BRIEFCASE.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services Chinese firm closer to U.S. acquisition It is only a matter of time before a Chinese company succeeds in buying an American one, even in the politically sensitive area of oil and gas, former Unocal Corp. chief executive Charles R. Williamson said Wednesday. But several problems have to be solved, including the enforceability of contracts in China and concerns about the unfair advantage state-owned companies have when bidding against public companies, he said. Williamson said Los Angeles-based Unocal would have agreed to be acquired by Chinese oil and gas company CNOOC CNOOC China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd., despite fierce political opposition, if the company had raised its bid in August. Jury indicts trio in disc pirating SAN JOSE - A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. three Northern California residents on allegations of illegally copying and selling thousands of copyrighted music discs. The three suspects - Ye Teng Wen, 29, and Hao hao n. pl. hao See Table at currency. [Vietnamese hào.] Noun 1. He, 30, both of Union City, and Yaobin Zhai, 33, of Fremont - were accused of making counterfeit CDs after federal agents seized the molds for hundreds of pirated titles. Their indictments follow their arrest last week. Tire firm, Ford reach settlement NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bridgestone Firestone North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. Tire has agreed to pay $240 million to Ford Motor Co. to settle claims related to the tire maker's 2000 recall of defective tires, Bridgestone Firestone said Wednesday. Bridgestone Firestone, the North American unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., and Ford reached a settlement that will help cover the costs of the automaker's 2001 tire-replacement program, which followed the tire recall, said Saul Solomon, vice president and general counsel of Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone. At least 271 people were reported killed and hundreds more injured in incidents involving Firestone ATX See ATX motherboard. (hardware, standard) ATX - An open PC motherboard specification by Intel. ATX is a development of the Baby AT specification with the motherboard rotated 90 degrees in the chassis. and AT tires, and the maker recalled 6.5 million of them. Bridgestone has spent about $440 million on recall-related costs, according to Chris Karbowiak, vice president of public affairs of Bridgestone Americas. JetBlue to restate earnings higher NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - Low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Corp. said Wednesday that it will restate earnings higher this year to correct accounting related to airport rent expenses and the way it handles passenger revenue. The New York-based airline said earnings for the first six months of 2005 will be increased by $300,000, or 1 cent per share. JetBlue has reported earnings of 18 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. during the first half. However, the accounting changes will lower retained earnings Retained Earnings The percentage of net earnings not paid out in dividends, but retained by the company to be reinvested in its core business or to pay debt. It is recorded under shareholders equity on the balance sheet. of $2.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2004 - representing 2.7 percent of 2004 profit and 0.8 percent of 2003 profit. JetBlue went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. in 2002. Pfizer's UK patent on Lipitor upheld NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc. won a significant victory on Wednesday when a British judge upheld a key patent covering its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor in the United Kingdom but the medication still faces a similar, yet more important, case in the United States. Shares of the world's biggest drug maker rose 2.2 percent. Judge Nicholas Pumfrey upheld the patent covering atorvastatin atorvastatin /ator·va·stat·in/ (ah-tor?vah-stat´in) an antihyperlipidemic agent that acts by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, used as the calcium salt in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and other forms of dyslipidemia. , Lipitor's active ingredient, but ruled that another patent was invalid. Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. had challenged both patents, and was joined by Britain's Arrow Generics Ltd. against the second patent that was ruled invalid. Pfizer said the decision upholding the exclusivity of the patent covering atorvastatin until November 2011 was an important victory for scientists. |
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