Financial News Headlines

Massmart eyes fresh produce supplier

July 9th, 2011

Massmart is looking to buy a local fresh produce supplier just weeks after its own acquisition by United States retail giant Wal-Mart, Business Day reported on Tuesday, citing a spokesperson.

“Massmart can confirm that an application relating to the potential acquisition of Fruitspot by Massmart was lodged with the Competition Commission today,” Massmart spokesperson Brian Leroni is reported as saying.

Johannesburg-based Fruitspot supplies other retailers, including listed chain Spar, the report said.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, finalised a $2.4-billion purchase of 51% of discount retailer Massmart, after winning approval with minimal conditions from South Africa’s competition authorities.

Under the conditions, Massmart must not cut jobs for two years, honour existing labour agreements and work to develop local suppliers. Read more…

Tags: Fresh Produce, Fresh Produce Supplier, Produce Supplier, Supplier

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Corruption closes Curtin’s English tests

July 9th, 2011

Curtin University will close its English-language test centre in Bentley after a West Australian corruption hearing into the falsification of test scores for immigrants.

In March the Corruption and Crime Commission investigated allegations a staff member at the Bentley campus was bribed to falsify results of English-language competency tests.

Applicants for permanent residency and work or students’ visas must prove their competence under the International English Testing System (IELTS), on which the Department of Immigration relies.

After the hearing nine people were charged with corruption offences including an employee at the centre and several intermediaries.

Curtin vice-chancellor Jeanette Hacket said an internal review found the high-stakes testing would always carry risks.

She said IELTS testing was a service to the community and not a core activity for the university.

“Curtin will continue to run tests up to and including 13 August and we are working closely with IELTS Australia to ensure everyone who has booked an English-language test at Curtin after this date can be accommodated at another venue,” Professor Hacket said.

Tags: English, English Tests

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Greek Debt a Growing Concern for Money-Market Funds

July 9th, 2011

Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 1 July 2011 The derivatives and mortgage markets drew the most attention in the aftermath of the financial crisis, but followed close behind. Now concerns are rising again that these ubiquitous investments could be in danger, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The ongoing Greek debt concerns have implications for a variety of markets, but a recent report from Fitch Ratings found that money-market funds hold a surprising amount of exposure to the situations. Debt from European banks accounts for more than half of the all U.S. prime money-market fund assets. Read more…

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Ten Pieces of Inspiration #27

July 8th, 2011

Each week, I highlight ten things each week that inspired me to greater financial, personal, and professional success. Hopefully, they will inspire you as well.

1. Cooking with my youngest child Lately, when we’ve been working on making meals, our youngest son has insisted on being put in his high chair and pulled as close to the counter as possible. From there, he smiles and watches and occasionally receives little samples of the meal to come.

Part of what I like about this picture is that you can see part of the ongoing art project that his two older siblings are working on over at the other table. T

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Tags: Ten, Ten Pieces

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When in the best time of year to submit your work?: Follow Up With A Publisher

July 7th, 2011

When in the best time of year to submit your work?: Alexandra Pringle

When in the best time of year to submit your work?: Follow Up With A Publisher is categorized as life and leisure.

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Tags: Best Time, Publisher

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US private sector hiring up in June; jobless claims fall

July 6th, 2011

WASHINGTON – THE US private sector served up a burst of hiring in June but new claims for unemployment insurance remained high at the end of the month, according to new data released on Thursday.

Private businesses, excluding the farm sector, added 157,000 jobs in June from May, a solid jump after the tepid 36,000 increase in May over April, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

Meanwhile the Labor Department said unemployment claims fell slightly to 418,00 in the week to July 2 from 432,000 a week earlier.

Both figures were better than economists had expected, but neither was stellar: the figures from ADP, a payrolls firm, were still off the 200,000 monthly job creation pace of the first quarter.

Read more…

Tags: Claims, Private Sector

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