Business and Finance

Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors fearful of a debt implosion in Europe held onto hopes that the Federal Reserve will announce measures to jolt the U.S. economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was marginally higher at 8,721.98 after the Finance Ministry released trade data showing the country’s exports rose for the first time in six months. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4 percent to 1,845.09.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8 percent to 18,866.30. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, swinging between gains and losses, was less than 0.1 percent up at 4,041.30. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Taiwan were higher. Those in Singapore and Malaysia fell.

On Wall Street, stocks rose on hopes the U.S. central bank would announce steps to boost the flagging economy. Many analysts believe the Fed will announce a new stimulus plan at the end of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.1 percent at 11,408.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,202.09. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 percent to 2,590.24.

Meanwhile, debt-saddled Greece moved closer Tuesday to getting the vital bailout funds it needs to avoid a disastrous default on its debts after persuading international debt inspectors to return to Athens and resume reviewing its austerity program. Without the money, the country would default within weeks.

Greece has been depending on rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the IMF since May 2010, when its borrowing costs went through the roof following revelations Athens had been underreporting an alarmingly bloated budget deficit and public debt.

Greece is only one of several European countries that investors fear may be at risk of failing to pay their debts. On Monday night, the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s credit rating by one notch. Italy has the second-biggest debt burden among countries that use the euro, after Greece.

If Greece or Italy were to default, European banks that have lent money to the countries could lose billions of dollars. That could hurt the European banking system and have repercussions for U.S. banks. Investors are concerned that a default in Europe could cause a lending crisis similar to what happened after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

In energy trading, benchmark oil for October delivery was down 35 cents at $86.57 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose $1.11 to settle at $86.92 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude for November delivery was up 9 cents at $110.63 on the ICE Futures exchange.

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Six years ago Gail Vaz-Oxlade was burnt out and not keen on returning to work. But she couldn

A proposed combination of two Canadian patent licensing companies will make it easier to extract lucrative licensing deals from technology giants, would-be buyer WiLan said on Thursday.

WiLan, which makes money by developing and licensing intellectual property for the communications and consumer electronics markets, has offered $38 a share for smaller rival Mosaid just as tech majors pay heavily for patents to use as weapons in litigation and cross-licensing.

The Toronto stock market tumbled almost 500 points Monday after an unprecedented credit rating downgrade of U.S. government debt by Standard and Poor’s helped give added momentum to a four-week-old selloff.

Some airline customers won’t see savings this weekend even though several federal taxes on tickets have expired. US Airways and American Airlines say they’ve raised fares to offset any tax savings.

That means instead of passing along the savings from expired taxes, the airlines are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.

The expired taxes can total $25 to $30 on a typical $300 round-trip ticket faxless cash advance.

The taxes expired after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.

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President Barack Obama is taking his case to the public as the clock ticks down to an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the government’s borrowing limit or default on U.S. obligations.

The president holds a town hall meeting Friday morning at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. It’s a quick trip from the Beltway but will be Obama’s first public appearance this month outside what he calls the White House “bubble.” The president has been occupied with near-daily negotiations with congressional leaders on a deal to raise the debt limit freecreditscore.

The town hall session comes amid some signs of progress. But Obama still faces a big selling job, given Democratic unease with cuts to Medicare and other entitlement programs and Republican opposition to tax increases.

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It was always there for you. Then something changed.

And boy, are you peeved.

Companies spend a lot of marketing dollars promoting their brand to make you love their product. But all relationships can go sour. And brands have good reason to be fearful of once loyal customers who turn against them and set out to damage the reputation of the company, says a study by the University of Western Ontario

Rustic, off the grid summer cottages don’t have the romantic appeal they used to, as buyers increasingly demand more features, cottage experts say.

“For many of us a cottage was a place our grandparents owned in a structure primarily made of wood that the family opened on May 24 weekend and closed Thanksgiving,” said Cameron Mitchell, a Collingwood-based mortgage specialist at a panel hosted by the Bank of Montreal on Thursday. “Families are today buying recreational properties that are for the most part utilized for all four seasons.”

Buyers today want all the bells and whistles, not just indoor plumbing and four season use, but also cable and Internet. Some of the ultra luxury properties also feature infinity pools, hot tubs, wine cellars, and theatre rooms – uncommon features a decade ago.

“I wouldn’t want to be without hot water today, but for years I did. Times change and needs have changed over the years,” said Rick Crouch, former president of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. “There are a small percentage of people willing to rough it, but they are getting fewer in number.”

Although median prices have risen about 4 per cent from a year ago, values are still off the 2007 peak in Ontario cottage country.

Analysts say prices are still down by as much as 20 per cent in some areas. The Ontario market has 13 separate regions with waterfront property ranging from $180,000 to the multi-millions.

The lower end of the market and mid-range properties have remained balanced, with sales and pricing about the same as last year.

Where sales seem to have increased is at the top end of the market. Sales over the $1 million mark have jumped by about 11 per cent this year over last according to ReMax Ontario Atlantic Canada.

“It wasn’t too many years ago that if you saw a million-dollar sale go through our board you took notice. But that’s not the case anymore,” said Crouch.

This January, Crouch sold a property for about $2.75 million, at the time the highest price paid for a residence in the Georgian Triangle area, which includes Blue Mountain and Collingwood. Less than two weeks later another property sold for $3.25 million.

“My 15 minutes of fame lasted about 12 minutes,” quipped Crouch.

Analysts say a recovering economy and a buoyant Bay Street financial sector in Toronto has helped to boost luxury sales in cottage country.

“Well-heeled buyers had a good year with good bonuses last year and it looks like they’re rewarding themselves,” said Crouch. “Where sales seem to be sluggish is in the under $350,000 range, where people may be most impacted by job loss or the economy.

Also read:
This $4.9M cottage has 11 bedrooms
8 places to look for a cottage in Ontario
Don’t want to own? Go fractional
5 things to ask when buying a cottage

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Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB on Wednesday blamed higher procurement costs as well as campaigns and special offers for an 18 percent drop in second-quarter profits.

The Stockholm-headquartered retailer said Wednesday that net profit in the three-month period fell to 4.3 billion kronor ($673 million) from 5.2 billion kronor in the same quarter a year ago.

Sales in the quarter rose to 32.4 billion kronor from 31.6 billion kronor however, while gross margin shrank to 61.7 percent from a previous 65.9 percent.

“Increasing interest rates, higher energy prices and austerity measures in many economies have decreased consumer spending power,” the company said. “This has led to many price campaigns and special offers in the fashion retail industry during the spring.”

Purchasing costs were also higher than usual in the quarter, it said. This was mainly attributed to currency effects related to the strong krona and the weak U.S. dollar, cost inflation in the sourcing markets as well as lower spare capacity with suppliers no credit check payday loans.

“H&M chose not to pass on the increased purchasing costs to the customers,” it said, adding it had instead profited from increased market share as it strengthened its pricing position.

A one-off cost of 248 million kronor for its staff incentive program also affected bottom-line figures.

CEO Karl-Johan Persson said that despite the challenges faced in the sales and sourcing markets, his company sees “great potential for future growth in existing as well as in new markets.”

The company is planning 178 new stores in the second half of this year, with China, Britain and the U.S set to be the main expansion locations. Nineteen shops will be closed in the same period.

“Our business concept works well in all our markets as seen for example in recently added and fast growing markets such as China where we expand more rapidly,” Persson said.

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Johnson & Johnson will cut back on manufacturing and development of heart stents, and will take a charge of $500 million to $600 million as it restructures its Cordis heart device business.

The New Brunswick, N.J., company says Cordis will stop making Cypher and Cypher Select drug-coated stents by year-end, and it will also stop development of a new drug-coated stent called Nevo. Cordis will focus on other areas of the heart device market where there is greater demand cheap business cards.

The company will eliminate up to 1,000 jobs as it shuts two manufacturing plants and consolidates a research and development team.

Stents are mesh-wire tubes that are used to hold arteries open after they are surgically cleared of fatty plaque. Sales have been hurt in recent years by safety concerns.

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