Bloomberg BlackBerry Ltd. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nokia Oyj, demanding royalties on the Finnish company’s mobile network products that use an industrywide technology standard. Nokia’s products including its Flexi Multiradio base stations, radio network controllers and Liquid Radio software are using technology covered by as many as 11 patents, BlackBerry said in a complaint filed in federal court ...
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Cigna faces off with Anthem, escalating fight by ending deal
Bloomberg Simmering tensions between Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. exploded as Cigna sued to end their $48 billion deal, and Anthem moments later said it would fight to keep the merger alive. The clash came just hours after the other US health insurance megadeal, a $37 billion tie-up between Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc., ended peacefully with the companies ...
Read More »AIG posts $3.04bn loss, adding to CEO’s woes
Bloomberg American International Group Inc. posted its fourth loss in six quarters, burned again by higher-than-expected claims costs as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock struggles to sustain profitability. The net loss widened to $3.04 billion, or $2.96 a share, from a $1.84 billion, or $1.50, a year earlier, the New York-based insurer said in a statement. The fourth quarter’s ...
Read More »As GDP soars 10%, Icelanders plan survival in ‘next collapse’
Bloomberg Iceland’s history is of booms and busts. So as the inhabitants of a volcanic rock in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean roar back from their 2008 economic meltdown (this latest boom was fed by tourism and construction), the talk in the streets is of what shape the next crisis will take and when exactly it will ...
Read More »Toshiba’s chaotic earnings raise doubts over grip on business
Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. had promised on Tuesday would be the day it explained the depth of trouble in its nuclear business. Instead, the company provided hours of chaos that shook investor confidence and raised new questions about the company’s future. It began with Toshiba confirming plans to report earnings at noon in Tokyo, including a looming multibillion-dollar loss in ...
Read More »Steel resurgence fizzles as China’s property market slows
Bloomberg Steelmakers aren’t out of the woods yet. A year-long rebound risks fading as a slowdown in China’s property market deepens, exposing bullish sentiment as overblown, according to a US-based hedge fund manager and former Citigroup Inc. analyst. “China’s real estate sector is the biggest X-factor for the steel market globally this year,†Ivan Szpakowski, chief investment officer at ...
Read More »China factory prices surge most since 2011, boosting reflation
Bloomberg China’s producer prices increased the most since 2011, with the world’s biggest exporter further lifting the outlook for global inflation. Producer price index rose 6.9 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with a median estimate of 6.5 percent in a Bloomberg survey and a 5.5 percent December gain. Consumer-price index climbed 2.5 percent, boosted by the ...
Read More »Australian business conditions surge to nine-year high
Bloomberg Australian business conditions jumped to the highest level in more than nine years and the employment gauge surged, diminishing the likelihood of interest-rate cuts in the near term. The business conditions index — a measure of hiring, sales and profits — jumped to 16 in January from a revised 10 in December, a National Australia Bank Ltd. survey ...
Read More »Singapore to allow foreign acquisitions of finance companies
Bloomberg Singapore’s central bank said it will allow foreign takeovers of the country’s three finance companies, as part of wider industry changes that seek to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is prepared to consider applications for mergers or acquisitions if any prospective partner “commits to maintaining SME financing as a core business†...
Read More »Trump’s $1trn vow reverses mutual fund and ETF outflows
Bloomberg It’s not just US President Donald Trump who’s bullish on infrastructure investing. Mutual and exchange-traded funds dedicated to building and upgrading roads, bridges, airports and other projects attracted more than $450 million from November through January, the biggest three-month period in almost two years, according to Morningstar Inc. The inflows reversed redemptions during 15 of the 16 months ...
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