SPAIN
Recession to worsen: IMF
The IMF warned on Friday that the country’s recession would be worse than initially expected, with a forecast contraction of 1.7 percent this year and of 1.2 percent in 2013. In addition, the global financial body said that worsening market tensions could disrupt the country’s ability to finance itself, despite a eurozone bailout agreed for Spanish banks and emergency financial reforms for the 17-nation bloc. Meanwhile, the country’s unemployment rate rose to 24.63 percent in the second quarter, up 0.19 percentage points from the previous three months, the National Statistics Institute said.
FUEL
Canada oil firm deal frozen
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Friday that it froze assets of Hong Kong traders who bought stock in a Canadian company before a firm owned by the Chinese government announced plans to buy it this week. The SEC said that Well Advantage and other traders used accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore to make over US$13 million trading shares in Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc based on inside information. China’s CNOOC Ltd (中國海洋石油) announced plans to buy Nexen on Monday for US$15.1 billion. Zhang Zhi Rong (張志熔), a billionaire Hong Kong businessman, controls Well Advantage, according to the SEC. The agency said he also runs another company that has a “cooperation agreement” with CNOOC.
OIL
Refinery profits lift Chevron
A soaring profit at Chevron’s refineries eased some of the lower gains it saw during a weaker second quarter. The oil giant said on Friday that net income fell nearly 7 percent to US$7.21 billion, or US$3.66 per share, but that the results beat expectations after a strong performance from its refinery arm. The company’s stock price rose US$0.99 to close at US$109.26 on Friday. Like its peers, the oil giant is struggling to find and replace petroleum sources. Second quarter profits also fell for Royal Dutch Shell, Occidental Petroleum Corp and ConocoPhillips.
MEDIA
McClatchy eyes paywalls
McClatchy Co, one of the largest US newspapers groups, said on Friday it would begin moving toward paywalls for its news Web sites in response to the industry’s economic woes. The publisher of 30 dailies including the Miami Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Kansas City Star said it would begin “metered” Web access in five of its markets starting in the third quarter. The New York Times began charging in March last year for full access to NYTimes.com and it launched a subscription-only Web site for the Boston Globe in October. Gannett, the largest US newspaper chain, has also begun moving toward charging for online access at some of its dailies, along with MediaNews Group Inc.
AUTOMAKERS
Mazda in big vehicle recall
Mazda said on Friday it will recall 217,500 vehicles in the US due to a problem with unintended acceleration that led to the recall of nearly 485,000 Ford vehicles. The Mazda Tribute shares most of its parts with the Ford Escape SUV, including the faulty cruise control cable. The defect can cause the throttle to stick, causing the vehicle to speed out of control.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI