Business news in brief

By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

Posted: July 28, 2009 at 5:25 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY "When the elephant falls down, all the grass gets crushed as well." Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, defending the Fed's action to rescue AIG and other companies deemed "too big to fail." Article, 1DSilverman leaving NBC to join media firm

NEW YORK - Ben Silverman will be leaving his job as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Movie Studios to head a new venture with Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp focusing on producing and distributing multimedia content.

NBC named Jeff Gaspin, president and chief operating officer of the company's cable entertainment group, to replace him.

Gaspin also will keep his current duties as the new chairman of NBC Universal's television entertainment unit.

At NBC, Silverman did little to pull the network out of its fourth-place status, although he was handicapped by a strike by TV writers. His legacy is likely to be more about striking deals with advertisers than leaving behind memorable programming.

IAC said Monday that it is forming a new production company led by Silverman that will look to bring advertisers further into the development process on new media products.

In an interview, Silverman said the new company will develop content and marketing across every medium "from Twitter to television." He said the idea is to break out of the old media paradigm that centered on the 30-second TV spot.

"Attention is the toughest commodity to harness," he said.

"To get people's attention you have to disrupt, you have to make things part of the culture, not just part of the marketing."

In a statement, Diller, IAC's chairman and chief executive, called the new company "a next generation enterprise that bridges the gap between traditional television and the Internet."

Global consumer confidence improves

LONDON - Consumer confidence around the world improved in the second quarter, according to a survey by researcher Nielsen, suggesting that the public is embracing the idea of a global economic recovery.

The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index rose to 82 in June, an increase of five points from March, spurred by renewed consumer optimism and stock market gains in emerging markets and key Asian countries.

"In the previous survey conducted in March, we were seeing the first signs that as far as the world's consumers were concerned, the recession had bottomed out," said Jonathan Banks, business insights director at Nielsen. "Three months later, they're starting to embrace the idea of recovery - which is a major turning point."

In the survey of 14,029 consumers in 28 countries, 71 percent of respondents thought their country was in recession, down from a high of 77 percent when the survey ran in March.

Banks said that standout markets for the resumption of confidence included India, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Taiwan, Brazil, Singapore, Turkey, Russia, Philippines and Britain also recorded improvement.

"Consumers in emerging and Asian markets are clearly of the view that they are driving in the recovery lane now," said Banks.

The exceptions to the upswing were the United States and New Zealand, which both held flat, and Germany, which recorded a decline of one point.

Nissan displays electric car prototype

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Nissan Motor Co. showed off its super-quiet, zero-emission electric car Monday - a key green offering for Japan's No. 3 automaker, which has fallen behind in hybrid technology.

Nissan showed the prototype in a Tiida compact that is already on sale in Japan. It is withholding the unveiling of the electric car's exterior design until the Tokyo-based manufacturer opens its new Yokohama headquarters Sunday.

Sales of Nissan's electric vehicle are to begin in Japan and the U.S. next year. Nissan says it plans to mass produce zero emission cars globally from 2012. Until then, Nissan will produce all initially targeted 100,000 units at its Oppama plant, including export models.

Nissan shares the battery design with its alliance partner Renault as part of a cost-cutting effort.

Proponents of hybrids, like market-leader Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker, say the limited driving range of electric vehicles makes them suited for daily commutes or shopping at best and so hybrids are the best solution.

But other carmakers, including General Motors Corp., are racing to make electric cars.

Medtronic, Abbott Labs settle stent fight

Medtronic Inc. on Monday agreed to pay $400 million to Abbott Laboratories to end more than a decade of litigation over medical devices that prop open heart arteries after they've been cleared of fat.

The agreement ends a case that was scheduled to begin trial Monday in federal court in San Francisco against Abbott and an appeal of infringement findings against Medtronic. The companies agreed not to sue each other over stents and stent-delivery systems for at least 10 years, Minneapolis-based Medtronic said in a statement.

Each was using patent litigation as they vie for a larger share in the $1.9 billion U.S. market for heart stents. Abbott makes the top-selling Xience stent system. Medtronic's Endeavor stent, approved by regulators in February 2008, initially grabbed about 20 percent of the market before Abbott introduced Xience a year ago.

Abbott, based in Abbott Park, Ill., will record the settlement, which is equal to 31 percent of the company's second-quarter net income of $1.29 billion, as a one-time item in the third quarter.

Abbott rose 2 cents to $45.03 in New York Stock Exchange trading Monday. Medtronic fell 24 cents to $34.81.

Oil prices go higher, continue rebound

Oil prices pushed higher again on Monday.

Benchmark crude for September delivery rose 33 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil has rebounded by almost $10 a barrel this month as stronger economic results from the U.S. and China boosted stock prices and investor optimism along with better-than-expected second-quarter earnings results from many companies.

But even with growing signs of optimism, demand for oil has remained weak.

"Oil can't stand on its own," said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading. "It's looking at what the other markets are doing."

Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover said oil also has gotten price support from refineries running at levels well below years past.

"That's the only fundamental factor for prices to be higher," he said.

Prices at the pump moved up 0.8 cent overnight to $2.50 a gallon nationally, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are now 3.5 cents higher than a week ago, but 14.8 cents below levels of a month ago and $1.47 down from year-ago levels.

In Arkansas, the average for regular gasoline was $2.34, AAA said, up about 4 cents from a week ago.

Business, Pages 20 on 07/28/2009

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