Sun, Jul 29, 2007 page11

• Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ Foodstuffs

  Metal-laced bread recalled

  Sara Lee Corp is recalling 27 brands of whole wheat bread products because they could contain small metal pieces, the company said on Friday. A recent routine inspection of a bakery in Meridian, Mississippi, uncovered problems with a flour-sifting screen, company spokesman Mark Goldman said. The machine was "not up to our specification and raised the possibility some metal could have dislodged," Goldman said. The problem was isolated to the Meridian bakery, which continued production using bagged flour that did not require the sifting system, Goldman said.

  ■ Publishing

  Trustee opposes News bid

  A key trustee of the Bancroft family, the controlling shareholders of Dow Jones & Co, is planning to vote against a deal to sell the company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday. A trust based in Denver, which controls 9.1 percent of the company's voting stock, has decided to vote against the deal, the Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Also opposed to the sale is a union representing Journal reporters and Jim Ottaway Jr, a former Dow Jones director whose family has 7 percent of Dow Jones' shareholder vote.

  ■ Economy

  Thailand urges cooperation

  Thailand, the epicenter of the 1997 economic crisis, yesterday called for global cooperation to cope with financial volatility following a regional stock sell-off sparked by Wall Street losses. Speaking a day after the Thai stock tumbled more than 2 percent, Thai Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said the world should boost efforts in tackling volatilities in the stock and currency markets. Chalongphob said Thailand had capital inflows worth more than US$1 billion last month alone. "This inflow has really tested the ability of the authorities to manage the exchange rates," the former World Bank economist said at a central bank conference in Bangkok.

  ■ Automakers

  Bernhard to chair Chrysler

  Wolfgang Bernhard, a senior adviser to Cerberus Capital Management LP, will return to Chrysler to become chairman of the automaker's board of directors once its sale to the private equity firm is completed, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday. The likely date of the sale's closure is Aug. 3, said the person, who spoke on condition of not being identified by name. The person also said that current Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda would remain in his current position and control day-to-day decisionmaking. The Bernhard appointment was also reported by German magazine Manager, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Detroit News.

  ■ Foreign Exchange

  Yuan should rise: official

  China needs to allow its currency to appreciate to prevent the economy from overheating, said Xia Bin (夏斌), director of the financial research department of the State Council, or Cabinet. "China should continue foreign-exchange reform whether or not there is pressure from the US," Xia said during the Tsinghua Grand Financial Classroom National Tour, a conference at the Tsinghua University in Beijing. "The yuan should appreciate to the proper level as soon as possible," he said. Xia didn't specify what the proper level is. China's central bank increased key interest rates by 27 basis points and the government cut the tax on interest income to 5 percent from 20 percent on July 20.
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