| Tiffany hit by flagging US Christmas sales
Fears that America's credit crisis is spilling over to hit consumer spending were fuelled yesterday after Tiffany, the upmarket jeweller, warned that sales over the critical Christmas period had fallen. Shares in Tiffany plunged by almost a sixth after it admitted that like-for-like sales during November and December had declined by 2 per cent. The group also conceded that the poor sales performance had forced them to reconsider their forecasts for this year's annual profits. Michael Kowalski, chief executive, said: "We believe a recent pullback in U.S. spending likely reflected a more cautious attitude among customers about the near-term direction of the economy and related factors." .
Stocks Move Higher After A Downside Start: Volume Sags
The major indexes got a leg up at 10 a.m. EST, when weak housing data added to the sense that the Fed must ease further. The NYSE composite reversed to gain 0.5%, and the Nasdaq moved up 0.4% by 10:54 a.m. EST. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Dow gained 0.4%. Volume was sharply lower on both exchanges. Overseas markets nose-dived for the day. All eyes were on the Fed as international investors placed bets on a possible rate cut from the Open Market Committee meeting Wednesday. In Europe, commodities markets skidded and financials started taking hits related to French bank Societe Generale's massive loss. London's benchmark FTSE 100 sank 2.5%. The CAC-40 in Paris lost 1.7%. Japanese stocks slid after Goldman Sachs announced the country was either near or in a recession.
Sales LKR 283.7 mn
Well, well, very interesting reading all the comments. I am one of the lucky ones who was put on an UL flight to Melbourne in 1993 by off loading a poor passenger. I can tell you that I was not proud of it but, shows how things were done in those days. I am glad to hear that the person in charge who declined the president stood up for the fare paying passengers. Unfortunately he may have lost his job but he can feel proud of what he did. UL is doing well at the moment, hope the government of SL wont stuff things up. .
Council nixes building cat room at shelter
A proposal to build a new room for cats at Butte's animal shelter raised questions Wednesday evening about euthanasia and operating costs.Commissioners voted 8-4 to deny a request to build a second "free-roaming" room for cats at the Chelsea Bailey Animal Shelter, 699 Centennial Ave., but said they could reconsider the request after a director is hired.An ordinance restricting fireworks in city limits also was introduced and referred to the judiciary committee, which meets next week.Commissioners Cindi Shaw, Charlie O'Leary, Jim Fay and John Sorich supported the shelter project.Commissioners voting against the project said they wanted to put the request made by shelter director Erin Wall on hold until a new director is hired.The job posting for the director position ends Friday, and a new director could be hired around the end of the month, said Public Works Director John VanDaveer.
Israeli Supreme Court rejects Ariel Sharon's son's appeal, must serve ...
It is the first time the legal system sends a clear message that crimes committed during a political campaign are severe, and a man needs to pay for them with his freedom," he told Israel Radio. Sharon was also fined 300,000 shekels ($81,000, €55,000). His lawyers said Monday he would turn himself over to prison custody on Feb. 27. .
The FBI's lawbreaking is tied directly to President Bush
That the FBI is abusing its NSL power is entirely unsurprising (more on that below), but the real story here -- and it is quite significant -- has not even been mentioned by any of these news reports. The only person (that I've seen) to have noted the most significant aspect of these revelations is Silent Patriot at Crooks & Liars, who very astutely recalls that the NSL reporting requirements imposed by Congress were precisely the provisions which President Bush expressly proclaimed he could ignore when he issued a "signing statement" as part of the enactment of the Patriot Act's renewal into law. Put another way, the law which the FBI has now been found to be violating is the very law which George Bush publicly declared he has the power to ignore. It was The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage who first drew attention to the Patriot Act signing statement in a typically superb article, back in March, 2006, which reported: When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.
For retailers, a sad saga of security gaps
Anthony Fussell was a human-resource manager's dream come true. Or so it seemed. He was a well-spoken Morgan State University grad, a former Marine Corps reservist with a solid resume who convinced interviewers at ShopRite, Kmart, Value City, Toys R Us and Ross Dress for Less that he had the retail business down cold. Police say Fussell also turned out to be an expert at slipping through retailing's often porous security systems. Detectives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey allege that the 35-year-old Gloucester County man stole as much as $220,000 from eight companies by getting hired as a store manager, working for a few days or weeks, then disappearing with cash receipts. If law enforcement is right, a guy who never attended Morgan State, received a less-than-honorable discharge from the Marines, and was wanted on a fugitive warrant repeatedly survived background checks to get jobs.
Source: Angelos yet to greenlight proposed Bedard trade
The same source also indicated that Angelos wasn't informed of the particulars of this latest proposal until late Sunday and that he won't be available Monday to confer with the Orioles' baseball officials because of a personal matter. Given Angelos' long history of vetoing trades, one baseball man who has dealt extensively with Angelos predicted that "this could get more interesting as it goes along" if Angelos has yet to approve this deal. Indications are that the trade is still likely to happen, given the abrupt departure of its centerpiece, Mariners outfielder Adam Jones, from winter ball. But the source confirmed a Baltimore Sun report that Jones isn't currently scheduled to fly to Baltimore for a physical. Both Jones and Mariners relief pitcher George Sherrill have informed teammates that they have been asked to take physicals in conjunction with the trade, a baseball source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
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