- ECB’s Liikanen signals limits to ECB assistance in debt crisis (Bloomberg)
- Outgoing PBOC adviser, Li Daokui, says interest-rate reform needed (Wall Street Journal)
- The tension between monetary and fiscal policy shows in India (Bloomberg)
- Speaking of monetary and fiscal policy, here’s the gap (Wall Street Pit)
- Colombia’s central bank meets on Friday, coffee growers want no change (Reuters)
- Sweden progresses towards a cashless society (Emirates 24/7)
- Iran central bank eases restrictions on forex to counter sanctions (The Daily Star)
- In case you missed it, Central Bank News is up for sale (Central Bank News)
Amazon.com Inks Deal With Discovery Channel (AMZN,DISCA).mp4
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has made a deal with Discovery (NASDAQ:DISCA) to stream its content, according to a NY Post report.The deal will connect Amazon Prime’s instant video service with Discovery’s 13 cable channels including TLC, Animal Planet and banner Discovery channel.On their website, amazon issued a special announcement to their faithful customers. It says: Dear Customers,Today we’re announcing our biggest addition yet, bringing nearly 3,000 more titles to Prime Instant Video. We’ve struck a deal with Discovery Networks to bring some of the highest quality, non-fiction, informative and entertaining content about the world to our Amazon Prime customers. Rolling out over the next few weeks are TV shows from Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, and Science. Prime members, at no additional cost, can now stream more than 17,000 titles.Amazon prime will still remain at a cost point of $79 a year.
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Sprint Plans to End Contract with LightSquared
A wireless partnership that could have competed with the U.S.’s largest carriers like AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has ended. The Wall Street Journal reports Sprint (NYSE:S) will end its 15-year contract with LightSquared and return $65 million in prepayments to the company.The move comes after the Federal Communications Commission said earlier this year that LightSquared would not be able to operate its proposed nationwide fourth-generation network. The wireless start-up’s plan would have used satellite wireless airwaves through 40,000 cell towers covering 260 million Americans. LightSquared hoped to sell its service wholesale to carriers seeking extra capacity.Last month, the FCC said it wouldn’t allow LightSquared to operate its network because of concerns it would interfere with Global Positioning Systems signals. Because of the termination of Sprint’s deal, LightSquared will have to find more funding if it ever gets approval for their planned network.
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Chinese Television Accusing McDonald’s and Carrefour for Selling Expired Food
One of the world’s largest fast food chains and a french hypermarket company are being accused of selling expired food. Chinese state television is accusing McDonald’s and Carrefour of selling expired chicken products in separate incidents. The report on Thursday said a Mcdonald’s in Beijing sold chicken 90 minutes after they were cooked, 60 minutes over the company’s expiration rule. It also said employees at Carrefour store in Zhengzhou changed expiration dates on some chicken and sold it to customers.Both companies have publicly apologized over the alleged incidents and are investigating the report. Food safety is an important issue in China, a country that has been plagued with many toxic food and product scandals over the years.
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Central Bank News Website Goes up For Sale
After going from strength to strength since starting in October 2010, we have decided to put the Central Bank News website up for sale in hopes that the right person or organisation can pick up the torch and take Central Bank News to the next level. Notwithstanding this development Central Bank News will continue to provide timely and insightful updates on global monetary policy and central banking developments for the foreseeable future. We are presently accepting expressions of interest from those interested in acquiring the Central Bank News website and databases; please email [email protected] for a copy of the information memorandum.
PayPal Launches Mobile Platform
One of the internet’s most popular payment services has finally gone mobile. PayPal launched its mobile payments service yesterday that lets businesses accept credit cards using a card reader attached to the iPhone.The service is called PayPal Here, and it will allow customers of a certain business to pay using credit cards, their PayPal accounts or checks in the U.S. The best feature about the service: You don’t need a PayPal account to use it. PayPal said that the service is currently only for the iPhone but will be coming to Android devices soon. The company will take a 2.7% cut for each transaction.
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Sears Holdings Closing 62 Stores to Decrease Expenses
Its been a tough year for Sears Holdings Group (NASDAQ:SHLD). Today the company announced plans to shut down 62 retail stores to decrease expenses for the first half of the year.The company will close 43 Sears Hometown stores, 10 Sears Hardware stores and 9 The Great Indoor stores.Earlier this week, Sears announced they’d be removing the clothing department from 10 of its stores.Sears Holdings is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $52.83 and above its 200-day of $61.07.
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Central Bank News Link List – 18 March 2012
Here’s today’s Central Bank News link list, click through if you missed the previous central bank news link list. Remember, if you want to submit links for inclusion in the daily link list, just email them through to us or post them in the comments section below.
- Here’s what happened in monetary policy over the past week (Central Bank News)
- And here’s the week ahead in central banking (Financial Times)
- In Japan quantitative easing starts to look like debt monetization (Bloomberg)
- US February inflation 0.4% m/m, 2.9% y/y (Forex Crunch)
- RBA Sells A$372m in forex market during February (Wall Street Journal)
- India Fiscal-Monetary policy tug of war restricts rate cuts (Bloomberg)
- Here’s seven principles for better banking regulation (Global Economic Intersection)
- Central banks have caught gold fever (Reuters)
- The rise and rise of the Yuan – UK bankers want a Yuan swap (Wall Street Journal)
Sterne Agee Gives Cisco’s $5 Billion NDS Acquisition Its Approval
Sterne Agee released a note giving its nod of approval to Cisco’s (NASDAQ:CSCO) acquisition of NDS.Sterne said that its $5 billion acquisition of the UK-based company allows it to invest part of its huge overseas cash reserve that allows them to overstep repatriation taxes.Cisco is just one of the major US firms that’s lobbying for a tax break on overseas cash reserves, and has advised that it would boost its US spending if that break was permitted.Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) has potential upside of 16.3% based on a current price of $19.91 and an average consensus analyst price target of $23.16.
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Perfect World Shares Up 29% After Topping Estimates
Online game developer, Perfect World (NASDAQ:PWRD) rose 29% after the company reported earnings late Thursday.The company reported EPS $0.98, topping analyst estimates of $0.55 per share. Revenues came in at $123.40 million, better than consensus estimates of $112.33 million.Perfect World (NASDAQ:PWRD) has potential upside of 43.5% based on a current price of $12.55 and an average consensus analyst price target of $18.01.
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