| Business News |
NBC Universal, partners to buy Weather Channel
(Reuters)
 Reuters - NBC Universal and private equity
firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group said on Sunday they
agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.
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Coca-Cola agrees to $137.5 mln settlement in case
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Coca-Cola Co agreed to pay
$137.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that claimed the
world's largest soft drink maker artificially inflated sales to
boost its stock price, according to court documents.
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BP's rivals shift in Russian tussle
(Reuters)
 Reuters - The fate of the second biggest foreign
investment in Russia hangs in the balance amid signs of a
shifting mood in the Kremlin which may have wrong-footed
investors and one of the world's biggest oil companies.
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Toyota to add solar panels to Prius hybrid: Nikkei
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) plans to
install solar panels on its next-generation Prius hybrid cars,
becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a
vehicle, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.
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Is capitulation on the cards?
(Reuters)
 Reuters - Profit warnings, breaches of key index
levels, record oil prices, stressed consumers and investors
seeking safety provide the background for markets this week,
and many people are wondering how long this will all last.
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China premier: Continue inflation fight
(AP)
AP - China's premier called for continued vigilance against inflation that has reached 12-year highs, saying the government should ensure that price increases are "acceptable," a state-run news agency reported Sunday.
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| MBIA posts huge loss on credit derivatives - 13, May 2008 |
By Dan Wilchins
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MBIA Inc (MBI.N), the world's largest bond insurer, posted a quarterly loss of $2.4 billion on Monday as it took charges on billions of dollars of exposure to bonds linked to subprime mortgages.
But MBIA's beaten-down shares rose as much as 12 percent as the potential for charges had been telegraphed well in advance and the company said its new business volumes appear to be rising in the current quarter.
The charges wiped out 40 percent of MBIA's net worth, but the company said most of the charges did not represent actual expected losses, and the insurer is well capitalized.
The first-quarter loss amounted to $13.03 per share, versus a profit of $199 million, or $1.46 per share, a year earlier.
The latest results include pre-tax unrealized losses on insured derivatives, such as credit default swaps, of $3.58 billion.
The company recognized a total of $1.34 billion of pre-tax impairments and loss reserves linked to insured securities with housing exposure. Those impairments and loss reserves are expected to be paid out over four years.
MBIA has long been targeted by short sellers that say the bond insurer does not have enough money to cover the payouts it will have to make for collateralized debt obligations and bonds it insured that have exposure to subprime mortgages.
Rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service in January said they might cut the top credit ratings at MBIA's main insurance unit, MBIA Insurance Corp, in part because of questions about the insurer's capital. Fears the insurer would lose top ratings cratered both the broader stock market and MBIA shares, which have fallen more than 80 percent since October.
(c) 2008 Reuters
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| Other news from Business category: |
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The fate of the second biggest foreign investment in Russia hangs in the balance amid signs of a shifting mood in the Kremlin which may have wrong-footed investors and one of the world's biggest oil companies.
More
-
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co agreed to pay
$137.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that claimed the
world's largest soft drink maker artificially inflated sales to
boost its stock price, according to court documents.
More
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MILAN (Reuters) - Alitalia will receive a capital injection of 700 million to 800 million euros from Italian businessmen as part of a plan to save the ailing carrier, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday.
More
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LONDON (Reuters) - Profit warnings, breaches of key index levels, record oil prices, stressed consumers and investors seeking safety provide the background for markets this week, and many people are wondering how long this will all last.
More
-
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - NBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group said on Sunday they agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.
More
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SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co , South Korea's top auto maker, said on Sunday it had cut its local sales target for this year by 6 percent as record-breaking oil prices are hitting consumer sentiment in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
More
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AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) - A current slump in the global automotive sector could give fresh impetus to plans for consolidation within the industry, the head of French carmaker Renault said on Saturday.
More
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LONDON (Reuters) - Oil dropped below $144 a barrel on Friday, but was still within sight of record highs reached in the previous session when traders bought into the market ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States.
More
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Friday into BHP Billiton's $170 billion unsolicited bid for rival miner Rio Tinto , with prices of iron ore already soaring.
More
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SAO PAULO (Reuters) - World stocks edged lower on Friday, getting no relief from a decline in crude prices as concerns of further banking write-downs weighed on financial shares.
More
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| Software News |
'Containers' Out Perform Virtualization For KV Pharmaceuticals
(TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - With a container approach from Parallels' Virtuozzo, memory consumption and processor overhead are reduced through the use of one operating system per host.
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Nokia 6220 Smartphone Released
(TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - The Nokia 6220 classic design includes 3G connectivity, compatibility with Microsoft Office applications, Bluetooth capabilities, and a 5-megapixel camera.
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Microsoft Hopes Office Subscription Plan Will Counter Free Software
(TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - Microsoft is counting on Equipt's convenience factor to help it fend off threats from Google, IBM, and others that are offering free desktop productivity suites.
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Three Startups To Solve SaaS Integration Problems
(TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - Boomi, SnapLogic, and Cast Iron are rolling out new offerings designed to help companies integrate software running in the cloud with onsite software.
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Blogger Opinion: Why We Left NetSuite
(NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - I first met our solution provider, Ray Tetlow, the founder of Skyytek, on the Oracle Small Business (OSB from now on) user forum. At the time we were struggling with version 7 of OSB. It was really incomplete and badly tested software. Not only was it painfully slow, but also a lot of the features on which we based our purchasing decision just did not work.
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Krugle enhances code search appliance
(InfoWorld)
InfoWorld - Krugle plans to ship next week an upgrade to its search appliance for enterprise software development projects, which makes it easier for teams of developers to maintain code.
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