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.หัวข้อ:EU scores in US trade battle โดย:4202680114 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that the European Union (EU) can impose $4bn (ฃ2.6bn) worth of sanctions against the US in a dispute over tax breaks for its exporters. The WTO has backed the EU's claim that the tax scheme amounts to a massive illegal subsidy which costs European companies billions a year in lost trade. This is the biggest transatlantic trade dispute in history. The damages are the highest awarded by the Geneva-based WTO, since its creation in 1995. Defeat WTO panels have repeatedly ruled that the US tax breaks for exporters contravene international trade rules. Washington has tinkered with the system, but - faced with massive opposition from US corporations - it has failed to satisfy the WTO's demands for reform. The huge damages awarded were in line with the EU's calculations. They represent a spectacular defeat for the US. It had argued the financial benefit to US companies was in the region of $1bn. "I am disappointed that the arbitrator did not accept the lower figure put forward by the United States," said US trade representative Robert Zoellick. 8/31/2002 11:52:36 PM หัวข้อ:Japan's GDP shows surprising strength โดย:4202680353 August 30, 2002 Posted: 5:21 PM HKT (0921 GMT) By Alex Frew McMillan CNN Hong Kong TOKYO, Japan -- Japan's economy grew a surprisingly strong 0.5 percent for the April-June quarter, the Cabinet Office stated, thanks to a surge in exports and demand. Economists had been expecting a 0.2 percent rise. But those looking for recovery in the world's second-largest economy will be concerned that growth for the March quarter was revised down, to a minimal decline. The economy was flat in the first quarter, the revision states, registering 0.0 percent and a slight, 0.1 percent drop when annualized. It had first registered as 1.4 percent growth but was recast under new calculation methods that place more emphasis on industrial output and retail sales. First growth in five quarters That means the figures for the June quarter mark the first growth in five quarters. The second-quarter growth registers as an annualized growth rate of 1.9 percent. Domestic demand posted a 0.2 percent rise from the first quarter, the first time in five quarters that it has registered a gain. Consumption gained again, up 0.3 percent, but the rate of growth has slowed. That suggests Japan's recovery will remain tentative. The jobless rate remains near a record. Separate figures showed that it remained at 5.4 percent for July. The total number of people out of work rose 220,000 to 3.52 million. That's just off the record 5.5 percent it set in December. The GDP figures do show that exports, typically the vanguard of any rebound, rose 5.8 percent for the second quarter, over the first. That's despite the strength of the yen, which surged to 115 to the U.S. dollar. It has since fallen back to around 118. Government consumption up The currency strengthened a little on the stronger-than-expected figures, but is now steady at 118.13 to the U.S. dollar in morning trade having closed at 118.22 in New York. The stock market took little joy from the growth. The Nikkei is down 0.99 percent at 9,524.78 in late morning trade, with the Topix off 0.66 percent. Japan's government consumption also boosted the second-quarter GDP figures, with a 0.8 percent leap from the quarter before. But government's capital spending fell 0.7 percent, as the administration of Junichiro Koizumi continues to trim public spending on roads and other large projects. Investment bank CLSA predicts that Japan will slump back into recession later this year, with economies such as Korea, China and India leading growth prospects in Asia. Gross domestic product is the broadest measure of an economy, measuring goods and services produced. Separate figures showed that retail sales fell 5.3 percent for July in Japan, the 16th straight month of declines. 9/1/2002 1:13:38 AM หัวข้อ:U.S. growth: slow as first thought โดย:4202680130 U.S. growth: slow as first thought Initial estimate of the broadest measure of economic growth unrevised; jobless claims rise. August 29, 2002 NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. economic growth in the second quarter was as weak as initially reported, the government said Thursday, while a separate report said new jobless claims jumped last week. The Commerce Department said its second reading of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter was unrevised at 1.1 percent, compared with growth of 5 percent in the first quarter. Economists, on average, expected no revision to the second quarter reading, according to Briefing.com. GDP is the broadest measure of the world's largest economy. "The fears we had that growth was pretty soft and fungible are basically coming out; that's what the data are showing," said Anthony Chan, chief economist at Banc One Investment Advisors, who recently published a research report showing that the government's second reading of GDP is usually the most accurate one. Separately, the Labor Department said the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to 403,000 in the week ended Aug. 24 from a revised 395,000 the prior week. Economists, on average, expected 385,000 new claims, according to Briefing.com. The data helped push U.S. stock prices lower, while Treasury bond prices rose. Consumer spending, the biggest component of GDP at about two-thirds of the $9.4 trillion total, slowed to 1.9 percent growth, compared with 3.1 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said in its report. Fixed private investment, a key measure of business spending, shrank at a 1.2 percent pace, a little worse than the 0.5 percent pace in the first quarter. And corporate profits fell $13.4 billion in the quarter after falling $13.8 billion in the first quarter. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists have called business spending the key to the economy's recovery from a recession that began in March 2001. "The data for the second quarter seem to point to a solid rebound in growth," said Joel Naroff, president and chief economist of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa. "That should generate improvement in profits, and hopefully the available funds will be spent on investment." Many economists think the economy will grow at a pace of between 2 and 3 percent in the second half of the year. Such growth would keep the economy from "double dipping" into recession, but it might not be robust enough to inspire businesses to hire new workers, and continuing weakness in the labor market could keep consumer spending from growing rapidly. So far, the future of consumer spending is unclear. The housing market, which has helped support spending by making consumers feel wealthier and allowing them to refinance their mortgages, giving them more cash to spend, has remained red-hot this summer. But a closely watched measure of consumer confidence fell in July, weighed down by falling stock prices, mistrust of corporate accounting and other worries. Business inventories grew $36.2 billion in the quarter, adding 1.4 percentage points to GDP. Excluding the change in inventories, final sales of U.S. goods and services actually shrank 0.3 percent in the second quarter, the worst performance since it fell 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2001, which included the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Final sales grew 2.4 percent in the first quarter. Government spending growth slowed to a 1.4 percent pace, from 5.6 percent in the first quarter. Robust government spending on security and defense in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks helped lift GDP in the fourth quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. U.S. imports outpaced exports by $47.5 billion in the quarter, subtracting 1.65 percentage points from the headline GDP number. 9/1/2002 2:16:41 AM หัวข้อ:Judge Boosts PG&E Bankruptcy Plan โดย:4202612422 Judge Boosts PG&E Bankruptcy Plan : SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge has ruled that bankrupt utility Pacific Gas & Electric can pre-empt California state law as it seeks to reorganize, a setback for state regulators who want the utility firmly under their control as it emerges from bankruptcy protection. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, in a decision late on Friday, said Pacific Gas & Electric could move ahead with plans to spin off three new companies without obtaining state approval or conducting environmental reviews. Walker's decision, which overruled an earlier ruling by the bankruptcy judge overseeing the case, came as a blow to the California Public Utilities Commission ( news - web sites), which is backing its own rival reorganization plan for the utility. CPUC general counsel Gary Cohen issued a statement expressing disappointment in Walker's ruling, which he said would be appealed. "This decision, if upheld on appeal, would make bankruptcy court a safe haven for companies wanting to violate the law in order to get out of financial difficulty," Cohen said. "Any company that wants to evade state regulation or sell off its publicly paid for assets can simply file for bankruptcy and walk away from its commitments and with the money." Pacific Gas & Electric, a unit of San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. , sought bankruptcy protection in April 2001 after running up huge debts buying electricity at the height of the 2000-2001 California energy crisis. Federal Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali has scheduled hearings to start in November on the rival plans to restore PG&E to financial health and pay off more than $13 billion in creditors' claims. The CPUC's plan seeks to keep the utility's activities under California regulation, while PG&E's plan proposes breaking the utility into four separate units, three of which would fall under federal rather than state regulations. PG&E issued a statement hailing Walker's decision as "consistent with our interpretation of bankruptcy statutes." "PG&E's plan of reorganization seeks to pre-empt only a limited number of state laws and regulations necessary to allow it to emerge from bankruptcy," the utility said, adding that the proposed new companies would be subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws, including environmental and public health and safety regulations. 9/1/2002 11:29:52 AM หัวข้อ:Workplace: Labor Day Bleak for Poor โดย:4202612422 Workplace: Labor Day Bleak for Poor: By Sherwood Ross CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - Labor Day celebrations next week may ring hollow for a sizable sector of the U.S. population -- the working poor. Defined as those who earn $8.70 an hour or less, there are 27.5 million people in that leaky boat, according to the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. While technology led an economic boom in the 1990s, wages for some unskilled workers stagnated, leading to myriad cases of people working two or more jobs to support their families. Now, as the economy stumbles, more and better-educated people are swelling the ranks of the unemployed, making the outlook even more dim for the working poor. Labor unions, once a source of support for the low-paid, have seen their membership decline. Just 13.5 million people now belong to the AFL-CIO labor confederation. "Supposedly, you have the right to join a union, but in reality, that right doesn't exist," said Barbara Ehrenreich, who wrote the best seller "Nickel and Dimed" (Metropolitan Books). "In practice, you can be fired for practically anything." Working incognito in low-paid jobs for several months, she met co-workers who lived in public shelters, slept in their cars, flophouses, and cheap motels. Ehrenreich advocates raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to nearer $14 an hour, the amount she says the breadwinner of a family of three must earn to live at a "minimal, bare-bones level." David Huether, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers ( news - web sites) (NAM) in Washington, says a better way is to increase corporate productivity to push wages up. Between 1975 and 1995, overall productivity grew at about 1.5 percent annually, and worker compensation lagged at a 1.1 percent rate, he said. But between 1996 and 2001, when productivity accelerated to 2.3 percent, real compensation increased at the rate of 3 percent annually. Heuther, whose organization represents 14,000 manufacturing concerns, said the government should make permanent the research and development tax credit to spur productivity and ease regulations that inhibit global competitiveness. Economist Emeritus Gladys Gruenberg of Saint Louis University said helping the working poor could begin with reforming the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees union elections. "The length of time it takes to get the Board to handle a case and through the appeals phase leaves employers with very little penalty for violating the law," Gruenberg said. She also urged tying the minimum wage, last raised in 1997, to the cost of living. Ellen Bravo, director of 9to5 National Association of Working Women, called for extending unemployment insurance to part-time and temporary workers. Bravo said the effect of the 1996 welfare reform law was to kick recipients off welfare without any prospects for advancement. "The truth is, for them there is no job ladder. You go from one lousy food service job to another," she said. Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C, called for affordable health care for workers and their families. Employers who have to pay for health coverage become "more cautious about putting people on the payroll who have youngsters," he said. Ehrenreich, the author of "Nickel and Dimed" said the working poor are our "involuntary philanthropists," performing the hardest work for the least money. (Sherwood Ross is a free-lance writer who covers workplace issues for Reuters. Any opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Mr. Ross. E-mail him at sross@ sherwoodross.com.) 9/1/2002 11:34:43 AM หัวข้อ:Ford pulling plug on electric car โดย:4202680049 Ford pulling plug on electric car Automaker rethinks division after customer, govt. apathy August 30, 2002 Posted: 3:58 PM EDT (1958 GMT) DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. Friday said it was pulling the plug on its Think electric vehicle division due to poor customer demand and lack of government support for the environmentally friendly cars. Ford paid $23 million in 1999 for the Norway-based electric vehicle company Pivco Industries, renaming it Think or TH!NK, and has since invested $100 million in the technology as a cure to environmental regulations on fuel economy and emissions. "The bottom line is we don't believe that this is the future of environmental transport for the mass market," Holmes said. When Think started production of the Think City electric car in Norway nearly three years ago, officials said they hoped to make 5,000 a year. But production since then has only totaled a little below 1,050 cars. "Clearly that's a disappointing number for us," Holmes said. Ford will try to sell Think, or work with the Norwegian government to transform the company to create a viable business, Holmes said. Ford hopes to make a decision by the end of September on the future of Think, which has two facilities outside Oslo and employs about 150 people. The Think City, a two-seater, plastic-bodied hatchback sold in Europe, has a range of about 53 miles in city driving and requires up to six hours for a recharge. Ford began producing the Think Neighbor, a golfcart-like vehicle with a top speed of about 25 miles per hour, at a Detroit plant in the fall last year. Ford said the plant could produce up to 10,000 vehicles annually, but only 1,688 have been sold so far this year. Ford will end production of the Neighbor at the end of this year, spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said. The world's second-largest automaker is in the midst of a turnaround plan after a $5.45 billion loss last year that includes plant closings to cut costs. Others step back from electric Other automakers have also backed away from pure electric vehicles. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, spent over $1 billion to develop the GM EV1 electric vehicle in the 1990s. But the EV1 also suffered from a limited range of less than 100 miles before it needed hours of recharging time, and GM stopped building the EV1 a few years ago. "Battery electric vehicles are not there yet technologically," said Jim Kliesch, a research associate with the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and co-author of "The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks." Electric vehicles cost thousands of dollars more than similarly sized cars because of the expensive batteries, which need replacing after a few years, he said. "Nobody has found a way to build a battery that is cheap, can quickly recharge and allows you to drive long distances," Kliesch added. Government regulations pushing for so-called zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars, which emit no smog-producing exhaust, have also been pushed back. California's regulations forcing automakers to offer up to 100,000 electric cars and other low-pollution vehicles on the road each year were scheduled to go into effect with the 2003 model year. But GM won a court injunction delaying that order, and automotive executives expect that the state will rewrite its regulations to allow for more vehicles that emit a low amount of exhaust, such as hybrid vehicles that pair batteries with gasoline engines. Hybrid cars, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius and Honda Motor Co.'s Insight, have sold well since they arrived on the market a few years ago. Ford said it will focus on fuel cell and hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles to meet environmental regulations for cars and trucks. Ford plans to sell its first hybrid, a version of the Ford Escape small sport utility vehicle, next year. 9/1/2002 3:46:15 PM หัวข้อ:Jobless on Labor Day โดย:4202680551 Jobless on Labor Day The holiday honors American workers, who might prefer something more substantial -- like a job. August 30, 2002: 4:31 PM EDT By Mark Gongloff, CNN/Money Staff Writer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - America honors its workers with the annual Labor Day holiday Monday, but parades and picnics won't do much to ease the pain a recession has caused the labor force -- and the unions that started Labor Day likely won't help much, either. The most obvious problem facing the work force is stagnant job growth. Since March 2001, when a recession in the broader U.S. economy began, nearly 1.7 million jobs have been lost, and more than 3.5 million people are drawing unemployment benefits. "The impact of the recession, exacerbated by the impact of the events of September 11, has fallen heaviest on working people," the National Association of Manufacturers said in its annual Labor Day Report. And some economists have noted that this recovery is starting to look an awful lot like the recovery from the 1990-91 recession, when job growth was dead in the water for more than a year, probably costing then-President George Bush his bid for re-election in 1992. The job market is going to get worse -- this is a jobless recovery," said Anthony Chan, chief economist at Banc One Investment Advisors, who said he expected the unemployment rate to climb to at least 6.1 percent this year. And the NAM agreed, saying its survey of manufacturers -- who cut the most jobs during the recession -- found most planned to continue to gradually lower payrolls this year, helping keep the total unemployment rate near 6 percent until 2003. Though the July unemployment rate of 5.9 percent is low relative to its 10.8-percent peak in 1982 and its 7.8-percent peak in 1992, jobs are still scarce -- non-farm payrolls grew by only 6,000 workers in July, for example, far below the approximately 120,000 jobs economists think are necessary to keep unemployment from rising. With jobs scarce and corporate profits suffering from a broader economic downturn, not only are the aggressive employee recruitment tactics of the late 1990s long gone, more basic employee perks such as raises and bonuses are also under pressure. A recent survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, for example, found that annual pay raises are becoming a thing of the past, with employers delaying raises for 18 months or more, USA Today reported Friday. "People think unemployment is still relatively low, but there's all the difference in the world between a tight labor market and a weak one when you're talking about employees' ability to bargain for a fair share of growth," said Jared Bernstein, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute. Twilight of the labor unions Labor unions, which hosted the first Labor Day celebration in New York City in 1882, could once be relied upon to look out for the interests of many American workers -- up to 35 percent during organized labor's heyday in the 1950s. And unions have certainly made splashy headlines in the days leading up to Labor Day 2002 -- everybody from baseball players to flight attendants have been wrestling publicly with management. The recent rash of corporate scandals, in which corporate executives have made millions before skipping out, leaving employees holding the bag, it would seem that unions would be as alluring to workers as ever. "I've been hearing more workers -- including former Enron workers -- say they now wish they'd had a union," John Sweeney, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, said at the AFL-CIO's Labor Day Roundtable on Thursday. But union membership in this country has fallen steadily since the early 1980s; by 2001, only 9 percent of U.S. workers in private industry were unionized. Ed Potter, President of the Employment Policy Foundation, said unions have failed to dedicate enough resources to organizing and have failed to update their services to compete with other organizations vying for workers' time, such as the NAACP and the AARP. As a result, worker interest in unions has waned. "If a business is losing market share, it tends to think about what it can do to reinvigorate its product, make it more attractive," Potter said. "Only on the margins has the AFL-CIO done that." In any event, Potter asserted, workers are not any worse off now than they have been historically -- the boom years of the late 1990s, when unemployment dropped below 4 percent and businesses had to practically beg people to work for them, were an aberration. Competition for workers led to some excesses in compensation and perks -- pool tables and free meals were just the tip of the iceberg -- which businesses have had to correct after the bubble burst. That correction process could ease up when businesses are convinced the economy is turning around. "Just as companies are slow to recognize things are going to slow down, they're also slow to recognize that things are going to pick back up," Potter said. "We're in a nether world right now, where companies don't necessarily know what is the correct action to take here -- they don't know whether they should be hiring or whether they should be more cautious about pay increases." 9/1/2002 3:52:12 PM หัวข้อ:BOJ Official Says All Usual Means for Boosting Economy Have Been Used โดย:4202612786 JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. -- Japan's central bank has exhausted all conventional methods to revive the country's stalled economy, a top official said, highlighting the bank's reluctance to give the economy a new dose of stimulus. In a speech to some of the world's best-known central bankers and economists, Bank of Japan deputy governor Yutaka Yamaguchi expressed frustration with economists' criticism of the bank's performance. Those economists generally say the bank erred gravely in the 1990s by not cutting interest rates quickly and deeply to stave off a recession. "We've practically used up all our options," with respect to conventional instruments of monetary policy, he said at an economic conference. The central bank has cut interest rates to zero and resorted to pumping cash into the financial system to stimulate the economy. It hasn't shown an eagerness to do more. In the late 1980s Japan's economy grew so rapidly that the country's top officials worried it might overheat. The Bank of Japan began raising interest rates in 1989 to fight the danger of inflation. Stock prices plummeted and the economy began to sink. In response, the bank began a protracted campaign of interest-rate cuts -- the overnight call-money rate declined from 8% to zero by 1999. But the economy never recovered. Defending the central bank's decisions Friday, Mr. Yamaguchi adopted the same argument Federal Reserve ( news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan ( news - web sites) made earlier in the day -- it is impossible for central banks to deflate stock- and property-price bubbles without raising interest rates to levels that spark a recession. "We have witnessed time and again that after asset inflation has developed into a major bubble, it is impossible to soft-land" an economy," said Mr. Yamaguchi. In responding to asset prices, he noted, the abilities of central banks are "severely impaired." Intervention by such banks under the circumstances "only delays the inevitable adjustment of asset prices" to economic fundamentals. One prominent U.S. economist, Martin Feldstein, who heads the National Bureau of Economic Research, said Mr. Yamaguchi's assessment was correct. "He's absolutely right," Mr. Feldstein said in an interview. "They're in a liquidity trap" that monetary policy cannot undo. He added the Bank of Japan can't set an inflation target, as some economists have suggested, because "it has no way to increase inflation with the instruments available." But a fiscal policy aimed at inflating the economy could work, Mr. Feldstein said in a paper presented at the conference. He proposed Japan's government raising the country's value-added tax in coming years to a maximum of 20%, up from the current 5%, while reducing income taxes to keep government revenue unchanged. Mr. Feldstein predicted that would cause consumer prices to rise 4% a year. "This tax-induced inflation would give households an incentive to spend sooner rather than waiting until prices are substantially higher," he added. "And it would not change the size of the structural budget deficit." Mr. Feldstein said Japan should also enact a tax-investment credit of about 30% that would be paid for by an increase in corporate-income tax and eventually phased out. He argued the credit would increase business' incentive to boost spending immediately. "An expansionary fiscal policy based on a revenue-neutral structural incentive may be more suitable than an excessively easy monetary policy as a way of dealing with a deflationary situation, or one that could become deflationary," said Mr. Feldstein. 9/1/2002 4:20:20 PM หัวข้อ:Toyota ties up with top Chinese maker โดย:4202680874 Partners eye 10% share of market Tiffany Wu Shanghai, Reuters China and Japan's largest automakers, FAW and Toyota Motor Corp, cemented a strategic partnership yesterday aimed at grabbing 10% of the burgeoning China car market by 2010, company officials said. They signed a brasd agreemant in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to produce 300,000 to 400,000 cars for the Chona market by that year, ranging from luxury sedans to compacts to sports utility vehicles. Toyota, the world's third largest car maker, is a relative latecomer to China and its expansion had been hampered by narrow scope of its first Chinese car partner, compact maker Tianjin Automative Xiali CoLt, analysis said. But Xiali is now merging with First Automotive Works (FAW), in the biggest ever restructuring in the overcrowded Chinese auto industry, opening the door to a three-way alliance, they said. The deal's "success will not only infuse fresh blood into FAW's goal of realising production of one million cars, but will also help broaden Toyota's space for strategic development," FAW president Zhu Yanfeng told a news conference in Beijing. "This is the step on the road of strategic co-operation that Toyota has been seeking since entering China. It is also a step for FAW as it quickly melds with the world economy," Zhu said. Toyota produces buses in China, but unlike rivals in the passenger car segment, such as Honda Motor Co, Volkswagen AG and General Motors Corp, it has not yet started making sedans in the country. Toyota's 50-50 venture with Tainjin Xiali is due to roll out its frist mid-range car in October. Previous deals with Xiali have mostly been technical agreements. But Toyota rejectes criticism it was slow to enter China, one of the world's fastest growing car markets with sales predicted to surge 40% this year to one million. "Our development in China has never stopped," Toyota president Fujio Chi said, citing deals for compact caes and auto parts. "I don't think that Toyota has been conservative with its technology and I deny that we have been late in coming to China." Nevertheless, analysts said Toyota's China prospects were much brighter now it had linked up with a frist-tier manufacturer and had a more complete product range. 9/1/2002 8:35:35 PM หัวข้อ:OPEC Majority Said to Oppose Quota Boost โดย:4202680734 CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday his country firmly opposed increasing OPEC ( news - web sites) oil output quotas, and he added the majority of the oil cartel's other members shared this view. Oil traders have been receiving mixed signals about whether the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries will increase production at its Sept. 19 meeting in Osaka, Japan. "The information that I have up to now is that the majority of (OPEC members) agree to maintain current production levels, including Saudi Arabia," Chavez told foreign reporters at a news conference. "That is the opinion of the majority and our own opinion on the matter is very firm," he said, speaking before flying out of Caracas to attend the Earth Summit in Johannesburg. Several ministers from the oil cartel have said they see no need to raise fourth-quarter output, although a senior OPEC delegate has said more crude is required to meet rising demand. Increased OPEC supply would cool off oil prices, which last week tipped $30 a barrel for the first time in 18 months. OPEC insiders and oil analysts have reported that Saudi Arabia, the cartel heavyweight, has been pushing for a production increase. But President Chavez, a price hawk and champion of OPEC unity, was adamant on Saturday that neither Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, nor OPEC as a group would decide to raise output quotas at the upcoming Osaka meeting. Asked whether his country, which is facing mounting fiscal problems and a shrinking economy, would comply if OPEC did agree to increase production limits, Chavez replied: "I prefer to say that OPEC and Venezuela are not going to increase (their production)." QUESTIONS OVER QUOTA COMPLIANCE He said the likelihood of the cartel deciding on a quota increase was "very difficult; I would say almost impossible." But Venezuela would go along with the move if such an unlikely decision was taken, he added. "There are no elements of any weight that justify an oil production increase," Chavez said. He cited analysts' forecasts reporting that an expected pick-up in the world economy, which would fuel oil demand, was proving to be slow. Oil traders have expressed concern that continued supply curbs combined with higher winter fuel demand could lead to a possible supply crunch later in the year and higher prices. This could stall the nascent economic recovery of large oil consuming nations. Venezuela, whose oil sales account for up to one half of government revenues and 80 percent of export revenues, reported a 9.9 percent contraction in its economy during the second quarter of this year. Sources in the state oil firm PDVSA say these economic woes have pushed the oil-reliant nation to quietly leak extra barrels above its OPEC quota into the market. On Thursday, a Reuters report said Venezuela exceeded its OPEC quota by 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) during August, not including crude oil purchased on the spot market and 370,000 bpd of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensates excluded from the cartel's limits. Venezuela's current OPEC limit is 2.497 million bpd, while PDVSA sources and documents put production at 2.86 million bpd. Chavez said Saturday Venezuela was "producing its OPEC quota" but then appeared to confirm the above-quota output level by adding: "We are (producing) close to 3 million barrels a day." NEWS FOR 02-08/09/02 FORM REUTERS 9/1/2002 9:56:18 PM หัวข้อ:Record penalty hits U.S. โดย:4202680445 Record penalty hits U.S. WTO says EU may impose sanctions of up to $4 billion against U.S., biggest penalty ever. August 30, 2002: 8:06 AM EDT GENEVA (AP) - The World Trade Organization ruled Friday that the European Union can impose trade sanctions of up to $4 billion against the United States in a tax dispute, the biggest penalty it has ever allowed. The sanctions are 20 times the amount levied in any previous WTO dispute. Experts say their potential effect on EU-U.S. trade would be so serious that the ruling will likely prompt a new compromise between the two sides. The result is a big victory for the EU, which had requested the $4 billion amount. The United States claimed the award should be less than $1 billion. The WTO considered the request from the EU after ruling last year that a system of tax breaks for companies from the United States was an illegal subsidy and violated international trade rules. The U.S. program, known as "Foreign Sales Corporations," allows U.S. companies with a foreign presence to exempt between 15 percent and 30 percent of their export income from U.S. taxes. Congress passed this system in 2000 to replace an earlier version also ruled an illegal subsidy by the WTO. The loophole means companies pay less tax, making their products cheaper and giving them an advantage over foreign competitors. The tax break, coupled with a second benefit not challenged by the EU, is expected to save U.S. companies an estimated $4.8 billion this year. The United States accepted that it was violating WTO rules but said the penalty should be below $1 billion. The WTO would not confirm the amount of the ruling until the report is officially released later Friday morning. The WTO decision had been postponed several times since April, officially because of problems with translating documents and the complexity of determining an exact figure for fines. But both sides have been happy with the delays, not wanting to inflame trans-Atlantic trade tensions at a sensitive time. The United States and EU also have been trying to defuse a battle over steel tariffs. The decision does not require the retaliatory tariffs but gives the Europeans the option to impose them. It is not clear whether the European Union will immediately take action. Many observers believe the damage that sanctions would cause to both sides will persuade them to reach a compromise. Both sides are searching for a way out of the impasse. European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has said he is more interested in U.S. elimination of the tax breaks than in retaliation. Washington has agreed. On July 11, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas introduced proposed tax legislation designed to settle the dispute. It would repeal the existing program of tax breaks and put in place a new international tax system. The European Union has yet to say what it thinks of the new legislation, but Peter Carl, director-general for trade at the EU Commission, told reporters it "appears to be moving in the right direction." "I understand that what is being proposed is the outright abolition of the existing legislation, but we want to make sure it isn't creeping into the system through the back door," he said. 9/1/2002 11:41:31 PM หัวข้อ:Fed couldnt stop late-90s bubble โดย:4202680726 Fed couldnt stop late-90s bubble Greenspan: Defense would have sent U.S. into recession ASSOCIATED PRESS JACKSON HOLE, Wyo., Aug. 30 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that Fed policy-makers could not have deflated the stock market bubble that emerged in the late 1990s without raising interest rates to such high levels that it would have pushed the country into a severe recession. GREENSPAN USED AN address to an annual Fed economic symposium to defend the central bank against critics who have contended that the failure to deflate the high-flying stock market in the late 1990s was a major policy error. Greenspan, who famously warned in December 1996 that investors could be in the grips of irrational exuberance, said it was very difficult for policy-makers to know when a stock market bubble was developing. And he said even if the Fed felt it should substitute its judgment for the actions of millions of investors, it would be very hard for the central bank to curb stock market euphoria. The notion that a well-timed incremental tightening could have been calibrated to prevent the late 1990s bubble is almost surely an illusion, Greenspan said. To support that view, Greenspan cited previous instances when the Fed raised interest rates by more than 3 percentage points in the late 1980s and mid-1990s but stock prices, after initially retreating, resumed their upward advance. He said that to have the impact of deflating an unjustified rise in stock prices, the Fed would have had to push rates up by such large amounts that it would almost inevitably trigger an economic recession, the very outcome the Fed was seeking to prevent. Such data suggest that nothing short of a sharp increase in short-term rates that engenders a significant economic retrenchment is sufficient to check a nascent bubble, Greenspan said in remarks prepared for an economic conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Copies of his remarks were released in Washington. Advertisement Greenspan spoke at the start of two days of discussions involving top academic economists and Fed officials, who this year were examining the topic of how Fed interest rate decisions and budget and tax policies can be used to deal with recessions. He used his remarks to defend the Feds actions in the late 1990s when investor euphoria over the developing Internet economy and high-tech telecommunications companies sent Wall Street on a dizzying ride that peaked in the spring of 2000. Since that time, investors have seen their portfolios shrink by more than $7 trillion. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index hit a peak of 5,132 on March 10, 2000, and since that time has shrunk to a Thursday close of 1,336, a loss of 74 percent of its value. Wall Streets worst bear market since the mid 1970s was dealt another blow this summer when a number of formally high-flying companies such as Enron and WorldCom became embroiled in accounting scandals. President Bush, in an effort to keep the plunge in stock prices from bringing on a double-dip recession, recently signed into law tough new regulations governing corporate reporting requirements, hoping to restore investor confidence. The Fed, seeking to bolster an economy that fell into its first recession in a decade last year and then was jolted by the terrorist attacks, has pushed interest rates to their lowest levels in four decades. At its most recent meeting two weeks ago, the Fed signaled that it was ready to push rates even lower if necessary to keep the fledgling recovery from faltering. Greenspan made no mention of current economic conditions or the future course of interest rates in his prepared comments. In addition to defending the Feds decision not to raise interest rates in an effort to influence stock prices, Greenspan said that other possible Fed actions, such as raising margin requirements, would not have worked either. Greenspan the actual amount of stocks that are purchased on margin - meaning the investor uses a percentage of the stocks value as collateral for a loan to buy the stock - is very small relative to overall stock market activity. After he first raised the issue of whether the stock market was overvalued in his irrational exuberance speech in December 1996, Greenspan was criticized by some conservative Republicans for attempting to influence the value of stocks. Various GOP members of Congress questioned why Greenspan, a believer in free markets, was attempting to talk the market down. Greenspan said in discussions inside the Fed, central bank policy-makers realized it was very hard to determine when a bubble was actually developing. We recognized that despite our suspicions it was very difficult to definitively identify a bubble until after the fact - that is, when its bursting confirmed its existence, Greenspan said. 9/2/2002 7:29:55 AM หัวข้อ:อาเซียนหารือเขตการค้าเสรีร่วมกับจีนในการสัมมนาที่ฮานอย โดย:4202612653 อาเซียนหารือเขตการค้าเสรีร่วมกับจีนในการสัมมนาที่ฮานอย ฮานอย ๑ ก.ย. - ผู้แทนจากสำนักเลขาธิการสมาคมประชาชาติเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ หรืออาเซียน รวมทั้งบรรดาเจ้าหน้าที่และนักเศรษฐศาสตร์จากประเทศสมาชิกอาเซียนรวมทั้งจีน ญี่ปุ่น และเกาหลีใต้ รวมตัวกันที่กรุงฮานอย นครหลวงของเวียดนาม วันนี้ เพื่อร่วมประชุมสัมมนาเกี่ยวกับผลกระทบจากการจัดตั้งเขตการค้าเสรีร่วมอาเซียน-จีน หรือเอซีเอฟทีเอ สำนักข่าววีเอ็นเอของเวียดนามรายงานว่า งานสัมมนาดังกล่าว ซึ่งใช้ชื่อว่า ผลประโยชน์และความท้าทายของเอซีเอฟทีเอ ได้มุ่งเน้นไปที่การอภิปรายเกี่ยวกับการบูรณาการระดับภูมิภาคในเอเชียตะวันออก รวมทั้งเศรษฐกิจ ของประเทศเวียดนาม โดยเฉพาะในด้านอุตสาหกรรม บริการ เกษตรกรรมและการประมง เอซีเอฟทีเอ เป็นโครงการริเริ่มของผู้นำทั้งจากประเทศสมาชิกอาเซียนและจีนในการประชุมสุดยอดที่บรูไน เมื่อเดือนพฤศจิกายนปีที่แล้ว โดยได้ตั้งโครงการไว้สำหรับการจัดตั้งเป็นเวลานาน ๑๐ ปี และนับตั้งแต่ต้นปีนี้เป็นต้นมา วีเอ็นเอระบุว่า การเจรจาระหว่างอาเซียนและจีนมีขึ้นอย่างบรรลุผล. 9/2/2002 8:16:51 PM หัวข้อ:มาเลเซียเริ่มปราบซอฟต์แวร์เถื่อนทั่วประเทศ โดย:4202681294 มาเลเซียเริ่มปราบซอฟต์แวร์เถื่อนทั่วประเทศ กัวลาลัมเปอร์ ๑ ก.ย. - มาเลเซียประกาศสงครามกับสินค้าละเมิดลิขสิทธิ์ เริ่มปฏิบัติการกวาดล้างการใช้ซอฟต์แวร์ผีซีดีเถื่อนตั้งแต่วันนี้เป็นต้นไป สำนักข่าวเบอร์นามาของทางการมาเลเซีย เปิดเผยว่า ปฏิบัติการกวาดล้างการใช้ซอฟต์แวร์ละเมิดลิขสิทธิ์ครั้งนี้ จะใช้เจ้าหน้าที่จากกระทรวงกิจการผู้บริโภคและการค้าภายในประเทศ ราว ๓๐๐ คน รวมทั้งตัวแทนจากบริษัทเจ้าของลิขสิทธิ์ซอฟต์แวร์ในสหรัฐอเมริกา โมฮัมหมัด โรส์ลาน มาฮายุดิน ผู้อำนวยการฝ่ายปฏิบัติการของกระทรวงการค้าภายในประเทศของมาเลเซีย กล่าวว่า เดิมทีปฏิบัติการกวาดล้างสินค้าละเมิดสิทธิบัตรจะเน้นเอาผิดนิติบุคคล ผู้กระทำผิด แต่ครั้งนี้ทางการมาเลเซียจะเอาผิดกับผู้บริหารระดับสูงของกิจการผู้ใช้ซอฟต์แวร์ผิดกฎหมาย ด้วยหากตรวจสอบแล้วพบว่า ผู้บริหารมีส่วนรู้เห็นไม่มีมาตรการจัดการกับซอฟต์แวร์เถื่อนที่ใช้ในกิจการ บริษัทและผู้บริหารบริษัทที่ใช้ซอฟต์แวร์เถื่อน จะถูกปรับเป็นเงินราว ๒,๖๓๑ ดอลลาร์สหรัฐหรือจำคุกไม่เกิน ๕ ปี ทั้งนี้ สหพันธ์แนวร่วมทรัพย์สินทางปัญญาระหว่างประเทศประเมินว่า สินค้าละเมิดลิขสิทธิ์ในมาเลเซีย ทำให้ภาคธุรกิจสหรัฐสูญเงินที่ควรได้ไปมากกว่า ๓๑๖.๕ ล้านดอลลาร์ ในปีที่แล้ว 9/2/2002 8:18:08 PM หัวข้อ:Japan, Taiwan sink but Korea roars โดย:4202680148 Japan, Taiwan sink but Korea roars HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets were generally lower on Monday, with Japanese stocks losing more than 1 percent. Taiwan saw the heaviest selling, tumbling down more than 2.5 percent. Hong Kong and New Zealand also finished lower and Singapore is trading off 1.5 percent heading into the close. But the direction wasn't uniform. Stocks in South Korea surged just over 2 percent, posting the region's strongest gains. Australia also managed a gain. India's BSE Sensex is up about half a percent in mid-afternoon trading. Traders were hesitant to commit to positions, with U.S. markets closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Banks beat down Topix In Japan, the Nikkei barely managed to keep above the 9,500 mark, giving up 1.02 percent to 9,521.63. The broader Topix index registered larger losses, finishing off 1.2 percent at 930.36. A fall in bank stocks such as Mizuho Holdings, the world's largest bank by assets, explained much of the difference. Mizuho ended down 1.97 percent to 249,000 yen. Rival Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group gave up 2.93 percent to 795,000 yen as its new Mitsubishi Securities Co. brokerage operation began. Electronics maker Sony Corp. fell for a third day, down 1.35 percent to 5,100 yen. Investors have grown cautious about consumer and tech stocks after poor earnings news from Nortel and Sun Microsystems in the United States. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the country's largest utility, fell 2.04 percent to 2,395 yen as it suffers from a scandal over nuclear-reactor flaws. The government says it has evidence the company concocted inspection records in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Four top executives will retire, according to local reports, to take responsibility for the situation. (Full story) The yen is a little weaker at 118.46 to the U.S. dollar as the Asian trading day comes to an end. Taiwan off on tech earnings Taiwan stocks sold down hard, the Taiex closing off 2.53 percent at 4,644.58. Again, doubts about U.S. earnings were the driver. Screenmaker AU Optronics and contract chipmaker TSMC were some of the high profile stocks heading south, as the electronics index gave up 2.95 percent. Mitac International, a computer maker and supplier to Sun Microsystems, fell 4.43 percent to T$15.10. Laptop maker Quanta Computer fell the daily seven percent limit to T$71.00 after reporting a 17.6 percent full-year profit fall on Friday. Motherboard maker Asustek tumbled 6.06 percent to T$77.50 on a 47 percent profit decline reported the same time. Korea up almost as much South Korea gained almost as much as Taiwan gave up. The Kospi rose 2.12 percent to 751.98. Big-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics, up 2.72 percent to 340,000 won, attracted overseas investors. Cell-phone service SK Telecom outdid that, up 3.17 percent to 244,000 won. The government said it is mulling steps to ease the overheating housing market. The market showed no reaction to the destruction wrought in South Korea by a typhoon at the weekend. (Full story) Australia quiet ahead of Labor Day Australian stocks were the other main gainers in the Asia Pacific region, the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.35 percent to 3,131.0. But investors were largely waiting in the wings, given the lack of U.S. trade on Monday. News Corp. gained 1.4 percent to A$9.56, suggesting warming sentiment to U.S. stocks on Tuesday. Brewer Lion Nathan gained 3.3 percent to A$5.35 and hit a record high after buying New Zealand winemaker Wither Hills for NZ$52 million ($24 million). Miner Rio Tinto ended down 0.27 percent to A$32.56. Rio has a stake in the Grasberg gold and copper mine operated in Indonesia's Papua province by Freeport-McMoRan. Three people were killed there in an ambush at the weekend. New Zealand's Top 40 lost 0.14 percent to 2,057.78. Telecom New Zealand drifted 0.20 percent to NZ$5.05 after paying its dividend. Hong Kong telecoms down Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 1.46 percent at 9,896.98 on doubts about earnings. China Unicom dropped 5.22 percent to HK$5.45 ahead of its first-half earnings on Thursday. Investors said they preferred its larger rival, China Mobile, as growth in the market starts to slow. China Mobile fell 2.09 percent to HK$21.10. Fixed-line telecom and Internet play PCCW fell 5 percent to HK$1.33, its lowest level since the company bought Cable & Wireless Hongkong Telecom two years ago. Singapore's Straits Times index is down 1.4 percent at 1,467.65 in late trade. Chartered Semiconductor knocked the market with word of a $633 million rights issue. The dilutive effect to its stock has driven it down 23 percent to S$1.62. 9/2/2002 9:04:21 PM หัวข้อ:TIES WITH TAIWAN โดย:4202620029 Bangkok now ready to issue visa The Thai Trade and Economic Office in Taipei will tell Taiwan today that Bangkok is ready to issue a visa to its labour minister. The letter to be handed to the Taiwanese foreign ministry would stress that the problem was the result of miscommunication, Foreign Ministry spokesman Rathakit Manathat said. The Thai office had been unaware of the unauthorised invitation issued to Chen Chu, chairwoman of the Council of Labour Affairs, to witness the signing of a labour agreement in Phuket last week. Thailand at the last minute cancelled the invitation to the meeting, he said, fearful of a protest from Beijing since Bangkok has a one-China policy which limits official contact with Taipei to economic and trade matters. Taiwan protested and threatened to freeze or cut back the number of Thai workers in Taiwan, which now stands at 140,000. Mr Rathakit denied reports that the Foreign Ministry refused Ms Chen a visa. One would be issued to her to come and witness the signing of the labour agreement at a ``mutually convenient date''. 9/2/2002 10:36:40 PM หัวข้อ:TOT chief targets bureaucratic culture โดย:4202612778 TOT chief targets bureaucratic culture `Super Team' will map out reforms Komsan Tortermvasana TOT Corporation's president-designate says the company needs a major overhaul to achieve international standards and remain competitive. While the Telephone Organisation of Thailand was now TOT Corporation, a state agency culture still existed and needed to be eradicated, said Sittichai Songpiriyakit. Over 50 years, he said, the TOT had developed a complex hierarchy, bureaucratic procurement system and a lack of enthusiasm for new ways of thinking. Such characteristics were major obstacles to competitiveness and growth in the new environment, said Mr Sittichai, who was chosen this week by the TOT board to succeed Sutham Malila. Because the TOT was a state enterprise that consistently made profits and had no competition up until the last decade, its staff lacked enthusiasm, he said. Even naming a telephone exchange involved bureaucracy unheard of in the private sector. ``Would you believe it if I said that in the past, getting a name for a new telephone exchange involved seeking my advice? How can we compete if this situation remains?'' Mr Sittichai, currently a senior executive vice-president, said that under his presidency a new ``Super Team'' would be formed. The team would be selected from among vice-presidents and other executives responsible for various business units in order to make decision-making faster and more responsive. TOT Corp would emphasise decentralisation while the president himself would focus on long-term outcomes. Mr Sittichai also said the bureaucratic procurement system had to go. ``It is like a cancer that has eaten away at the TOT over the past 50 years.'' In the past, he said TOT officials would draw up detailed specifications that major suppliers found impossible to meet, leaving them shut out of the bidding process. Qualified companies entering the final stages of bids were mostly small suppliers with spotty track records, he said. ``Finally what TOT got were qualified suppliers but with poor quality equipment that could not function properly and that needed repairs.'' For example, he said, many people questioned why a relatively unknown supplier, Tatung, consistently won bids for public telephone projects. The revamped procurement process would be more flexible, while projected revenues must cover costs. Mr Sitthichai received an electrical engineering degree from Tohoku University, which was recently ranked as Asia's best engineering school by Newsweek. He has been working at TOT for 13 years. 9/2/2002 10:39:00 PM หัวข้อ:WTO ruling may sting but it's a good lesson for US โดย:4202680882 WTO ruling may sting but it's a good lesson for US Most US trade experts say the country gains more than it loses from free trade (NEW YORK) THE World Trade Organization's decision to impose by far the biggest trade penalty ever it approved on the US was all the more stinging because it was aimed at a country that routinely lectures the rest of the world on the need to open its markets. What made the verdict even more striking was that it came from an institution that would not exist if the US had not pushed relentlessly for its creation. The WTO in Geneva ruled on Friday that the European Union can impose up to US$4 billion in penalties on the US because its tax break for exporters amounts to an illegal subsidy under international law. Conservative critics charged that the panel had eroded American sovereignty and had stepped far outside its authority. 'The whole purpose of the WTO was to lead to the reduction of trade barriers,' said Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Washington. 'For the WTO to start commenting on whether US tax policy is acceptable is a huge expansion of its authority. You have to ask, where does it stop?' In truth, however, there is little doubt that the international panel was well within its rights. The American negotiators who hammered out the treaty that created the WTO wanted to make sure that it had the authority to attack all kinds of veiled protectionism: disguised government subsidies, health rules serving only as import barriers, trade preferences for favoured countries. The mantra for American leaders was to create a 'rules based' system that would be clear, binding and rigorously adjudicated by what amounted to an international court. 'I remember that we were criticised by the Europeans for having an overly legalistic approach,' said Thomas Niles, who was US ambassador to the European Union from 1989 to 1991. 'But we were interested in a dispute settlement system where if you won a case you got what you were after.' The US has got what it wanted more than once. In 1997, the WTO vindicated the US by striking down Europe's ban on beef from cattle injected with growth hormones. It was an explosive decision for Europe, because the ban reflected a widespread mistrust of artificial hormones. But the WTO ruled that the Europeans had not produced any evidence of health hazards from the beef, and that the ban was therefore an illegal trade barrier. Trade promotion authority One of the main reasons President George Bush abandoned his free-market principles on both farm subsidies and steel tariffs was that he needed votes in Congress to win approval of trade promotion authority, which allows the administration to negotiate trade deals and submit them to Congress for a simple yes or no vote. Even then, the House passed the bill by a mere three votes in July. 'There is not a lot of enthusiasm in the United States for trade liberalisation,' said Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Institute for International Economics in Washington. Mr Hufbauer, though critical of both the steel tariffs and the new farm subsidies, said Mr Bush might have made a wise compromise because the narrowly approved trade bill could ultimately open up more trade than the protectionist moves close down. But what about the immediate future? Is the United States at the mercy of a body it helped create? At least in part, yes. Some experts argue that the United States needs to learn that many of its own laws and practices fall well short of being a gold standard for openness. The WTO has ruled against the US in almost every case where it has tried to impose 'anti-dumping' tariffs on steel that was allegedly imported at below its real cost. The decision last week on taxes was more obscure but involved much bigger money. The international treaties underlying the trade organisation prohibit countries from offering tax breaks exclusively to exporters, because that amounts to a government subsidy for exports. Both the administration and Congress are now feverishly trying to rewrite the law so they can preserve the tax break without violating international law. But Congress has already made one attempt that the trade group rejected as inadequate. Though humbling, this may be a necessary learning process. Americans have become increasingly worried that free trade deals could jeopardise their jobs. But most American trade experts say it would be a mistake to turn away from the new system, because the US gains more than it loses from free trade. - NYT 9/3/2002 12:14:11 PM หัวข้อ:Sony sharpens focus on IT โดย:4202612380 Sony sharpens focus on IT Sony's Mr Tamura (right) and Mr Hirai show off Sony's Clie{AAC} personal digital assistants and Vaio notebook computers. Competition stiff in audio-visual field Sukanya Jitpleecheep Sony is preparing to seriously pursue a new market segment it has not tapped in Thailand _ information technology _ to augment its core consumer electronics business. Sony Thai Co, the local unit of Sony Corporation of Japan, said it intended to explore the new market opportunity, partly to offset the impact of tough competition in the audio-visual segment. Managing director Masahiro Tamura said the time was right to step up IT marketing in Thailand, five years after Sony entered the segment in Japan. The Japanese parent wants to be a market leader beyond audio-visual products. However, it has also been facing intense price competition in the audio-visual segment from Korean brands such as Samsung and LG. Demand for personal computers in Thailand has been growing steadily, with 603,544 units sold last year, compared with 513,041 the previous year, according to data compiled by International Data Corporation, an IT market research firm. PC sales are expected to increase by 29% to 748,474 units this year and to 857,290 next year. Sales of notebook computers are forecast at 108,070 units this year, a rise of 54% from last year. The figure is expected to increase to 126,000 next year. Sony will officially introduce its Sony Vaio notebook and Clie{AAC} personal digital assistant in the local market on Sept 23. ``Many people think of the personal computer as a box. But our Sony Vaio will change the industry trend because consumers can use our PC to explore entertainment services anytime and anywhere as it can link to other Sony devices and products,'' said Fumiatsu Hirai, general manager of Sony Thai. In Japan, Sony claims to be the leader in the three-million-unit notebook market with a 30% share. In Thailand, the company aims to sell at least 500 Vaio notebooks per month and about 1,000 units of its Clie{AAC} PDA per year. Mr Hirai said the Clie{AAC}, which uses the Palm operating system, could include a camera and also download music. Some models have been available in the local grey market, but without warranties. There are four Clie{AAC} models and two Vaio models available. The PDAs will be priced at between 14,000 and 28,000 baht each while the notebooks will retail for 100,000 baht and up. ``As our Vaio computer notebook can connect with all Sony products, sales of other Sony products should increase,'' said Mr Tamura. The company will spend about 70 million baht to promote the two new product lines between now and March. Sony expects first-year sales of the new IT products to contribute 20% of the company's total revenue locally. For the financial year ending next March 31, Sony Thai aims to generate 14 billion baht in sales, up from 12 billion baht in the previous year. The sales increase would come from the new IT business segment and also reflect the merger of the audio-visual maker Aiwa into Sony earlier this year. 9/3/2002 2:08:36 PM หัวข้อ:US manufacturing remains weak/BBCNews Tuesday, 3 September, 2002, 15:38 GMT 16:38 UK โดย:4202612588 The strength of the recovery in the US economy has been thrown into doubt by new data which showed that the manufacturing sector was growing at a sluggish rate. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of factory business conditions remained unchanged in August at 50.5. Because the figure was above 50 it suggested the sector was still growing, but the level of growth was lower than expected. "The number suggests the manufacturing part of the economy is expanding -- but at a very, very slow pace," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. And there was more bad news as the new orders index fell back and factory layoffs continued. "It's not making anybody happy about the economy," said Carey Leahey, senior US economist at Deutsche Bank Securities. "The new orders index, probably the most important component for the market at the moment, is down slightly which is a cause for concern in the months ahead," he said. Rate cuts ahead? The survey results added to the gloom on Wall Street, and by mid-morning the Dow Jones index had fallen by 246 points, or 2.8%, to 8,417. The worry is that the US economy, having only just climbed out of one recession, could fall back into another one - the so-called 'double dip' recession. Analysts said the manufacturing figure would add to pressure on the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in order to stimulate the economy. "It will keep the Fed on edge," said Jade Zelnik, chief economist at Greenwich Capital Markets. "It makes it all the more important we see consumer spending hold up." 9/4/2002 12:07:27 AM หัวข้อ:Japan stocks plunge to new depths/BBC news โดย:4202612588 Japan's stock market has plunged to new depths, despite the government's claims that the economy is recovering. The flagship Nikkei stock index lost 305 points - or 3.12% - to close at 9,217.04. That is its lowest close since September 1983, when it ended just one point below Tuesday's close. Firms which export goods to the US - such as Sony and Nissan - have been suffering from new fears over the state of the US economy. And that in turn has created more pressure on banks, which are threatened with bad debts if the flow of firms filing for bankruptcy increases. No buyers "Part of our weakness lies in concerns about the cloudy economic outlook in the US," said Masanori Hoshina, head of global portfolio marketing at BNP Paribas. "But the key problem is that there are still no signs of a sustainable economic recovery in Japan." There are also grave doubts over the ability of the Japanese economy to continue to pull itself out of a deep 15 year recession. And new data on Tuesday showed that Japan's tentative manufacturing industry faltered in August. "Market sentiment is absolutely awful right now," said Masaharu Sakudo, an adviser at Tachibana Securities. "Stocks look very cheap at these levels but nobody is ready to buy yet," he said. 9/4/2002 12:11:49 AM หัวข้อ:Bush reaches out to Congress on Iraq โดย:4202680023 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush plans to meet Wednesday with congressional leaders at the White House to discuss his administration's policy on Iraq, before articulating the policy on a world stage, senior advisers said Tuesday. In addition, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will meet Wednesday with senators on Capitol Hill -- at his request -- to discuss Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, told reporters. A senior administration official described the meetings as the beginning of a concerted White House effort to counter critics who say either that the president is in a rush toward a military confrontation or that the administration is sending confusing or conflicting signals about its policies and intentions. "We believe a lot of this is media-driven and exaggerated," the official said. "But that said, there is some confusion and a legitimate debate and over the next couple of weeks we think there is an opportunity to clarify some things." Secretary of State Colin Powell said Bush is consulting "widely" with his Cabinet and allies and could explain his position at a September 12 meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. "I think you will see that the president will pull all these threads together," Powell said. Powell was on his way to address the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, where many leaders have already taken the Bush administration to task for its repeated threats to attack Iraq. The administration official said senior members of the Bush national security team would be speaking out in the days leading up to Bush's U.N. speech. Powell acknowledged that the debate among administration officials is ongoing. "I see there are lots of differences. Some are real, some are perceived, some are over-hyped," Powell said. "There are lots of views in the administration, outside the administration, up on [Capitol] Hill, throughout the talk shows, the media and throughout the international community. The president is considering it all," he said. His comments followed an interview he made Sunday with the BBC in which he appeared to contradict comments Vice President Dick Cheney made in two tough speeches last week. (Full story) Rumsfeld dismisses Iraq overture Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Tuesday that Iraq is "ready to cooperate with the United Nations and we are ready to explain our position." Following a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Earth Summit, Aziz said his government was ready to consider the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. But he attached several conditions, including an end to international sanctions, an end to the "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq, and an end to the talk of war coming from Washington. (Full story) Rumsfeld said Tuesday he has seen such statements before. "It's a dance they engage in," he said. "They have, over a good many years, demonstrated a wonderful talent and skill at manipulating the media and international organizations in other countries." He said history has shown Iraq will withdraw such offers at the "last moment" and then go "back into their other mode of thumbing their nose at the international community." (Full story) Many senators skeptical Upon returning from their August break, many members of the Senate said they were skeptical about going to war with Iraq at this time. Asked if the Bush administration has been speaking with a coherent voice on Iraq, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott smiled and said, "I'd like a couple more days before I respond to that." Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, was less diplomatic, telling reporters he believes the "administration's position is very confusing." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, who just returned from meetings in Europe with International Atomic Energy Association officials and other European allies, said it would be a terrible mistake to attack Iraq. She called for intensified diplomatic efforts. "I think a unilateral attack on Iraq, with the circumstances I am aware at the present time, is a mistake," she said. "I think it is a mistake morally. I think it is a mistake politically. I think it will set into motion a series of events that most of us can not comprehend." Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, the Senate GOP policy chairman, also warned that attacking Iraq unilaterally would be "very risky" and the American public is "very nervous" over the prospect. "If I had to vote now for immediate action against Iraq, I'd vote no," Craig said. "We're not an aggressive, offensive nation," Craig told CNN. But Lott said Tuesday the question of U.S. military action against Iraq is about when -- not whether -- it will take place. New U.N. weapons inspections, he said, would probably be a "waste of time," echoing the comments made last week by Cheney. Although he does not think there is a constitutional requirement for Bush to come to Congress before military action, Lott said he is confident the president would do so. "I am absolutely satisfied that if we are going to have a major conflict again in Iraq, that Congress will be involved, that there will be time for a debate," Lott said. "I don't know that this is going to happen, but I expect that something specific would be asked of Congress before an overt action would occur, barring an emergency." A Democratic source said Bush "would almost without question" be able to win passage of a congressional resolution backing military confrontation with Iraq. "The question for them is, do they want a big vote or a not-so-big vote?" the source said. "If they want a big vote, it requires a lot of work and a lot of talking to a lot of people. If this meeting is the beginning of that, then good for them." Both administration and congressional sources said an issue that needed to be resolved is whether the administration would share intelligence information with congressional committees exploring Iraq policy. 'A welcome beginning' A senior Democratic congressional source said Wednesday's White House meeting was "a welcome beginning," but said it was still unclear how much information the president was prepared to share. An administration official pointed to a portion of Cheney's recent speeches in which he said Bush had instructed his national security team "to participate fully" in congressional hearings. "Fully to me seems to mean share what we know, but there can be problems with that," the official said. But this official and two senior congressional aides said they did not know whether that subject would be addressed in the Wednesday meeting at the White House. The Democratic source said that to date the White House has ignored opportunities to enlist Democratic help in making the case for regime change in Iraq. This source noted a speech several months ago in which House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt said he agreed with Bush on the need for regime change. "There was a golden moment to reach out, say thank you, and offer to work together to enlist support,'' this Democratic source said. "But they never reached out and have never talked to us about this." 9/4/2002 10:16:55 AM หัวข้อ:นายกฯระบุเศรษฐกิจไทยปีนี้เลวร้ายสุดจะโตถึงร้อยละ ๓.๒ ของจีดีพี โดย:4202680072 กระทรวงการคลัง ๓ ก.ย.- ทักษิณ ระบุ กระทรวงการคลังประเมินว่า เศรษฐกิจไทยในกรณีต้องเผชิญสิ่งที่เรียกว่าอยู่ในระดับเลวร้ายที่สุด เศรษฐกิจก็ยังจะเติบโตได้ถึงร้อยละ ๓.๒ ของจีดีพี แต่ถ้าปัจจัยต่าง ๆ ดำเนินไปตามภาวะปกติก็จะขยายตัวในระดับร้อยละ ๔ ของจีดีพี และถ้าทุกอย่างไปได้ เศรษฐกิจไทยอาจะโตขึ้นได้ถึงร้อยละ ๔.๕ ของจีดีพี พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร นายกรัฐมนตรีกกล่าวภายหลังการประชุมหัวหน้าส่วนราชการระดับปลัดกระทรวงที่กระทรวงการคลังว่า กระทรวงการคลังได้มีการจัดทำการวิเคราะห์ภาวะเศรษฐกิจโดยมีการตั้งแบบจำลองเกี่ยวกับเศรษฐกิจในสถานการณ์ต่าง ๆ ว่า หากเกิดขึ้นจะเกิดผลกระทบอย่างไร เช่น ราคาน้ำมัน ภาวะเศรษฐกิจโลกที่เปลี่ยนแปลง ซึ่งเป็นการประเมินตัวเลขเศรษฐกิจที่แตกต่างไปจากในอดีต จากการประเมินของกระทรวงการคลัง หากปัจจัยต่าง ๆ เลวร้ายแย่ที่สุดเศรษฐกิจไทย ก็ยังขยายตัวได้ในระดับร้อยละ ๓.๒ ของผลิตภัณฑ์มวลรวมภายในประเทศ(จีพีดี) แต่ถ้าปัจจัยต่าง ๆ ดำเนินไปตามภาวะปกติก็จะขยายตัวในระดับร้อยละ ๔ ของจีดีพี และถ้าทุกอย่างไปได้ดี รวมทั้งหากพิจารณาตัวเลขปัจจุบัน รวมถึงผลการจัดเก็บรายได้ การส่งออก เศรษฐกิจไทยอาจะโตได้ถึงร้อยละ ๔.๕ ของจีดีพี ซึ่งการทำประเมินเศรษฐกิจโดยใช้แบบจำลองต่าง ๆ นั้น จะทำให้ทราบถึงทิศทางการเปลี่ยนแปลงและผลกระทบที่จะเกิดขึ้นได้ชัดเจนกว่าในอดีต นายกรัฐมนตรี กล่าว นายกรัฐมนตรีกล่าวถึงการออกพันของรัฐบาลว่า ไม่น่าจะมีปัญหาอะไร และได้ให้หลักการไปแล้วว่า การออกพันธบัตรจะทำเพื่อรีไฟแนนซ์เพื่อลดต้นทุนทางการเงิน และน่าจะได้รับความสนใจจากตลาด เพราะช่วงนี้การลงทุนทีซบเซาเพราะนักลงทุนชะลอการลงทุนนั้น เนื่องจากความกังวลของตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐมากกว่า นายกรัฐมนตรี กล่าวถึงการปฎิรูประบบราชการว่า ในการประชุมคณะรัฐมนตรีในวันนี้(๓ ก.ย.) ได้กำชับรัฐมนตรีกระทรวงต่าง ๆ ให้เตรียมพร้อมรองรับการปฎิรูประบบราชการ ทั้งในเรื่องสถานที่ บุคลากรที่ถ่ายโอน ข้อกฎหมาย รวมทั้งการประชาสัมพันธ์ ให้ผู้ปฎิบัติงานรวมทั้งการประชาสัมพันธ์ให้ผู้ปฎิบัติงานและประชาชนได้รับทราบ ซึ่งทุกคนต่างก็รู้หน้าที่ของตนเองอยู่แล้ว ส่วนการการประชุมหัวหน้าส่วนราชการระดับปลัดกระทรวงที่กระทรวงการคลัง นายกรัฐมนตรี กล่าวว่า เป็นการพบปะกันเป็นประจำทุกเดือนหมุนเวียนไปแต่ละหน่วยงาน ซึ่งการประชุมครั้งนี้ เป็นการหารือกันในส่วนการรายงานความคืบหน้าการดำเนินงานของกระทรวงการคลัง และข้อเสนอแนะต่าง ๆ โดยในส่วนของข้อเสนอแนะได้ให้กระทรวงการคลังมีการจัดทำเว็บไซด์ ภายใต้ชื่อว่าwww.Thailandoutlook.com สำหรับเว็บไซด์นี้ จะเป็นที่รวบรวมข้อมูลเศรษฐกิจของกระทรวงการคลังและหน่วยงานต่าง ๆ เพื่อเปิดโอกาสให้นักลงทุนได้รับทราบข้อมูลอย่างตรงไปตรงมาเป็นการสร้างความเข้าใจกับนักลงทั่วโลกได้ชัดเจนขึ้น ซึ่งข้อมูลดังกล่าว บางส่วนเป็นข้อมูลทางวิชาการ ทำให้การรายงานข่าวทางสื่อมวลชนที่ผ่านมาอาจทำได้ไม่ครบถ้วน นายกรัฐมนตรี กล่าว 9/4/2002 1:57:39 PM หัวข้อ:Japan fair trade body investigates airline prices โดย:4202680072 TOKYO ะ Japanีs anti-monopoly watchdog said yesterday it was investigating airfare cuts by the nationีs three largest carriers to see if they amounted to unfair price-fixing. าWe are interested in whether the actions amount to monopolistic behaviour or unfair trade practices,า said Fair Trade Commission (FTC) official Naokazu Yokota. าWe are also looking at whether they have the effect of preventing new entrants.า SkyNetAsia began business at the beginning of last month with five round trips a day from Tokyo to Miyazaki, some 850 kilometers southwest of the capital. Its 21,000 yen (US$175) fare was about 10,000 yen cheaper than competitorsี regular prices. But last week, Japan Airlines (JAL) and merger partner Japan Air System (JAS), along with rival All Nippon Airways (ANA), said they would slash fares on the route by up to 21 percent to 18,500 yen from November. SkyNetAsia said the price competition would hurt. าWe foresaw some level of cuts, but this is much deeper than we expected,า said spokesman Isamu Nagai. าFrom a management point of view, things are going to become quite difficult.า Yokota said the rate cut inquiry would not affect its approval in April of the merger of JAL and JAS. JAL spokesman Geoffrey Tudor said the fare cut was just a reaction to the new competition. าHere we have a situation where a poorly performing route has had extra capacity dumped on it,า he said. าWe are trying to hang onto our market share. Itีs called competition.า Japanีs airline industry is dominated by the three major carriers. In June, Hokkaido International Airlines, better known as Air Do, collapsed with liabilities of about five billion yen. 9/4/2002 2:00:55 PM หัวข้อ:Asean experience put to use in private sector โดย:4202680437 Published on Sep 5, 2002 After a long and distinguished stint in academic and public affairs, regional economics expert Suthad Setboonsarng has launched a new career in the private sector with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the international consulting firm. "When I was deciding where to go after my term as Asean deputy secretary-general ended in 2000 - the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation or the Food and Agricultural Organisation - PWC approached me," he said. "I accepted their invitation as I |had worked with John Grice [his cur-rent boss] when I was at the Asean Secretariat, and here I can stay in Thailand and take care of my mom." As a PWC partner, Suthad advises top executives in both multinational and local corporations on how to comply with Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) rules - particularly on customs procedures - as well as Asean strategy. "Multinational firms stress com-|pliance with regulations. They want |to be a good corporate citizen where |everything can be checked," he said, adding that DaimlerChrysler and Isuzu are among his clients. Drawing on his experience at the Asean Secretariat, he urges the private and public sectors to pay more attention to what benefits the country can derive from Afta, and what strategy it should adopt to take advantage of the regional free-trade movement. In 1994, he was recruited to become the director of the Asean Secretariat's Economic Research Department - now its Afta unit - to oversee the implementation of the trade-liberalisation agreement. He played a significant role in pushing for the first meeting of Asean finance ministers, as well as the Chiang Mai Initiative to forge bilateral swap arrangements. With a diploma in economics from Thammasat University, Suthad went on to the University of Hawaii in Manoa for his masters and doctorate in economics. He returned to teach at his alma mater and was a researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute before joining the Asean administration. Even now in the private sector, his is preoccupied with regional economic matters as "Asean still has a lot to do". He serves on several committees and organisations promoting the Asean mission - Asean Business Development, the Institute of Fiscal Policy Research, the Asean-China Free Trade Area, and the China-Thailand Free Trade Area. Naranart Phuangkanok 9/5/2002 8:47:13 AM หัวข้อ:Back-To-School Not So Cool for Retailers โดย:4202611515 Back-To-School Not So Cool for Retailers: Wed Sep 4, 7:02 PM ET By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kids are headed back to school for a new year, but with parents worried about their jobs, the children might be wearing the same old clothes. A barrage of ads featuring this year's new styles failed to boost sales at U.S. chain stores, which according to two reports published on Wednesday, slipped in August. Uneasy about the nation's faltering economic rebound, consumers appear to have held off on major back-to-school shopping sprees. Sales at U.S. chain stores fell 1.7 percent over the four weeks of August, according to Instinet Research's weekly Redbook report, with department stores hurting most as parents clamped down on new clothing purchases. During the last week of the month, sales rose a modest 0.5 percent following three straight weekly declines capped by a 0.3 percent drop in the preceding week. The rise offered some hope for queasy retailers, but it may be too little too late, according to analysts, who are also concerned the holiday sales season may turn out even worse. "The slow start to back-to-school means you're not going to get a gangbuster season," said Mike Niemira, senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. Lingering job concerns are making consumers cautious, and analysts said the absence of a clear horizon for a return to strong economic growth is taking a toll on consumer spending. That spells bad news for retailers, for whom August is historically the third most important sales month of the year, behind December and November. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and is widely viewed as a reasonable gauge of the nation's financial health. Car and home sales have raced ahead at a robust clip recently, lifting overall consumer spending. Auto manufacturers on Wednesday reported booming August sales buoyed by financing promotions. General Motors said sales grew a staggering 18.2 percent compared with the same month last year. In the chain store sector, discounters like Wal-Mart and Target have benefited from bargain hunting, a prevalent trend expected to continue even after U.S. economic growth resumes in force. "Back-to-school sales have not been meeting expectations," the Redbook report said, adding that retailers had reported "slippage in department store sales growth." The bulk of U.S. chain stores are expected to report August sales on Thursday, but a number of outlets began releasing results on Wednesday, showing a clear gap between discounters and department stores. Discount chain Family Dollar Stores Inc. said sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, rose 2.2 percent in August. Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp. said August sales at stores open at least a year fell 7.6 percent, while luxury retailer Nordstrom said it posted a meager 0.2 percent rise in sales. Casual apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc. on Wednesday posted a 5 percent drop in August sales at stores open at least a year and said third-quarter earnings may miss Wall Street estimates if the comparable-store sales trend experienced in August continues for the rest of the quarter. Factory 2-U Stores Inc., an off-price apparel retailer, said August same-store sales fell 10.7 percent from last year, due to weak men's business and back-to-school sales. WORST YET TO COME? Things could get worse before they get better, analysts say. Back-to-school sales encompass some essential items like books and stationery. Year-end holiday shopping is, for the most part, discretionary. Frank Badillo, a senior retail economist at Retail Forward, an industry research firm in Columbus, Ohio, reckons that the back-to-school season could actually end up looking rosy if the holiday sales period turns out badly. "Because a lot of the back-to-school spending is not discretionary, it's just got to be made," Badillo said. "I think the pace of consumer spending in retail sales is going to slow into the holiday." The Bank-of-Tokyo Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg's Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is compiled from seven major discount, department and chain stores across the country that report their weekly results. The Redbook Retail Sales Average, released weekly by Instinet Research, is a sales-weighted average of annual growth in same-store sales at discount, department and chain stores. 9/5/2002 1:10:29 PM หัวข้อ:Dollar Flat in Asia, Pessimism Remains โดย:4202681773 Dollar Flat in Asia, Pessimism Remains: Thu Sep 5,12:22 AM ET By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar saw little movement in Asia on Thursday morning amid mind-numbing uncertainty over the global economy and financial markets that left most dealers at a loss which way to bet. "I think we are at a watershed where bulls and bears are competing," said Toshiyuki Aoyagi, foreign exchange manager at Nissho Iwai Corp. Dollar sentiment remains shaky despite a 1.4 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday after five consecutive losing sessions, dealers said. On the other hand, the mood for the yen was similarly depressed, with a recovery in Nikkei average on Thursday from a 19-month low doing little to allay concerns about the Japanese economy. With dealers unable to decide which currency was less attractive than the other, rates stayed stuck in a tight range. As of 11:10 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the dollar was quoted at 118.04/09 yen little changed from its late New York levels around 117.97/05. That is near the middle of the dollar's recent band between 121.37 and 115.50, and seems a comfortable place for it for now, dealers said. The euro was also calm at 99.26/29 cents compared to 99.15/20 in late U.S. trade. It was steady against the yen at 117.04/13 yen ISM INDICES The dollar was overshadowed by lingering worries over the U.S. economy, ahead of the release of the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index for August. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect the index, due at 10 a.m. EDT, to rise slightly to 53.6 from 53.1 in July. A reading above 50 indicates improving conditions, while a number below 50 points to a weakening environment. Still, dealers are mindful that the institute's other big report, covering the manufacturing sector, came in weaker than expected on Tuesday, pushing down the dollar and U.S. share prices. The market is also bracing for U.S. employment data due on Friday. Economists expect payrolls to have risen by 37,000 jobs in August after an increase of 6,000 in July. Because consumption has been holding up the otherwise weak U.S. economy, many dealers are worried a deterioration in employment would depress consumption and deal a final blow to the economy. "The U.S. economy could be in trouble if the employment situation is not good," said a dealer at a trust bank. BOOK-CLOSING But dealers also said a weakening in the U.S. economy was likely to hurt other economies, notably Japan, which relies on exports for its fragile recovery. "At the start of this year, people were expecting a U.S.-led recovery in Japan. Now we could face a U.S.-led recession," said the trust bank dealer. Japanese shares' recent poor performances has also damaged Japanese banks, which hold a large amount of stocks. "If the Nikkei is below 9,000, Japanese financial institutions will be in trouble ahead of book-closings at the end of September," said Kota Kimura, assistant manager at Shinkin Central Bank. Given all the problems in the U.S. and Japan, the euro looked slightly more attractive than the dollar and the yen, some dealers said. But others were skeptical, saying there are many signs that European economies have been also suffering from the recent downturn in the global economy. Many dealers expect the major currencies to remain range-bound for the time being, given uncertainty over the world economy. Some also said any improvement in the U.S. economy could be countered by worries about Washington's possible war plan against Iraq. Against the yen, the dollar could be also capped by repatriation by Japanese investors ahead of September-end book-closing, they added. 9/5/2002 1:11:50 PM หัวข้อ:P&G boosts forecast โดย:4202612646 Household products maker cites Clairol acquisition, health care sales for improved showing. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Household products maker Procter & Gamble raised its sales and earnings estimates for the current quarter Thursday, crediting the acquisition of Clairol, strong growth in the health care products unit, and improved performance in developing nations. P&G said it now expects earnings for the September quarter, excluding restructuring charges, to grow in the mid-teens range. Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call expect a profit of $1.09 a share for the quarter, which is 13 cents better than the 96 cents a share it earned a year earlier. The company's sales expectations, excluding the impact of overseas currency transactions, foresee an increase in the high single-digit percent range for the quarter. Wall Street expects a 2.4 percent sales increase, according to First Call. P&G said it expects double-digit sales volume growth in the quarter thanks to the Clairol acquisition, strong performance by the health care business unit, and continued strength in developing markets. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, the company expects volume to grow in the high single-digits. However, the company left fiscal 2003 guidance unchanged from previous forecasts. Wall Street is looking for full-year earnings of $3.95 a share, according to First Call. Sales, excluding negative currency transactions, are expected to grow 4-to-6 percent for the year. 9/5/2002 9:09:42 PM หัวข้อ:US and UK shares keep falling โดย:4202681013 Shares in New York moved sharply lower on Thursday afternoon because of fears about the strength of any economic recovery. Sales figures from the retail giant Wal-Mart suggested that spending was weak. Within 15 minutes of opening, the Dow Jones index was down 133 points a 8,291. Stocks in London and the other European markets had already fallen because of worries about the economy and the situation in the Middle East. By mid-afternoon the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 69 points at 3,957. News that the Bank of England had kept interest rates on hold at 4% for the tenth month, was widely expected and did little to boost UK shares. Gloomy outlook Martin Dobson, a trader at NatWest Stockbrokers, said talk of war had unsettled investors even further. "There's a mood of complete uncertainty about the potential damage to the economy," he said. Leading the fallers in London were insurance groups, with Swiss group Zurich Financial reporting heavy losses and cutting 4,500 jobs. Aviva lost 6% and Prudential dropped 5%. Prudential was also hit by its admission that it was cutting bonus payments on its with-profits policies. A raft of results provided little cheer, with drinks giant Diageo, the maker of Smirnoff vodka and Guinness, warning that the year ahead would be tough. The news compounded the unhealthy picture created by the CBI and Halifax on Wednesday. The CBI reported the slowest High Street spending in two years and said: "The global economic recovery is in danger of losing momentum". Europe-wide slump Elsewhere in Europe, the picture was little better. German manufacturing orders for July were well below analysts' forecasts and results from chipmaker Infineon included a cautious outlook. By mid-afternoon the Dax 30 was 82 points lower at 3,343 points. But France Telecom shares lost almost 9% following a report in the newspaper La Tribune that it would soon report a record loss. The Cac-40 index in Paris was down 65 points at 3,104 points by lunchtime. No respite Economists say the relentless flow of bad news is hitting consumer sentiment across Europe. Andy Hartwill, global strategist at SG Hambros, said: "In late August, investors' perceptions changed from the glass being half full to the glass being half empty". The mood was not helped by a European Commission, warning it might reduce estimates for economic growth during 2002, amid fears the tension with Iraq could boost oil prices. 9/5/2002 10:12:27 PM หัวข้อ:North Korea welcomes foreign money โดย:4202612208 North Korea has announced that it will open up its companies to more foreign investment, as part of a new policy to liberalise its economy. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) said that it would now allow foreign investors to take stakes in Korean companies of more than 50%. "In the case of joint ventures, foreign companies could take only up to 50% of stake in the past, but now there is no problem if their stake goes above the level," Kotra said, quoting North Korea's vice trade minister Kim Yong-sul. The country is hoping that the rule change will encourage Japanese and South Korean businesses to take a greater stake in the North Korean economy. Economic sea-change In the past few months, North Korea has devalued its currency and abolished a convertible version of the won used in transactions with foreigners. The country has also raised prices and wages, and placed more emphasis upon companies being profitable. Changes to the foreign ownership rules were explained at a conference in Tokyo, which was attended by about 50 Japanese businessmen. "The measure is an effort by Pyongyang to expand trade and business with other countries," Kim Sang-shik, a Kotra official, said. He added that North Korea had attracted $120m (ฃ76.7m) of foreign investment to a special trade zone at the end of 2000 - more recent figures were unavailable. Socialist profits The new economic policies aim to wean factories and companies in North Korea off state subsidies and become self-sustained. North Korea's planned economy has been in place since the communist state came into being in 1947. People in the country have been afflicted by droughts and numerous natural disasters, acerbated by an inefficient economy. The economy grew by 3.7% in 2001, after a 1.4% expansion the previous year, according to estimates from the Bank of Korea - the South Korean central bank. Following the ownership rule change, Kotra said it expected more South Korean companies to take stakes in companies across the border. Trade between the two neighbouring countries increased by 8.9% year-on-year to $215m in the first half of this year. Plans to build railway and road links between the two Koreas were agreed last month. 9/5/2002 11:15:26 PM << End of file >>
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