UNITED STATES
Consumer sentiment drops
Consumer sentiment cooled again this month to its lowest level in seven months as people took a dim view of their finances and job prospects, a survey released on Friday showed. Separately, producer prices rose only slightly last month as energy costs dropped, suggesting inflation pressures remain muted and leaving the door open for more easing by the Federal Reserve. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment fell to 72.0 from 73.2 last month, frustrating economists’ expectations for a slight gain to 73.4. It was the lowest level since December last year.
EUROPE
Euro flawed, Buffett says
Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said he did not think the eurozone could survive in its current form unless all 17 countries involved can agree on monetary policies. Buffett said the system Europe set up had a fundamental flaw in it. Buffett appeared on Bloomberg TV on Friday. Buffett said the 17 countries that share the euro currency have been working to patch their system, but it was difficult to agree when 17 members are involved.
ITALY
Borrowing costs cut
Italian banks came to the rescue on Friday after the country suffered a ratings downgrade, but while Rome cut its three-year borrowing costs at auction, a rise in 10-year bond yields highlighted concern it may fall victim to Europe’s debt crisis. Moody’s cut Italy’s sovereign debt rating to “Baa2” on Friday, citing doubts over Italy’s long-term resolve to push through much-needed reforms and saying persistent worries about Spain and Greece were increasing its liquidity risks. Solid domestic demand helped the Italian Treasury sell the top planned amount of 5.25 billion euros (US$6.43 billion) in bonds, paying less than a month ago on three-year paper. A new 2015 bond was sold at an average 4.65 percent rate, compared with the 5.3 percent Italy paid last month.
ELECTRONICS
RIM liable over patent
Research In Motion Ltd (RIM), the BlackBerry device maker seeking a comeback after falling behind Apple Inc and Google Inc, was found liable by a federal jury for US$147.2 million in damages for infringing patents held by Mformation Technologies Inc. Jurors determined that closely held Mformation, based in Edison, New Jersey, proved at trial in federal court in San Francisco that RIM software enabling companies to manage workers’ BlackBerry devices remotely from a server infringed Mformation’s inventions. The software is called BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Mformation, a maker of mobile-device management software, sued RIM in 2008, alleging infringement of two patents. The company claimed it disclosed details of the technology to RIM during licensing discussions. After refusing to take a license, the BlackBerry maker modified its software to include the patented systems, Mformation said in its complaint. Amar Thakur, Mformation’s attorney, said the jury’s damage award is for royalties on past sales of devices to non-government US customers. Damages for future sales outside the US and government customers could increase the amount by two to three times, he said in an interview after the verdict.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained