Monsanto Co. said Wednesday that Pierre Courduroux will become the company’s next chief financial officer on Jan. 1.
Courduroux, 45, is currently Monsanto’s finance lead for global seeds and traits business. He replaces Carl Casale, who is leaving at the end of the year to become president and CEO of Minneapolis-based CHS Inc.
“Pierre understands our business, has proven financial expertise, and applies that to executing on our strategic vision,” chief executive Hugh Grant said in a statement savings account payday advance.
Courduroux, a native of Clermont-Ferrand, France, joined Monsanto in 1990. He also previously served as CFO for the company’s global vegetable business.
Italian economist Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, one of the intellectual architects of the euro and a member of the European Central Bank’s first executive board, has died. He was 70.
Padoa Schioppa, economy minister under Premier Romano Prodi, died Saturday night after suffering a heart attack during a dinner in Rome with friends, according to one of those present, his one-time deputy Vincenzo Visco.
The unexpected death stunned Italy’s political and business elite, who remembered him as a passionate promoter of the European project and its single currency.
“He was among those who knew how to translate the European ideal into concrete and learned analyses and projects, giving in particular a lasting contribution to the birth of the euro and the eurozone,” Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said.
During his seven year term at the ECB, Padoa Schioppa was one of the six members charged with guiding the euro through its first vital years after being introduced in 11 member nations on Jan. 1, 1999.
“He contributed decisively in the early years of the euro to the reputation of the ECB as a major actor in international and European cooperation,” ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a statement. The eurozone, he said, “is losing a man of reflection, of action and of vision, fully dedicated to European unity.”
Prior his appointment to the ECB, Padoa Schioppa held many prestigious posts in the Italian business and banking world. He first gained international recognition as the director-general for economic and financial affairs at the European Commission 1979-1983.
In 1993 he became deputy director-general of Banca d’Italia faxless payday loans. He surprised many in 1997 when he moved to Consob, Italy’s stock market watchdog. As chairman he fought to introduce reforms in the Italian stock market particularly those to clamp down on insider trading.
More recently, the Greek government tapped him to help deal with the country’s debt crisis and Fiat Industrial named him to the board just last week.
But it was his role in shepherding in the euro that made his mark.
Schioppa was the executive board director with special responsibility for international relations, payment systems and banking supervision. He traveled widely lecturing in important financial centers from New York to Tokyo and Beijing advocating the importance and potential of the euro.
An ardent supporter of the European project, the trilingual Schioppa acknowledged the challenge that lack of political union presented to the euro. He repeatedly argued that “a strong currency requires a strong economy and a strong polity, not only a competent central bank.”
With the euro well on its way, Prodi named Padoa Schioppa economy minister after winning the 2006 elections and tasked him with the difficult job of trying to revive Italy’s zero-growth economy. It was a post he held until Prodi lost to Premier Silvio Berlusconi in 2008.
Padoa Schioppa, educated in Milan and Massachusetts, was married with three children.
Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately announced. Rome’s mayor offered city hall for the wake, noting that Padoa Schioppa’s death was a loss for the entire nation.
Bank of England policy maker Adam Posen said policy makers shouldn’t “overreact” to inflation, which may slow below 1 percent in two years.
The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee “would only make things worse by making policy looking in the rear-view mirror, trying to make up for past mistakes,” Posen said in a speech today in Billericay, England. “If we allow for even just some exchange-rate pressure upwards on prices over this period as well, underlying U.K. inflation has stayed well below target.”
U.K. inflation has exceeded the government’s 3 percent limit for nine months, and an increase in value-added tax on sales in January may add to prices in 2011. Posen said Britain’s economy still has a “large” amount of slack in the aftermath of the recession and the largest government budget squeeze since World War II will slow inflation.
“Neither our forecast nor our policy going forward should overreact reflexively to that above-target inflation, even though it will persist for the next few months after the coming VAT rise,” Posen said.
Posen’s analysis leads him “to a forecast for U.K. inflation well below that of the November Inflation Report, and more importantly a forecast that at the target horizon of two- plus years, annual CPI inflation will be significantly below target (perhaps by 1 percent or more),” he said.
Price Expectations
Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier in November, the highest since May. Consumers’ inflation expectations reached a two-year high in November in a GfK NOP Ltd. survey for the Bank of England released today.
The large amount of slack in the economy will still curb consumer-price gains, Posen said.
“Financial crises in advanced economies do not destroy enough productive capacity to offset the disinflationary fall in demand,” he said. “For the U.K. today, this would suggest that a sizable output gap still exists, exerting downward pressure on inflation, all else equal.”
The bank’s nine-member committee kept its bond-purchase plan unchanged at 200 billion pounds ($312 billion) this month and held its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.5 percent. Minutes of the central bank’s Nov. 4 decision showed policy makers split three ways, with Andrew Sentance calling for higher rates to combat inflation and Posen pushing for more stimulus to sustain the recovery. The rest voted for no change.
Minutes of this month’s decision are due Dec. 22.
Stocks ended Wednesday on a positive note after a batch of economic reports offered hope that the U.S. economy was improving.
Incomes rose last month and consumer spending climbed for a fifth month. That raised hopes that shoppers will hit the malls in droves the day after Thanksgiving, the start of the holiday shopping season.
At the same time, fewer people claimed unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the labor market is recovering.
“There are fundamental signs that the economy is turning a corner,” said John O’Donoghue, co-head of equities at Cowen & Co.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 150.91, or 1.4 percent, to 11,187.28.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 17.62, or 1.5 percent, to 1,198.35. The Nasdaq composite index rose 48.17, or 1.9 percent, to 2,543.12.
The upturn marked an abrupt reversal from Tuesday, when an exchange of artillery fire between North and South Korea led nervous investors to sell stocks and dash into gold, Treasurys and other assets often used as hiding spots. Investors also shrugged off a steep fall in new home sales and manufacturing orders.
Tim Speiss, chair of the wealth advisory group at EisnerAmper, said investors were right to focus on the improved signs in employment and consmer spending, which are far more important to an economic resurgence than home sales or manufacturing orders.
“If we don’t have strong consumer spending in this economy, we’re in trouble,” said Speiss. “When there’s spending, manufacturing will increase to meet that demand.”
The government said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to 407,000 last week. That was much better than the 435,000 new claims economists had expected.
A separate report showed that Americans’ incomes rose 0.5 percent last month, slightly better than expected. Their spending rose 0.4 percent, up slightly from September.
Safety assets moved lower as investors became more willing to take on risk. Treasury prices edged lower, pushing their yields higher. The yield on the 10-year note rose to 2.92 percent from 2.77 percent Tuesday. Gold fell to $1,375 an ounce, down from $1379.
Investors largely dismissed downbeat reports that showed declines in sales of manufactured goods and new home sales. Orders for durable goods fell 3.3 percent, while new home sales and median home prices both fell last month. Sales of single-family houses slid 8.1 percent, the fourth time the rate has dropped in the past six months.
In corporate news, Tiffany & Co. also reported a rise in profit, fueled by strong sales of jewelry in the U.S. and overseas. Tiffany shares rose 5.3 percent to $61.33. Shares of fellow high-end retailer Coach Inc. also rose 3.7 percent to $56.63.
U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. They will reopen for half-day sessions on Friday.
A two-day internal study mission focused on projects and companies that have earned the Sacramento region bragging rights wraps up Friday in Folsom.
Some of the “firsts” event participants learned about included the region’s status as the top place in the state for green job growth, and its claim to the world’s largest solar power system on the roof of a movie theater. The region can also lay claim two of the largest solar power systems in the country — at Aerojet and Intel Corp.
In addition, Los Rios Community College District will have the first regional education center on a University of California campus — the Sacramento City College Davis Center at UC Davis West Village. The center is expected to open in spring 2012.
The region’s business and community leaders are used to traveling as a group out of state — and at times out of the country — to study what other places have done right in economic development and other topics of interest. The second annual Sacramento Regional Internal Study Mission again invited leaders to stay home to study this region’s assets and opportunities.
The goal is for business and community leaders to look inward, learn more of what the region has to offer and become better able to sell others on Sacramento’s strong points.
This year’s study mission is focused on sustainable communities, energy and agriculture; clean-energy technology; education; agri-tourism; and health care.
Participants from a variety of industries, government, education and nonprofits traveled together by bus to tour a few highlights in Sacramento and El Dorado counties. Destinations included California State University Sacramento, Folsom Lake College, El Dorado Hills Town Center, the American River Parkway, Intel’s Folsom campus and Soil Born Farms.
Some participants fully immersed themselves in the study mission by staying overnight at Lake Natoma Inn in Folsom.
The event is organized by the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has made several changes in the management structure at its Air Quality Division.
Ira Domsky was named director of information technology and a science adviser. He had been acting director since January. Domsky has been with the department for 26 years and previously served as deputy director.
Eric Massey, who has been with ADEQ for 11 years as a manager of air quality compliance and permitting, was named director cash advance loan. He had been acting deputy director since January.
Trevor Baggiore will become the division’s new deputy director. He has been with the department for nine years.
Lawmakers ripped into BP chief Tony Hayward on Thursday, accusing him of being ill-prepared for congressional testimony and not cooperating with an investigation into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In Hayward’s first congressional appearance since the April 20 disaster, lawmakers wanted to know if BP had cut corners in an effort to save money in the run up to the explosion.
Questions during the 7-1/2 hour hearing, which included two recesses, focused on the well’s design and the measures taken while BP was attempting to seal it before it exploded.
"Did BP make a fundamental misjudgment" in using one long piece of well casing instead of many shorter pieces, as other oil companies said they would have done, asked Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
"I wasn’t involved in that decision," replied Hayward, saying that the single piece was better for the well’s long-term stability.
Waxman produced transcripts from BP’s engineers saying that the single casing was "unlikely to be successful." Waxman said BP went ahead with it anyway to save $7 to $10 million.
Hayward said he was "not prepared to draw conclusions about this accident until the investigation is complete."
"This is an investigation," said Waxman. "Are you cooperating with other investigations? Because they’re going to have a hard time reaching a conclusion if you stonewall them, which it appears you are doing today."
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., wanted to know how much it would have cost BP to perform additional tests on the cement in the well.
"I cannot say," said Hayward.
Dingell also wanted to know how much it would have cost to circulate a heavier drilling mud through the pipes, which may have prevented the explosion.
"I cannot say," replied Hayward, again.
"We thought we’d have more candid responses to our questions," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. " You’re the CEO, you headed exploration, you know what’s going on."
Criticizing Hayward for his lack of answers became a theme of the meeting.
"Clearly Mr. Hayward is not prepared to answer the questions," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. "Any one of us could do a better job."
Apology flap
Barton may have been trying to deflect criticism after an earlier incident in which he called BP’s agreement to set up a $20 billion fund for spill victims "a shakedown" by the Obama administration, and apologized to BP.
The comment drew immediate criticism, with Rep. Edward Markey saying the fund is "the American government working at its best," and both the White House and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. issuing statements blasting Barton.
There were reports some Republican lawmakers from Gulf states were asking him to resign as ranking member of the committee, and Republican leaders issued a statement saying "Congressman Barton’s statements this morning were wrong."
Barton later retracted his apology to BP and said he was sorry for using the term shakedown.
"BP is responsible for this accident, should be held responsible, and should in every way do everything possible to make good on the consequences," he said. "If anything I’ve said this morning has been misconstrued in an opposite effect, I want to apologize."
Hayward gets emotional
Tensions in the hearing were apparent before Hayward began testifying, when he was was interrupted by a woman shouting unintelligibly, her face and hands painted with oil.
After a brief struggle with police, she was removed from the room and arrested. U.S. Capitol Police say the woman was charged with unlawful conduct.
Hayward began his testimony by waiving his right to legal counsel.
He struck an emotional tone in his prepared remarks, acknowledging the loss of life and apologizing to residents of the Gulf Coast.
"When I learned that 11 men had lost their lives in the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon, I was personally devastated," he said. "I want to offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends."
He went on to talk about the Gulf Coast economy and environment.
"I want to speak directly to the people who live and work in the Gulf region: I know that this incident has profoundly impacted lives and caused turmoil, and I deeply regret that," he said.
Hayward had been criticized previously for a sometimes callous approach to the disaster, especially the comment a few weeks back that he’d "like his life back" and that the "environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest."
In opening statements short on bluster and long on details, lawmakers outlined a series of steps BP took in the lead-up to the explosion that appeared to put cost above safety.
"Why would a team be sent home before performing a test?" on the well, asked Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., referring to one of the decisions in question. "BP had several warnings, but instead of treating the well with caution, it seems BP was only interested was completing the well quickly and cheaply."
The well exploded 59 days ago, killing 11 workers. Millions of gallons of oil are still spewing into the Gulf, resulting in what some are calling the worst environmental disaster in American history.
According to congressional documents and interviews with workers on the rig when it exploded, it appears BP chose faster, cheaper techniques for drilling this well, sometimes against the advice of their sub-contractors.
Hayward said there was "no evidence of reckless behavior," contradicting President Obama, who referred to the company’s "recklessness" during Tuesday night’s address to the nation.
Hayward also said no BP employees have been laid off as a result of the accident, and that he did not believe cost cutting led to the explosion.
"If there’s any evidence that anybody put costs above safety I will take action," he said.
"I can’t believe you said that," retorted Waxman. "Of course there’s evidence."
– CNN staff contributed to this report
General Motors has banned the use of the Chevy name in all of its corporate communications. From now on, the bow-tie brand will go by its proper name, Chevrolet.
It’s OK if you still call your car a Chevy. It’s just that GM won’t.
The problem, said Alan Batey, vice president of sales for Chevrolet in the U.S., is that in today’s Internet-connected world, documents and Web sites created for an American audience can be read by anyone, anywhere. And the use of two different names for one car brand — Chevy and Chevrolet — can cause confusion abroad.
While Chevy is a popular nickname for the brand in the U.S. and Canada, it’s not used in any of the other 130 or so countries where the brand is sold.
"I get calls from international colleagues asking me ‘What is a Chevy," said German-born GM spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin. "It takes quite a long time to explain to them."
Customers in other countries who want to learn more about Chevrolet and come across the name Chevy on a U.S.-based Web site might think it refers to a separate brand, he said.
But Chevrolet isn’t trying to shun its popular nickname, said Batey. GM still loves Chevy.
"[The nickname] says there’s a rapport and a relationship with the brand," said Batey bad credit payday advance. "We love it when people call us Chevy."
The memo that was sent out to GM employees even asked them not to use the Chevy name in conversation, Batey said. However, the ban on speaking the two-syllable word won’t be strictly enforced.
Existing advertising and corporate communications won’t be changed, he added, but the rule will be enforced in any materials produced from here on out.
Founded in 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Co., Chevrolet was named for founding partner Louis Chevrolet, an early race car driver.
As part of the company’s push for global consistency, Batey added, more products — such as the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze compact car — will be sold globally using the same model name everywhere. Until now, the automaker often sold similar models under different names around the world.
"The brand is going to become an icon around the world," he said.
Since everyone already knows Chevrolet, Batey said, and everyone in the U.S. knows that it’s Chevy, Americans shouldn’t miss anything.
Terremark Worldwide said on Thursday that revenue for the fourth quarter rose 11 percent to $82.5 million, up from $74.2 million in the prior three-month period.
The Miami-based provider of IT infrastructure services (NASDAQ:TMRK) reported revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31 was $292.3 million, a 17 percent increase over the prior fiscal year.
The company reported a net loss of $1.2 million, or 2 cents a share, improved from a loss of $8.3 million or 13 cents a share in the previous quarter, but down from the same time last year when it earned $4.1 million, or 6 cents a share.
Terremark said it added 56 customers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total number to 1,350.
“With another very strong quarter and fiscal year, Terremark continues to produce the positive results that reflect the strong demand among federal and enterprise customers for our suite of industry-leading solutions across our global footprint and our proven ability to successfully execute our strategic plan,” said Manuel D. Medina, Chairman and CEO of Terremark, in a news release. “Our consecutive quarters of record bookings, robust pipeline and strategic expansion create a solid base for fiscal 2011 and a clear path for sustained growth.”
Last week, Terremark said it acquired 27 acres of land adjacent to its Network Access Point (NAP) of the Capital Region for $5 million. The company also recently opened a 72,000-square-foot headquarters building at the NAP of the Capital Region campus.
The company said it expects revenues in the first quarter to range from $77 million to $79 million. For the full fiscal year, the company raised its guidance of revenue to range from $338 million to $343 million.
Shares closed up 32 cents to $7.50 on Thursday. The 52-week high was $8.98 on Jan. 21. The 52-week low was $4.34 on July 10.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong Tae kept interest rates unchanged at his final meeting, leaving it to his successor to address political pressure to stoke economic growth.
Lee held the seven-day repurchase rate at a record-low 2 percent in Seoul today after Finance Minister Yoon Jeung Hyun said this week that now “is not the right time” to boost borrowing costs. The decision was forecast by 13 of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. One expected a quarter- point increase.
The government pressed Lee, whose term expires March 31, to hold down rates as the economy shows mixed signs: growth slowed in the fourth quarter, unemployment soared in January, exports have risen for four months and manufacturers’ confidence is at a seven-year high. Since January, Governor Lee has had to accept a vice finance minister sitting in on rate meetings.
Lee appears to have decided to “leave it to his successor to deal with the Finance Ministry pressure resisting a rate hike,” said David Cohen, a Singapore-based economist at Action Economics. “The fact that inflation narrowed a little bit in the latest report gave them a good enough reason to hold off for another month.”
Stocks, Currency
The won weakened 0.2 percent to 1,132.80 per dollar at 12:02 p.m. in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency earlier rose as much as 0.4 percent to 1,126.23. The benchmark Kospi stock index fell 0.2 percent to 1,659.15 as of 11:57 a.m. in Seoul today.
The Bank of Korea said in a statement it “will maintain the accommodative policy stance for the time being in such a way as to help sustain the trend of recovery in economic activity.”
“The central bank is unlikely to change the benchmark rate in the second quarter as it will be difficult to change the stance of monetary policy as soon as a new governor is appointed and financial-market concerns over the debt in some countries still linger,” said Lim Jiwon, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Seoul.
President Lee Myung Bak is considering five candidates to head the Bank of Korea, DongA Ilbo newspaper reported last month, citing unidentified central bank and government officials.
These include Euh Yoon Dae, head of a presidential council set up to promote South Korea internationally; ex-Finance Minister Kang Man Soo; Kim Jong Chang, head of the Financial Supervisory Service; Park Cheul, a former deputy governor of the central bank; and Kim Choong Soo, envoy to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the newspaper.
Markets Unconcerned
The failure to announce Governor Lee’s replacement three weeks before his term expires hasn’t spooked the markets instant credit report. The Kospi index has risen 3.8 percent in the past month and the won gained 2.2 percent over the same period.
Finance Minister Yoon told reporters on March 8 that “it is the government’s firm belief that it is not the right time for rate hikes” as business investment is weak and prices are at manageable levels.
Lee Sung Kwon, an economist at Shinhan Investment Corp. in Seoul, said policy makers may have held off on a rate increase as “concerns over tightening measures in China remain.”
China, South Korea’s biggest export market, in February ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves for the second time in a month to avert asset bubbles. In the fourth quarter, Chinese gross domestic product increased 10.7 percent from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2007.
Unemployment Rises
In contrast, South Korea’s economy expanded 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter and unemployment surged to a 10-year high of 4.8 percent in January. President Lee has put unemployment at the top of the political agenda, vowing to cut the average jobless rate to about 3 percent this year.
The government boosted this year’s budget by 3 percent to 292.8 trillion won ($258 billion) and will accelerate distribution of funds as it seeks to maintain the recovery.
The central bank said the slowdown in growth in the fourth quarter was a temporary adjustment. In November, it widened the annual inflation target range to between 2 percent and 4 percent. Consumer prices increased 2.7 percent in February.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy is showing signs of strengthening. Exports climbed 31 percent in February from a year earlier, the fourth monthly increase. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, said its handset shipments may expand about a fifth this year, helped by demand for smartphones.
Manufacturers’ confidence for March rose to the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2002, when the Bank of Korea published its confidence survey on a quarterly basis.
The central bank’s failure to raise rates last year confounded analysts, who forecast it to be one of the first in Asia to move after the economy expanded 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in seven years. Since then, Australia, China, India and Vietnam have tightened monetary policy as Asia leads the recovery from the global recession.
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