Obama bank proposal slams markets
NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Bank shares tumbled sharply Thursday after U.S. President Barack Obama announced a proposal to limit the size of banks and the types of risk they can take.
Bank of America shares plummeted 6.19 percent, while JPMorgan Chase shares dropped 6.59 percent. By close, just two of 30 stocks listed on the Dow Jones industrial average -- McDonald's Corp. and Travelers Companies Inc. -- was showing a gain.
Obama's proposal would stop commercial banks from owning hedge funds or private-equity firms. He also proposed limiting the size of banks by applying the principal of a deposit cap to liabilities other than bank deposits.
The DJIA closed down 213.27 points, 2.01 percent, to 10,389.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 1.89 percent, 21.56 points, to 1,116.48. The Nasdaq composite index lost 1.12 percent, 25.55 points, to 2,265.70.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 649 stocks advanced and 2,401 declined on a volume of 6.8 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bill rose 16/32 to yield 3.592 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4083 from Wednesday's $1.4104. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 90.42 yen from Wednesday's 91.23 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.22 percent, 130.89, to 10,868.41.
In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 1.58 percent, 85.70 points, to 5,335.10.
Zapatero pins EU growth on reduced energy
BRUSSELS, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Spanish Prime Minister Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero said the European Union required a "fundamental" initiative to begin producing electric cars.
"The other day I met together with a group of companies, some of the most important in Europe, and it was felt it was fundamental that there should be co-operation and integration of efforts in developing the electric vehicle," Zapatero told the European Parliament.
"If our markets don't have a regulatory framework to provide financial support, and if we don't have common standards on the technologies, then it will be difficult for Europe to take a leading role," Zapatero said.
Spain currently holds the EU presidency, a status that changes every six months on a rotating basis.
Zapatero said energy consumption in the European Union had risen 9 percent in the past decade, the EUobserver reported Thursday. "If we don't reduce it we won't be able to have any economic growth," he said.
N.C. software firm rated best employer
NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- A privately owned North Carolina software company earned the top spot in Fortune Magazine's ranking of the nation's Top 100 employers for 2010.
The firm, SAS, jumped from 20th to No. 1 with benefits that include "high quality child care" and 90 percent coverage of health insurance, Fortune said. In addition, the company provides a medical staff of four doctors and 10 nurse practitioners, makes a profit, and has a turnover of 2 percent, the lowest in the industry, Fortune said.
The second-best employer for the year: Investment consulting firm Edward Jones, which was noted for surviving intact. The firm "weathered the recession without closing one of its 12,615 offices," Fortune said.
No. 3 on the list is Wegmans Food Markets, which climbed two places from a year ago on its record of never laying off a worker in 94 years. The Rochester, N.Y., company has 4,000 employees.
Rounding out the first five workplaces are Google, where engineers are still allowed to spend 20 percent of their time on whatever project they choose, and Nugget Market, where, Fortune said, "at one employee-appreciation event, the executive team surprised everyone by washing the cars of all associates."
Heavy ice blunts Chinese fisheries
JINAN, China, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Heavy ice off the coast of northeastern China this winter has crippled the region's fishing industry, officials said Thursday.
Shandong province's Marine and Fishery Department said the region's worst ice in 40 years has blocked 16 fishing harbors and trapped nearly 4,000 fishing boats, Xinhua reported. So far, losses have totaled more than 100,000 tons of fish with an estimated value of about $146 million, the state-run news agency said.
Temperatures this month have plummeted to minus 10 degrees Celsius along the coasts of the Bohai and Yellow seas, and meteorologists say it's not over yet.
The cold weather also has affected marine transport and offshore mining in the region.
Cadbury CEO to reap $19M on takeover
LONDON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- A British newspaper said Cadbury Chief Executive Officer Todd Stitzer will earn $19 million when Kraft Foods Inc. buys the company.
Stitzer will earn a year's salary of $1.6 million plus a bonus of $3.2 million and will also be able to sell shares worth about $14 million, The Daily Mail said.
On top of this, Stitzer owns $8.9 million in company shares, the newspaper said.
The Mail said he will likely be asked to leave his job when Kraft takes over, making him statistically equal to others whose jobs will be redundant after the merger.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown reiterated his stance Wednesday that jobs would be protected. The great-great-granddaughter of John Cadbury, who began the confection business 157 years ago called the $19.1 billion Kraft takeover "awful," the newspaper said.
