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| With Time Warner Cable bid, Malone aims to be king of consolidation Monday, Jan 13, 2014 08:00 PM PST  By Ronald Grover and Liana B. Baker LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Known as "The King of Cable" after he built a small Denver cable company into the nation's largest system in the 1980s, John Malone aims to become the king of consolidation in the same industry once again. Charter Communications , in which Malone's Liberty Media holds a 27 percent stake, offered on Monday to pay $37.3 billion in cash and Charter stock to buy Time Warner Cable , merging the fourth-largest U.S. cable company with the second-largest and likely setting off more combinations within the $98 billion cable industry. Time Warner Cable's board rejected the offer. That would give Charter more size to undercut telecom companies in the lucrative data service market. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers unveil $1.1 trillion spending bill, no Obamacare increase Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:54 PM PST  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiators in the U.S. Congress on Monday unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that aims to prevent another government shutdown while boosting funding levels slightly for military and domestic programs - but not for "Obamacare" health reforms. With a deadline looming at midnight Wednesday for new spending authority, lawmakers will still need a three-day stop-gap funding extension to ensure enough time for passage of the spending bill this week. The measure eases across-the-board spending cuts by providing an extra $45 billion for military and domestic discretionary programs for fiscal 2014, to a total of $1.012 trillion. The shutdown was prompted largely by disputes over funding for "Obamacare" health insurance reforms. Full Story | Top |
| Japanese stocks tumble as yen hits four-week high Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:16 PM PST  By Dominic Lau TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares came under pressure on Tuesday, with Japanese stocks tumbling more than 2 percent as the yen hit a four-week high against the dollar after last week's surprisingly weak jobs report raised concerns about the U.S. growth outlook. Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark shed 2.1 percent, hitting a one-month low as investors there caught up to the fallout from the nonfarm payroll report following Monday's public holiday in Japan. While the weak U.S. jobs report raised doubts about how quickly the Federal Reserve would scale back its stimulus, it also stoked concerns about the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy. The announcement of a $13.6 billion deal by Japan's Suntory Holdings Ltd to buy U.S. spirits company Beam Inc may offer some support to the dollar versus the yen. Full Story | Top |
| Michael Douglas wants to surprise audiences with Marvel's 'Ant-Man' Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:12 PM PST  By Mary Milliken LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After throwing audiences a curveball by playing flamboyant pianist Liberace, leading man Michael Douglas is ready to make another unconventional career choice, this time playing scientist Hank Pym in Marvel superhero film "Ant-Man." Disney-owned Marvel said on Monday that Douglas, 69, will play Henry 'Hank' Pym, the creator of the technology to shrink a human to the size of an insect and thus become Ant-Man. "Anchorman" star Paul Rudd, 44, will play Scott Lang, the alter-ego of the diminutive Marvel superhero. "I've been dying to do a Marvel picture for so long," Douglas told Reuters on Monday. He'll have a picture he can see." Pym's character first appeared in the 27th issue of Marvel Comics series "Tales to Astonish" in January 1962. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a statement posted on Marvel.com that Douglas will play Pym with "charm and fortitude." Douglas, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 1988 for Oliver Stone's financial drama "Wall Street" and picked up a Golden Globe award on Sunday for his turn as Liberace in HBO movie "Behind the Candelabra," is taking a rare step into the world of big-budget franchise action films. Full Story | Top |
| House Democrats request probe into Target card breach Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:07 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball and Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers called on Monday for a congressional inquiry into the hacking of credit and debit card data of tens of millions of customers of No. 3 U.S. retailer Target Corp during the holiday shopping season. Target has said a breach of its networks resulted in the theft of about 40 million credit and debit card records and 70 million other records with customer information. In a letter to Jeb Hensarling, the committee's Republican chairman, 17 committee Democrats, led by ranking member Maxine Waters, asked for a "full Financial Services Committee hearing." The letter said a hearing should review current consumer protection laws and determine what could be done to ensure the future security of consumers' card information. Hensarling said in a statement on Monday night that "Americans have a right to expect that the personal information they turn over to private companies and government agencies will be protected and kept secure from loss, unauthorized access or misuse." "The House Financial Services Committee has held, and will continue to hold, hearings on the security of information collected by these agencies and financial institutions and will continue to press for accountability of all those who collect personal consumer data," Hensarling added. Full Story | Top |
| New York bears down on patent trolls, settles with Delaware firm Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:57 PM PST  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's attorney general has reached a civil settlement that bars a Delaware firm from using what he called "deceptive" means to get businesses to pay money for patent licenses. The settlement with MPHJ Technology Investments LLC heralds what the attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, called new guidelines to assure that so-called "patent trolls" do not use improper tactics. Also known as "patent assertion entities," patent trolls try to extract licensing fees or file infringement lawsuits that some critics view as frivolous. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters target ministries, threaten bourse Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:39 PM PST  By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters trying to topple Thailand's government said they would tighten the blockade around ministries on Tuesday and a hardline faction threatened to storm the stock exchange, while many major intersections in the capital Bangkok remained blocked. The turmoil is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier who was ousted by the military in 2006. Many ministries and the central bank were forced to work from back-up offices on Monday after protesters led by Suthep Thaugsuban stopped civil servants getting to work. "We must surround government buildings, closing them in the morning and leaving in the afternoon," Suthep told supporters late on Monday, urging them to do that every day until Yingluck steps down. Full Story | Top |
| Globalive's Wind Mobile withdraws from Canada wireless auction Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:30 PM PST  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Globalive's Wind Mobile has withdrawn from a major Canadian auction of wireless spectrum, dealing a blow to government efforts to spur competition and boosting the prospects of the three big players that dominate the country's telecom sector. Wind, a recent entrant to the Canadian market, on Monday said it quit the auction due to start the next day after its main backer, Europe' Vimpelcom Ltd , decided not to fund its participation. The move all but assures that the country's biggest telecommunications providers, BCE Inc's Bell, Rogers Communications Inc and Telus Corp - will take the lion's share of the prized spectrum at a lower price than they might have otherwise expected to pay. Canada's Conservative government had hoped the auction would support its broader strategy of having four strong mobile phone service providers in every region of the country, fighting for consumers and lowering prices in the process. Full Story | Top |
| Acquisitions help boost Cogeco Cable profit Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:19 PM PST (Reuters) - Cogeco Cable Inc , a Canadian provider of cable TV and internet and phone services, reported an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by recent acquisitions. Cogeco Cable acquired U.S. cable company Atlantic Broadband and Canadian data centers operator Peer 1 Network Enterprises Inc in 2012. The company said the acquisitions, completed at the end of the first quarter and second quarter of the fiscal year ended August, and increased rates for its Canadian cable services, helped push revenue up 44.9 percent to C$475 million ($437.16 million) in the first quarter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Charter takes rejected Time Warner Cable bid to investors Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:56 PM PST  By Liana B. Baker and Nicola Leske NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc on Monday formally offered to acquire larger rival Time Warner Cable for $37.3 billion, sparking what is likely to be a contentious battle for control of the No. 2 U.S. cable operator. Charter, the No. 4 cable operator, proposed paying $132.50 per share - barely higher than where Time Warner Cable shares closed on Monday - consisting of around $83 per share in cash and its own stock. Malone's Liberty Media Corp owns 27 percent of Charter. Time Warner Cable shareholders would get 45 percent ownership in the combined company. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge tosses bankers' suit over rules to fight tax-dodging Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:55 PM PST By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a win for the Obama administration's fight against offshore tax evasion, a U.S. federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit challenging new rules forcing U.S. banks to tell the Internal Revenue Service about certain accounts held by foreigners. Bank industry lobbying groups in Texas and Florida in April challenged the U.S. rules in a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and the IRS, saying the rules were burdensome and would discourage U.S. foreign investment. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in a 23-page opinion, dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the new rules "would cause minimal burden to banks and their customers." Written in 2012, the rule would require disclosure by U.S. banks of information about accounts held by non-resident aliens that earn at least $10 of interest per year. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: FBI suspects front running of Fannie, Freddie in swaps market Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:51 PM PST  Wall Street traders may be manipulating a key derivatives market and front running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, hurting the US-owned mortgage giants in the process, according to an FBI intelligence bulletin reviewed by Reuters. Using what Federal Bureau of Investigation agents described as "unsophisticated tradecraft," such as hand signals and special telephone ring tones, some traders are conspiring to rig rates on large orders submitted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , or front running them in the interest rate swaps market, the document says. The FBI said in the bulletin that the information came from a former high-level employee at a U.S. bank and an employee at a Canadian Bank, plus interviews with other bank workers conducted in 2012 and 2013. The former high-level employee at the U.S. bank estimated the front running had resulted in profits of $50 million to $100 million for the bank, the FBI said. Full Story | Top |
| Penis pumps cost U.S. government millions, watchdog cries waste Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:26 PM PST Penis pumps cost the U.S. government's Medicare program $172 million between 2006 and 2011, about twice as much as the consumer would have paid at the retail level, according to a government watchdog's report released on Monday. The report by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services said Medicare, the government health insurance system for seniors, paid nearly 474,000 claims for vacuum erection systems, or VES, totaling about $172.4 million from 2006 to 2011. According to the Mayo Clinic, penis pumps are one of a few treatment options for erectile dysfunction. "Medicare payment amounts for VES remain grossly excessive compared with the amounts that non-Medicare payers pay," said the report, dated December 2013. Full Story | Top |
| Google gains entry to home and prized team with $3.2 billion Nest deal Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:15 PM PST  By Alexei Oreskovic and Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc took its biggest step to go deeper into consumers' homes, announcing a $3.2 billion deal to buy smart thermostat and smoke alarm-maker Nest Labs Inc, scooping up a promising line of products and a prized design team led by the "godfather" of the iPod. Nest will continue to operate as its own distinct brand after the all-cash deal closes, Google said on Monday. The deal is the second largest in Google's history after the $12.5 billion acquisition of mobile phone maker Motorola in 2012. Like the Motorola deal, which marked Google's first major foray into hardware, the Nest acquisition gives Google a stepping stone into an important new market at a time when consumer appliances and Internet services are increasingly merging. Full Story | Top |
| 'New' GM has old problem: stagnant U.S. market share Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:10 PM PST  By Ben Klayman and Paul Ingrassia DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co has much to celebrate at this year's Detroit auto show, the first since 2009 that the company is not partly owned by the U.S. government. Last month, it named its first female CEO and automotive writers on Monday voted the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Silverado as car and truck of the year, respectively. Yet the "new" GM remains bedeviled by a decades-old problem: stagnant or sliding share of sales in its home market. GM has launched new products to replace 70 percent of its U.S. sales volume since 2011. Full Story | Top |
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