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Two U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday announced huge losses in the fourth quarter of last year, fresh evidence of the still struggling U.S. property market. Fannie Mae registered a net loss of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter last year, and requested an additional 2.6 billion dollars in federal aid, the Washington-based company said Thursday in a statement. Freddie Mac posted a net loss of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the same period, and asked for an additional 500 million dollars in federal aid, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday. The Obama administration earlier this month unveiled a report to Congress on reforming the U.S. housing finance market, aiming to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises, while giving the private sector a bigger say on the multi-trillion-dollar market. The two companies played a major role in the run-up to the severe financial crisis. The U.S. government stepped in to take over Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and cost U.S. taxpayers multi-billion dollars, which has drawn criticism from various sectors.

Two U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday announced huge losses in the fourth quarter of last year, fresh evidence of the still struggling U.S. property market. Fannie Mae registered a net loss of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter last year, and requested an additional 2.6 billion dollars in federal aid, the Washington-based company said Thursday in a statement. Freddie Mac posted a net loss of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the same period, and asked for an additional 500 million dollars in federal aid, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday. The Obama administration earlier this month unveiled a report to Congress on reforming the U.S. housing finance market, aiming to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises, while giving the private sector a bigger say on the multi-trillion-dollar market. The two companies played a major role in the run-up to the severe financial crisis. The U.S. government stepped in to take over Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and cost U.S. taxpayers multi-billion dollars, which has drawn criticism from various sectors. http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/

Two U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday announced huge losses in the fourth quarter of last year, fresh evidence of the still struggling U.S. property market. Fannie Mae registered a net loss of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter last year, and requested an additional 2.6 billion dollars in federal aid, the Washington-based company said Thursday in a statement. Freddie Mac posted a net loss of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the same period, and asked for an additional 500 million dollars in federal aid, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday. The Obama administration earlier this month unveiled a report to Congress on reforming the U.S. housing finance market, aiming to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises, while giving the private sector a bigger say on the multi-trillion-dollar market. The two companies played a major role in the run-up to the severe financial crisis. The U.S. government stepped in to take over Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and cost U.S. taxpayers multi-billion dollars, which has drawn criticism from various sectors. see more : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/

Facebook is set to pay Microsoft USD 550 million for 650 patents recently auctioned by AOL in its effort to boost its IP for the looming litigation against Yahoo.   Under pressure from its stockholders to make changes to prevent further revenue fall, AOL was obliged to sell and license over 800 patents to Microsoft on April 9. It would retain over 300 applications and patents after the auction.   Aside from the 800 patents bought by Microsoft, AOL will also give them license to 300 patents it has retained for a tag of USD 1.056 billion. Thus, Microsoft ultimately acquired 925 AOL patent applications and patents, 650 of which will go to Facebook. The 2 firms has also agreed to license their patent holdings to each other.   It is not yet clear what technologies Facebook has acquired rights to or those that has remained with Microsoft. But considering that the legal battle with Yahoo concerns messaging, social networking, etc, it looks like Facebook would want to have ammunition of its own.   According to a statement from Springhill Group Home, the deal with Facebook has allowed Microsoft to at least recoup more than half of its costs while accomplishing its goals from the auction of AOL. However, it cannot be readily said that Microsoft has really profited from the agreement as patent valuing is a complicated process.   Microsoft has a relatively long history of close relationship with the social network giant. In 2007, it has invested USD 240 million in  Facebook, giving it a 1.6% stake. Since then, the 2 firms have had collaborations like Microsoft's Bing search and search ad technologies being used on Facebook. Its video chat technology also comes from Microsoft as it has acquired Skype last year.   On the other hand, Microsoft also has a close business relationship with Yahoo as Bing powers their advertising and search engine. Yahoo has filed a lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly infringing 10 of its patents covering online ad technology. F

Facebook is set to pay Microsoft USD 550 million for 650 patents recently auctioned by AOL in its effort to boost its IP for the looming litigation against Yahoo.   Under pressure from its stockholders to make changes to prevent further revenue fall, AOL was obliged to sell and license over 800 patents to Microsoft on April 9. It would retain over 300 applications and patents after the auction.   Aside from the 800 patents bought by Microsoft, AOL will also give them license to 300 patents it has retained for a tag of USD 1.056 billion. Thus, Microsoft ultimately acquired 925 AOL patent applications and patents, 650 of which will go to Facebook. The 2 firms has also agreed to license their patent holdings to each other.   It is not yet clear what technologies Facebook has acquired rights to or those that has remained with Microsoft. But considering that the legal battle with Yahoo concerns messaging, social networking, etc, it looks like Facebook would want to have ammunition of its own.   According to a statement from Springhill Group Home, the deal with Facebook has allowed Microsoft to at least recoup more than half of its costs while accomplishing its goals from the auction of AOL. However, it cannot be readily said that Microsoft has really profited from the agreement as patent valuing is a complicated process.   Microsoft has a relatively long history of close relationship with the social network giant. In 2007, it has invested USD 240 million in  Facebook, giving it a 1.6% stake. Since then, the 2 firms have had collaborations like Microsoft's Bing search and search ad technologies being used on Facebook. Its video chat technology also comes from Microsoft as it has acquired Skype last year.   On the other hand, Microsoft also has a close business relationship with Yahoo as Bing powers their advertising and search engine. Yahoo has filed a lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly infringing 10 of its patents covering online ad technology. F

Sony, the giant Japanese electronics maker, plans to cut 6% of its workforce or around 10,000 jobs as they continue with their efforts to restructure their business, the 3rd job cut since 2005. It has already sold 2 divisions and is now scaling back its TV production.   According to Bloomberg's data, the biggest consumer electronics exporter in Japan has 168,200 staff last year. Around half of the job cuts resulted from publicized deals the company has previously made. Last month, Sony sold a chemicals subsidiary to the Development Bank of Japan while it spun off small LCD production last year into a joint deal with Toshiba and Hitachi. The remaining 5,000 job cuts will come from its unprofitable TV division that is now being overhauled in hopes of restoring the firm's health.   The 51-year old CEO, Kazuo Hirai, replaced Howard Stringer this month and immediately set out to do his promise of "unavoidable, painful choices" in order to turn the company's operations into a more profitable one.   Hirai has been credited in making the PlayStation business profitable; now he is set to put himself in charge of and bring a new team for the firm's TV business. Sony even revealed a new organizational chart that has omitted a management layer between the CEO and the head of TV department so Hirai could manage them directly.

South Korea Group of Springhill | edublogs.org May 22, '12 12:35 AM by SpringHill for everyone http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/ http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/2012/05/21/scrap-n-test-china-tells-n-korea/ China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how Pyongyang will react. If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said. North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters had reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month's failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test. "China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain," said the source, who declined to be identified. China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added. "China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests." When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963. It was unclear if the secretive North Korean government, typically unwilling to bow to outside pressure, would defer or drop the plans. China is the closest thing to an ally that North Korea has. "The impact on China's northeast would be huge," the source said of a third test. Chinese officials have discussed whether threats of diplomatic action would be effective, but any action might be restricted to some economic measures to signal China's displeasure and would not affect vital food aid for North Korea, the source said. A Western diplomat, who also asked n

SEOUL: Seoul shares rebounded on Thursday from losses the previous session, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally as solid U.S. corporate earnings lifted the S&P 500 index to a two-and-a-half month high. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ( KOSPI) was up 1.66 percent at 1,824.63 points as of 0240 GMT. Dampening the rebound, though, were sharp falls for shares of Korean banks being probed by authorities investigating how a key interest rate has been set. The overall market got a boost after the S&P 500 hit its highest level since early May, helped by quarterly numbers from bellwethers such as Intel Corp and Honeywell and better-than-expected U.S. housing starts. Seoul's broad market rally lifted 17 of the 19 industry group sub-indices tracked by the main bourse operator Korea Exchange. But analysts remained cautious on whether the rally can be sustained as concerns about growth persist. "There is a dearth of fundamental cues to make any solid bets on," said Lee Woo-jin, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. Investors looking for fresh signs of further easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve were left wanting, after Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank's pledge to act if the economy needed it, but remained tight-lipped over any specific measures. Index-giant Samsung Electronics soared 3.6 percent while SK Hynix rose 1.2 percent. Shares in South Korea's top four banks bucked broader market trend to post steep falls on Thursday after being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the local anti-trust agency, as part of a widening probe into suspected collusion in fixing certificate of deposit rates. Hana Financial slumped 3.5 percent while Woori Finance Holdings tumbled 4.1 percent. Shinhan Financial and KB Financial each declined more than 2.5 percent. see more details : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/

SEOUL: Seoul shares rebounded on Thursday from losses the previous session, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally as solid U.S. corporate earnings lifted the S&P 500 index to a two-and-a-half month high. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ( KOSPI) was up 1.66 percent at 1,824.63 points as of 0240 GMT. Dampening the rebound, though, were sharp falls for shares of Korean banks being probed by authorities investigating how a key interest rate has been set. The overall market got a boost after the S&P 500 hit its highest level since early May, helped by quarterly numbers from bellwethers such as Intel Corp and Honeywell and better-than-expected U.S. housing starts. Seoul's broad market rally lifted 17 of the 19 industry group sub-indices tracked by the main bourse operator Korea Exchange. But analysts remained cautious on whether the rally can be sustained as concerns about growth persist. "There is a dearth of fundamental cues to make any solid bets on," said Lee Woo-jin, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. Investors looking for fresh signs of further easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve were left wanting, after Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank's pledge to act if the economy needed it, but remained tight-lipped over any specific measures. Index-giant Samsung Electronics soared 3.6 percent while SK Hynix rose 1.2 percent. Shares in South Korea's top four banks bucked broader market trend to post steep falls on Thursday after being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the local anti-trust agency, as part of a widening probe into suspected collusion in fixing certificate of deposit rates. Hana Financial slumped 3.5 percent while Woori Finance Holdings tumbled 4.1 percent. Shinhan Financial and KB Financial each declined more than 2.5 percent.

SEOUL: Seoul shares rebounded on Thursday from losses the previous session, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally as solid U.S. corporate earnings lifted the S&P 500 index to a two-and-a-half month high. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index ( KOSPI) was up 1.66 percent at 1,824.63 points as of 0240 GMT. Dampening the rebound, though, were sharp falls for shares of Korean banks being probed by authorities investigating how a key interest rate has been set. The overall market got a boost after the S&P 500 hit its highest level since early May, helped by quarterly numbers from bellwethers such as Intel Corp and Honeywell and better-than-expected U.S. housing starts. Seoul's broad market rally lifted 17 of the 19 industry group sub-indices tracked by the main bourse operator Korea Exchange. But analysts remained cautious on whether the rally can be sustained as concerns about growth persist. "There is a dearth of fundamental cues to make any solid bets on," said Lee Woo-jin, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. Investors looking for fresh signs of further easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve were left wanting, after Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank's pledge to act if the economy needed it, but remained tight-lipped over any specific measures. Index-giant Samsung Electronics soared 3.6 percent while SK Hynix rose 1.2 percent. Shares in South Korea's top four banks bucked broader market trend to post steep falls on Thursday after being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the local anti-trust agency, as part of a widening probe into suspected collusion in fixing certificate of deposit rates. Hana Financial slumped 3.5 percent while Woori Finance Holdings tumbled 4.1 percent. Shinhan Financial and KB Financial each declined more than 2.5 percent. see more details : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/