经济学人下载:一周商业要闻

Business this week

一周商业要闻

Aug 24th 2013 |From the print edition

India was plunged into financial turmoil. Markets swooned in response to the government’s imposition of capital controls on domestic investors to stop cash flowing out of the country in order to halt the decline of the rupee. Investors fret that India’s large current-account deficit makes it particularly exposed to capital flight out of emerging markets prompted by the Federal Reserve’s plan to taper quantitative easing. As share prices in Indian banks fell and Indian bond yields rose, the central bank promised to intervene to boost liquidity.

印度陷入金融危机。印度政府为了抑制卢比贬值，对国内投资者实行了强制资本管制，以防止现金外流导致市场混乱。受美联储缩减量化宽松规模的影响，印度大量的经常账户赤字使该国大量资本流出。由于印度银行业股价下跌，国债收益增加，印度央行承诺将进行市场干预以增加流动性。

However, the rupee fell to a new low against the dollar after the minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting confirmed it was on track to ease bond-buying this year. Currencies in other emerging markets also came under pressure. In a surprise move Turkey’s central bank raised interest rates to support the lira. The Brazilian real sank to its lowest level against the dollar in four years. 

然而，美联储召开最新一次会议，确认将缩减本年度购买债券规模。消息披露数分钟后，卢比兑美元汇率跌至历史新低点。其他新兴市场里的货币也面临压力。土耳其央行采取了令人吃惊的举措——提高利率，以此支持里拉汇率。巴西货币雷亚尔兑美元的汇率跌至四年来的最低点。

Falcone has his wings clipped

法尔康羽翼受损

The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Philip Falcone and Harbinger, the hedge fund he runs, $18m for his misuse of clients’ cash to pay a tax bill. More importantly, Mr Falcone had to admit to wrongdoing, the first such admission under the SEC’s policy of reducing the number of deals it cuts with defendants in which they neither admit nor deny guilt. 

美国证券交易委员会（SEC）给菲利普·法尔康和他经营的对冲基金公司Harbinger开出了高达1800万美元的罚单，原因是他挪用客户的现金去支付税单。更重要的是，法尔康不得不承认违约行为，这也是证交会出台减少与被告交易的政策以来第一个承认不法行为的被告；此前，被告总是不承认其不法行为或者不认罪。

Two electronic-trading mishaps further undermined confidence in automated markets. A sudden spike in the Shanghai stockmarket was caused by a computer glitch at Everbright Securities. Chinese regulators banned the broker from proprietary trading for three months as a result. And a software error at Goldman Sachs saw it place enough mistaken orders for stock options on American exchanges to drive prices lower. The blunder could potentially cost the bank hundreds of millions of dollars.

两笔电子交易的失误进一步打击了人们对自动交易市场的信心。日前，上海股票交易所股指骤升，起因是光大证券的电脑系统出现了小故障。为此，中国证监会决定在3个月内，禁止光大证券进行自营交易业务。此外，由于高盛投资公司的一个软件故障，美国股市出现了大量订购股票期权的错误订单，导致股价下跌。这个错误可能会给银行造成数亿美元的损失。

BHP Billiton’s net profit for the year to June fell by 30%, to $10.9 billion. The mining company is to invest heavily in potash, an ingredient used in fertiliser and for which there is a burgeoning demand worldwide. This should offset some of its decline in prices for iron ore and copper, as the Chinese-led commodities boom cools.

截止今年六月，必和必拓公司净利润下降30%，仅为109亿美元。由于全球对化肥原料碳酸钾的需求急速上升，这家矿业公司打算斥巨资投资碳酸钾。随着中国掀起的大宗商品交易的热潮的降温，必和必拓公司投资碳酸钾的举措将会弥补由于铁矿石和铜矿价格下跌而遭受的损失。

Glencore Xstrata reported its first earnings since merging as a new company in May, and announced a $7.7 billion write-down of its mining assets.

近日，今年5月刚完成合并的嘉能可斯特拉塔公司报告了其首份收入报告。这份报告显示，自并购以来，其矿业资产已经减记了77亿美元。

Vestas, a Danish maker of wind turbines, replaced its chief executive, after its quarterly earnings revealed steeper losses. Once a leader in the industry, Vestas’s windpower business has been buffeted by competition from China; it also gets less from European subsidies for green energy. Anders Runevad, who used to work at Ericsson, a Swedish telecoms firm, is the new boss. 

丹麦风电巨头维斯塔斯在本季度收益进一步下滑后，更换了其首席执行官。受到不断来自中国市场竞争冲击和欧洲对清洁能源的补贴的缩减压力，当年的巨头风光不再。曾在瑞典电信企业爱立信工作的安德斯·伦沃德成为其新任首席。

Brewers’ droop 

天气让啤酒市场“遇冷”

Carlsberg and Heineken saw profits slip in their latest set of earnings, partly because the cooler-than-usual European spring watered down the demand for beer. Carlsberg said the closure of outdoor beer kiosks in Russia in an effort to curb public drunkenness had also hurt it. Both companies pointed to Asia as a bright spot.

嘉士伯和喜力最近收益下滑，部分原因是由于欧洲天气较往年偏低，使啤酒的需求减少。嘉士伯公司分析说，俄罗斯为了抑制在公共场所喝酒行为关闭了各种户外啤酒亭，这也是销量减少的原因。现在两家公司都把亚洲作为翻盘之地。

The Bank of Israel issued new rules to banks on mortgages, including a requirement that monthly repayments be no more than half of a borrower’s household income. Lending has surged over the years, though the economy is slowing and unemployment rising.

以色列央行对于银行抵押贷款颁布了新规定，包括月还贷额不能高于家庭总收入的一半的要求。经济增势缓慢和失业率的增高并没有给贷款热降温。

Meg Whitman’s turnaround plan for Hewlett-Packard hit a bump in the road, when she said she now no longer expects to see a return to revenue growth next year after almost all its divisions recorded a drop in quarterly sales. HP’s big push into computer servers has so far failed to offset the decline of its PC business.

惠普的复兴之路可谓是崎岖不平。本季度几乎所有部门销售量都有下滑之后，梅格·惠特曼说她不再对明年收益增长抱有期望。虽然在服务器方面取得一定的成绩，但对于想以此缓解陷入个人电脑销售困境的惠普来说无异于杯水车薪。

A judge refused Carl Icahn’s request to speed up his lawsuit to stop the proposed buy-out of Dell, the latest setback to the activist investor’s alternative takeover proposal for the computer-maker. A postponed shareholders’ vote is now due to take place on September 12th. Dell, meanwhile, reported a 72% drop in quarterly net profit, after heavily discounting sales of its PCs and servers. 

卡尔·伊坎为阻止戴尔按计划被收购提出了加速审理诉讼请求，而这一要求被法官驳回。这对于激进投资者卡尔·伊坎另外提出收购提议无疑是一个新的打击。9月12号将召开延期的股东投票大会。本季度，戴尔公司由于对个人电脑和终端服务器的打折销售，净利润降低了72%。

Al Jazeera began broadcasting on its new news channel in the United States, building on the network of Al Gore’s Current TV, which it bought in January. With bureaus in 12 American cities, the Qatari company promises to provide an alternative on cable to cnn, Fox and MSNBC.

半岛电视台已在美国开播了新的新闻频道。此频道原属于阿尔·戈尔创办的美国潮流有线电视台，于今年1月份被半岛电视台收购。卡塔尔半岛电视台已经在美国建立了12个分部，它承诺将为看惯了cnn,FOX和MSNBC的美国观众提供一个新的选择。

That lost Kodak moment

重拾柯达时刻

A judge approved Eastman Kodak’s plan to restructure and leave bankruptcy protection, which it filed for in January last year. The company has shed its photography business (and $4.1 billion in debt) to focus on commercial printing technologies. It designed the world’s first working digital camera in 1975, only to discard the project and stick to film.

法院通过了伊士曼柯达公司重建计划和脱离2012年1月提交的破产保护的申请。此前，柯达为专注于商业成像领域出售了负债41亿的照相机业务。柯达放弃负债41美元的摄影业务，以专注于商业印刷技术。1975年，柯达制造了世界上第一台数码相机，然而现在却转向数码影像业务。