Canada's main stock index suffers biggest drop since mid-September [Wedding Dresses]
Dragged down sharply by mining and energy shares, Canada's main stock index dropped more than 120 points Tuesday, the biggest drop in a single trading day since Sept. 13.The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 123.39 points to close at 13,348.83 following the biggest falling record of 124.37 points in a single trading day on Sept. 12 this year.The energy sector, altogether with seven other sectors of the index, almost shaded losses except health care sector, which inched slightly higher only by 0.04 percent.Shares of mining, financial and energy led the fall. The mining sector decreased most sharply by 1.55 percent to 744.85 points. And Teck Resources Limited, Canada's largest diversified resources company, was down 2.11 percent to 25.52 Canadian dollars (24.24 U. S. dollars) per share.The index was mostly weighted by the international oil price. On Tuesday morning, the January contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved 12 cents lower to 93.97 U.S dollars a barrel. The energy sector shed 0.77 percent and Imperial Oil was down 72 cents to 45 Canadian dollars.
The data from Statistics Canada on Tuesday showed that the operating profits in Canadian enterprises' financial sector edged down 0.4 percent to 24.1 billion Canadian dollars in the third quarter. Most of the decline came from life, health and medical insurance carriers.Shares of financial companies fell, with Toronto-Dominion Bank slipping 1.17 percent to 96.71 Canadian dollars and Royal Bank of Canada down 1.38 percent to 70.51 Canadian dollars apiece.The index's gold-mining sector has lost close to half its value this year, with Goldcorp Inc. decreasing 2.89 percent to 23.51 Canadian dollars per share.In company news, according to industry sources, Sears Canada Inc., the famous Canadian retailer, was letting go almost 800 employees as the ailing retailer works to improve its operations, raise cash and sell off assets.Canada dollar edged slightly higher on Tuesday following the recent depreciation days. It ended at 94.96 U.S. cents in Toronto at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), compared with Monday's close of 94.87 U.S. cents.
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The data from Statistics Canada on Tuesday showed that the operating profits in Canadian enterprises' financial sector edged down 0.4 percent to 24.1 billion Canadian dollars in the third quarter. Most of the decline came from life, health and medical insurance carriers.Shares of financial companies fell, with Toronto-Dominion Bank slipping 1.17 percent to 96.71 Canadian dollars and Royal Bank of Canada down 1.38 percent to 70.51 Canadian dollars apiece.The index's gold-mining sector has lost close to half its value this year, with Goldcorp Inc. decreasing 2.89 percent to 23.51 Canadian dollars per share.In company news, according to industry sources, Sears Canada Inc., the famous Canadian retailer, was letting go almost 800 employees as the ailing retailer works to improve its operations, raise cash and sell off assets.Canada dollar edged slightly higher on Tuesday following the recent depreciation days. It ended at 94.96 U.S. cents in Toronto at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), compared with Monday's close of 94.87 U.S. cents.
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Wal-Mart announces new CEO. Protesting employees hope for change [Wedding Dresses]
Mr. McMillon has also been elected to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Following tradition, Mr. Duke will stay on as an advisor to McMillon for one year. McMillon will be the fifth CEO of the company in its 63-year history.McMillon is a seasoned Wal-Mart veteran. The Arkansas native began his 29-year relationship with the company as a teenager unpacking trucks at a distribution center in 1984. He returned to the company in 1990 as a buyer trainee and has climbed the executive ranks ever since.“He has broad experience – with successful senior leadership roles in all of Wal-Mart’s business segments – and a deep understanding of the economic, social and technological trends shaping our world,” Rob Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart’s board of directors said in a statement announcing McMillon’s appointment. McMillon has held multiple merchandising positions, served as CEO of the Wal-Mart-owned wholesale chain Sam’s Club, and currently serves as president of Wal-Mart International managing more than 6,300 stores and 800,000 employees.The leadership change comes at a turbulent time for the company. Wal-Mart has reported declining sales for three consecutive quarters and faces growing scrutiny over employee wages and benefits. The company is also under investigation by the Securities Exchange Council for alleged bribery cases in Mexico and other countries.The retailer's employees have expressed support of McMillon's appointment.
“At first everyone was surprised but that immediately went from surprised to ‘it’s about time,’” Wal-Mart associate Barbara Hertz said in a phone interview. Ms. Hertz received news of the appointment while at work this morning. “We needed change.”For the past year, Wal-Mart has faced a series of escalating worker protests demanding higher wages. Black Friday demonstrations are planned at Wal-Mart stores across the country for the second year in a row. Employees at Walmart stores in Minneapolis and Miami walked off the job Monday morning, demanding higher wages. Wal-Mart employees and supporters have scheduled 1,500 protests nationwide this Friday, OUR Wal-Mart announced last week."We're happy to see Mr. McMillon acknowledge the hard work of associates in his statement this morning, and we hope that this appreciation translates into improving jobs for Walmart workers," Walmart associate Tiffany Beroid said in an OUR Walmart statement e-mailed out morning. "We sincerely hope that Mr. McMillon will answer the country's calls for Walmart to publicly commit to paying $25,000 a year, providing full-time work and ending its illegal retaliation against its own employees."Wal-Mart shares rose 37 cents Monday morning following the announcement, and analysts praised the choice. "It’s a terrific move,”Craig Johnson of the market advisory firm Customer Growth Partners, told MarketWatch. “He will provide Wal-Mart with much needed innovation. He’s an ideal candidate. He’s born and bred in Wal-Mart. He’s checked all the boxes. He’s innovative and tries new things.”
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“At first everyone was surprised but that immediately went from surprised to ‘it’s about time,’” Wal-Mart associate Barbara Hertz said in a phone interview. Ms. Hertz received news of the appointment while at work this morning. “We needed change.”For the past year, Wal-Mart has faced a series of escalating worker protests demanding higher wages. Black Friday demonstrations are planned at Wal-Mart stores across the country for the second year in a row. Employees at Walmart stores in Minneapolis and Miami walked off the job Monday morning, demanding higher wages. Wal-Mart employees and supporters have scheduled 1,500 protests nationwide this Friday, OUR Wal-Mart announced last week."We're happy to see Mr. McMillon acknowledge the hard work of associates in his statement this morning, and we hope that this appreciation translates into improving jobs for Walmart workers," Walmart associate Tiffany Beroid said in an OUR Walmart statement e-mailed out morning. "We sincerely hope that Mr. McMillon will answer the country's calls for Walmart to publicly commit to paying $25,000 a year, providing full-time work and ending its illegal retaliation against its own employees."Wal-Mart shares rose 37 cents Monday morning following the announcement, and analysts praised the choice. "It’s a terrific move,”Craig Johnson of the market advisory firm Customer Growth Partners, told MarketWatch. “He will provide Wal-Mart with much needed innovation. He’s an ideal candidate. He’s born and bred in Wal-Mart. He’s checked all the boxes. He’s innovative and tries new things.”
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Wal-mart picks longtime executive as CEO [ruffle dress,new launch,]
McMillon, whose first job with Wal-mart was as a summer worker nearly three decades ago, most recently served as the head of Wal-mart International, a fast-growing part of the company with 823,000 employees in 26 countries.He will take the helm of Wal-mart at a challenging moment for the world’s largest retailer. The company is struggling to grow same-store sales in the United States. It also has been the target of repeated job actions by workers and outside organizers, putting it at the center of the growing movement to pressure employers to raise the pay of low-wage workers.Workers and their backers are planning protests at 1,500 Wal-mart stores — including those in the Washington area — when the company hosts its annual Black Friday sales event, which marks the official start of the holiday shopping season the day after Thanksgiving.They hope to use the Black Friday protests to draw attention to the plight of Wal-mart workers, who they say are underpaid, given less than full-time hours and few benefits.Last year, hundreds of Wal-mart workers walked off the job in 46 states on Black Friday, according to OUR Wal-mart, a group advocating for Wal-mart workers. The giant retailer has been hit with new job actions in recent weeks, including walkouts in Miami and Tampa, according to protest organizers.The protesters used the retailer’s change at the top to renew their call for higher pay and better benefits. “We sincerely hope that Mr. McMillon will answer the country’s calls for Wal-mart to publicly commit to paying $25,000 a year, providing full-time work and ending its illegal retaliation against its own employees,” Tiffany Beroid, a Wal-mart worker, said in a statement released by protest organizers.Last week, the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel found that Wal-mart unlawfully threatened to retaliate against employees if they engaged in Black Friday strikes last year. The retailer also disciplined workers who did strike, the NLRB’s general counsel said. The findings will become NLRB complaints against Wal-mart unless the retailer settles with employees.
Wal-mart faced further embarrassment recently when it was reported that needy employees at a company store in Ohio are receiving Thanksgiving food donations from their fellow workers.Those issues surfaced as the company faces investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission into potential bribery of foreign officials by Wal-mart. The investigations grew out of reports in the New York Times detailing alleged bribery in Mexico. McMillon was running Wal-mart’s U.S.-based Sam’s Club warehouse stores during the years that the newspaper identified the potential bribery.Still, there is no evidence that Wal-mart changed chief executives because of these problems. “It is nothing surprising that after five years Mr. Duke is retiring. He was basically an interim CEO,” said Walter Loeb, a retail analyst. “Mr. McMillon is young, and he likely has new ideas for growth.”In appointing McMillon, the Wal-mart board went with a longtime company man who has proven himself in other jobs, particularly in the international arena where sales are growing nicely. A native of Arkansas, McMillon has been with Wal-mart full-time since 1990 and has experience throughout the company.Any radical change in labor relations — or in the company’s strategy of driving down supplier prices, holding down labor costs and passing the savings onto customers and shareholders — seems unlikely.“The leadership change comes at a time of strength and growth at Wal-mart,” Rob Walton, chairman of Wal-mart’s board and a member of the company’s founding family, said in a statement. “The company has the right strategy to serve the changing customer around the world, and Doug has been actively involved in this process.”
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Wal-mart faced further embarrassment recently when it was reported that needy employees at a company store in Ohio are receiving Thanksgiving food donations from their fellow workers.Those issues surfaced as the company faces investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission into potential bribery of foreign officials by Wal-mart. The investigations grew out of reports in the New York Times detailing alleged bribery in Mexico. McMillon was running Wal-mart’s U.S.-based Sam’s Club warehouse stores during the years that the newspaper identified the potential bribery.Still, there is no evidence that Wal-mart changed chief executives because of these problems. “It is nothing surprising that after five years Mr. Duke is retiring. He was basically an interim CEO,” said Walter Loeb, a retail analyst. “Mr. McMillon is young, and he likely has new ideas for growth.”In appointing McMillon, the Wal-mart board went with a longtime company man who has proven himself in other jobs, particularly in the international arena where sales are growing nicely. A native of Arkansas, McMillon has been with Wal-mart full-time since 1990 and has experience throughout the company.Any radical change in labor relations — or in the company’s strategy of driving down supplier prices, holding down labor costs and passing the savings onto customers and shareholders — seems unlikely.“The leadership change comes at a time of strength and growth at Wal-mart,” Rob Walton, chairman of Wal-mart’s board and a member of the company’s founding family, said in a statement. “The company has the right strategy to serve the changing customer around the world, and Doug has been actively involved in this process.”
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UK regulator requires power distributors to cut costs for consumers [Wedding Dresses]
British energy regulator has challenged five out of six electricity distribution companies to cut costs for consumers as it rejected the five companies plans for failing to demonstrate value for consumers sufficiently on Friday.Western Power Distribution (WPD) is the only company of the six electricity suppliers having its business plan agreed.The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), the government regulator for electricity and gas markets, said that WPD's plan provided "good value for consumers and its price control could be agreed early."It said that its price regulation would see distribution costs cut 11.6 percent for the nearly eight million households in WPD's areas from April 2015.The business plan worked out by WPD, which serves customers in south Wales, the Midlands and the southwest of England, includes around 7 billion pounds (11.3 U.S. dollars) of total expenditure of which around 3 billion pounds for investment to upgrade and maintain WPD's network."We understand that energy costs are a big concern for consumers and we set a high target for demonstrating value for money," said Hannah Nixon, Senior Partner for Distribution."We are pleased that nearly all companies have pledged to cut bills, but we feel that most companies can go further in cutting their costs and expect to see further improvements when they resubmit their plans in March," said Nixon.
The distribution element accounts for 19 percent of the average annual electricity bill, Ofgem said.Britain now has about 14 regional energy distributors, including WPD, SSE, Iberdrola's SP Energy Networks, Electricity North West, Northern Powergrid and UK Power Networks.Ofgem said the six companies had made over two billion pounds of cost reductions since their initial forecasts in 2012.It is estimated that during the price control period, which runs between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2023, total expenditure will be 27 billion pounds across all companies, of which around 13 billion pounds is for network investment.According to Ofgem, companies responded positively to the regulator's call to deliver investment efficiently.The improved plans demonstrated that Ofgem's price control efforts have been successful in driving down costs, promoting innovation and stakeholder engagement.However, even with the reductions and good initiatives in the business plans, Ofgem believes there is scope for further improvement."We would expect costs to be reduced further," Ofgem said.Since privatization, Ofgem's price controls have delivered a 25-percent improvement in network reliability and seen the electricity distribution network grow by 10 percent.
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The distribution element accounts for 19 percent of the average annual electricity bill, Ofgem said.Britain now has about 14 regional energy distributors, including WPD, SSE, Iberdrola's SP Energy Networks, Electricity North West, Northern Powergrid and UK Power Networks.Ofgem said the six companies had made over two billion pounds of cost reductions since their initial forecasts in 2012.It is estimated that during the price control period, which runs between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2023, total expenditure will be 27 billion pounds across all companies, of which around 13 billion pounds is for network investment.According to Ofgem, companies responded positively to the regulator's call to deliver investment efficiently.The improved plans demonstrated that Ofgem's price control efforts have been successful in driving down costs, promoting innovation and stakeholder engagement.However, even with the reductions and good initiatives in the business plans, Ofgem believes there is scope for further improvement."We would expect costs to be reduced further," Ofgem said.Since privatization, Ofgem's price controls have delivered a 25-percent improvement in network reliability and seen the electricity distribution network grow by 10 percent.
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Jury orders Samsung to pay Apple $290 million [Wedding Dresses]
A Silicon Valley jury on Thursday added $290 million more to the damages Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features, bringing the total amount the South Korean technology titan is on the hook for to $930 million.The verdict covers 13 older Samsung devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that infringed Apple patents.The previous jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion. But U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh reduced the damages to $640 million after ruling that jury miscalculated the amount owed on 13 devices and ordered a new trial.Apple had asked for $380 million, arguing Samsung’s copying cost it a significant amount of sales. Samsung countered that it owed only $52 million because the features at issue weren’t the reasons most consumers chose to buy Samsung’s devices instead of Apple’s.“For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said. “While it’s impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.”A third trial is scheduled for March to consider Apple’s claims that Samsung’s newest devices such as the popular Galaxy S III on the market also copied Apple’s technology.Apple and Samsung are the world’s two biggest smartphone makers. The bitter rivals have been waging a global battle for supremacy of the $300 billion worldwide market. The size of the award didn’t faze Wall Street or harm or help either company’s financial fortunes in any significant way.Samsung reported it had $47 billion in cash at the end of September and racked up $247.5 billion in revenue last year. Apple has $147 billion of cash on hand and took in $170.9 billion in revenue last year.
“We understood that the money wasn’t really an issue,” said juror Barry Goldman-Hall. “This was about the integrity of the patent process.”Goldman-Hall, 60, of San Jose was one of two men and six women on the jury, which was tasked only with determining damages.Apple has argued in courts, government tribunals and regulatory agencies around the world that Samsung’s Android-based phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung is fighting back with its own complaints that some key Apple patents are invalid and Apple has copied Samsung’s technology.Samsung lawyer William Price argued Apple is misconstruing the breadth of its patents to include such things as basic rectangle shape of most smartphones.“Apple doesn’t own beautiful and sexy,” Price told the San Jose jury.Apple attorney William Lee told the jury that Samsung used Apple’s technology to lift it from an also-ran in the smartphone market three years ago to the world’s biggest seller of them today.“Apple can never get back to where it should have been in 2010,” Lee told the jury Tuesday at the conclusion of the weeklong trial.The fight in San Jose is particularly contentious. The courtroom is a 15-minute drive from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, and several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.The three jurors who discussed the verdict outside court said Apple’s proximity made no difference in their deliberations.“Although Apple is down the street, it’s a global company just like Samsung,” jury forewoman Colleen Allen said. “I have a Samsung television and refrigerator and an Apple computer. I like both companies.”Allen, 36, of Aromas, is an emergency room nurse who served nearly eight years in the Navy, including a posting in Afghanistan.“If we didn’t award Apple much, we’re saying it’s OK to infringe patents,” Allen said.The South Korea-based Samsung has twice sought to stop the trial, accusing Apple on Tuesday of unfairly trying to inflame patriotic passions by urging jurors to help protect American companies from overseas competitors. The judge denied Samsung’s request for a mistrial, but did reread an instruction ordering jurors to put aside their dislikes and biases in deciding the case.On Wednesday, Samsung again demanded a halt to the trial after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told Apple it was planning to invalidate a patent protecting the “pinch-to-zoom” feature at issue in the jury’s deliberation. The judge ordered more briefing while declining to stop the trial.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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“We understood that the money wasn’t really an issue,” said juror Barry Goldman-Hall. “This was about the integrity of the patent process.”Goldman-Hall, 60, of San Jose was one of two men and six women on the jury, which was tasked only with determining damages.Apple has argued in courts, government tribunals and regulatory agencies around the world that Samsung’s Android-based phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung is fighting back with its own complaints that some key Apple patents are invalid and Apple has copied Samsung’s technology.Samsung lawyer William Price argued Apple is misconstruing the breadth of its patents to include such things as basic rectangle shape of most smartphones.“Apple doesn’t own beautiful and sexy,” Price told the San Jose jury.Apple attorney William Lee told the jury that Samsung used Apple’s technology to lift it from an also-ran in the smartphone market three years ago to the world’s biggest seller of them today.“Apple can never get back to where it should have been in 2010,” Lee told the jury Tuesday at the conclusion of the weeklong trial.The fight in San Jose is particularly contentious. The courtroom is a 15-minute drive from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, and several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.The three jurors who discussed the verdict outside court said Apple’s proximity made no difference in their deliberations.“Although Apple is down the street, it’s a global company just like Samsung,” jury forewoman Colleen Allen said. “I have a Samsung television and refrigerator and an Apple computer. I like both companies.”Allen, 36, of Aromas, is an emergency room nurse who served nearly eight years in the Navy, including a posting in Afghanistan.“If we didn’t award Apple much, we’re saying it’s OK to infringe patents,” Allen said.The South Korea-based Samsung has twice sought to stop the trial, accusing Apple on Tuesday of unfairly trying to inflame patriotic passions by urging jurors to help protect American companies from overseas competitors. The judge denied Samsung’s request for a mistrial, but did reread an instruction ordering jurors to put aside their dislikes and biases in deciding the case.On Wednesday, Samsung again demanded a halt to the trial after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told Apple it was planning to invalidate a patent protecting the “pinch-to-zoom” feature at issue in the jury’s deliberation. The judge ordered more briefing while declining to stop the trial.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Nokia shareholders approve Microsoft deal [Wedding Dresses]
Nokia shareholders approved the sale of its mobile phone business to Microsoft at an extraordinary general meeting held in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Tuesday.About 5,000 shareholders of Nokia participated in the meeting, including the members of Board of Directors and the Executive Board of the company, as well as former CEO Stephen Elop.The meeting lasted for about six hours and ended with 99.5 percent of votes supporting the sale.After speeches given by the top officials, the shareholders began to raise tough questions, mainly concerning Elop's role in the company's decline, the price of the deal and the product portfolio in the future.Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia Board Chairman and interim CEO, said that Elop worked diligently and he had never seen anyone working so hard for so long as Elop did.On the price of the sale, Siilasmaa believed that Nokia got a good price, as the deal was based on market competition and no better price was given than Microsoft's offer.
Information security is a hot topic around the world recently. According to Siilasmaa, information security is precisely the opportunity for Finland, Nokia has already put it into its product portfolio.Nokia's portfolio in the future will include network infrastructure, mapping technology and patents, in addition to information security."This is a significant step forward for Nokia. We are delighted that shareholders have given us overwhelmingly strong support to proceed with this transformative agreement," said Siilasmaa when concluding the meeting."Today's vote brings us closer to completing a transaction which will mark the beginning of the next chapter in Nokia's near 150-year history, offering the potential of greater value for shareholders," he said.The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014. After that, Nokia's net cash position will be boosted to nearly 8 billion euros (about 10.8 billion U.S. dollars) from around 2 billion euros in the third quarter this year.Nokia announced on Sept. 3 to sell its devices and services business and license its patents to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros, after failing to recover from its continuous losses in the past two years.Since the announcement of the deal, the company's share price has more than doubled and its market value has risen to 10 billion euros. (1 euro = 1.35 U.S. dollars)
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Information security is a hot topic around the world recently. According to Siilasmaa, information security is precisely the opportunity for Finland, Nokia has already put it into its product portfolio.Nokia's portfolio in the future will include network infrastructure, mapping technology and patents, in addition to information security."This is a significant step forward for Nokia. We are delighted that shareholders have given us overwhelmingly strong support to proceed with this transformative agreement," said Siilasmaa when concluding the meeting."Today's vote brings us closer to completing a transaction which will mark the beginning of the next chapter in Nokia's near 150-year history, offering the potential of greater value for shareholders," he said.The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014. After that, Nokia's net cash position will be boosted to nearly 8 billion euros (about 10.8 billion U.S. dollars) from around 2 billion euros in the third quarter this year.Nokia announced on Sept. 3 to sell its devices and services business and license its patents to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros, after failing to recover from its continuous losses in the past two years.Since the announcement of the deal, the company's share price has more than doubled and its market value has risen to 10 billion euros. (1 euro = 1.35 U.S. dollars)
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Apple vs. Samsung: Federal jury begins deliberating high-stakes feud [Wedding Dresses]
A federal jury on Tuesday was handed a $327 million difference of opinion between Apple and Samsung in the latest legal showdown in their global patent feud.And while that amount may be trivial for the two tech titans and their multibillion-dollar war chests, lawyers for Apple and Samsung made it clear to the jurors that the outcome nevertheless has much broader implications for their ongoing courtroom collision over smartphone and tablet technology rights. And that collision centers on Apple's claims that Samsung should pay a steep price for copying iPhone and iPad technology.
FILE-In this Friday, April 22, 2011, file photo, Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S, left, and Apple's iPhone 4 are displayed at the headquarters of South Korean mobile carrier KT in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. "This is an important case," Apple attorney Harold McElhinny told the jury in his closing argument. "This is not about punishment. This is not about pitchforks. This is not about getting even. If juries take the profit out of patent infringement, then patent infringement will stop."Samsung, while conceding it "crossed the line" with some of its smartphones and tablets, told the jury that Apple is inflating the value of its patents -- and ignoring the fact many consumers choose Samsung for reasons such as lower cost and the Android operating system, not Apple's patented features."These patents are very narrow," Samsung attorney Bill Price told jurors. "Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy."The eight-member jury is expected to resume deliberating Wednesday in the retrial of the damages phase of Apple's case against Samsung; it is being asked to determine how much Samsung owes for violating five patents on the iPhone and iPad in 13 Samsung products, such as Apple's bounce-back feature. The jury forewoman is a Monterey emergency room nurse who spent eight years as a combat medic in the military.
A jury last year awarded Apple $1 billion in damages for more than two dozen Samsung smartphones and tablets, but that amount was reduced by about $450 million on 13 of those products, prompting the retrial. The jury must now decide how much to restore to Apple, and the two companies have very different views of the amount.Apple has urged the jury to award nearly $380 million in damages in the current trial, while Samsung argues that no more than $52 million is at stake.To Apple, sales of the infringing Samsung products, such as the Infuse 4G and Droid Charge, came directly from iPhone and iPad sales. Apple told the jury that the $380 million, a compilation of lost Apple profits, Samsung profits and royalties, is still a fraction of Samsung's more than $3 billion in revenue from sales of those products.But Samsung counters Apple is exaggerating the importance of the patents to consumer choice, as well as overstating Samsung's profits. Price told the jury Samsung even lost money on some of the smartphones.After closing arguments, Samsung moved for a mistrial because of McElhinny's comment to the jury that American companies long ago were squeezed out of the television manufacturing market because they didn't protect their patent rights, his attempt to highlight the importance of Apple's need to protect its technology.Samsung, which in jury selection asked about bias against foreign companies, argued the remark could taint the jury against the South Korea-based tech giant.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied the request, but summoned the jury back into the courtroom to warn them not to be influenced by views about either company.The issue is likely to be one of dozens raised when the case is appealed. Samsung is expected to appeal the entire case, including last year's verdict, once the damages trial ends.Apple and Samsung are also set to start another trial in the spring in a similar case that Apple has pressed over patent claims on newer smartphone and tablet product lines.
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FILE-In this Friday, April 22, 2011, file photo, Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S, left, and Apple's iPhone 4 are displayed at the headquarters of South Korean mobile carrier KT in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. "This is an important case," Apple attorney Harold McElhinny told the jury in his closing argument. "This is not about punishment. This is not about pitchforks. This is not about getting even. If juries take the profit out of patent infringement, then patent infringement will stop."Samsung, while conceding it "crossed the line" with some of its smartphones and tablets, told the jury that Apple is inflating the value of its patents -- and ignoring the fact many consumers choose Samsung for reasons such as lower cost and the Android operating system, not Apple's patented features."These patents are very narrow," Samsung attorney Bill Price told jurors. "Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy."The eight-member jury is expected to resume deliberating Wednesday in the retrial of the damages phase of Apple's case against Samsung; it is being asked to determine how much Samsung owes for violating five patents on the iPhone and iPad in 13 Samsung products, such as Apple's bounce-back feature. The jury forewoman is a Monterey emergency room nurse who spent eight years as a combat medic in the military.
A jury last year awarded Apple $1 billion in damages for more than two dozen Samsung smartphones and tablets, but that amount was reduced by about $450 million on 13 of those products, prompting the retrial. The jury must now decide how much to restore to Apple, and the two companies have very different views of the amount.Apple has urged the jury to award nearly $380 million in damages in the current trial, while Samsung argues that no more than $52 million is at stake.To Apple, sales of the infringing Samsung products, such as the Infuse 4G and Droid Charge, came directly from iPhone and iPad sales. Apple told the jury that the $380 million, a compilation of lost Apple profits, Samsung profits and royalties, is still a fraction of Samsung's more than $3 billion in revenue from sales of those products.But Samsung counters Apple is exaggerating the importance of the patents to consumer choice, as well as overstating Samsung's profits. Price told the jury Samsung even lost money on some of the smartphones.After closing arguments, Samsung moved for a mistrial because of McElhinny's comment to the jury that American companies long ago were squeezed out of the television manufacturing market because they didn't protect their patent rights, his attempt to highlight the importance of Apple's need to protect its technology.Samsung, which in jury selection asked about bias against foreign companies, argued the remark could taint the jury against the South Korea-based tech giant.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied the request, but summoned the jury back into the courtroom to warn them not to be influenced by views about either company.The issue is likely to be one of dozens raised when the case is appealed. Samsung is expected to appeal the entire case, including last year's verdict, once the damages trial ends.Apple and Samsung are also set to start another trial in the spring in a similar case that Apple has pressed over patent claims on newer smartphone and tablet product lines.
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Home prices continue to rise amid market-based reform hopes [Wedding Dresses]
Home prices in major Chinese cities continued to rise in October despite the government's persistent efforts to cool the property market, official data showed on Monday.Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 65 saw month-on-month rises in new home prices in October, and 62 reported price gains in existing and second-hand homes, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced in an online statement.The pace of growth in new home prices averaged 0.7 percent on a monthly basis, slowing 0.2 percentage points compared with that in September as developers ramped up supplies to meet growing demand during the traditional sales season and the government tightened price regulations, said senior NBS statistician Liu Jianwei."Some cities have tightened price approvals on certain projects, which helped contain the month-on-month rises," Liu said in a statement.On a yearly basis, all the cities except Wenzhou reported gains in new home prices.First-tier cities continued to lead rises last month, with the prices of new homes in Beijing and Shanghai surging over 20 percent from a year ago, while prices in most second- and third-tier cities expanded at a more tempered pace, according to the NBS, which attributed the drastic growth partly to a low comparison base.Driven by rapid urbanization and speculation, China's property market has taken off in recent years and become a major headache for the authorities as more people are priced out of the market.
The traditional Chinese mindset of viewing home ownership as a precondition for forming a family has guaranteed that demand in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which attract thousands of newcomers each year, will keep climbing.With other investment channels, such as the stock market, proving disappointing, houses in those cities have become a popular investment choice for the country's wealthy, further squeezing the already tight supplies.Over the years, in response to growing public complaints, the central government has tried to rein in prices by creating purchase restrictions and experimenting with property taxes, resulting in short-lived cooling of the market. After a while, prices have generally rebounded.Friday's data came amid hopes that the government may seek a more market-oriented mechanism to build a healthy property market following the reform decision publicized last week by the Communist Party of China Central Committee.China will step up legislation of property tax, build a unified market for urban and rural construction land to increase supply, and set up a housing database, according to the decision, which vowed decisive results by 2020."Although the decision has not directly mentioned home prices, the problem will be gradually resolved as the market-based reforms mentioned in the decision filter through," said Zhu Zhongyi, vice president of the China Real Estate Industry Association.However, Zhu also cautioned of challenges ahead, although the reform direction is clear, as the property markets in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are very complicated."The key is to secure a proper transition from the current control measures to the proposed long-term mechanism while taking regional differences into consideration," he said.
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The traditional Chinese mindset of viewing home ownership as a precondition for forming a family has guaranteed that demand in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which attract thousands of newcomers each year, will keep climbing.With other investment channels, such as the stock market, proving disappointing, houses in those cities have become a popular investment choice for the country's wealthy, further squeezing the already tight supplies.Over the years, in response to growing public complaints, the central government has tried to rein in prices by creating purchase restrictions and experimenting with property taxes, resulting in short-lived cooling of the market. After a while, prices have generally rebounded.Friday's data came amid hopes that the government may seek a more market-oriented mechanism to build a healthy property market following the reform decision publicized last week by the Communist Party of China Central Committee.China will step up legislation of property tax, build a unified market for urban and rural construction land to increase supply, and set up a housing database, according to the decision, which vowed decisive results by 2020."Although the decision has not directly mentioned home prices, the problem will be gradually resolved as the market-based reforms mentioned in the decision filter through," said Zhu Zhongyi, vice president of the China Real Estate Industry Association.However, Zhu also cautioned of challenges ahead, although the reform direction is clear, as the property markets in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are very complicated."The key is to secure a proper transition from the current control measures to the proposed long-term mechanism while taking regional differences into consideration," he said.
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Starbucks to Pay $2.76 Billion to Settle Grocery Dispute [Wedding Dresses]
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) said it would pay Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $2.76 billion to settle a dispute over the coffee-shop chain’s bagged-coffee business.The payment, ordered by an arbitrator, consists of $2.23 billion in damages and $527 million in interest and attorneys’ fees, Seattle-based Starbucks said yesterday in a statement. The company said it has adequate cash and borrowing capacity to fund the payment and will book it as a charge to its fiscal 2013 operating expenses.A Starbucks Corp. sign sits on display outside a Starbucks coffeeshop on Spring Street in the SoHo section of New York.The arbitrator’s ruling may settle a dispute that began in 2010, when Starbucks offered $750 million to terminate an agreement through which Mondelez, then known as Kraft Foods Inc., distributed its coffee to food retailers. Kraft rejected the offer. Starbucks said yesterday that it disagreed with the arbitrator’s conclusion and said Kraft didn’t deliver on its responsibility to the brand.
“They are paying more than I expected,” Nick Setyan, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said yesterday in an e-mail. He had expected Starbucks to pay as much as $2 billion and rates the shares as outperform, equivalent of a buy recommendation. “Having said that, it’s great to have it behind us now,” he said.Mondelez said yesterday in a statement that it would use the proceeds from the award to buy back stock.While Kraft Foods Group Inc. remained the named party in the dispute after it was spun off from Mondelez in October 2012, Kraft agreed to direct any recovery to Mondelez and said the arbitration’s outcome won’t have a material financial impact on it.In November 2010, Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said he planned to terminate the distribution pact with Kraft, which started with an agreement in 1998 that was superseded by a new deal in 2004. The world’s largest coffee chain was seeking to generate more of its revenue from grocery stores with new offerings such as Via, its single-serve coffee product.
Kraft sought compensation for the “fair market value” of the business plus possibly a premium of as much as 35 percent of that value. Since they started working together, Starbucks’ retail-grocery coffee business grew to $500 million in annual revenue from $50 million, Kraft said in November 2010.Starbucks said sales growth at grocery stores “quickly fell” after 2000 and its market share dropped to about 25 percent of grocery store premium coffee sales at the beginning of 2010 from almost 33 percent in 2005.“Most certainly Starbucks has handled the channel business better than Kraft, more easily deploying single-serve as well as expanding into different products,” Setyan said. He said he views Starbucks as “a global consumer-products company rather than simply a coffee retailer now. That would be impossible if Kraft still controlled coffee distribution.”Starbucks fell 1.4 percent to $79.50 yesterday in late trading. Deerfield, Illinois-based Mondelez rose 3 percent to $33.40.
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“They are paying more than I expected,” Nick Setyan, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said yesterday in an e-mail. He had expected Starbucks to pay as much as $2 billion and rates the shares as outperform, equivalent of a buy recommendation. “Having said that, it’s great to have it behind us now,” he said.Mondelez said yesterday in a statement that it would use the proceeds from the award to buy back stock.While Kraft Foods Group Inc. remained the named party in the dispute after it was spun off from Mondelez in October 2012, Kraft agreed to direct any recovery to Mondelez and said the arbitration’s outcome won’t have a material financial impact on it.In November 2010, Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said he planned to terminate the distribution pact with Kraft, which started with an agreement in 1998 that was superseded by a new deal in 2004. The world’s largest coffee chain was seeking to generate more of its revenue from grocery stores with new offerings such as Via, its single-serve coffee product.
Kraft sought compensation for the “fair market value” of the business plus possibly a premium of as much as 35 percent of that value. Since they started working together, Starbucks’ retail-grocery coffee business grew to $500 million in annual revenue from $50 million, Kraft said in November 2010.Starbucks said sales growth at grocery stores “quickly fell” after 2000 and its market share dropped to about 25 percent of grocery store premium coffee sales at the beginning of 2010 from almost 33 percent in 2005.“Most certainly Starbucks has handled the channel business better than Kraft, more easily deploying single-serve as well as expanding into different products,” Setyan said. He said he views Starbucks as “a global consumer-products company rather than simply a coffee retailer now. That would be impossible if Kraft still controlled coffee distribution.”Starbucks fell 1.4 percent to $79.50 yesterday in late trading. Deerfield, Illinois-based Mondelez rose 3 percent to $33.40.
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Android in FOUR out of 5 new smartphones. How d'ya like dem Apples? [Handbags]
The latest numbers from analyst house IDC on global smartphone sales during the third quarter of the year make good reading for Google and Microsoft – but it appears that Blackberry is dead in the water.Of the 211.6 million smartmobes sold in the quarter, Android took 81 per cent of the market, ahead of Apple at 12.1 per cent. Windows Phone handsets saw sales grow 156 per cent, although that still only leaves it with 3.6 per cent of the market. Yet Microsoft's mobile OS is well ahead of Blackberry, which is lingering at 1.7 per cent as the crashing Canadian manufacturer saw sales fall 41.6 per cent; that's BlackBerry's worst performance since IDC started tracking smartphone sales."Android and Windows Phone continued to make significant strides in the third quarter. Despite their differences in market share, they both have one important factor behind their success: price," said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's mobile team."Both platforms have a selection of devices available at prices low enough to be affordable to the mass market, and it is the mass market that is driving the entire market forward."It's a double whammy of good news for Microsoft. Not only does Redmond's mobile OS look to be beating Blackberry for third place in the market, but Microsoft also makes significant income from its patent toll on Android, which by some estimates is earning it more than a billion a year in royalty payments.
Apple had a less than stellar start to the quarter, but its shiny new iPhones should rectify that, according to IDC's data. Sales were flaccid in the first months of the quarter but rebounded strongly after Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the 5S and 5C models, and sales ended up growing 25.6 per cent year on year.But one area that may cause Cupertino some concern is the so-called phablet market – smartphones with six or seven-inch screens – where Apple has no presence. Sales of these big-display phones grew from three per cent of the market a year ago to 23 per cent in the last quarter, and sold at a much better average selling price (ASP) than their smaller cousins."Almost all successful Android vendors have added one or more 5-7-inch phablets to their product portfolios," said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's quarterly mobile phone tracker. "And Nokia’s recent announcement of the Lumia 1320 and 1520 put them in the category as well. We believe the absence of a large-screen device may have contributed to Apple's inability to grow share in the third quarter."Those juicy profit margins for phablets are, however, not going to last according to IDC's data. The ASP for phablets fell by nearly a quarter compared to this time last year, nearly double the ASP drop on smaller smartphones.Overall smartphone sales are still strong. IDC estimates sales of smarter handsets were up 39.9 per cent on the quarter compared to this time last year, and the sector is now firmly in the majority over dumber feature phones.
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Apple had a less than stellar start to the quarter, but its shiny new iPhones should rectify that, according to IDC's data. Sales were flaccid in the first months of the quarter but rebounded strongly after Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the 5S and 5C models, and sales ended up growing 25.6 per cent year on year.But one area that may cause Cupertino some concern is the so-called phablet market – smartphones with six or seven-inch screens – where Apple has no presence. Sales of these big-display phones grew from three per cent of the market a year ago to 23 per cent in the last quarter, and sold at a much better average selling price (ASP) than their smaller cousins."Almost all successful Android vendors have added one or more 5-7-inch phablets to their product portfolios," said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's quarterly mobile phone tracker. "And Nokia’s recent announcement of the Lumia 1320 and 1520 put them in the category as well. We believe the absence of a large-screen device may have contributed to Apple's inability to grow share in the third quarter."Those juicy profit margins for phablets are, however, not going to last according to IDC's data. The ASP for phablets fell by nearly a quarter compared to this time last year, nearly double the ASP drop on smaller smartphones.Overall smartphone sales are still strong. IDC estimates sales of smarter handsets were up 39.9 per cent on the quarter compared to this time last year, and the sector is now firmly in the majority over dumber feature phones.
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