Global finance blog - news, jokes, life…

What is wrong with the vehicles?

Toyota said the accelerator pedal on the affected models can stick in a partially depressed position. It also can be slow to rise back up when you ease off the gas. In some cases, vehicle floor mats can become entangled with the accelerator pedal, trapping it down.

What should drivers do if they find themselves in a sudden-acceleration incident?

Test-track drivers found the most effective strategy was to hit the brake pedal hard and hold it. Don’t start pumping or pounding on the brakes. That kills the vacuum assist and makes them less effective. Toyota advises stepping on the brake pedal with both feet, using firm and steady pressure.

After hitting the brakes, shift the transmission into neutral.

"We found that it is very hard to bring the car to a complete halt with just the brake pedal," said Rik Paul, automotive editor of Consumer Reports magazine. "That’s why it is important to shift into neutral."

After disengaging the engine, pull safely off the road, turn off the car and park it.

Is there some warning that lets me know my car has the problem?

Don’t expect a warning light on the dashboard. You might notice that the pedal is getting harder to depress over time or is sluggish when you ease off the gas. Some drivers might notice a rough or "chatter"-like feeling depressing the accelerator, according to Toyota.

If I think this is happening to my vehicle, what should I do?

Toyota is telling owners to drive the vehicle to the nearest safe location, shut off the engine and contact a Toyota dealer for assistance.

Which models are affected?

Toyota said it stopped sales of the following models and years:

— 2009 and 2010 RAV4

— 2009 and 2010 Corolla

— 2009 and 2010 Matrix

— 2005 to 2010 Avalon

— 2010 Highlander

— 2007 to 2010 Tundra

— 2008 to 2010 Sequoia

The company also stopped sales of certain 2007 to 2010 Camry sedans, depending on where those vehicles were manufactured; Camry owners should check with their dealer to determine whether their car is affected.

What is Toyota doing to fix the pedal issue?

The automaker says it is working on a fix but hasn’t disclosed the details or timing of the remedy. The company insists the problem is "rare and infrequent" and said dealers should deal with customers "on a case-by-case basis."

What should I do if

I have questions?

Call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at

Source

Oracle Corp. President Charles Phillips admitted Friday to an affair first exposed on pricey billboards plastered throughout New York’s Times Square, San Francisco and Atlanta.

The supersize ads feature him and his mistress, beaming and canoodling. A Web address listed on the billboards, charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com, directed viewers to a site, which is no longer running, filled with photos and notes documenting a romance dating back to 2001.

"I had an 8½-year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins," Phillips said in a statement released Friday by Oracle’s public relations team. "My divorce proceedings began in 2008. The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended, and we both wish each other well."

Phillips, 50, is reportedly still married to his wife Karen, and the two have a son together.

Wilkins declined to speak directly to the media, instead fielding requests through her cousin Misha Davila, who told CNN that Wilkins thought Phillips’ divorce was finalized in 2003.

Last summer, Davila said Wilkins received an anonymous e-mail tip about Phillips’ marital status. She hired and private investigator, and after learning Phillips was still married, ended the relationship last October payday loans in one hour.

Davila said Wilkins created the Web site, which apparently launched in October, as a gift from Wilkins for Phillips’ 50th birthday. She said the billboards were an attempt by Wilkins to reclaim her version of her relationship with Phillips– not an act of revenge.

Phillips, who has served on President Obama’s economic recovery advisory board since last February, joined Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) in 2003. Prior to joining the business software giant, he worked as a tech industry analyst at Morgan Stanley and served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Often talked of as a potential successor to Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison, Phillips is one of the software company’s most senior — and highly paid — excecutives. On top of an $800,000 salary for 2009, he took home stock options and other compensation valued by Oracle at more than $18 million.

–CNN’s Mythili Rao contributed to this article. 

Source

Houston Public Radio and the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston have joined together to launch a weekly business radio feature.

KUHF business reporter Ed Mayberry will host Bauer Business Focus each Friday morning at 8:35 a.m., starting Jan. 29.

"There's a lot of change taking placing in business today, and we're pleased to be able to provide a forum on public radio to discuss those changes and what's happening in the local business community," said Debra Fraser, station manager. "I think Bauer Business Focus will appeal even to people who wouldn't normally think of listening to a business program, because it's really about issues that impact all of us fast cash online."

Topics of the program will range from big-picture issues, job growth, economic diversification and entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging industries.

"We can't wait to explore trends and issues weighing on the minds of the business community," said Arthur Warga, dean of the Bauer College, and the first scheduled interview.

The program is available on 88.7 FM, HD Digital Channel 1 and streaming online at www.kuhf.org.

Source

The U.K.’s inflation rate probably jumped the most in at least 12 years in December as the economy shook off the recession and oil prices rose, economists say.

Consumer prices climbed 2.6 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 1.9 percent gain the previous month, according to the median forecast of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The 0.7 percentage-point jump would be the most since comparable records began in 1997. The Office for National Statistics will publish the data at 9.30 a.m. today in London.

The data would be the first since May showing inflation above the Bank of England’s 2 percent target, presenting a challenge to officials as they assess when to start raising interest rates from a record low. Gordon Brown’s spokesman said last week that the prime minister, who faces an election by June, is confident the economy has returned to growth.

“While the economy has been in recession the Bank of England hasn’t been focusing on inflation but it will become more of a concern,” Michael Saunders, chief economist for western Europe at Citigroup Inc, said in an interview. “I think they’ll hike rates in the second or third quarter.”

Saunders predicts the Bank of England will raise the benchmark interest rate to 1.5 percent by the end of the year. Officials makers have kept the rate at 0.5 percent since March. He says January data for inflation due next month will breach the government’s 3 percent upper limit, and it will reach 4 percent by the middle of the year.

Inflation, which troughed at 1.1 percent in September, has accelerated since then as energy costs increased and the economy recovered from the slump.

Producer Prices

Crude oil has doubled in the past 12 months, raising consumer gasoline costs. Producer prices jumped 0.5 percent in December, more than twice as much as the median forecast of economists in a survey by Bloomberg News.

The factory-gate data in part reflect the weakness of sterling. The pound has dropped by about a quarter in the past two years against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, raising the cost of imports for manufacturers.

Finance Minister Alistair Darling’s temporary 2.5 percentage-point reduction in sales tax in December 2008 to stimulate the economy will drop out of the annual comparison in the data for December 2009 and also raise the inflation rate, Saunders said.

For now, Bank of England officials say inflation will accelerate before dipping below the target later this year because of slack in the economy after the recession. Policy makers are showing few signs of unwinding emergency measures designed to fight deflation after they pledged to buy 200 billion pounds ($327 billion) of bonds. The bank will release new forecasts on Feb. 10.

Source

For the first time in history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing special water quality standards that would apply to only one state – Florida.

The EPA, responding partly to a lawsuit, plans a series of limits on phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that come from fertilizer and wastewater – for Florida waters that are different from the rest of the U.S.

A news release from the agency said the new limits are “to protect people’s health, aquatic life and the long-term recreational uses of Florida’s waters, which are a critical part of the state’s economy.”

But, one group already is slamming the proposal as a costly burden for the state. The Don’t Tax Florida Coalition, made up mostly of agricultural interests, sent out a news release, calling the proposed standards “a de facto water tax from Washington that will impose major economic hardship on Florida’s battered economy, with questionable benefits to our environment.”

The coalition said one study estimates a $50 billion infrastructure bill to comply with the standards, which will result in higher water bills.

“It simply makes no sense to force Florida to spend billions of scarce dollars in excess of what is necessary to meet an arbitrary federal regulation,” said Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, in the coalition’s news release.

The new proposal is the result of a 2009 consent decree between the EPA and Florida Wildlife Federation.

According to the EPA, nutrient pollution can damage drinking water sources; increase exposure to harmful algal blooms, which are made of toxic microbes that can cause damage to the nervous system or even death; and form byproducts in drinking water from disinfection chemicals, some of which have been linked with serious illnesses, such as bladder cancer.

The EPA also said nutrient problems can happen locally or much farther downstream, leading to degraded lakes, reservoirs and estuaries, and to hypoxic “dead” zones where aquatic life can no longer survive short term personal loans. High amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in surface water result in harmful algal blooms, dead fish, reduced mating grounds and nursery habitats for fish.

“Florida has led the way with rigorous scientific analysis and data collection needed to address nutrient pollution. By relying on the best science, we can set standards that protect people’s health and preserve water bodies used for drinking, swimming, fishing and tourism,” said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, in a release. “New water quality standards, developed in collaboration with the state, will help protect and restore inland waters that are a critical part of Florida's history, culture and economic prosperity.”

A 2008 Florida Department of Environmental Protection report assessing water quality revealed that about 1,000 miles of rivers and streams, 350,000 acres of lakes and 900 square miles of estuaries are not meeting the state's water quality standards because of excess nutrients. These represent about 16 percent of Florida’s assessed river and stream miles, 36 percent of assessed lake acres and 25 percent of assessed estuary square miles. The actual number of miles and acres of waters impaired for nutrients is likely higher, as there are waters that have not yet been assessed.

The proposed action, announced Friday, also seeks comment on a new regulatory process for setting standards to drive water quality improvements in already impaired waters. The proposed new regulatory provision, called restoration standards, would be specific to nutrients in Florida.

The EPA will accept public comments on the proposed standards and will conduct three public hearings on the proposed rule. The hearings are scheduled for Feb. 16, 17 and 18 in Tallahassee, Orlando and West Palm Beach, respectively.

The West Palm Beach hearing will be 1-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Palm Beach International Airport, at 1301 Belvedere Road.

Source

Savvis Chairman James E. Ousely has been appointed interim CEO at the company after Chief Executive Phil Koen stepped down on Friday, Savvis announced today.

Koen had been with Savvis, the Town and Country-based provider of Internet infrastructure services for corporations, since March 2006. His resignation was effective at the end of last week.

“In consultation with our board of directors, and knowing we have a very strong leadership team in place, this is an excellent time for me to move on to a new opportunity and to watch Savvis continue to grow and excel,” Koen said in a company news release.

He didn’t elaborate on the opportunity that led him to resign.

Source

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed $82.9 billion state budget replaces furloughs with pay cuts, slashes health care and social services for the poor and relies on $4.5 billion in fund shifting to back-fill government programs.

The proposed spending plan mostly protects education at the currently level of funding.

It also looks to the federal government for $6.9 billion in additional funding — and includes an ominous list of programs that will be axed completely if the money doesn’t come through. Some tax hits will be extended to fill the gap, too.

The state is facing a $19.9 billion budget deficit over the next 18 months. That amount includes a $6.6 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year, a $12.3 billion projected shortfall for 2010-11 and money needed for a $1 billion reserve.

Assuming the feds come up with the money — a premise many think is iffy, at best — major cuts include:

• $1.4 billion in compensation for state workers
• $2.4 billion cuts in health and human services, including cuts in Medi-Cal services, wages for In-Home Supportive Services workers and new restrictions on eligibility for CalWorks, the state welfare program and
• $1.2 billion in cuts in prison funding.

The current furlough program for state workers would end June 30, replaced by a 5 percent cut in all salaries. Department directors are ordered to cut their payrolls by 5 percent by July 1, when employees’ monthly retirement contribution will increase by 5 percent.

The change in pension contribution and pay reduction will require collective bargaining and statute changes.

“I know many of these cuts are painful,” Schwarzenegger said at a press conference Friday morning on the budget proposal. “Believe me, these are the hardest decisions a governor can make.”

It could get much worse.

Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders will travel to Washington later this month to demand $6.9 billion to the federal share of the cost of health care services to the poor, federal education mandates and incarceration of undocumented immigrants payday loans guaranteed no fax.

“We are not looking for a federal payout; we are looking for federal fairness,” Schwarzenegger said.

The proposed budget has a trigger mechanism to backfill for every dollar the state is unable to squeeze out of the feds. It includes up to $4.6 billion in program cuts and $2.4 billion in tax adjustments on business.

Major program cuts include:

• $1 billion from elimination of CalWorks
• $847 million by using Proposition 63 funding to finance existing mental health services
• $532 million by reducing Medi-Cal eligibility to the minimum allowed under federal law and axing most of the remaining optional benefits
• $495 million from elimination of the In-Home Supportive Services Program
• $280 million from elimination of non-court required inmate rehabilitation programs, moving some felons from prisons to jails and increasing parole agents’ caseloads
• $126 million from elimination of the Healthy Families Program
• $115 million from elimination of various health services programs funded by Proposition 99
• $111.9 million from elimination of funding for enrollment growth at the University of California and California State University and
• $100 million from an unallocated reduction in funding for trial courts.

Major programs to enhance revenue include $1.2 billion from suspension of a business’s ability to reduce taxable income by applying net operating losses from prior years and $504 million from cutting tax credits for dependents to $102 from $319.

Schwarzenegger declared another fiscal emergency and called for another special session of the Legislature.

“California is resilient,” he said. “We will … get through this challenge.”

Source

About 155 employees at a Mississauga air conditioning manufacturer that abruptly closed three weeks ago did not get their back pay before Christmas, but finally collected some of it by New Year’s Day.

Bob Chernecki, a senior official for the Canadian Auto Workers, said on Monday that workers at the M&I Air Systems plant picked up cheques with two weeks of earnings worth more than $1,000 on Dec. 30 after a glitch with M&I’s bankers prevented earlier payment.

However, the workers are still waiting for cheques for a third week of work and vacation pay, plus some indication about the plant’s future, Chernecki added.

"They (the workers) have been told that management is making arrangements for the third week and vacation pay sometime later this month.

"Beyond that, there are no guarantees of anything until they know the status of the plant."

Chernecki also said the company didn’t give the employees eight weeks’ notice of a layoff, as required under provincial labour law.

M&I, which provides air-moving technology and systems for industrial and institutional buildings, missed a pay on Dec high quality business cards. 10 but told employees it would submit earnings the following Monday if they worked on the weekend to finish a project.

But the company didn’t pay the employees, who earn between $18 and $19.50 an hour, on the Monday and laid them off the next day without warning.

When demands for pay and information about the plant’s status were ignored, workers occupied the plant for more than three hours on Dec. 21. They left after M&I agreed to a meeting with the union.

M&I indicated it would provide workers with two weeks of back pay within a few days and a decision soon on whether the plant would reopen, Chernecki said.

"They (employees) should know this week or next whether they have a future," Chernecki said.

A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Source

As Porter Airlines breezes into its fourth year of operations, president Robert Deluce says the upstart airline will unveil a new, five-year business plan in 2010.

"(The new plan) is likely to see some significant growth attached to it," Deluce told the Star. "I think we’ve got lots of growth potential in the next several years."

Deluce was coy about details for his updated business plan, but conceded the original blueprint for his company has evolved somewhat since the airline set up shop in 2006. Originally, Deluce’s business plan outlined a vision of 17 flight destinations for Porter in Canada and the United States.

"A couple of the destinations that we’re already serving, Halifax and (Mont) Tremblant, weren’t even on our original business plan," Deluce said.

"I think at some point in time we’ll be serving at least 17 destinations, and maybe more."

The airline has already announced a number of changes for the first quarter of 2010. Its fleet will grow from 17 turboprop airplanes to 20 and flights will increase from an average of 110 per day to 120. The airline will also begin operations at its new $45 million terminal, where the first phase of construction should be completed by the spring.

Porter plans to expand domestic and transborder service early next year, Deluce said. He won’t say what Porter destinations are on the horizon, only that Washington and Philadelphia "continue to be of interest," as well as "other places in eastern Canada within roughly an hour and a half of Toronto."

Because Porter is privately held, it does not report financial results. But Deluce said the airline turned a profit this year.

"By any account, (Porter had) at least 300-per-cent growth during a year that arguably was one of the worst aviation years on record," Deluce said.

Porter has also been good business for the Toronto Island airport, which has been humming with activity since the airline moved in.

On Christmas Eve, the Toronto Port Authority announced it received preliminary results from a new capacity assessment study, and now anticipates an increase of between 42 and 92 daily flights at the airport by the second half of next year. The TPA also said it will begin accepting proposals in early 2010 from other commercial carriers that hope to begin using the island airport.

Before Porter came along, the island airport – recently renamed the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport – handled 25,000 passengers annually. By the end of 2009, that number was forecast to hit 750,000, and Deluce estimates that 2010 will see more than a million passengers passing through the airport.

Source