 1st Writethru. Moved.
PARIS _ How to help prop up the ailing music industry? Tax Google, suggests a new report commissioned by the French government. The report, handed to Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand on Wednesday, says Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) and other Internet portals should be slapped with a new tax on their online ad revenues in France to fund the development of legal outlets for buying books, movies and especially music on the Internet. 800 words. By Angela Doland. EU-France-Google-Tax, 2nd Writethru Budget. Moved.
The Canadiann Press is also following:
SYDNEY, N.S. _ The Sydney Marine Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ports of Philadelphia and Delaware to develop a deep-water container terminal in Sydney. The agreement announced Thursday will push for the construction of a terminal at Sydport capable of accommodating post-Panamax vessels of a type and size unable to enter existing continental ports except Norfolk, Va. 231 words. NS-Sydport-Deal. Moved Atlantic and Business.
TORONTO _ The Toronto stock market was negative Thursday afternoon in a broad-based decline led by utilities and energy stocks amid investor caution a day before key jobs data from the U.S. is released. By Malcolm Morrison. Dollar-Markets, 4th Writethru. Moved.
MONTREAL, Que. _ Health-care services firm Opmedic Group Inc. (TSX:OMG) reported Thursday a first-quarter profit of $569,000 or three cents per share, up 14 per cent from a year-before $501,000 or three cents per share as revenues rose six per cent. Opmedic, 1st Writethru. Moved Datafile only.
REPENTIGNY, Que. _ Telus Corp. (TSX:T) has sold its Assure card processing business, which handles credit and debit transactions between merchants and financial institutions, to CT-Payment Inc. of Repentigny, Que. Telus-CT-Payment, 1st Writethru. Moved.
OTTAWA _ DragonWave Inc. (TSX:DWI) net income soars to $12.6 million or 37 cents a diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 from $6.3 million or 21 cents in the second quarter of 2010. Revenue was $55.8 million, compared with $10.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. BC-DragonWave, 1st Writethru. Moved.
TORONTO _ Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS), a global contract electronics manufacturer controlled by the Onex Corp. (TSX:OCX) investment company, says it has acquired Invec Solutions, a provider of warranty management, repair, and parts services to information technology and consumer electronics companies. Financial terms of the deal, announced after markets closed Thursday, were not revealed. BC-Celestica, 1st Writethru. Moved.
TORONTO _ Executives at car makers and their suppliers are concerned the world's major auto industries are still positioned to produce too much despite years of cutbacks, a KPMG survey suggests. Auto-Industry-Outlook, 1st Writethru. Moved.
TORONTO _ Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp (TSX:PRE) will pay US$190-million for the right to ship its oil on the Ocensa pipeline system in Colombia over a 10-year period beginning next month, the company announced Thursday. Pacific-Rubiales, 1st Writethru. Moved.
AURORA, Ont. _ Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG.A) says it will display its hybrid and electric products at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week, a first for Canada's biggest auto parts supplier. The company said Thursday it will highlight green-car technologies from across its operating units and will also introduce its E-Car Systems operating unit, which serves to integrate Magna's broad range of electrification capabilities. 318 words. Magna-International. Moved.
WINNIPEG _ There's a new CEO at Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX: BYD.UN), Canada's largest operator of collision repair centres and among the largest in North America. 225 words. Boyd-Group, 1st Writethru. Moved.
CALGARY _ Border Petroleum Inc. (TSXV:BOP.H), a junior Calgary energy company, has sold a non-core, low gravity oil property to an arm's length private company for $200,000 in cash. Border-Petroleum. Moved.
CALGARY _ PetroBakken Energy Ltd. (TSX:PBN), a Calgary-based light oil company with operations in Alberta and British Columbia, says it intends to raise up to US$500 million by issuing convertible notes due in 2016. PetroBakken-Financing. Moved.
CALGARY _ Petroflow Energy Ltd. (TSX:PEF), a small Calgary-based oil and gas company, has appointed Kyle Miller as the company's new CEO. The company made the appointment Thursday and also said it plans to close its Calgary head office and shift it to Denver, where Miller will be working. BC-Petroflow-Energy. Moved.
CALGARY _ Two Canadian cities have banned a pair of steamy billboard ads for Virgin Mobile after public complaints. The ads, which each show a man passionately kissing a woman while touching her buttocks with the caption ``Hook Up Fearlessly,'' were pulled recently in Mississauga, Ont., and are now being removed by the Calgary Transit Authority. 382 words. See Photo CPP115, CPP116. Sexy-Ads-Pulled. Moved Business and National.
CALGARY _ Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) says it reached its 2009 oilsands production target of an average of approximately 291,000 barrels per day. Suncor, which became Canada's largest energy company when it merged with Petro-Canada in August, also reported Thursday that its December oilsands production was reduced due to unplanned maintenance activities following a Dec. 15 fire at one of its two upgraders, but still reached 219,000 barrels per day. 85 words. Suncor. Moved.
CALGARY _ Newalta Corp. (TSX:NAL) says it will purchase 3.6 million shares of BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX:BQE) for $4 million as part of an agreement between the two environmental services companies to pursue joint projects. Newalta is an industrial waste management and industrial services provider and BioteQ is a water treatment company. The two companies said Thursday they hope to pursue joint projects that would apply both businesses' expertise. 260 words. BioteQ-Newalta. Moved.
BURNABY, B.C. _ Day4 Energy Inc. (TSX:DFE) has received a substantially enlarged order for modules to be used for a solar energy park in Newcastle, Ont., and for Toronto-area roof-top solar panels, the company said Thursday. Day4-Energy, 1st Writethru. Moved Datafile only.
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. _ A New Democrat MP representing northwestern B.C. is calling on the federal government to open its wallet and invest $30 million in the region. With the forestry and fishing industries _ staples of the northwest economy _ in serious trouble, Skeena Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen believes that it's time for the federal government to give his riding a kick start to develop new local industries. 692 words. By George T. Baker. BC-North-Economy. Moved Prairies/BC and Business.
NEW YORK _ A former director of a global management consulting firm pleaded guilty Thursday to securities fraud charges, admitting making $2.6 million by feeding inside stock information to one of America's richest men in history's largest hedge-fund insider trading case. Anil Kumar, 51, of Saratoga, Calif., entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in a co-operation deal aimed at strengthening the government's case against billionaire hedge-fund operator Raj Rajaratnam. 612 words. By Larry Neumeister. See Photo. US-Hedge-Fund-Insider-Trading. Moved.
LAS VEGAS _ Palm Inc. said Thursday that two upgraded versions its Pre and Pixi smart phones will come to Verizon Wireless on Jan. 25. The announcement at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas brings more smart phone choices to Verizon Wireless customers. However, the carrier is throwing its weight behind smart phones running Google Inc.'s Android software, positioning those as its main alternative to AT&T Inc.'s iPhone. 264 words. By Peter Svensson. US-TEC-Gadget-Show-Palm-Verizon-Wireless. Moved.
BETHESDA, Md. _ Marriott International Inc. said Thursday it expects its fourth-quarter revenue per available room in North America to be slightly better than it forecast. Marriott said the figure, a key measure of a hotelier's fiscal health, fell 13 per cent to 14 per cent, while the company said in early December that it would fall 13 per cent to 16 per cent decline. 131 words. US-Marriott-Revenue-Outlook. Moved.
SAN FRANCISCO _ Intel Corp. rolled out new computer chips Thursday that highlight the company's lead over Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in its ability to shrink the circuitry inside its processors. Intel's new Core chips, unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, are the company's first to feature tiny parts whose average width is 32 nanometres, or 32 billionths of a meter. 552 words. By Jordan Robertson. See Photo. APFN-US-TEC-Gadget-Show-Intel. Moved.
LOS ANGELES _ An appeals court has upheld an arbitration award requiring American International Group's U.S. Life Insurance Co. unit to pay more than US$517 million in reinsurance to certain California workers' compensation insurers in liquidation. U.S. Life was a reinsurer for five California workers' compensation insurance companies liquidated in 2000. 219 words. US-AIG-California-Insurance. Moved.
LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Times will close its Orange County printing operations and add a late-breaking news section to accommodate for earlier deadlines on other sections. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein said in a letter posted Thursday on the Times' web site that ``LATExtra'' will debut Feb. 2 and run Monday through Saturday. A company spokeswoman says about 80 people will be laid off when the printing press closes. 125 words. US-LA-Times-New-Section. Moved.
LOS ANGELES _ The former CEO and chairman of Homestore.com on Thursday agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud in a scheme to inflate the company's revenue to win over Wall Street analysts. Stuart Wolff faces a prison sentence of three to five years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The 46-year-old is scheduled to enter his guilty plea on Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. 294 words. US-Homestore-Fraud. Moved.
WASHINGTON, D.C. _ Fannie Mae is seeking to prop up Florida's ravaged real estate market by reviewing hundreds of condo projects in the state that currently don't qualify for its loans. The mortgage finance company said Thursday that buildings deemed stable after the review will be given a special approval lasting up to 18 months. 317 words. By Alan Zibel. US-Fannie-Mae-Condos. Moved.
WASHINGTON, D.C. _ Months after the government took large ownership stakes in General Motors, Chrysler and auto lender GMAC Financial Services, top lawmakers and members of the Obama administration will be taking a close look at their investment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and others will meet with company executives, state and local leaders and tour vehicle displays Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, one of the auto industry's annual showcases. 418 words. By Ken Thomas. US-Auto-Show-Lawmakers. Moved.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. _ Sears Holdings Corp. joined at least two other major retailers Thursday in allowing third parties _ including some rivals _ to sell items on its web site. Sears' latest push to beef up its web presence follows similar moves by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., at walmart.com, and by Amazon.com, which have tussled recently over prices for books, movies and music. 273 words. APFN-US-Sears-Marketplace. Moved.
DETROIT _ Hopes to keep Swedish car company Saab alive flickered Thursday as Dutch exotic automaker Spyker Cars made another bid to buy the troubled brand from General Motors, but a person briefed on the dealings said GM remains skeptical that Saab can be saved. Spyker confirmed in a statement issued Thursday evening that it made the last-minute offer, which came a day after GM's interim CEO, Ed Whitacre Jr., said he was not optimistic about Saab's survival and the Detroit automaker would begin closing factories later in the week. 484 words. By Tom Krisher. US-GM-Saab. Moved.
UNDATED _ The security firm formerly known as Blackwater has reached a settlement in a series of federal lawsuits in which dozens of Iraqis accused the company of cultivating a reckless culture that allowed innocent civilians to be killed. Plaintiffs' attorney Susan Burke filed a motion in federal court late Wednesday requesting the cases be dismissed. The seven lawsuits cited a pattern of illegal activity, including several killings such as the 2007 shooting in Iraq's capital that left 17 Iraqis dead and strained relationships between Washington and Baghdad. 619 words. By Mike Baker. See Photo. US-Blackwater-Settlement. Moved Business and International.
PHOENIX _ A suburban Phoenix concert promoter has been accused of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked approximately 140 investors out of US$25 million, federal authorities said Thursday. A 37-count indictment charges Miko Dion Wady of Chandler with wire fraud and money laundering, the U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix said. The indictment was handed up on Dec. 1 but wasn't unsealed until after his arrest on Wednesday. 743 words. By Bob Christie,Mark Carlson. US-Arizona-Ponzi-Scheme. Moved.
NEW YORK _ An Illinois pension fund that bought shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in January of last year is suing the company to recover ``billions in compensation'' that the investment firm paid its employees in 2009. The Central Laborers' Pension Fund filed the suit in the Supreme Court of New York on Thursday, saying that Goldman continued to pay out lavish bonuses even though a government bailout was crucial to its survival. 173 words. US-Goldman-Sachs-Shareholder-Suit. Moved.
CHICAGO _ Boeing Co. said Thursday its customers ordered just 142 commercial airplanes last year as the recession forced airlines to shrink. The net total is Boeing's lowest since at least 2003 and just one-tenth of the 1,413 orders in 2007. 335 words. See Photo. APFN-US-Boeing-Deliveries. Moved.
TOKYO _ A group representing business travellers is opposing the proposed tie up between Delta Air Lines and money-losing Japan Airlines as bad for competition. Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, based in Brussels, said Thursday that the proposed SkyTeam alliance would likely create a monopoly, totalling 62 per cent market share on routes between Japan and the U.S., up from a third. 448 words. By Yuri Kageyama. AS-Japan-Airlines. Moved.
TOKYO _ An industry group tally says the Toyota Prius was the top-selling car in Japan last year _ the first time a gas-electric hybrid has clinched that spot. The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius was No. 1 in its ranking of sales by vehicle models. 122 words. AS-Japan-Toyota-Prius. Moved.
SEOUL _ South Korea's central bank has left its key interest rate at a record low for an 11th straight month as the country's economic recovery solidifies. The Bank of Korea says it kept its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate at two per cent at a monthly policy meeting Friday. 128 words. AS-SKorea-Interest-Rate. Moved.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
(c) 2010 The Canadian Press
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