KILL THE COMPETITION
Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Monday, August 24, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: Corus will reopen a steelworks in South Wales and ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, will relight blast furnaces around the globe.
Daily Telegraph: Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, rejected charges he had been too cautious in handling the economic crisis.
The Independent: UK workers are marginally less worried about the state of their pensions than three months ago, possibly reflecting the surge in stock markets.
Comment
Anatole Kaletsky in The Times: Recovery will be stronger than expected in the US and possibly in Britain, but weaker in continental Europe and possibly Japan.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph: China is winning the green war and preparing for a global scramble for diminishing resources.
Nouriel Roubini in the Financial Times: The recovery is likely to be anaemic in advanced economies and there is a big risk of a double-dip recession.
Upside
The Times: A group of Scottish businessmen wants to buy The Scotsman newspaper from Johnston Press, which reportedly wants £40 million ($66 million) for it.
Financial Times: Borrowing costs for highly rated US states, cities and public entities have dropped from crisis levels to below historical norms.
The Times: Unilever, the world's largest producer of ice cream, wants to develop a "low-carbon" version that is sold at room temperature and frozen at home.
Downside
The Times: A former chief executive of Parks Resorts will accuse GI Partners, the US private equity firm, of misleading HBOS, the British bank.
Daily Telegraph: US citizens are being urged to boycott British goods and services over the repatriation of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi.
The Times: UK tax revenue has collapsed by 20 per cent on last year - three times as much as Alistair Darling, the chancellor, forecast in his budget.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Sir Win Bischoff, the incoming chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, is under pressure to oust boardmembers linked to the takeover of HBOS.
The Independent: Sir John Parker, the new chairman of Anglo American, will shake up the board of the mining giant by appointing new non-executive directors.
The Times: Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said a "conflict of interest" was hindering General Motors' sale of its European business, including Vauxhall and Opel.
Around Asia
Wall Street Journal: Worries are growing about what will happen to China's economy after the government's massive stimulus spending runs out.
Daily Telegraph: Maan Al Sanea, a Saudi billionaire who owns 2.9 per cent of HSBC, is accused of a $9 billion (£5.5 billion) fraud in a legal row between two dynasties.
Bloomberg: Sales of commercial property in China totaled $31.2 billion (£18.9 billion) for the first half of the year, more than the US and UK combined.
Look ahead
The Times: WPP, the advertising giant, this week faces cutting its annual sales forecast for a second time in four months.
Daily Telegraph: Betfair is expected to float on the stock market for £1.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in anticipation of the US lifting its ban on online gambling.
The Independent: Energy giant Centrica's takeover offer for North Sea oil-and-gas group Venture Production was extended to September 14 and won new support.
Unfinished business - last week wrapped up
Last Monday
Ryanair, the budget airline, ended nine of its ten Manchester routes in a row over charges, triggering a price war among UK regional airports.
Three men faced charges of running the largest computer hacking and identity-theft caper in US history.
Tuesday
Northern Rock, the nationalised bank, halted payouts to its junior bonds holders.
Sterling rose by more than 1 per cent against the dollar as CPI inflation surprisingly remained steady.
Wednesday
Bank of England forecasts that GDP would rise by 0.2 per cent this quarter heralded the end of the recession and surprised City analysts.
Warren Buffett, the legendary investor, said the US's $1.8 trillion (£1.1 trillion) budget deficit could drive down the dollar.
Thursday
Switzerland sold its stake in UBS, the troubled bank, for 1.2 billion Swiss francs (£700 million, $1.13 billion).
China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, reported its slowest profit growth since 1997 and predicted user revenue would fall in coming months.
Friday
Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, congratulated the world's central bankers for averting catastrophe but said the recovery would be slow.
Oil settled at a 10-month high of almost $74 a barrel on signs of economic recovery and a potential revival in energy demand.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,850.89 up 2% (Friday close)
Dow 9,505.96 up 1.7% (close)
S&P 500 1,026.13 up 1.9% (close)
Nasdaq 2,020.90 up 1.6% (close)
Nikkei 10,560.57 up 3.2% (latest)
Hang Seng 20,597.51 up 2% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6524/1.1523euros (latest)
Euro $1.4339 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $74.68 up 49 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $74.20 up 31 cents (latest)
Gold $954.80 up 10 cents (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks ended the week at 2009 highs on Friday after a surprising rise in home sales and optimistic comments from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke. Among the big home builders, DR Horton rose 3.4 per cent and Toll Brothers rose 3.7 per cent. On the Nasdaq, Apple rose 1.7 per cent and Microsoft rose 3.1 per cent. American International Group rose 1.7 per cent and the troubled insurer's stock price has more than doubled this month. Among energy shares, Chevron rose 1.6 per cent and Exxon Mobil rose 1.9 per cent.
