General Motors won't tackle pension talks with UAW until 2015: Vice chairman

NEW YORK: General Motors Co will wait until its next round of labor talks in 2015 before negotiating with the United Auto Workers about the automaker's U.S. blue-collar pension obligation, GM's vice chairman said on Friday.

Pay up or dry up - Egyptian gas at a crossroads

LONDON (Reuters) - An offshore gas find in the Nile Delta is strong new evidence that Egypt has the resources to end power cuts and get export income flowing again. Its challenge is to persuade wary international oil companies to develop them.

Blackberry reports $965m second quarter loss

Blackberry has reported a second quarter net loss of $965m (£600m) following a slump in sales. The company warned investors last week that it would report a loss of up to a billion dollars, due to poor sales of its new smartphones.

Nokia defends former chief Stephen Elop's golden handshake

Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa on Thursday defended an 18.8 million euro ($25.4 million) payoff to former chief executive Stephen Elop as part of Microsoft's takeover of its mobile phone unit.

PPI: firms failing on complaints

An investigation by the City regulator has uncovered "serious problems" with the handling of payment protection insurance complaints at two-thirds of the firms it looked at.

The Economist: “The Fed's have-it-both-ways policy”

R.A., regarding Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech, your column notes that you “found the tone on monetary policy to be confusing and timid.” Expectations now turn to what President Obama will say next week and what the Fed will do (or not do) when they next meet. Uncertainty again prevails.

Alexander Mirtchev

China lifts Facebook ban ... a bit - report

After years of being locked out of China, Facebook and several media companies have been given the green light in the country -- sort of.

China's Huawei to add 5,500 jobs in Europe in five years

BEIJING: Chinese telecommmunications equipment maker Huawei plans to create 5,500 jobs in Europe within five years as the company expands its services in the region, state-owned newspaper China Daily said on Saturday.

Corsair in lead to buy business bank from RBS

The Royal Bank of Scotland is very close to deciding to sell to Corsair the small business bank it has been forced by the European Commission to create and hive off.

BlackBerry to fire 4,500 employees as sales of new device plummet

BlackBerry confirmed it was firing 4,500 of its staff on Friday as the struggling smartphone firm said it expects to lose nearly $1bn in the three months to August on disappointing sales of new phones.

Sweet dreams for Boeing investors

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Securing global economic security

Inflation is a significant factor of global economic security and has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans

Sir, Further to the article by Sam Fleming, “Incomes will plummet as inflation soars, report claims” (May 3), I agree that the erosion of earnings by inflation should move higher on the economic agenda.

Alexander Mirtchev

JPMorgan ordered to refund $309 million over "unfair" credit card billing

The country's largest bank has been ordered to refund $309 million to customers and pay $80 million in fines over alleged unfair credit card billing, regulators at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Thursday.

Total says to buy Chevron petrol stations in Pakistan

PARIS: French energy giant Total and its Pakistani partner PARCO said today they had reached a deal with American oil major Chevron to buy its fuel distribution network in Pakistan.

Lloyds Bank privatisation begins

The government's sale of Lloyds Banking Group has begun, with big investors being offered 6% of the bank.

Vodafone set to take over Kabel Deutschland

Vodafone is set to complete a 7.7bn-euro (£6.6bn; $10bn) takeover of Kabel Deutschland after securing the backing of the German cable operator's shareholders.

Ford Names U.S. Sales Chief as Toyota Tests Market Place

Ford Motor Co. (F), the second-biggest U.S. automaker, named a new U.S. sales chief whose challenge will be to maintain a sales lead over Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and its growing willingness to discount cars such as the Camry.

U.K.'s Royal Mail goes public

The British government plans to sell a majority of its stake in the Royal Mail through an initial public offering that will be one of the U.K.'s largest in decades.

JPMorgan beefs up compliance efforts: Report

JPMorgan Chase is spending billions on new compliance staff and programs to address a wave of regulatory scrutiny after recent problems, according to a report Friday.

Dell shareholders approve buyout by founder Michael Dell

According to a preliminary count, Dell shareholders have approved a $24.9bn (£15.6bn) buyout offer by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.

Toyota repeats US vehicle recall on suspension worries

Toyota is recalling 780,584 vehicles in the US for a second time to address a suspension defect that may not have been fixed after a recall last year.

Japan's Suntory to buy GSK drink brands for $2.1 billion

TOKYO: Japanese drinks giant Suntory said today it would buy the top-selling Lucozade and Ribena brands from British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for $2.1 billion.

What to expect from Apple's iPhone event

While there's still no official confirmation of what Apple plans to show off Tuesday, it's the worst kept secret in tech: we're getting new iPhones.

Lego becomes world's second-biggest toy maker

Denmark's Lego has become the world's second-biggest toy maker after reporting a 13% increase in sales. It generated sales of $1.8bn (£1.2bn) for the six months to 30 June, up from the same period last year, overtaking US-based Hasbro.

World leaders push big companies like Apple, Google to pay more taxes

ST. PETERSBURG: It's time to make Google, Apple and other multinational companies pay more taxes. That's the message from President Barack Obama and the leaders of the world's leading economies at a summit ending Friday.

Apple faces new China labor allegations

Apple is looking into claims of poor working conditions at a supplier in China that is said to be working on a new, cheaper iPhone.

Microsoft shares drop on $7.2 billion Nokia phone deal

HELSINKI: Microsoft is wagering $7.2 billion on the idea that owning Nokia's phone business will help the software giant grab a bigger slice of the lucrative mobile market from Apple and Google.

Sovereign Debt and Beyond: Toward a New Magna Carta?

Source: The Globalist

Alexander Mirtchev and Norman Bailey

The global debt burden appears to have gathered an unstoppable momentum, prompting divergent reactions. The world economy cannot count on growth to solve the global debt problem — and stimulus measures are not a sustainable solution. In the second installment in the series “The Search for a New Global Equilibrium,” Dr. Alexander Mirtchev and Dr. Norman Bailey explain why the solutions currently being offered are wholly inadequate to the scale of the problem, and argue the time is ripe for a “new Magna Carta” — a redefinition of the social contract among the government, Main Street and Wall Street.

Verizon bets big on U.S. wireless market

One of the biggest deals in corporate history solely targets the already saturated U.S. wireless market.

The Global Inflation Wave: Waiting for Constantine?

Source: The Globalist

Alexander Mirtchev and Norman Bailey

In the wake of the global economic crisis, the world is trying to chart an economic path to the future and find a "new normal." As Alexander Mirtchev and Norman A. Bailey explain in the first installment in their series "The Search for a New Global Equilibrium," inflation as a factor of global economic security has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans and further upset the equilibrium.

Boeing, Airbus face new threat of low jet sales

NEW YORK: With US military spending in decline, Boeing and Airbus investors have been counting on record commercial aircraft sales to keep profits rising.

The new EU External Energy Policy: an important move - if it is not too late

By Alexander Mirtchev

With the adoption of its new External Energy Policy, the EU has finally made a first step towards its integration as a single negotiating bloc in the world energy market. As such the External Energy Policy could become an important factor in the global energy security picture and a possible geopolitical game-changer. However, it remains to be seen whether the big EU member states will be willing to subordinate their interests to the wider EU interest. The External Energy Policy has probably come five years too late, argues Alexander Mirtchev, President of Krull Corp. and Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

Verizon reaches agreement to acquire Vodafone's 45% stake for $130 billion

LONDON/NEW YORK: Verizon Communications agreed on Monday to pay $130 billion to buy Vodafone out of its US wireless business, signing history's third largest corporate deal to bring an end to a decade-long corporate stand-off.

Technology companies fight for funds as venture capitalists look elsewhere

European technology companies are trapped in a funding bottleneck as venture capital firms refuse to reinvest in the sector until they see a return from earlier investments, such as music service Spotify, via successful stock market flotations.

Toyota to invest $102 million to boost transmission output in US

DETROIT: Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it will invest $102 million at its West Virginia engine transmission plant and aluminum casting factories in Missouri and Tennessee to boost production.