NEWYORK: As Internet valuations climb and bankers and would-be buyers circle Silicon Valley in an increasingly frothy tech market, many eyes are on one particularly desirable, if still enigmatic, target: Twitter. Discussions with at least some potential suitors have produced an estimated valuation of $8 billion to $10 billion.
Some of the nation's largest investment firms have been overcharged by banks for currency trades, bank insiders and others claim.
After 219 years as the citadel of American capitalism, the New York Stock Exchange was near an agreement to be acquired by Deutsche Boerse in a deal that would create the world's largest financial exchange.
The US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the House budget panel the prospect of high unemployment and low inflation continued to justify the central bank's controversial purchases of government bonds.
Hackers who appear to be based in China have conducted a "coordinated, covert and targeted" campaign of cyber espionage against major Western energy firms, according to a report by cyber security firm McAfee Inc.
Because of the sovereign immunity granted to American Indian tribes, they are shielded from interest-rate caps and other payday-loan regulations. Those advantages are luring tribes into the payday-loan business, and unleashing a scramble by lenders to team up with tribes.
Even a blockbuster title such as "Call of Duty: Black Ops" couldn't shield Activision Blizzard Inc from the fickle nature of the videogame market. Activision, whose roster of games includes the popular "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" series, said it would disband a dedicated business unit it had previously set up a few years ago for "Guitar Hero," a once hugely successful game franchise that lets players imitate rock stars.
Clearwire Corp has abandoned its retail strategy to focus on being a wholesale network provider of fast wireless service, said people familiar with the matter, opening the door for additional investment in the struggling company by Sprint Nextel Corp.
ZTE Corp, China's No.2 telecommunications equipment maker, Chief Financial Officer Wei Zaisheng said the US should promote a fair business environment with less government interference, after ZTE last year encountered political obstacles when trying to supply network equipment to US operator Sprint Nextel Corp.
AOL Inc bought the Huffington Post in a bid to draw more readers and advertisers. But some Madison Avenue executives are expressing concerns about the liberal-leaning nature of the site and its potential to taint the broader AOL brand.
Higher revenue in its core markets of Singapore and Australia led Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) to post a small but better-than-expected increase in its fiscal third-quarter net profit.
Germany's top central banker has dropped out of the race to become the European Central Bank's next president, European officials said a move that throws the search for a new chief into disarray at a time when European authorities are trying to bring the euro zone's debt crisis under control.
While US and European firms are waking up to Africa's accelerating growth, companies based on the continent also are expanding. From an abandoned farm outside Lagos, Nigeria, a Zambian beef processor is moving into one of Africa's most promising markets.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.