QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ERT has been woven into Greeks’ own identity. What’s happening is a mistake. Certainly you need to make reforms and changes, but not like this. You don’t shut down ERT, you try and fix it.”
Christodoulos Yiallourides, Panteion University professor of social and political science, on the Greek government’s shutdown of state broadcaster ERT Article, 1D
Cinemark adds Rave Cinemas to list
Cinemark Holdings Inc., the third largest theater chain in the United States, has completed its acquisition of Rave Cinemas.
The Plano, Texas-based company acquired 32 theaters for about $240 million in cash. The acquisition includes 483 screens located in 12 states. Cinemark is required to divest of three of the theaters based on a Department of Justice final judgment.
The 18-screen Rave Cinema on Colonel Glenn Court in Little Rock was the only Arkansas theater acquired.
With the addition of the Rave theatres, Cinemark now has theaters in 40 states.
Ag secretary to hang out on Google+
Four sites in Arkansas will be open Monday morning for participation in an online discussion with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Vilsack will hold his first “Google+ Hangout” from 11 a.m. to noon to discuss programs offered by USDA’s “StrikeForce Agencies” and stakeholders. The StrikeForce initiative now operating in 16 states, including Arkansas, began in March as a way for USDA staff to target rural areas with persistent poverty to promote economic development and job creation.
During the session with Vilsack, participants will be able to listen and discuss StrikeForce programs and how their communities can get involved, according to a release. Vilsack will be accompanied by a panel of Strike-Force experts, recipients and coordinators. Questions can also be submitted in advance on Twitter at #AskUSDA, or sent to community StrikeForce coordinators.
Participating Arkansas sites include: the East Arkansas Enterprise Community offices at 1000 Airport Road, Forrest City and at 330 Lee County Road 407 in Marianna;
the community/Rural Business Center at 122 Main St. in Cotton Plant and the Silas H. Hunt Community Development Center at 301 Seibert St. in Texarkana.
Siemens grabs World Cup, Olympic work
Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, said it has about $1.3 billion in infrastructure project orders related to Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 soccer World Cup finals and the 2016 Olympic Games.
The investments include safety and building systems for the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia, and energy management systems for the nation’s national grid operator, Siemens said in a statement Wednesday.
Infrastructure and construction companies are promoting their credentials as they compete for orders from governments for projects and stadiums for major sports events. Brazil is investing $14 billion on World Cup projects. Russia and Qatar have earmarked $85 billion for investment as they will host World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
“We want our infrastructure solutions to help make the events a success,” Paulo Stark, the head of Siemens’ Brazil operations, said in the statement. “These major events will speed up works in infrastructure laying the foundations of sustainable growth.”
French strike disrupts air travel 2nd day
PARIS - Air travel in Europe was disrupted again Wednesday as a strike by French air traffic controllers entered its second day and was joined by smaller actions in other countries, but aviation authorities said the situation should stabilize today.
The French civil aviation authority said that it expected 1,800 flights, or about half of all scheduled flights, to be canceled Wednesday, similar to the number of cancellations Tuesday, which also caused hundreds of flights across Europe to be delayed by the spillover.
The union representing about 25,000 air traffic controllers across Europe, the European Transport Workers’ Federation, said Wednesday that various actions, including brief walkouts, “gatherings” and minimum-work measures, were planned by its affiliates in 11 countries: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Slovakia.
CEOs predict pickup in sales, hiring
Chief executive officers in the U.S. project a pickup in sales and hiring in the next six months as the economy improves, a survey showed.
The Business Roundtable’s economic outlook index rose to a one-year high of 84.3 in the second quarter from 81 in the previous three months, the Washington-based trade group reported Wednesday. Readings greater than 50 are consistent with economic expansion. Today’s measure is above the long-term average of 79.3.
Seventy-eight percent of business leaders estimated sales will rise in the next six months, up from 72 percent in the previous quarter. More respondents, 32 percent this quarter compared with 29 percent, also forecast an increase in payrolls.
The survey, taken during the last two weeks of May, tabulates the responses of 141 chief executive officers who belong to the Business Roundtable. The group’s members represent companies with a combined work force of almost 16 million employees.
- Bloomberg News
Dump derivatives, regulators tell banks
U.S. regulators released letters telling JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and other banks to safely shed derivatives, granting them two more years to wall off such trades from units that get federal backing.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency sent the approval letters Tuesday to the banks, also including Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Morgan Stanley, HSBC Holdings Plc and U.S. Bancorp. Each bank now has until July 2015 to come up with “orderly” ways to comply with Dodd-Frank Act rules meant to limit taxpayer vulnerability to riskier bank trading.
Dodd-Frank overhauled swaps-trading in an effort to make the industry less vulnerable to a crisis such as the one that struck in 2008. The law required banks backed by government deposit insurance or the Federal Reserve discount window to curtail the use of certain types of derivatives.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 26 on 06/13/2013