Ford and Microsoft team to boost electric-car hopes

MarketWatch - Shawn Langlois
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday that they are teaming again; this time in an effort to make widespread adoption of the electric car a reality.

Read full story from MarketWatch

US factory orders had rise in Feb, buoy manufacturing

Reuters - Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Nomiyama
WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - New orders received by US factories rose for a sixth straight month in February as businesses rebuilt inventories, data showed on Wednesday, pointing to continued expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Read full story from Reuters

(Germany, France boost chance of global bank levy deal)

Reuters - Sarah Marsh, Paul Carrel
BERLIN, March 31 (Reuters) - Germany and France said on Wednesday bank levies should be imposed internationally to ensure a level playing field and called for national bank restructuring rules to be embedded in a European framework.

Read full story from Reuters

(Crude Oil Rises to 11 Week High as Dollar Slips Against Euro)

BusinessWeek - Mark Shenk‎
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil surged to an 11-week high in New York as the dollar declined against the euro, bolstering investor demand for commodities.

Read full story from BusinessWeek

(Stocks slip economic data)

CNNMoney - Julianne Pepitone
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks took a step backward Wednesday, the final day of a first quarter bolstered by a strong showing in March, after a disappointing jobs report and downbeat ...

Read full story from CNNMoney

(US dollar share of Q4 global FX reserves rises -IMF)

Reuters - Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Leslie Adler
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - The US dollar's share of global currency reserves rose to 62.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 as total holdings climbed to a record of more than $8 trillion, International Monetary Fund ...

Read full story from Reuters

Obama announced the first leases in two decades for offshore oil drilling

USA Today
President Obama announced the first leases in two decades for offshore oil drilling today with an appeal to both environmental supporters and Republican critics, saying increased oil production is part of an overall approach to the nation's energy and ...

Read full story from USA Today/a>

Greek Aid Agreement Takes Heat Off Euro

Wall Street Journal - Fabio Alves - ‎Mar 26, 2010‎

The euro gained as the euro zone's emergency financial-aid package for Greece eased immediate concerns about over the country's fiscal problems.

Read full story from Wall Street Journal

(Crane Falls Against Financial District Building)

New York Times - Sarah Wheaton, Ravi Somaiya - ‎2 hours ago‎

A crane fell against a building at 80 Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan on Saturday evening. By SARAH WHEATON and RAVI SOMAIYA A crane tipped and fell against a commercial building in Lower Manhattan on Saturday evening.

Read full story from New York Times

(Automakers Geely, Ford may pen Volvo deal Sunday)

BusinessWeek - Elaine Kurtenbach, Louise Nordstrom - ‎42 minutes ago‎

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group appeared set to sign a binding deal Sunday to buy Sweden's Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co., in a coup for the ambitious Chinese automaker, and also a challenge.

Read full story from BusinessWeek

(Google .Inc Unveils Glimpse at Future)

Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Erich Schwartzel - ‎31 minutes ago‎
Bryan Tait and his mother Kathy Tait, both of Ingram, take their places Friday in the spelling of "Google" along Forbes Avenue between Ross and Grant Streets.

Read full story from Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi missing

Los Angeles Times - Borzou Daragahi - ‎2 hours ago‎
A glider carrying powerful finance official Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan, whom Forbes named the 27th-most powerful person in the world, crashed into a Morocco lake.

Read full story from Los Angeles Times

Google stops censoring its search results in China

By John Letzing, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc.'s decision to brazenly challenge Internet censorship laws in China may encourage other firms doing business in the Middle Kingdom to adopt a bolder tone, industry experts say.

However, they say potential benefits of the rapidly-developing Chinese market mean that any emerging chorus of dissent against local laws -- or perceived local favoritism at the expense of foreign players -- could be slow to materialize.

Google (GOOG 557.50, -2.50, -0.45%) said Monday that it's decided to re-direct traffic away from its google.cn search engine to Hong Kong-based google.com.hk, where Chinese speakers may access unfiltered search results. See related story on Google in China.

PM Report: Google Stops Censoring in China

Google stops censoring its search results in China and is redirecting visitors to its Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong. Plus, the landmark health-care bill is slated for Obama's signature as focus moves to the Senate; and after decades of cynicism, medical experts are using high-tech tools to unravel acupuncture.

It remains to be seen how long Internet users in mainland China will retain access to google.com.hk. The site's servers are based in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China.

Google had been negotiating with Chinese authorities for weeks over the possibility of offering uncensored search results, since announcing in January that it had been hit with a sophisticated cyber-attack originating in China. Such a move would run afoul of Chinese laws, which mandate filtering out results related to politically-sensitive topics.

Since launching google.cn in 2006, Google has voluntarily offered a filtered search service. The company has captured a significant share of the Chinese search market, though it still lags well behind Beijing-based Baidu Inc. (BIDU 579.72, +10.07, +1.77%)

Google's move to stop censoring results drew a quick response on Monday, with state-run Chinese media citing an unnamed official at the State Council Information Office who called it "totally wrong."

Meanwhile a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council reportedly called the impasse between Google and the Chinese government disappointing.

"The U.S.-China relationship is mature enough to sustain differences," spokesman Mike Hammer reportedly said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has previously described China's Internet censorship policies as self-defeating.

"It's an amazing game of chess right now," said Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard Law School professor and co-founder of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Zittrain said the sheer boldness of Google's self-described "new approach to China" means that other foreign firms doing business there may be slow to follow. "There's no script for this," he said.

'Fight it out'

Google's move comes against a backdrop of increasing antagonism between U.S. and Chinese officials, Zittrain said. Companies may therefore simply wait for a clearer indication of how issues between governments will be resolved.

"They're all hunkered down right now, waiting for their parents to fight it out," Zittrain said of foreign firms operating in China.

Points of tension between the U.S. and China have included Internet censorship, onerous legal requirements for firms operating in China, and Beijing's valuation of the yuan.

In an open letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke published last week, a group of 130 U.S. lawmakers urged the administration to label China a currency manipulator. See related story on U.S. lawmakers' Chinese yuan letter.

US Stocks End Higher; Citigroup Jumps Nearly 4%

US Stocks End Higher; Citigroup Jumps Nearly 4%

Stocks ended higher Monday, led by health care, as passage of the health-care bill lifted uncertainty surrounding the legislation that was hanging over the market.

The Dow gained 43.91, or 0.4%, to close at 10,785.89 - the latest in a string of 1 1/2-year highs - though volume was light once again. The S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.9%.

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved the health-care bill, which expands coverage to nearly all Americans and delivers a landmark victory to President Obama.

Health-care stocks had been beaten down in the months leading up to the bill's passage. Now, with the uncertainty about the legislation lifted, market pros are saying they think health care will outperform the broader market. The sector finished mostly higher.

Boeing advanced after Oppenheimer raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" from "underperform" and Barclays raised its price target on the stock to $87 from $65 with an "overweight" rating. This came after the aerospace giant announced it was ramping up production of some jets to meet demand last week.

Citigroup was on fire today, up 3.6%, after Rochdale analyst Dick Bove upgraded his rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral," saying the company has enough liquidity to offload problem assets and support long-term growth.

Ford shares jumped another 5%. The stock hit a five-year high last week after Moody's upgraded its debt rating on the automaker and said it had the potential to improve its finances even more.

Google shares fell about 0.5% after the Internet titan redirected its China search site to its Hong Kong site amid a flap with China over censorship.

Monday brought the latest quarterly results coming from household products seller Williams-Sonoma and high-end retailer Tiffany .

Williams-Sonoma shares jumped over 12% after the retailer beat profit expectations as it kept a lid on costs and enjoyed robust holiday sales.

Tiffany shares edged 0.3% after the high-end jeweler missed its fourth-quarter earnings target but projected its full-year profit would beat expectations.

© 2010 CNBC Asia

Oil rises above $81 after stocks gain, dollar dips

(Reuters) - Oil rose for the first time three days, climbing above $81 a barrel on Monday as a new U.S. healthcare reform bill boosted Wall Street and the dollar weakened slightly against foreign currencies.

President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul brought relief to investors and sent shares in the healthcare sector higher after a year of volatile trading on concerns over the burdens from reform.

The dollar weakened slightly against a basket of foreign currencies .DXY, after it had strengthened against the euro earlier Monday, on uncertainty about aid for debt-stricken Greece. A weaker dollar can indicate investors are moving money into assets deemed to carry more risk, such as commodities and equities.

U.S. crude for April delivery, which expired on Monday, rose 57 cents to settle at $81.25 a barrel, after falling to as little as $78.57 earlier in the day. Brent crude for May delivery rose 66 cents a barrel to settle at $80.54 a barrel.

"The (oil) market is following gains in the S&P (stock) index," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York. "Oil fundamentals really have not improved, so it's all about where the money flows are going right now."

The S&P index was up 0.7 percent in afternoon trading.

Oil prices fell in two consecutive weeks through Friday, falling further from a 2010 high of $83.95 a barrel reached in January.

While crude inventories have been falling in industrialized countries and global demand is expected to rise, supply remains ample. A preliminary Reuters poll on Monday showed that analysts expect U.S. crude oil stocks probably rose 1.3 million barrels last week after crude imports increased. Official supply and demand figures will be released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Americans drove less in January, covering 1.6 percent less vehicle miles than in the same month of 2009, according to figures released on Monday by the Department of Transportation. The fall in miles driven was the first monthly decline in a year.

A Greek fiscal crisis has helped make investors more cautious of risky assets in recent weeks, boosting the dollar against the euro. European leaders sent out conflicting signals at the weekend over aid to Greece, with Germany urging Athens to solve its debt problems alone and Italy backing EU support. EU leaders will meet on March 25-26.

The latest indication of China's growing oil demand is supportive of oil prices. Implied oil demand in the world's second-biggest energy user rose 19.4 percent in February over a year earlier, as quick economic growth boosted fuel use by industries and motorists.

Domestic commercial crude oil inventories in China rose 5.2 percent in February over January to 28.2 million tonnes, China OGP reported on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Joshua Schneyer, Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New York, Alex Lawler in London, Seng Li Peng in Singapore; Editing by Lisa Shumaker/Reuters)

(Chinese c.bank sets yuan mid-point at 6.8263)

SHANGHAI, March 23 (Reuters) - The central bank set the

mid-point of the yuan's CNY=CFXS CNY=SAEC exchange rate

against the dollar on Tuesday as follows.

Mid-point Previous day's mid-point Previous day's close

6.8263 6.8264 6.8266

SOURCE: The People's Bank of China, the central bank, issues

the data through the interbank market, the China Foreign Exchange

Trade System (www.chinamoney.com.cn).

The yuan may rise or fall 0.5 percent from its mid-point each

day, but it has moved only a small fraction of its band in most

trading sessions since it was revalued by 2.1 percent to 8.11 per

dollar on July 21, 2005.

In the three years following the revaluation, the central

bank allowed the yuan to appreciate a further 19 percent against

the dollar. The yuan's traded peak since the revaluation was

6.8099, reached on Sept. 23, 2008.

Since July 2008, however, the central bank has used the

mid-point to keep the yuan at a virtual peg to the dollar within

a narrow 100-pip range, to protect China's economy as it

confronted a slowdown due to the global financial crisis.

(Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann)

Toshiba says to build new NAND memory factory

TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said on Tuesday it has decided to build a new NAND flash memory factory in Mie, central Japan, with construction to begin in July.

CYCLICAL CONSUMER GOODS

In a statement, the firm said it has decided to go ahead with a plan which had been under consideration for months, given growing demand for memory chips thanks to new applications like smartphones.

It also said it has not decided on the scale of investment and output capacity. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka/Reuters)

Taiwan stocks rebound; Mediatek leads gains

TAIPEI, March 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.56 percent
on Tuesday, led by gains in technology shares including chip
designer Mediatek (2454.TW) as renewed gains on Wall Street
raised optimism over growing tech demand.
The main TAIEX share index opened up 44.14 points at
7,880.12, recouping all the ground it lost on Monday. Mediatek
shares rose 0.57 percent, lifting the electronics sub-index
.TELI 0.75 percent.
The financial sector .TFNI was up 0.25 percent.
(US$1=T$31.8)
(Reporting by Baker Li, Editing by Jonathan Standing

CHINA, BorgWarner Inc (BWA.N) expects compound annual sales growth of 45 percent

SHANGHAI, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. auto parts maker BorgWarner Inc (BWA.N) expects compound annual sales growth of 45 percent in China until at least 2014, its chief executive said on Tuesday, as it expands its business in the world's third-largest economy.

Timothy Manganello told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a business event in Shanghai that he also expected more than 15 percent of the company's sales to come from China by 2014, compared with about 12 percent now. (Reporting by Fang Yan and Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner/Reuters)

Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.3 percent on Tuesday

TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.3 percent on Tuesday, as recent gainers such as Kyocera Corp (6971.T) lost steam, with investors cautiously watching currency moves.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 fell 31.67 points to 10,793.05. The index rose 0.8 percent on Friday, while it rose 0.7 percent on the week, for its sixth straight weekly gain.

The broader Topix was unchanged at 948.10.

Japanese markets were closed on Monday for a national holiday.

Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) was almost flat after the Nikkei business daily said it was is in talks with Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) to procure large engines from the German firm, adding the Japanese automaker may supply electric cars and batteries to Daimler. [ID:nSGE62L0JV] (Reporting by Aiko/Reuters)

(Rio May Help China Get Foreign Mines, Albanese Says )

By Bloomberg News March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the world's third- largest mining company, wants to help China secure overseas mines and explore for domestic deposits...

Read full story from Bloomberg

(Chinese media warns Google not to 'politicize' row)

By MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- An editorial issued by China's state-run news agency said Google Inc. was "politicizing" its threatened....

Read full story from MarketWatch

(Indian Stocks, Bonds Decline After Central Bank Raises Rates)

By Rajhkumar K Shaaw March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks and bonds fell after the central bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost two years....

Read full story from BusinessWeek

(Yen Rises to Week High Versus Euro on Rate Outlook, Stock Slide_)

By Ron Harui March 22 (Bloomberg) -- The yen rose to a one-week high against the euro on speculation more central banks will follow India in raising interest...

Read full story from BusinessWeek

(China, HK stocks fall on rate rise worries)

By Jun Ebias and Lu Jianxin HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, March 22 (Reuters) - Shares in Hong Kong and China fell at midday on Monday, joining a slump in....

Read full story from Reuters

Data Mining Software | DataDetective

 DataDetective is a powerful data mining software developed by Santient Information Systems. It uses data mining techniques for exploring patterns and carrying out analysis, prediction, clustering, network analysis any so on. It uses fuzzy matching to establish relationships between data. It is easy to use and even novice users can use it. It is powerful, fast and flexible. It provide user with easy to use user interfaces to interact. Its flexible data interface allows complex data structures and has integrated ETL for data processing. It has been used by the Dutch police to analyze crime databases using data mining.

TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Must to Know for Monday

By David Goodboy | TradingMarkets.com | March 19, 2010 Monday is a dearth of economic reports but several interesting earnings releases should add a bit of flavor...
Read full story from tradingmarkets.com

(Stocks Under $10 Weekly Summary)

Stocks reversed track on Friday following a couple of weeks of steady gains. Options expiration, combined with an overbought environment and uncertainty...

Read full story from The Street.com

(Russian Firm to Bid on Air Force Tanker Program)

By PETER SANDERS In another twist to the ongoing saga to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, United Aircraft Corp...

Read full story from online.wsj.com

( The Palm Stock Falls After a Disappointing Forecast )

By BLOOMBERG NEWS Shares of Palm Inc., creator of the Pre smartphone, fell the most in more than two years in Nasdaq trading after it forecast sales this

Read full story from NY TIMES

Data Mining Software | Darwin

Darwin is a data mining software which is now part of Oracle. It employs various data mining techniques like  classification, neural networks, genetic algorithms and regression. It follows a client-server architecture with  the client can be be working on both the Windows and Unix platform. It is capable of getting data from a wide range of sources.

Data Mining Software | AgentBase or Marketeer

AgentBase or Marketeer is the data mining software that uses the intelligent agent technology for its operation. Its wizards provides an easy to use guide for users to carry out the various stages of data mining with ease. AgentBase/Marketeer is primarily aimed at marketing applications. It uses a number of powerful data mining techniques and can run on Windows 95/NT and Solaris OS. It can get data from many sources for its operations.

Data Mining Software | Rap Analyst

Rap Analyst is the BI application developed by Raptor Analytics. It is used for various purposes like data mining, data analysis and develop predictive models. It uses advanced Artificial Intelligence techniques  like neural networks, genetic algorithms and SOM which enables it to deliver high accuracy in its modeling and predictions. It's knowledge filter enables user to visualize an optimized view of the training data.

Data Mining Software | SPAD

SPAD is the data mining software developed by a leading European data analysis company called Coheris SPAD. It offers exploratory and predictive analysis of data as well as text mining and data mining capabilities. It comes with a user friendly interface and can display results in graphical mode. It provides transformation of models into decision rules. It enables users to get to better decisions in a wide range of fields like sales, marketing, risk management and so on.

Data Mining Software | Data Mite

DataMite is a data extraction tool that provides users to easily import and extract data from various sources without having any programming knowledge. It offers data extraction from a large number of sources like MS Access, MS Word, PDF, spreadsheets, Dbase, HTML, XML, Text files and many others. It allows to build queries visually without the knowledge of any SQL syntax and offers reporting capabilities.

Data Mining Software| Alice Software - Alice d'ISoft

Alice d'ISoft is a data mining software that is used in many areas like marketing, classification, segmentation, fraud detection, risk analysis, quality control and health sectors. It uses business knowledge in analysis unlike other software. It offers ease of use and interactivity for building models and analyzing them to its users. It also provides fast processing of huge amount of data. Its report generator generates reports readable in a wide range of applications. It provides users with 2D and 3D charts for visualization of analysis results.

Data Mining Software | Data Engine

Data Engine provides strong data analysis capabilities through powerful techniques like neural networks and fuzzy models. It also offers signal processing, data mining and advanced statistical analysis. Data Engine has been successfully used in various areas like analysis, marketing, diagnosis and forecasting. It can easily integrated with other solutions and offers flexible options for data transfer through its interfaces.It supports 2D and 3D charts for visualizing the results of analysis in a meaningful way.