Perfect Business!

Foxconn chairman pledges to keep raising pay (Reuters)

Written on April 3, 2012 – 3:30 am | by Stephanie Brodribb

Apple and Foxconn agreed last week to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.

“We are a saying now in the company — you work fewer hours, but get more pay,” Gou told Reuters at the 2012 Boao Forum for Asia in China’s Hainan island province. “We won’t stop here and will continue to increase salaries.”

According to the agreement reached with Apple, Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade housing and other amenities.

The move is in response to the independent Fair Labor Association’s findings of violations of labor law by Foxconn, such as letting long work hours and unpaid overtime.

Read more…

Tags: Foxconn, Foxconn Chairman

Posted in Business Zone | No Comments »

Wall St Week Ahead: After stocks’ first-quarter run, focus turns to data

Written on April 3, 2012 – 2:38 am | by Ashley Johnson

– After the best first quarter in 14 years, the S&P 500 may be poised for a pullback as investors look to a slew of economic data for insight on the strength of the domestic economy.

The Dow .DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX closed out their best first quarter since 1998 and the Nasdaq .IXIC had its best first-quarter performance since 1991, largely on the back of improving domestic economic data.

Economic indicators next week include data on manufacturing and services from the Institute for Supply Management, construction spending, factory orders and domestic car sales as well as several reports on the labor market, culminating in Friday’s payrolls number.

“The remarkable part of the first quarter is you really didn’t have any major piece of economic data in the U.S. that disappointed the market,” said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer of Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Private Bank in Minneapolis.

“It was really a no drama, no surprise quarter and the market may not be fully appreciating that we could have some surprises here in some of the data coming up.”

MARCH JOBS AND FED MINUTES

Equity markets will be closed at the end of the week for the Good Friday holiday, which could create lighter volume and increase volatility.

Read more…

Tags: Data, Focus Turns

Posted in Business News | No Comments »

Huawei risk tracked

Written on March 31, 2012 – 5:05 am | by Michael Harris

Security fears … the Huawei Technologies building in Silicon Valley.

CYBER security officials in the Federal Attorney-General’s department were investigating ”issues” with Chinese telco Huawei as far back as 2008 and a Telstra official allegedly told United States officials the same year that the company was a ”security risk”.

The revelations were contained in US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks last year and suggest the company was on the radar screens of Australian intelligence for years prior to it being excluded from the latest National broadband network work.

The company was banned late last year from tendering for the NBN contracts after ASIO advised its involvement could compromise national security in light of concerns over cyber attacks originating from China.

The cables reveal that in 2008, the Australian Attorney-General’s office for cyber security was examining Huawei as part of a ”real” national security review of the then NBN project bids, which were to be presented to the Australian government in mid-January.

”Director Lionel Markey told the econoff that they were always aware there would be ‘contention’ about components for the NBN,” said the cable dated December 2008.

”AGD is consulting with a range of Australian government agencies including the Defence Signals Directorate and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation .

”Markey said the GOA was well aware of issues related to Huawei.

Read more…

Tags: Huawei, Huawei Risk

Posted in Perfect Small Business | No Comments »

MF Global hearing to probe finance officers on customer fund transfers

Written on March 28, 2012 – 8:22 pm | by Stephanie Brodribb

How much will four words come to haunt Jon Corzine?

“Per JCs direct instructions.” This line, contained in an email that an MF Global finance official sent to explain a $200 million transfer to JPMorgan Chase from an MF Global account containing customer funds, will be a focal point of a congressional hearing today into the futures firms collapse.

The email, disclosed in a congressional memo circulated Friday, has raised questions about whether the former governor and CEO of MF Global knew customer money was being used to plug holes in the firms finances as it plunged into bankruptcy during the last week of October.

Read more…

Tags: Finance, Mf Global

Posted in Business Zone | No Comments »

Phones of the future?

Written on March 27, 2012 – 2:23 pm | by Michael Harris

(CNN) — The devices announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) have better screens, are faster, and promise to do so much more than your current model — so what will your next phone look like?

The big push from phone makers this year is screens. It is the part of the phone we spend the most time looking at and the one that allows us to fully enjoy this pocket gateway to another world that we own.

At every turn, every company is keen to tell you just how good the screen on its latest device really is. Marketing speak, gobbledygook, and buzzwords that don’t mean anything have been trotted out to all those who show up.

Take Sony, for example. Aside from telling us that it can “make our dreams a reality,” its screen technology has not one, but two buzzwords associated with it — one of which even has the word “magic” in the title (WhiteMagic and Reality Display, if you’re interested).

Read more…

Posted in Perfect Small Business | No Comments »