TRADING
Knight keeps up the fight
Knight Capital Group Inc, fighting to stay afloat after a US$440 million loss spurred by a software bug, scrambled with its advisers to find a buyer or investor. The market maker responsible for about 10 percent of US equity volume turned to Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Wednesday to buy the firm out of trading positions acquired by mistake when a computer program malfunctioned, a person with knowledge of the matter said. It has until the close of business today to complete the transaction. “There’s a lot of questions about their liquidity — do they have the money to get through the trade settlement on Monday?” Patrick O’Shaughnessy, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates Inc, said in an interview with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television’s Taking Stock. Knight made it to the weekend after receiving short-term financing for market making, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.
HONG KONG
Man held for hacking threats
Police said yesterday they had arrested a 21-year-old man after he reportedly said on Facebook that he planned to hack several government Web sites. Police said the man, who was later released on bail, was held on suspicion of “access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent” after he allegedly threatened to hack seven government Web sites between June and this month. “The Internet is not a virtual world of lawlessness,” a police spokesman said, adding that the man was required to report back to the police in October. The unidentified man was arrested on Friday before being released on bail, the spokesman said, and faces up to five years imprisonment if found guilty.
EGYPT
Government plans bond sale
The government plans to sell 5 billion Egyptian pounds (US$822 million) of Treasury bills today as it prepares to resume loan talks with the IMF later this month. Cairo will seek bids for 4 billion pounds of nine-month notes and 1 billion pounds of three-month bills, according to central bank data on Bloomberg. Yields on both securities declined at every auction last month to 15.65 percent and 14.2 percent respectively. Cairo contacted the IMF to start negotiations for a US$3.2 billion loan after the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Finance Minister Momtaz El-Saieed said yesterday. Talks have been on and off for more than a year during which national borrowing costs rose to record highs and net international reserves slumped by more than half to US$15.5 billion as of the end of June.
FINANCE
US jobs make rich richer
The 740 richest people on the planet added US$19.4 billion to their collective net worth on Friday after an increase in US jobs and positive earnings reports erased losses sustained last week. The day’s biggest gainer was Spanish retail tycoon Amancio Ortega, who added US$2.8 billion to his fortune as shares of Inditex SA, the world’s largest clothing retailer, jumped 5.4 percent. Bernard Arnault’s fortune increased US$474 million during the week. Shares of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest luxury goods maker, rose 3.1 percent in Paris. Carlos Slim, 72, remains the world’s richest person. Slim’s fortune lost US$569 million. He now has a net worth of US$74.9 billion. Bill Gates, 56, is US$12.2 billion behind Slim. No. 3 on the index is Warren Buffett, 81, worth US$45.9 billion.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
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