Source: Bloomberg The US Treasury Department is selling US$6.0 billion in shares of American International Group Inc (AIG), the insurer that was rescued in 2008 after it suffered losses tied to wrong-way bets on the mortgage market. AIG plans to purchase as much as US$3.0 billion of the sale, the Treasury said in a statement....

Source: Bloomberg Glencore International Plc’s US$37-billion announced takeover of coal exporter Xstrata Plc in February – the biggest mining deal ever – signals that natural-resource tie-ups may dominate mergers and acquisitions again this year after doing so in 2011. The purchase by Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore, the world’s largest publicly traded commodities supplier, will create a...

Source: Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke spent six years pushing for an inflation goal. Now that he has it, some investors are betting he will breach the 2 per cent target in the short run to lower unemployment. The Fed chairman told lawmakers last week that an increase in energy costs will boost...

Source: Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc lost money in Asia last year for the first time since 2008 as the Wall Street firm’s stock investments in the region, led by a holding in China’s biggest bank, backfired. A 46-per cent decline in Asia revenue compared with 2010 was driven by markdowns on the company’s stakes...

Source: Reuters The world’s most valuable company has turned into a bit of a casino stock. Since Apple Inc on February 29 became only the sixth company in US history to top US$500 billion in market capitalisation, trading has become more volatile, indicating that more investors are tracking headlines and looking for quick gains. Apple...

Source: Reuters American International Group (AIG) is selling part of its stake in AIA Group to raise about US$6 billion to help the US insurer repay a huge federal government bail-out. AIG is looking to place some 1.7 billion AIA shares in a range of HK$27.15-27.50 per share – a discount of up to 7...

Source: Reuters US-based Starbucks Corp is planning to strengthen its presence in Europe and grab market share from Switzerland’s Nestle in the area of instant coffee, its chief executive told a German newspaper. “Nestle has done a fantastic job with Nespresso and created a billion-dollar business – it is time that we heat up the...

Source: Reuters The US government has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit relating to its 2008 takeover of American International Group that was filed by a company run by former AIG Chief Executive Maurice Greenberg, court documents showed. In November, Greenberg’s company, Starr International Co, sued the US government for US$25 billion, calling the...

Source: Reuters Facebook has unveiled new ways for businesses to reach its 845 million users directly across all devices, including mobile, as it races toward a multibillion dollar IPO. With new “Premium on Facebook” ads, marketers can expand their reach on the social network by paying for a video, a coupon or other message to...

Source: Reuters Bank of America Corp is planning to introduce a monthly fee for its customers holding checking accounts unless they agree to bank online, buy more products or maintain certain balances, the Wall Street Journal said. The report on the new fee initiative at the nation’s second-largest bank comes after it had faced a...

Source: Reuters The Dow closed above 13,000 for the first time since May 2008 on Tuesday and the S&P 500 also hit a milestone, as buoyant US consumer confidence data and a sharp drop in oil prices nudged the nearly five-month rally forward. The S&P 500 closed above 1,370, its May 2011 intraday high, a...

Source: Reuters For Steven Sinofsky, the stern but creative engineering manager who runs Microsoft Corp’s flagship Windows division, February 29 is showtime. On that day, in Barcelona, Sinofsky will preside over the public test release of the Windows 8 operating system, the most important new version of Microsoft’s cornerstone product in a decade. Optimised for...