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Kyodo News International, Tokyo, business briefs column(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 31--TOKYO -- Koma Stadium Co., a Tokyo-based operator of entertainment facilities, closed its Shinjuku Koma Stadium theater, putting an end to its 52-year-old history with a performance by pop singers on Wednesday. The theater in Tokyo's Kabukicho area in Shinjuku Ward opened in 1956 and has provided a venue for performances by such popular Japanese "enka" ballad singers as Hibari Misora and Saburo Kitajima, as well as for musicals by foreign troupes. The company decided to close the theater due to a decline in audiences and implement a redevelopment project for its premises. SAPPORO -- HEAVY SNOW IN HOKKAIDO FORCES AIRLINES TO CANCEL 100 FLIGHTS: About 60 flights to and from airports in Hokkaido, including New Chitose Airport, were canceled Wednesday due to heavy snowfall, forcing airlines to cancel a further 40 flights linking areas other than Hokkaido as they could not secure aircraft. The cancellation of about 100 flights in total affected more than 10,000 people, many of whom were heading home for the New Year holidays. At Chitose airport near Sapporo, the flight schedule was disrupted due to the need to close the airport's two runways alternately to clear the snow, airport officials said. The airport had an accumulated 24 centimeters of snow as of 4 p.m. Many flights from the airport were also delayed, including a Tokyo-bound All Nippon Airways flight that was delayed for more than 3 hours. Dec. 30--WASHINGTON -- FED TO START BUYING MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES: The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will start purchasing up to $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities in early January in a bid to prop up the faltering U.S. housing market. As part of efforts to restore financial stability, the central bank initially announced the purchasing program in late November without saying when it will actually start. The Fed said it will purchase securities that are guaranteed by home loan giants Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. It also said the program will be operated by BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, PIMCO and Wellington Management Co. NEW YORK -- N.Y. STOCKS SURGE ON HOPE FOR BAILOUT OF GM FINANCIAL ARM: New York stocks soared Tuesday as investors were heartened by the U.S. government's plan to use taxpayer money to rescue the ailing financial arm of General Motors Corp. The 30-issue Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped 31.62 points Monday, gained 184.46 points to 8,668.39, the highest closing since Dec. 17. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, a 19.92 point loser, rose 40.38 points to 1,550.70. Buying surpassed selling following the Treasury Department's decision to provide $5 billion to GMAC Financial Services LLD from its $700 billion financial rescue fund. The Treasury move was taken to signal the U.S. government's determination to do all it can to put the U.S. economy on a stable path, said an official of an investment advisory firm. The move more than offset selling pressure from the release of bleak economic readings, stock market analysts said. Standard & Poor's said earlier Tuesday its housing price index covering 20 major U.S. cities fell by a record 18.0 percent in October from a year before to 158.16. To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com Copyright (c) 2008, Kyodo News International, Tokyo Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |