Archive for category Business
American Express buys payments company
Nov. 18, 2009 8:52 AM EST
Reuters.com
* American Express says deal valued at $300 mln
* Revolution Money was launched in 2007
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) – American Express Co (AXP.N) agreed to acquire Internet-based payment platform Revolution Money for $300 million, the credit card company and network said on Wednesday.
Revolution Money, launched by AOL co-founder Steve Case’s Revolution LLC in 2007, provides payments through an Internet platform and prepaid cards that can be used for offline payments or to withdraw cash from ATMs in the United States.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory review, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.
Jason Hogg, founder and chief executive of Revolution Money, will continue as president and CEO of the company.
Earlier this week, American Express Chief Financial Officer Dan Henry said at the Reuters Global Finance Summit in New York that the company was opened to bolt-on acquisitions worth less than $1 billion. (Reporting by Juan Lagorio; editing by John Wallace)
![[Digg]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Reddit]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.marketmixup.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
401(k) Matches Make a Comeback
by Emily Brandon – Nov. 16, 2009
USNews.com
Employer 401(k) contributions that were reduced or eliminated this year may reappear in 2010. About 35 percent of companies that suspended their 401(k) match plan to resume employer contributions in the next six months, up from just 5 percent that said they planned to do so in June, according to a recent survey of large employers by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. “When they cut the match, they did other things as well to reduce costs to the company. They laid off people and restructured other benefits,” says Robyn Credico, Watson Wyatt’s director of defined contribution consulting. “They believe they have enough cash now. Also, many of them believe the economy is improving.”
[See America's Best Affordable Places to Retire.]
At least 301 companies trimmed their retirement contributions for employees this year, according to the Pension Rights Center. Employers in the hard-hit manufacturing and retail industries were the most likely to suspend matches, an analysis of Charles Schwab’s 1.5 million 401(k) plans found, while almost no healthcare or wholesale companies dropped their contributions to retirement accounts. Overall, 9 percent of Schwab-administered 401(k) plans stopped matching 401(k) contributions as of July 31.
Several large companies, including American Express, Motorola, JPMorgan Chase, and Black and Decker, recently announced to employees plans to resume their 401(k) match. “A lot of employers did say that the suspension would be temporary,” says Nancy Hwa, a spokesperson for the Pension Rights Center. “We do expect more companies to reinstate them next year, provided the economy is recovering the way it seems to be right now.”
[Find your Best Place to Retire.]
AARP says it will also reinstate 401(k) contributions for workers beginning in January. The organization, formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons, suspended the retirement benefit in March and has saved $7 million as a result. “It was gut wrenching,” says Ellie Hollander, an AARP executive vice president, about the decision to eliminate retirement contributions. “Most employers that had to drop it did not want to have to suspend it. It’s an important retention and recruitment tool to have.” AARP says most employees continued to contribute to their 401(k)’s this year, even without the match. Workers also had access to a traditional pension, which was not altered during the financial downturn. AARP will resume fully matching the first 3 percent of pay saved for retirement and half of the next 2 percent of salary contributed to the 401(k).
Slot machine makers could be in for winning streak
by William Spain – Nov. 17, 2009
MarketWatch.com
LAS VEGAS (MarketWatch) — Many casino operators are increasingly — albeit not always confidently — ready to call a bottom to their current woes, but another group of industry players is almost certainly in for a winning run over the next few years: slot machine makers.
Visitors may be staying away from Sin City in droves and, to a lesser degree, cutting back their time and money spent at regional casinos. But at the same time, cash-strapped state and local governments are moving to vastly expand betting opportunities for their citizens in order to help plug yawning budget gaps.
And that means lots and lots of slots.
From video poker in Illinois bars to one-armed bandits at New York racetracks to casinos in Pennsylvania and new jurisdictions across the globe, the makers of gambling devices could be looking at selling hundreds of thousands of new units in the not-too distant future.
Companies that stand to benefit the most include perennial market leader International Game Technology /quotes/comstock/13*!igt/quotes/nls/igt (IGT 20.48, +0.01, +0.06%) , WMS Industries /quotes/comstock/13*!wms/quotes/nls/wms (WMS 44.07, -0.50, -1.11%) , Australia-based Aristocrat and Bally Technologies /quotes/comstock/13*!byi/quotes/nls/byi (BYI 44.03, -0.50, -1.12%) , none of which seem to have stinted on either their lavish displays or new product rollouts at the Global Gaming Expo, the industry trade show taking place here this week.
“The new jurisdictions are helping to compensate for the slowdown in the replacement cycle,” said Joe Weinert, vice-president of Spectrum Gaming, an industry consultancy. “A lot of existing operators are holding on to their machines for longer than they otherwise would have because replacing them just isn’t in the budget right now. And most of the time, there is no pressing reason to change out a game.”
Still, they can’t hold off forever — players will get bored. And at least one operator said it is ready to start shopping again.
Peter Carlino, chief executive of Penn National Gaming /quotes/comstock/15*!penn/quotes/nls/penn (PENN 28.91, -0.02, -0.07%) , said: “We are the only company that didn’t cut back on capital expenditure” during the downturn because it “only means you have to spend more later.”
Furthermore, he said, “our slot [buyers] are meeting with suppliers and prepping their orders for 2010.”
Post Office reports loss, may cut Saturday service
by Hibah Yousuf- Nov. 16, 2009 05:58 PM ET
CNNMoney.com
Agency continues to lose money despite $6 billion in cost-cutting measures, and proposes that it drop Saturday delivery.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.8 billion loss in the 2009 fiscal year, and plans to propose to Congress in 2010 that it drop Saturday delivery.
The agency already reduced expenses by $6 billion during the year ended Sept. 30.
Those measures included eliminating 40,000 jobs, however the cash-strapped agency still employs over 712,000 people. The Postal Service also reduced overtime hours and lowered transportation-related costs.
Additionally, the USPS lowered the payments it made for retiree health benefits by $4 billion in fiscal 2009.
“To say this was a difficult year might be a bit of an understatement,” said the USPS chief financial officer Joseph Corbett, on a conference call with the media. Corbett blamed the agency’s difficulties on the recession and “the continued migration [of customers] to electronic means.”
Corbett also said on the call that the Post Office will formally propose to Congress that it drop Saturday delivery. “We need more flexibility in our delivery schedule. We’ve talked a number of times about reducing from 6 to 5 days of service,” he said.
That move alone would save $3.5 billion. But even a 5-day delivery schedule won’t be enough to put the USPS into the black, Corbett said. So the agency will also propose to Congress that it reduce the $5.5 billion in annual payments to pre-fund retiree health benefits that it is slated to make until 2016.
This is the third year in a row that the agency has posted a loss; it lost $2.8 billion in fiscal 2008, and $5 billion in 2007. The USPS is a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars. It relies solely on the sale of postage and products and services to generate sales.
The Postal Service reported operating revenue of $68.1 billion, down 9% from last year, while its operating expenses fell to $71.8 billion, down 7% from 2008.
The service’s total mail volume plunged by more than 25 billion pieces, or 12.7%, to 177.1 billion pieces. That drop was twice as much as any mail volume decline in the Postal Service’s history.
There is a strong correlation between unemployment and mail volume, according to Corbett, which means that mail volumes will continue to decline as the unemployment rate climbs.
Pacquiao-Mayweather a Match Made in Heaven (or Yankee Stadium?)
by Greg Bishop – Nov. 15, 2009
The New York Times
LAS VEGAS — Three hours after Manny Pacquiao dispatched Miguel Cotto on Saturday night to capture his record seventh title in seven weight divisions, he jogged onto the stage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Pacquiao wore a bandage over his right ear, which had been drained, a fedora and the smile of a man who had just made at least $13 million and won his seventh title. But while Pacquiao and his band launched into “La Bamba,” the boxing world had already turned toward his next potential fight, against Floyd Mayweather Jr., a sure blockbuster if it happens.
“I get chills just thinking about it,” said Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports. “The reality is there’s only one fight to be made. We’ve waited a long time to get one of this magnitude.”
With the undefeated Mayweather and an international superstar in Pacquiao, the biggest draws in boxing, Greenburg said the bout would deserve a “Super Bowl-type stage.” That presents an enticing option, as early as next May — Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees are interested in hosting a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight next spring, according to a person in baseball who spoke on the condition of anonymity. There have been no formal discussions, and there will not be before an agreement is reached between the fighters, but high-ranking Yankees employees have told boxing officials of their interest.
The Yankees held a news conference for Pacquiao and Cotto this fall, part of the effort to showcase the Stadium as a multipurpose site. Yankee Stadium has three times the capacity of the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the site for the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, which holds just over 17,000.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, said he believed Pacquiao and Mayweather would sell out Yankee Stadium. “That’s a fight the world wants to see,” he said.
GM repays $297.6 million to Germany for Opel loan
by Robert Snell – Nov. 13, 2009 09:08 AM
The Detroit News
General Motors Co. today repaid 200 million euros ($297.6 million) in German government aid that kept its carmaker Adam Opel GmbH afloat this year.
GM also said it will repay another 400 million euros ($595 million) by Nov. 30.
The payment comes more than a week after GM’s board of directors voted to keep Opel instead of selling it to Canada’s Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner, Sberbank.
The 1.5 billion euro ($2.2 billion) bridge loan was intended to keep Opel operating until a deal was finalized or rejected.
GM is now preparing its own $4.5 billion restructuring of Opel but faces skepticism in Germany. GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson met this week with Opel’s labor representatives.
A truffle farmer’s black diamonds
by Mina Kimes – Nov. 13, 2009 6:25 AM ET
CNNMoney.com
A North Carolina entrepreneur wants America to fall in love with truffles.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (Fortune Small Business) — I take my first bite of a truffle in Franklin Garland’s sunlit kitchen, which overlooks a greenhouse and an orchard of budding hazelnut trees.
In 1992, Garland became the first person to harvest and sell French black truffles on American soil. Today he stands at a table chopping lemon-size fungi. He hands me a shaving the size of a wood chip. When I chew it, a musky, acrid flavor explodes in my mouth and I — quite visibly — swoon.
“It’s intoxicating, isn’t it?” says Garland.
He and his wife, Betty, have entertained truffle lovers, foodies and would-be growers hailing from as far away as New Zealand. Visitors flock to their four-bedroom ranch-style house in this small North Carolina town to learn how to farm and hunt for the rare fungi. Although black truffles are harvested only from November through March, tourists visit throughout the year. A presentation, lunch and a trip to a truffle-bearing orchard cost $300.
The truffle is one of the world’s most desirable culinary treasures, a rare delicacy that has graced the tables of European royalty for centuries. Among the dozens of truffle species, the most valuable are the Italian white and the French black Prigord. Gallic farmers have cultivated black truffles for at least 200 years. But as the local crop dwindles — explanations range from arid French summers to the decline of the tradition — new suppliers are emerging in countries such as Spain, where many black truffles are now farmed, and China.
Although truffles may look like something you’d pick up in a plastic bag while walking your dog, their piquant shavings adorn the priciest dishes at top restaurants around the world. And when I held one of Garland’s black truffles in my palm, the tiny, jewel-like facets that cover its surface almost glowed, making it look like a black diamond.
