Archives: January 2008

Reforming India's futures market

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on January 31

The Securities & Exchange Board of India, the country's securities regulator, has gotten a lot of flack from investors and market participants for its passive stance during last week's market...

Dumpling recall hits world’s number three tobacco company

Posted by: Ian Rowley on January 31

With governments around the world tightening anti-smoking legislation and health conscious Japanese smoking less than they once did, Japan Tobacco’s plans to bolster its $2.7 billion a year food biz...

McDonald's not loving Japan court ruling

Posted by: Ian Rowley on January 29

Reports that Americans are eating fewer Big Macs wasn’t the only troubling news for McDonald's yesterday. In Japan, the fast food giant's second biggest market, a court ruled that the...

Suharto dies but corruption lives on

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on January 28

The death of former Indonesian President Suharto has sparked a rigorous discussion of the legacy his 32 years in power. Though democracy has successfully taken root in the 10 years...

YouTube Finds a Convert Among Japan's Content Owners

Posted by: Kenji Hall on January 25

Can Google resolve the standoff with content owners in Japan over copyright issues on YouTube that’s dragged on for nearly a year? The short answer is, Google still has some...

Plastinated bodies from China?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on January 25

One of the strangest phenomena to hit museums over the past few years has been the bizarre exhibtions of human cadavers preserved in plastic. (Be patient - I'll get to...

Goldman downgrades Sony

Posted by: Kenji Hall on January 22

Sony’s out. That’s according to Goldman Sachs analyst Yuji Fujimori, who downgraded Sony (from “buy” to “neutral”) today, effectively telling investors to remove the stock from their shopping carts (but...

South Korea May Be Lucky to Grow by 5%

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on January 22

There’s no doubt South Korea’s President-elect Lee Myung Bak has raised expectations for brisk economic activities with his pledged business-friendly policies. Yet his promise of lifting this year's economic growth...

Japan's auto stocks taking a kicking

Posted by: Ian Rowley on January 21

One aspect of being a journalist at BusinessWeek is that we're not supposed to buy shares in the companies we write about. Indeed, each year in January, BusinessWeek asks us...

Who Needs China's New 3G Technology?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on January 18

Nobody, according to ABI Research. At least, nobody who’s boss isn’t a Chinese government official. While at least one of China's state-controlled telecom operators is sure to offer service using...

China cracks down again...

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on January 17

China announced today new progress in efforts to clean up a major food and drug safety and quality mess. According to a news release on the website of the General...

Mizuho stock sinks on Merrill deal

Posted by: Ian Rowley on January 16

Mizuho execs might have expected more following the first big investment by a Japanese bank in a U.S. rival in twenty years, but it wasn't to be. Today, shares in...

Extreme investing? Think Pakistan

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on January 11

For investors with a really strong stomach for risk, [and possibly bloodshed], Merrill Lynch is touting the charms of the Karachi Stock Market. At a media briefing in Hong Kong...

On the People’s Car and the $100 Laptop

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on January 10

If you follow the auto business, the place to be today is New Delhi, where Tata Motors has unveiled its long-awaited $2500 car, the Nano. No doubt the folks at...

How much will India's tech sector be hit by the US recession?

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on January 08

Indian outsourcers are likely to take a hit with the onset of the recession in the United States, their main market.

Panasonic, Google mashup

Posted by: Kenji Hall on January 08

Ever since Sony launched an Internet video-to-TV service for its Bravia flat-panel sets last August, the one question on everyone's lips: When will someone tie up with (Google-owned) YouTube? The...

Finally, a Major Pharma Company from China?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on January 07

Chinese companies like Lenovo in computers and Huawei in telecom equipment are building their brands worldwide, but when it comes to the pharma industry, the Chinese are anonymous. The country’s...

Business As Usual in Korea

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on January 03

It is business as usual in South Korea where white collar crimes are often regarded as less serious offences, particularly when they involve chieftains of the chaebol (or sprawling conglomerates)....