In Thursday's Americas papers

17 January 2008 11:27  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Las Vegas default highlights commercial-property crunch
The credit crunch that roared through the residential real-estate market is starting to bite commercial projects, too. Yesterday, Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer of a twin-tower casino resort in the heart of Las Vegas, defaulted on a $760m loan from Deutsche Bank after he failed to get refinancing.

Dimon may be hunting
It's time to pounce for JP Morgan Chase chief executive James Dimon and other top bosses of financial companies that have avoided a serious battering from the credit crunch.

New fields may offset oil drop
Output from the world's existing oil fields is declining at a rate of about 4.5% annually, a new study concludes, depriving the world of the same amount of oil that No 4 producer Iran supplies in a year.

Money & Investing

Emerging markets feel drag of US
To escape woes in the US, investors have piled into shares in fast-growing economies like China, India and Brazil. Now it looks like these markets might not offer a hoped-for refuge.

Deal fees under fire amid mortgage crisis
To understand a root cause of the financial crisis shaking global markets, take a look at Kevin Schmidt's paycheck.

Merger efforts by Delta hold a French twist
As Delta Air Lines Inc pursues merger talks with Northwest Airlines and UAL United Airlines to form the world's largest passenger carrier, a potential linchpin is thousands of miles away in Paris: Air France-KLM SA.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

Urban schools aiming higher than diploma
At Excel High School, in south Boston, teachers do not just prepare students academically for the SAT; they take them on practice walks to the building where the SAT will be given so they won’t get lost on the day of the test.

McCain parries a reprise of ’00 smear tactics
Volunteers making telephone calls for Senator John McCain in South Carolina last weekend noticed something odd: Four people contacted said in remarkably similar language that they opposed Mr McCain for president because of his 1980 divorce from his first wife, Carol, who raised the couple’s three children while Mr McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Business Day

Bernanke is said to support stimulus measures
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has told lawmakers that he can support tax cuts or spending measures to stimulate the economy, even if they increase the budget deficit, provided the measures are quick and temporary.

Cholesterol as a danger has sceptics
For decades, the theory that lowering cholesterol is always beneficial has been a core principle of cardiology. It has been accepted by doctors and used by drug makers to win quick approval for new medicines to reduce cholesterol.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

An economy's mixed message on suffering
A wide range of data from the government, private corporations and independent analysts paint a picture of a nation that is already in recession in some states and industries, while much of the nation and big parts of the economy have suffered little.

Democracy activists disappointed in Bush
President Bush on Wednesday ended a Middle East tour that political activists saw as lacking the strong calls for democratisation made earlier in his administration, disappointing those once encouraged by the statements of American leaders. In Egypt and elsewhere, people are growing more concerned with food than with rights.

Business

Tribune's rules: A quirky rush to good judgment
Media giant Tribune, which last month passed from public to private, employee ownership under the direction of real estate mogul Sam Zell, gave its nearly 20,000 employees a handbook yesterday outlining appropriate workplace policies and behavior and the new company's values.

A mission to rebuild reputations
The pledges made by the military and one of its biggest contractors were unusually earnest. The Air Force and Boeing would be open about their relationships, overhaul their ethics reviews and tighten their internal controls. And they promised to give taxpayers the best deals possible.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

Ottawa moves to emulate US on new fuel mileage standards
Ottawa will impose new fuel economy standards on auto makers that will match recently enacted US regulations that environmentalists have criticised as being too weak.

Documents show long history of problems
Canada's auditor-general repeatedly raised red flags over internal management issues at Atomic Energy of Canada under previous Liberal governments, according to newly released documents.

Business

No bailout for Ford, Flaherty says
Ottawa won't dole out direct financial aid to help reopen a shuttered Windsor, Ont Ford Motor of Canada engine plant, because the Harper government doesn't believe in targeted subsidies to specific firms, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says.

A central bank's waning influence
Central banks have spent the past decade convincing the world's markets that interest rate policy is the magic tool - give it a few well-placed turns and it can repair most, if not all, economic ills.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Citigroup loses $10bn
Citigroup lost almost $10bn in last year’s final three months, the largest quarterly deficit in its 196-year history, and slashed its dividend and 4,200 jobs as it recorded a mammoth write-down for bad bets on the mortgage industry.

OBSBA: City appeals
The Buenos Aires City government yesterday issued an appeal on the freeze on placing a City trustee to run the OBSBA municipal workers’ health scheme, a freeze which had been ordered by Administrative Judge Elena Liberatori.

Fiery protest
DYN Tyres set on fire by environmental activists burn yesterday as the protesters demonstrated in front of the Buquebus ferry company to demand the relocation of a pulp mill in Uruguay. They also criticized two other cellulose paste plants to be built in that country.

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Europe Lunchtime Bulletin 27 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly