Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Mitsubishi, Earnings/Financials, Peugeot, Citroën

‘Tis the season to form mergers, and the latest could involve a large stock swap between Mitsubishi and PSA Peugeot–Citroen. The two automakers have longstanding ties that include such projects as the Mitsubishi iMiEV electric car (which Peugeot has shown as the iOn) and the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV (which Peugeot sells as the 4007 and Citroen as the C-Crosser). But now the rapprochement could be entering a new stage.

In a potential tie-in that could mirror rival French automaker Renault’s alliance with Japanese automaker Nissan, reports suggest that PSA and Mitsu are on the verge of a stock swap. Insiders aren’t sure what sort of arrangement could be brokered, but speculate that PSA could take effective control with a large minority stake in Mitsubishi in exchange for either stock in PSA, cash in hand or a combination of both.

The strengthened partnership would stand to help PSA, Europe’s second largest automaker, compete not only with the Renault–Nissan Alliance, but also with Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker which is teaming up with Suzuki for presence in Asian markets. Industry analysts, however, note that with PSA already burdened with growing debts and given Mitsubishi’s relatively small production and market share, the move could be ill-advised for the French auto group. On speculation of the potential partnership, PSA stock reportedly fell 3.6 percent, while Mitsubishi’s rose 7.5 percent – the largest respective drop and gain for each automaker in months. Thanks for the tip, Vladimir!

[Source: Bloomberg]

Report: PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Mitsubishi inch closer to stock swap originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Having witnessed the huge success of the Fiesta movement, an advertising stunt pulled via social networks by Ford, the American manufacturer decided to use the same environment to explain the benefits behind Ford Mobile Navigation, the first fully-integrated mobile phone-based vehicle navigation system.

The explaining is being done with the help of a few short video clips available at this address or on Youtube (search ‘Ford Mobile Navigation). The main goal of the videos is to explain how th… (read more)

Filed under: Etc., Bugatti, Design/Style

If you’re going to sign a check for seven figures, you’re not going to use just any old Bic ballpoint, are you? Of course not. For just such an occasion, Bugatti has commissioned Ferrari to make them a suitable writing instrument.

Well, sort of. This Bugatti pen is made by a company called Ferrari da Varese, which, to our knowledge, doesn’t have any ties to the eponymous purveyor of sportscars from Maranello. Call it a coincidence then, but don’t dare call it a knock-off. The Bugatti Type A pen from Ferrari da Varese is designed by Luigi Trenti, crafted from aluminum and plated in nickel, then sterling silver, then palladium and finally platinum, for an unrivaled luster. The nib is made from rhodium-coated 18kt gold, complimented by a sapphire glass window and a lacquered black embossed Bugatti logo.

The 16-cm-long pen weighs a solid 95 grams and just for good measure, it comes in a leather and aluminum box. Which is a good thing, because each of the 499 fountain and 499 roller-ball pens cost a very car-like $15,000. Have a closer look in the gallery below.

[Source: Ferrari da Varese]

Ferrari makes a pen for Bugatti originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The earthquakes in Haiti continue to send ripples throughout the Internet community as regular people look for ways to help. However, it’s not just Internet users who are trying to lend a helping hand—major communications companies, as well as the Federal Communications Commission, are stepping up efforts to bring back communications to the area and boost donations to those in need.

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By the time Heather Hampton and her husband realized what was going on, Dish Network had double-charged them for 27 months of service, or roughly $2,000 in extra payments.

At first, the Aurora couple were angry they had not noticed the error sooner.

Then they began the long process of trying to get a refund.

After weeks, the Hamptons filed a dispute with their bank, calling the second set of charges fraudulent. The bank ruled in the Hamptons’ favor and reversed 10 months’ worth of charges.

The bank told the couple it could not go back any further because older charges were beyond the statute of limitations.

“They said we were lucky we got the 10 months,” Hampton said.

That still left the couple on the hook for the other 17 months — a whopping $1,257.46 in extra payments.

Hampton said she and her husband, Justen, had been trying since late August to get the money back. At first, Dish Network representatives promised a refund within a week or two.

But after hearing the same promise for months and not seeing a penny, the couple grew angrier.

In late December, Heather Hampton called Dish Network again and was told by a customer service agent she probably was out of luck.

“He said he’d seen this before,” Hampton said. “He said ‘it’s been too long, I can’t by law refund your money.’ ”

Having reached her boiling point, Hampton e-mailed What’s Your Problem?

“We’re out $1,200,” she said. “It’s not like a couple dollars.”

Hampton said her husband discovered the error in August when he considered switching from regular programming to a high-definition package.

When he looked at his bank statements to see how much the couple had been paying, he noticed that Dish Network had been charging his account twice — at the beginning of each month and again at the end.

He did some digging and found the double-billing had started when they signed up for service in May 2007.

Heather Hampton said the couple hadn’t noticed the problem because one monthly payment was taken from the couple’s checking account, the other from a debit card.

“We never made the connection,” Hampton said. “It was our stupidity.”

Still, Hampton said she deserved a refund.

The Problem Solver agreed, and called Allyson Mylrea, a spokeswoman for Dish.

Mylrea said she couldn’t comment on the Hamptons’ case, citing privacy concerns.

But days later, a Dish representative called Hampton and said the company would refund the full $1,257.46.

When the check will arrive is unclear.

“He said, ‘You’re going to get it,’ ” Hampton said. “I said, ‘Can you tell me when I’m going to get it?’ He said, ‘No.’ ”

Hampton said Dish Network never told her why she had been double-billed.

Meanwhile, the Hamptons have switched to Comcast.

Crazy fees?

Tired of paying extra to check a piece of luggage? Has a hotel ever charged you for Internet service you did not use? Did your restaurant make you pay a dime for a straw in your soda?

The Problem Solver is compiling a list of the most bizarre and frustrating fees.

If you’ve been charged a fee that you think is excessive, or just plain stupid, e-mail the details to [email protected].

We’ll run the list in a future column and on the Problem Solver’s blog, at chicagotribune.com/problemblog. You also can listen to the Problem Solver at 8:10 a.m. Wednesday on WGN-AM 720.

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Google has updated the list of programs it offers users in its Google Pack bundle in several countries and now features the free Avast antivirus software replacing the older security software included. The move was rather predictable as Avast has been offering to install Google Chrome along with the antivirus program for about a month now. The new Google… (read more)

UBS's latest global equity strategy pieces look at history and asks 'What do rate hikes mean for equities?'. Unfortunately the answer isn't pretty. Average stock market returns have been far worse after interest rates start to rise, when compared with the 12-month period before the rate tightening cycle begins.

Though 2004 was a bit of an exception -- stocks continues to do quite well even after rates started to rise:

So there is hope, according to UBS, if indeed we live in historically abnormal times. 

UBS: Positioning for upside. Policy tightening, along with other factors, is likely to keep market uncertainty high leading to a year of choppy returns. We recommend investors ‘trade up’ in quality as the junk rally gives way and companies with better fundamentals outperform. In global strategy we recommend a more balanced tilt between cyclicals and defensives than in 2009. This is shared by our strategists in both Europe and Asia who recently reduced their cyclical sector positioning, whereas our US and Canadian strategy teams prefer to stay more cyclically positioned for now.

Also, we'd like to add that the other issue is whether the Fed will even start raising rates any time soon. Note that Goldman thinks it won't happen until 2012.

(Via UBS, Global I/O: Equity Strategy, Jeffrey Palma, 18 January 2010)

Add my twitter: @vincefernando

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See Also:

• PIMCO: There's No Way The Market Can Absorb The Fed's Giant Balance Sheet Once It's Time To Tighten
• THE WARNING SHOT: Fed Tells Banks They Need To Worry About Interest Rates
• Panicky China Raises Interest Rates Higher Than Expected To Battle Bubble Fears

After news about the landing of US Airways 1549 in the Hudson first broke on Twitter in January 2009, the microblogging service quickly captured the imagination of a new group of potential users. Throughout the first months of 2009, Twitter grew at a rapid pace, peaking at a growth rate of 13% in March 2009.

Now, however, according to the latest data from HubSpot, Twitter’s growth is slowing dramatically. In October 2009, Twitter’s growth rate had fallen to 3.5%. On a positive note, though, the average active user on Twitter today is more engaged than six months ago.

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Most Twitter users, however – even if they are now more engaged on average – still have fewer than 100 followers. Only 18% of all Twitter users have more than 100 followers. A total of 81% of all users are currently also following less than 100 people. Just 6 months ago, the average user was just following around 40 accounts.

HubSpot’s analysis also shows that more Twitter users now include bios (54%), links (65%) and location data (41%) in their profiles.

International Footprint Increases

As we pointed out earlier this month, social media analytics firm Sysomos also noted that most of Twitter’s growth is currently happening internationally. According to HubSpot’s analysis of over 5 million Twitter accounts, 40% of the top 20 Twitter locations are now outside of North America. In July 2009, only 15% were from outside North America.

For Twitter, this means that its current user base is making better use of the service, but the company also has to worry that its growth is slowing down. Maybe some of the earlier high growth rates were inflated by spam accounts, but a 3.5% growth rate is very low and the overall trend is only pointing down at this time.

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Unveiled in Paris in the spring of 2009, Suzuki’s Gladius 650 won one of the most prestigious awards in its home market, taking the honors in the motorcycle category of the famous ‘Good Design Awards’. Shortly after its unveiling, the entry-level machine, which replaced the popular SV650, managed to score highly with both press and customers.

The Gladius name has the roots in Latin as a type of short, fighting sword. The model is based on the SV650, but uses a Ducati Monster 1100-style… (read more)

Services for Carlos Hernandez Gomez, a political reporter for CLTV who died Sunday at age 36 after a yearlong bout with cancer, were set for Wednesday and Thursday.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Drake & Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave.,  Chicago. Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. John Cantius Catholic Church, 825 N. Carpenter St., Chicago.

His career began at the Chicago Reporter and included a stint at WBEZ-FM before CLTV. Mr. Hernandez Gomez was widely regarded for the depth of his knowledge and the incisiveness of his reporting.

President Barack Obama on Monday issued a statement recalling that he was a state senator when he first got to know Mr. Hernandez Gomez.

“He was a throwback in the style of Chicago’s storied political reporters. He loved Chicago, and he relentlessly sought to tell its story with the commitment to truth and the insatiable curiosity that any good reporter has to have,” Obama said.

“I quickly learned that when you saw his sharp fedora in a crowd, hard questions were coming. But Carlos always played it straight. And I always enjoyed our interactions in Springfield, Chicago or on the campaign trail.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the chamber’s 2nd ranking Democrat, called Mr. Hernandez Gomez “the kind of person that’s a great credit to the profession.”

He “did a great job for people across Chicagoland and America to understand the real issues we face,” Durbin said.

Gov. Pat Quinn remembered Mr. Hernandez Gomez as “a man of great humor and commitment and dedication. So, losing Carlos is a loss for everybody in Illinois and our country.”

–Staff report

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

SwitchGames is a game trading site that has ridden the wave of demand for used games. Today, the company says its users are now offering more than 100,000 items for trade on its peer-to-peer game trading community.

The New York company, which was a finalist in the GamesBeat 2009 startup competition, makes it easy to trade games quickly and safely without fear you’ll be ripped off. The company hit its 100,000-item milestone in less than a year, said company founder Jason Crawford.

Overall, used games are a $3 billion business. Much of that is traded through GameStop retail stores. But users don’t get paid very much, while GameStop resells the games for a tidy profit. SwitchGames instead empower users so they can get much better deals.

The selection adds up to 43 percent of all current-generation console games that are available on eBay. At this rate, Crawford predicts that his site will have more games available than on eBay, the biggest site for used game sales. Some game publishers and developers hate used game sales because they say it hurts new game sales. But SwitchGames argues that gamers wind up purchasing more new games because of the value they get by buying and selling used games.

The company has three full-time employees and launched 11 months ago. Rivals include Goozex and Swaptree. Goozex charges a $1 fee per transaction and has more than 10,000 games available. Swaptree charges for postage and has 2,727 games available. By contrast, SwitchGames allows for free trading and allows gamers to send their games directly to each other. It is funded by angel money, as well as friends and family.

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Well, isn’t this a novelty? The well practiced skill of lusting after Korean gear from afar won’t be necessary with Motorola’s latest Android 2.0 handset, as we’re hearing the Motoroi is headed to US shelves this March. Moto Korea head honcho Rick Wolochatiuk was on hand at the Korean launch to confirm that the new handset “will be launched in other markets around the world,” with the US specifically confirmed for a March release. The Motoroi, if you recall, is a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen spliced atop hardware good enough to record 720p video and output it via HDMI. An 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash should ensure you get pretty decent photos too. But what are we doing telling you about it when there are perfectly good promo videos after the break? Go get ‘em!

Continue reading Motorola Motoroi coming to USA in March

Motorola Motoroi coming to USA in March originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hearing of Via’s Mobile-ITX technology for quite some time now, but it only became officially official last month and now we’re seeing the thing in the silicon for the first time. The company has put together a little demo video that we’ve included below, showing off its minuscule 6cm x 6cm system board, about half the size of a Pico-ITX. But, there are two problems. The first is that this current Mobile-ITX board (the EPIA-T700) has no I/O connectors on it, meaning it must be mounted onto a larger carrier board if you want to do anything with it — but hopefully that can be integrated into mobile devices and shrunk. The second problem? That the presenter flubbed the demonstration and someone forgot to edit the first take out of the video. See the frustration for yourself at the 1:15 mark after the break.

Continue reading Via’s teeny tiny Mobile-ITX EPIA-T700 system board demonstrated twice (video)

Via’s teeny tiny Mobile-ITX EPIA-T700 system board demonstrated twice (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brooke Shields, a tax cheat? The former model and child star is facing a tax bill from Uncle Sam of nearly $11,000 after U.S. tax officials accused her of falling behind with her federal income taxes. According to TMZ.com, the IRS has filed a federal tax lien against the former Suddenly Susan actress, alledging Shields and her husband Chris Henchy owe $4,391.70 in unpaid taxes from 2004 and $5,932.50 from 2005.

StyleFeeder, a recommendation engine for shoppers, has been acquired by Time Inc., the WSJ reported earlier this morning. Time chose not to disclose the purchase price, but the newspaper cites a source who said it was “well into eight figures.”

Cambridge, MA-based StyleFeeder raised $3.5 million in financing from Highland Capital Partners and investment firm Schooner Capital.

Time is reportedly looking to integrate StyleFeeder throughout its Web properties, in order to complement the declining advertising revenue with e-commerce income. StyleFeeder is expected to be interwoven with fashion magazine InStyle’s website, and eventually also be closely aligned with other titles like Essence and People en Español.

The WSJ said an official announcement of the acquisition could come Tuesday.

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There’s nothing like ruining your ears by blasting your favorite tunes while studying up on photochemistry and reaction dynamics, but Oxford students will have to find somewhere else to go deaf. The prestigious university offers free Internet access for its students, but Spotify, the wildly popular music streaming service, has been grinding the network to a halt. That pretty much makes life more difficult for the students accessing the network to, you know, learn stuff. But some of the students who use Spotify daily calls it “discrimination,” with one student saying, “I use it loads. It’s the most comprehensive collection of classical music in one place.” To the students’ dismay, the university retorts, “The university provides free internet access for students because it’s an educational resource. If they want to use it recreationally as well that’s no problem unless it uses so much bandwidth that it slows the network down.”

We don’t feel too bad for the Oxford students. Call it schadenfreude since we don’t get that music streaming service in the U.S. yet.

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Greece, a country truly embattled by debt obligations, has nevertheless won praise from ratings agency Moody’s for its plan to reform its financial system.

———————————————-

AP: The Greek government’s proposals to slash its massive budget deficit won praise from one of the world’s biggest credit rating agencies despite ongoing doubts about whether Prime Minister George Papandreou can push the plan through.

Moody’s Investor Services said Tuesday that the government’s plan to restore credibility to its public finances, reform its tax system and combat tax evasion is “relatively well designed,” at least for the short-term.

However, Moody’s said that it is maintaining its negative outlook on the country’s debt given the lack of certainty surrounding Papandreou’s ability to implement the program.

“The heavy legislative program for the first quarter of 2010 and Greece’s poor track record in implementing fiscal reform mean that success cannot be taken for granted,” said Sarah Carlson, a senior analyst at Moody’s.

Last month, Moody’s joined its peers Standard & Poor’s and Fitch in downgrading its rating on the country’s debt, setting off a chain of events that has even raised concerns about Greece’s remaining in the euro.

The cost of insuring Greek debt has risen sharply and the euro has fallen on the foreign exchange markets.

Moody’s is the second vote of confidence Greece has won over the last day or so. On Monday, the eurozone’s top official Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece could get itself out of its fiscal hole.

However, Juncker, Luxembourg’s premier, said the Greek people would “need to be brave” and that he believed the Greek government would do whatever is necessary to get a grip on its borrowing within a reasonable period of time.

The new Socialist government has delivered a set of proposals to the European Union outlining how it will bring its budget deficit down to within EU limits by 2012.

The Greek proposals are to bring the deficit down to below 3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product by 2012 from the projected 12.7 percent in 2009. The plan also provides for a gradual reduction from 2012 in Greece’s national debt — expected to reach 120.4 percent of GDP this year.

Moody’s said Papandreou’s Stability and Growth Program addresses the three biggest threats to Greece’s creditworthiness — chronically weak fiscal institutions, the slow erosion in competitiveness and an aging population.

“Although two key pieces of legislation — related to pension and tax reform — are still in consultation, the Greek government has provided enough detail to validate Moody’s current rating assessment, since the SGP is not significantly different from what was anticipated,” said Carlson.

Moody’s currently rates Greece’s debt at A2, which is five notches down from the top-rated triple A. However, it remains well within the bounds of what Moody’s considers to be investment grade debt.

Moody’s also said that determining whether the Greek plan will succeed or fail is particularly challenging given the weak credibility of government deficit and debt statistics.

Greece’s fiscal statistics have been undermined by years of mismanagement and misreporting, as was listed in last week’s report from the EU’s statistics office Eurostat.

As a result, Moody’s said it will need to rely on Eurostat’s validation of Greek data to determine the likely success or failure of this aspect of reform.

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See Also:

• MOODY’S: Greece And Portugal On The March To A ‘Slow Death’
• Scared Of An Auction, Greece Wants To Negotiate Interest Rates Behind Closed Doors
• Euro Brinkmanship Escalates As ECB Shuts Door On Greek Bail-Out

Don’t look at unadorned Ashley Tisdale before breakfast. Fair warning.

(Daily Fill)

After General Motors decided to kill Oldsmobile in 2004, 80 percent of Oldsmobile drivers have moved onto non-GM brands. Hoping to prevent the situation with Pontiac owners, GM is offering them four free maintenance visits during 2010.

“It’s to keep the relationship with the Buick-GMC dealer,” said Brian Sweeney, general manager of Buick-GMC. “We thought the best way to do that was through service.”

GM mailed out the offer last month to customers who own a 1999 or later Pontiac purchased new or as a certified used vehicle. Sweeney says that that’s about a million people. Buyers can redeem the offer, good for oil changes and tire rotations, at any Buick/GMC dealership in the United States.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)