All Nippon seeks US antitrust immunity for UAL tie-up
ALL Nippon Airways Co requested US antitrust immunity to expand an alliance with UAL Corp’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc to improve efficiency on their trans-Pacific routes.
MAS probes China Yongsheng for breaches
BARELY six months after being rapped by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for poor disclosures and weak internal controls, China Yongsheng Limited could potentially be in trouble again – this time with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for possible breach of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).
ST Engg unit wins 33m yuan waste transfer station deal
THE ST Engineering (ST Engg) group has won a tender worth about 33 million yuan (S$6.5 million) in Wuhan, China, for the designing, building and delivery of a waste transfer station in Donghu Newtech Zone.
Brunei Shell extends Swiber contract
OFFSHORE construction firm Swiber Holdings has had its contract with Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) to provide transportation and installation of offshore structures and pipelines extended till 2014.
Oceanus to raise $41.5m from issue of TDRs
ABALONE producer Oceanus Group said yesterday that it is raising $41.5 million through the listing of Taiwan Depository Receipts (TDRs) at NT$9.50 apiece (S$0.415).
10 events that shaped the local market in 2009
JUST as Santa checks his list twice to find out who has been naughty or nice, BT has gone through news from 2009′s financial torrent to sieve major events that have shaped the local market – for better or worse.
Prudence the corporate bond market theme in 2010: S&P
‘PRUDENCE amid a tepid recovery’ will be the theme of corporate bond markets next year as creditworthiness improves, default rates slow and housing markets show signs of recovery, according to Standard & Poor’s.
A sweet ending
THERE is a saying (attributed to the Chinese) that when you leave the table you should leave with a sweet taste in the mouth – it could mean the meal itself or apply to a business discussion.
Bubbles for the season
CHAMPAGNE is one of the more obvious festive beverages, but the French aren’t the only ones who know how to concoct delicious bubbly.
The case of the preposterous plot
IN matching wits against dastardly villains and solving the most complex criminal cases imaginable, everything appears pretty elementary to Sherlock Holmes, the thinking man’s detective and the fictional hero created by Arthur Conan Doyle.
A powerful movie about life’s injustices
LIFE just isn’t fair, and though that’s probably not news to anyone who has ever watched a perfect tee shot end up in a divot or lost out on a prime parking space to an obnoxious queue jumper, it surely is nothing compared to a parent who has a child taken from him due to bureaucratic ineptitude and indifference.
A return to roots
THE Arts community has given us a few – shall we say, uniquely Singapore – Christmas traditions, and one of them would be Jonathan Lim’s Chestnuts.
Around Town
EGYPTIAN mummies have arrived at the National Museum for one of the more ‘exotic’ exhibitions to grace the museum to date.
To eat, drink and be merry
ANYONE who has listened to the same piece of music in different environments will probably realise that music affects you differently depending on where you are listening to it, as well as what you are doing.
Fun for all the family
KEEPING the television on during house parties necessitates child-friendly shows, as do quiet family movie nights away from festive crowds.
Yuletide feasting
THERE are several reasons why you would want to eat breakfast at 4pm in the afternoon, or even in the evening
To market, to market
I HAVE long been disenchanted with commercialised Christmases rife with fat Santa Clauses that have nothing to do with the true meaning of the Yuletide season.
The Firth Noel
NICOLA Giuggioli – who, we might as well get it out of the way now, is Colin Firth’s brother-in-law – designed his first solar panel at the age of 13.
Hong Kong’s roads clogged with supercars
HONG KONG’s roads look like pages ripped from a luxury car magazine.
Joy to the world
WHAT a huge, complicated set of questions you’ve set down,’ remarks Terence Conran, on a crackly phone line from London. ‘I’ll do me best, that’s all I can do.’
A quiet session ahead of year-end holidays
NOT unexpectedly, activity in the local stock market yesterday was virtually non-existent. Volume was low even for a half-day session.
Celebratory mood here as worst of crisis fades
MORE people seem to be optimistic, with big crowds in celebratory spirits out in force at most shopping centres.
Manufacturing output down 8.2% in Nov
VOLATILE pharmaceutical output more than halved in November, leading to an 8.2 per cent fall in overall manufacturing output from a year ago. This is the sharpest fall since March, and follows October’s 3.2 per cent year-on-year expansion.
Asean disaster management pact takes effect
THE Asean Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) entered into force yesterday, after being ratified by all the ten member states, said the Asean Secretariat in a statement.
Going green with a real Christmas tree
SiNGAPOREANS are going for real Christmas trees, and contrary to popular belief, that may be a good thing for the environment.
Qualitas buys 75% stake in SmileFocus
QUALITAS Medical Group, through subsidiary Qualitas Healthcare International Sdn Bhd, is planning the acquisition of a 75 per cent stake in Dr Marcus Cooney & Associates Pte Ltd (DMCA), which operates a dental clinic in Singapore under the trade name ‘SmileFocus’.
No, No, No, instead of Ho, Ho, Ho
It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. So what was a good, compassionate, environmentally conscious guy like Dan Nainan to do? The tree was the first problem.
Luxury retailers are nicer this Christmas
IF the doorman at Bergdorf Goodman seems a little more cheerful than usual this holiday season, or a salesman at Prada or Hermes offers to find a pair of shoes in your size without rolling an eye, do not act so surprised. Retailers are being extra nice, and not just to the regulars.
Dear Santa, NO clothes please…
IT’S a tradition that has stood the test of time and an increasingly cynical age: little boys and girls, sitting down with paper and pencil, writing to Santa and telling him how good they have been and how much they deserve the new toy they have been eyeing all year.
Petronas ditches Lotus on a slippery surface
THE decision by state oil and gas company Petronas to sponsor the Mercedes Formula One team next season is a blow to the Malaysia-backed Lotus F1 racing team but may have political consequences for Petronas’s independent chief executive.
In praise of Scroogenomics
AT the annual Business Times Christmas party-cum-charity auction on Wednesday, an umbrella depicting characters from the TV show Sesame Street – but otherwise unremarkable – sold for $500. I don’t know about BT night editor Edmund Loh (who bought the umbrella), but it’s great for the charity that’s going to get the money.
The spirit of giving thrives in BT
YOU know the season for giving is here when an umbrella splashed with Big Bird and his pals from Sesame Street fetches $500.
No rebound in premium car market despite better economy
AN EXPECTED rebound in demand for premium cars as the economy recovers has not materialised. In fact, some distributors of high-end makes say that the market has softened instead.
Underperforming small caps unlikely to shine in this recovery
THE US economy turned in its first quarter of growth in the third quarter ended Oct 31, as it officially emerged from the deepest recession since 1980.
Malaysia property gains tax gets a time bar
MALAYSIA will now impose real property gains tax (RPGT) of 5 per cent on those who sell their property within five years of acquiring it.
More Chinese turning to the Internet for holiday shopping
AS SHE unwrapped the parcel, Yang Ting, who works for a foreign company in Beijing, marvelled at the set of delicate Christmas pompons, which was the third gift she had bought online within a month to decorate her house.
Woods’ affairs: a holiday gift to lawyers
WHETHER a one-night hook-up or a long-running romance, a relationship without marriage rarely requires lawyers.
Senate, US public hold card
CRITICS of former US president George W Bush’s unilateralist approach to foreign policy had assumed that President Barack Obama’s commitment to pursuing a more multilateralist global agenda would finally help produce international agreements on a variety of issues, including climate change.
Things that might happen in 2010
NO one can complain that the last two years have been light on drama. We had the worst financial crash in living memory, and some of the biggest banks in the world effectively came under state control.
Kung fu fighting
’twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for one mouse.
The ghostwriters of Christmas past
IN A YEAR marked by the fallout left behind by class acts like Lehman Brothers and Bernard Madoff, many must have felt driven to desperation.
US okays compensation at bailed-out firms
THE Obama administration’s pay czar on Wednesday approved 2010 executive pay packages at bailed-out companies, exceeding government-imposed limits in the case of General Motors (GM).
AIG probed execs regarding pay moves: WSJ
AMERICAN International Group Inc (AIG) investigated five executives who threatened to resign over federal pay limits, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Obama health plan set to advance in Senate
THE US Senate was poised yesterday to hand President Barack Obama a huge Christmas Eve victory by approving an US$871 billion overhaul of US healthcare, capping months of struggle in the face of solid Republican opposition.
Stolen jet engines traced to Argentina
TWO missing US-made fighter jet engines, worth US$29 million and stolen from a Malaysian military airbase, have been traced to Argentina, police said yesterday.
Briefing
Two former close aides to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama were charged yesterday over falsified political funding records, Japanese media said, a development that threatens to erode support for the government.
CEOs of US brokerages to testify in inquiry
JAMIE Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co, will be among the first witnesses to testify before a commission investigating last year’s financial collapse.
China trade surplus seen sliding 19% in 2010
CHINA’S trade surplus may slide 19 per cent next year as imports surge because of growing domestic demand, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said.
Taiwan plans NT$60b rise in bond sales next year
TAIWAN may increase local bond sales by at least NT$60 billion (S$2.6 billion) next year to help fund spending, with the final amount dependent on economic conditions, according to a government official.
Japan to cut policy spending as budget looms
JAPAN’S Democratic Party-led government is likely to spend less than half the money it wanted to set aside next fiscal year for its main campaign pledges as the country’s large debt burden limits fiscal policy.
Google’s AdMob deal draws 2nd FTC look
GOOGLE Inc said that the US government is seeking more information about the competitive impact of its proposed US$750 million purchase of AdMob on the nascent market for mobile advertising.
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