Our Business News

STOCKHOLM Loss making handset maker Nokia Corp. Tuesday said it has signed a deal to sell and lease back its headquarters in Espoo, Finland, in a bid to raise much needed cash. The building, which has been Nokia’s headquarters for the last 16 years, has been sold to Finnish property investor Exilion Capital Oy for 170 million euros ($ 220.4 million). The 48,000 square-meter (540,000 square feet) steel-and-glass building overlooks the Gulf of Finland and was completed in three phases, with the last part finished in 2001. Approximately 1,800 Nokia employees work there. Nokia is evaluating other parts of its [...]

A Chinese company’s attempt to take over government-backed battery maker A123 raises serious national security concerns, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said this week, adding to growing congressional opposition to the deal. China’s Wanxiang Group Corp is currently competing with U.S.-based Johnson Controls Inc to buy bankrupt A123, which makes lithium ion batteries for electric cars. The government must ensure that any sale of A123′s technology, which has also been used by the military and to support the U.S. electrical grid, does not threaten domestic security, the senators said in letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Energy Secretary Steven Chu [...]

Tis’ the season…to rack up holiday debt. The holidays often mean shopping marathons for gifts, party outfits, food and decorations that rack up credit card debt. But instead of entering 2013 with massive debt, consider making some extra cash during the final months of this years to cover the holiday cheer. If you don’t have time to take on a seasonal job, there are numerous unique ways to make extra money without burning up all your free time. “The National Retail Federation estimates the average consumer will spend nearly $ 750 on holiday-related purchases. This number doesn’t factor in the [...]

NEW YORK Wall Street firms and U.S. banks scrambled to raise cash on Wednesday, as U.S. financial markets resumed normal trading after a devastating storm pummeled the U.S. East Coast and closed major markets for two days. Major banks and investment houses rely on the money markets – a key cash source for financial markets – to finance trading positions and loans that they make. Companies sell commercial paper and other short-term loans to money market funds and other investors fund their inventories and payrolls. The massive storm, Sandy, disrupted these markets, thinned trading and drove up borrowing costs on [...]

Consumer products maker Newell Rubbermaid Inc said it would cut about 2,000 jobs or slightly more than 10 percent of its staff, over the next 2 1/2 years, joining a slew of U.S. companies trying to counter slowing sales by reducing costs. The news on Friday came as Newell also reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, raised its quarterly dividend by 50 percent to 15 cents a share and announced a number of outside additions to its executive team. The maker of Sharpie pens and Rubbermaid storage containers is also planning to consolidate manufacturing and distribution facilities and cut the number [...]

CHICAGO Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Reed Hastings said Tuesday that the company has no plans to raise the $ 7.99 basic subscription cost for its online streaming service. On the Netflix earnings call, Hastings said the company remains satisfied with the current price structure. Netflix’s public reputation is still recovering from the negative impact of a 60% price hike in July 2011; Hastings reiterated that the company does not expect to get back to the highly positive perception it once enjoyed until 2014, though the situation is improving.

Convert Old Stuff to Cash Cash is king these days. But don’t worry if you’re cashless. Turning unwanted stuff into cash is easier than you think. Sources are right at your fingertips, literally. It just takes some hunting. Take gift cards, which may be lingering in your wallet. They’re a ready source of cash, says Bruce Bower, chief executive of Plastic Jungle Inc., a website that buys and sells gift cards. Gift cards totaling $ 30 million sit unused, according to Deloitte, a consulting and advisory firm. And that amount grows by $ 8 billion a year. “Consumers forget about them,” Bower [...]

TOKYO Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Sunday said it was far from clear that the U.S. central bank’s highly stimulative monetary policy hurts emerging economies, defending a policy raising concerns in China, Russia and Brazil. In a blunt call for certain emerging economies to allow their currencies to rise, he also said that foreign exchange intervention encouraged destabilizing inflows of foreign capital, but he did not specify China by name. “The perceived advantages of undervaluation and the problem of unwanted capital inflows must be understood as a package – you can’t have one without the other,” Bernanke said in [...]

Do you dread the sight of your daughter lugging home order forms for every imaginable sport and club she belongs to? From cookies to wrapping paper to flower bulbs, it seems like the only way these groups raise money today is by sending out an army of little salespeople.When my oldest son was in Cub Scouts, I finally decided I couldn’t force him to march through the neighborhood one more time selling stuff (especially since three other Scouts lived on the same block, which meant it was a race to see who got to which neighbor!). I was a leader [...]

A group of four Republican senators on Friday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expressing concern about Chinese energy giant’s Cnooc Ltd’s $ 15.1 billion deal to buy Nexen Inc. , adding their voice to critics of the transaction. Sens. John Cornyn, John Hoeven, Richard Shelby and Jim Inhofe said they were concerned that foreign national interest are mixed with profit motivation in the transaction. The deal is subject to review by the U.S. government because Calgary, Canada-based Nexen has substantial drilling operations in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The letter notes that “ownership and [...]