Brazilian telecom firms claim the per-minute price of a cell phone call and broadband plan tariffs in the country are among the cheapest worldwide. They challenge an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) study which states prices for the services are among the highest.
Updated 5 Years ago

Brazil's civil aviation authority SAC has approved the construction of a new airport to serve Rio Grande do Sul state capital Porto Alegre and budgeted at some 1.2bn reais (US$505mn). The new airport, to be some 50km north of the state capital and near the town of Portão, was authorized due to congestion at Porto Alegre's Salgado Filho airport, according to a federal government release.
Updated 5 Years ago

Mexico's economy ministry has imposed antidumping duties on imports of galvanized welded wire mesh from China. The duties were set at US$2.08/kg following an investigation launched in June 2013 after a complaint by Mexican steelmaker DeAcero, which said the product was being imported at below fair value, posing a threat to domestic producers.
Updated 5 Years ago

That’s essentially the activist investor’s message to Apple Inc. (AAPL), which had a market capitalization of $603.6 billion at the close of trading on Oct. 8. In a letter yesterday to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, Icahn made the case for why the Cupertino, California-based company should be trading at $203 a share, about twice the current price, which would boost its valuation to $1.2 trillion. Apple, Icahn said, is on the verge of seeing tremendous revenue growth as it brings out a new product lineup, including larger-screen iPhones, smartwatches and mobile payments. So if the market is undervaluing Apple at the moment, Icahn argued, now is the time for Cook to push for a stock buyback of as much as $100 billion.
Updated 5 Years ago

The era of one dominant bond fund may be ending with Bill Gross’s sudden exit from Pacific Investment Management Co. It’s unlikely that any other actively managed bond fund will soon get as big as Pimco’s $200 billion Total Return (PTTRX) Fund - - which has lost billions of dollars to competitors since Gross’s departure. DoubleLine Capital LP, one beneficiary of the exodus, has said it will stop new money from coming into its total-return bond fund well before it reaches $100 billion because that kind of size can hamstring performance.
Updated 5 Years ago

Carl Icahn’s forecast for Apple Inc. (AAPL)would swell the world’s biggest market capitalization beyond the economy of Argentinato heights never seen in public markets. The billionaire activist says Apple should trade at $203, twice its current price, an estimate that would push it to $1.2 trillion. He’s asking that of a stock that has gained more than 3,500 percent in the past decade and became the most valuable company in U.S. history two years ago, before adjusting for inflation.
Updated 5 Years ago

Russia’s currency interventions have exceeded $3 billion this month as a domestic dollar shortage and slumping oil prices batter the ruble. The central bank sold $1.5 billion on Oct. 8, according to data released on its website today, the most for a single day since a $4.41 billion intervention that preceded the Crimea referendum to join Russia in March. According to a Bloomberg poll, the monetary authority dipped into reserves for another $1 billion or more yesterday to support the ruble.
Updated 5 Years ago

London Zoo is working with UK regulator Ofcom to test so-called TV White Space (TVWS) technology. TVWS uses gaps in the spectrum assigned for television transmissions. Videos of the animals will be streamed to YouTube 24 hours a day.
Updated 5 Years ago

The Norton antivirus software maker said it would spin off operations into two publicly traded firms, one focused on security and the other on storage. The move follows similar operational division by tech giants Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Yahoo.
Updated 5 Years ago

US stocks marked their worst decline this year after the head of Europe's central bank said the region's economic recovery may be losing momentum. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to its lowest in two months.
Updated 5 Years ago