Client News Release
Japan auto sales plunge as young lose interest (AP) and Weather Bet Pays Off for Buffett (Indie Research)
City of Industry, CA --(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 12/30/2008 - Most Popular industry news provided by Financial News USA. TOKYO (AP) -- To get around the city, Yutaka Makino hops on his skateboard or rides commuter trains. Does he dream of the day when he has his own car? Not a chance.Like many Japanese of his generation, the 28-year-old musician and part-time maintenance worker says owning a car is more trouble than it's worth, especially in a congested city where monthly parking runs as much as 30,000 yen ($330), and gas costs $3.50 a gallon (about 100 yen a liter). That kind of thinking -- which automakers here have dubbed "kuruma banare," or "demotorization" -- is a U-turn from earlier generations of Japanese who viewed car ownership as a status symbol. [Read the full article]
Warren Buffett is the world's best-known investor, but this year he's showed he can predict the weather too.Well-known for successful, long-term investments in blue chips like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Coca Cola (NYSE: KO), in 2008 Buffett was also quick to see opportunity when companies like GE (NYSE: GE) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News) showed signs of faltering.
But Buffett has also regularly used his unique position to initiate bets far out of reach for the typical investor. For example, in his 2007 Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) annual letter, he revealed that he had made long-term, multibillion-dollar bets using put options on the S&P 500 and three foreign stock indexes. [Read the full article]
BEIJING (AP) -- The companies whose tainted milk products sickened nearly 300,000 children and were blamed in the deaths of six will likely pay 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) in compensation to victims' families, a state-run newspaper said Tuesday.
Details of the compensation plan came shortly after trials began for 15 people on charges related to the production and sale of melamine, an industrial chemical added to milk to falsely boost protein readings in quality tests.According to the China Daily, the 22 companies blamed in the scandal will make a one-time 900 million yuan ($131 million) cash payment to victims.The remaining 200 million yuan ($29 million) would cover bills for lingering health problems, the paper said, citing an unnamed source from the China Insurance Regulatory commission. Details in the report roughly correspond to figures provided this month by lawyers seeking to sue the companies involved, who said that most children who suffered kidney stones would get 2,000 yua [Read the full article]
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sit back, relax and let your car parallel park itself -- without a single scratch or ding to your bumper.That's what Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday about its new self-parking technology, which it announced will debut as an option on the 2010 Lincoln MKS sedan and the new seven-passenger Lincoln MKT luxury crossover vehicle.
The technology uses ultrasonic sensors on the front and rear of the vehicle, combined with electric power steering to angle and guide it into a snug parking space -- all with the push of a button.Ford isn't the first to introduce cars that practically park themselves. [Read the full article]
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