Manufacturing.net News

Economists Predict Increase In Consumer Spending

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:01:10 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer spending is likely to pick up this year, while government spending declines at a faster rate, according to a survey of business economists.

The economists predict that the U.S. economy will grow 2.4 percent this year and 3 percent next year. That's unchanged from their forecast in February.

But they are more bullish on consumer spending and housing than they were three months ago, in part because of a more positive view about unemployment.

Judge Gives Final Approval To A123 Bankruptcy Plan

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:59:37 +0000

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A Delaware bankruptcy judge has given final approval to the reorganization plan of failed battery maker A123 Systems Inc., which was the recipient of a $249 million Department of Energy grant.

Monday's court hearing resolved minor outstanding issues following the sale of most of the company's assets to the U.S. arm of Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp. for nearly $257 million.

Marine Who Dumped Toxins Felt Illness Was Payback

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:55:05 +0000

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) -- Ron Poirier couldn't escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment.

As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history — and, perhaps, to his own premature death.

Ex-Saab Execs Arrested On Accounting Charges

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:46:52 +0000

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- A Swedish prosecutor says three former executives of automaker Saab Automobile AB have been arrested on accounting fraud charges.

Prosecutor Olof Sahlgren says the three are "suspected of aggravated attempts to avoid tax controls" by allegedly falsifying parts of Saab's accounts between 2010 and 2011 — a crime that carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.

Sahlgren wouldn't identify the three, who worked for Saab while it was owned by Dutch luxury car maker Spyker, which had bought the Swedish company off General Motors.

Special K Churns Out Products In Brand Evolution

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:44:20 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Special K was once just a line of cereals. Today, it's a diet food empire.

The brand first hit shelves in 1955 as a no-frills breakfast alternative but now caters to dieters who see its airy chips and pastries as a way to beat cravings and lose weight. And this summer, Kellogg Co. is building on its biggest moneymaker with a "hot cereal" called Special K Nourish that's made with quinoa and other grains.

Royalty Pharma Increases Bid For Elan

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:40:31 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Royalty Pharma is raising its offer to buy Elan on the condition that shareholders reject the Irish drugmaker's push to refocus its business through a string of recently announced deals.

Royalty says it will pay $12.50 in cash for each share of Elan Corp. PLC. That adds up to a total value of about $7.5 billion.

Royalty offered in February to buy Elan for $11 per share and later raised that bid to $11.25 per share.

Elan has said the $11.25 bid was much too low.

Survey: 12-Month High In English Manufacturing SME Confidence

jhans — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:59:22 +0000

Growth prospects amongst English manufacturing SMEs is at a twelve month high according to the latest Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) Barometer, which reveals nearly two thirds (64 percent)

What Do We Eat? New Food Map Will Tell Us

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:45:37 +0000

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Do your kids love chocolate milk? It may have more calories on average than you thought.

Same goes for soda.

Until now, the only way to find out what people in the United States eat and how many calories they consume has been government data, which can lag behind the rapidly expanding and changing food marketplace.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are trying to change that by creating a gargantuan map of what foods Americans are buying and eating.

U.S.: Pakistan Moves To Curb Dangerous Fertilizers

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:43:45 +0000

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan has taken a number of steps to prevent fertilizers made within its borders for agriculture from being used as explosives in roadside bombs that target American troops in Afghanistan, said a top U.S. military officer Monday.

Brig. Gen. Robert P. Walters Jr., deputy director of the U.S. military's Joint IED Defeat Organization, spoke in a conference arranged by the Pakistani military in the capital of Islamabad on ways to counter the bombs — often referred to as improvised explosive devices — that account for the vast majority of casualties in Afghanistan.

Warren Buffett Meets With Young Entrepreneurs

alawrence — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:42:20 +0000

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett is spending his day listening to business pitches from a select group of kids, but the ideas aren't likely to generate new acquisitions for Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

The kids, who are between 7- and 16-years-old, are all finalists in an online contest tied to Buffett's "The Secret Millionaire's Club" cartoon. Buffett voices his own character to teach financial lessons in the cartoon.

Five individuals and three teams were flown to Omaha to present their ideas to Buffett and a panel of judges on Monday.