News Desk | Page 857 Of 893

Louisiana: Monroe’s KNOE-TV sold

News

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14 June 2007

MONROE, La. (AP) – KNOE-TV, founded in 1953 by former Louisiana Gov. James A. Noe Sr. and still owned by his family, is being sold to Dallas based-Hoak Media Corp., Noe Corp. president George Noe said Wednesday.

Terms of the purchase, which is expected to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed. The deal requires approval of the Federal Communications Commission.

‘This is a bittersweet day for the Noe family,’ George Noe was quoted in a news release. ‘While we as a family agreed that we wanted to sell this asset, we are sad that our 54-year stewardship of KNOE-TV is coming to an end.’

KNOE-TV went on the air in September 1953. James Noe was serving as Louisiana lieutenant governor in 1936 when Gov. Oscar K. Allen died. He served as governor for five months. Noe died in 1976.

Hoak Media owns 19 stations in Lincoln-Hastings and North Platte, Neb.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Fargo, Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Dickinson, N.D.; Wichita Falls, Texas; and Grand Junction, Montrose and Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The company was formed in 2003 to buy, develop and run radio and television stations in small and medium-size U.S. markets. In some markets it operates more than one station.

Hoak president and chief executive Eric Van den Branden said the KNOE purchase ‘allows our company to acquire a station that is not only top ranked in the market in terms of audience and billings, but also one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the country.’

Noe Corp. also operates KNOE-FM radio in Monroe. The company expects to sell the station in the next few months, George Noe said.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Amway brand on the way back

News

Sam Allcock

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13 June 2007

0

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – Quixtar is on its way out. Amway is on its way back.

Direct-sales giant Alticor Inc. confirmed Wednesday it will phase out its 7-year-old Quixtar Inc. label during the next 1 1/2 to two years and rebuild its Amway Corp. name in North America.

There also will be less use of the name Alticor, which represents a holding company.

U.S. employees received the news last week in an internal memo from company Chairman Steve Van Andel and President Doug DeVos, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The Grand Rapids Press earlier reported on the memo.

‘The realities of a crowded and competitive global marketplace have made us realize that we need to `fly one flag’ to put significant resources behind establishing one opportunity brand wherever we do business,’ the memo said. ‘That brand will be Amway, in North America and all over the world.’

Although no public announcement was made, Ada-based Alticor confirmed the changes Wednesday. No jobs were expected to be eliminated as a result.

The public won’t see the Amway name associated with the company’s North American business for another 18 to 24 months, Van Andel and DeVos wrote.

‘That’s because this is — this has to be — more than just a name change,’ the memo said. ‘We want other key elements of the transformation initiative to be in place before we invite customers in to see the new Amway.’

The company dropped the Amway name in the United States and Canada in 2000 as part of an overhaul that took what had started as a door-to-door vitamin sales business into the world of online sales through Quixtar.

The move also was widely viewed as a way of helping the company shed some of the negative connotations the Amway name had acquired. The Quixtar name, however, never resonated with the public.

‘Research has shown us that the Quixtar name is weaker and less known in the U.S. and Canada than we ever expected,’ the memo said. ‘Meanwhile, even eight years after leaving North America, the Amway name is stronger and better known than we realized.’

The Amway name has enjoyed a resurgence overseas as the company focused on expanding operations under that banner in Asia. Amway China last year accounted for more than $2 billion of Alticor’s $6.3 billion in annual sales.

The Amway name began to re-emerge in the United States last year when the company bought the naming rights to the arena in which Amway co-founder Rich DeVos’ Orlando Magic of the NBA play their home games.

Budapest shares lower in thin trade; emerging markets could suffer risk aversion

News

Sam Allcock

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13 June 2007

0

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) – Budapest shares edged lower in thin morning trade, tracking developments in major markets, as equity investors remain cautious over rising US bond yields.

Local analysts added that riskier emerging market stocks may be among the biggest losers if global equities see a downward correction.

At 11.48 am, the leading BUX index was down 0.1 pct at 26,263.55. By midday trading volume was about one tenth of the daily average.

Blue chips were mixed with MOL and Magyar Telekom edging higher.

MOL was up 0.51 pct at 24,525 forints, trading erratically as oil prices eased ahead of weekly data on US energy stocks.

OTP Bank dipped 0.43 pct to 9,260 forints, after falling 1.1 pct in the last session, bringing the index down with it.

FHB, the state-controlled mortgage bank, edged up slightly, climbing 0.70 pct to 2,300 forints as speculation over a possible buyer for the government’s stake rumble on.

Elsewhere, pharmaceuticals were down, as Richter dropped 0.92 pct to 36,165 forints, and its smaller sector peer Egis dipped 0.05 pct to 21,250 forints.

Richter CEO Erik Bogsch said in an interview that government regulatory changes have cost the industry 25 bln forints so far this year.

Magyar Telekom ticked up 0.11 pct to 950 forints as analysts said that announcements yesterday concerning further integration steps will have little impact on the share price as the most significant measures were already know.

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EU says member states must do more to cut deficits during recovery

News

Sam Allcock

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13 June 2007

0

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) – The European Commission said it is of the ‘utmost importance’ that national governments in the EU use the current economic recovery to improve their public finances, and added that the preventative element of the stability and growth pact needs to be ‘more effective’.

‘Although the budgetary situation has improved remarkably in the last few years, it is quite clear that most member states need to improve their track record in implementing their budgetary targets,’ said Joaquin Almunia, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner.

The commission said in its report that whilst the corrective part of the stability and growth pact — which enables the commission to fine member states who fail to comply with its requirements — is working, the preventative part ‘is not functioning as well’.

It has therefore set out proposals to change the way governments formulate and apply budgetary strategies over the medium term, and has also called for strengthening of surveillance and coordination of economic and budgetary policies at a European level.

‘The main thrust of the first set of proposals is to broaden the scope of the EU’s fiscal surveillance,’ said the commission, adding that fiscal surveillance should be put into a broader economic perspective, and focus more on internal and external imbalances that may pose a risk to fiscal and economic stability.

It added that there is ‘considerable scope’ for strengthening the link between national budgets and the targets presented at the EU level.

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Alcan signs multi-year supply contract for Airbus A350, A380 models

News

Sam Allcock

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13 June 2007

0

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Canadian aluminium producer Alcan Inc said it has has signed a new long-term agreement to supply aircraft constructor Airbus with products for the full range of Airbus’ programs, including the A380 and the new A350 XWB planes.

No financial details were disclosed.

Alcan will also supply Airbus’ parent company, the European aerospace and defence group EADS, with aluminium-based products for its range of aerospace applications, the company said.

‘This agreement underscores Alcan’s position as the largest supplier of aluminium products to Airbus and the importance of the aerospace market segment to Alcan’s strong business portfolio,’ said Christel Bories, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcan’s Engineered Products division.

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US denies link to Venezuela protests

News

Sam Allcock

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12 June 2007

0

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela on Tuesday rejected allegations by President Hugo Chavez that Washington was behind recent protests over a government measure that forced an opposition TV station off the air.

Chavez and other officials have leveled numerous accusations against the U.S. government in recent weeks, including allegations that Washington was involved in the broadcast of ‘subliminal’ television messages calling for the Venezuelan president’s assassination.

The U.S. government ‘is not supporting, participating in, pushing for or subliminally urging any of the people that march,’ U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield told Union Radio.

University students have led a series of recent street demonstrations protesting the president’s decision not to renew Radio Caracas Television’s broadcast license, which expired May 27.

Critics argue Chavez — a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro — is trying to muzzle his opponents by turning the signal previously used by RCTV over to a state-funded public broadcasting station.

Chavez, who has defends the move as a means of democratizing the airwaves, claims that Washington is behind the protests and has called student protesters ‘pawns’ of the U.S. government.

Suspected suicide blast rocks Kenyan capital UPDATE

World

ABC Staff

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11 June 2007

0

NAIROBI (Thomson Financial) – The Kenyan capital was rocked today by a bomb blast thought to be the work of a suicide bomber who blew himself up while clutching a copy of the Koran, injuring dozens of people.
‘It was a bomb explosion and body parts have been thrown apart,’ policeman Gabriel Omondi told AFP after the blast in front of the crowded City Gate restaurant on Moi Avenue, one of Nairobi’s main streets.
‘I can confirm one dead. He is a suspected suicide bomber,’ Moses Muchoki, an official from the Kenyan Red Cross, told AFP.
An AFP correspondent saw shredded papers from a Koran strewn at the explosion site.
‘The attack carries the hallmark of a suicide bomber, but we are investigating. We are suspecting that the dead was the bomber,’ said a top police official, who requested to remain unnamed.
Anti-terrorism police arrived at the explosion site to investigate as security officers cordoned off the area from thousands of onlookers and rescue workers and ambulances scrambled to make it through the snarled traffic.
The country’s main Kenyatta National Hospital said it had received dozens of wounded from the blast.
‘We have received at least 31 people with varying degrees of injuries,’ said Herman Wabomba, the hospital’s spokesman. ‘Six of them need urgent surgery.’
Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali confirmed that one person had been killed and about six others wounded, but refused to immediately confirm it was a suicide blast.
‘An incident has occurred, but at this particular stage we do not have very much to say,’ Ali told a press conference at the scene.
‘The incident is being investigated,’ Ali said.
Witnesses described the force of the blast, which ripped through the busy main street as people made their way to work in the morning.
‘It was a huge explosion that occurred as I was headed to office, I suspect it was a bomb,’ said one Paul Mwangi.
‘It was around 8.00 am (0500 GMT) when I heard an explosion… and people came here in tattered clothes,’ Gedion Mutua, a security guard in the nearby Ambassador Hotel, told AFP.
Kenya has been on alert since January when the government said suspected Islamist fighters, accused of links to extremist groups, had fled fighting in Somalia.
East Africa has seen several Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist attacks in recent years, including the near-simultaneous bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, killing a total of 224 people and injuring some 5,000.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated attackers bombed an Israeli-owned resort hotel near Mombassa in November 2002, killing 15 civilians and three presumed suicide bombers, and unsuccessfully attempted to shoot down an Israeli airliner there on the same day.
In January, the United States warned its citizens in Kenya of possible reprisals by terrorist groups after Somalia’s Islamists were ousted.
‘Due to possible reprisals by terrorist organisations, American citizens are advised to remain vigilant, avoid demonstrations or large gatherings, and to be cautious when frequenting prominent public places and landmarks,’ its embassy said in a message released in January.
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Buffalo food fest orders healthier items

News

ABC Staff

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11 June 2007

0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – For the first time in its 23-year history, the Taste of Buffalo, a foodie free-for-all attracting tens of thousands, is ordering restaurants to offer healthier options.
At least one item on each vendor’s menu must meet standards on fat, salt and cholesterol.
That means diners at the July 7-8 event will see mango sorbet and smoked chicken sandwiches among the hot fudge sundaes and bleu cheese burgers, a low-fat cookie there with the cheesecake.
But will they bite?
‘It’ll be interesting to see,’ said Ania Gurnari, whose family-owned bakery, E.M. Chrusciki, has offered its sugar-coated ‘angel wings’ and other pastries at the festival for more than 20 years.
Her father came up with a chewy spice cookie to meet the new healthy mandate, using applesauce to make it moist and sweet.
‘We are going to be serving New York-style cheesecake, there’s nothing fat-free about that,’ Gurnari laughed. ‘So having that side by side, we’ll see what choices people make.’
The idea is not to force tasters to shun their favorites, organizers say, but to give them a chance to try healthy dishes that might be just as good.
‘What a great opportunity … to recognize that a lot of people currently have a perception that healthy food has to taste bad,’ said Dr. Michael Cropp, president and chief executive of Independent Health. The health insurance company’s community outreach foundation worked with festival organizers to develop the new rules.
‘We thought, as a first step, if we can have all these restaurants demonstrate how they can provide a healthy option that tastes great, we are going to change people’s perceptions,’ Cropp said.
No one even noticed when Rita Sabharwal altered her chicken curry and rice dish two years ago to make it healthier, substituting more tomatoes for some of the oil.
‘We sold out anyway,’ said Sabharwal of Tandoori’s Royal Indian Cuisine. This year, Sabharwal has created a vegetarian dish of chickpeas and spinach, keeping an eye on oil content.
Each restaurant had to submit a healthy recipe that was analyzed by a computer program. No more than 30 percent of calories could come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. There were also sodium and cholesterol restrictions.
While some, like Tandoori’s, created brand new dishes, others tweaked existing ones. Louie’s Hot Dogs simply switched out the crushed tomatoes from its Sloppy Louie Burger with a lower-salt version to meet the guidelines.
Among other offerings will be a vegetable croissant, baked spring rolls and Cajun boiled crawfish.
Even at Chrusciki’s bakery, customers are looking for less guilty pleasures.
‘People ask for fat-free, sugar-free everything these days,’ Gurnari said. ‘Sometimes we look at them like, `OK, wrong place.’ But now, at least we can say we have this healthy choice item.’
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Thomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Stocks crash, dollar gains

News

Sam Allcock

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8 June 2007

0

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – US SUMMARY: Stocks continue sharp fall as bond yields rise; oil up on supply worries

Index Change Pct change

*DJIA 13266.73 -198.94 -1.48

*Nasdaq 2541.38 -45.80 -1.77

*S&P; 500 1490.72 -26.66 -1.76

Dow Future 13261.00 -200.00 -1.49 (2014 GMT)

Nasdaq Future 1883.25 +0.75 +0.04 (0324 GMT)

S&P; Future 1489.30 -27.10 -1.79 (2018 GMT)

eur-usd 1.3432 -0.0074

Nymex crude

for July 66.93 usd +97 cents

10 yr US

treasury 5.13 pct +0.16 pct

* yesterday’s close

STOCKS: Wall Street fell further on Thursday, as rising bond yields dented hopes of an interest rate cut later in the year, while retail sales for the year came in mixed — improving wholesale figures accompanied by concerns that rising

gas prices would cut into consumer spending.

The Commerce Department said inventories among US wholesalers rose 0.03 pct in April to a seasonally adjusted 394.54 bln usd after increasing a revised 0.4 pct in March. The March increase had been pegged at 0.3 pct. A dip in

applications for unemployment benefits last week — falling by 1,000 applications to 309,000 — indicates a healthy labour market, thus also making a rate cut seem less likely.

FOREX: The US dollar rose against other major currencies Thursday as rising bond yields dashed hopes of an interest rate cut. Higher interest rates can bolster a currency by making investments denominated in it more attractive.

The euro — which was already down after the European Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate but sent moderate signals on its future course — dropped further. The pound sank to 1.9771 usd from 1.9928 after the

Bank of England held its key interest rate steady. The dollar strengthened to 121.11 Japanese yen from 121.01 yen.

In other trading, the dollar bought 1.0620 cad, up from 1.0588, and 1.2248 sfr, rising from 1.2163.

BONDS: US Treasury prices fell, as inflation shows no sign of abating thus dampening chances of a rate hike, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note over 5 pct for the first time since August.

If the yield reaches 5.25 pct, a five-year high, it would match the Federal Reserve’s current benchmark interest rate — signalling that the market is, in a sense, beating the central bank in hiking rates to curb inflation. The Fed has kept rates

on hold since last summer, after about two years of gradual increases.

OIL: Oil and gasoline prices rose on concerns US refineries aren’t producing enough to meet domestic demand. Gasoline futures for July inched up 0.23 cent to settle at 2.1927 usd a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The US has experienced an unusually high number of refinery outages this spring. Reports Thursday of a partial shutdown at a 60,000 barrel-per-day Delek US Holdings Inc refinery in Texas, and that Suncor Energy Inc will shut part of a 246,000 bpd facility in Alberta for 50 days for maintenance, were the latest outages. On Tuesday, Valero Energy Corp said its gasoline production would be cut by a total of 65,000 bpd due to problems at two refineries.

GOLD: Gold prices fell in New York as the dollar strengthened, thus lessening the precious metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. August gold dropped 9.40 usd to settle at 665.20 usd an ounce on the Nymex while July silver fell 23.7 cents to close at 13.48 usd.

EVENTS:

April trade balance (1230 GMT)

Trade balance, 2006 annual revision (1230 GMT)

ASIA SUMMARY: Stocks tumble on Wall Street fall; oil eases on profit sales

Index Change Pct change

Nikkei 225 17750.20 -303.18 -1.68 (0343 GMT)

S&P;/ASX 200 6216.50 -94.60 -1.50 (0343 GMT)

Straits Times 3497.71 -48.62 -1.37 (0343 GMT)

Hang Seng 20479.83 -320.33 -1.54 (0344 GMT)

KLSE Composite 1352.48 -11.93 -0.87 (0329 GMT)

BSE Sensex 14051.33 -134.85 -0.95 (0430 GMT)

usd-yen 121.24 -0.04 -0.03 (Intra-day trade)

usd-sgd 1.5374 +0.0002 +0.01 (Intra-day trade)

usd-inr 40.90 +0.19 +0.47 (Intra-day trade)

10-year JGBs 1.895 pct +0.035 +1.88 (Intra-day trade)

Brent North Sea 71.06 usd -0.16 -0.22 (Intra-day trade)

crude for July

STOCKS: Asian markets slipped into the red tracking the fall on Wall Street. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei and Manila shares ended the morning session lower, after Wall Street tumbled for the third straight session as rising US government bond yields further dashed hopes for a cut in interest rates. Jakarta share prices were sharply lower in early trade, in line with other markets in East Asia and the Wall Street decline.

BONDS: Japanese government bond prices ended the morning session weaker, tracking sharp declines in US Treasury bond prices overnight.

FOREX: The US dollar was up against the yen and euro in Sydney with currency markets reacting to the global equity market sell-off in the absence of key economic data. The sterling was the clear loser in overnight trade after the Bank of England maintained interest rates, with the euro retreating in step with the UK currency.

OIL: Prices fell in Asian trading hours as players took profits on the gains made overnight amid persistent concern about US gasoline supplies during the peak season for demand. At 0230 GMT, the New York Mercantile Exchange’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, was down 0.18 usd at 66.75 usd a barrel from 66.93 usd in late trading in the US overnight.

METALS: Gold steadied above 670 usd yesterday after dipping slightly the day before with analysts saying while the metal might remain in consolidation mode, it is still poised to trend higher longer term.

In other precious metals yesterday, silver was little changed at 13.68 usd against 13.67, platinum edged up to 1,297 usd against 1,289, while palladium was flat at 363 usd.

Copper was steady yesterday as strike threats in South America coupled with dwindling stock levels supported prices. Base metals weakened across the board in early afternoon trade yesterday, weighed down by nickel prices, which dropped to a 10-week low following the LME’s implementation of new trading rules that will effectively make more metal available to the market.

EVENTS:

Australia April housing finance

Japan April machinery orders

Japan May money supply

Japan May bank lending

Bank of Korea interest rate-setting meeting

Hong Kong’s Johnson Electric FY results

Hong Kong’s Link REIT FY results

Ta Yang Group starts trading in Hong Kong

Taiwan 364-day, 100 bln twd offer of certificates of deposit

Taiwan’s UMC May sales

Taiwan’s TSMC May sales

Indonesia’s Summarecon Agung EGM

Philippine March foreign direct investment

Philippine banks’ end-April bad loans

EUROPE SUMMARY: London shares close lower; base metals weaken across the board as nickel price dips to 10-wk low

Index Change Pct change

*FTSE 6505.10 -17.6 -0.26

*DAX 7618.61 -111.44 -1.44

*CAC 5890.49 -87.38 -1.46

UK10-year

Bond 90.28 -0.5

UK 30-year

Bond 92.26 -1.16

stg-usd 1.9858 -0.0066

eur-usd 1.3477 -0.0022

sfr-usd 1.2227 +0.0057

Brent crude

ICE (July) 71.40 usd +38 cents

* yesterday’s close

STOCKS: UK blue chips closed lower, as Wall Street remained weaker, with the UK construction sector down on concerns the Bank of England’s decision to keep its key repo rate unchanged at the six-year high of 5.5 pct has upped the risk of a further hike by the end of the year. Europe manufacturing and industrial data will remain in focus today while focus will also fall on Lloyds TSB Group PLC as the bank announces its trading performance. Meanwhile, no major corporates are scheduled to declare their results today.

BONDS: European government bonds tracked US Treasuries lower, after yields on both side of the Atlantic broke key levels, setting a bearish tone for the market. In the UK, gilts fell after the Bank of England kept its key repo rate unchanged.

FOREX: The euro continued to remain vulnerable ever since the European Central Bank’s raised rates Wednesday and failed to sound as hawkish as the markets were expecting. In the UK, the pound continued to slide after the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged. The decision was widely expected. Analysts don’t expect the pound to fall much further, even as interest rates are expected to go up in coming months.

METALS: Base metals weakened across the board in early afternoon trade yesterday, weighed down by nickel prices, which dropped to a 10-week low following the LME’s implementation of new trading rules that will effectively make more metal available to the market. Copper was trading at 7,406 usd against 7,420 at the close yesterday.

Among other metals, lead eased to 2,290 usd against 2,300, aluminium dropped to 2,740 usd from 2,743, and zinc dipped to 3,655 from 3,680. Tin was steady at 13,900 usd. Gold steadied above 670 usd after dipping slightly Wednesday. Oil rose on OPEC’s decision not to increase production quotas, which sparked supply fears. At 1712 BST (1612 GMT), benchmark Brent crude contracts for July delivery were up 38 cents at 71.40 usd per barrel.

EVENTS:

French prefab house sold to hotelier

News

Sam Allcock

-

6 June 2007

0

NEW YORK (AP) – Prototype Maison Tropicale, a prefabricated house of bent steel and aluminum sheets, was sold at auction to hotelier Andre Balazs for $4.9 million.

Balazs, who owns Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, The Mercer in New York and The Raleigh in Miami, placed the winning bid of $4,968,000 for the small 1951 house at an evening sale Tuesday at Christie’s auction.
The house had been brought to New York City in mid-May, reassembled and displayed near the Queensboro Bridge.

One of only three ever created by the French designer, the industrially produced Maison Tropicale was designed and manufactured for Brazzaville, West Africa. Christie’s described it as ‘one of the most striking and sophisticated of all his architectural achievements and is exemplary of his oeuvre.’

Its last owner, Eric Touchaleaume, a French antiques dealer, has said he plans to use the sale proceeds to finance a Prouve museum that will travel inside another Maison Tropicale.

The final price includes Christie’s commission.

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