■ BANKING
Lehman cutting 1,300 jobs
US investment bank Lehman Brothers said on Thursday it was eliminating 1,300 staff as it continues to scale back its US mortgage operations amid a housing slump. The latest job cuts lift the total number of mortgage-related job losses announced by Lehman Brothers since August above 3,000. "While it is necessary for us to structure our mortgage origination businesses in the US to reflect the change in industry dynamics, we deeply regret the impact this action has on our people," said Ted Janulis, Lehman's head of Mortgage Capital.
■ SEMICONDUCTORS
AMD's Q4 loss widens
Struggling chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net loss widened, partly owing to a huge goodwill impairment charge related to its US$5.6 billion acquisition of graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies Inc. AMD posted a net loss of US$1.77 billion, or US$3.06 per share, compared with a loss of US$576 million, or US$1.08 per share, in the quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 9 percent to US$1.77 billion from US$1.63 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of US$0.36 cents on revenue of US$1.79 billion, a Thomson Financial poll showed.
■ COMPUTERS
IBM bullish on earnings
The International Business Machines Corp forecast substantial earnings increases for this year that beat analysts' forecasts. It expected earnings per share to rise to between US$8.20 and US$8.30, from US$7.18 last year, as its sees growth in Europe and Asia that is outdoing its US performance, it said on Thursday after the US markets closed. The Armonk, New York-based company also released fourth-quarter results, reporting an 11.6 percent increase in earnings from the same quarter a year earlier to US$3.95 billion, while sales were up 9.9 percent to US$28.9 billion.
■ EQUITIES
NYSE to acquire AMEX
NYSE Euronext said on Thursday it had agreed to acquire the American Stock Exchange, known as AMEX, in a US$260 million all-stock deal. New York-based NYSE Euronext said it expected the acquisition to add to its earnings next year. The proposed combination, which has been approved by both companies' boards, will expand NYSE Euronext's scale in US options, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, structured products and cash equities, the exchange group said. The deal is expected to create annualized cost synergies of more than US$100 million within two years from closing, the company said.
■ PRINTERS
Xerox unveils new printer
Xerox Corp on Thursday announced it had developed a color printing technology that could help it grab a larger share of the market for high-speed printing. Known as "non-contact flash fusing," it allows color printers to reach speeds of nearly 500 pages a minute. The printers flash a high-intensity light more than 2,000 times a second, fusing color toner to paper. In contrast, conventional toner-based printers have print speeds of up to 110 pages a minute. The technology also will allow high-speed printing of plastic identity cards and peel-off labels on statements, price tags and stickers, Xerox said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft