MEDIA
Disney ups shares buy-back
The Walt Disney Co will buy back between US$6 billion and US$8 billion of its shares next year, the media company’s chief financial officer Jay Rasulo said on Thursday. That is up from the US$4 billion a year that Disney has been spending on repurchasing its shares, Rasulo said during an investor conference. “Given our confidence in the overall company and where our share price sits in the marketplace we intend to significantly increase our buyback next year,” Rasulo said. The company may borrow some money to fund the buybacks toward the end of the year, but not enough to bring its credit rating down, he said. Disney’s shares spiked following Rasulo’s comments and gained more than 2.4 percent, or US$1.55, to close at US$65.49 on Thursday.
INTERNET
Yahoo’s stock price climbs
Yahoo’s stock price has surpassed US$30 for the first time since the Internet company fended off a takeover offer bid by Microsoft 5.5 years ago for US$31 per share, or US$44.6 billon. The Sunnyvale, California, company reached the milestone on Thursday after CEO Marissa Mayer said on Wednesday that the number of Yahoo’s users has climbed 20 percent to about 800 million people since she defected from Google Inc last year. Yahoo’s stock traded as high as US$30.27 on Thursday on heavy volume. In afternoon trading, the gains pared slightly and the stock ended up closing at US$29.65, up US$0.46.
AUTO MAKERS
Renault, Bollore to team up
French auto maker Renault and the Bollore family group that runs a successful pay-as-you-go electric-car network in Paris, are teaming up to develop technology. In a statement, the groups said they had agreed to develop car sharing systems for electric cars and cooperate on the manufacturing of the Bollore Bluecar that has become a common sight in Paris since the launch of the Autolib rental scheme in 2011. French Minister of Industry Arnaud Montebourg said the tie-up, first reported by Le Figaro newspaper, was “necessary,” and would allow Renault to take advantage of the Bollore-developed battery that has proved its merit.
MACROECONOMICS
US deficit down slightly
The US deficit was down 35 percent to US$755 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, after posting a shortfall of US$148 billion last month, the US Treasury said on Thursday. Although larger than the average monthly spending gap, the deficit last month was 22.5 percent lower than August last year, helped by a slight rise in receipts against a sharper fall in spending. The 35 percent decline over the first 11 months from the same period in the fiscal year last year came as receipts rose 13 percent to US$2.47 trillion, while outlays were down 3.9 percent at US$3.19 trillion.
COMMODITIES
Gold price may drop further
Gold is poised to extend declines as the US Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus and economic data improve, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which predicts there is a risk that bullion may drop below US$1,000 an ounce. While debt-ceiling discussions in the US and the Syrian crisis may support bullion in the near term, gold will resume its decline into next year, Goldman Sachs commodities research head Jeffrey Currie said in an interview on Bloomberg Television yesterday. The bank’s target for next year is US$1,050 and the commodity may overshoot to the downside, Currie said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS