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| Macy, Penney to wrap up trial on Martha Stewart home goods dispute Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:07 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax and Phil Wahba NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York state judge could decide as soon as Thursday whether J.C. Penney Co Inc can sell certain Martha Stewart-branded home goods despite rival Macy's Inc's exclusive deal with the doyenne of U.S. home decor. The two department store chains are scheduled to give closing arguments Thursday morning, more than three months after testimony ended in the non-jury trial before Justice Jeffrey Oing in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. He could render his verdict from the bench following summations or issue a decision in coming days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Mortgage bond sell-offs hit U.S. banks with big losses Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:06 PM PDT By Peter Rudegeair, Carrick Mollenkamp and Cezary Podkul (Reuters) - U.S. banks, who had little choice in recent years but to use deposits to buy super safe mortgage bonds, are now getting an unpleasant taste of the risks. On Wednesday, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based BOK Financial , which had nearly a third of its $27.5 billion in assets invested in mortgage bonds earlier this year, saw paper profits from the portfolio drop. It said net unrealized gains on agency mortgage bonds fell 66 percent to $70 million in the second quarter compared to the previous three month period. ... Full Story | Top |
| Goldman blinks but no relief for Wall Street's commodity traders Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:05 PM PDT  By David Sheppard and Susan Thomas NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' effort to diffuse intensifying pressure over its commodity business by throwing open its metal warehouse doors likely comes too late to head off further scrutiny of Wall Street's commodity trade. Two weeks of escalating criticism of banks that own commodity assets and trade raw materials has shaken executives and the industry, with little sign of the pressure relenting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bus strike to snarl commute for some workers in Phoenix area Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:37 PM PDT By Tim Gaynor PHOENIX (Reuters) - Transit officials warned thousands of Phoenix area commuters to make alternative rush-hour travel plans because of a bus strike that will start on Thursday after contract talks between union drivers and management collapsed. Some 40 bus lines serving the Arizona cities of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe will be idled by the walkout, along with some routes through Phoenix itself and Scottsdale. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Alibaba bans customers from using Tencent's WeChat Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:26 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group, whose expected IPO could value the e-commerce company as high as $100 billion, has banned its customers from using Tencent Holdings' popular WeChat mobile messaging app to do business on Alibaba sites like Tmall and Taobao. Some merchants have been using WeChat to directly communicate with customers and encourage them to do business outside of Alibaba's transaction systems, Alibaba Group said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| For $50,000, a floating hotel room in Denver's skyline is yours Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:24 PM PDT By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - If being a mile above sea level is not high enough for visitors to Denver, guests at one hotel can pay a cool $50,000 to get an additional 22-foot (7-meter) boost in an inflatable room hoisted into the downtown skyline. Perched atop a mechanical scissor lift affixed to the roof of a van parked outside the Curtis Hotel in downtown Denver, "the world's only floating pop-up hotel" is a small but fully functional guest room, according to hotel promotional material. The 5-foot-by-7-foot (1.5-meter-by-2. ... Full Story | Top |
| China HSBC PMI dips to 11-month low in July Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:20 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for a third straight month in July to its lowest level in nearly a year as new orders fell, a private survey showed on Thursday, signaling the persistent pressure on the economy has extended into the third quarter. The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit Economics Research, fell to 47.7 in July from June's 48.2. It was the weakest reading since August 2012, and matched a preliminary figure published last week. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction of activity while one above shows expansion. ... Full Story | Top |
| BoE readies guidance push, under wraps for now Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:04 PM PDT  By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England and its new governor Mark Carney will put the finishing touches to a fresh approach to nurturing Britain's nascent economic recovery on Thursday, when the central bank wraps up a policy meeting. But financial markets will probably have wait a few more days before getting details of the long-awaited steer on how long interest rates are likely to stay at their record low. At his Bank first policy meeting nearly a month ago, Carney surprised investors with a warning that they were pricing in a rate hike too soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suncor operating profit misses analyst expectations Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:46 PM PDT (Reuters) - Canada's Suncor Energy Inc posted a second-quarter profit that missed analyst expectations by a penny as earnings were affected by factors including the precautionary shutdown of third-party pipelines due to flooding in northern Alberta. Net income for the quarter was C$680 million ($661.5 million), or 45 Canadian cents per share, up from C$324 million, or 21 Canadian cents, in the second-quarter of 2012, Canada's largest oil and gas company said late on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple CEO met China Mobile head, discussed cooperation Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:23 PM PDT  By Paul Carsten and Lee Chyen Yee BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday met with the head of China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers and the only Chinese carrier that doesn't offer iPhones and iPads. The meeting with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua in Beijing was to discuss matters of cooperation, the Chinese firm told Reuters in an emailed statement. It gave no further details. The talks could pave the way for a long-awaited deal for China Mobile to distribute Apple products on its vast network, benefiting both companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Government requests for Twitter users' data on the rise Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:16 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter is under increasing pressure from governments around the world to release user's private information, with requests rising 40 percent in the first six months of the year, the microblogging company said Wednesday in its semi-annual transparency report. The United States made three-quarters of the 1,157 data requests during the six-month period, according to the San Francisco-based company's report. (Report: https://transparency.twitter.com/) Governments usually want the emails or IP addresses tied to a Twitter account. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Steel's locked-out Canada workers reject contract proposal Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:06 PM PDT By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - Workers locked out at United States Steel Corp's Lake Erie works in Canada have voted to reject the steelmaker's contract proposal, their union said on Wednesday. The vote is likely to extend a labor dispute that has shut down raw steel production at the Ontario mill, weighing on U.S. Steel's financial results. United Steelworkers Local 8782 President Bill Ferguson said 71 percent voted against the contract proposal, which had not been endorsed by the union. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Some Dell swing shareholders ready to compromise: sources Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 06:53 PM PDT  By Nadia Damouni, Nicola Leske and Greg Roumeliotis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some of Dell Inc's largest investors who have abstained from voting on a $24.4 billion bid led by founder Michael Dell to take the No. 3 PC-maker private told the company's board this week that they would back the deal at the buyout group's latest offer price, three sources close to the matter said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple fixing bug that allows fake charging stations to hack iPhones Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 06:51 PM PDT  By Jim Finkle LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Apple Inc's next software update for its iPhones and iPads will fix a security flaw that allows hackers to engage in spying and cyber crimes when the victim connects the device to a fake charging station, the company said on Wednesday. Apple's devices are vulnerable to attacks until the company releases its iOS 7 software update, which is slated for this fall. ... Full Story | Top |
| Investors look to ECB for guidance as economy perks up Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 06:16 PM PDT  By Paul Carrel FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Signs of a tentative euro zone recovery are easing pressure on the European Central Bank to take fresh policy action and on Thursday it will emphasise its message that interest rates are on hold for an extended period. Stronger economic reports in the past few days support the ECB's expectations of a recovery later this year, though the policy options are complicated by market responses to the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to slow its economic stimulus programme. ... Full Story | Top |
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