Showing posts tagged business

US Senate passes bill that would allow states to tax Internet purchases

AP:


The US Senate has passed a bill that could end tax-free shopping on the Internet for many shoppers.

The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass the bill, sending it to the House where it faces opposition from some lawmakers who regard it as a tax increase.

Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the merchant has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are tax-free.

Cyprus clinches last-ditch bailout deal

Reuters: Cyprus made a last-ditch deal with international lenders Monday for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout that will shut down its second largest bank and inflict heavy losses on uninsured depositors.

The agreement emerged after negotiations between President Nicos Anastasiades and heads of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF.

The plan, swiftly endorsed by euro zone finance ministers, will spare the country a financial meltdown by winding down Popular Bank of Cyprus and shifting deposits below 100,000 euros to the Bank of Cyprus to create a “good bank.”

Cyprus Popular Bank restricts ATM withdrawals

Reuters: Cyprus Popular Bank has imposed a 260 euro per day limit on ATM withdrawals to cope with high demand, the island’s second largest lender said in a statement.

Customers lined up to withdraw funds Thursday on widespread rumors that the bank would be closed down. The rumor was later denied by the central bank.

Airbus seals massive $24 billion plane deal

AP: Indonesian airline Lion Air is to buy 234 short to medium range aircraft from Airbus for €18.4 billion ($24 billion), in what is being billed as the biggest civilian deal in the history of the aircraft manufacturer.

Dow closes at record high CNN Money: The Dow climbed more than 125 points to close at a record high of 14,253.77, topping the prior record set in October 2007. Earlier, the blue chip index climbed to an intraday record of 14,286.37. The S&P 500 added 15 points and finished at its highest level since October 2007 and is now only about 2% away from its record closing high. Image via RealTick View high resolution

Dow closes at record high

CNN Money:

The Dow climbed more than 125 points to close at a record high of 14,253.77, topping the prior record set in October 2007. Earlier, the blue chip index climbed to an intraday record of 14,286.37.

The S&P 500 added 15 points and finished at its highest level since October 2007 and is now only about 2% away from its record closing high.

Image via RealTick

Nerf introduces product line marketed for girls TODAY.com: Hasbro is launching the Nerf Rebelle, a new product line marketed for girls. First up will be the Heartbreaker bow, which will hit store shelves this fall. The line promises the same power as items in the Nerf Elite line, but with pretty girly colors and designs. Nerf, however, says the differences between the Rebelle and Elite lines go beyond pink. In an effort to connect with girls and how they play, the Heartbreaker will also come with collectible darts and the line will have an app, which encourages teamwork and strategy and lets girls capture photos and videos of all of the action. The bow is also sized and shaped differently, making it easier for young girls to handle. Photo: The Heartbreaker bow (courtesy of Hasbro)

Nerf introduces product line marketed for girls

TODAY.com: Hasbro is launching the Nerf Rebelle, a new product line marketed for girls. First up will be the Heartbreaker bow, which will hit store shelves this fall.

The line promises the same power as items in the Nerf Elite line, but with pretty girly colors and designs. Nerf, however, says the differences between the Rebelle and Elite lines go beyond pink.

In an effort to connect with girls and how they play, the Heartbreaker will also come with collectible darts and the line will have an app, which encourages teamwork and strategy and lets girls capture photos and videos of all of the action. The bow is also sized and shaped differently, making it easier for young girls to handle.

Photo: The Heartbreaker bow (courtesy of Hasbro)

US Postal Service to cut Saturday mail delivery JUST IN: The U.S. Postal Service is expected to announce later today that it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week, The Associated Press reports.The plan is aimed at saving about $2 billion. Photo: U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Anthony Ow places letters in a mailbox as he walks his delivery route on July 30, 2009, in San Francisco, California. (Getty Images North America)

US Postal Service to cut Saturday mail delivery

JUST IN: The U.S. Postal Service is expected to announce later today that it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week, The Associated Press reports.

The plan is aimed at saving about $2 billion.

Photo: U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Anthony Ow places letters in a mailbox as he walks his delivery route on July 30, 2009, in San Francisco, California. (Getty Images North America)

HMV workers appear to take over Twitter account amid layoffs Workers at the troubled UK entertainment store HMV appear to have taken over the company’s Twitter account to announce layoffs, The Independent reports. It’s not clear whether the account had been hijacked from the outside and within 20 minutes of the first tweet, all had been deleted. The company has declined to comment on the tweets.HMV’s joint administrators confirmed that 190 layoffs have been made across the head office and distribution network, but added that there have been none in stores. View high resolution

HMV workers appear to take over Twitter account amid layoffs

Workers at the troubled UK entertainment store HMV appear to have taken over the company’s Twitter account to announce layoffs, The Independent reports.

It’s not clear whether the account had been hijacked from the outside and within 20 minutes of the first tweet, all had been deleted. The company has declined to comment on the tweets.

HMV’s joint administrators confirmed that 190 layoffs have been made across the head office and distribution network, but added that there have been none in stores.

Gatorade removing controversial ingredient following complaints AP reports: PepsiCo says it is removing a controversial ingredient from Gatorade following customer complaints. A spokeswoman for the company said the move was in the works for the past year and wasn’t a response to a recent petition on Change.org. The petition on Change.org noted that the ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, has been patented as a flame retardant and is banned in Japan and the European Union. PepsiCo’s spokeswoman says Gatorade uses the ingredient as an “emulsifier,” meaning it distributes flavoring more evenly so that it doesn’t collect at the surface. Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is still used in other PepsiCo drinks, such as Mountain Dew, she said. Photo: Wikipedia Commons, via National Post View high resolution

Gatorade removing controversial ingredient following complaints

AP reports: PepsiCo says it is removing a controversial ingredient from Gatorade following customer complaints. A spokeswoman for the company said the move was in the works for the past year and wasn’t a response to a recent petition on Change.org.

The petition on Change.org noted that the ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, has been patented as a flame retardant and is banned in Japan and the European Union. PepsiCo’s spokeswoman says Gatorade uses the ingredient as an “emulsifier,” meaning it distributes flavoring more evenly so that it doesn’t collect at the surface. Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is still used in other PepsiCo drinks, such as Mountain Dew, she said.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons, via National Post

Exxon once again ‘world’s most valuable company’ as Apple stock sinks Mashable reports: Apple’s market cap plummeted below $420 billion on Friday after a disappointing earnings report earlier in the week, allowing Exxon Mobil to regain its title as the most valuable company by market cap. Apple first overtook Exxon in August 2011. At its peak in September 2012, Apple’s market cap was $656 billion, about $240 billion more than Exxon at that time. Read more updates on Apple’s earnings report on BreakingNews.com. Photo: Image from Andrew* on Flickr, via Mashable View high resolution

Exxon once again ‘world’s most valuable company’ as Apple stock sinks

Mashable reports: Apple’s market cap plummeted below $420 billion on Friday after a disappointing earnings report earlier in the week, allowing Exxon Mobil to regain its title as the most valuable company by market cap.

Apple first overtook Exxon in August 2011. At its peak in September 2012, Apple’s market cap was $656 billion, about $240 billion more than Exxon at that time.

Read more updates on Apple’s earnings report on BreakingNews.com.

Photo: Image from Andrew* on Flickr, via Mashable

Facebook announces new search feature, Graph Search JUST IN: Facebook says it will be releasing a new search feature for its site called Graph Search.Graph Search is designed to take a precise query and deliver an answer, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. He said it isn’t a Web search service, and that user privacy has been taken into consideration, according to The Next Web. View high resolution

Facebook announces new search feature, Graph Search

JUST IN: Facebook says it will be releasing a new search feature for its site called Graph Search.

Graph Search is designed to take a precise query and deliver an answer, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. He said it isn’t a Web search service, and that user privacy has been taken into consideration, according to The Next Web.

Cadillac ATS, Ram 1500 named North American car, truck of the year General Motors’ Cadillac ATS has been named 2013 North American Car of the Year by a jury of automotive writers, Reuters reports.Chrysler’s Ram 1500 pickup, which was extensively redesigned for model year 2013, was named North American Truck/Utility of the Year.Follow updates from the 2013 Detroit Auto Show on BreakingNews.com.Photo: The 2013 Cadillac ATS is unveiled prior to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 8, 2012. (Paul Sancya / AP)

Cadillac ATS, Ram 1500 named North American car, truck of the year

General Motors’ Cadillac ATS has been named 2013 North American Car of the Year by a jury of automotive writers, Reuters reports.

Chrysler’s Ram 1500 pickup, which was extensively redesigned for model year 2013, was named North American Truck/Utility of the Year.

Follow updates from the 2013 Detroit Auto Show on BreakingNews.com.

Photo: The 2013 Cadillac ATS is unveiled prior to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 8, 2012. (Paul Sancya / AP)

Google to license mobile patents in FTC antitrust settlement JUST IN: Google is agreeing to license certain patents to mobile phone rivals and stop a practice of including snippets from other websites in its search results, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says.These moves are part of a settlement to end a 19-month investigation into the search leader’s business practices, the AP reports. U.S. antitrust regulators say they have found no evidence to claims that Google unfairly favors its own services in search results.Photo: A Motorola phone displays the Google search page. (Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters)

Google to license mobile patents in FTC antitrust settlement

JUST IN: Google is agreeing to license certain patents to mobile phone rivals and stop a practice of including snippets from other websites in its search results, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says.

These moves are part of a settlement to end a 19-month investigation into the search leader’s business practices, the AP reports. U.S. antitrust regulators say they have found no evidence to claims that Google unfairly favors its own services in search results.

Photo: A Motorola phone displays the Google search page. (Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters)

Avis buying Zipcar in $500 million all-cash deal

NBC News: Car rental company Avis says it will buy car-sharing company Zipcar for about $500 million in cash.

Car sharing has become a popular alternative to traditional rentals in cities and on college campuses, allowing people to use vehicles for quick trips.

Avis Chairman and CEO Ronald Nelson says combining with Zipcar will significantly increase the company’s growth potential. Avis also says bringing its fleet into play will help Zipcar meet high demand on weekends.

Toyota reaches $1.1 billion recall settlement AP: Toyota has reached a more than $1 billion settlement in a case involving hundreds of lawsuits over acceleration problems in its vehicles. Lawyer Steve Berman, a plaintiffs’ attorney, said the settlement is the largest settlement in U.S. history involving automobile defects. Photo: Toyota keys sit in a fish bowl at the Toyota of Tampa Bay dealership in Tampa, Florida, on June 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)

Toyota reaches $1.1 billion recall settlement

AP: Toyota has reached a more than $1 billion settlement in a case involving hundreds of lawsuits over acceleration problems in its vehicles.

Lawyer Steve Berman, a plaintiffs’ attorney, said the settlement is the largest settlement in U.S. history involving automobile defects.

Photo: Toyota keys sit in a fish bowl at the Toyota of Tampa Bay dealership in Tampa, Florida, on June 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)